I bet that was hard; they probably didn't want to go, not when they could keep things as they were. They- well, they were probably like Hartman: experimenting, testing things, testing people... It's good that you got them out. [ He doesn't like to imagine what things would be like if they were still in control and Jesse wasn't the Director.

She prods him in the side and he can't quite stop the involuntary twitch reaction as if the prodding motion tickled a little. It makes him smile a little. ]

No, I know that, but just once, I think... I think you should have something that's easy. Everything you've dealt with has been difficult; why can't you have something that isn't, for once?

[ It doesn't matter what he wants and he knows that; things aren't going to suddenly become easy for them just because it's what he wishes for, for her but a little bit for him too. ]

Well, as best as I can tell, he wasn't ready to accept things for what they are. For how they are. He'd never be able to accept that the Dark Presence is real, at least not how he was when I met him. He'd probably even have trouble with Polaris, now that I'm thinking about it. He probably did have trouble with her; maybe that's part of what caused all this.

It's like you said: some people aren't ready to see what's behind the poster.