Scene #9587: A Heaven For All

Owner	Pose
Angela	"It's so good to see you, Lilian, at least." Argalia says. "I'm sorry for our tardiness but we had to pick up our new friend here along the way." And with that the battle was over. Argalia does pause as Father Berislav conducts his Sermon on the Warehouse, taking a moment to observe him as he speaks. His expression is as benign as ever and curious. As a result, there's a few minutes to recover, recollect, or even remove yourself. Yuri is feeling ... weirdly badass but maybe not so badass as she's willing to approach the Blue Reverberation. Or Lilian Rook for that matter. Kuwaba moves back to clean up the Saint's Warehouse--Argalia hasn't cut anybody in half with a scythe yet and since his secret has been spilled he has to think of what he'll eventually tell the Father. Xiao is resisting her impulse to send her team after Argalia, ultimately looking towards Lilian for her word on the matter. It's likely that the only reason she's not charging him right now is because she already promised the details of the operation to the Director of Trídéag, but the anger and antipathy and, frankly, overall distrust in her eyes is palpable. Greta is looking around as if hoping to see someone. She seems disappointed when she doesn't find who or what she's looking for. "Ah, well..." She laments. "Too bad our other new members couldn't make it. Would be nice if we could show off the full crew!" "I doubt she'd be too happy to see me." Tanya admits. "And we're still recruiting." Argalia adds effortlessly. The Blood Fiend is silent. Out of the other members of Argalia's ensemble, even the one with three heads, she is the only one that seems particularly wary, or even unhappy. She stares at Xiao and, frankly, everyone around her with enough antipathy it's a wonder she's letting the others take the lead. It's wholly undisguised. Is there some threat that's keeping her in line? Or a promise that she doesn't dare risk? "You know," Argalia says. "Since the 'Mad Father' has already put forward his vision for The City," You can hear the scare quotes. "Perhaps this would be a wonderful time for us to talk about our hopes and goals with one another. It would be nice if we could cooperate. After all, I see no reason why we couldn't." "You are feeding people to the Library," Xiao says. "How can any dream that feeds off the poor hungry souls of this City fulfill any dream worth reaching for? Or cooperating with?" "I wouldn't expect you to understand." Argalia laughs gently. "You're a fire in a cave, but your light cannot compare to that of a sun. You can only imagine the possibilities that lie outside your vision. You are noble but...deeply uncurious." "Cluck, cluck!! Neiigh!! Woof!" The three-headed Distortion says. "You said it." Argalia says, patting the indigo paint-stained canine head with his hand, the head drooping in response.
Veronica	"You're a fire in a cave, but your light cannot compare to that of a sun." Veronica walks Baker and Seventh away from the withdrawing R Corp assets, giving up her pursuit. "And you're different?" The EGO folds its arms - Veronica must be doing the same, somewhere inside that brick-and-concrete titan. "I looked up to the Colors as a kid. Who didn't, right? But I did in a big way." She still does, but the tough-guy act has to come first so she won't admit that just now. "But - you're still part of the City's system, just high enough up that the air around you looks clear. How's getting a bunch of your favorite creeps together any different from just starting a new Office? 'Sides not having to worry about the Hana." She makes an open-handed gesture, palm upward as if weighing something. "How're you more like us than like her?" she says, gesturing dismissively at Director Xiao. From her tone, it sounds like she's really interested in the answer - she's willing to give Argalia a chance if he's got something here.
Aika Rosewater	EARLIER Rudolph, desperate, snatches his staff back from Aika, who had absolutely resigned to smacking him with it until either he broke or the staff broke. This rudely interrupted her plan, and then he had the gall to mind blast her too! Sadly for Rudolph she is primed, revved up, and unhappy. And maybe just maybe a bit trying to make a good first impression. This means when Rudolph books it, she's ready to chase-- and that means when a member of the Liu tries to put him down, she's there to partially stop the blow. A bit late; her hand's a mess from catching the intended-to-be-lethal strike, and she grows, crouching down to examine the man's body. Her glove comes off, and she places her hand on the injury, sharing just enough of her regeneration with him to stabilize him-- but not let him regain consciousness. NOW Aika, with Rudolph bound and slung over one of her shoulders, his staff in her other hand, moseys on over to the gathering crowd, post-chaos and post-weird blood stuff. She sure doesn't know Argalia, or, most of everyone else present for that matter, and so she turns to Lilian instead. "Yo. Caught one of their captains. They were gonna put him down like a dog. You want him or can I take him home?" She sounds to be joking, at least. "You are feeding people to the Library," "Oh. It's this kind of party, huh?" A sigh, and she plants the staff down to half-lean on it. "Bad time to ask about Trideag, I bet. If the fighting's all done, I guess I'm a bit lost right now, so don't mind me, I'll try and absorb as much as I can from this. Unless you got somethin' for me to do that won't get in th'way."
Riku Asakura	Ultraman Geed lands nearby Lilian and the new group of people, including a Distortion with three heads, all of them animals. That was weird, but normal as far as distortions go, he guesses. Riku doesn't know who these people are, but they seem friendly with Lilian, and that hopefully means they are friendly to them. Geed shines a bit brightly, his chest gem starting to flash red before the giant becomes less of a giant of light and instead a normal human guy again. He's wearing his Trideag suit and looks like your normal, everyday fixer. If not for the fact that he was a giant a minute ago, you couldn't even guess what he did. 'You are feeding people to the Library,' That gets Riku's attention, to which he looks at the person who said it and then at who he said it. He's not sure how he feels about this, because the people who go to the library know the risks, but it's still sort of a meat grinder. Is what they are doing right..?
Lilian Rook	'It's so good to see you, Lilian, at least.' Lilian has only ever heard Argalia's voice on one occasion, but she isn't liable to forget that day any time soon. "I wish I could say the same." she says, while turning to face him. "But I'm afraid I don't know anything about you at all; only that Petra speaks highly of you, which I know well enough means something polarizing." She doesn't need to feign a neutral disposition. Besides being on-guard, she has no reason to think anything about the Blue Reverberation except based on what she sees before her. 'I'm sorry for our tardiness but we had to pick up our new friend here along the way.' "I understand why you'd be here if it only regarded your inexplicable fascination with Distortions, but that doesn't require you to get involved with a major operation." Lilian says. 'Major operation' feels like it means something more specific when her naked sword still drips rivulets of blood running from the edge. "I'd prefer if we could engage in mutual honesty here. As a friend of . . ." Lilian loses the spirit to say her name, and closes her mouth. "Why do you care about the warehouse? Are you just here to pick targets? For the cargo? Do you have a stake in Liu? The Thumb? The Index? I'll accept any answer." 'You are noble but...deeply uncurious.' "Xiao." Lilian says, with a certain tone. "If you're thinking of your odds if we were all to gang up on the Blue Reverberation, you should instead think of how many men you'd lose in the best case. And for what?"
