This talk of research projects and removing shards makes Fern shift uncertainly; she can do basic arithmetic and knows her letters, but beyond that, she grew up on a farm and hasn't had any formal schooling. She looks down at her palm again, then nervously chafes her hand together. "I don't know," she replies, and smiles the way one tends to when they're decidedly uncomfortable about something. "I've never even had a tooth yanked out by a physicker before... Would it hurt badly to take it out?"