She stopped and silently turned her head, looking toward the young man at the conference table.
Lynn raised his head and opened his exhausted eyes. It was as though he had aged years in a single instant.
"No matter how little value my life has, I don't want to die. But if the day comes when everyone else can only survive through my sacrifice, I'll accept it calmly. Do you know why ravens exist? I didn't understand before, but after devouring that raven's memories, I learned their purpose."
To arrive before every winter.
To leave before every spring.
To ensure the continuation of this ancient new world, even if it meant giving up everything.
He didn't care about any new world, but he cared about every member of his family, every one of his friends. If keeping this world going was the only way to keep them alive, then he would do it.
"Do you know why that Calamity outside is so determined to find me?"
"Because I'm the last living raven."
"Sir Awen once told me a story. He said we were all fish living beneath the sea. He said that high in the sky, there had always been a benevolent god who protected everything, allowing every fish in the sea to have its own worth. But one day, he suddenly fell asleep, and his nightmares polluted the entire ocean. So fish kept trying to leap out of the water and into the sky, hoping to awaken that god."
"But every fish failed, because they were fish. They couldn't grow feathers or become birds."
"And so they couldn't awaken that god."
Lynn's gaze flickered as he watched Dollhouse, half-hidden in the darkness.
Dollhouse stood there silently.
Suddenly.
Her body trembled.
It was as though his words had abruptly made