Odette Raskins	Visibly drained from the battle and all the scrambling, Odette pushes herself back onto her feet with an awkward stagger before righting herself against a nearby lamppost. She'll take any opportunities she can to get a breather, And also because time spent breathing is time spent trying to figure out where to go from here with Argalia on one side and Xiao on the other. Keeping her eyes off of both of them helps a little, but she can still hear them very easily. Veronica's biting words to Xiao make it more awkward for her to even look over there, and Aika's admission is much needed in comparison. "There's still plenty of injured to... Ah. If you see anyone hurt, can you help them get over here? O-or call them out if they can't move?" Grateful for something else to keep her mind on, Odette goes right into triage mode while not-so-subtly trying to keep her head out of the line of verbal fire. Lilian bringing up the potential losses in her fight has Odette standing up just enough to look over at Xiao and shaking her head quickly with wide eyed 'don't' look, too, as though that might help convince her not to get into anything here more than Lilian already would.
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki, also, is feeling quite badass but not quite enough to approach the Blue Reverberation. Not necessarily because of any fear - although that'd be a healthy thing to have - but moreso because she's still on edge in the wake of all of that. Still, he seems like he's only here to /talk/, so as long as it doesn't go past that... But there's tension in the air. A lot of tension. "...We've defintiely already been through enough today," she murmurs to Yuri, from the side. "We shouldn't pick another fight that we don't need to have. Especially with a Color. But..." You are feeding people to the Library. "...Angela..." She whispers under her breath, hands tensing then untensing. Her eyes close and her lips briefly purse, before she contributes only one thing to the conversation from the sidelines, towards Argalia. "If you're here to talk about cooperation and hopes, then you have to make efforts to make the other side understand you. If someone doesn't get it, then do your best to explain it." It sounds self-evident, but she joins in with it anyway; there's probably a few people here who'd want to hear a run-down, anyway.
Father Berislav	Berislav's sermon done, he takes a step towards the edge and walks off of the roof, landing in a crouched kneel and approaching Argalia. "The Library is a means to an end," says Berislav evenly to Xiao. "The same as a sword or a gun. If the people fed to it are the ones who unrepentantly, unrelentingly perpetuate the bloodshed and suffering here, then I see no problem with it until or unless that changes." How're you more like us than like her? "I've heard some things, and from people I trust," says Berislav, to Veronica. Turning to Argalia proper, "But it would help to hear what you have to say directly. Certainly," he continues, hands behind his back as if he weren't shirtless, "It's nice to have someone come with ideas and offers in mind as opposed to delusions or business as usual." "What do you have in mind?"
Angela	Rudolph can be healed up, some of the Liu seem intent on getting in Aika's way but Xiao shakes her head subtly at them and they abandon their efforts. She knows that one already got away, having a second one around isn't going to make things any more problematic later. But this is a problem she'll worry about later. Rudolph doesn't wake up, though, he's still out cold. Argalia's smile tightens when Veronica speaks of looking up to the Colors, but then he opens his eyes settle on her golem arm. "I'm from the Outskirts, you know." He says. "Out there, to hear of The City--they speak of it as a paradise we are locked away from. If you're lucky, you draw a Wing's interest and they bring you in. Though nobody guesses what the Wing will do to you once they have you." Solace pauses in her cleanup work to look to Argalia. Her fists clench tightly but she avoids looking into his eyes. "The Heaven they promise you when you make it to 'Color', they say that you are finally free. You get to take the jobs you choose, for instance, it's not passed down amongst the boundless chains of karma keeping you tied to the systems. But you're right..." His smile relaxes. "It really isn't outside of the system at all. Director Xiao wishes to protect the people of the City, I wish to uplift them. That is the difference." There is a sort of inherent menace to Argalia, not really unlike with Gebura--someone who has had time to grow comfortable with the tools and levers of the City and has mastered them to survive. It hasn't been burned out of him, even if his attitude towards The City has shifted--if only somewhat. The way he speaks of the Wing taking an interest in him is filled with contempt and it doesn't sound like newly appreciated contempt. It's cold and dried out. ''I wish I could say the same.'' "Your fame precedes you more than it does mine." Argalia shakes his head. It doesn't bother him. Conversely, his opinion on Lilian Rook seems to be quite a high one. Really, he seems comfortable with the Outsiders in general. Perhaps because he hopes or believes they represent a departure from the City? ''You should instead think of how many men you'd lose in the best case. And for what?'' Xiao thinks about it. She looks at the Blood Fiend in particular as she thinks about this. Even thinking about it like that, she still seems to consider trading away their lives. "That is the Blood-red Night. A Star of the City who killed thousands before the Black Silence slew her. At least, that was the report." "...There's enough blood here I could fight for weeks." The Blood-red Night says, staring at Odette as she indulges in triage like she's judging--or studying--her work. She's still radiating hostility but she seems to be willing to follow Argalia's lead for whatever reason all the same. "Sounds annoying to deal with." Argalia says. "I think we'd all rather avoid that. Besides, it's a new era." ''We've shouldn't pick another fight that we don't need to have.'' "Y-yeah... No... I think I'm done with fighting today." Yuri agrees with Hibiki and flinches when Hibiki moves to talk to the Color anyway.
Angela	''If someone doesn't get it, then do your best to explain it.'' ''I'd prefer if we could engage in honesty here.'' "Alright." Argalia says. "To answer your question, Director, I was concerned that the Index and Thumb would team up against you and Father Berislav's efforts. Usually, the Fingers do not care to work together but they do occassionally make exceptions and I could see them deciding that between the two of you, they'd find it to be a natural solution. Strangely, the 'Prescripts' going around seem to be intent on preventing the two groups from working together." Argalia nods as he's mulling it over, like someone who caught sight of an interesting curiousity that isn't really relevant to his interests but is colorful and strange. His eyes slant over to Rudolph. "I have no interest in the Warehouse, though this certainly was a way to see who was lurking about making quiet plans of their own. So please be at ease, at least, that we have no intentions of making a move on it." He gives a small nod to Berislav. "I wanted these people to be on the backfoot but not eradicated. That way they'd be desperate enough to go to the Library. Best to let the vermin exterminate themselves rather than endlessly burning out one hive only for two to arise in its place." He looks back to Lilian. "And I hope by gathering the Light into one place, we can gift a heaven for all upon the people of The City like what was promised to my sister and I long ago. Where contrasting ideologies no longer need to be contradictory, where unimaginable paradises can blend amongst one another as we shed the trappings that have been foisted upon us by those too frightened to allow for change." "A billionaire to eat for everyone who wants one!" Greta adds enthusiastically. Tanya palms her face.
