Anton smiled, and it was gently knowing. "Do you have scars on your body, Master Khan? Places where you've been cut and it still lingers? Have you let them keep you from walking, moving, acting? The scars of the mind are no different; the only change is in how we approach them. People think that scars which cannot be seen don't exist, and that is what makes them deeper. Would you deny a broken leg?"

How many times had Hopeless thrown up his hands over one or another of the Dead Men trying to pretend their wounds of the mind didn't exist? How much nudging did it take before they sheepishly admitted the hurt? As a mind-reader Hopeless had shared the pain of those around him, and few things had hurt him more than mental wounds not just untended but willingly denied.