A Light in the Darkness

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IamLEAM1983
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Re: A Light in the Darkness

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"How do frame this on the political level?" asked the mouse.

Nereus could only hold up his hands in a sign of powerlessness. "How do we take care of anything, politically speaking? I've been on the surface long enough to understand that cultural acceptance is a hard-fought battle for many people. I'm reminded of the struggle between the mainstream Muslims in Kurdistan and the Yazidi. Some ten years ago, the Islamic Caliphate had locked an entire province in its grip. They were a hardlining Muslim terrorist cell, of course, and the Yazidi held beliefs that placed them as a direct corollary to some of the oldest religions in the Fertile Crescent - especially Mithraism. Polytheistic currents dating back thousands of years tend not to fare too well when opposed to Kalashnikovs. We need to be forthcoming with every aspect of my people's beliefs, both those formerly held and those currently defended."

He shrugged. "The more the world knows, the more it'll understand. The more it understands, the more you'll all be able to make informed judgements on my people. It won't prevent bigotry from ever surfacing, and it won't ever completely stem the tide of racial hatred and the enmities we've incurred over the centuries - but it'll help."

There was a pause. "Unless you're asking how we'll frame matters of religious import on a political level, in which case I'll run away from this topic, screaming all the while," he explained, scoffing. "Mainly because this is precisely the kind of fallacy my people operated in, previous to my contacting the resistance. Theocracies have no place on the mortal plane, in my opinion. I've lost quite a lot in order to learn that fact - but that's another hard-fought notion for you."
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TennyoCeres84
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Re: A Light in the Darkness

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Meris nodded. "Agreed," she replied. "As far as what goes on within the heavenly bureaucracy, you would have to speak with one of its representatives for further details. I imagine the angels are handling their fair share of "paperwork" in regards to the implications of the Architect and the Almighty's compact, as they have with any large issue of importance over the eons. Simply, what goes on beyond this realm is currently out of the Accords' reach."
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Re: A Light in the Darkness

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"So we let the issue lie?" asked a confused Forsythe.

"We enlighten those that can be reached and, well..."

Nereus' tentacles flopped against his chest and he shrugged. "The rest of them will just have to shoot themselves in the proverbial foot. I'll extend all the olive branches I can, and I can only hope the international community will join me in this - but can I really stop admittedly lost or deluded individuals from being lost or deluded? I've tried to do exactly that for all of my life, in one form or another, and look where it's gotten me."

The Augur looked back to Meris and squeezed her hand again. "I'm not a wise man, Secretary General. I'm not even a smart man. There's things I went through that anyone with an ounce of common sense would have run away from, or openly denounced. I didn't. I elaborated scheme after scheme after scheme. I ran away, I denied the problem rather than face it openly. Sometimes, I managed to act like there was no problem at all."

He chuckled. "I was evil, I told myself, and I loved every minute of it. Except when I didn't, which was most of the time, anyway. It took a spectacular amount of food, music and wine to brush the anguish off just for a few hours. I thought I was wise, I thought I was smart - but there was a philosopher, once, who visited the Oracle of Delphi. Do you know what she told him?"

Matthias couldn't quite hold back a smile, as he knew the reference. "He was the only wise man in all of Athens because he was the only one who knew he knew nothing."

Nereus laughed with his eyes, somehow, cheerful crow's-feet pulling at them. "Meris is, and has always been my teacher, gentlemen. The more I learn with her, the more I know I still have so much to learn. The more I spend time with her, the more I realize that I'll just have to let go, somehow, and do what I can."

He sighed, as if letting go of a great burden. "Only, what I can. Because it's, quite literally, all that I can do. I could work myself into a tizzy with my people's reformation, but it's so much easier to accept that my efforts can be and will be imperfect. It's not a lie and it's not a sign of weakness. It's an honest declaration, and it feels damn good to say that.
- So.. you're saying you might fail," attempted the older Holden.

There was a moment of clarity in Nereus' eyes, followed by a great deal of sadness. "Cartesian minds," he said, speaking to Meris while referring to the mouse. "Amaxi's Blood, I admire someone who can compartmentalize, but there's some people I just wish we could crack open with our bare hands and gingerly deposit the essence of our words into, made manifest. Then you'd stitch it all closed with the surgical thread of reassuring platitudes, and everything would be all right."

Matthias couldn't quite hold a chortle back. He seemed to be agreeing with the Squid, but couldn't quite admit to that publicly...
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TennyoCeres84
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Re: A Light in the Darkness

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Meris chuckled lightly and sighed, shrugging."In summary, we'll give it our hardest and best effort, Mr. Holden, but no plan is foolproof. To borrow and paraphrase part of an old adage, to err is everyone. We all make mistakes, but what we can do is learn from them and do better in the future," she stated.
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Re: A Light in the Darkness

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As before, Forsythe didn't look satisfied. Another look from Aldergard dissuaded him from verbalizing further concerns, while the Guildmate looked fairly satisfied.

"Alright," he said. "We know what you plan to do, and we know you've tried to plan ahead. Now, we have to tell you about the potential threats we've measured. Not for us or for the local Greek populace - but for yourselves."

D'Aubignier selected a new file folder from his leather briefcase. "The Vienna Council's always kept tabs with the world's peacekeeping forces and intelligence agencies, and they've routinely provided us with problematic individuals or groups; people that might pose a threat to any supernatural being with some amount of measurable power, regardless of how peaceful they might be.

First, we have a group the CIA tells us is called the Brotherhood of the Ninth Circle. Based on your provided anthropological data and the Rothchilds' assistance, we have to consider it to be the biggest post-Renewal cult of the Others in recent memory. It has hooks in the Deep Web and in several neo-pagan and tribal cults with a particularly aggressive agenda. Several cells seem to be piloted by loyalist Void Weavers - former allies of the Chamberlain. They've learned from your own attempts at unification, it seems, and put aside Dalarath's self-serving cultural leanings."

He looked back to Nereus. "The Brotherhood is dangerous because it stands as a united front against you, mister Marinos. The days of your enemies slitting each other's throats are most likely gone. They're organized, they're arming themselves - and they took notes during the Transgenics Wars."

Nereus nodded. "Unsurprising. It stands to reason that some of my former compatriots would have realized the worth of my designs only partially. Complete domination was a cultural affect of ours for hundreds of thousands of years. Pair it with promises of optimization - the avowed fact that betrayals are a waste of time - and you earn yourself a more powerful antagonist. A better organized one."
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Re: A Light in the Darkness

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"Well then, we'll simply have to combat this cult in the best way that we can. Do you have any further information on their M.O.?" Meris inquired.
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