[Aqua looked up blearily at Viktor from over the top of his arm. He hadn't expected to be joined on the floor, of all things; it was going to be hell on Viktor to get back up. The gesture made something dangerously like gratitude soften the corners of Aqua's gritty eyes.

He dropped the pill case into Viktor's hand.]

I know.

[Aqua wrapped his arms around his knees and pulled them closer, rested his chin on them, and stared forward into nothing in particular. Into the hospital room. Into the past.]

Pure science is all about the truth. Truth usually isn't pretty, or fair, but it's how the world operates. There's nothing we humans can do about it but work within what's possible.

But someone told me once... "Lies are the most exquisite kind of love." [Aqua lifted his gaze towards the ceiling. This tired, he could almost see a swath of stars above, the clarity of a night sky one could never make out above Tokyo.] Radiant lies that dazzle a crowd starved for beauty... quiet lies that keep people from being hurt...

[How many of those had he told his loved ones, all this time? Weaving some story for Jayce Talis, a total stranger, would be a cinch, if that's what Viktor wanted.]

It's okay. I'm not the kind of actor who forgets the truth while I'm performing. I know what the likely outcome is, and... let's just say this is the only way I can accept it. If I can say we tried... I'll be fine.

[He lied.]