[b]Palace of the Blachrenae, Renovation[/b]

In his quarters, the white-haired researcher worked tirelessly. By all accounts, he should have been sleeping. It was certainly late enough, and any sane person definitely would be. But the truth was, Cain didn't sleep, not [i]really[/i]. He dozed or napped for thirty or forty minutes at a time on occasion but, otherwise he always seemed to be awake at all hours of the night and day. In the room itself, a half-drunk cup of coffee sat on the edge of a desk, some papers spread out up on it. But more noteworthy was the big tome opened up and sitting a top the papers. In this tome, Cain was writing something. The tome itself wasn't at all like any of his research or files. The contents of it was known only to the man himself, kept secret even from the Emperor. It was personal, according to Cain, so most just assumed it was his memoirs or something.

A knock on the door interrupted the man from his thoughts and he looked up in the door's direction, "It's open." he announced, so that the person could let themselves in without him having to get up. It was Tocsax, looking rather shaken and not at all as he should be. He had reservations about the Keyblade Wielders being summoned. He'd never say it aloud, but Cain did as well. They sounded like decent enough assets, but they could all just as easily become liabilities in their own varying ways. That was something Cain was never comfortable with, insisting on keeping the strategy under control at all times, specifically under [i]his[/i] control.

"Mmm..." he murmured, not having looked up from his writing yet. But then Tocsax said something else. The Palace would soon be assaulted, by [i]him[/i] no less. Well, Cain certainly wouldn't put it past the man to pull something like that, even if it was so he could gloat about his impending victory. Still, such a prospect in combination with a team that the both of them were unsure about? Certainly not the most optimal scenario. Why did Cain get a sinking feeling that he would have no choice but get directly involved? He didn't exactly care for the prospect, but...

[i]"...you know what Replicas are, right?"[/i]

His thoughts interrupted again, but this time by something rather unexpected.

[i]"I need to know the secret of restoring one that has already been destroyed - I want "No, I", back with me, I want him back so very badly..."[/i]

Cain's face remained stoic and expressionless. But his eyes looked to Tocsax with an incredible amount of scrutiny, "You... are aware of what it - ugh - [i]he[/i] did to you? You'd both be drained, fighting over who gets to be the one that exists. And how exactly would that be of any use to us?" of course, his main concern was the practicality and usefulness of this. He didn't seem to have any concern for the emotional baggage at all. Still, Cain pressed his fingers on the bridge of his nose after pushing up his eyeglasses, "I'm not exactly the person to be asking this. Replicas are not my specialty, you know that." and yet here Tocasx was. He could just as easily have asked Hakim, who would have far more expertise on the subject, unless... "But you asked Hakim already, haven't you? And he declined... is that it?"

It wasn't that Cain was incapable of taking on this project. He had access to all of Hakim's old research notes. It would just be a matter of studying them and Cain could get a grasp on making a functional Replica. It wasn't about whether Cain could do this, though, but rather about whether he [i]would[/i]. Cain had advised against the Replica Program from the start, citing that it would be like them deciding to play God and create life. What purpose would resurrecting the program serve now? Not that he had much room to criticize Hakim. When given the option, Cain supported the research of another instead and... that ended just as badly if not worse.

[@Letter Bee]