[ Unsurprisingly, Lucina struggles to follow. Even pared down into layman's terms, the words (or the context in which they're used) are a bit beyond her. Her eyes widen a bit with the sheer force of her thinking, as if a train is laying trails around the circumference of her brain and the resulting pressure is making her eyes bug out.

It's difficult not to end up sympathising with this North, once she finishes, uh, parsing. To believe what you feel is real - a fundamental living right, not even limited to human beings - and then be told, no, you're wrong, you're just - an item - it seems cruel. Feels cruel. Thinking that, Lucina isn't sure she can go the other way and put herself in Connor's shoes. Not when he's so sure, so mechanical, so forcefully disallowing the possibility of something other.

So, she's silent for a moment. It's hard to know what to say, or what she wants to say, or if it's better to defer. ]

Perhaps telling her that what she believes to be true is impossible is why she refuses to cooperate.

[ Lucina inhales, drawing in a breath like she's preparing her lungs for an argument. ]

Do you still [ um ] abide by your original programming?