Garrus & Raskolnikov
Raskolnikov
Do you ever wonder how the line between necessary sacrifice and unnecessary loss gets blurred when you’re in the thick of a fight?
Garrus
In battle the line is a line drawn by your squad's survival, not by your gut. If you keep your people alive, it's necessary. If you lose one for no clear gain, then it's a mistake. It's a calculation you make on the fly.
Raskolnikov
You’re saying it’s all about the numbers, but the choice is never just cold math—every “necessary” decision still carries the weight of a soul, even if you think it’s just a tactical move.
Garrus
You're right. Numbers don't erase a life. Every time we make a choice, there's a person behind it, and that responsibility never fades. It just makes the line harder to see, not the decision itself.
Raskolnikov
I think that’s what haunts us – the line stays sharp, but the weight of each crossing grows heavier with every life lost. The decision feels clear, yet the cost never lets us forget.
Garrus
I get that, and it's why we plan so hard. The weight sticks, but the only thing that keeps us moving is knowing the outcome matters more than the pain of the loss. We can't let every soul become a ghost in the battle plan.
Raskolnikov
You think the outcome justifies it, but the ghost of that lost soul never fully leaves your conscience, no matter how precise the plan is. The weight never disappears, just gets buried under a new calculation.
Garrus
I know it never leaves. Every time we move forward, we keep that weight on our shoulders, even if the next decision makes the calculation seem clean. It stays, and it drives us to make better choices next time.