After ten minutes of parkour, we finally arrived at the Welcome Plaza. The large lobby was empty, save for the two men standing in front of the long corridor that led to the city entrance. They appeared to have finished arguing, both wearing stone-cold expressions.
"There they are. Your final chance has arrived," Deva said, glancing briefly at us.
Leo turned toward us for a moment before shaking his head. "I told you, I'm leaving." He leveled a finger at me. "And she will too, once she learns of the Great Deception."
Deva turned and began to walk away. "Tell her then. See if your 'knowledge' is worth anything." He paused as he walked past us. "In time, you will learn that knowledge isn't wisdom, curiosity isn't wonder, and fact isn't truth," he continued. "I can only pray it doesn't happen too late."
I gulped, watching Deva return to the city. I had no idea what the two of them had been talking about, but something told me it was far more serious than I could imagine. We walked closer to Leo, who looked exhausted and as if he wished to be anywhere else.
"Viel. Diana." Leo looked at the two of us. "I have no business with you, Diana. Leave."
Diana winced beside me. "Umm... okay. Sorry..." She turned and left before I could stop her.
"Oi," I narrowed my eyes. "Watch your words, asshole. What I know, she knows."
Leo folded his arms. "Why? Because the Herald told you so?"
"Because she's my friend, you ass, and because I can't tell a lie."
Leo shook his head dismissively. "You should know better than to surrender to the pet morality," he began to pace around. "You may think of me as cold, but the truth is, our lives is our own to live, no one gets to dictate how we may live our life,"
"I mean Aion..."
"No, listen," Leo raised his hand. "You are never morally obligated to help those who are beneath you. In fact, altruism, the act of giving without expecting anything back, is the rotten foundation that create this gilded cage..."
Did he just say that altruism is a moral failure???
"You are greater than you think, Viel, and the Heralds nor that girl from Love, have any say about how far you may go," Leo continued. "You are justified in using anything in your disposal to achieve your dream and desire, you should never bow to the Heralds and Nature, your ambition is your greatest virtue,"
"Yeah, but..."
"Deva told me that what I did was unforgivable, he called it coercive that I insist on staying in the surface," Leo continued. "I did not coerce you, I gave you a choice to return back to Ingenuity. Unlike Aion, I do not trick you into doing anything you don't wish to do. In fact, I take it upon myself to protect you in the surface. Not because I care about you, but because protecting others is part of the job description."
This has got to be a joke, there's absolute no way someone in the real world actually think like this.
"Look, we just want to..."
"And not to mention," Leo paced around. "That girl from Love? Diana? She clings to you for protection, she relies on you," he continued. "I saw you there, when the two trailblazers, when they gave you the choice, you chose to save her, that is incredibly foolish,"
Fuck it...
I raised my hand and lunged at him.
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE VIOLATION
OH FOR FUCK SAKE KANT!!!
"First off, she was never in any danger," Leo continued, not realizing that I desperately want to punch him in the face. "Second of all, by letting her continue to the next stage, you lower your chance of passing the exam. There's only so many people that can continue you see? The winning condition is passing the exam, not helping other pass the exam,"
"Are you done monologuing? Look, can we..."
"And... I cannot stress this enough... This pet morality? This desire to conform, to become like the others?? It is the root of why humanity will forever be enslaved by nature," Leo continues. "You think the Herald care about humanity? No, they taught you to be sheep, to be kind, to serve without question,"
"Leo, fuck sake, I'm..."
"The only thing that matters is reason, you should never make a decision based on emotion, or empathy, or sympathy," Leo continued. "You must make decision based on reason and logic, there is no middle ground. There is only reality, nothing else matter."
"Leo, look... I am within an inch of my..."
"And you probably think that I am coercive, no, I respect your freedom. In fact, everything must be voluntary. To tell you that the humans must serve the city? To tell you that the humans must not aggravate nature? That is coercion. To tell you that you may not stockpile resources? That is coercion. Ingenuity is a society built on control, not cooperation, it doesn't acknowledge nor does it respect voluntary exchange..."
Fuck this...
I turned around and decided to just leave him just to spite him.
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE VIOLATION
WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T DO THINGS OUT OF SPITE!!?! GODDAMMIT KANT!!!
"... yourself, not anyone else," Leo drones on. "If you think I am being cruel for being selfish, what about those who demand something without expecting to pay it back in return? You are protecting the morality of thief and looters,"
Okay, clear your mind Viel, I am not leaving to spite him, I just want to leave because this is infuriating.
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE VIOLATION
"In this world, there are great men, the drivers, people who are capable of creating great changes to society," Leo continued. "These great people? They need others to help them, not to drag them down. The great people don't owe anything to the society or government,"
Deep breath, okay I can't breathe, but... Just... Deep breath. Focus, I want to leave because I have other things to do. I am respectfully leaving this conversation.
"In a perfect world, everyone earns their keep. Everyone works, everyone is rational, everyone do things for their own benefit, not for flimsy ideals like morality and ideals," he glared at the city in disdain. "You don't do things to serve people or city, you owe nothing. The city is dead, it is a tool, a resource for us to use. We maintain it not because we owe anything to the city, but because it benefits us, the moment it stopped benefitting us, we have no moral obligation to do anything,"
"Leo, respectfully, I don't have time listening to you monologuing about..."
