Chapter114:

Chapter 114 XENOIS *The return is that a fifteen-year-old boy gets to live. That's enough.* Old Xenois fell silent, and I could feel his confusion radiating through our shared consciousness. This was apparently beyond his comprehension—the idea of helping someone purely because it was right, without calculating angles or advantages. *This is what I'm talking about. This new version of you makes decisions based on feelings instead of logic. It's going to get us killed.* *Or maybe it's going to make us actually human. Ever consider that?* *Being human is overrated. Being effective is what matters.* I tuned him out and focused on the briefing, taking notes on the Bennett extraction plan and discussing security protocols for Tommy's transfer. But throughout the meeting, I could feel old Xenois processing everything, trying to understand this new reality where I made decisions based on ethics rather than pure strategic calculation. It was exhausting having him there, constantly commenting,