"I would like to talk to Conrad. Not that I doubt his reports. It is the things he did not report that interest me."
"I thought you knew he had died. Thrombosis, though he was sound enough when first certified."
"But if they are really people, then it should be possible to understand them."
"But they are not really people. They are metamorphics. They become people only out of politeness."
"Detail that a little."
"Oh, they're biped and of a size of us. They have a chameleon-like skin that can take on any texture they please, and they possess extreme plasticity of features."
"You mean they can take on the appearance of people at will?"
"So Bently reported."