[ They're not, though. They're not the same. Even setting aside the fact that these doppelgangers are just this place's idea of a sick joke, superimposing old memories onto some animated husk -- Gen doesn't consider that young version of himself the same as him, as he is now. Especially f his guess about that version of him being from before things happened is correct.

His gaze lingers on the frozen cityscape around them for a moment longer before sliding back down to Dokja. And while the look he fixes on Dokja is cold with disdain, there's also something deeply bitter and melancholy prickling through their connection when he gives a humorless smirk. ]

That one is still worth treating like a normal person, isn't it.

[ It's not like he disagrees. Back then, back before everything happened, he'd still had some redeeming features, even if he'd been made wrong from the outset.

Some of that aggression that had been crackling in the air around them subsides, though it's not because he trusts Dokja any more than before. It's simply that this subject is exhausting in every way, and ... a look at Dokja's eyes is more than enough to tell him that Dokja isn't going to make this easy. Stupid fuck. ]

... ten minutes. [ He doesn't back off at all, simply speaking at a chilly deadpan where he stands right above Dokja. ] Ten minutes. Do what you want, and I won't interfere. But if this isn't solved by then, you stay out of my way.

[ This seems the quicker solution. In ten minutes, he'll kill it. Then it'll be over. ]