KORBIN
But what does it take to break you, to awake you?
To make you bow and spit it out?
To make you bow and spit it out?
Closing his eyes again, Korbin sighed. He really did not feel up to this kind of talk at the moment, but by the look of her, Morgan would keep talking whether he wanted to or not.
"I never said that. I did say that I consider all outlanders to be a danger. In my experience, change and death of people I love are synonymous, and these newcomers bring both. Doesn't matter if they're not here by their own will; they are still products of The Voice, same as any Ascended."
Pushing himself up to sit, Korbin opened his eyes again and fixed a calm - if tired - gaze on the Warden. Didn't expect her to accept or agree with his perception of the world; but nor was he shy about delivering it either.
"It does bother me that someone who has only been on this world and in this region for a bare season thinks he understands the place well enough to implement changes and predict the consequences. Everything I've seen so far suggests that sooner or later that impatience will cause trouble. Maybe not today, or next year, but what about ten years from now? It starts with a farm to breed ningos, but where does it end? How is this any different from what The Voice is doing, by opening portals and making the region dependent on things we never needed before?
"You said yourself that you wanted to track the movements of the Ascended; how is it any different to be wary of these other new entities who bring their ideas and their savior complexes?"
Reaching for the waterglass, Korbin took a sip when his voice started to turn hoarse. It felt best to get his thoughts out there right away. He didn't know what Chulane had said about their confrontation, but Morgan had clearly drawn her own conclusions from it.
"I did express a general desire to close down the portal and bring everything back to the way things were before any outlanders showed up. Before Neron, before the portal... and I did say that I find his lack of respect for my personal space and the urgency in his desire to 'save' this region to be offensive. To me personally. I never liked new things, and lately it's been synonymous with upheaval in my personal life. The death of my family.
"I did not suggest that Chulane should leave Halo or quit his post on the council. As a matter of fact, I was disappointed that all it took was my negative reaction to make his whole resolve about his ideas crumble. He claimed he wanted my trust and respect, for some reason I can't comprehend, but did not seem to feel that giving it time and proving me wrong was an acceptable approach."
That still rather hurt. It was not the first time someone had claimed to want his friendship only to disappear when it turned out that his trust was hard earned. Aparently they weren't serious enough to work for it.
"From the start, Chulane and Delphine - not to mention Loren - have all ignored my expressed desires to be left alone. Delphine has followed me around on a number of occasions, as have Chulane. Loren has used his magic on me without even asking for permission, and the way they refuse to back off when I say no to their offers of help has been incredibly intrusive.
"I never asked for their help, I don't want it, and it seems that the only thing that makes them back off is to resort to hard words. Barely."
His violence in the past had been unintentional, and even now Korbin didn't set out to be cruel. But when asked for his opinion he did not intend to lie, or cover up his opinions. It's not like he had the power to do anything about any of these things, not like he could drive anyone away or make the newcomers stop appearing. Did he have to be thrilled about it? No to that too.
"I never said that. I did say that I consider all outlanders to be a danger. In my experience, change and death of people I love are synonymous, and these newcomers bring both. Doesn't matter if they're not here by their own will; they are still products of The Voice, same as any Ascended."
Pushing himself up to sit, Korbin opened his eyes again and fixed a calm - if tired - gaze on the Warden. Didn't expect her to accept or agree with his perception of the world; but nor was he shy about delivering it either.
"It does bother me that someone who has only been on this world and in this region for a bare season thinks he understands the place well enough to implement changes and predict the consequences. Everything I've seen so far suggests that sooner or later that impatience will cause trouble. Maybe not today, or next year, but what about ten years from now? It starts with a farm to breed ningos, but where does it end? How is this any different from what The Voice is doing, by opening portals and making the region dependent on things we never needed before?
"You said yourself that you wanted to track the movements of the Ascended; how is it any different to be wary of these other new entities who bring their ideas and their savior complexes?"
Reaching for the waterglass, Korbin took a sip when his voice started to turn hoarse. It felt best to get his thoughts out there right away. He didn't know what Chulane had said about their confrontation, but Morgan had clearly drawn her own conclusions from it.
"I did express a general desire to close down the portal and bring everything back to the way things were before any outlanders showed up. Before Neron, before the portal... and I did say that I find his lack of respect for my personal space and the urgency in his desire to 'save' this region to be offensive. To me personally. I never liked new things, and lately it's been synonymous with upheaval in my personal life. The death of my family.
"I did not suggest that Chulane should leave Halo or quit his post on the council. As a matter of fact, I was disappointed that all it took was my negative reaction to make his whole resolve about his ideas crumble. He claimed he wanted my trust and respect, for some reason I can't comprehend, but did not seem to feel that giving it time and proving me wrong was an acceptable approach."
That still rather hurt. It was not the first time someone had claimed to want his friendship only to disappear when it turned out that his trust was hard earned. Aparently they weren't serious enough to work for it.
"From the start, Chulane and Delphine - not to mention Loren - have all ignored my expressed desires to be left alone. Delphine has followed me around on a number of occasions, as have Chulane. Loren has used his magic on me without even asking for permission, and the way they refuse to back off when I say no to their offers of help has been incredibly intrusive.
"I never asked for their help, I don't want it, and it seems that the only thing that makes them back off is to resort to hard words. Barely."
His violence in the past had been unintentional, and even now Korbin didn't set out to be cruel. But when asked for his opinion he did not intend to lie, or cover up his opinions. It's not like he had the power to do anything about any of these things, not like he could drive anyone away or make the newcomers stop appearing. Did he have to be thrilled about it? No to that too.
Doesn't matter if I hate you or embrace you
Nothing makes you turn around
Nothing makes you turn around
