"I think so," said Carlos. "It's what they gave me when I sat down here. I've got a bit of a reputation around here for being a scientist, and things that glow green are always more scientific than things that aren't." It's hard to tell if he's deadpanning or being serious. (He's serious.) "I thought about trying to figure out what was making it glow, but...I can't seem to focus on chemical processes today. Or physics. Or thermodynamics. Or any science at all, really."

This might well have been the first time that an event in Carlos's life had left him unable to perform science.