"It... yeah," they say. "It was." They're quiet for a long moment, unsure if they should explain more, but after everything that Soldat's told them about themself, they owe them honesty, don't they?

"The thing is... their minds are still around. Not-- not back home. They're dead back home. But they were-- god, how do I explain this? They were beta-testing a virtual reality game my aunt was developing. So when their bodies died, their minds stayed in the computer. Ghosts in the machine. But... they're still legally dead. Their real, original bodies are dead. In real day to day life, they're dead. But they're not. It's-- almost harder that way. At least with Mama..." They glance at Soldat. "The first time I was orphaned I was almost four," they explain. "She got sick. That's how my dads got me in the first place."