"The real world is cruel. And we're entering a world built on cruelty instead of simply having cruelty within it. It's built on hatred and misery and the Old Man... Merlinus... is trapped there. If we aren't prepared to do what needs to be done, we won't be able to save him."

There was a time where Kaworu would have said these words with a smile. It would be funny to him that someone is so ignorant of the state of the world when, if one simply steps back, they could see it clearly for what it was. But humans were never interested in seeing themselves as small.

But this time, his face is serious, stony enough to even be called grim. His fingernails dig into the table that he leans idly against, the attempt at the casual posture he usually exudes completely forgotten.