I don't know if you could call it an apprenticeship in the typical fashion, he and I exchanged emails for almost six years before I got petrified. I wonder what happened to him.

[ He hums, thinking about it, but it's a fleeting thought. Most likely still petrified, without a doubt. ]

Not in any particular way, but there was a study I skimmed once that said that even though there are many subspecies of swallows, their genetics are nearly identical to one another, a lot like humans that way. That's only a theory. I honestly have no idea at this point why the swallows were a test.

I can tell you it happened worldwide, I tracked the online chatter about it, filled in the gaps enough to know that it was actual birds and not some elaborate artpiece. I actually sent all my data to Dr. X. I was also experimenting on them, trying to figure out what kind of material that calcification was because it's not like any rock I'm familiar with, it didn't behave the same way as other rocks.