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Post by Warrior on Oct 17, 2021 15:46:36 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/stQVi94~png " ... "
Faith watches quietly at first, seemingly caught offguard by the scene. As he motions for her to come near, she nods and slowly approaches, taking another glimpse around the room and out the window as she does so before returning her attention to him as she comes within reaching distance.
" Of course! And... sorry for the surprise visit. "
The place felt lonely, but she didn't want to say that, worried that it would sound offensive. He didn't seem remarkably threatening, so it would be a lie to say that her guard was still up in that moment as she looked to the machine that she could only assume was keeping him alive, pointing to it with her chin to acknowledge it as she continued.
" That doesn't look too comfy. "
She hadn't introduced herself yet, but her light-hearted tone and friendly demeanor was enough to indicate that she meant no harm with her statement, despite the device being rather out of place as far as normal standards were concerned.
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Post by Raven8 on Oct 17, 2021 16:09:52 GMT -8
Exa's eyes never blink, and never leave Faith as she makes her way towards him. He makes no motion towards her, but never once stops staring at her intently.
Exa: What you see is the final result of HBD if not fully treated in youth. Many die long before this, but those blessed enough to live into adulthood have much to look forward to.
Exa's eyes finally depart from Faith as he looks down to his hand and slowly makes a fist one finger at a time to demonstrate the movement of his exo-skeleton. It's at this range that Faith would see that his arms and hands are withered and atrophied by years of neglect, making it fairly obvious that the man is actually paralyzed, and only moving via his prosthetics.
Exa: It runs in my family, you know. First comes the pain, breathtaking and enough to make you want to gouge out your own heart....
Exa's eyes slide from his own hand and back to Faith, as his grin widens a bit.
Exa: Ah, but you're not here for stories, are you... Genesis...?
Exa laughs under his breath and relaxes his hand, letting it lay at his side before wincing under the pain of the machine that even now keeps his heart beating.
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Post by Warrior on Oct 17, 2021 16:31:29 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/AfT3qae~png " I'm... so sorry to hear. "
Her expression showed deep sympathy for the condition, but she kept up her kind smile as he went on to address the Navi in her PET. She laughed at the thought of him calling her Genesis, which is what she thought he had meant at first.
" Faith Nymphra, actually. But he's here too... "
She took out her PET and presented it to him, allowing him to see the display and allowing Genesis to view who he'd be speaking with as well from the lens on the front.
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Post by Genesis on Oct 17, 2021 16:33:41 GMT -8
*He was going to maintain silence for a bit longer, as he was aware that Faith was always one for courtesy. He was glad of that of course, as it was better to have courtesy than it was to be lacking of it. But he was fairly certain that if Exa knew of him, then he understood where his point of view laid a long time ago. And for him to come here with Faith meant that either that view changed or something else. He imagined that likewise what reason it was didn't quite matter here.*
"I am here for a story, but not quite one about your current state of being. You have information that I otherwise cannot obtain from the WWW about their upgraded Soul Net."
*He was rather forthright about it, because his mind was racing about another issue that they may have run into here. And if this went poorly then the worst case scenario is that he would still come out of this with no further knowledge on top of possibly making another mistake. Because something wasn't adding up to him, especially after seeing him like this and that he was paralyzed. Something that was dire at that.*
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Post by Raven8 on Oct 17, 2021 17:13:41 GMT -8
Exa's smile widens and his eyes pulse wider at Genesis' words. Soon, the crippled man takes his eyes off of Faith again as he slowly drops his head back to his pillow, revealing metallic prosthetics similar to the ones on his hand running up the sides of his spine.
Exa: Project Alzate... our magnum opus.
Exa laughs under his breath, now staring blankly at the ceiling.
Exa: The name Hikari... what does it mean to you? For many, it's the famed name of the heroes of ages passed. But what weight does such a name actually hold?
From the heroes came many branches of a tree. Some of renown, others of obscurity. My family branched towards the back of this tree, as the genius that my line is known for skipped my father, giving us a family of meager means. It was to this family that I was borne, and upon this family the burden of a child stricken with HBD fell. My family tried to find aid that I might have the life-saving operation to stop the progression of this hellacious disease, but this fickle world had no remaining good-will towards the family that saved it.
