"Well," and that's a complicated kind of question, but that Kainé is asking that instead of anything else is a good sign. "Her actual body, her actual world, they're probably gone, and maybe for good. But her soul is still with me, in here." She raps on her chest instead.

"I said she shouldn't still be inside me, but despite whatever laws of the universe govern soul magic, she's still with me. In a world that's ten thousand years earlier than her own. And, like, I don't know, K, maybe—" and she stops, corrects herself. "Kainé, maybe I'm a bleeding heart. But I don't like the way her story ended, and if I'm carrying her soul with me, I want to at least show her that it's not the only ending she could have."

Those words settle, and she looks away, ready to hear the disgust over saying something so sappy and idealistic.