"And now you've uncovered my dastardly plot," Ender said with a little smile.

He still felt somewhat alien in this-- but for the first time, he also caught himself craving the... family of it. It felt mostly like he was grasping at bits of it he couldn't quite get.

Ben seemed to have figured out what the key was, though. Ender wondered what it meant that he was almost inclined to let him take the lead on it.