[ s o r r y paul!!! Some of Matt's recent misalignment with the Regent has come down to interpretation, but some of that address he was just too panicked to hear. Or, hearing it, to remember.

He doesn't exactly brighten as Kaeya speaks, but there's a shift in his expression and in the set of his shoulders. A firming up of resolve. ]

Yeah. You're right. [ Matt shrugs gently. ] Everything I've read about the end of the world is that things get pretty unstable before they, you know, go. So we just have to stay the course.

[ Easier said than done, Matt's under no illusions on that front. But it helps to be reminded of their shared goal. The deeper purpose that undergirds all strategy and skirmish. ]