Act II: The False-Stepped Coppélia (2/5)

We've certainly come a long way. Although it appears the path ahead does not lead anywhere else...

I can answer that, Master. It is a word that specifically refers to the side of the body.

You may have heard the term applied to certain cuts of beef.

Because this area used to house separator devices. It looks like it also handled desalination.

In human terms, it would be like the liver: an organ that neutralizes and expels toxins from the body.

Most if not all of the resources Seraphix collected must have passed through here before being packaged.

？！

...Looks like there isn't anything here except another human memory.

Why don't you touch it? You might learn something useful.

When weird things first started happening on Seraphix, I was secretly thrilled.

I'm not like the other academics. I'm a fixer. I was brought here in case things go wrong.

My real job was to dispose of anyone who might get in our way, or try to leak secrets.

Sometimes, I'd also check how healthy the supplies that came in from the outside were.

It was dirty work, but so what. I'm a bad guy. It was nothing I hadn't done countless times before.

I don't trust others. I can only see them as patsies. The weak are meant to be exploited.

If I didn't, a punk like me without any parents, schooling, or luck could never survive out there.

So I was sure I'd be able to survive this situation too. Groups without a leader always fall apart.

They start by arguing, then the educated class divides themselves into factions, then the ones with vested interests start discriminating against others.

Once a few people end up dead, that's where I come in. I'm not suited to being on top.

I'm ugly, bad-tempered, and totally lacking in charisma. So I make sure to follow people who aren't any of those things.

Cause curiously enough, leaders like that never have the trait that guys like me do: the endless capacity for brutally merciless violence.

When you get down to it, my total lack of empathy for my victims was my greatest weapon.

And just as I expected, Beckman began bringing the survivors together. He formed an organization, set down laws, and chose me to enforce them.

It was wonderful. I was finally living in the world I'd always dreamed of. I could indulge completely in my desire to dominate those around me.

I killed good people. People I didn't like. One guy, I fed to a monster just 'cause I felt like it. Just 'cause he caught my eye.

I'm a bad guy. I never expected anything from this world. Nobody ever respected me except me.

That's why I don't understand...

Why did this happen to me?

It was so nice. I learned there were other ways to deal with people besides dominating them.

I learned about love. I'd never dreamed that a guy like me could ever find love.

This world offered me salvation...

That's why I'd do anything for her. And I mean ANYTHING. Not just the petty crimes I've done before.

I'm not scared of anything. I don't care if all of America's against me. Nothing in the world can hurt mNo, wait. There's still one thing I'm scared of.

...In fact, it's downright terrifying! This thought alone scares me far more than my own death ever could.

I'm scared that one day, she'll come to despise me, and throw me away.

I'm scared to go back to being the subhuman scum I once was.

I know love now. My eyes are finally open to the concept of affection...to affection that could change the world.

That's why, if the alternative is losing this love I've finally found...

...I'd rather watch the whole world burn.

？！

...Fujimaru, I do not profess to know what it is you have seen...

But that was the voice of a wounded sinner, pleading for help, asking God for forgiveness on his deathbed.

Why are you getting sentimental? It doesn't matter how they try to cover it up. A sinner's a sinner.

They can repent all they want, but that won't change their sins. The only way to do that would be to undo the damage their sins caused.

But humans don't have that power. So, all they can do is try to balance the scales by doing good deeds.

The sins remain forever. Even if someone puts their sins behind themselves, a sinner is still a sinner.

You know what I'm talking about, right, Gawain?

You go around telling others to do good deeds, to "protect all that is good," but you don't include yourself.

Much as you play at being just, you're doomed to be trapped by the justice you yourself will face in your final moments.

...I cannot deny the truth of what you say. And yet I am amazed to hear you, of all people, say it.

Thank you, milady, but you need not concern yourself. I am satisfied with the way I am.

In the end, acting as we wish is truly what it means to be human.

D-don't worry, I wasn't concerned about you at all.

If it makes you happy to follow social customs, or the law, or your emotions, then knock yourself out.

That kind of posturing is also something only humans do. ...What sad creatures you are.