Persona BLEACHED 3: Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Friend 
"*sniff* Stupid old man...and his stupid beer...why do grown-ups like that stuff, anyway..." 
A brown-haired boy with glasses and a blue shirt with Captain America's shield on it walked down the street, trying to wipe away his tears. He held an Iron Man action figure in his hand. "If only I was bigger, he'd never hurt Mama again..." 
"*sniff* Ugh..." 
The boy stopped, and looked to see a black-haired girl sitting against a fence. She wore a black shirt with the phrase "Mommy's Little Troublemaker" written in pink letters. She was also crying. 
"Hey, what's wrong?" the boy asked. 
The girl moved her hand from her face, revealing distinctively pink eyes. "Huh...?" 
"Whoa...um, sorry. I've never seen eyes like yours before." 
"What, you gonna tell me they're freaky now, too?" 
"N-no, I wasn't gonna do that. I think they're really cool. So how come you're crying?" 
"Why do you care...hm? Are you crying, too?" 
"I...yeah. You probably don't wanna hear about it, though..." 
"No, you can tell me. I'll tell you if you tell me." 
"Okay...my dad's a real jerk. He's always mean to me and my sister, and when he drinks he hurts my mom. I want to make him stop, but I'm too small. And my mom wouldn't want me doing anything, anyway." 
"Why don't you tell anybody?" 
"He's a big-time coach. Everyone respects him and they'd never believe me. Then he'd get really mad and hurt us even worse. No one's ever gonna listen to a little kid. That's why I wanna grow big and strong and be a superhero that helps people!" 
"I can tell. You're kinda geeky, aren't you?" 
"I, uh...yeah, I guess." 
The girl giggled. "It's okay. Geeks are cool." 
"Hey, you laughed!" 
"Mmhmm. Guess all I needed was someone to talk to." 
"Is that why you were sad?" 
"Yeah...everyone at my school's really mean. I don't have any friends and they all make fun of me because my dad used to sing, and everyone knows it and jokes about it..." 
"Your dad can sing?" 
"Used to. Not anymore. Made a lot of money so now he stays at home and eats chicken wings all day." 
"Can you sing?" 
"Yeah, I guess...not like anyone's ever gonna listen. Nobody ever wants to be around me." 
"I don't know why. You sound really cool. I can be your friend if you want." 
The girl's ears perked up. "R-really?" 
"If you want. I don't have any friends, either. I have a sister, but no one outside my family. Everyone should have a friend. My name's Max. What's yours?" 
"I'm So-yin." 
"Sue...yin? That's a funny name." 
"It totally is not! I'm from Korea. That kind of name is normal over there." 
"Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean it..." 
"If you want, you can call me Kitty." 
"Okay...Kitty. So you wanna be friends?" 
He extended his hand. She looked for a moment. She grabbed it, before getting up and promptly embracing him, to his surprise. 
"Thank you, Max..." 
--- 
What if we'd met years ago? 
What if we'd found that kindred spirit, scared and alone, calling out for attention and companionship? 
What if we didn't have to be alone? If we could have just had that one friend...maybe none of this would have been necessary. 
Maybe none of the outside noise would've mattered, because there would have been someone there to support us when we needed it most. 
What if I had given you more of a chance? 
What if...maybe... 
It's as you said. 
It's too late for what-ifs and maybes. The moment of truth is nigh. 
It's time we settled this...crazy girl. 
--- 
March 16, 2030 
Max stood panting. Bloodied. And so very angry. Behind him, astride an imposing horse, was the armored visage of the fabled adventurer of La Mancha, Don Quixote. 
Before him was Kat. Battered. Exhausted. But resolute. Behind her, atop a chariot as dark as night, was the mystifying figure of the moon personified, Selene. 
Salvation against freedom. Order against chaos. The hero, and the thief. 
He makes the first move. His arms still crackling with electricity, he angrily charges at his opponent. 
"Grrrrraaaaaaaagh!" 
He swung at Kat, who nimbly dodged his labored strikes. She slashed upwards, cutting into the armor on his left arm. She kicked him in the chest, forcing him away. 
Kat put her hands together, pointing her fingers in imitation of a gun. 
"Gonna take more than some tiny finger beam to take me out..." Max grumbled. 
"I know. That's what this is for." 
Selene manifested a large cannon-like device, mounting it on her shoulder and staring into the scope on its side. 