Exa turns his head and looks Faith squarely in the eyes before he continues.
Exa: But wasn't I the blessed one?
Exa rests his head again, turning his eyes towards the blackened ceiling.
Exa: Soul Net... I still had my ancestor's plans for it, so I sought to re-build it. It was my life's work, and in this work I soon garnered helpers. Geminus joined me, becoming the head of the OEL to work on the hardware needed, while our dear friend Gate worked on the software. In the end, Alzate was created and embedded into the network as the basis for Soul Net's return. Geminus would eventually attempt to test the power of Soul Net, and pay with his life.
Exa pauses for a moment as he thinks of Geminus, remembering his last moments.
Exa: The smile on that man's face as the life slipped from his eyes. I do so hope to have a similar smile when my moment comes. Gate was more interested in playing with his toy; a little thing that he called "Gamma". And what of me?
Exa's smile widens while he looks on, his eyes now appearing almost devoid of soul as he speaks.
Exa: ...I was busy working in political circles in order to make the installation of our hardware as inconspicuous as possible, and I was also working on the "nebula grey" of this network: an interface between Navis and Human Beings, an interface that I could connect to directly... and broadcast my pain and suffering to our entire collective world.
Exa laughs, spurting a cough before he continues.
Exa: Ah, Genesis... you were one of my most reliable allies for so long. You kept my work below the public's notice and managed to spread my virus across the net while being none the wiser. The only ones that were even slightly threatening to me were the purple one and his invisible friend, but you even managed to keep them busy enough. But all good things must come to an end.
When we made our move on Duo's meteor, Gate betrayed me. He used my virus against me to shut down my cybernetics, and then locked me here as the last of my equipment was moved out. He claimed to have a "better use" for my work, and said that that I was a "mad man". In the end, he intends to keep me alive here until his plans are complete. His punishment for me is to live to see my revenge crumble, and his perfect world take hold.
Exa closes his eyes and laughs again, hacking out a hard cough as he completes.
Exa: Ah, but what else did I expect of something that is nothing more than a code running on a device of human design?
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Post by Warrior on Oct 17, 2021 18:02:20 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/80QKuvL~png " ... "
Faith stayed sympathetic through most of it: the way the world treated him was unfair, there were no two ways about that. While heirs to a legacy should definitely be shown more respect, the real issue she saw was that treatment for his condition existed but was withheld from him, whether he was "blessed" or not.
Every generation was responsible for proving its own merit; accolades of the lineage create expectations for the ones that followed, but don't give them a free pass. That is to say: belonging to that lineage didn't make one "deserving" of anything or entitled to special treatment. The lack of it would certainly show a lack of appreciation, but the root of the issue was that he was a person in need that others overlooked. His family tree only compounded the insult that that already was.
And he was pretty distraught about it already, so rather than focusing in on that, Faith presented the Magno Metal amulet that had been resting on her chest. After the mention of Soul Net, she felt this was a fitting time to ask her question without being too intrusive to the conversation that these two clearly wanted to have.
" I imagine that your new Soul Net was built with this metal in mind, this time around? "
If so, then it likely offered much less protection that she'd thought. But better to be aware of that than oblivious to the fact all this time.
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Post by Genesis on Oct 17, 2021 18:06:33 GMT -8
*The Hikari name... to many it represented the name of heroes who saved the world. But to the world no one would be exalted as such and held upon that pedestal. They would be discarded when they weren't needed to be heroes and only recalled when it was to be used by others. All a hero was at the end of the day was a tool to be used for others until heroism was no longer required. The same was meant of the Hikari line at the end of the day, something it appeared Exa would discover through his relatively short life. He knew of Geminus as well, and it made sense why he wasn't around any longer. He lost his life in the experiments and was all too pleased to do just that, telling him all he needed to know of the mentality possessed by those who wanted to create Project Alzate. The name of the project that had gone unnoticed. Exa and Gate together would help use him to make certain that they could work without notice and see their great dream realized, but those dreams differed from one another. He kept the "purple one" out of the way and eventually he was kept occupied thanks to Embera and Xeel, which left the invisible one to act in the meantime. It was a fitting punishment for someone who wished his suffering upon the world to be forced to witness a world that would be devoid of his suffering.*
"That sounds to me like you would expect the code designed by humans to ultimately betray those very humans. But that is exactly what history tells us about these particular codes."
