[He sits with an elbow on his knee, picture dangling from his fingertips.]

He's not the first optimist I've met, but he's one of the only ones who's still alive after all this time. [A pause. That was an awful thing, really, to think about. Vash and Milly really were the only ones he could think about.] I was raised to think that it's survival of the fittest, and to make a choice, even if there are downsides to it, before you don't have any left.

[Sigh.]

And then he comes along and tells me there's always a choice to save everyone, in any situation. But how can I possibly believe that?

[It was one of the biggest issues he's ever grappled with, the idea that everyone can be spared. But even then...]