[Ah, nothing wrong with books, the words of a true friend. Palamedes' lips quirk up in a brief smile - for sure, books rule - and he nods. It's no problem, he'd have gone to the aid of anyone he felt capable of actually helping, but the gravity of the situation remains that it was a close call.]

That's the idea. [...hmm,] For future reference, that is; not because I intend to hold you to some nebulous debt. We'll call it even.

[And after a beat, he reaches out for the handshake; he is skinny to a fault and his handshake is remarkably flimsy as a result, but he's got the spirit.

That, and well, it's not like V's having two different kinds of hands is hard to notice, so...]

Can I ask you a question? [No points for guessing, but he pauses for a beat to give V a moment to prepare for a question that Palamedes assumes he gets all the time.] It's about the... phalanges.

[He wiggles his fingers, professionally. Phalanges, that's the angle, for sure.]

I'm woefully green when it comes to mechanical - when it comes to mechanics, [he amends, because the question is earnestly,] Are you an android?