Riku Asakura	Riku listens to Argalia speak, revealing what they want from the city, which seems to be familiar to what Labcorp was trying to do. That hits him in the guilt, because he chose to oppose that, and fought for Angela that week. He takes a breath and looks at Lilian again, wondering what her take on this is. He guesses she'll reveal that soon enough, but there were things still weighing on his mind. "Can I ask..." he says to Argalia, "What you want for the city exactly? You're apparently already working with the Library, so what is it that you strive to bring to things here?" he asks, curious to know. It also looks like the blood fiend isn't going to pick a fight, which is good. That seems like a fight nobody wins. 'A billionaire to eat for everyone who wants one!' Riku considers this. While he is mostly against harming others, people who become billionaires are rarely people who deserve his protection. It's hard to come to this conclusion because he tends to be a 'anyone is worth saving' kind of guy. This just causes a funny look to come across his face for a bit before returning to look at Argalia.
Father Berislav	Best to let the vermin exterminate themselves rather than endlessly burning out one hive only for two to arise in its place. "In practice," Berislav says after a thoughtful 'hm,' "Most of those who have gone to the Library have been insufficient to the task of escaping it." "In theory, it's possible for someone to do exactly that. The only concern I have with allowing them to thin themselves out in that... particular way, is the risk of someone more talented escaping and becoming a larger problem." "That's why I've worked towards having them destroy each other directly--something that, with their resources, even depleted as they are, should take long enough for us to make the environment poisonous for any who might want to colonize their old hives. I can only assume that's what Trideag is trying to do, as well--within the bounds of an Association."
Veronica	"Out there, to hear of The City--they speak of it as a paradise we are locked away from... The Heaven they promise you when you make it to 'Color', they say that you are finally free." Baker and Seventh begins to un-manifest, material sloughing away and receding again into the City from which its body is born. The thousand hands surrounding Veronica unfold like a blooming flower, and she steps down from the 'core' to stand on level ground with Argalia. "That's how it all works," she says at last. "Just one more thing, they always say. Come to the City with us, or get a job at the power plant. Work a little harder next year, you'll get that bonus check or that raise. You'll climb another Fixer rank. You'll get promoted to shift supervisor, or Color, and you can finally be free and happy." She rolls her head, cracking her neck in both directions. "The real game's in convincing everybody that it could be themselves making it to the top. I've seen what that can lead to," she says. Privately, she's thinking back to the Storm Syndrome simulations, the way that vision of Firefly Dam tore itself to shreds so it could fit the mold a little better, yielding an inch at a time until nothing remained. "You're right that something's gotta change." At the mention of the Light, Veronica examines her concrete arm. "This power... it should belong to the people. What'll happen, when the Light's all gathered up? The Library's just gonna hand it back out like candy, or something?" A pause. "I'm not giving up my town's share just on faith that it'll work out, I can tell you that much."
Lilian Rook	'Yo. Caught one of their captains. They were gonna put him down like a dog. You want him or can I take him home?' Lilian looks at Aika like an absolute freak. "And . . . do what with him?" she asks, with a certain amount of dread. Joking or not. 'If you're here to talk about cooperation and hopes, then you have to make efforts to make the other side understand you. If someone doesn't get it, then do your best to explain it.' Lilian looks so obviously annoyed that Hibiki is speaking sense that it looks silly. 'I'm from the Outskirts, you know.' Lilian's eyes subtly widen. The entirety of her knowledge of the Outskirts comes from Solace, and yet, still. "That's a hell of a backstory." she says. "Are you certain a Colour should be casually admitting that? Not that I plan to spread it or anything." Her pet theory regarding the Head just keeps gathering steam. 'The Heaven they promise you when you make it to 'Color', they say that you are finally free.' "When you're strong enough to scare the people in charge, they make sure to load you up with intoxicants so that you're a little too comfortable to bother, and more than a little frightened of losing it." says Lilian. It has an air of repetition. A conclusion she drew with Gebura, what feels like a long time ago. 'Your fame precedes you more than it does mine.' "I work hard so that it does." she says, and laughs through her nose. 'That is the Blood-red Night. A Star of the City who killed thousands before the Black Silence slew her. At least, that was the report.' "Then you couldn't pay me enough to fight both of them at the same time just after fighting the Thumb and Index's and R Corp's heaviest hitters." Lilian monotones. "If you want to kill them, plan it and carry it out on your own time. One by one as well. Don't be a reckless opportunist." 'To answer your question, Director, I was concerned that the Index and Thumb would team up against you and Father Berislav's efforts.' 'I wanted these people to be on the backfoot but not eradicated. That way they'd be desperate enough to go to the Library.' Lilian first seems taken aback. Then her expression smooths out, and a cynical, merely implicit smile takes over. She flicks her sword to the side, spattering spare blood onto the asphalt, then sheathes it with her usual excess of speed and style. "Lightly deranged self-interest. That's a surprisingly trustworthy motive." Lilian says first, immediately followed up after an inconsequential second look around. "So you believe that our combined efforts will eventually put so much pressure on the Syndicates that they'll have nowhere to turn but the Library for a decisive advantage. Possibly even others outside the Syndicate. That's very flattering." she says. "And I couldn't be happier if it all went that neatly." "After all, my goal is to take the Head by the throat and crush the life from it before they realize they can't wriggle free. The Wings of the World don't have a monopoly on boiling frogs." 'A billionaire to eat for everyone who wants one!' Lilian blinks. "Do they taste different?" she blurts out, as if she hadn't said anything just a second ago. "I'm genuinely curious."
Odette Raskins	"And for what?" "...There's enough blood here I could fight for weeks." "I think we'd all rather avoid that." Odette holds her breath for a moment to suppress the strained noise that desperately wants to come out. She holds her gaze at the Blood-red Night for a few measured seconds before slowly turning away to get some bandages around another person's wounds with a blood pack on the side to keep them stable. "That's... That's neat! All the more reason there shouldn't be a fight here. Everyone here's already proven they can, so... Right!" She nods once after Lilian and Argalia, holding in another noise of relief so as to not reveal her feelings too much even though her words make it obvious. She's still keeping her feet moving quickly, too, in the hopes that Blood-red might get bored of looking at her. She's really hoping she gets bored of looking at her. "What they said. A lot of annoying fighting, a lot of losses, and for nothing, right? Right." "The Library is a means to an end," "That way they'd be desperate enough to go to the Library." Hearing Berislav and Argalia in relative agreement on how to use the Libray to clean up the City, meanwhile, gives Odette more complicated feelings. On one hand, she's grateful that there's wounded to treat, yet sickened at herself for feeling that at all. On the other hand, she's both relieved that they appear to be in agreement over how to clean up the City, yet distressed at her own inability to come up with something that doesn't involve more deaths. Greta's enthusiastic declaration does get a nervous chuckle out of her, at least. "N-no thanks! I.. Er. I'm okay not eating that, even if the City could really use less of..." She comments, trailing off once Lilian asks about the taste. The EMT's head tilts just a bit to the side as her mouth hangs agape for a few seconds, and then she looks back over at Greta again. She's actually pretty curious about that, too. "unimaginable paradises can blend" "Would they be able to?" Odette eventually musters up the courage to ask. "If there's some versions of that paradise that just can't exist with another, who's going to decide which one gets to stay? Someone from the City, or an outsider, like you or us?""
