The words I'm 19 nearly cross his lips but...she's right. Compared to most people here, he's really short. She probably doesn't actually think he's a kid. Probably.

More pressingly: he doesn't know the answer to her question. Usually he has help with this kind of thing, someone to guide him or help him figure this kind of thing out. Marina would probably be able to untangle what's going on here within a day or two (and Pearl would just tear things apart until she got answers) but for Eight it's still just knots.

"Well...if this world is pulling people in because it's broken in some way then sending them home wouldn't do any good. They could just get pulled back in or it'll take someone else...but maybe people being pulled in is destabilizing the world? Maybe there's another force involved but..."

He sighs, undeterred but acutely aware of how little he understands about their situation. "I don't know. I don't even know how we'd find out."