"You're not exactly subtle," Byerly drawls. Even so, a bit of his annoyance is disrupted by Cole's response. It's hard to maintain anger at someone who looks that nervous. Not that By is about to haul off and trust him, of course - a strange boy mumbling about being unseen is definitely not someone to accept an unknown drink from - but still, it's a bit nasty to yell at some kid.

So he sighs, and hazards a guess: "Are you a Rifter?" After all, Rifters are the oddest lot he knows; it doesn't seem unlikely that this lad would be one of their number.