Hibiki Tachibana	Lilian looks so obviously annoyed that Hibiki is speaking sense that it looks silly. This can't be counted on to happen often, so it should be enjoyed while it lasts. Hibiki doesn't seem to notice at all, which is par for the course. Best to let the vermin exterminate themselves... ...Where contrasting ideologies no longer need to be contradictory, where unimaginable paradises can blend amongst one another... Argalia is so hard to get a read on. On one hand, she doesn't really like when people talk so openly about exterminating anyone else, for any reason, even good ones. On the other, a world where those with opposing ideas can exist side by side... that doesn't sound like a bad thing, if it could /actually/ come around. And stay that way. But when it comes from offering up sacrifices to the Library, gathering the Light that was originally planned to be spread across the City... What does Angela think about all of this, she can't help but wonder... Eventually, she comes out with what's a simple question to Argalia, "...Is that what /your/ paradise looks like? A paradise where all other paradises can become reality?"
Aika Rosewater	"And . . . do what with him?" "He's not my type, so, dunno yet. Half the fun's figuring it out," Aika laughs, before shrugging just a bit. "More seriously I figured either you or our other friends," she says, jerking her one free hand back towards the Watch pile, "Might want to get info out of him about what the hell all just went down. Either way wasn't feeling comfy letting the guy I was throwing down with just get casually carved open from behind. Best case scenario he's willing to defect for his life. Worst case he rots in a cell I guess." Hardly her call. "There's still plenty of injured to..." "Sure, I can go look. You want any injured in any order or am I looking for VIP marks first?" She'll need to put Rudolph away first, but helping the injured out suits her just fine. "Do they taste different?" "You'd be surprised how much your life habits influence your taste." Aika pauses. "I've only bitten people in self-defense, to be clear." "And I hope by gathering the Light into one place, we can gift a heaven for all upon the people of The City like what was promised to my sister and I long ago." "Aren't you worried if you put all of it there that it's going to be used for something else? Maybe even something worse. What if you're not the only one with designs like that? What happens then?"
Angela	''The Library is a means to an end ... If the people fed to it are the ones who unrepentantly, unrelentingly perpetuate the bloodshed or suffering...'' Xiao looks over to Berislav and considers him. She's turning it over, and internally debating. Could the Library be used to cleanse the City of the monsters infesting its streets? As someone who has seen some of the worst The City has to offer, it's more alluring an idea than she'd like to admit. "Some blades are cursed." Xiao says, softly at first then raising her voice. "First, they guide their wielder's hands towards the monstrous, then the guilty, but the blade remains hungry." ''Don't be a reckless opportunist.'' "This is your field, Director, I will follow your lead." Xiao offers in a concilliatory gesture. But she's still tense. ''The risk of someone more talented escaping and becoming a larger problem.'' "I think it is more of a risk that the untalented escape, the desperate--but that is a fair concern." Argalia admits but doesn't clarify the strangeness of a statement like that. "But I suppose that's a risk I'm willing to take. I can always just kill them." ''This power... it should belong to the people.'' Argalia doesn't really know Veronica. He doesn't have that same sort of general contempt of the City for her, but he hasn't really made up his mind on her yet either. "Mm... I am not certain I can give you concrete evidence that it would work out. After all, that would be to presume victory far too in advance, but you need not believe just yet. There's plenty of time before we get to the point where any of us have to decide if the gamble is worth the payout. That being said, nobody will be taking your EGO from you." ''Are you certain a Colour should be casually admitting that.'' Argalia shakes her head. "I can't imagine I won't be marked after today." He says. "My origin makes little difference when I'm already moving against The City. At least--according to those who decide who are moving against The City. It may have been different if I was still operating within their lines." The Blood-red Night doesn't lose interest in Odette. Is she interested in what Odette tastes like? Or is she interested in her work? She doesn't make a move to bite down upon her though the malice seems to be overpowered by study. But the hunger overpowers both. It's a wonder how Argalia is able to keep her from erupting. ''He's not my type.'' "He might be mine. I could take him off your hands too." Argalia says, smoothly, then seems to step out of his smiley little persona to add, "You know where I'd send him." more coldly. ''They make sure to load you up with intoxicants so that you're a little too comfortable to bother.'' "That's why I think we could get along." Argalia tells Lilian. "They haven't had the ability or time to influence your ... diet." ''That's very flattering. And I couldn't be happier if it all went that neatly.'' "Even if it is a little messier than that, if it broadly works--then the rest will be easier to deal with."
Angela	''My goal is to take the Head by the throat and crush the life from it before they realize they can't wriggle free.'' Tanya whistles, impressed that Lilian is just saying that on such a large battlefield. Argalia's smile broadens into something a bit more honest rather than diplomatic. Xion is briefly visibly shocked before her face becomes a mask like she showed up to a DSA meeting and is now hearing about assassination plans from the people she came in with. ''Do they taste different?'' Greta is still enthusiastic and happy as a shark. "Dunno! Never had 'em! But 'ccording to Miss Rita, the more ''justice'' there is in a meal the better the taste! But it makes sense, like kitty over there is saying, they're eating all the good ingredients, having all the good foods--stress can effect the final taste of a meal! I think everybody should get to eat well!" The Blood-red Night licks her lips while watching Odette, though it is a bit performative. ''Would they be able to?'' "Of course." Argalia says. "With the Light, it doesn't have to, strictly, make sense in the way reality as we know it demands. It can just ''work''." ''Is that what your paradise looks like?'' "Oh no... I am not that selfless." Argalia laughs. "But it is my ''dream''--does that make any sense to you?" It seems to be a genuine question of his own. What DOES Angela think about all this? Obviously in the short term, this would be very helpful for her. But is, specifically, Angela's goal compatable with Argalia's? She's probably the one who decides that. ''Aren't you worried if you put al of it there that it's going to be used for something else?'' "Well, if I have to fight for my dream I will fight for it. It's as simple as that." ''Lightly deranged self interest'' Argalia nods to that. He doesn't even pretend to deny it. Of course, it's a little hard to when you have a person with three heads at your side that's neighing and barking periodically through all this.
