[ use the past to stiffen your spine. yes, perhaps. he thinks of refuting the idea of bringing anything back to zaun — silco was dead, and he himself, too, so technically nothing he could do here would ever make it there... would it?

still. he could try. maybe, maybe, there would be a way. after all, whoever was strong enough to keep a simulation like this running was surely strong enough to do anything, right? anything at all... even send some dead men, or their souls, or whatever copy of them that had been created here, back to their original universe.

perhaps, perhaps. ]

A stable energy source, yes. I shall look into it. As for the mechanics behind this simulation... I will try, but I have been told it is not easy. [ then, wryly, ] That hasn't stopped me before.

[ and it won't stop him now. he nods. ] I will do this, Silco... but the only thing I will not do for you is build weapons. [ gripping his crutch, he pushes himself up to stand, too. ] And don't tell the others. I fear they might not... understand.

[ the others — vi, caitlyn. he has no intention of letting either of them know he's agreed to this... because they don't get it, he thinks, not truly. that despite everything, silco is the one who got closest to making a real difference in zaun. that out of them all, maybe silco is the one who truly understands: that for progress, you can't play it safe. ]