Sitting on their knees, their posture seems to falter, and they slump over slightly as he processes what he's been told. Carefully, he starts to build from the ground up, without even asking to look at their own blueprints. "You talk like you know me. Or maybe you just know yourself."
"I can thank you, but I can't say I don't still regret it sometimes. These were never people I cared about that I mauled.. — metaphorically, I promise — to get my life back, but I still would prefer it if I never let myself go that far. I don't want to be brutal, disgusting, stained in blood forever; it would have been better if I never met those people, if they just died before they knew me, or if I stayed quiet. But if I just went along with what they wanted, I probably would have killed my sense of self anyway. At the very least, I can say I'm still alive. So you're right. But maybe I can make some sort of amends here, prove I'm worth something."
"...I probably shouldn't be saying this, I'm already rambling and you might hate me after, but I used to work for Urbanshade. I was a prisoner still, sure, but they wanted me on their side as their engineer-in-the-dark all because I'm 'gifted'. I only ever agreed to build things for them because I wanted to prove myself, I didn't want to rot in some cell. But that was childish and selfish too, maybe. Sorry."
- "Smiley" anon
“Look, I get it-”
He sighed quietly, shaking his head.
“I would’ve done the same thing in your situation- the world is harsh, and sometimes you just gotta do whatever it takes to make it to the end of each day alive. I can’t be mad at you for doing what you felt needed to be done in order to live, and-“
Sebastian paused, taking a moment to collect his thoughts before he resumed speaking.
“I don’t know you. At least, not all that well. But, from what little I’ve learned, I do know that you’re doing the best you can, and that’s something I can respect. We’re all just trying to make it outta here alive as best we can, yeah..?”