there had , after all , already been enough acquaintanceship plaguing his existence , thus far , to last him 10 lifetimesor life sentences as the case may beand , as such , bunnu had become inclined to assume that those who sought him out , whether in his present or in his past , could only have been doing so as a consequence of some underlying sphere ( or spheres ) of influence that were conceivably out of his immediate grasp or capability to perceive .