"
Was this to be their future together? Crisscrossing back and forth through time, she becoming his mother if he reverted and then he her father once more if at the end of this, her second life, if she started the process again?
"
I've read this concept before - in a sci-fi setting, with cybernetics and 'consciousness transfers'. There was not a jot of life in God from open to fin. I much prefer your take.

The ruminations on the natures sin, life, death, aging, and God - among a host of others - are both a weight that slows the pace and a measuring stick for the progress of the characters.

I'm hoping you've continued to write and I'll PM on the JIC that you don't read your reviews. Regardless of anything else, I've thoroughly enjoyed your exploration and perspectives. Thank you so much for sharing your time and your talent.

I love how Robert notes the uniqueness of his lovers eyes even as he gives her - and himself - a small measure of 'common decency' by closing those eyes in death.
I'm trying very hard not to wish horrific things upon the jackals, even as the mountain of wickedness piles ever higher upon their masters soul.

Whew!
Definitely worked better than expected.

I would like to say that it is completely bizarre to involve God in any of this. However, one only needs to look to history to see that these actions are not but a drop in the bloody ocean of horrific crimes done with religious justifications.

I'm blown away by the sheer, terrifying uncertainty at this point.

Yeah, seriously terrifying stuff.
I was almost convinced that they'd kill the puppy, or have Tiago do it. I'm still quite confused about that whole thing. I like how you are weaving threads together, but I would have never been able to read this as it was released!

The torture scenes were devastating. The worst part of all is that the only thing fictional are the names.

Lovely... and terrifying, especially if he's got a fork or a knife in there :(

Beautiful.

Oofff... gut punch. Loving these characters!

Terrifying.

Uhmmm... is the czar fucking stupid? Like, Crazy Stupid? Or, did he just hire apes in suits? How will an obvious HIT - not a murder, but a full-on HIT - make things... aww, hell, nm. This is just nuts. I'll keep reading, but that was epic-level stupidity.

Scary mo-fo... I wonder if you'll let Robert off as easy as Ethan?

Definitely getting more complicated. The religious discussion is intriguing, showing some depth to various characters.

"
And then, quite unexpectedly, she realized that what she saw had been there all along. The closeness, the tenderness she saw in their eyes; how could she have been so blind? Seeing the affection shared between them suddenly made her heart swell.
"
Oh, thank God, I was afraid that jealousy would rear her ugly head.

"
Robert thought about it. "I really don't know, but don't jump to any conclusions yet. I'll see you shortly."
"
I'm glad you're keeping Robert so consistently non-assumptive.

I am a little surprised that they didn't let her go home and do a snatch-and-grab in the middle of the night. I guess they are trying to herd her into Dr. Howard's 'care'.

Sally is going to have so much to adjust to! The fact that she'll soon be young enough that, instead of calling Ethan 'son', she'll be young enough to be his daughter is going to be devastating.