"Good," Ippolit said with a tinge of relief. "I wasn't sure how it would affect your unique physiology-"

He cut off before his mind could go too far down that road.

"In the meantime," Polya detoured, "just don't get bitten by any gila monsters. I mean, if you can. Sometimes it's unavoidable."

As the story went, it was dislodging the creature that was the difficult part. Polya thought of the legend that their jaws would only release at the sound of thunder and smiled.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?"