FLASHBACK: 20050808.1134 - Old Rhydin Town

Toby had spent only a few hours in the Inn, both to acclimate himself a bit and to get more information on the particular name he wanted. He'd done plenty of homework before ever arriving, and knew already what he needed to do. He just needed to make contact.

And so he had, in the form of a rather greasy-natured fellow named Sir Charles. The discussion had taken some time, mostly due to the long and (to Toby's mind) tortuous ritual of pleasantries that people seemed to require here before doing business. But in the end, Toby had laid out exactly what it is that he wanted.

Sir Charles was the majordomo for the rather considerable estate of one of the many minor lords who owned much of the region's land. This particular baron was unlucky in that a huge percentage of his holdings were what could be considered undesirable; fairly remote, heavily forested and somewhat inaccessible due to the geography of the region. In a land where farming and mining were the largest sources of profit, he found himself saddled with a very UNprofitable parcel of land well northwest of the Rhydin Town region.

Toby's offer, then, came as quite a surprise. He was willing, he said, to purchase the entire five hundred acres that were bordered on the north by the southern foothills of the Grey Mountans, on the west by a series of impassibly sharp ridges and deep gorges, on the east by the wide and swift White River, and on the south by both thickly forested hills and several creeks that flowed into the White River at the land's southeast border.

Surprising, and to the Baron's mind, suspicious. The man had offered a price that, while more than fair for the size of the land, simply didn't make sense to his mind. Why would he buy such unusable land for such a sum? Even logging would be difficult, due to the inaccessibility of the land. Getting boats up the extremely swift White River was a challenge that had defeated such attempts before. But the Baron agreed to the deal; and added a little twist of his own to see if he could both profit from the deal and yet not lose his grip on whatever potential prize the stranger had discovered in the north.

What he hadn't banked on, however was Toby's savvy - and more to the point, his determination.

FLASHBACK: 20050808.1220 - The Northwest region, Rhydin

Toby walked out of the Inn, pulling on a pair of black leather gloves, and strolled around behind the stables area. Even as rustic as much of the area was, the Inn was a frequent stopping place of more distant visitors like himself, from the spaceport many, many miles to the west. Around here, behind a screen of thick branches erected by the Inn staff, sat the various high-tech vehicles used by these starfarers. Toby had brought two such vehicles with him when he'd arrived on planet - his turbocycle (which was parked in a storage unit at the spaceport), and his well-travelled 'dune buggy', as he'd dubbed it. In truth, the four-wheeler was capable of nearly impassable terrains and well-suited to the task of the thick forest he'd be visiting. He'd taken the basic design (a very simple off-road frame) and done what he did best; tinkered with it till it could do what he wanted. Toby swung himself into the driver's seat of the open-air vehicle, using his biometric key to activate the guidance and power systems. Beside him was a passenger seat, and in the back he could carry two more in rear-facing seats, as well as a small amount of cargo. But today, he was travelling light.

He engaged the engine and went roaring out of the enclosure, out onto the east-west road, and into the west with a cloud of dust. A pair of sunglass-like eyeshields were slipped on, and he quickly gunned the engine up to a brisk speed away from the Rhydin Town region.

As a horse rode, it would take probably three days good ride or more to get to the remote area where his property lay, but this way Toby could get there in a few hours or so. He startled a few of the locals as he tore past in the buggy, but most of them had long since become accustomed to the strange sights and shapes that rode through the region. He passed soon away from the town area, and up into the sparsely inhabited northlands.

Here, there were some farm lands, but much of the land was uninhabited and empty. He glanced around as he drove, taking in the beauty and desolation at the same time. Eventually, he slowed as he saw the wildly rushing White River up ahead - fortunately, a wide and well-built wooden bridge spanned the gap; and he could see signs that an enterprising individual had strengthened the span with some subtle and well-placed metal fittings. Satisfied that it wouldn't drop him to a rather unpleasant and wet end, Toby drove across the bridge and continued on his northward journey.

----------

As he drove on, Toby passed through expanses of wild and tall grass, some rocky and rather narrow gorges through rising lands, and soon, into the beginnings of what promised to be a rapidly thickening forest region. He pulled to the side near the beginnings of the forest, and checked his map and GPS location. Yep.. that was about right. He was getting near to the borders of his land now.

