I have... an arrangement with someone. He imbues a crystal with his mana and I draw it out of there, so there's no pain involved. [He doesn't mention who it is. It's probably not that hard to figure out, anyway.] But it wasn't always like that. I had to take some from Hiro, which was terrible.

This was not a problem until I disappeared from the Fleet for a few months. Before then, I had a gift-- a mana crystal that would recharge through solar energy. It was gone along with all my other belongings when I returned.