[ There's his own sense of relief in seeing her relax a little. And the smile he gives her is a bit tense, but he doesn't hesitate to nod at her initial words.

... Even if he might be lying, and immediately feels guilt swelling within his gut over that. No way can he not hold back on some things, but he won't be holding back on what he can tell her? It's way too fucking complicated right now, so he's just going to focus on making sure she's securely on his back before he stands.

Both hands work to ensure she stays in place as he does, and he gives her a nod. ]

And that's fine. Rest as long as you need.

[ With that, he's going to begin walking. His eyes are carefully glancing around as he does, and it's several minutes into the trip, he finally begins to speak. ]

Put simply... The place we're in is called a Fissure. After we finish exploring and stabilizing it, we're that much closer to fixing everything.

[ Frankly, this is so much easier to talk about, than the mall he was trapped in for a month. ]

We all live and work in a place called Keystone Research Station. Back when I first arrived here, there weren't that many of us. That was a couple of months ago.