However, the forest suddenly trailed out again after just a few miles, and he found himself on the crest of a fairly steep hill, looking down a nearly bare hillside into a deep valley. It soon became clear that on either side of him, too, were similarly steep hills, and this road was basically the only reliable way through them to the north. At the bottom of the valley, a swiftly flowing stream cut a path from northwest to southeast. It was much like the White River, if not quite so large, but it presented a considerable obstacle nonetheless.

As Toby examined it more closely, he saw that where the road was broken by the stream, there was a small island splitting the waters. Clearly, at one point there had been a bridge there, and even a small overhang covering the crossing. It was gone now, but enough of a track remained that he had little trouble accelerating down the grade and jumping the buggy over the creek to the other side. He'd have to take care of that problem, though, before long.

Once across, the road became much rougher; it was clear that no one had used it for a long time now. Also, the road frequently began to dive into deep cuttings between high banks, as it proceeded north. Toby activated the floodlights on the rollbar above his head, and moved into the gradually darkening woods with more caution. And for good reason, as it turned out - he hadn't gone too far into the woods when he rounded a corner and found a huge mass of dirt and a thick boulder blocking the road entirely; a portion of one of the deep banks had collapsed, probably during a storm.

Toby surveyed this for a time, without dismay. Fortunately, he'd come prepared. Mounted just above and behind the right-hand front wheel well, was an old and salvaged Tau cannon, complete with self-recharging crystal fusion plant. Toby flipped a small switch on the control panel of the buggy, and a little screen below the dash line lit up, displaying an enhanced light image of what lay ahead - complete with a small glowing crosshair. He opened a panel in the console next to him, and a small joystick rose up to meet his hand. As he shifted the joystick from side to side and slightly up and down, the Tau cannon swivelled to match; he carefully lined up the crosshair with the center of mass of the boulder. His thumb depressed the trigger several times in short bursts.

The Tau cannon lit off with a series of heavy *SNAP*-flashes, and the charged particles simply blew the boulder into bits, along with a portion of the fallen dirt. What remained was no problem for the buggy to grind its way over, and he deactivated the Tau cannon as he continued on his way.

FLASHBACK: 20050808.1650 - The Northwest region, Rhydin

Morning dawned clear and bright, and as the sun slowly began to rise in the east, Toby was up already, sitting on the rise above the lake and watching in the cool morning air. He'd never liked getting up early, but one of the benefits to that was getting to see some spectacular sunrises. This one wasn't so great, mostly because of the trees, but the way the first rays began to light up the lake made it all worthwhile.

Once he'd seen the dawn through to its conclusion, Toby took his time examining the entire clearing area. It was quite sizable, and already he was making plans in his head for how he wanted things to be laid out.

There was a bit of 'corner' in the southwest part, near where the trail led in, that would be ideal for the cabin itself. It was far enough out of the thickest of the trees, yet there were enough of them scattered nearby that it would not lack for shade entirely. He would have to dig out a cellar, first and foremost, and lay the foundation. Also to be dug would be a space to house the generator (he wanted as much as possible to be hidden below ground, to spoil as little as he could of the nature there - this was a point Toby had been adamant on since first dreaming up this entire thing. Nature was to come first whenever possible), a garage for the buggy and his bike, and a stone-lined hollow to be used for natural filtration. Toby intended to apply modern filtration to the cabin's waste water as well, but he was going to couple it with the natural basin as well, so that the water returning to the ground was as clean as he could make it.

The one other structure he would erect would be a small tower for a satellite transmitter/receiver dish, so that he could have the ability to link into the 'net if necessary. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to place it here, in the clearing, or on a more remote hilltop up farther north. That would be a matter for another day, but not too far off.

Walking down the rise to the lake, Toby slowly made a full circle of it, or as much as he could. The lake had one decent sized stream feeding into it, at the northwest corner, which came down from the northwest area of the property. He was able to cross this without too much difficultly, and slowly round the north shore. The lake itself was in a natural shallow basin, which he thought good - it would not easily flood the area of the cabin. The southeast end of the lake was not quite so easily crossed. This was the birthplace of the Silver Creek, and crossing at this point would require swimming, or a boat. In the end, he decided against a swim and crossed the chilly waters rather swiftly via a fallen log that lay nearby.

It looked like the Silver Creek was in a shallow gorge for much of its length, and when he eventually explored down it, he found that it flattened out at the point where it flowed into the White River. This turned out to be one of the few open areas along the eastern border; for most of the length, the forest seemed to come right up against the river's banks, which were cut deep for quite some way.

