[ Ian gently takes his own hand back to break the emotion exchange while Qi processes, leaving his mind free and clear to do its own processing about the experience. He's definitely interested, but curiosity takes a back seat to being considerate.

Brain things are sacred, you know? You err on the side of caution with them.

He smiles a little at the question, tipping his head forward into a nod that sends his hair cascading a little over his forehead. ]

Something like that. I, ah- I was an engineer. Taught it, mostly, before my world got... complicated.

[ Which he still... isn't sure whether or not it turns out to be this world, he's not caught up on the history. He'd be incredibly happy if that were the case, though, because as trashed as this place is... It's come a long way from the one he knew.

But anyway- ]

What d'you think? Pretty cool, right? You want another one, or you wanna share?