Ugh, right! [ Matt exclaims, for the question. It has the timbre of something he's asked himself many a time, and actually, he does have an answer. Or a root network of hypotheses, possibly including a couple spiders. But before he can expound on any of them, Tezca goes on, and Matt has to admit he makes a good point. This is the kind of conversation built for late-night highs, substance-enabled or otherwise. ]

Sure, sure, [ he agrees with a grin. And he salutes Tezca with his empty glass. ] Everything in its time.

[ It's much later by the time Matt recalls the thread of cosmogony, back out on the cramped, labyrinth streets. In his mind, past, present, and future are all threads in the same tapestry, so it doesn't feel like a non-sequitur when he notes: ] I tend to think a lot of different and contradictory things have happened simultaneously. Like, there was a Big Bang, and you did sacrifice your leg, and a lotus grew out of Vishnu's navel--

[ "Navel" feels funny when he says it, but "bellybutton" is nowhere near dignified enough for Lord Vishnu. Maybe Krishna could make it work. ]

--And also, they're all stories negotiated through generations of mortal society.