Vreta was unsurprised to see the agent and ambassador had followed them to the restaurant. If anything, he had expected to see them sooner,  but they had evidently taken the time to dress themselves in the kind of formal clothing Humans seemed to believe was required for locations such as this. Given Freyr’s state on their arrival, the agent in particular had words for him, but he did not reply, nor do much else but acknowledge them with a glance. He was here to talk to Freyr, not to let the two of them distract them and derail their conversation. Fortunately, Freyr did not seem keen on their company either, so she ended up sending them away before Vreta needed to. 

Vreta waited until they were alone once more to continue. “I know. That is why I wanted to get straight to it, rather than beating around the bush. I know this is not a comfortable topic for you, but I do hope to bring solutions, not problems. You are right that my people would need to see some benefit in order for my government to approve the research. But, those benefits do exist, in this case. At least from what I have been told, Cradle death can cause kinds of neurological issues that my people have not had much of a chance to study. Despite all the differences between our bodies, your brains and ours are not too dissimilar, at their core. To carry out this study allows us to learn more about the mind and improve our own medicine. Knowledge itself is a more than sufficient reward to justify the cost of the study. And even beyond that, if we are going to be working closer together to study the Cradle, there is more of a chance than ever that something could happen to a Rothian in the Cradle. I personally have nearly died twice in that damned place.”

The tone in which Vreta had been speaking had been somewhat emotionless while he had been simply giving a list of facts of why his people would benefit from the study. However, his tone became more sympathetic as he continued on beyond the pragmatic reasons. “For me, personally, I do want my people to gain those benefits I just mentioned, of course, but...I do want to help you. That is why the idea came to my mind in the first place. What you have been through is heartbreaking, and I see the possibility that your family might be made whole again. And even more families beyond yours, if the study is successful.”