More personal is interesting. More personal is also an added level of minefield around that interest's satisfaction. Kaidan places a mental flag on things, and focuses on trying to encourage that distant curiosity in the lady d'Zefyst instead.

"You'll have to forgive the fact that my background's more in machine code than genetic," he caveats, one hand lifting to rub at his amp port in a gesture that seems more habitual than anything else. "But one thing my people haven't been able to pin down yet is just what genes, or gene expression patterns, are responsible for being able to tolerate exposure to element zero..."

He trails off, as he's reminded that somehow these people, fully spacefaring and eight hundred years into the future, have completely skipped the discovery of the mass effect. "Uh... that's what those weird shadows along my nervous system are," he tries instead. "Element zero nodes. My mother was exposed when she was pregnant with me, and somehow I was one of the lucky ones to develop the nodes, instead of being a stillborn or having childhood cancers."