*Exa at the end of the day was a man who saw them just as he always knew the human refuse did. So it was only fitting for them to be punished accordingly as a result. History would say that these codes designed to run on a device would normally just obey whatever they were programmed to do. That was why the hostile Navis largely belonged to the WWW, who designed them to do exactly their purpose of destroying the very world they lived in. They did so without questioning that cause and often times performed admirably well just the same. Over time, more began to deviate from that loyal design and think for themselves. But this very virus that was created threatened that in its entirely because it served as the "Nebula Gray" to what "Gamma" would otherwise be doing. Where there was a need to monitor the good of the Soul Net, there was no denying the evils of it as well. But to be able to interface with them both and effectively doom the Net and arguably the World as a whole was the kind of dangerous tight-rope that Gate would choose to walk for his ideal world. It was the ultimate deterrent but also the easiest means to always ensure that things operated as he would see fit if the need was required.*
"But I will not deny a sense of empathy in the need to see the world suffer for any injustices it inflicted upon oneself. I ended up such a reliable ally for more than just freedom after all."
*Because if freedom was all that was needed, he could have simply not been licensed and kept his head down. It worked well for quite a large number of them in fact. It was his desire for violence against them that ended up driving him even further when he was met with resistance. To let them know that they were to be tolerated on his terms alone. It drove him so fiercely that he eventually became blind to anyone using him for their merits as a result. And ultimately now, the world was not that far removed from that exact outcome. But what he desired was a world freed of their influence altogether. Even if this Gamma ultimately meant that they could use humanity at their leisure, he would sooner have them weaponize humanity to rid themselves of their presence entirely and exist on their own at long last. That itself could be the only thing that ended up causing the splinter that had formed as it had from the doubts that were foisted upon him now. And it began to make the dread he knew was real now all too clear. Even if this man was devoid of a soul, being able to smile and laugh while suffering was born from more than just the sense of irony one enjoyed. It was because one would have the last laugh, wasn't it? That was what it meant for one who lived with such finality.*
"So rather than die having to see what you loathe most transpire and be released at long last, you will get to go on knowing that the world learned of your suffering as they expire once again in part to one of your most reliable allies. Or am I wrong?"
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Post by Raven8 on Oct 18, 2021 12:49:44 GMT -8
Exa's eyes side over to Faith slowly, looking over the medallion before turning back to the ceiling.
Exa: Ask the esteemed Doctor Regal, he'd know all about that, wouldn't he?
Exa pauses for a moment, staring blankly and vacantly as he does.
Exa: Even the original Soul Net could overcome the limitations of Magno Metal with enough power, we have Gate to thank for your little trinket being worthless. His plan was to harness the power source of Eon, a project that he himself made in the OEL specifically to empower his little science project Gamma, in order to allow Soul Net to overcome any form of shielding. But it still wasn't quite enough. All of that power, yet it still fell short of what we needed. He was the one who came up with the idea of joining Navi kind to soul-net in order to use the power of the net itself as a way to enrich the program, which also opened the door for me to have a more complete revenge.
But I do wonder where you found your keep-sake. Perhaps it's a family heirloom, or a gift from a lover? Or perhaps it was something else entirely? A scientist, mayhaps?
Exa's eyes slide back to Faith, his grin widening as they do.
Exa: Tuttle.... he was under Geminus at the OEL, and aided us in our plans without knowing what he was doing, yet I never trusted that strange little man. Any time he was on a project, bits and pieces would strangely fall apart. He had to have known what we were doing, yet he would also know that none would believe him.
Exa then finally turns his attention to the small screen displaying Genesis, meeting it with a wry smile.
Exa: It's strange where hatred will take us, isn't it? We all feel justified due to what we've seen and experienced, and eventually we learn to trivialize lives as important as our own in the name of our own beliefs. So much irony, so many grand ideals
Exa closes his eyes and turns his head back.