Riku Asakura	Riku doesn't get an answer to his question, but rather that is telling or if he already answered it before is undecided. He still feels uneasy about sending people to the Library to be bookified, but it does get rid of bad people, too. He's conflicted on this... "I don't know what to think about the Library being used to kill people like this. It doesn't feel right..." he says, wondering what Angela believes in. Maybe he should just ask her, but that would mean going to the Library too and confronting her about what's going on. He already feels bad about fighting them the last time.
Veronica	"That being said, nobody will be taking your EGO from you." Veronica hmphs. "They sure won't be. So gathering Light into the Library means just... letting it do its thing, until it 'grows up'?" "Well, if I have to fight for my dream I will fight for it. It's as simple as that." "Nothin's free in this City. Just stay out the way of our dream while you're at it, ay?" Her tone is borderline jovial. "I don't know what to think about the Library being used to kill people like this. It doesn't feel right..." "How's it any different from doing the work ourselves? Besides gathering up the Light like Argalia wants."
Lilian Rook	'They haven't had the ability or time to influence your ... diet.' "People are always trying to feed me intoxicants." Lilian says, gravely matter-of-fact. A private joke just for her. The reactions to her declaration are about what she expected. Ordinarily, she'd keep it to herself, like she has been rigorously doing so far, but if it comes to the Library becoming a faction of its own, its something she can't quite afford. "Oh don't act like you're surprised." says Lilian, projecting her voice a little more. "Do any of you actually like the way things are? Are any of you seriously so stupid that you can't tell that A B and C have been compromised since forever?" she says. "Look at how L Corp collapsed. Look at this idiotic, murderous mad scramble from the mightiest organizations in the world. Would you like to know what the last Arbiter was dispatched for? The last Beholder? The powers that be are corrupt at best, purposefully infiltrated at worst." That's much easier for her to say than to opine on their inherent evil, and easier to sell as well. "If you think they're listening, you're just as stupid as well. They don't care. They don't have to. The left hand intentionally obscures itself from the right so that even those inside the Head are kept in check for fear of each other." She stops for a breath, then changes tracks. "That's a fact, by the way, not my personal ideology. You all know that I was there for the fall of Lobotomy Corporation. You just don't know what I haven't told you, and you've accepted it's for your own good." She moves her hand to brush her hair away from her face, and traces her scar in the same motion; the old deliberate habit, just like a pro athlete, to invoke the same memory and the same state of mind. "You know why I'm saying it out loud. All of you came here to protect something good; something genuinely pure of heart that none of you had to. If you're somehow spineless and oblivious enough to try and take exception now, then what? You'll find an informant? How? What are you going to tell them? An unverifiable anecdote? Do you think they won't tell you 'we're betting on it'? Do you think they're frightened? And even if it were somehow news to them, more likely than not the information is only going to filter up to the rot inside the Head and be concealed from the people who might be concerned with why the people hate them." "They know I'm not exactly like them. They're right that I'm not a reckless, suicidal ideologue, too. They're fully aware that I was the best of all the options of dealing with the Multiverse. And they don't give a fuck if my grand ambition is to make people stop settling for nothing-- to get them used to what by god-given right they should have as human beings and not animals-- because at the end of the day, they believe that you, all of you, aren't anything but animals, and that your sense of dignity will never in a million years exceed your fear of the whip." She gestures to Berislav. "They don't care for the same reason they don't care about him. The work is fundamentally doomed. Any attempt to criticize the City, to change it for the better, is absorbed by it, and it becomes another part of the system. You've no idea how many times even the dregs of the dregs have smugly told me that. If you believe in him, or you believe in me, then you believe they're wrong, because you if you don't believe we're unworthy of listening to then you know we're saying something true, in words or in actions."
Lilian Rook	Lilian takes another deep breath. This one to cool down, rather than heat up. She's heard the word 'Light' enough times now. "Do you think I'm the only one who's ever said it? They knew how dangerously close L Corp was to succeeding. For the worms inside the heartwood of the Head, feeding off its authority and never facing consequences, this is just business as usual." Her elbow comes to rest on her sword, hand draping over the pommel. Lilian scans the crowd a second time, without any expectation of being surprised. 'Dunno! Never had 'em! But 'ccording to Miss Rita, the more ''justice'' there is in a meal the better the taste!' "Well she's right about that." Lilian says with a weary smile. "You're not going to grow any crops or raise any cattle if a couple of bastard trees are blocking out all the light and sucking up all the nutrients. Your ancient ancestors knew that."
Odette Raskins	"but the blade remains hungry." "They don't care for the same reason they don't care about him." "Father Berislav's a good man. He wouldn't lose sight of who... How to use something like that." Odette states with conviction to Xiao, hesitating only for that brief moment before giving Berislav a little nod of confidence. Lilian's declaration closes up some of those gaps in her confidence, too, and Odette takes a slow look around at the post-battle damage to lock that image into her head on how far the corporations would go. "If we know that they know the score and they know that we know... That should make things easier for us, then, right?" She asks, then quickly corrects herself without skipping a beat. "Straightforward easy, not easy-to-do easy." "the more ''justice'' there is" "stress can effect the final taste" "So that pie could've been awful..." Odette murmurs with a relieved noise, pausing a moment later as she catches onto something else Greta had just said. "Miss Rita does know a lot about food, too, so I guess that makes sense. Still would have to pass, but... Um. Thank you?" "Sure, I can go look. You want any injured in any order or am I looking for VIP marks first?" "Most injured-looking first, please! Thank you, Miss..." Odette pauses to think, realizing this is the first time she's ever worked with Aika, and also the first time they've met. She's also having trouble recalling her name off the bat, vocalizing an awkward 'uh' quietly while having to tilt back a bit just to maintain eye contact, then clearing her throat to try and not draw too much attention to herself. "... A-at this point, there's probably nothing life-threatening, but we can't be too careful." She almost says 'otherwise', but rethinks it rather quickly once she notices that the Blood-red Night hasn't looked away from her once this whole time, and she can't figure out why. Is it the work she's doing? She IS basically surrounding herself with blood willingly, and part of that work involves sometimes reopening wounds to make sure they can be treated properly. Her clothes probably have a baked in stench of blood on them at this point, too, despite her efforts to clean it all up. Whatever it is, it's taking a lot of Odette's willpower to keep the chattering of her teeth to stay inside her skull without opening her mouth while it's going on. Just keep her gaze fixed on the patients, replace blood packs, stitch up and cover any open wounds, and don't think too hard about why the blood-obsessed one is still looking at her. She steals a brief glance at the Blood-red Night to check anyway, and she quickly turn her head forward again. Did she just lick her lips?! She's not about to turn around again to re-check that.
