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Sounds pretty 'off the books'... Eszti's going to be even more mad at you now.

Reno's beloved model train.

Strange that she's not, now that she thinks about it.

The twinge of pain is familiar, almost nostalgic. That one's going to leave a mark.

Spare her this knife, at least.

The city was her chrysalis.

She has yet to notice it's already stuck in.

You can. And you should.

For the first time -- just for the life and death of a second -- you see her as a fearful young girl, flinching at every movement outside the door.

Raw deal, she thinks, but still a deal.

An enviable life... if you squint.

The word sounds blasphemous coming from her mouth.

It was eerie, she thinks. A silencing of all music amid the man's gravitational pull.

Yours don't seem to require the spotlight.

Now she's fan-shifting as Tempo, a gay middle-aged criminal.

A couple she's very proud of, even.

No contempt, just a light sadness.

Of course that's what you say now, in the cold light of rational thought. But a submerged part of you remembers those moments as they were.

Doesn't care for that collective noun.

Her boyfriend must know how it works.

He thinks he's going to stay there, too.

Afraid that he won't be able to forgive himself if something happens, but aware that he isn't equipped to help either way.

He averts his eyes from you and your attempts to converse.

He is very excited to say the word 'legit'.

Trying to think of an insult. He doesn't like that your name is cooler than his.

He doesn't know what apathy means.

He'd rather have the girl.

Aw, give him something.

You try to picture any of your old assets saying those words -- and come up blank.

You're scaring him.

He doesn't know what 'mercurial' means, you nonce.

Must be. Yana trusted him too.

His Brave Face mask slips from the sweat underneath.

She's drinking from the same bottle, you're fine. Get her drunk, make conversation, see what guts she'll spill.

This woman's reading a solid ZERO on the empath-o-meter.

Flirtatious but firm, she won't talk unless you play along.

A touch of regret in her voice.

She doesn't care at all.

Said more for herself than for you.

Behind her mirrored sunglasses, she's around your age.

No complications whatsoever. If he'll work with the woman who lobotomised him, he'll work with anyone.

A mixture of guilt and the desire to lobotomise him even more comes over you.

He has been subjected to the 'Hershel Wilk Special'. The history of all your former assets, condensed into just a few days.

You are. He did.

Congratulations. You have made your point, and in doing so, you have toppled one of his few psychic pillars.

Lucid, self-aware -- this really isn't the worst version of yourself, all things considered.

The information to process is simply too much. He has no choice but to roll with it.

It's like asking a child with no experience of the world who they'll work with. He has no frame of reference.

1,005 skill checks - ZERO PARADES field manual - Page 15 of 21