[He shouldn't be disappointed. Prior stays precisely where he is for - oh, a few seconds - as this new piece of information percolates down. Then almost without moving at all he's somehow lightly pinning Byerly to the bed, peering down into his face like he can read it.]

When he was a woman? Well, you've been remarkably slow in sharing that little quirk in our evolutionary development. Does that make you the caterpillar or the butterfly?

[A curl of his lips before he adds-]

If it's a path they chose themselves, I do hope you'll tell me they opted for the tentacle.