Truth.
If I can add any "old man" advice, it would be to continue doing your job, those that say they know anything don't, the ones that do aren't talking and don't get involved in a weenus-measuring contest thinking one carrier is superior to the other, THUS we should benefit more than the other in any sort of SLI.
The ones that are still butt-hurt at my airline about our last merger are generally those that were irrationally exuberant. Words like "premium", "ultra premium", "tiers" even as much as the nuances between merger and acquisition gave line pilots certain unrealistic expectations.
"We saved YOU so therefore..." -- sorry Jones but you didn't save squat. You fly airplanes and no one asked your permission or for your blessing in a M&A scenario.
Your "number" is just your position on your companies seniority list.
"I'm number 300 out of 500, I fully expect to be 300 out of 1000 after we merge or I got screwed" -- this type of pilot math basically created expectations that had long-lasting psychological affects on job satisfaction for the rest of their career.
My best advice? Fly, have fun, leave work at work, avoid "groupthink". You don't have control and when/if any SLI is released it is what it is.