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“A BIT,” he reveals but he’s not done with her. there is much to unwind and the topic has so many potential branches. each one leads to a different answer, different perspective. how their relationship changes depends on choices they make in this timeline.

“you know yourself best. it’s good to be self aware of what we would have done instead of looking back and saying we would only make the correct choices.”

he lets a beat settle before following up.

“but hindsight if a powerful tool. knowing what you know now and what has transpired, if you were given the chance to relive it, would you prevent it?”

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Eva Morales

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“TOO RISKY?”

now that is not an answer he had expected. for all their talks about danger and ramifications, there is seldom a worse fate than what they face now. at least, he couldn’t imagine it.

“how much worse do you think it could have been if ULTRA SPACE never invaded? if we never let them in?”

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Eva Morales

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“PERHAPS,” he mulls over the thought. how many people had they lost? and for what? one person? an elite four member so scarred they couldn’t return back to service. on behalf of those who died in the line of service, he thinks otherwise.

“but, hypothetically, if i was one of those who had died, i would have done everything within my power to stop schwartz.”

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Eva Morales

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“FOCUS ON NOW,” fernando repeats before nodding in agreement. there is a line of thought there, one he wants to explore, but he puts it on the backburner in lieu of the conversation’s transition.

“at this point in time, it is the most reasonable option we have. it’s also the only actionable item we have to commit to,” is a close enough repeat of his answer in the PASSERBY ANALYTICS survey. “unless you think otherwise.”

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Eva Morales

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HER ANSWER IS ONE HE EXPECTS from the others. the disillusioned, the misinformed, the deaf, three prime categories for the people who’ve debated as such online. but to hear it from the league’s head scientist is both alarming and equally disappointing. it is illeana reyes’s recent behavior that keeps him in check. for he has little choice lest he cross out both scientist as viable resources.

“well, morales, you were there when we announced it,” he says with an earnest curiosity. inside, he remains dubious, but perhaps she too has been holding secrets like Alexei Ivanov.

he keeps an open mind on alternatives but only because they need a contingency.

“what other viable options have you found in the year that we’ve had? and how do they stack compared to the proven success of the primal shards? your paper on them was quite insightful.”

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Eva Morales

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“THAT’S UNFORTUNATE TO HEAR,” is his only offer of condolence. for what comes after may sting despite his intentions. he has no intention of biting back so to injure her pride but instead to dole out tough love.

because to spare the rod is to spoil the child.

“with our time running short, to hope a better one exist with no basis may be closer to a wish than a hypothesis,” is his mention plain faced and devoid of haughtiness. he keeps his tone neutral, or as much as he can, to come off as more of an observation that judgement. the socratic method requires her to admit her folly internally first.

“should any portion of the plan fail or run short, i hope you do not regret the time spent looking for alternatives instead of fool proofing what we have already decided on well ahead of time.”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
Eva Morales