[ now, finally, he takes a step closer, some of the set of his shoulders dropping. he is a child, and in this moment, it's especially clear, in that tiny voice, in the way he can't even form the word. it's so familiar: it's a bedside and a crying child, hands clasped together in prayer, desperately seeking and finding nothing.

what would roi do, right now? what would he say?

... ] In a different world, in a different situation... perhaps they might have.

[ and if that was the case, he would have taken that route. but the world is cruel, and the world is cold, and it in their current situation, it may yet be even colder.

his voice softens, the weight of the tragedy of this all in every word, now. ] If you truly believe there is something to be said in the aftermath, then I'll be glad to say it.

As it is now: what I would like to do is ensure that something that senseless does not go unanswered, or unpunished. And that is something that will require cleverness and doggedness - and a firm memory of what has been lost. I'd like it if it is something we could achieve together.