Forbidden knowledge... Kotomi had read the tales of H.P. Lovecraft, and she did see the occasional tentacle monster squirming around, but such a thing seemed almost alien to her. As José Arcadio had said, Everything is known.

She found her heart skip a beat when she held hands with Apple, tail lifting up in joy. She would collect books for her new friend.

"I learned about the biological processes taking place in many individuals coming from other worlds which is triggered by a certain genetic and cellular condition that is known as invasive magic-environmental mutation, with the magic acting on the body depending on the genetic and psychological factors that influence the kind of form that they take."

Kotomi says all of that in a single breath and without pause. But what she does wonder about, when she turns her head to her side to lift her reptilian tail up to her height to wave it, Kotomi then says.

"I do not know if the mutation is temporary."