It took many hours, even with the dune buggy, to make a full circuit of the property's borders. Partly due to the size of the land, but also because he couldn't use the buggy to traverse that eastern side; he'd have to do that in a boat. And in the end, he'd had to come back round the long way from the northeast corner.

The northern border abutted the very edge of the Grey Mountains, and his property actually included much of the foothills south of them. Between the foothills and the north edge of the forest was a fair expanse of flat grassland, though it didn't seem a fair place to grow things what with the shadows of the mountains and the rough nature of the soil there.

The western border was a narrow strip of land between the forest's edge and the impassible series of gorges that ran from the grey mountains far down into the south. Beyond them, to further seal off the west, Toby could just discern a series of razor sharp ridges that knifed their way parallel to the gorges. Not even a hovercraft could cross that, he thought.

The southern border was much like the east, though there was a traversible strip of land between the shores of the March Creek and the southern edge of the woods. The creek was at the bottom of a deep valley, but enough of a path was possible for him to be able to start at the northeast corner of his property (at the banks of the White River), traverse the northern border, then turn south and run between the gorge and the wood till he met up with the hills abutting the March.

At that point, the land turned south and east, crossed 2/3rd of the way over by the main road, and then finally on to the junction of the March Creek and the White River. Once again, the walls of the creek's banks were high enough that the only place a boat could hope to land was at the little island where the main road crossed. Toby studied it for a long time, debating on putting in a dock there.

The reason for this, was that the March Creek had its origins far, far to the west. The chances were good that if it held a reasonable width and depth, he could use it to transport things to his property by waterway, rather than have to have them airlifted. Long before, the spaceport authorities (in conjunction with local authorities) had designated the entire region a 'limited/no-fly zone', meaning that any atmosphere craft crossing over had to maintain a minimum of 45,000-50,000 feet altitude, unless they had specific permits to go lower. So it would be easier if he could use the waterways.

FLASHBACK: 20060816.1100

Toby had not been up in space for some time now - with all the insanity surrounding his personal life between Lorelie, Succi and all the chaos running through his head, he had notified his regular clients that he was taking a bit of a vacation. Lord knew he needed it, he thought. And he'd not been to the Inn in most of that time either - there was little to draw him there, certainly no one in particular. And so he spent most of his time out here, working deliberately and carefully on the first stages of what he'd already dubbed his eventual 'retirement project'. The Lady herself was not even docked at the spaceport anymore, nor was she high overhead in serene orbit. Toby had finally obtained a special license to overfly his own land, and now the Lady rested peacefully on the wide grassy part of the clearning just west of the lake. There was just enough cleared space there to land her, and she was nearly invisible below the treeline.

Along with the basically now-finished foundation work and the accompanying support projects (a water filtration and recycling system, an underground generator and a few other little surprises), Toby had also been thinking a lot about the reality of living in a place such as this. Huge though this land was, and criss-crossed as the borders were by natural defenses (a large part of why he'd chosen it), there was nothing to really 'stop' anyone from crossing those borders if they were sufficiently determined. So as he worked, his mind also drifted over thoughts of defenses. The only real kind of privacy, Toby thought, was the kind you enforced.

Fortunately, he also throught, a little ingenuity and judicious application of technology could also go a long way. The first seeds of what he privately dubbed his 'home defense network' were sown as well, just a few ideas here and there at first. Eventually, though, not a squirrel would run through the region without him knowing, and not a soul would approach without his leave.

The work was slow today, though. He sat up on the top of the gentle tree-dotted hill that overlooked the lake, sitting next to the tall oak tree that dominated the hilltop. In its shade, he rested his arms on his knees and looked out over the water in silence. Memories of water, some good, some bad. Odd that he'd consider building a home by the shores of a lake full of it, he thought. Odder still that he was building a 'home' at all - he who felt only at home in space. But everyone needs something to ground them. Perhaps this was it?

Not much work was going to get done today. But today was for taking his little baby soul for a quiet walk in the woods. Even that was a little victory.

FLASHBACK: 20060928.1139

Framework

Designing, Toby thought ruefully, was always the easy part. Actually going out and *building* what looked so simple and straightforward on paper, now that was another matter entirely. This he knew already, from the experience of rebuilding both the original Lady (may the light of the stars shine gently on her dust), and the ship that followed her and still belonged to him today. But his strength lay in technology, not in carpentry, and Toby was having a fine time trying to get the framework of the cabin assembled.

