"There you go," Soldat says, encouraging. "Now bring that skate forward, straighten it, and push with the other skate. Same angle." Got to keep the momentum going or the wobbling's liable to get worse, after all.

Then, because they've re-learned manners at long last, or rather gotten over being afraid to share any kind of name of their own, they say, "I'm Soldat. By the way. What's your name?"