Because of everything attached to that fact.
The hovercraft.
The dust.
The desert clothes.
The expression on his face.
And the absence of someone else.
"...Kai."
---
Raj was not yet in the room.
Noah, however, had been present from the start.
He was standing near a stack of papers.
The moment he saw the hovercraft, he forgot how to breathe.
"..."
He slowly stepped forward.
Then stopped a few inches from the machine.
"...This is..."
He reached toward it.
Stopped himself.
Then leaned closer.
"...This is extraordinary."
Kai actually looked a little proud.
"Yeah."
Noah slowly looked up.
"...You brought this back?"
"Mostly."
Noah was already mentally rebuilding it.
Kai could tell.
He cleared his throat.
"Can we maybe talk first?"
Noah blinked.
Then reluctantly backed away.
"...Right. Talk first. Hovercraft later."
Alice crossed her arms.
"Start talking."
Kai did.
Carefully.
He explained the Forest.
The laboratory.
The slime.
The Oheyo outskirts.
The Outlaws.
Munnu.
Persia.
The false archive.
Magic.
He left out only what he wasn't ready to say yet.
The Memory Hub.
The strange fragments.
Some of the deeper memory content.
The more dangerous pieces.