[Oh, and at that, Maridel lets out a gentle chuckle. It's one of solidarity, though—she's not a fan of vast maybes either.]

We were alive, yes, though just barely. And let me assure you, we're of the same mind, Sir Cao Pi. The use of atomic weaponry should be a last resort, and if it again comes time to make that decision, I won't let the opportunity for research go to waste. Not again.

But to be clear: I am not in the business of building weapons of mass destruction. It's merely the only form of defense we've found that has any chance of working. The only other idea I've been able to come up with is opening a new series of portals to ship them off to other worlds, but you can see why I hesitate on that plan, as well. There is no clean solution here, not that I've found.

[And what a horrible wall to hit. She sits back in her chair.]

...I don't yet know what the spirits are, much less where they came from. They arrived years before the World Eaters did, though they began as rare anomalies that never survived long after they were discovered. What gives your friends this impression?