"Well, good, then that makes two of us," Lydia replies loftily. At least then neither of them will have to try to do the heavy intellectual lifting — which is a relief, because Lydia's tired of always having to be that person. She pauses for a moment before actually answering Matt's question, uncertain whether she should tell him everything she knows or just some of it. Ultimately, she decides some is better than all, because she's just met him and she's learned that trusting people in general is difficult, but trusting people in this place is even harder.

"Well, there's the network. Someone, I can't remember who, created an encryption so that we can speak to the Specials without broadcasting to all the other Alphas at the same time. It doesn't sound like much, but it's a big step up, if you ask me," she replies, laying down and shifting herself beneath the covers as she rolls on her side to face his bed across the room.

"I would've been shocked if you did know," Lydia says with a small smile, shaking her head a little and propping herself up on her elbow. "I bet your winters are a bitch," she comments offhandedly.