[ Matt feels absurdly pleased to have made her laugh. To make somebody, anybody happy in this place, no matter how grim or how fleeting that joy may be--it's good. Makes him feel like he's not losing his mind for two seconds. ]

Oh, hell, don't give these people the benefit of the doubt, [ he says amiably. ] At this point, it's just as rational to imagine they're incompetent as it is that they're sinister geniuses and everything's going according to plan.

[ One shoulder lifts in a knife-slight shrug. ]

I did hear something about a "ritual space," though. So either that's here, and they do still need to make preparations, or it's elsewhere and there's something stopping them from just taking us.