Fugo's mention of a space battle snapped Kai out of his musings on Vieri's prosthetics.
"A battle? This.....Resistance is actually fighting the Doctor's forces?"
He fell silent for a moment, weighing his options and earning a confused blink from Ruby as his side of their shared connection went dead. When Kai spoke again, he sounded as though he was carefully measuring every word that was coming out of his mouth.
"I may not have the full story, but from little I've seen here-" - he shot a pointed look at the ruins of the city - "- and what little I've been able to put together since meeting Ruby...."
He shifted to look Fugo in the eye.
"Where do I sign up?"
Ruby started at that, and actually stopped drooling over the possibilities that Vieri's arm might've presented to rush over and glare at him.
"You're going to fight the Doctor?! What...what about me? I can't fight my family!"
Kai responded by giving her an odd look, his expression unreadable. When he spoke again, his tone was flat, perhaps too much so.
"If it comes to that, and you want to go back....I won't stop you. But, I feel like I have to do this, Ruby. You won't talk me out of it, so don't try."
She huffed, and tried to reach out to him over the network again, only to be bounced back by some of the sturdiest and most intricate firewalls she'd ever seen (not that she had much to go on, but still...!). A look of hurt briefly flickered across her face, her cheery demeanour slipping as the she seemed to realise the implications of what he was saying. Closing her eyes, she stilled and looked oddly calm, and when she did re-open them and speak she was completely serious.
"I understand what you're saying, Kai. I don't want to fight the Doctor, or my family, but....I owe you for helping me, and these people-" - she swept a hand across the rest of the group - "-don't seem bad to me. What they're saying about the Doctor doesn't make sense, but....I can't just up and leave because things are getting hard. The most I can promise you for now is that until I can get both sides of this story, I won't pick a side at all. If you need my help, you'll have it, but I won't attack the Doctor's forces without a good reason."
Kai regarded her silently, seemingly taken aback by the sudden 180 in her personality, before nodding, his voice sounding almost....strained.
"I suppose that's the best I can ask. Thanks."
He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, re-opening his link to the network, and Ruby almost immediately perked up again, her smile returning. Turning to Fugo again, Kai addressed him once more.
"That's that, then. I'd like to offer my aid, if you'll have me. I promise I'll keep Ruby in line in the meantime. The Doctor won't learn about any of this if I have any say in the matter."
Ruby pouted again, but nudged him over the network to concede the point without being obvious about it. Just because there didn't appear to be any traces of bugs or other unwanted extras in her head, didn't mean there'd never be.