The whole time the strange is explaining about his experience Mal can't help thinking it sounds familiar. Not exactly precisely familiar as if he's seen this played out or even heard all the details before, more like he's acquainted with such situations. Or actually just one such situation.
True, he don't know precisely what they did to River back before Simon got her out, and he's fairly sure he's got no true need to know. Had it pegged as nothing short of inhuman, and he's let himself become too attached to that xīqígǔguài de bùwáwa of a girl if he don't even care to know the details of what they did to her. All the same, even without much in the way of proper description, something in the wording just put River in his mind. He can damn well imagine defining just what she went to with those sorts of words, that she's been in some way unmade.
On the one hand, if it's true, he's still got no worldly idea what to do with this stranger or even tell if he's got the right idea about him. For one, pretty certain that if Simon hadn't stepped in and the Alliance had gotten to finish the job they started that River's brain would... Well, likely would have been all sorts of messed up, but not in the same way. Wouldn't have come off so strong, and this fellow sure isn't doing any sort of decent job covering his crazy up if that's the case. Plus there is the question of just what to do with him if he had gone through the same little science experiment as River. Did it even matter to Mal? Maybe he should just walk off all the same, let this man go and find whatever trouble is looking for him because if he's wandering out here on his own and the alliance knows he's missing, well, Mal is sure there is plenty of trouble coming his way.
Then again, no way he could really tell if that is the case or not is there? Can't just go asking someone if they were kidnapped by the government who was trying to turn them into psychic assassins. Not without sounding damn crazy yourself.
Mal scratches at his temple, really trying to puzzle this one out. If there's something to be learned from this fellow that could help River, well, wouldn't feel too good about just walking off then. Also there's the whole matter of communication. Half the time never could understand a gorramn thing that girl says, and she tends to be a lot calmer of mind than this one. "Now when you say aliens...." No, that don't seem like the right place to start. River sometimes uses words different than how she means them, and Mal could easily see someone else's mind under the same kind of logic turning the doctors into aliens when they try and express it all out loud. "Listen," But Mal ain't any good at figuring out all that coded crazy talk and he sure ain't any good at speaking it. He's always been a more straight-forward talking individual, so he really don't see any other way to go wording himself but to just come out asking, "Any chance you're psychic or anything of that sort might be useful if someone was looking to make themselves an insane mind controlled assassin? Or, err, anything like that and the aliens, I suppose."
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True, he don't know precisely what they did to River back before Simon got her out, and he's fairly sure he's got no true need to know. Had it pegged as nothing short of inhuman, and he's let himself become too attached to that xīqígǔguài de bùwáwa of a girl if he don't even care to know the details of what they did to her. All the same, even without much in the way of proper description, something in the wording just put River in his mind. He can damn well imagine defining just what she went to with those sorts of words, that she's been in some way unmade.
On the one hand, if it's true, he's still got no worldly idea what to do with this stranger or even tell if he's got the right idea about him. For one, pretty certain that if Simon hadn't stepped in and the Alliance had gotten to finish the job they started that River's brain would... Well, likely would have been all sorts of messed up, but not in the same way. Wouldn't have come off so strong, and this fellow sure isn't doing any sort of decent job covering his crazy up if that's the case. Plus there is the question of just what to do with him if he had gone through the same little science experiment as River. Did it even matter to Mal? Maybe he should just walk off all the same, let this man go and find whatever trouble is looking for him because if he's wandering out here on his own and the alliance knows he's missing, well, Mal is sure there is plenty of trouble coming his way.
Then again, no way he could really tell if that is the case or not is there? Can't just go asking someone if they were kidnapped by the government who was trying to turn them into psychic assassins. Not without sounding damn crazy yourself.
Mal scratches at his temple, really trying to puzzle this one out. If there's something to be learned from this fellow that could help River, well, wouldn't feel too good about just walking off then. Also there's the whole matter of communication. Half the time never could understand a gorramn thing that girl says, and she tends to be a lot calmer of mind than this one. "Now when you say aliens...." No, that don't seem like the right place to start. River sometimes uses words different than how she means them, and Mal could easily see someone else's mind under the same kind of logic turning the doctors into aliens when they try and express it all out loud. "Listen," But Mal ain't any good at figuring out all that coded crazy talk and he sure ain't any good at speaking it. He's always been a more straight-forward talking individual, so he really don't see any other way to go wording himself but to just come out asking, "Any chance you're psychic or anything of that sort might be useful if someone was looking to make themselves an insane mind controlled assassin? Or, err, anything like that and the aliens, I suppose."