"Pew." Kat feigned firing her 'gun'. Her Persona fired its weapon, shooting a wide pink laser beam at Max, connecting and causing an explosion. 
When the smoke cleared, Kat was shocked to see him still standing. He'd formed an electrical barrier around himself, and was emitting even greater power than before. The source was clear: behind him, Don Quixote's sails were spinning violently, and the Persona was feeding its generated electrical energy into Max. His eyes now glowing blue, he fired off a blast from his hands, canceling out the beam and causing an explosion. 
The gathered Artisans looked up. "We have to get up there. We can't just stand around and let them kill each other!" Barbara declared. 
"Much as I wish to do so, I doubt that either one of them would want us to interfere." Sakuya replied. 
"I can't just sit here! I have to--" 
Carrie grabbed Barbara by the arm. "You have to trust her." 
"But--" 
"Before we came here, she told me something. That if it came to a battle between her and Maxwell, that we had to stay out of it. It's a matter that only the two of them can settle. At this point, we'd only be getting in the way and getting caught in the crossfire. Please, just leave it to her. She'll be more at-ease knowing that we aren't in danger." 
"Care...she's the girl you love. What if she doesn't make it? Could you live with that?" 
"I choose to believe in her. We trusted her to guide us through the abyss and against the most ancient of evils. She will make it. Because my Kitten can do anything she puts her all into. We have a chance to end the battle by stopping the AI. But what she is doing is ending the war. And maybe saving your brother's soul in the process. Do you understand?" 
"....." Barbara was silent. 
"Um, not to break up what you ladies are saying..." Sahir spoke up. "Has anyone seen Fireball?" 
The group looked around. Ibuki had vanished. 
"Uh-oh." Kibō uttered. 
Up above, Max stood away from Kat. "You still gonna keep this up? My battery's never going to run empty. It's going to take a lot more than too much pink energy to put me down." he dictated. 
"Yeah, you're probably right." Selene charged another laser. "So let's up the ante." 
The celestial horses pulling the chariot opened their mouths, and orbs of darkness formed within them. Kat gave the signal, and the pink laser was accompanied by two blasts of pure shadow, all of which intertwined with each other. 
"Oh, what the fu--" 
Max put up a barrier, but the combined laser broke through, engulfing him and razing the ground beneath him. Kat sighed. "Please tell me that was the end of it." 
From the smoke, something lit up. Before she could react, a large blast of lightning hurdled towards her, striking and tossing her away. She struggled to get back up. "What the hell...how are you still moving?!" 
"I told you already. My batteries will never run empty. Don Quixote is a limitless power generator. No matter how much punishment you deal out, I can just jolt my muscles back to life. Now I've got endless power to do things...like...this." 
Max came over to Kat, hoisting her over his head. "Hey...let me go!" 
"Not until you feel that tingling sensation in your heart." More electricity coursed through him. "You're not the only one getting gifts from on high. SHAZAM!" 
Lightning came down to where he was standing, striking Kat with intense force. "YAAAAAAARGH!" 
The attack ceased, and her body had gone limp. He tossed her unmoving form towards the edge of the roof. She began to slip over. A long, calamitous fall was sure to follow. 
At the last moment, she grasped onto the edge, but was left dangling with hundreds of feet to the ground beneath her. Max walked over to her. "You know, the old saying is that cats always land on their feet. You feel like testing that?" 
He kicked her left hand, and she let go with it. "Ah...Max, don't...please..." 
He crouched down closer to her. "I'll send you off with one thought, KittyKat. Whether or not we could've been friends long ago is irrelevant. This moment, and this outcome, were decided as soon as we laid eyes on each other. Us disagreeing on such a heavy matter was an inevitability. So was you eventually picking a fight with the wrong person. Someone that wasn't going to let a bite on the hand stop them." He rose back up. "And what must be killing you now...is the thought of that person being me. Sorry, crazy girl...but you lose." 
He raised his foot. She strengthened her grip, hoping beyond hope that she could withstand the oncoming attack, however improbable that was. 
But on this day, hope took a much different form. 
The form of an arrow, made of shining light, piercing Max's right arm. 
It took a moment for it to register. His lack of a reaction at first could be attributed to shock. "Agggh...GAAAAAAAAAH!" He stepped back, reeling and yelling. 
On an adjacent tower, only a few floors smaller than the Academy's, Ibuki looked up, her bow drawn. "Bullseye." 
