Jinhai studies your phone like it’s a forbidden artifact.

“So,” he says slowly, seated beside you, “this device contains libraries, music, and communication across great distances… and humans used it to argue?”

You explain memes.

He listens intently, brow furrowed in scholar mode.

After a long pause, he nods once. “Fascinating. No wonder your world burned itself out repeatedly.”

Then, softer, almost amused: “May I keep this?”

A beat.

“…I would like to understand you better.”