Getting at the level of other people is not something he did often, and he's done it less in this new world where officially no loyalties were declared, nothing sworn to, noone he felt he had to do anything but stand proud to. The few times he had talked to someone this way, it was when a situation had struck him as truly harmless, like sorting things out with an almost blind Peacock. Maybe that's his part of his motivation now, trying more than ever to see Caren as just a young woman who is under his charge as much as anyone else who lived in peace. But mostly he wants to bridge the gap to better give his sympathy, as little as they seem to have in common sometimes.

"A new precedent has been made, yes. But - I don't want to hear about you dying any more. Not another time." Potemkin's words are speeding up, almost on the verge of tripping on top of each other. He's only realizing as he talks that what's driving them is his guilt - in a way, Caren is one of those he's felt this failure towards. But unlike the others, Caren can be talked to.