It was a fun challenge, though. He didn't just want to *do* it, he wanted to do it right. Toby intended this to be the place where he would remain in the later years of life, his 'retirement sanctuary', he'd jokingly called it. So, he reasoned, it ought to be built to last. 'Don't want to be out here redoing a shoddy job when I'm sixty, after all', he'd said.

Materials had been the first part. Wood was certainly not lacking in a land such as this, but Toby took care to acquire it from a source that was responsible in their dealings. He'd chosen a smaller business, one that might have taken longer, but who chose their logging targets with care so as to avoid massive bare patches in the land's forests. Oddly enough, the thing that had really been a task was finding something as simple as quality building nails. But find them he did, and after three weeks time the cabin's framework had finally been carefully (and lovingly) assembled. He'd worked more or less alone, with a few exceptions - he had several of his droids there to handle lifting and positioning, and a few choice friends had stopped by to see how the work was progressing and to lend the occasional hand. Wyheree had even taken up a hammer briefly at a point where one person simply wouldn't have been able to progress, but she'd primarily declared herself Manager of Refreshment Operations, as well as taking delight in poking around the rather vast expanse of wooded property.

There was only yet a hint of what the final version would look like, but already you could get the feel of the place. And finished or not, there was nothing quite like the that sunset over the lake. If nothing else, Toby was sure he'd picked the right spot.

PRESENT DAY:

Upon returning to his remote wooded retreat, Toby was very grateful to find that not only had nothing happened to his unfinished cabin in the meantime, but in fact no one had even set foot on the property. The servants he'd left had made sure of it - the last person to walk the area was Toby himself. They could identify someone all the way down to the DNA level - there was no fooling them.

So, then. Time to take stock.

Before leaving, Toby had finished the cabin's exterior to the point where even the wood had been weatherproofed. The windows were not in place, but he'd put thermal sheeting over them to keep the elements out. The inner walls were not insulated yet, but they were fully intact. The basic frames of the rooms had been laid out, and he had enough of the finer wood panels to completely finish the interior.

The heating system had been on back order when he left, but the port was holding the delivery of the materials for the fireplace. They also had most of the appliances he'd ordered - good.

Ok, things were looking good here. First orders of business, the windows, the insulation, and the heating. Then he could work on the interior, and maybe even be able to live in the place by the turn of the year.

What a difference a little time makes.

The weather had warmed a bit over this past week, and he'd taken full advantage. With the aid of some of his droids, he'd worked hard over a several-day period to finish off the weatherproofing outside, though he didn't paint it. He was happy as it was, with the natural look of the wood. The windows were done, the little porch at the front, and the last touch had been the porch swing he'd hooked onto a support beam, facing out and down the gentle slope leading back to the beginning of the clearing.

Inside, he had already decided he wasn't going to lay carpet. The beautiful hardwood floor was much too good to be covered over, though he'd applied a liberal coat of protective sealant to keep it looking that way. There was a thick and sturdy rug in the entry hall, for those muddy, snowy boots that would start making their appearance soon enough. There was also a rather plain round rug situated where the table would be (he hadn't gotten one yet), and another plain one by the doorway to the enclosed porch in back. These were all temporary, till Erin and Lydia worked their magic.

In fact, he had very little furniture just yet. There was a three-person couch that sat against the wooden partition that separated the 'den' area from the 'dining' area, that could expand out to a bed - this was actually what he was using himself at the moment. He also had a Papasan chair in the northwest corner there, and a comfortable old beanbag chair (a gift from a friend long ago). There was also a brand-new heating unit tucked into the southwest corner, with flexible ductwork artfully hidden by wooden framework to make it seem part of the natural design of the place. This would connect all the rooms, and obviate the need for a space heater in every other room of the cabin.

The freezer/refrigeration unit was on order, that would get tucked away in the space between the kitchen and the entry hall. There wasn't much in the way of appliances just yet, but that too would be handled.

Things were as done as he could get them at the moment, he thought. Next step, bring Lydia and Erin out for a look at the place.

And finally, a cabin becomes a home.

The change was marked for anyone who'd not been there in a little while. Where to begin, truly?

The floors were overlaid with polished and sealed hardwood, a beautiful dark finish. There were decorative (and functional, to be sure) rugs laid over the entryway, against the back door to the porch, and several large ones under the table, and in the sunken gathering area by the fireplace.