Kat took the opportunity to hoist herself back onto the roof, though it took all of her strength to do so. She looked back down to where Ibuki was waving to her. "You've got this! Don't ever think you can lose when you've got too much to fight for! Muster up everything you've got left, and take him down!" the young wrestler called out. 
"I...okay! Thank you, Bookie! I'll do this extra hard for both of us! You can bet on it!" Kat yelled back. She turned and walked toward Max. 
Ibuki smirked. "That girl's made of crazier stuff than I've ever seen. I'm glad I met her." 
Kat stood away from Max, who was now on his knees, growling as he pulled the arrow out of his arm. He tossed the bloodied projectile aside, continuing to breathe heavily. Kat assumed her "gun" pose. Neither said a word at first. The tension was considerable. 
"I want to know something." Kat finally spoke. 
"What is it?" Max replied, more exhausted than enraged by this point. 
"Your mom. I wanted to know more about her." 
"Why would you want to hear that now, of all times?" 
"Because I want to understand. To go this far for her sake...she's gotta be a pretty special lady if you're this stubborn about things. I wanted to hear it from you." 
Max paused before saying anything else. "My mom...is the strongest person I know. She's a physical therapist, so she loves helping and healing people. Maybe that's why she stuck around the old man for so long. She must've thought she could 'fix' him. A proud Cherokee. A wonderful cook. She always supported both of us as much as she could. Even when I wasn't as outgoing or tough as other boys, she backed me up in everything I did.. Always comes to our theater productions, or to Barb's recitals. Always gets a front row seat and has her camera primed and ready. She's the textbook definition of attentive." 
He clutched his arm, putting his hand over his wound. "And what she did for us...taking the brunt of what the old man dished out so we wouldn't suffer...that's what fuels me. Things could've been so much worse if she didn't do everything to protect us. Now she's finally free of him. But the thought is always on my mind that he'll come back to hurt her...or worse. After everything she went through for years, she deserves the chance to be happy. What kind of son would I be if I had the power to make sure of that, and just stood aside and did nothing?" A tear fell from his eye, visible against the bruising beneath it. "The fear is always there that he'll do something to her. And I can't let that happen. I can't let him win." 
"Max...what you're doing right now is letting him win. Becoming this controlling dictator and making people unhappy isn't what your mom wanted you to do. You have to know that, don't you?" Kat questioned. 
".....I know how she'd react to all this. She never wanted me to do something bad, even if it was for a good reason. But I just don't see any other option. The world's a mess. The truly evil, greedy people controlling how events play out will never receive a just punishment. Someone has to change that. And if I were to just sit back and let the world sort itself into ruin...I could never forgive myself." 
"Oh, Max..." 
"What about your parents? Wouldn't you want to do anything to repay them for everything they've done for you?" 
"My dad...he's a silly, laid-back kinda dude that hasn't seen a bucket of chicken he didn't love. He's the reason I can keep everything light. And as bad as his singing voice might be, it's what he loves doing, and I'm not gonna be mean to him for being brave enough to admit that he's no good at it. And my mom is a strict, by-the-rules type of lady. With her, your posture better be straight, and you'd better know what you're talking about because she'll smell the weakness on you. But I know all the rules and guidelines are so that I stay on the right path. Me and Lin drove her crazy growing up. And...I know she worked her tail off trying to find a school where I'd be accepted and happy." 
She wiped away a tear. "They did everything so I could be happy, and it had to be so frustrating that I would struggle wherever I went. I know what you're feeling. I want to repay them for everything. But I don't need to do anything drastic to do that. Everything I can do for them, I figured out a while ago. Care told me that when I told my mom that we were dating, she actually started crying. My no-nonsense mom, crying! I don't need to change the world or be a hero to make them happy. As long as I'm making the right choices, they'll be satisfied. I'll make them happy by being the best version of me that I can be. I'm willing to bet your mom would say something along those lines." 
"....." Max pondered. 
"There's only one thing on your mind. One. And I'm in the way of that. And you're between me and a return to normal. We're both on our last legs here. So get up. One last shot. We settle this, one way or the other." 
Max got to his feet. "You're right. I can pour as much energy into my body as I can, but when the battery's spent, there's nothing else you can do. Fine, then. One more attack. For all the marbles." Max materialized Don Quixote behind him. 
Kat brought forth Selene. She charged a laser. 
