[Neither of them are masters at good coping strategies, it would seem. But Markus’ failures in that category are at least of a different kind, granting him a small amount of clarity — enough to see that struggling with oneself, trying to push away the uglier parts so deep, deep down, is only squirreling away the problem and hoping that it doesn’t implode later.]

Why do you have to see it as a battle?

[The old Fitz versus the new. The past versus the present. As if there was a line drawn down the middle, a clean separation when reality was never so neat.]

That corrupted data, it’s a part of who you are now; indicative of experiences that have led up to this moment in time, whether good or bad. You can’t just delete half of yourself, and expect the whole suite to run smoothly. [To utilize the metaphor the best he can; terms familiar and ironic both.]

Maybe you just need to find a balance between the two, Fitz.