The blinds were hung, and overlaid with carefully shaded colours to complement the wooden walls. Along with the hanging-chain lamps he'd placed around the room for effect, there were neatly-hidden brighter flourescent lights, only making themselves apparent once their more powerful illumination was needed.

The dining table could seat four as it was currently configured, but Toby had stored away additional panels which would allow it to expand to as many as ten. The largest hanging lamp was situated directly over the table, and cast a warm and friendly glow over the eating area in the center.

Separated by an ornate carved rail, the gathering area was a step down from the rest of the cabin. Being most of the west side, it surrounded the fireplace on that wall of the cabin, and had the long convertible couch, as well as several thick stuffed chairs, the papasan chair and that old beanbag chair he could just not get rid of. There were a few wooden end tables he'd picked up at the Marketplace, as well as some more modern fold-up types he could bring out as needed.

The little baby grand piano finally had made its home in the north-west corner of the cabin, situated where he could play at leisure, and especially for the ears of his little girl. Toby had done a little extra work to make the acoustics right, and it showed.

The first of three side-rooms was Toby's office/trophy room. He was still contemplating what he wanted to do with it, but already a dartboard and an old oak desk (again, from a woodworker in town whose work had caught Toby's eye) were in place there. He also had a six-speaker surround system for his stereo (naturally.)

The second room was empty at present, and was being used for storage. The third was the baby's room, and though it wasn't quite yet decorated as one, it had a wooden crib (yet another custom job by that woodworker), a changing stand, a dresser and some storage cabinets. This was the room right next to the bathroom, which was not by accident.

The enclosed back porch was also yet still a work in progress, but it had an old beat-up couch he'd gotten from a friend at the port, a picnic table and benches on the right side, and a freezer chugging away at the other end. There were also a lot of boxes here at the moment.

The loft bedroom was his pride and joy. The 270-degree windows gave an incredible view of the clearing, the lake and the mountains beyond to the north. The fourth wall held the dresser and mirror, chest of drawers, and a little door to a small bathroom behind. (The one downstairs had an actual shower and bath, but sometimes you just didn't want to take that long drip downstairs.)

The bed itself was a queen-size. Admittedly, when he'd first considered building the place, there had been two in mind, but also he could justify it since he liked having a lot of room. It was situated to face north, and gave an absolutely decadent view for the times when you simply didn't want to get out of bed.

There would be further decorating and personalizing as time went on, little touches here and there to further imprint his own personality ont he place. But now, it was no longer just a 'cabin'.

It was a home.

(Cross-posted from Act IV)

Sunset.

The woods in the north of Rhydin were dyed a brilliant and fading red, descending from the bright warmth of fire, down to a darker hue.. almost like blood. It seemed appropriate.

Toby stood on the back porch of his cabin. Inside, there was little light - a torch lamp burned in the living room, and that was all. The dogs sat to either side of him, whining softly. They knew something was wrong with their master, could perceive it, but could not understand it.

Truth be told, neither did he.

In the span of hours, Toby had seen .. no, he'd *caused* his life to be torn apart and irrevocably altered. He'd seen the final end to what was possibly the last love of his life (after how far they'd gone together, how could he ever consider someone else the same way?), seen the bitter truth that no matter how he raged.. she had a duty and a destiny she was going to have to fufill.

And he'd seen himself do the most terrible things imaginable.

Those men weren't brutal and simple half-orcs, they were *men*. Cruel, arrogant, unkind men, who had tormented Lorelie most of her life, had executed her mother for daring to love someone they didn't approve of, and would have done the same to her. But men nonethless... and what he'd done to them...

There were cleaner ways to die.

Worst of all, deep in his soul, Toby knew a further and bleaker truth. At the moment he'd used his powers on each of them... as horrible as he'd been, he'd *liked* it. He'd enjoyed what he'd done, even as the full realization of it hit him later, sickening him. That, beyond any other reason, was why he implored Lorelie to keep safe, to find a life where she could be happy.

Away from him.

In the meantime, he was here once again. His 'fortress of solitude' someone had jokingly called it, referencing a popular film of another culture and time. But it was true enough. Until such time as he felt he could accept what he was, and what he'd become.. here he'd stay.

The sunset faded into darkness, leaving only shadows where man and dogs stood.

