"They don't have to be?" Autor confesses, leaning on the bookshelf and folding his arms. "But the desk is here, and the papers, and the ink. You can take them out--all but the desk, leave that here--but there are replicas of Drosselmeyer's other items here that can lend greater weight to your Spinning. I'm sure of it."

Plus, Autor is here. And like it or not, Fakir will need his help to Spin properly. 'People may even die', he'd told Fakir, and wonders if the words had even sunk in yet. He'd tracked the family past Drosselmeyer, read the histories of so many Spinners going insane or dying from accidents bizarre and mundane. It wasn't hard to connect the dots once he knew what power had driven their misery.

He'll come back, Autor tells himself. He'll have to.