After a few minutes of lingering silence, Orel lit a third cigarette, seemingly not intending to stop until their long conversation had come to its logical conclusion.
"Adam, what I've told you isn't particularly rare, but I wouldn't call it commonplace," Orel glanced at Silvana, then turned back to Adam. "I'd say one in five or seven of the new Phantom/Operator pairs at the Lower Ring ends in the death of the Operator."
Silvana gulped. "That's 20%... But from what I understand it can be avoided right? I mean, if the third girl hadn't insisted, she would've gotten off with a burn and you would've gone looking for the next candidate."
"Not exactly..." Orel lingered, bringing the cigarette to his mouth. "Even if the Operator and the Phantom are doing everything right, it could just be an illusion on the outside. It's unknown until the very last moment what the Phantom or the Operator is actually feeling, but... nothing can hide from the Evolution Tree.
