“It was,” he says with a little laugh, as if he were telling a story about a wedding or a vacation. “I’m never quite sure how to talk about it when it comes up. I usually just refrain from saying anything. It’s not exactly dinner conversation.”

He says, and bites into his sweet roll.

“The actual manner of pain in the pocket world—the Village—didn’t involve transformation like that. It was far more… psychological. And medical.”