"A birdcage?" Viper looked confused.
Louis thought for a moment, then lowered his voice. "We're all birds trapped in a cage. Any bird that breaks the rules gets disposed of. Only by destroying the cage first can we possibly end this war between humans and Ghouls that's lasted so many years."
"..." The confusion in Viper's eyes remained, but she did not speak right away. She seemed lost in thought.
"Neither the CCG nor the Ghouls are our true enemies..." Louis wanted to say more, but Viper cut him off.
"That's enough..." Much of the suspicion and hostility had faded from Viper's eyes. "Other Ghouls have come here before and said things like that. They invited me to join them."
"As far as I'm concerned, there's no difference between your two sides. If I had to name one, you might care more about Ghouls' lives than the other side does, but that clearly isn't enough. So... my answer is the same."
"I can't gamble with the lives of the other Ghouls in this territory. Until you produce results that give us some hope, we won't change anything for your sake."
That response was understandable. Louis had not expected to persuade Viper to help him right away.
Few people would stake everything they had on such a distant, elusive hope before they were driven into a corner.
Louis had said those things to plant a seed of hope in Viper's heart, while also reducing the chance that she would attack him. After all, a human in Ghoul territory stood out far too much.
Viper withdrew the entire Kagune mask from her face. The killing intent in her eyes had vanished completely. "In light of your contributions to our territory, I won't kill you. But you must leave."
As the dust gradually