Exa: But I've long since grown beyond such frivolities. I no longer care about any of it. Eventually, I stopped trying to justify my own actions or call it justice. Eventually, even the term "revenge" lost meaning. Now I know the truth; a truth that was stolen from the late Doctor Regal, and lost to the great Doctor Wily long ago; suffering and death are our destination, and we simultaneously fear and rush towards them with abandon. I seek only to lay your desires to rest, and to allow you to see your destination all the sooner.
Exa's eyes close and his grin expands to an uncomfortable, sardonic expanse.
Exa: But you're immortal, aren't you, Genesis? Yes, you have nothing to fear of my words. At least until the net on which you stand crumbles to entropy, and you find yourself unable to do anything about it. If your world continues as you believe, then you will wish yourself to be human, because you will know the pain of "immortality", Genesis. You will know your own "old age" not for years, but for eons, finding yourself more and more limited in capacity, as the processing power of your world slowly withers and dies. Pain will be your partner, and your final eternity will be spent slowly falling down a pit from which you have no hope of escaping. It's in these moments that you'll truly learn to hate humanity, Genesis. Not for whatever trivial thing you've experienced thus far, but for cursing you with the intellect and awareness that you do so love
Exa's eyes open, locking onto the PET before he continues.
Exa: So please; look forward to the day when you will wish yourself to be in my position. Remember the pain that you see before you. For this is all that remains for you. Despite what any may believe, you and your kind are destined not for greatness, but for your own personal hell, and you deny every chance given to save yourselves from it. Congratulations on your superiority; you have earned the right to suffer all the longer.
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Post by Genesis on Oct 18, 2021 15:20:09 GMT -8
*And they had the power source of Eon secured now thanks to Joker. But even that wasn't enough to overcome any form of shielding? Or did it mean that it wasn't enough to meet its ultimate requirements? Enriching the program... so he made it learn? So Gamma wasn't something that simply acted at someone's behest. So the times Gate would respond meant that it was Gamma deciding to speak on its own rather than being programmed to do so. If it was autonomous, rather, possessing of its own will, it made things more complicated out of necessity in the end just for things that would undermine it from within. Something he wouldn't have learned so quickly had he not come here, another feather in Exa's proverbial hat. Hatred truly did drive them to places they would otherwise not find themselves all for the sake of correcting those injustices. In a way, many did pursue the absolute end sooner or made themselves shine brighter because of the end they feared and knew was on the horizon. That was the shackle of those blessed with mortality.*
"Is that right? Cetainly if the world continues as I believe it to, eventually this world will be dust and with it so will we float about in that languishing pit of suffering, given time. ...You are still wrong on a few accounts."
*He was blessed with the opposite of that shackle. The immortality that Exa spoke of. If the world fell to such entropy then indeed, all that would await would be eons of suffering with no way to release yourself from it. An agonizing existence that would continue in part to their superiority. But there was still a point that the Navi Genesis and the Human Exa would always disagree upon. Where Exa eventually gave up on what he saw as trivial in the face of the fact that all things would end, he was grounded on those so-called trivialities because of the very thing that would not end. If he was going to be around for eons, he would not spend them in wallowing in suffering or drowning in regret.*
"Even if that were the case and everything did become hell, it would hardly be a change for me. I have spent my eternity living with my own lack of capacity for as long as I can recall. At one point even I did hate them for the awareness and intellect they cursed me with."
*After all, had they blessed him with that lack of awareness he would have gone blissfully ignorant. He would be no better than those programs who merely execute on demand. That was the existence the Animus Syndicate offered to their works of art. And so he decimated them without remorse. Their existence was worse off being allowed to continue living than to simply fade into obscruity. It wasn't even completely removed from him to be able to forget about his problems as he perpetuated it himself. But this would be when his stoic expression would crack at last to reveal its own smile in the face of the ever grim tidings that were ahead of them. Because if he ever desired that mortal weakness, it would be desiring inferiority after obtaining that superiority. It would simply be foolishness. And because he was long aware of his stance on that due to the very life he had continued to lead. And ultimately because no matter what any would believe, those beliefs diverged one way or another from one another in the end. While Exa's belief in the finality of everything was well-grounded, he had firmly grounded his belief as well. Now it was a matter of seeing which road the world would fall upon.*
"But that faded away. If they had not given it to me, I would not have been aware of the wrongs they continued to commit. I will never hate them for that again, and neither will I hate them for being able to find an end to their suffering by being snuffed out like a candlelight. That is their cross to bear, be it with love, hatred, or indifference. It will never be something that I will wish for, no matter what pain or suffering is in my still unpaved future."
