Rise Of Pandora

Rise Of Pandora : XLII. The Futility Of It All

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II. Stoic

Walking down the hallway, Atlas extended an interesting question to Gaijin, "So this voice in your head...tell me, is it speaking to you now?"

"Yes."

"Fascinating. And so what does he tell you?"

Gaijin responded but the Purple Man did not appear to be paying special attention to Gaijin's response, for his eyes were solemnly fixed upon a door, more particularly the handle of the door. The door was wooden and nestled along the side of the long corridor. He reached out for it.

Gaijin heard condensed voices on the other end of the door. He was curious.

With his hand wrapped around the handle, he turned to Gaijin. He soon turned away and knocked on the door and spoke softly, "Join me in the study."

Gaijin, with a detection of confusion, wondered who Atlas was speaking to.

But Atlas did not allow Gaijin to stand and ponder, for he was already moving down the corridor. He kept his head turned back until Atlas's voice stole his attention, causing him to steer his attention forward.

"I would like to ask, what motivates you to chase a woman with such a force alone?"

"I made a promise to someone. Also, I don't care for others much, I favor the peaceful quiet of my own company."

"I see. But in a world such as this, I fear the only true peace and quiet you will find is in death. But, regardless of the outcome, just know as long as you stand by us you will always have a family here."

Gaijin did not respond, allowing their conversation to dissipate into the emptiness of the corridor.

They both strolled leisurely down the hallway.

Atlas turned to Gaijin, "I will tell you now, this life I have lived has not been the loveliest one. It has been very long and arduous. I have beheld some very unsightly things that I will never unsee. I am sure you have, too. We are the few who shield the many. But, I fear these passing days will be something that we can not protect the people from. I have always known that I could not stop people from seeing and knowing true terror. Personally, I believe it is time they found it out."

Atlas ceased from his ramblings for a moment, fixing his eyes upon his feet. A subtle change in his voice became rather noticeable.

"I sometimes wonder what it is we are doing...the futility of it all."

A look of madness to which he efficiently concealed from Gaijin fought to dominate his countenance. Atlas tried to remain calm, fighting to remain optimistic.

"From these centuries of living, I have assembled a family in which I can trust to defend humanity, love humanity, understand humanity. But what of us? We Purple Men truly know nothing of ourselves. We do not know why we feel this unyielding compulsion to fight for humans. We know nothing of how we are born. We do not even know where we come from. Sadly, while we were learning more about our human counterparts, we have truly learned nothing meaningful about ourselves."

A glum and feign smile cemented upon his gloomy physiognomy.

"Tell me, Gaijin, do you believe there are worlds which exist beyond our own?" A look of boyish innocence was on his face.

"I do not know," Gaijin responded, looking deeply into Atlas' eyes.

Gaijin sighed and removed his gaze from Atlas.