[Has there ever been.]

[Aubrey, unhelpfully, is staring down at her hands again—at that ring, the finger of which is not lost on Mari. What, has she been brainwashed? She does look ready to cry again, which could go either way—

[—but it pulls at Mari, all the same. And even if Mari is correct, then escalating tensions with her… captors, or whoever Armin and Eren truly are, can only make the situation worse. It’s bad enough Armin knows Mari doesn’t trust him.]

[She’ll hear him out, she decides. Just to see. For context, information.
[But first…]

Aubrey… [Mari’s tone is, though not without an edge, mostly gentle.]

Does what that figure told me make sense to you?

[There’s a pronounced delay.]