"Not much of a... of choice either way," he gasped out. "God..." Lucien closed his eyes to try and concentrate, his mind desperately attempting to fight the pain while also wresting with which fate would be worse. 

Suspended animation promised a recovery of his body, but not his mind. Worse, he knew enough from listening to Uncle and Toni that the proposed method of prolonged recovery was not the sure thing it once may have been; in fully stocked and stable hospitals with the proper equipment and trained full time staff, there would be little cause for concern. But in a cavern with a temperamental power supply, lack of personnel to keep an eye on him... His chances were about fifty percent of making it out alive albeit with some memory loss. The other thirty percent promised death, albeit a painless once while he slumbered unawares. And the remaining twenty-ish? His body might be fully healed, but he would lose far more than memories; he could recall Toni arguing theory adamantly with Uncle, because there was a solid chance that patients might come out in a completely vegetative state...

Letting himself be captured? Lucien would have shivered if he could have through the pain. He would become the very nightmare they had all come to fear, and there was the distinct possibility he would be lost to humanity for all time. Worse, he would hunt them. No emotions, no mercy... no love for Cassie. He could have a perfectly healthy body, better even, at the cost of his soul. Still, no matter what Uncle and the other said about Androids, Lucien was sure he would be screaming in insanity, locked within his own mind behind the robot's control. The real question was, did he trust her? Did he trust in her enough that she would be able to recover him and not leave him to live a soulless life? 

The tears didn't stop. "Southwest culvert." It was all he could choke out at first. Then, "At the... processing center... southwest culvert. Leads into the compound. Tried to convince Toni and Uncle towards the end... they said it was too dangerous."

His eyes popped open again to stare deeply into Cassie's, pleading with her. "You can get in through there. I know it. They stopped me from trying, Cassie. But you'll come for me, right? Come... come through the culvert, okay? And... Cassie... if you can't... if you can't bring me back... if you can't break their hold on me... I need to you to... to do it. Yeah? You know?"

Lucien fell to silence, the pain now warring with fear and anxiety at the upcoming capture and the unknown that would follow. "Cassie? It's not fair, Cassie." He was almost petulant as he whispered, "We were supposed to be married, Cassie..."