Dreamers. Philosophers. Academics. Optimists. All had their head in the clouds one way or another instead of looking at the consequences of their actions. You think 15 steps ahead and you miss the first three in front of you, "And what will you do when they come after our children, Mircea? When they build their iron weapons, when they burn the forests to kill the dryads, we don't repopulate as fast as them, that's their main weapon." Yeah, she would love to dominate the world as her grandparents did, but it just wasn't realistic, and she wasn't going to send people to their deaths without a sure thing.
Memories flooded her that she didn't want, traveling with Lalita to places outside of Sanctuaries or even ones that had fallen before the barriers were refined. Worse. Of wars. Not just Vietnam but others she had been involved in after, during that fuzzy period where here actions were less honorable than Mircea's were now.
"You've seen revolutions? Have you ever seen villages burned by their chemical weapons? A nest destroyed in rage? Have you pulled the bodies from the fire yourself?" Jayati had started to pace but now stopped herself, standing behind the recliner, tense, with her cheeks flush with anger and muscles jumping. Fingers digging into the back of it as they tried not to become claws. All she could see were all of her worst memories happening all over again, and with her sister at the helm.