Somehow, he doesn't look much happier at the thought. His gaze shifts to the floor as he becomes unable to look Heiji in the eye.

"...Did I replace her?"

In hindsight, it should have been obvious. He was brought in alone, and yet the teams remained even. Everyone he had spoken to that first day informed him, one way or another, that one of the other test subjects had recently died. But he had been so busy trying to take it all in that he never quite made the connection.