"And the concept leaked... to bats? To people in general? If the visual similarities... well, I suppose that'd be a history thing, you could ask a daeva if they looked like humans before humans existed."

Max spaces out for a moment.

"And, and, and the book-making thing, there's definitely an intelligence there, if not a creator intelligence- there's..."

He looks up.

"...I don't suppose you give a damn?"