Aika Rosewater	"He might be mine. I could take him off your hands too." "You know where I'd send him." "I'm not throwing the idiot I pulled out of a grinder into a different grinder," Aika frowns, ears angling back and with just a bit of a growl-hiss in her tone. "I know it's a hypocrite's dream to say every twat deserves a chance to do better when I'm saying that holding the one I chose to keep alive in a sea of blood and bodies," she says, not needing to indicate the battlefield they just pulled themselves out of, "But damn man at least try to convince me you're not just sending someone to die mindlessly. I might fall for it." Aika shuffles on over towards Odette, instead, to put Rudolph down where he can be watched. "Most injured-looking first, please!" "Sure thing. Miss... Odette, right? Name's Aika. He's bound, and as long as he doesn't have his staff he shouldn't be too much trouble. Keep an eye on him, I'll go look for anyone else who might be bleeding out right now. Might as well put my energy somewhere that matters." Getting angry at Argalia is pointless. And Lilian's got that plenty covered. She holds on to the staff, for now, because it's something to occupy herself with, twirling it about like it's a toy, and it means he won't wake up and suddenly grab it and make trouble for everyone. Sometimes you just see a stick and you have to pick it up. It's normal.
Lilian Rook	'How's it any different from doing the work ourselves? Besides gathering up the Light like Argalia wants.' "Because the City missed its chance to snuff it out early, and now it's too late to prevent it from growing." Lilian says. "It's unavoidable. The Library will grow into a major faction within District Twelve. Enough to prevent even the Syndicates from taking over. Trídéag is expanding partly to keep exactly that in check, but it's not as if we, Berislav's people included, don't benefit from that thorny barricade as well; because we had the foresight to be here first." "Engaging the Library on our own terms is smart. I admit that I don't have the stomach for it that the Blue Reverberation does. I couldn't knowingly send people to their deaths, however wicked they are. But if the people of the District have a hand in the Library, that's obviously better than none at all." 'If we know that they know the score and they know that we know... That should make things easier for us, then, right? Straightforward easy, not easy-to-do easy.' "They know that Berislav is the gun pointed at their head and that I'm the jaws clamped down on their neck." Lilian says. She chose the colourful language with a concerning lack of gravitas. "Both are utterly ignorable for now, but they'll eventually have to make a choice; because by the time one of us is a big enough problem, we both are, and thus it's 'the lesser of two evils'. They decide whether they can't tolerate the Mad Father bringing people over to put the Wings to the sword, or if what they can't tolerate is Trídéag claiming the hearts and minds of so many people that 'the way things are' suddenly isn't so unquestionable." "Then once they've chosen between the risk of the naked blade from the dark, or the inexorably growing pressure from outside, they're as absorbed into the City as the rest of us. They can be seen and touched like anyone else. The people will decide what to do with them; whether they do it with the Light or not is beyond my concern."
Father Berislav	First, they guide their wielder's hands towards the monstrous, then the guilty, but the blade remains hungry. "And after that hunger has been indulged for so long, it's easier for the wielder to justify," says Berislav with a nod towards Xiao. "I understand your concern, and I appreciate that you've brought it up." "I'm not someone who wields that sword, only someone who benefits from it being wielded for the time being. If the wielder of that sword so much as hungrily glances at an innocent life, I'll destroy it, along with anyone who would tell me that life is spent towards a better future. There are too many people in this place who are too comfortable trading the lives of those people for an unspecified good later on. I won't be one of them, nor will I depend wholly upon it to realize our plans for the City." I can always just kill them. "I don't doubt it," says Berislav. "So could I, and we're not alone in that. The issue is the time spent doing that, versus what else we could be doing, and the time those people would have, between being discovered and being killed, to make war on the people of the City. I've been criticized for giving gardeners of sin their chance to turn away from sin--but even I'm not in the habit of giving them better tools." "Besides," he says, "Desperation is something I'm actively working to kill. To show people that there's a way out of the cycle of exploiter and exploited that doesn't involve dreaming of being the exploiter. I'm much more worried about someone with talent and something to lose from the City's rebirth looking for revenge or a return to their throne of skulls than I am about someone visiting the Library out of desperation." I don't know what to think about the Library being used to kill people like this. Berislav turns to Riku, extends his fist, and points to the knuckles of his pinky and ring fingers. "The martial art I study strikes with these, when it comes to bare hands. I can decide to do things other than kill with my hands. But," he says, gently reaching through space to pull out one of his heavy revolvers, holding it out so that Riku can see, "There are very few situations in which I'd need a 700 grain full-metal-jacketed projectile other than to kill or to maim." "The people who sell these things say that they can be used for self defense, or to protect your loved ones. How do you imagine the average person does that?" he asks. "Do you think that the people who make and sell them really care who they're used on, so long as it isn't on them, or on someone who will reflect badly on them and hurt their business? Even something small, like a .22, will take a life. These are an obscenity by comparison. The pale affectation of beauty in the grips and the polish is meant to comfort and flatter the wielder, even as they're plainly a statement of uncaring, overwhelming force. The person on the other end of these revolvers doesn't care what kind of wood is on the grip--only that they can see their distorted reflection in pitiless silver, shot through with a tiny yet seemingly endless void." "I use them precisely because of how useful they are at inciting terror in people who could stand to be more afraid." Berislav puts the heavy revolver away, stowing it into the burning orange space from whence it came. "The Library is like those revolvers. Good can be done with it, but there's no changing the delivery mechanism."
Father Berislav	If you believe in him, or you believe in me, then you believe they're wrong, because you if you don't believe we're unworthy of listening to then you know we're saying something true, in words or in actions. "They imagined that they'd subsume her, and force me out," agrees Berislav with a nod. "If it were anyone other than Lilian in charge of that Association, then that might be a fear worth feeling. But just as I'm still here, she's still as godly a person as she was when she arrived. The beast has gotten so fat, and so lazy, that it believes nothing can fundamentally threaten it." "By the time it believes otherwise, it'll be too late."
