"In pictures, yeah." She reaches out her fingers towards the spores, not quite touching. "But it feels like such an impossible fairy tale to me, you know? A whole world that was just. Good." She drops her hand, sadly. "And then we ruined it."

The planet turns brown and dull and then blows away in a nonexistent breeze. "We wish we could have met bugs from there. We would have exchanged so many stories."

"So you see where we're coming from, asking how humans can benefit the planet."

“I do. It’s a very fair question. Though I also see that instead of asking you’ve just put me down here and gone ‘Now what will you do?’ So, clearly you want more than just words.”

"Smart engineer. Mr. Knives says it all the time, humans lie. We don't think we've ever seen either of the twins lie—well, Stampede sometimes, but not when it counted—and we've had them bugged for a while. Oh, that one's good, we'll use it again."

She giggles a little.

"It was pretty good, well done. Yes, we do, so. I understand why you'd skip the step. I'm really not... upset with you about it. It makes sense. And it might not even end in me dying horribly, which is a nice bonus. Though I do think you have royally pissed off both of the twins in the process, so. Good luck with that, I guess?"

"Mr. Knives is always angry. And very bad at emotional regulation! But that makes him predictable." Shrug. "And kinda boring. We're spicing things up a little."

Snort.

"Zash isn't always angry, but I suppose the change might be a bonus to you. Is it just novelty you're after?"

"We always want to learn. Grow. Evolve. Metamorphose. Only the strongest and the best survive. But it'd gotten a little dull before humans arrived. Now you're here! Bringing new ideas and concepts and things we can learn so we can always become better."

"I can respect that. I'm glad that the Fall was good for someone, really."

"Someone. Someones. Your language is not that good at us."

That's when the metal door opens and a bald man in a body-length white coat walks in. He's wearing goggles and has an impressive mustache plus a couple of metal plates attached to his skull.

"Ms. Yvette Marlowe."

“It’s really not, is it,” she agrees. “Sorry on its behalf, I guess.”

Then she turns and looks at the doctor and the warmth she was showing the worms just freezes solid.

“Doctor William Conrad,” she says, because two can play at that game, bitch.

"Master Knives has mentioned I should see to your needs. Come with me." And he turns around without waiting.

"Cheers!" And they explode into worms, again.

“Bye, Zazi,” she says, and then yes then she can follow the absolutely monstrous man who has done terrible things.

There are very many corridors they have to walk through. At first he's silent, but eventually he says, "You wish to ask me questions."

“Do you actually perform human experimentation on child subjects with a horrific survival rate in an effort to make up for your past horrific experimentation.”

"...yes and no. I want humanity to survive. It cannot do so as it is. With my research there will be a way for humans to become as durable and immortal as plants. As independent plants. As the twins."

“Ahuh. And I’m sure you explained this, and the risks involved to the subjects, before you did any of this testing for this grand mission. And got their full and expressed consent, and recompensed their families for their loss if they died.”

"...Morgan Wolfwood the Punisher was an orphan. She has no family. And Rollo the Gale... his family was going to kill him. He was born on a windless day, and they were to sacrifice him so that God would bring them their wind back.

"They all have stories like this. Nowhere to go, no future. I give them a future. As for the losses...

"...they are for the greater good."

“Yeah? And that bit about their healing thing killing them, and then throwing them off to be used like things?”

He shakes his head. "They are my failures. I tried, I tried very hard... to give them access to a gate. To make them more like Master Knives, and Zash the Stampede. But every attempt has ended in failure. I have made them stronger, more able to survive, but never for long. Every avenue of research...

"I don't know if I can save any living humans. I don't know if it was all in vain."

“Mm. And if this greater good of yours never appears, you haven’t done a damn thing to reduce the harm you’ve caused, have you. All or nothing, is it? What an appropriate place to make your lair.”