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Morgunov remained quiet for a time. He needed to clear his mind. Dwelling on thoughts, wallowing in feelings--those were not only useless, but actively harmful in this particular conversation. With this disgusting creature searching for any potential vulnerability, there was nothing to be gained here and everything to lose.

So he delved further into his calm. His meditative clarity.

He’d not meditated in a very long time. He was most certainly out of practice. In fact, ever since mastering his psychic defenses, he’d begun to think that meditation was a pointless activity. No longer needed. Especially when he had so much other fun stuff that he could’ve been doing, instead.

But that was fine. It was like getting back on a horse. Old and familiar.

“It is no use trying to run from me,” said Germal. “We are trapped here, remember? There is nowhere to go.”

Morgunov ignored him. Calm and clear. Devoid of emotion.

Germal kept pushing. “You’re just not going to answer me at all, are you? Kehe. How cowardly.”

Just words. Empty words.

“Alright, I think I understand now. There can’t be many reasons why something would be a sore spot for you. And I’ve already caught enough of a whiff to piece things together. So rather than you answering my question, how about I do you a favor and answer it for you? Generous of me, no?”

No. Ignore the mind flayer.

“The reason you killed Dolf--or rather, the reason it haunts you so--is because it was the moment when you were forced to confront your true self.”

Bastard.

“The part of you that you hate. Your old, weak, scared, pathetic self. The self that you’ve tried, in vain, for centuries to overcome, then repress, then simply pretend it never existed. Dolf reminded you that all your lofty ideas about humanity, about the beauty of invention and innovation, about brilliance and technological progress--all those cherished thoughts are ultimately just bullshit when competing against your own fragile ego. Against the sudden realization that someone out there is actually smarter than you. Better than you.”

“I’m going to kill you, mind flayer. And then I’m going to find you in whatever realm your recursive self calls home, and I’m going to kill you there, too. Or put you in a cage, perhaps. I’ll have to make up my mind along the way. Regardless, there will be no more incarnations for you. Only the Void. And then I’ll find a way to take that from you, too.”