[Asch accepts the pills, remaining wordless for a long moment as he thinks back. He'd asked Luke about this, trying to be subtle, but it's harder than he'd hoped it would be to avoid arousing suspicion, so he hadn't gotten much out of the attempt. If Luke knew what was going on, information would come easier, but it would also make him completely unbearable.]

...It was a while ago, but when the replica returned from his first kidnapping, they'd done something to his fonons, and he was exhausted easily. I told him to tell me if anything changed, but he's been fine ever since. And my own body has started to degrade at an increasing rate since we hyperresonated ourselves to the ocean. It seems completely random- like a seizure that can last a few seconds to a minute long. It's hard to move while it's happening.