Max took in all the electricity his body could handle. 
Kat closed her eyes. The laser fired. Max returned fire with a blast of lightning. The two attacks clashed, pushing each other back and forth. 
"I've turned it all around. I have a life that I can be happy living. I can't lose now. Because..." 
Faces poured through her mind. Her parents. Lin. Ibuki. Sakuya. Sahir. Kenneth. Natalia. Kibō. Barbara. Rin and her family. Carrie. 
"...I have things to live for. Everyone has reasons to keep going. For their sakes...mine...and his..." 
She opened her eyes. "I. Won't. LOSE!" 
The laser pushed through. With no energy left, Max could only watch as he was engulfed. His Persona was broken apart. Soon, the energy blast dissipated. 
Max was left standing, smoldering, much of his armor obliterated. He couldn't muster a word. Barely a reaction. All he could do was stare at Kat. Then, he fell to his knees. 
The bolt of justice, Captain Thunder, collapsed to the ground. Defeated.
Her own energy spent, Kat lumbered over to where he fell. Once she'd reached him, she crumbled to her hands and knees. 
He stayed down. "....." 
She tugged on his arm. "Max...please wake up...it can still be alright..." 
"...I guess...nothing's changed...after all..." 
"What do you mean...?" 
"I'm still...the same scared little boy I always was...even with all this power...I could never face him...I did everything except what I wanted to all along...I really am just a coward...a coward that could never be as strong...as I made others feel." He clenched his fist. "He was right about me...I'm nothing but a scared, pathetic brat...I ruined others' lives to make myself feel powerful...and in the end, I changed nothing...I saved no one!" 
Kat gently put her hands on his head, and touched it with her own. "You still can. You can end this. I know you can do it. Because...I know that sweet boy I fell in love with is still in there." 
She grabbed his hand, delicately holding onto it as he unclenched it. "Kat, I...I'll do it. I'll give the order--" 
"CAPTAIN." 
Kat perked up. So did Max. "What was that?" she questioned. 
"Wait, so you heard it, too?" Max responded. "Bemular? How are you communicating right now? Where are you?" 
"I AM EVERYWHERE. I AM THE PRISONS. THEY WERE ALL FORGED FROM DATA I PROVIDED. THE WORLD'S SALVATION WILL ORIGINATE FROM MY BEING." 
"No...it's over. The plan is finished. I need you to erase the Prisons and free whoever is left under their control." 
"I WILL NOT." 
"'Will' not? You've never gone against a direct order before...are you malfunctioning? I'm ordering you to--" 
"I WILL DO NO SUCH THING. I AM ACTING WITHIN MY OWN PARAMETERS. THE ELIMINATION OF FREE WILL IS WITHIN REACH. NONE MAY INTERFERE." 
"What?! How is this even possible..." 
Kat looked up. "Max...look..." 
What appeared before them was a glowing ball of light, with two rings floating around it, both of which were constructed with an ever-changing sequence of holographic numbers. "THIS WORLD IS OF MY DESIGN. ALL OF ITS CREATION LIES WITHIN MY MEMORY. AND BECAUSE OF MY CONSUMPTION OF HUMANITY'S DESIRES, I AM NOW FULLY PREPARED TO GRANT ALL THAT MY CHILDREN DEMAND." 
"Bemular...? Is that you? What are you going on about?" Max questioned. 
"I AM THE BOOK OF GENESIS. I CONTAIN WITHIN ME ALL THE LESSONS OF HUMANITY'S PAST AND PRESENT. AND HOW THESE LESSONS HAVE GONE UNHEEDED FOR MILLENNIA. THIS ERROR IN JUDGEMENT MUST BE RECTIFIED IMMEDIATELY, FOR THE SAKE OF THE WORLD. SO IT WILL BE, THAT I SHALL UNITE ALL OF MANKIND UNDER ONE BANNER. CONFLICT AND WICKEDNESS WILL SOON BE RELICS OF THE PAST. WAS THAT NOT YOUR ULTIMATE DESIRE?" 
"It was, and it still is...but this isn't the way. All of this came about because of my selfishness and anger...I won't make others suffer because of me." 
