[The hand at his face burns. Neil wants to tell Alex to forget it, dismiss everything as the ramblings of a mind off its rocker, but he can't.

He can only answer.]

Things fall apart in the new world.

[New. Old. Terms common in the West, defining past and present. Possibly shaping the future.]

People love and people leave. I shouldn't feel for you this much when that's the way things are. That's asking for trouble. Begging for it.