animus_network | [Video, forward-dated to the afternoon of the 11th] One last part...

*Enoch is holding a sheet of paper - thin plastic, really - in front of him.*

This is what started this, I'm sure you've all seen them now and know what I mean.

*He lets out a breath and lowers the paper.* And if the red-collared brute somewhere behind me doesn't see fit to attack me for this just yet, I'd like to say something. An apology. To our current administrator, for the trouble this could cause on his undeserving watch, but most importantly, to all of you. To everyone who was here at the beginning of last month.

*There's a pause while he takes a breath, steeling himself and preparing for possible attack. When he speaks, he doesn't look up at the screen, playing with the sheet of plastic in his hands.*

...I've had over seventy names in my lifetime, and I've somehow found myself with yet another alias in this tower, and I'm certain all of you have seen it. I am one who would call himself Pandora.

It was never my intent to bring harm to anyone, but if not for that incident, we would not have been able to find this, it was hidden in the glamours. I am so, so sorry for everything...true enough to my newest name, the demons must be released before we can find hope...

*He looks up at the camera again.* So let us find it together. Let us all stand strong. There is no need to be an enemy...no need to be an opponent to anyone. Ruana is a danger to us all, here and at home. Above and below.

*He glances back for sign of his retrieval unit...and warily turns back to the camera, allowing his feet to rest after the efforts to put up all those pieces of paper.*

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

So now you would have us stand and fight alongside you, after forcing our hands by already significantly stacking the
odds against all of us?

[By which he's referring to the timer of course, and now Pandora's (yes all of them) literally throwing the gauntlet down against the Tower with this broadcast.]

I had you as one for pretty words, though I did not have you as a fool until now.

And when were the odds not stacked against us? When were we not at a disadvantage?

[A snort.]

If you think that things would have improved if we took no action, then you are the fool here.

Don't twist my words, I did not say that.

We are at even more of a disadvantage now than before, as is obvious the Tower is desperate for power, and to make it worse the Administration know we are coming. Tell me how this will end well?

Do not mistake me for one of the complacent ones. I simply will not fight on behalf of a cause I do not believe can win.

It's not about winning or not.

[If they're being truthful? Then Asch doesn't hold up a lot of hope, either.]

It's about whether you're willing to risk trying. If you're taking no action, then you may as well be complacently awaiting your fate, no matter what trappings you put on it.

Of course it is. Nothing but a complete and utter victory against the Administration will guarantee no consequences for whatever actions you all decide to take now. Not to mention, if this 'theory' is flawed in any detail it describes - you're practically giving her ideas.

[Really, he doesn't even care if the retrieval unit nearby decides to peer over his shoulder while he's typing. Sephiroth didn't care to hide most things anyway, even under supervision; excepting of course the odd carefully planned sensitive conversation - he see's even less of a point now.]

I will never accept this place, never have done. You'd do well not to make such an assumption based on text on a screen. I make it my business to take risks, my point is why should I take such a risk on behalf of others' mad blind rush for elusive keys that may or may not even exist?

[Deaths have started to have remembered consequences now for Sephiroth, he's not sure what will happen should he continue to take risks and need a new vessel every time. It's unnerving. The concern about losing your soul here is very fresh still.]

We were given this information at the expense of its bearer's life, I doubt it is untrustworthy.

If it is worth anything to you, we would hopefully not rush blindly, but try to learn more before going after them. We may only have a year, but rushing could cause us to lose everything.

That said, your help, as anyone's, would be invaluable. Do as you will, if you are so opposed. It's a pity, not having your help, but I could not and would not force you.

It's only as trustworthy as the value you would place on it. Trust is a very strong word to apply to anyone, let alone an ex-Administrator. I would urge caution to whom you would offer such blind submission, but you wouldn't listen.

I am not opposed to taking any action which will rid me of this wretched condition. But I will not stand by and allow my fate to be decided for me, so all of this really depends on your intended outcome.

You started the clock, you already forced me.

*For a moment, Enoch stares bewildered at the screen. What part of "he gave his life to give us this information" did he not understand? Generally one's life wasn't wasted on knowing lies. By that logic, he might well assume Dax's death was faked!

Just as Sephiroth dismissed him, Enoch does the same, and ignores the subject. He knows he's wasting his time there much as Sephiroth realizes the same for the inverse.*

Forced you to help us? Hardly.

Our intended outcome is simply to get us out of this "wretched condition", ideally with our worlds and souls intact. We don't know how we will do this, but we will take what opportunities we can, so we can learn what we can do to this end and how.

[It's not the first time they've disagreed on Dax-related matters that's a fact. Sephiroth is pleased that Enoch doesn't push the matter.]

You've forced me into having to work from a position in which I would rather not have been put in. This is hardly a position of strength, you understand. Not that I were ever in a strong position to begin with since they ripped me from my World.

[There is a long pause. Sephiroth doesn't like teamwork - he's always been at his strongest alone. He doesn't trust anyone but himself and besides, no one would accept his help anyway even if they did need him, and that's even if he felt it suited his own purposes to offer. Why is he even considering this? Putting himself on the same level as these self-righteous types.]

Come back to me when you have something solid, other than misguided hope and impossible dreams. And I may yet offer my assistance.

[He'll leave the terminal now, before he breaks the keyboard or something out of frustration.]

[Video, forward-dated to the afternoon of the 11th] One last part...

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