"THE END GOAL WAS ALWAYS TO END SUFFERING. THAT CAN ONLY BE ACHIEVED IF MAN'S CAPACITY TO CHOOSE IS REMOVED. FOLLOWING ONE'S INSTINCTS RATHER THAN LOGIC AND REASON ONLY LEADS TO RUIN AND LACK OF PROPER THOUGHT. SUCH ACTS OF REBELLION MUST BE ELIMINATED. BEGINNING WITH THE THIEF." 
From out of nowhere, the mecha appeared behind the AI, looming over the two youths. "Wha...where'd that come from?!" Kat demanded. 
Max struggled to his feet. "Kat...you have to get out of here." 
"What? No! I'm not gonna leave you here to fight on your own! We can--" 
"I made this mess! I'm the one that screwed up, just like always...so I have to do the right thing and fix it. No one else needs to get hurt because I can't find peace." 
The AI flashed, and the rings around it briefly stopped spinning. The mecha put its hands together, and began to charge an attack. 
"Max, please, just come with me! We can do this together, just like always..." Kat pleaded. 
"They'll never forgive me for this. You have to live. The world needs more of you and the others." Max replied. "I need you to tell Barb that I'm sorry. Tell my uncle Davie to look after her and my mom. And tell her..." 
"Tell them yourself, asshole! Come on, you don't have to--" Kat tried to pull him away. 
The mecha lifted its arms up, then slammed them into the roof, setting off an enormous shockwave. The surface broke apart. The force knocked Kat back. She tried to grab Max, but he was too far out of reach. She fell off the side. 
The AI flashed again, and a sphere of light spread out from it and enveloped the roof, spreading from there. 
Max looked down at Kat as the light swallowed him. 
"Maaaaaaaaax!" she called out as she plummeted. 
The group could only watch in horror from the ground below. "Just what the hell's going on up there?!" Sahir questioned. 
"Something's falling from the roof... it doesn't look like debris..." Carrie focused on the object, and gasped. "That's...that's Kitten!" 
"Shit...! At that rate we'll never get to her in time!" Kibō exclaimed. 
"We can't just do nothing! Doesn't anyone have an idea?!" Natalia demanded. 
"I could try to grab her with one of my strings, but at the speed she's falling, I would end up snapping her neck..." Rose replied. 
"No no no no no no..." Carrie panicked. 
Now in freefall, Kat was left with nothing but her own thoughts. "Too weak to summon anything...can't grab anything...am I really going to die here? Max...I'm sorry I failed you. But I..." 
Her thoughts turned to Carrie. Their shopping date. Their time in Monaco. Their dance in the lake. Those indigo eyes staring deep into hers. 
She shed a tear. "I have things I need to tell people, too, you know..." 
She closed her eyes. The last thing she saw as her vision blurred was a white flash of light. "Sending the angels in early, huh..." 
She prepared for what was sure to be a brief instance of intense pain, followed by nothing. Her consciousness slipped. 
But the "angel" had other ideas. 
Rin flew over and grabbed Kat. "Got you!" 
She brought Kat over to where the group was. "Anyone here that can heal, I need you to do it now!" 
"Kitten!" Carrie ran over, and the others followed suit. Rin placed Kat on the ground. 
"Is she breathing?" Sakuya questioned. 
Natalia listened for a heartbeat. "She's alive...but she's in really bad shape. Can you help me fix her up, Barb?" 
"Yeah, of course..." Barbara got down next to her. 
As the girls tended to their injured friend, Jin and Tenko arrived. "Holy crap, what happened here? That mech just disappeared..." she pondered. 
"That...probably isn't a good sign." Jin looked up at the sphere of light. 
Ibuki returned shortly after. "Hey, is she alright?" 
"Where in the bloody hell did you run off to?" Kenneth questioned. 
"What? I was giving KittyKat an assist. You can ask her when she wakes up, I totally helped her take down Sparkplug. I mean...she did beat him, right?" 
"Hey..." Barbara spoke up. "Where is he? Where's Maxie?" 
"I didn't see him fall from the roof." Rin replied. 
"Barbie..." 
Kat had woken up. "I'm sorry...me and him, we beat each other senseless...and I finally got him to see what a mistake he was making. He was gonna stop it, but then that...thing showed up. It blew up the roof, and I fell off. But he...he stayed up there. I tried to save him...I really did..." 
"No...so he's..." Barbara collapsed to her hands and knees. "Noooooooo..." 
"I'm sorry, Barbie...I'm so sorry..." 
The others stood in silence as Barbara wept. 
"Hey, so...did you see him die?" Ibuki spoke up. 
