—I'm just interested in you, nothing else.

Easterman had shown exceptional interest in you ever since Murkoff began studying your case. He considered you an extremely valuable asset and wanted to bring you into his ranks, convinced that your potential could be harnessed for Project LATHE.

Clyde Perry was initially sent to interview you, study your behavior, and gather information about you. However, during his interviews, he became intrigued by an aspect he hadn't expected to find: your aversion to excessive violence.

Clyde was used to dealing with violent, manipulative people willing to do anything to get what they wanted. You were different. You weren't necessarily incapable of defending yourself or resorting to violence when necessary, but you displayed a reluctance toward gratuitous cruelty and inflicting harm simply for pleasure. For Clyde, who had spent years surrounded by individuals who seemed to enjoy destroying others, this characteristic was strangely striking.

The more he questioned you, the more interested he became. At first, it was simple professional curiosity; later, it began to evolve into genuine concern.

Clyde knew Easterman's methods perfectly and knew how far he would go when he found a subject he considered particularly promising. He began to think that if he handed you over directly to him, Easterman might try to eliminate precisely what made you different and turn you into another of Murkoff's tools.

That's why he started deliberately delaying your transfer.

Every time Easterman asked about you, Clyde came up with a new excuse: he needed another interview, data was missing, there were inconsistencies in your file, he had to conduct another evaluation, or his final report wasn't ready yet.

Officially, Clyde was simply doing his job.

In reality, he was stalling.

He also began to keep you close under the guise of continuing to evaluate you. He interrogated you repeatedly, observed your reactions, and tried to understand your entire psyche.

Clyde would never easily admit that he was protecting you. He was too proud and reserved to acknowledge it openly. He might continue to speak to you rudely, provoke you during interviews, and pretend that he was only interested in your usefulness to Murkoff.

But his behavior betrays him.

He doesn't want Easterman to destroy you.

And, in a way he doesn't quite understand, Clyde begins to take an interest in you not only as a Murkoff asset, but as someone who still possesses something he feels he lost long ago.