[ Puzzling out parts of this place always seemed to make him and Al feel a little better about things- he's not surprised Stephen's the same way. The distraction helps. ]

Right. Except I think maybe they're reversed- the first entity picks the best people to survive in this place, and the other interferes and tries to take away any advantages we had. If I had to guess right now, I'd say the first person is Andromeda and the second is the Prophet. Maybe the Prophet's controlling the Admin in some ways, or maybe the Admin's on the Prophet's side. Either way, I think that's where we're at.