[It’s a comforting weight- another person. A reminder that you’re alive... even if other people weren’t. Warm, and safe feeling... just for a while. Beneath Sheryl’s shoulders, Konoha’s large, main set of lungs expand and contract along with her breathing, slow and even, just a half second behind the auxiliary set in her human chest.]

... no, I guess not. Mine isn’t much use to save anyone like that either. I could... I could stop them from starving. But.

[But not save them. Not protect them. Not keep the children they’d promised would be safe alive... and her eyes press painfully closed at the memory, the fire flickering through her lids.]

The one who used to be a kabuki actor? Yeah...

[Could he have helped? Could Gonta? ... No. Gonta wouldn’t be more useful than her, would he? Even as strong as he was... what were any one of them against a world collapsing?]