Ray Palmer wasn’t exactly Oliver’s best friend and it was only partially because of his history with Felicity. There was a wholesomeness to him. It wasn’t that Oliver didn’t trust it; it was more that he didn’t see it ending well for Ray or anyone around him when he lost it. And he would lose it. You didn’t stay long in this world without being at least a little jaded by it all. Even Felicity had had to do terrible things in the name of what was right. More than that, terrible things to prevent abominations.

Still, that didn’t mean he was prepared to leave Ray out in the cold, especially not in a place like this. He wasn’t prepared to leave anyone here, especially not the people he knew.

“We’ll get him out,” he promised. “Any idea why Barry doesn’t have his speed?” Because even if they were what they were told they were - clones - shouldn’t the cloning process have simply duplicated them? The idea that they might be themselves but different didn’t sit well with him. It was too close to those glitches he’d been told about.