Angela	Xiao feels like Riku is like a raft of sanity in an ocean of whatever this is. She's too formal to jerk a thumb at him and go 'Yeah what he said' and too tense to do more than just incline her head at him, but if she was hesitant to fight the Reverberation Ensemble, she is definitely ill inclined to pick a fight with The Watch, The Reverberation Ensemble, and Trídéag. Xiao certainly has no love of the Head either. She's stronger and more respected than the average Section Director but she isn't the president of the Association. She might be willing to charge into hell, but is she willing to drag her people into it? If duty demanded it, she could, but for something as basic and selfish as her desire for a just world? A better future? She knows how loyal her people are to her. She could get them to march against the Head today if she was that ludicrous about it. She looks to Lilian, studying her expression like she's trying to figure out why Lilian revealed this to her and her own. Lilian didn't strike her as someone reckless. Is she determining that the Reverberation Ensemble's support is more worthwhile than her own? Or perhaps Lilian thinks her fondness for the Director is enough to endure this? Now isn't the time to make any calls. For all she knows, this is just a play to get Argalia to open up more. Lilian Rook, in fact, could just be lying. She might be a Director who can lie. Argalia has no reason to fight against Veronica's 'dream' as of yet so he nods agreeably. "The room for many dreams is the point." Argalia tells Veronica. ''At least try to convince me.'' "Mm... My sister was invoked in exchange for my honesty, I'm afraid." He smiles again. He doesn't seem bothered by Aika choosing otherwise but he also doesn't seem to feel like he actually intended to go along with it either. It's like he was just playing with her. ''He wouldn't lose sight of who... How to use something like that.'' Xiao looks at Berislav, but she doesn't seem entirely convinced. So far, she has focused on her work with Trídéag rather than what seemed like a minor Syndicate. Perhaps she should pay more attention to this man. She is soothed, at least, by Berislav's declaration of shattering the cursed blade once it turns it's attention elsewhere. She gives him a nod. It still feels intolerably risky to her but so long as he understands, she doesn't have to march against him just yet. ''A-at this point'' "You shouldn't show them you're so nervous." The Blood-red Night says, finally, like she sees 'nurse' as some sort of predator that Odette is failing to be. "You're a nurse, you're going to make the patients nervous and intolerable by projecting fear."
Angela	Argalia listens to Berislav. He can't really argue against it but he says, "Even so, my goal involves feeding the Library. If you have ideas to make it ... less 'dangerous' to your goals, i'd be happy to discuss that with you." He's not going to go to war over 'concerns' just yet. "But honestly, if we have to come to conflict periodically, that wouldn't be a bad thing. There's forces besides the Head that are a little more handson with their operations." He nods to poor Rudolph over there. He can't imagine a good fate for him no matter what happens. As Lilian speaks more, the idea that Lilian is just faking to get something out of Argalia fades away from Xiao's mind. The Liu grunts are uneasy but are disciplined enough to not speak up over their Director. The Trídéag folks? ... Well this is the first time they're hearing talk like this out of Lilian too, but it's not really a surprise for them--except perhaps in the timing of it. Pete opens his mouth like he wants to join in but slams his mouth shut as he remembers the time Lilian chastized him over saying stupid shit during the mission against the Stray Dogs. Solace is resolute, she would fight the world if need be. If the head of the village takes actions that burn the village down, then she is ready to burn down with it. But there's sure to be talk afterwards, even if they're quiet now. They listen to Lilian's speech and the world, for a moment, goes quiet. Tears spill from Yuri's eyes as she stares, openmouthed, at the Dame Commander. "Director." Xiao says. "I, too, do not have the stomach to feed people to the Library. Perhaps my heart is not as iron as they say. I understand your reasoning, but this is not a decision I can make on my own. I'll have to discuss it with my people and Director Lowell." She pauses a moment and then admits, "It...pleases me that you think of me as someone you can trust to say this before. Perhaps the Head doesn't care, but my superiors might. It is true, I came here with my people because I wanted to protect something I saw as important and precious." She exhales slowly. "Of course, prying something good out of the City is different than reaching for the whole pie. The Liu are trained to not let their emotions get the better of them, and yet when you speak I feel I've become fire." She extends her hand towards Lilian. "We have been allies, Director, but would you have me as a friend? Are you willing to be someone I can confess my foolish terrors to? And would you see my people taken care of if I were to fall?" She can't just assume it would be too late. She can't just assume it will work. She has too many responsibilities for that. Argalia is staring at Xiao's offer, vaguely frowning for inscrutable reasons. ''Your ancient ancestors knew that.'' "Oh no." Tanya manages. "Woah...The Director agrees with me... I must be a genius..." Greta marvels. "Oh no...." Tanya buries her head in her hands. She's never going to be hearing the end of this. It's all over.
Riku Asakura	'How's it any different from doing the work ourselves? Besides gathering up the Light like Argalia wants.' "Because it's making someone else coat their hands with blood instead of doing what's right. I can't knowingly send people to their deaths.." Then Berislav turns to Riku and explains his position. At first, Riku is quiet, seemingly taking in everything that the Preacher was saying. Then slowly, he speaks up. "You've seen what I can do. When I grow large, the world feels like sand and cardboard to me. I don't want to have a power like that and then be told it's okay to hurt people. It's not how I do things, and that's not why I joined Trideag." "I can't kill people, nor can I send people to their deaths, no matter how wicked they are. I think what needs to happen is the people with power here to be stopped, that's for sure... but I didn't sign up to become another Belial. I won't become my father." "I'm sorry, but that's not how I do things. Ultramen are for protecting people."
Odette Raskins	"Name's Aika." "Odette, mhm! Nice to meet you, Miss Aika." Odette greets Aika with another relieved noise, partially from having her name, and partially from being able to look away from the Blood-red Night a little more easily. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he won't get to snatch that back up anytime soon. Thank you!" She chimes in further, chuckling lightly and looking rather grateful for that aid. She looks over at Rudolph a moment later, just staring right at him to make it clear she knows he's there and not wandering off. Even Rudolph is a welcome distraction at this point from- "You shouldn't show them you're so nervous." -the Blood-red Night, who just narrowly avoids having Odette yelp in terror at being addressed directly. Although it initially feels like her heart is about to leap out of her chest, Odette instead takes a moment to actually parse what she's hearing, and... A lot of the tension bleeds out of her shoulders almost immediately at hearing good advice. "Eh? Oh, right. Hehe, yeah, it's... It's a bad habit, so thanks for the reminder." She replies after a shorter exhale, even turning to the Blood-red Night with a more light-hearted, if still somewhat awkward chuckle. "They know that Berislav is the gun pointed at their head and that I'm the jaws clamped down on their neck." "They imagined that they'd subsume her, and force me out," The EMT inhales sharply as she hears Lilian describing herself and Berislav in such a way, and again at Berislav speaking of his and Lilian's surpassing of the organizations' expectations. Although she doesn't say anything as an actual reply, the look of awe on her face and the quietly uttered "So cool..." makes it clear as day that she's feeling extra motivated now, and that she'd probably jump into anything either of them might direct her towards at this point. She doesn't even notice her grip on her the edge of her medical case tightening until she winces slightly at squeezing it a little too hard, quickly releasing it to wipe her hand on her side. "The more we build this up, the better the City gets, and then it'll go the other way around where everyone'll be too inspired for even the Hand to stop them... Right?"
