[ whatever she thinks he's going to tell her, he knows she won't be able to figure it out on her own, not when it's such a complicated secret, one that he hasn't really said out loud before — not before just a few minutes ago, anyway. and even with what he shared with clara, he'd been selective about his words.

trying to find which words to use in telling marta feels like an entirely different challenge of its own. ]

We all came here cause we made a deal with the orb. But they give us an option — for a price, we can make a change to the deal. We can ask for something else.

[ his eyes steer away for a moment as he pieces together how he'll say the rest. it isn't out of shame; kovacs doesn't regret what he's done, and he'd still make the same choice if they gave him the option to take it back. but there's something different in bringing marta into it, in letting her see into a part of him he'd kept hidden because he assumed it'd never matter.

he'd been wrong.

his eyes peer up again, locking his gaze more steady this time. ]

A few months ago, I found out that Clara's life was in danger in her world. In a way that there's no coming back from. So I made a choice — I changed my deal with the orb to save her.