Victor stares at the sundae in front of him.

The KT special. Strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, seven different balls of berry flavors, sprinkled over with gold leaf, covered in cream and bedecked with a waterfall of syrup. All told, probably three pounds of luscious, melt-in-your-mouth, top-tier creamy goodness, only a spoon between him and heavenly bliss.

He tries, he really does. Lifts the spoon, angles it in, scoops something out. Stares at it in silence, replaces the scoop. Tries for a bit of whipped cream, maybe? No. Maybe if he mushes some balls together, stirs them up, mixes them until they're indistinguishable…

Victor puts down the spoon. He's not hungry.

***

"Am I a bad person?"

The question spills out and hangs in the air like a stormcloud. Victor isn't even looking at Euna, staring instead at something simultaneously a thousand yards off and inside his head.

"I… I think I did something evil today."

There had to have been another way, right? 

"No, that's a know. Know what I did. Knew I shouldn't do it.

"But.…But I couldn't."

His throat is dry, and he swallows painfully. 

"Couldn't think of a different plan in time. Couldn't figure out what else to do in the two minutes I had. And."

And what? The genius couldn't come up with a better plan? Is that any excuse? Is that the excuse he'll use next time he's in a dangerous situation? Whatever plan he can come up with? No matter who gets hurt?

"And ultimately, it was useless anyway."

No, [i]he[/i] was useless.

That's the sting, isn't it? Commander Warren and the AEGIS union solved the problem. He'd delayed things, yes, but. But they'd have solved it even without him. They'd brought Victoria to heel. They'd have had the resources to contain Prometheus without…

Well, without.

Right?

He's staring at you now, a hunted look in his eyes. "Was… Was there any other way? Could AEGIS have done this on their own? Without me?"

It's a question that damns him either way. But he genuinely doesn't know the answer. Doesn't even know which way he'd like you to answer. But you're a good person. Better than him, certainly. And you've never guided him wrong before.