"I'm well, thank you," Melanie says, fumbling a little for the best way to explain things. This is something other people have had to explain to her, and they hadn't been very nice about it. There's no way to recreate Sergeant Parks' demonstration, because there's no chair to strap her in. All she has is the mask.

"I might hurt you," she admits, holding up the mask for emphasis. "It's why I have this, I think." That's a little less certain. The mask was just here, not something she brought on purpose. But maybe Darrow gave it to her because it knew she would need it. Like finding the little cake that said 'eat me,' or the bottle that said 'drink me,' except the mask says 'don't hurt anyone.'

Melanie smiles once, encouraging, then puts the mask on to demonstrate how it works. "See?" she says, her voice not even muffled, thanks to the air holes. "I've worn it before."