"As badly as I smell," the stranger said, "I doubt I'd smell you, sir."

Bran had to laugh at the man's self-deprecating comment. "I'll make a tub and some water made available for you. And a kettle for heating it, of course."

As he ate, King spoke of the places he'd previously lived -- visited, really. Bran knew of Newfoundland, though not specifically of the settlement of New Eastport. Nova Scotia and New England were also familiar names. He'd heard of North Carolina and South Carolina, so he safely assumed that [i]the Carolines[/i] were the same general area. 

New Memphis was unknown to him entirely, though. Bran knew of the Mississippi River, but as King hadn't mentioned it in particular, he didn't understand that the mighty river that had once divided the eastern and western portions of the United States -- also a familiar term -- was now a wide, inland-reaching bay.

"The [i]Bug[/i]," King continued, "It's still out there, unfortunately. It pops up once in a while."

He talked about how it was less frequently found yet also more deadly when it was. This news only made Bran more convinced that keeping King in quarantine had been the right thing to do. He and the Elders would have to decide whether the news that the Bug was quicker to appear would mean less time in quarantine for the stranger.

"As far as the wars go," King continued, "those are over."

Bran wasn't sad to hear this news. It hadn't just been an apocalyptic pandemic that had doomed Humanity; ever-increasing global warming and nuclear war had struck as well. To hear that peace was more common now than conflict was a relief.

King spoke of how Human population was rebounding but also spreading out into areas that had been depleted by the ravages of the Bug. This Bran didn't care for. Even though King told him that Greenland was likely safe from [i]infestation[/i] by emigrating populations, Bran couldn't help but think to himself, [i]Well, if YOU got here, others can, too.[/i]

When the newly arrived stranger spoke of trying to reach Ireland or even England, Bran asked, "Is that still your destination. I mean ... if you wish to leave, I can speak to the Council about it. We didn't lock you up in the quarantine hut because you're a prisoner. We did it to keep our village safe."

Bran wasn't entirely certain which answer he wanted to hear from King: stay or leave. Taking one more person into the community would not present any sort of hardship, particularly if he was healthy, fertile, knowledgeable, and hard working. Bran suspected that Tyka the Matchmaker was already going over her [i]breeding rolls[/i] for the best candidates to be [i]seeded[/i] by an entirely new bloodline. And it seemed pretty obvious to Bran that his own daughter had eyes for the man from afar.

At the same time, though, King had every right to depart the island and continue his venture to reach what had once been called the British Isles. Of course, the village would have to construct an appropriate vessel for him, as their current boats were only made for fishing in the waters just off the shore. 

Not wanting King to think that he had an agenda aimed at getting him the hell off his island, Bran clarified, "If you [i]do[/i] decide you want to remain here for a while, you'll just have to continue your quarantine until the Council feels it's safe for you to exit it and mix with the rest of the village. It's your decision."