Laura chuckled softly, yet the still tail and ears betrayed the lack of any genuine amusement. She had been wrong, there was a small measure of growth there. Not enough, but Liana had just invited her to fix that, with the only set of tools she had ever received or been taught. "It is impressive to me how you can spend so many years working together with me, living in the same place as me and still fail to grasp even the basic things about me and who I am." She shook her head with closed eyes, showing her disappointment.
"Your misconception about my subtlety aside, despite rejecting everything about Maake you're still at your core the spoiled brat of a Gifted every single one of your ilk was. But as you want, I'll play along to your demands you have no right to demand. Just this once, to see if you'll ever be worth anything other than contempt and pity, despite all that you already owe me. A debt that you'll never repay, even without taking this kindness to account." And wouldn't Liana just hate this being called that. But it was the only way Laura knew how to try to help the wreck in front of her.
Her tail rose from its lax position to point at Liana while she stretched her arms. "How can you even be so blind as to miss even the basic facts about the organization you've been in for past half a decade, the group you renounced everything for after their botched indoctrination that left you with less personality than bioroids and drones - that's true by the way, I've honestly seen bioroids and drones with more personality than what you had when we met. Wanting to fuck your crush is not a personality. - Anyway, have you been so busy thinking with your lower half all this time that even the basic facts escape your lustful eyes: Just because the man you had a crush on is gone doesn't mean that the organization is dead and buried."
Laura's mocking laughter echoed in the hallway, her entire body shaking as she laughed. "There definitely are some growing pains, maybe even a power struggle, but the organization is not gone just because its head died. No, nothing really changed that day. It's still the same it was under your precious crush. A sham of an organization, its very goal that it strives for every single day an impossibility and a fool's dream."
For once, Laura's attention was wholly focused on Liana, her eyes boring into Liana's like they were willing every single word deep into Liana's core. Whether Liana attempted to interrupt or not, Laura had raised a hand to halt it, those eyes holding a promise in their depths that she would regret it if she tried that course of action. "I left, because I could not stomach being in that failed company any longer, and you had become... something resembling a person, if you squint. The only people still in Shadow Mirror are fools like you who genuinely believe in a dream that can never be, and people who know but just enjoy the carnage and chaos they get to cause while striving for it. The latter at least can be respected because they don't delude themselves unlike the former. But not to worry, I'll explain just why the dream and goal that you, the madman you adored and the organization you mistakenly believe to be shattered hold so dear to your hearts."
"It is truly a wonder that it even stayed a cohesive group when the proof of the failure of its existence and goal is so blatantly clear in our original home." Slowly, the muscles around Laura's lips twisted them into a grin eerily reminiscent to a shark smelling blood in the water.
"Ah, 'but if only the nations had gotten mass produced Bioroids to act as their armies it would surely have worked!'" She mimed with a frantic high pitched voice. "Wrong. Bioroids make absolutely no difference. Constant, worldwide warfare will chip away at any 'rules of engagements', not that those have ever held much value quickly. And even before those are gone, the warfare will at no point be restricted to just Bioroids smashing on Bioroids in mass produced suits because that's not how you win a war you idiot. They will strike at the infrastructure, the roads and the factories will be destroyed. The civilian population will be terrorized and become casualties with bombing runs and personnel in important positions of power that are holding the nation and military efforts together will be terminated because that is how you're going to win the war with much less cost than smashing action figures against one another!" The voice held a sharpness to it that demanded that the words be heard.
Laura rolled her eyes, and waved one of her hands dismissively. "And that all is before taking aliens into account. Advancing humanity sure sounds dandy and all until you realize that after years, decades or maybe even centuries of constant fighting there won't be any cooperation or trust against external threats. Or did you already forget just how stellar the cooperation and teamwork against the Crawling Dark was in our home?"
"If all that sounds perfectly fine and acceptable, or if you're in denial about the way things are, scurry back to them. If you left for such a halfhearted reason that you think that your crush dying meant the end of the group he formed over the years scurry back to them with the tail between your legs. The insane dystopian dream he held is still there, at least for as long as the lieutenants he placed in high positions are there. Or prove that caring for you wasn't a mistake and a waste of time and effort all this time, and leave them behind for good with genuine conviction."
Finally, Laura's features softened. The expression was horribly awkward, the facial muscles clearly unaccustomed to even attempt it, if they had ever before attempted it. But against all odds there was a ... kind expression on her face, even if it only barely was recognizable as such. and while some of the sharpness was still there in the voice, it had been softened with a similar kindness. Though deep inside she was still wary and ready to respond to any aggressive moves. "If you are ready to leave them behind why are you even here, fighting? You at least have a knowledge of peace, even if it was a false one, deep inside you. Fighting is not your only option, so why are you fighting? Find a reason for what you do, and stop looking to others for answers to everything like a lost duckling."