Lilian Rook	'Director.' §Here it comes.§ 'It...pleases me that you think of me as someone you can trust to say this before.' §You've earned it. But I'm not unprepared for you to waste it.§ 'Perhaps the Head doesn't care, but my superiors might.' §You know better, Xiao.§ 'Of course, prying something good out of the City is different than reaching for the whole pie.' §And this is what it comes down to. I already knew I'd be playing the moderate. I couldn't be the radical without losing myself. Can you see that? What'll it be, 'Iron Lady'?§ 'We have been allies, Director, but would you have me as a friend? Are you willing to be someone I can confess my foolish terrors to? And would you see my people taken care of if I were to fall?' Lilian blinks. Her lips part, her mouth hangs open by a fraction, and then she presses her teeth back together. The urge to look away; to reflexively scan around herself, as if looking for who she could possibly be talking about, is clamped down to the barest flicker of a saccade. Lilian closes and opens her eyes more slowly this time. She only imagines the feeling of contact beneath them. "If 'I believe in anything but this' is the shape of your heart, then you're already my friend." Lilian says. Then she smiles. "I'm surprised you even have to ask." "One; you are responsible to your comrades before anything else. Guard them as they would guard you." "Three; degrade no one who deals with you fairly, and spare no thought to their past." "Ten; your word is unbreakable. Expect that you will be held to it, and do not give it easily." "Twelve; the City's responsibility is to the many; your responsibility is to those it does not choose." "How could I possibly say no?" 'Oh no....' "Shoot them, stab them, eat them; what difference does it make?" says Lilian, this time at Tanya. "If they have to go, they go. Once they're gone, the more you spit and trample on their legacy, the fewer people will try to be them in their absence. If you consider what she's describing to be a gross indignity, then consider it all the better." Then her even-keeled affect, her intent to leave it at that, evapourates. Something else surges upwards from a place deep within her, and she speaks the words that are almost someone else's, and yet paradoxically still belong to her. "It's a fitting end for the men who lord over you like they own you, raising you in pens and passing you through their slaughterhouse. They believe they're above you because they've utterly domesticated you. If their actions make you into a wild beast instead, then it's your god-given mandate to devour them."
Father Berislav	But honestly, if we have to come to conflict periodically, that wouldn't be a bad thing. "It would be," says Berislav with a sigh, "Only because I'd prefer to avoid it altogether. The silver lining, thin as it is, is that it wouldn't be conflict that's bound to end in one of us dying unless you've somehow run out of gardeners of sin to feed it. I'd like to believe that you wouldn't continue to feed it, then. In the interest of transparency, you should know that I am the sort of person who checks." Ultramen are for protecting people. "Riku, isn't it?" Berislav smiles sadly. "I'm afraid that all of us have the power to hurt people, and did even before we're capable of what we are now. That's what it means to have free will. I exercise mine by giving chances to turn from sin, because it's important to me that other people use their free will. That's why I let Lei Heng live--to give him the chance to use his." "I used to believe that people in high places, who get rich from the poverty of those they exploit, would choose to do good if only someone showed them how. But the truth is that they know, and have always known, and just choose not to, and won't--not unless someone wields the same thoughtless, uncaring force against them that they do against their victims. It isn't until their life is in someone else's hands that they understand." Berislav sighs through his nose. "That lesson cost me very, very much to learn. Good people died because I believed that a wicked man would give up even the smallest share of luxury for the benefit of those people. If I've given you the idea that I want you to kill so that you can protect, I don't. In fact, I pray to God that you never need to learn that lesson." "But I have killed the unrepentant, and will again, because I'll gladly give up my seat in Heaven if it means the end of Hell on Earth."
Angela	''It's a bad habit, so thanks for the reminder.'' The Blood-red Night still wants to bite Odette, but reflects on whether she wants a Second Kindred instead of just using her as a bloodbag. Maybe hunger can steady her hand and strengthen her tone. Sometimes people need a bit of a helping hand in that regard. And there is no Blood Fiend in this world that only craves blood. Not even a madwoman such as she. She remembers when she was but a nurse with shaking hands before she was taken and changed. Her neck looks extremely biteable but not now, she tells herself. She's never quite satiated but she is full enough. Besides, there must be something there, or she wouldn't be working with a maniac like Berislav, she thinks, nor would she still be in The City. ''If their actions make you into a wild beast instead, then it's your god-given mandate to devour them.'' Getra loves Lilian! She makes so much sense! Tanya, of course, is also a bit of a wild beast otherwise it wouldn't be showing on her head like that. "Yeah but she's gonna be gloating for months." "Damn right I will, Ga Ha!" Greta cackles. Tanya exhales slowly. "Old lives die hard. If that's the path to strength, I'll make sure my fangs are nice and sharp." ''The Code'' Xiao has a bigger heart than she allows the world to see. And perhaps even a bit softer too. Her face is as stonecold iron as ever. She didn't come by her nickname lightly. ''I'm surprised you even have to ask.'' "I've grown accustomed to a certain breed of formality." Xiao says, a warm heat pulsing behind the iron in her words, shaking Lilian's hand. "You have my word that you will know of our choice before we act on it." Xiao promises Lilian. "If we are to stand with you, we'll have to discuss how to make it work." Then she turns to Argalia and adds, "And if ''this'' blade gets too hungry for his own good, you can rest assured that I will follow Berislav and be the first blade in his throat." She doesn't seem to be as cowed by Colours as others are in The City. "I understand, Director Xiao. I hope we get to be friends." Argalia says, despite saying pretty rude things about her just this very day. Xiao nods and then turns to her people. "We're moving out! We'll rendeavoux with Section Two. Be prepared for this long night to be longer yet." Argalia watches after them for a time before turning to Father Berislav and Riku. He is a bit curious as to what an Ultraman is, but it is an awkward time to ask so he'll see about doing his own quiet research later. For now, though, he has no comment for Berislav being the one who checks, because Berislav said something else that is far more important to him. ''I'll gladly give up my seat in Heaven if it means the end of Hell on Earth.'' "Oh Father..." Argalia says. "To hear that distresses me greatly. I know you spoke of it as a conditional, but you deserve Heaven too. Please," He smiles. "I acknowledge your will and your determination, but please don't speak of giving it up so easily. I'll make sure there's a seat for you, when you're ready to claim it. Would you deliver your sermons even in paradise? I hope so." But that seems to be a suggestion of agreement all around so he nods to his team and they move on out as well. There's bound to be a lot of discussion amongst a whole lot of people here on out, including even amongst his own.
Riku Asakura	'I'll gladly give up my seat in Heaven if it means the end of Hell on Earth.' "I'm sorry to hear that you would give up your seat in heaven to make sure that Earth is clean of bad people. It makes me sad that anyone would have to do that, while making sure that others don't have to dirty their hands..." he says and looks sadly at the Priest. 'To hear that distresses me greatly.' "Yeah, I agree..." he says towards Argalia. "Everyone should have a shot at heaven." Even if he disagrees with the murder, he thinks that the intentions of someone are more important to consider than anything else. "But...thank you for understanding my position."