seekinganswers | IC Mailbox

That story is true.

[She says it quietly, but immediately.]

From what I've heard, the people who set the chips did so because it would open the way to finding the truth... about what the Tower really is, and about how to escape from it.

So, you're informed as well.

[It's a statement more than a question. Sephiroth searches her face then, for any tell-tale sign of half-truth, or any form of deceit. Finding none, his narrowed eyes relax a little but retain every fiber of their sparked intensity of color. How many other people had made this decision for him?]

Well it certainly uncovered a truth. Not so for the means of escape that doesn't involve our apparent obliteration. Typical admin ambiguity.

[He sneered that last part, how could anyone have been so stupid.]

How many people?

Yes.

[It's not a question, but she raises her head and nods to confirm his suspicions anyway.]

But I don't know everything. It's safer that way, so I didn't go looking.

[And I'm not going to is what she wants to say. She's still a child - barely fifteen, full of the stubbornness that a few years' worth of perspective would probably have worn down. But that's one thing she's not going to budge on, and her determination is clear to see in her eyes.]

I think Ruana's lying, though. Not just to us, but also to herself. I think she honestly believes what she said, but... the administrator who left the box wouldn't have done so if there wasn't another way than what she said.

[At his question, she shrugs.] A lot. I don't know all the names or all the faces, but there were a lot of chips. Too many to have been placed by just a handful of people.

[He raises an eyebrow inside those curtains of silver bangs, and then sighs lightly. He should have known there would be a limit to the favor he might be able to call on.]

Lets not forget the facts, Dax was an administrator. Just like the other four.

[He sounds relatively passive when he makes that comment but Sheba shouldn't let that fool her. Why bother to hide the name like that? It's obvious who she's referring to by now, clearly Enoch isn't the only one with high regard for the expired Host.

And to make it worse, there is a great following as well. Sephiroth very nearly scowls; he's not got the time go on a warpath for the sake of vengeance hunting down those responsible now. His future hangs in the balance. The next words are whispered even quieter.]

You are willing to take that gamble, then. I most certainly am not.

He was an administrator but he wasn't... malicious. It didn't hurt when I tried to look into his mind.

[Jason and Zo, on the other hand... that had hurt. She's almost afraid to try it with Ruana, but there's an almost morbid curiosity in her that's urging her to do it. It's just a matter of coming into contact with her, face-to-face. Part of her hopes she'll never have that opportunity.]

It didn't hurt when I tried to look into Riki's, either. Jason and the child, though... [She frowns, then shakes her head. Considering he called her here so she could do the favor she owes him, they've strayed from the point.]

We didn't do this to hurt anyone. We're looking for answers, too. I think there's - more clues about how to escape in the Tower, somewhere. [It had certainly sounded like it, from the conversation she'd had during the glamour failure.] I'll be helping to look for them. Whatever I find out, I can tell you.

...the others who set the chips and I... we got everyone into this mess. We didn't mean to, but we did. [She bows her head.] So we have to do whatever we can to get them out of it. I think our time here was always going to be limited, but... our actions led to the confirmation of that.

[Despite on several occasions he wanted to, in fact felt entitled to interrupt Sheba - Sephiroth refrains until she is finished. Interesting it all is, especially how Sheba has tried to enter the minds of the admins before.]

I do not appreciate such a step being taken on my behalf. Especially considering the unknown nature of the escape that would even be a possibility. I believe you may be gambling with forces that have not been defined well enough - yet.

[He looks away from Sheba then, partly to glance back over to the stairwell, just in case and partly to keep concealed his own concerns about being 'freed' from the Tower. They were private, for him to figure out alone.]

Please keep me informed. [She's been polite enough to be truthful to him so it doesn't hurt to be polite back.] It's VERY important now, so that any possible outcome can be prepared for. I cannot allow this to be my end.

...I'm sorry if you feel we've overstepped our boundaries.

[And really, she is - that's why she doesn't try to justify it. That's why she doesn't tack on a, "But would the forces ever have been defined soon enough for us to act otherwise?" The frustration that Sephiroth's feeling is valid. Sheba knows that if the situation had been reversed, she would have been incredibly angry.

So she's not at all surprised that he doesn't seem very pleased.]

I will. We - we didn't want this to lead to anyone's end. [There's the first hint of a lie, there. Sheba thinks she really wouldn't mind it if this all led to Ruana's demise.]

[There isn't much of a limit to Sephiroth's anger, it's volatile and very easy to ignite. Though it is crucial now that such anger is saved, concentrated and diverted with pin-point accuracy where it was due. At himself is not going to get him anywhere, though too many times it end up being inverted that way.

How could he have been so in the dark about what was really going on? Bitterly, he considers Ganondorf - plots leading to plots which have distracted him until now. Even Ryoji, what use had all that power-playing been to him, really?

Outwardly Sephiroth narrows his eyes again a touch at that thought but then blinks and looks back to Sheba]

I doubt that, personally. But we shall see.

[There are a few people who maybe shouldn't be allowed to be freed...]

We're not like Ruana. We don't enjoy playing games with others' lives.

[The words come out a tad bit more harshly than Sheba really intends. If there's one thing she really dislikes, it's having people doubt her.

But what's almost painful here - and what she can't avoid - is that the suspicions people might have about Pandora are, in some way, justified. They didn't want to take others' lives into their own hands, but by crashing the glamour system, they all but had. Especially with the new time limit that Ruana had imposed on them all out of some twisted form of revenge.]

[Sephiroth isn't phased at all by Sheba's slight harsh twinge, it was up to her however she wanted to take what he just said. Though in truth, no one is so innocent. No one is so clean-slate.

Everyone would enjoy to have such power, there is no two-ways about it.]

Careful not to sound so sure about that. People do many damaging things in the name of heroism, and history is written by the victors.

Just because the things we do might hurt someone doesn't mean we enjoy hurting them.

[She nods a little in response to his "history is written by the victors," though. She's experienced that firsthand already in more than one way.]

...I'll seek you out if I find out anything you might want to know. You're free to seek me out if you have any other questions in the meantime, though. Okay?

[He's not going to push his point any further, it might damage what useful liaison he may have gotten out of this conversation. Humanity revels in hurting each other, in so many different, complex and many-times unseen ways.

Sephiroth draws his gaze over Sheba as a whole once more before nodding in return.]

Yes, perfectly so. We shouldn't linger too much longer here.

[That's that, then. Sheba manages a small smile before turning away from Sephiroth, and starts heading for the staircase.

She pauses at the first step and looks back, though.]

...take care.

[And with that, she steps up onto the stairs and makes her way back up the Tower.]

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