This blunt question of Hiromu's sends a chill up my spine, and I unconsciously grip even harder to Etienne's hand as though I'm afraid he'll be torn from me immediately. The threat is imagined, of course, and I close my eyes for a moment to take a steadying breath.

"Effects begin at approximately three meters." I say softly. I'm reciting something I heard once, a doctor or physician of some sort, probably reporting to Kuroki-san. "Disorientation is the first side-effect, followed by a loss of thought processes, loss of fine and then gross motor skills, and at a certain distance, unconsciousness."

I meet Hiromu's eyes briefly, then look away. Not at Etienne. Just, sort of, at the floor.