You have one unheard message

[empress_without_a_throne]

[1]

[What's this?  A sound-only transmission coming from a PROGTECH base?  That's kinda odd...]

Hey... you there?  Solaris hasn't ducked out from helping the Unity Group, right?

[Wait.]

Sara?  Sara is that you?!?

Good to finally hear your voice too, Mizuki.  After what I've been through... well, it's nice talking to a being of darkness that isn't pure evil and all that.  For that matter, one with some brains.  I'm sorry for making you worry though... it's quite a story to tell  and I'm not exactly in any condition to tell it just yet.  I'll do what I can to see you soon though, or maybe you guys can drop by for a visit or just whatever.

We can do that... we can definitely do that!  Sara, after what happened-

I know.  But it's over now.  And it's good to be back.  Don't suppose you could get me in touch with some of the other people here though?  I'm sure they'd like to hear from me too.

[2]

[After Keep Away]



[The DuskBird's in bad shape when it finally arrives back at Sakihama.  It's still mostly there, just... lacking a sense of structure.  Joints.  Like parts of itself just coil up together under its own weight.  And Mizuki herself...?  Well-]

WHAM!

[... She just sent her first into a metal door and left a bulging dent.]

She actually...

She was better than this.  She knew better than this!  She saw all through her childhood battles and sacrifices and...

... And what comes afterrwards...

Comments

[brought_it_back]

...Your primary goal is still the destruction of the enemy, though.

...Right?

[empress_without_a_throne]

No. My goal is to prevent the likes of the Indalph and similar threats from endangering the Earth Sphee. Destroying them just happens to be the best way of dealing with them.

[brought_it_back]

...I don't...get that.

[empress_without_a_throne]

What I mean is that I'm not going to feel cheated if a group like the Indalph collectively died from mass heart failure. They're just another threat to Earth, and I won't dignify their existence by adding some sort of poetic rivalry to them.

[brought_it_back]

...No, it's not a rivalry...

...It's hard to explain, but...I don't think I can do what you're trying to do.

[empress_without_a_throne]

Are you speaking in regards to the Indalph or some other organization?

[brought_it_back]

In general...I'm not sure how to explain it...

...I'm not 'someone who saves people'. I'm someone who kills.

[empress_without_a_throne]

And whats the purpose driving you when you take a life? Is it the desire to just end a life for your own personal satisfaction, or can you put a greater meaning behind doing so?

[brought_it_back]

It depends...

Now, it is to protect mankind's existence. When I was in the HIDTA, it was to halt the flow of illegal drugs and to capture violent gangsters...

I can't do that sort of thing without killing.

[empress_without_a_throne]

HIDTA?

[brought_it_back]

High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. It is a US government program to stop the flow of illegal drugs, and refers to the places that program covers.

[empress_without_a_throne]

Try putting faces to the populations you do these sorts of things for then. They shouldn't just be faceless masses to you.

It would probably do your social life some good too, considering how your skills with that are.

[brought_it_back]

...I'd rather protect people I can't see.

...They're easier to like that way...

[empress_without_a_throne]

Maybe so. Never had that problem myself... it would take an exceptionally disgusting individual to be worse than I would've been if I'd been fully formed right out of the box.

Besides, if they weren't worth protecting, you wouldn't be doing this, would you?

[brought_it_back]

That is...not my place to judge.

[empress_without_a_throne]

You can't judge yourself?

[brought_it_back]

I can, but...whether my cause is right or wrong, that's not my place to question.

[empress_without_a_throne]

Another thing that separates us then... I guess having first-hand experience of something like the Great Black Void gave me a good reference sheet when it came to check the morality of individuals.

[brought_it_back]

...Sorry.