She let out a slow sigh, fighting not to sound exasperated. The last thing she wanted was everyone blaming Billy for whatever they weren't happy with, or whatever they missed that they'd been torn away from.

"I can't say, and I'm not any authority to do so, either," she repeated patiently. "Besides, just because he was the focal point of all of this doesn't mean he did it consciously. The fact that he had to be snapped out of it speaks to something higher behind all of this, and given what we know, my money's on the Atroma."