Anyway. Can't they just... arrest him? Or something?

He promised.

If they can convince Morgan to accept imprisonment?

...fine.

But also it's gonna be a lot of effort for one guy. Does Zash think he could imprison Nai?

...probably with a lot of creativity and time and the element of surprise? Why?

Crazy missionary guy's telekinesis is about that strong.

—eesh.

"Are you having a long moral argument about the value of killing the guy versus not," sighs Morgan. "In your heads."

"Yeah I thought so." Sigh. "C'mon. Dead's easiest, and then you can all get back to cuddling or whatever."

"...you've seen my scars. You know how much it being easiest is not really something I pay much attention to."

Also he promised.

"—also Nai doesn't want to renege on his promise."

"Well I'm glad," she says, beginning to sound actually angry, "because I'm not fucking budging on this, and unfortunately for all of us, I can't do it alone! Or I would have already. I have been patiently waiting, and being supportive, and playing the pacifist game, and getting shot, and burning years off of my goddamned life for your morals, and so you don't get to just sit there and wring your hands about a psycho murderer getting what's fucking coming to him from one of his many victims. If you want to fret about the sanctity of human life then be real fucking aware that if he is not taken care of sooner rather than later, he will kill people. He will figure out you flinch from it and then use it against you. He will have a hundred hostages lined up and have them kill each other in fucking front of you to make you realize some batshit insane religious dogma. He..!" She lets out a breath through her teeth. "He needs. To die."

Zash looks away. Turns out being yelled at is what makes him definitely stop crying.

"I know," he says, in a low voice. Then he clears his throat and repeats it, more loudly, "I know. I know there's, I, I could hear it. When he came to, to gloat. If he were just a normal person with a gun, then, then... but he's not. And it's not just him, is it, it's whomever else he's got. It's Elendira, at minimum. So, I... I know. I know."

"Great! So?? Are we going to stop sitting here wringing our damn hands or are we going to take some fucking initiative!"

"We don't really know where he is, and I don't really have a good way to find him. Do you?"

[do you?]

...him? No, of course not. How would he even—?

[the guy does worship you as a god.]

That's between him and his conscience, Nai wants no part in it.

"Not as such, no, but the bastard's a coward, and will be hiding until we're not in the great big fancy defensible base he can't fuck with. What I do need to know if you're with me or not, and frankly that's still looking up in the fucking air, ain't it."

"I'm not against him dying," pipes up Yvette, "I just don't think I could help at all with him. Sorry."

"Yeah, I get it, stay here and be the best damn nerd of all time, it's fine. This is aimed at the twins, who I fucking need to have any chance against the psycho."

"I'm with you. I don't—I know he needs to be stopped." Killed. "I'm with you." He glances at Nai, then looks at her again. "Nai is, too.

"You suggested that Nai could maybe just show up and say 'you have been chosen as the next sacrifice' and he'd come out and roll over, do you reckon that would actually work? He did think you were Nai's chosen holy weapon or something, maybe he'll be fine if you replace him."

That is so dumb.