[It sounds like bullshit, of course; the only way Alec has ever heard of someone becoming someone else, they don't get the option to go back to being themselves. It's ridiculous to ask him to believe this, except... he almost does. It would explain a lot of how she managed to get inside Manticore without being a part of it, without being transgenic, which she is clearly not.
There are other explanations, too, of course; explanations he is better equipped to understand in the world where he grew up. A world that did not give him the context to understand the kind of love that one does not know how to explain, the kind of love that would bring her into a hellish place like where they met not because she had to, but for someone else.
He is not completely without that context, but he doesn't think of Rachel. He has conditioned himself not to think of Rachel, and it is a betrayal even now, but he has conditioned himself to that as well. It was the only way to break Manticore's hold over him once and for all.]
I've never understood that. I mean, I can't exactly complain considering I'm sitting here instead of there - [And even with all its certain to be shortlived flaws, Terminal City is so much better than Manticore ever was.] - but it doesn't make any sense.
I never met a 150, so I can't confirm either way. They must've been a pretty brave lot.
[He says brave like most people would say stupid; not entirely unkindly, but a conclusion nonetheless. Stupid transgenics don't last long in Manticore, not if their stupidity comes in the form of bravery. Maybe this is why he never met one. Maybe it isn't. It is still, as far as he can see, certainly true.]
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There are other explanations, too, of course; explanations he is better equipped to understand in the world where he grew up. A world that did not give him the context to understand the kind of love that one does not know how to explain, the kind of love that would bring her into a hellish place like where they met not because she had to, but for someone else.
He is not completely without that context, but he doesn't think of Rachel. He has conditioned himself not to think of Rachel, and it is a betrayal even now, but he has conditioned himself to that as well. It was the only way to break Manticore's hold over him once and for all.]
I've never understood that. I mean, I can't exactly complain considering I'm sitting here instead of there - [And even with all its certain to be shortlived flaws, Terminal City is so much better than Manticore ever was.] - but it doesn't make any sense.
I never met a 150, so I can't confirm either way. They must've been a pretty brave lot.
[He says brave like most people would say stupid; not entirely unkindly, but a conclusion nonetheless. Stupid transgenics don't last long in Manticore, not if their stupidity comes in the form of bravery. Maybe this is why he never met one. Maybe it isn't. It is still, as far as he can see, certainly true.]