He shakes her hand. His grip is surprisingly strong, given his slender frame.

"I suppose I must be insane. I certainly don't function in the same manner as other people. And yes, I've been attacked before, but..."

Undoing the buttons on his long coat, he lets it fall open to reveal a chestplate of Ancient Alloy. It's blocky and functional, but not badly made.

"As you can see, I have means of defending myself. You seem to like knives, so I'll throw in this for free. I don't use it much."

Drawing a beautifully crafted Ancient knife from his belt, he passes it over to her. The rear half of the blade is viciously serrated, and despite its age remains razor-sharp.

He opens a door to reveal a large workshop. It's a complete mess, although not quite as cluttered as his room. There's aisle after aisle of shelving, all completely stuffed with bits of Ancient technology. Some of the larger pieces are leant up against the walls. The only space not filled with shelving is the far wall, made entirely of glass with a breathtaking view over the Ruins. Set against it is a desk covered in various tools, and in the corner is a display case.

"Welcome to my lab. Take your pick, but the tools are off-limits and so's that."

At "that", he indicates the display case. Inside it is a full suit of original Ancient Armour, perfectly preserved. It's obviously been painstakingly maintained and restored. Next to it is a Personal Lightspear, something little more than a legend among the general population of the Ruins.

"Took me years to gather, but it's been more than worth it. I managed to reverse-engineer the Lightspear technology, so I can actually make some rudimentary ones, although they're nowhere near as good as original Ancient weapons. The secret of the Cores still eludes me, though. In answer to your other question, yes I fixed all of this. I find it easy enough; I don't know why other people can't do it, really. It's all a matter of mechanics and rules."

He picks up something from the clutter on the floor and carries it over to the bench, picking up some tools and starting to work on it.

"Take a look around. Feel free to come over and ask me what anything is."