[ He means to take another bite of food but this time when he doesn't, it's from actual surprise. It drags something out from his memory he'd forgotten about, and then the food is equally forgotten. A couple of seconds go by where he has to think back to all of that helpful information he'd set aside to research later, until later hadn't really happened. ]

I remember- someone told me about Thorne taking something, [ with his brow furrowed as he's reaching back for that piece of information beneath everything else learned - and that's occurred - since then, ] to the Singularity each winter. She called it a suicide mission since it was Abraxans taking whatever it was there before Summoned arrived, and I'd forgotten about it. That conversation wasn't long after I arrived here, and it didn't mean anything in context. Was this when everyone was still in Thorne?

[ That's a tangent that matters less than current matters, and especially less than what Geralt says following that. Complicated indeed. A rueful smile crosses Claude's face as he sets his bowl down in his lap to rest, attention fully away from multitasking now. ]

It certainly is. At almost the same time I arrived was when we had those nightmares. They were how I met a few other Summoned, and that was before helping the Free Cities with that supposed assistance mission. I did it even against my better judgment at the time, and I've regretted it since - especially when we never did find out what it was we did by participating. The request was paired with that supposedly assisting everyone affected, which is a good enough reason for most to agree to do something asked of them.

[ And that being the same premise of their visit here to the Nether - that's not lost on Claude, either. ]