[The breath that sucks in through his teeth is sharp. Alhaitham stills in the way that prey might still to avoid the gaze of a predator. It isn't Hat Guy that bears down on him, but the unavoidable end of this. The first had been a heat-death Alhaitham had turned away from. The second was the slow agony of suffocation by his own hands. The third would be blood.

Alhaitham's hands curl into fists, until his nails carve into his palms. His shoulders are tense.] Don't mistake my intentions. I don't want the end of this story, either. But how many of these have you been able to turn from their script?