[Karamatsu pauses. He glances up at the ceiling, trying to imagine for a moment that he isn't in space, but instead sitting upstairs in his family home with his back to their couch as they roll out the futon for bed.]

I want to say it was...is...normal, but. It is anything but.

[He breathes a sigh.]

I live in a small ward near Tokyo. My family and I have lived in the same place since I was born. The city has grown up around our little house while it has remained mostly the same as it always has. My brothers and I were well known as children for being sextuplets, but...as we grew older, that novelty began to fade.

[And people started getting tired of their shit, which is why they have no friends really.]