[anna nods along, agreeing with the metaphor. it's an easy thing to relate to, and the idea of embodying the storm is one that may stick with her. he's making good points, raising good questions. like he's had a lot of thoughts on this on his own, and she can't be surprised by that. nobility probably has a lot of time to spend contemplating destiny like this.]

I'm not sure. [there's a bit of a grimace on her face as she remembers something from back home, though. and she recognizes what she's about to say, but it doesn't have to mean anything. it doesn't have to mean anything as long as paul doesn't know that she knows.]

There was one person from back home, Clarence Vanderweele. He found some way to unlock power that basically turned him into a god, and he started looking at the other people like me and deciding which of us were going to be strong enough to survive in the world that he wanted to create. And anyone who wasn't strong enough... well, he just let them vanish.

[she's leading to something, but that much should be obvious. and maybe it's not quite the question that paul asked anymore, but this is where the words have taken her.]

I think a lot of times, gods just do what they want. Maybe some of them want to lead us to be better, but I think it's more likely that they treat us like pieces in a game. You don't think about the emotions of chess pieces, right? [mm. she doesn't like that she just said that.] But powerful humans know everything about the way we think. They can make people follow the beat of any drum they want. It's the difference between leading us somewhere and yanking our chains to pull us in step with them.