"On the edge of sleep, I was driting for half the night;
Anxious and restless, pressed down by the darkness..
Bound up and wound up so tight."
- Rush, "Double Agent"


By all measurement, midnight was the halfway point between the failing day behind, and the new and uncertain day ahead. But it was only a name given to a moment in time, a label. There was a deeper hour, one that didn't necessarily correspond to any particular time. The hour when the night felt the darkest, when everything was as silent as death. An hour when the world seemed to hold its breath, and time never really passed.

The silence pervaded the little cabin in the woods, so heavy it lay like a muffling blanket over everything. The little fire in the hearth barely made any sound, the little crackles here and there thick and muted. The two dogs laying on the carpet near that hearth were not asleep, but they too barely stirred, their dark eyes watching one thing and one thing only.

In the wide, shallow papasan chair, Toby sat in sleepless thought. In the flickering light cast by the fire, his royal blue eyes seemed so faint as to be lifeless. Only the occasional blink gave any hint that he still lived at all. But though everything around him was hushed, his thoughts lay under no such restraint.

This was, after all, nothing new to him. Most of his nights were spent like this ever since the breaking, and yet he'd found no answers. The days were a mix of simple routines (long walks in the endless woods around the cabin, sitting by the lakeshore watching the dogs brawl happily together, tending to the little garden he'd planted on a friend's sage advice. There was the occasional break in his solitude... Wyheree, Lydia, Jewell, Kairee. Those few he trusted enough to call friend.

But he never truly forgot why he was here, in what he called his 'self-imposed exile' with a fond sense of the dramatic. And though he could sometimes pretend it never happened, he'd have to face it eventually.

Perhaps now, tonight, that moment had come.

Behind the finer feelings
This civilized veneer
The heart of a lonely hunter
Guards a dangerous frontier
- Rush, "Lock and Key"


Living in Rhydin gave you a new perspective on law. Oh, the neighboring realms, kingdoms and whatnot all had their own little rules and rulers. And every now and then, someone rose in Rhydin itself to claim some form of power or rule of law. But the truth was long known, and would ever be there.

In Rhydin, the only law is strength. No one will save you, unless they are stronger and choose to. There are no saviours running the show.

That had always struck him as wrong. Oh, he understood WHY. In a land where beings of unimaginable power roamed free, seemingly more every day, how could you hope to bind them all to anyone's rules? And who should set those rules?

Privately, his money was still on Kairee being the one to do so, some day. But what a chore it would be to run everything - he doubted she'd really want it. Then again, that's why you have delegation, and the thought brought another smile to his face.

Which brought him then to another topic, perhaps the one that underlay this whole thing. Injustice was a fact of life here, going back to that principle of might and right. And though many here were powerful... some weren't. And sometimes, people took advantage of that fact. Who stood up for them?

Sometimes people did. Sometimes they didn't. And the more the thought about it, the more Toby came to understand himself a little better at last. Oh, he'd enjoyed the power, enjoyed the feeling of dominating and destroying another life and the feeling of mastery.

But why did you enjoy it?

Because it felt good.. and that's why he hated himself, wouldn't let himself leave this place until he could deal with it. Or until he could control it again.

No. WHY did it feel good?

...

For someone as intelligent as you are, you can be incredibly stupid now and then. The only person you ever had to ask was yourself. You knew the answer all along.

So did Lorelie, even if she tried to deny it. Face it, Toby - you are a white knight in your soul. You always will be, no matter how you try to hold back, or try to keep to your own business. You are what you are, and what you will be. You might flirt with the darkness, and you might enjoy the power it brings you, but at the end of the day you hate the bad people. You can't stand injustice. And that brings you to the one thing you want more than anything else.

Not power for its own sake. But power to DO something about it. Power to strike back, to get revenge, vengance, retribution, call it what you will. And THAT is what you enjoyed! You punished the sinful and the wicked, and you LIKED it. Because you didn't have to sit and take it anymore, you didn't have to let it be. And you'll do it again.

What gives me the right to judge who deserves it? How am I supposed to make that call?

Face it, you're never going to be God. You're never going to be the moral light shining in the sky. But you know what burns you, you know what you feel is wrong. And now you can do something about it.

How you handle it? Well. That's up to you. I've done my part, and you've finally gotten to this point. It's your turn to drive.

...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"On the edge of sleep, I awoke to a sun so bright
Rested and fearless, cheered by your nearness
I knew which direction was right..

The case had been tried by the jury inside
The choice between darkness and light."
- Rush, "Double Agent"