Good. I never want to seem as if I don't care again.

[...Right, this one's just arrived, he wouldn't know. Maybe it's best he doesn't.]

That's...a difficult story to tell, I apologize. Never mind that - the situation may seem grim, but we've made incredible progress. We seem to be finding more at an incredible pace.

[Even if it tends to be more...horrific, the further they go on.]

It will be. It may seem worse, but it will be. The town hall - we can change things there, I think. But we must reach it.

[He feels like he won't make it, right now, like at any moment his legs and his everything will give out on him. But he's going to keep repeating that to people who need to know. Maybe if he says it enough, it won't happen - or he'll inspire someone else to make it instead.]

It's where...I think some kind of control system is.

[Don't ask how he knows what to call it. It's a very long story.]

It's where the people went to protest so long ago, when the administration system was put into place. If there is nothing to change things, then there are answers there, and we might be able to use them.

Of course. The more informed we are, the more effectively we can act. Knowledge is always power.

[Whether or not it's worth it is a discussion he'd rather not get into. He'd give up everything they learned about the cult in a heartbeat if it meant never going through what he just got out of.]

Exactly...without it we wouldn't have a direction to go, much less any idea of what waits for us.

[He lapses into an uneasy silence - he's desperate to be useful, to do good after what he'd been made to do, made into. He's not sure what he can offer - what advice hasn't been summed up in a guide or given by someone else, and the rest requires travel...he isn't sure how well he can hold together right now.]

That's-

[It's clear he wasn't expecting that; he has no idea how to respond. He's in a state where he's not sure he deserves such an offer. How could someone who can be made into what the cult made him into with such little comparative change make such a good first impression anyway? How did he ever, something in the very back of his mind wonders.]

That's kind of you. You should focus on finding your footing here.

For this place, it can mean more than you know.

[His voice trails off, softer and softer at the end. He's not sure how he could ever begin to talk about this place but just having the option...]

Likewise, I've been here from the start. If you need any help navigating and the map isn't enough, I can help you with landmarks. Or...with anything regarding this town. I'll help to the best of my ability.