Brain's heart pounded mightily. He was scared, terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought. The memories of his desperate flight from her reappeared in his mind. In spite of that, he was still able to muster up the courage to face her head-on.
"...is something the matter?"
The ice-cold woman's voice called out, only slightly muffled by the mask she wore.
Doesn't she recognize me? What's this, some kind of game?
The best course of action now should be to pretend he didn’t know her and observe her responses. With that in mind, Brain raised his voice and answered her.
“I’m here because I saw a strange woman on a rooftop. What are you doing in the capital?”
“And why, pray tell, must I answer you? Perhaps you could tell me what a human is doing in this area. Are you the only one who has infiltrated this far?”
His heartbeat sped up and increased in intensity. Although he didn’t know where Climb was, he knew he could not let his eyes leave hers. In order to confuse her, he raised his voice and continued speaking.
"Are you looking for someone else? Not me?"
"And why would I seek you out in particular?"
"This is the second time we've crossed paths. From the start, I've been unable to forget your beautiful face."
Shalltear reached out her hand, and lightly stroked her mask.
"...do you have the wrong person, perhaps?"
Brain was at a loss for words. He wanted to ask if he'd gotten the right person, but he immediately abandoned that idea. It was her. There could be no other.
...so she's saying, I can't be bothered to remember a puny ant?