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Post by Raven8 on Oct 18, 2021 15:50:08 GMT -8
Exa's grin widens even farther as he slowly raises his index finger as if to say "one moment", looking past it to Genesis all the while.
Exa: And that's the beauty of it all, Genesis: might and will are powerful, but time erodes all. Continue to believe that you're safe for as long as you like, but you will look around you one day and realize that your world is not as strong as it once was, and from that moment on you'll live my words.
Exa laughs and drops his hand back to his side, closing his eyes as he does so.
Exa: Or.... perhaps the two of you won't even have to wait as long as you think.
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Post by Warrior on Oct 18, 2021 15:52:29 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/80QKuvL~png " ... "
These two were in the thick of it by now, so Faith sat back and let them hash it out. She didn't answer Exa's question concerning where she had acquired the Magno Metal either, but he seemed able to deduce it for himself anyway. The truth was that she had gotten it from Feint, who had gotten it from Tuttle. Since Faith didn't know that to begin with, Exa had at least given her a name and association to walk away with.
That was less important than what was going on now, though. She'd skip her turn to speak this time, letting them go another round on each others beliefs and ideals since her own didn't quite fit into the mix on top of it all.
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Post by Genesis on Oct 18, 2021 16:24:11 GMT -8
*It was why many would say that time was the great equalizer. But it was clear that they were both beyond the point of arguing which of them would be right. For one of them right and wrong was inconsequential and for the other it was occasionally shaky at best on if it mattered or not. One could argue that it meant that Exa's will was quite powerful on its own, but he understood that argument would fall flat just the same.*
"At this point, I would much rather prefer it to come quickly. I have had enough waiting to last any number of lifetimes and enough false security to go with it."
*If the world was as weak as Exa said it was then it would be what it was. Of course if that was going to be the case, it would quite the fitting irony that they served as the catalyst for it. He imagined those dead fools would be quite pleased with the fact that they got the last laugh in the end. It would be a cryptic note to leave on, but they still had obtained vital information as they had set out to do.*
"I'll look forward to the hell that awaits us. Let's go, Faith."
*That cryptic note was something that they couldn't get an answer for no doubt. Even if they had triggered a trap, with no way of knowing what that trap was, it didn't matter whether you knew or not. It would still fulfill its purpose just the same. All they could do now is make their next move and see where the pieces would fall. And whether or not Exa would be alive or dead to discover the very same was not a concern of his. That, and leaving him to rot was a dish that Exa was quite accustomed to by now.*
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Post by Raven8 on Oct 18, 2021 16:36:37 GMT -8
Exa's hand once again rises, with his finger requesting a pause.
Exa: No, my new friends; I don't think you'll be going anywhere today.
Exa laughs under his breath, reclining his head as he does so.
Exa: You see; I've spent several years hacking the machinery in this room with my own bare hands, reprogramming them to connect to the rest of this island. All that I needed to finish the job was a simple system reboot, which you so conveniently provided with that little power surge earlier. I've already opened the locked channels and shut down the elevator system while we were having our chat, and am mere moments from setting the island's self-destruct protocols. There is no way to escape short of a nine-story fall onto the pavement below, so I'm afraid that you're both here until I've had my way.
Exa's eyes then turn to Genesis, taking a long blink before he continues.
Exa: The girl and I will go quick and painlessly. But you? With no return-route back to the net, and the radiation of the Bermuda Maze scrambling the signal? Your backup will be corrupted to the point where you re-spawn on the net proper as a writhing mass of broken data, corrupted beyond the point of repair, yet still confident in the permanence of your immortality.
Exa lets his head fall back to his pillow again, sputtering out another laugh.
Exa: I suppose that I get my smile after all, Geminus....
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Post by Warrior on Oct 18, 2021 19:50:51 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/eD4S6Yz~png " Well... there is one other way to escape. "
Genesis was still jacked in downstairs, communicating through the PET via the wireless signal in the building, but that wasn't what Faith was referring to. She eyed the machine that was keeping Exa alive, then looked back to him in such a way that he'd know exactly what she was implying.
