[There's two answers to this. There aren't two people inside of Mista, pushing two answers forward — but close enough. There are always two parts of Mista, one louder than the other until the second gets louder in turn, but he survives despite this inherent contradiction anyway. Fate versus free will. Fate and free will. When the question is what do you believe in, the answer is always yes.]

[Fate for the big things, free will for the rest of it. And: People in your life, or moments in your history that define you — that's the hand of God giving you a highway marker.]

[For Alex, a car crash. A plane crash. A train crash. And on and on and on, until what?]

[Until this.]

[What if the only way to end Alex's Death was to let it be devoured? No. The hand of fate doesn't work through the Hunger. He refuses to believe that. But if there's a purpose for him being here, then is there—]

[No. No. The sound he makes is practically a snarl, frustrated and tired and grieving at the same time as he knows this isn't the time for him to grieve.]

Because life sucks, Alex. Life's a fucking misery to the people who deserve it the least, some of the time. You think death's an asshole? Life's a bitch. People suffer. People die. It hurts and it doesn't stop hurting, not really.

[He's an optimist. But he's not fucking stupid. He's dumb but he's not stupid.]

So what? You gonna set traps for yourself until everything apologizes to you? You gonna hurt yourself so nothing else can hurt you first? Gonna feel guilty before you can do anything wrong?

Empty fuckin' way to live.