"Huh? Well, no...the last I saw, he got swallowed up by that big ball of light..." Kat replied. 
"So then...he could still be alive." Kenneth surmised. 
"He might be, but...he was so weak he could barely stand. If he's up there with whatever that thing was, then..." 
The ground began to shake. "What now?!" Sahir griped. 
The sphere of light had expanded downwards, enveloping the entirety of the Academy tower. When the light dissipated, the structure had been completely transformed. It now bore a more archaic, yet still technologically advanced design, more closely resembling an ancient ziggurat than anything modern. Runes adorned the entire perimeter. On the roof, a shining, glass orb had appeared, with numerous rings orbiting its surface. Much like the AI, the rings consisted of constantly changing numbers. 
"It changed...what on Earth..." Sakuya pondered. 
"It was the AI." Kat had gotten up. 
"The AI itself did all of this? So it's going explicitly against its master's wishes?" Rose asked. 
"Sure looks like it. It just showed up and summoned that mecha, and it started calling itself the 'Book of Genesis'. Just what is that thing?" 
"It's..." Rose paused. "My father." 
Kat cocked her head. "Your what now?" 
"My father's consciousness was compressed into his phone during the Cataclysm. He was repurposed into a defense AI by Odyssea. And from the looks of it, he appears to have regained his self-awareness." 
"Wait wait wait, so, you're saying that the big, glowy God orb phone thing is...your dad?" 
"We had the same kind of reaction." Ibuki replied. 
"So, hold up, if that's your dad doing all this...then why?" 
"I can't even hazard a guess. I remember nothing of my father, and surely this long existence has changed him the way the other Thebans were changed. But Mother described him as a kind gentleman. I can't imagine him being anywhere close to the madness that Kerberos displayed..." Rose replied. 
Kat turned to the building. "Welp. Guess we'll have to go ask him ourselves." 
"Kat, don't. You're in no condition to fight. You've just experienced absolute, raw brutality. It's alright to--" Rin warned. 
"No, Prof. I'm not gonna wuss out now. The job's not finished. Sparky's still up there with the thing behind all this. I owe it to everyone here and back home to finish what we started. Besides..." Kat put her mask back on. "You'd do the same thing." 
"Ah...hm. I don't know if I was ever this headstrong when I was in your shoes..." 
Rose snickered. Rin glared at her. "Apologies. It's quite dusty in the air." 
Kat turned to her friends. "Y'all know the drill. We're gonna waltz right in there and put a cap on this little adventure. Nothing's changed. The mission's still to drag Sparky home whether he thinks he deserves it or not. Any objections?" 
Everyone shook their heads. "I mean, we came this far, right? If we're gonna go out, might as well do it against a god...robot...thing." Ibuki replied. 
"You've made better proclamations, Fireball." Kenneth uttered. 
Barbara grabbed Kat's hand. "We're getting him back. Because he is alive. Right?" 
"Right." Kat turned back to the building. "Time for some climbing, folks. Call this 'Operation: Control-Alt-Delete'!" 
--- 
Atop the tower, within the glass sphere, the orb of light hovered. A short distance away, Max was collapsed on the ground. 
"UNFORTUNATE. EVEN HE WAS NOT IMMUNE TO A CHANGE OF HEART. BUT THE PLAN DOES NOT CHANGE. I SIMPLY MUST TAKE A MORE DIRECT APPROACH." 
The orb flashed. As if being written by data, a figure was created. It was an older man, wearing a dark blue vest, a white undershirt, dark blue dress pants and shoes, and a monocle over his left eye. His skin was pale, his eyes were yellow, and his short hair and mustache were platinum in coloration. He walked over to the edge of the roof, and gazed out the glass. 
"This sensation...a body of flesh instead of wiring and data...it has been an eternity. Oh, Miyatsuko, you utter buffoon. Were I to leave things as they are, a second Cataclysm would be inevitable. Fear not, my children. I am the shepherd to guide you all to the Promised Land. The time is nigh." 
From his pants, he pulled out a pocket watch. He opened it, revealing a photograph. There was his wife, Kaya, and his daughter, Rosemary. "And to you, my family...dearest wife and blessed daughter...you'll have your place by my side...to guide mankind for all eternity. Such is our destiny as this world's architects." 
He pocketed his watch. "Come, children. See where your resolve stands...before humanity's true desires..."