Alex can see that, the difference in him in more than beard and age, and she respects it, and understands it even. What she knows about his world is mostly terrible, there's no denying that, but honestly this place could be just as horrible. At least there, when he went back, he could control the environment better than he ever could here given the nature of the Sphere itself.

So, a different line of questioning then. "Did you remember anything from here when you were home?"