"But they talk." How to make this clear, to make any of them understand? Again, he glimpses his own Ren, blinking and lost; he tries to hush the doubt that tells him, Ren wouldn't understand.

"They're no different from the people at home. They talk like we do. They smile. They're friendly. They like me. They want to be with me. They aren't like you, but they're real.

"They don't deserve to be killed just so you can—prove something." And there it is, the sliver of curiosity left in his heart and his eye, when all the rest was lost. "... what even is it you want to prove?"