“They are not things, as you, I’m sure, are well aware. This is nonnegotiable. The ends will never justify the means, no matter how you try to pitch this. Never. They are children.”
This is Alban's response to Rob trying to convince him to use the PSI kids as sacrifice to make a point to the public and to President Grey. Ruby is hearing their conversation and at this point she realizes that Alban is not the bad guy, he created the Children's League out of good reason but was manipulated by the people around him. He still sees them as children and not as weapons as Ruby believed previously.
"I saw the girl’s face, saw her lips move to beg for mercy, and the way the Dumpster had rattled when Rob had thrown her body into it. And by the end, I would wake up feeling sick, not just for the loss of life, but because it had felt like I had killed them myself. Talk about knowing someone’s shadow—try being his shadow."
Ruby finally explains how it feels like to enter someone else's mind. She becomes them and is haunted by the images long after. It is a price she has to pay for what she can do. The images she sees are bound to make a mark and it is no wonder that the more she lets her power control her the more she feels like the monsters whose minds she invades.
“Do you know what he is?” “What do you mean, what he is?” Andy said, turning slightly. “He’s my grandson, that’s what he is!”
Ruby and Jude are rescued from a no way out situation by a bus driver. It is a turning point for Ruby as she realizes that not everyone is their enemy; there are still people left who are willing to help them. At this point, Ruby realizes what her true mission is.
"It hit me then, how equally important it was for me to find Cole’s flash drive as it was to find Liam. All along, I had been thinking of it as this little plastic device, not sparing much thought to the value of what was locked inside of it. Finding Liam mattered to me, meant everything to me, but finding Cole’s data…that would help everyone. That had the potential to reunite families, loved ones."
From her conversation with Andy Ruby realized the importance of her mission. She realized the weight that was put onto her and what the outcome might be if she succeed. It is no longer about her or Liam; this is a much bigger picture that could alter the fates of many lives.
