"You want to sever my settlement from the timeline," he said.
"I want to sever this region from the timeline," Chronus said. "Your settlement is within the boundary I've established. That's not incidental, but it's not the primary motivation. The primary motivation is the temporal substrate of this region — the anchor remnant, the specific temporal characteristics that make this location ideal for the working." He looked at Satou. "That your settlement falls within the boundary is a consequence of geographic practicality, not the stated goal."
"But not unwelcome," Satou said.
Chronus considered.
"No," he said. "Not unwelcome."
The honesty of it was its own particular quality. A being who had said several true things in a row, including things that didn't serve its position, and was continuing to say true things because it had decided truth was more valuable than strategic advantage in this specific conversation.
"How complete is it," Satou asked.
