Toby has been told with a certain degree of condescension that the waters have been very calm, that this ceaseless wave-surging is like a bathtub compared to the open ocean and to storms. She really doesn't want to believe that. Or at least, she doesn't want to have to be present to discover it for herself.

"I have many regrets," she says solemnly, giving him a red-eyed glance, unhappy enough to make no effort to return the expression. "How long, and do you think it's easier with a more human inner ear structure? I don't have those bones and the spiral thing."

The human ear, inside and out, is baffling and she's not sure she completely has it.