[ Oz pauses for only a beat, a tiny hesitation, before he steels himself. ]
Better to make it all the way upstairs, I think. Let's continue.
[ He now thinks it unlikely that he'll run himself so ragged he passes out on the stairs. Before Stanford, he would not have survived even long enough to escape that holding floor. Without the zealot that tried to drag them back...
Well. Better not to dwell on any of it: not what could have happened, or the entirely different horror that did. All he truly wants now is to rest and think of something else entirely. ]
The others are safe, I trust?
[ It's his first real attempt at conversation, and plainly meant to distract. ]
no subject
Better to make it all the way upstairs, I think. Let's continue.
[ He now thinks it unlikely that he'll run himself so ragged he passes out on the stairs. Before Stanford, he would not have survived even long enough to escape that holding floor. Without the zealot that tried to drag them back...
Well. Better not to dwell on any of it: not what could have happened, or the entirely different horror that did. All he truly wants now is to rest and think of something else entirely. ]
The others are safe, I trust?
[ It's his first real attempt at conversation, and plainly meant to distract. ]