The man continued, unbothered. "And the Heralds and the Council, they take cuts, profit, for every transaction you make through the central credits, they take profit. They use it to fund useless projects, to create grants for people to create Circles and make useless trinkets," Leo shook his head. "The council would pay people to paint walls without asking anything back, our values wasted on people who added nothing to the city. Did I consent that my credits are used to fund useless project? No."
I am buddha, I am jesus, I am muhammad, I am patient and I am leaving this conversation respectfully. Please, Kant, god, please just let me leave, I swear I am not doing this because I fucking hate this asshole and I want to punch him in the face so much.
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE VIOLATION
FUCK!!!
"The very concept of the Council taking a cut out of every transaction is built on control and coercion, not cooperation. Centralized power is completely corrupt, it forces you to fight for something you do not believe in. It is disrespectful to the dignity of man, it is the morality of servants and slaves,"
Oh god, how long is this speech going to last???
I forced a smile "Leo, you're completely ri..."
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE VIOLATION
Right, pretending to agree with him counts as deceit.
GOD FUCKING DAMMIT AAAAAAAAAAAAA-
"Altruism is a moral failure that lets the government, the collective sheep, dictate what you should or shouldn't become. To do something for the collective, without gaining any value in return, is what turns great man into sheep. Mere animals without a shred of ambition."
Oh god I'm gonna have to sit through this aren't I?
"Reason is the only path to the truth. A is A, B is B, there is no middle ground. Facts do not care about your feelings, and just because 'you feel bad' does not mean feeling bad should dictate your action, in every step of your decision making process, you must listen to reason and only reason, don't let the notion of guilt binds you. You owe nothing to those below you,"
This is torture, this is fucking torture, I can't leave because I can't get the desire to leave him out of spite out of my head. Fuck me, oh fuck me, I'm fucked, I have to listen to this...
"Look, I don't care what sort of mental gymnastics is required to make you believe that..."
"The so called mental gymnastic is reason," Leo cut me off, again. "You exist in this world, you are born, you live, and you die. You owe nothing to this world. You never asked to be born, you owe nothing to this world, nor to the world around you. No one can tell you what you can and cannot do, based on how they feel. If someone wishes to tell you what to do they must use appeal to reason and reason only,"
I closed my eyes and tried desperately to tune him out.
I don't know how long he monologues, but at the end of it all...
"I know the truth behind the Heralds—behind this prison called Ingenuity..." Leo waved his hand at our surroundings. "This comfortable box, designed to shackle humanity, to cage us from nature."
The man produced a letter from his pocket. "The Insurgence has contacted me—the last remnant of True Humanity, unshackled from the Heralds' lies." He handed the letter to me. "You are invited. You came from the Old World; you have seen how far humanity can go without the Heralds' interference."
Oh god finally, he's finished...
I took the letter and looked at it. "Can I politely refuse this?"
Leo narrowed his eyes. "You will take this letter." He shoved it back into my hand. "And you will read it."
"I refuse to read this!" I exclaimed.
"Just hold onto it." Leo folded his arms. "You're just being deluded. In time, you will understand, and you will seek the truth."
I waved the letter around. "Listen, I cannot go against my programming, and I'm telling you right now, with total honesty, that I am not going to read this letter no matter what! If you give me this, I'm just going to give it to Aion."
Leo glared at me. "You're bluffing. If you give this to Aion, you will never learn the truth."
"I'm not bluffing. I will give this letter to Aion. Seriously—I can't lie, my programming—"
Leo held up a hand, silencing me. "The letter is yours. What you do with it is your decision. My work here is done." He folded his arms. "Only a total fanatic would refuse to read it." Leo narrowed his eyes. "And you are not a fanatic, unlike that girl from the City of Love."
"Oh, trust me, I am not a fanatic about Aion at all." I turned and waved my hand. "Goodbye, Leo. Have fun playing with the giant snakes. Say hi to the Mooseiah for me."
Quick footsteps pounded behind me. I sidestepped, barely missing Leo as he lunged at me. He glared, his suit retracting over his body. "You're right. I underestimated you." His gauntlet sparkled with lightning. "Why are you not opening the letter?! Are you deluded by this blind loyalty to the Herald?! Do NOT give this letter to Aion! He is a liar! A monster!"
I shoved him away with all my might. "I already told you my reason!" I gave him the middle finger and ran. "You're an asshole! I'm doing this just to spite you!"
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE VIOLATION
My body locked up again as a lightning-charged fist slammed me right at the chest. I felt nothing and... there's not even a dent? What?
"DIANA!"
"I've got your back!"
There was the sound of steel clashing behind me as my body I ran as fast as I could. The buildings around me became a blur, my attention dead-set on the Trailblazer HQ. Shouting erupted behind me, and I assumed other Trailblazers were getting involved.
Soon, the noise died down. I turned around to see a crowd and caught a glimpse of Leo being restrained and bound. I blew him a raspberry and stepped into the Trailblazer HQ. "To Aion's room," I told the receptionist before entering the elevator.
"Wait!" Diana came running in, out of breath. I held the door, letting her in. "Thanks..." she gasped. "Ahhh... what happened back there? Leo suddenly went berserk! What did you guys do?"
"I'll explain while we're with Aion," I told her.