She turned fully then, slowly drying her hands on a soft towel, her smile faltering, replaced by an expression of genuine, deep hurt and confusion. "Fantasy?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly, her jade eyes wide, searching his face. "Arthur, how… how can you say that? This is us. This is real. You… you came home. You hugged me!" The last words were almost an accusation, the desperate plea of someone whose carefully constructed reality was being denied. "This is what we could have! What we should have had!"
"What we could have had died a lifetime ago," Arthur replied, his voice hardening, refusing the emotional bait. "This construct, however detailed, however much you wish it were real, is not. You brought my consciousness here against my will. Now, the game is over. Let me go."
