"What's there to explain?" Kovacs asks, shrugging his shoulders. "There are other planets out there besides Earth. I'm from one of them."

It seemed pretty straightforward and simple to him. If it had been possible, he would have stayed on Harlan's World for the entirety of his fucking life. He would have contented himself with looking at the songspire trees and trekking through the dense forests.

But, that was before the death and blood and stink. That was before Stronghold.

"If it's gonna be too much for you, you can just think I'm from Earth. I've spent enough time there, shitty as it is."