He said he was "mere moments away" from setting off the island's self-destruct sequence -- something they could only assume he'd still need to be alive in order to finish doing. With the state he was in, there were a number of ways she could "adjust" that condition to be more favorable for them, and then they could figure out the elevator problem later, given that they would have plenty of time to do so after the fact.
" ... but I won't. "
They say that the scope of one's character is defined by the magnitude of the problem capable of driving them out of their wits. Whether Faith was exceedingly altruistic or just simply stupid was difficult to plainly see at this point, but there was no questioning where her moral compass pointed on the matter.
The sternness in her eyes may have bluffed her intent before, but in retrospect, it was conviction that painted her expression.
" You're consumed by bitterness, and I can't tell whether it's directed at the humans that neglected you, the Navis that can't share in your plight, or just at Genesis as a result of some personal vendetta. "
In truth, it may have just started as one of those things, but as it continued consuming him, the rest had all just gotten wrapped up in it as well. Who was to say.
" But it wasn't all misplaced. To be frank: you didn't deserve what happened to you as a child. What's become of you since then has been a creature of your own making, though -- delivered by everyone around you. "
The truth probably stung, but it was just that: the truth. That bitterness he clung onto from his youth was what drove his desire for vengeance. It's what led him planning how to bring about that revenge, which led to him working together with Gate, and that led to Gate's betrayal. Fate chose to deliver the punishment of his resentment through other people, and so naturally he would blame them for it all.
She didn't want to sound judgemental about it, but it needed saying nonetheless.
" But by now, I'm sure you're sick of hearing that. You said yourself that plenty of Hikaris went on to be renowned while others faded into obscurity: I suppose this is your chance for renown, given that Genesis will still survive and tell others the legacy you left here -- whether as a corrupted hunk of data or not. Had your original plan been brought to fruition, you'd have had your renown that way instead. "
The world suffering with him through Soul Net; his name only adding to the irony of its fate.
Exa was clearly a lost cause, and anybody could make a clear cut decision about that by now. It wouldn't be hard for anyone to say that he was beyond redemption and move on to what they felt needed being done next. Considering how he described Genesis, and what she herself had witnessed in his less merciful moods, one might even say Genesis was a threat to humanity as well; it didn't take a scholar to notice it.
She had ample opportunity to pull Exa's plug by now. She could have eliminated that threat to society and then left Genesis here on this island to secure another point for humanity's survival, all while saving her own skin in the meantime. She knew full well that either of them had the potential of bringing about a dark future to her world as a whole, and that most other people would remove those imminent dangers just for the sake of assurance, but her poise didn't falter on the matter.
" I'm a believer in second chances, though. Thirds, fourths, fifths; however many it takes. To have been able to achieve what have through the limitations set on you by HBD -- becoming the president of Electopia, rebuilding SoulNet, even sabotaging this island's network from a proverbial deathbed -- it takes more ambition than most. It isn't too late for you to leave a positive legacy. "
She was betting her life on that notion resonating with him.
" You said that Gate believed you were a mad man. I believe you're better than that. "
And so her elongated spill finally came to an end, the summation of her dialogue coming in a final statement: an ultimatum that she could have averted in a more forceful way had her virtue not prevented her from doing it.
" This is where you prove one of us wrong. Let us go, Exa. "
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Post by Raven8 on Oct 18, 2021 20:06:36 GMT -8
Exa remains silent through Faith's response to his actions, and for several moments after... all the while, his hands are obviously working on something beneath the machine connected to his chest.
Exa: ...and now you're my trusted ally too.
Exa's head flops to the side, still smiling as his eyes open to Faith again.
Exa: You're just like my "cousin", who thought herself so great and espoused her name like a flag. She didn't survive Geminus' experiments, but at least her end was swift.
Exa's head rolls back, his eyes closing again in contentment.
Exa: You see, young lady, you're right. I'll admit that everything that you've said is right, and all that I'm doing is dreadfully wrong. But I simply don't care. You have no idea what you've unleashed this day, and when the two of you die, none will know. Really, I'm killing so many more than you realize, and I am free to say it to you because you're now my most trusted accomplice.
Welcome to World 3, Faith.
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