...Ford could tell him from experience exactly what that what-if is like. He usually doesn't even try. And they disappear. Or he disappears into the next dimension. Or they get married, and they're better off without him. And it can be gotten over and moved on from, except Ford's never really gotten over it, has he? The what-ifs and the regrets, he ignores them most of the time but they're still there, waiting to pop up again the next time something reminds him of what he wanted but never had.

"If your plan works, we'll be in a new world soon," Ford suggests, instead of sharing any of those regrets. "One where people don't vanish for extradimensional reasons beyond their understanding."