Number XII . video
Why do we put so much emphasis on the heart?
[The video feed shows a dark alley, obviously at night. Axel is holding the NV, but the camera angle is awkward and his face can't quite be seen. Off to the side, out of sight of the feed, there's a soft, inhuman growling.]
Because we do, don't we? The source of feelings, obviously, the source of light and darkness--that which makes worlds and destroys them. Oh, and friendship! 'Friendship without feeling shouldn't exist', right? 'Bonds are made through emotion'? The most fundamental of fundamentals. If someone didn't have a heart, we'd have to deny their personhood, wouldn't we?
[The growling becomes a snarl, and there's a sound of thudding paws. Axel makes a gesture with a hand and orange light flares off-camera, bright and flickering. Something shrieks and is quickly silenced. The light dies away slowly, accompanied by the crackling of flames.]
Still, it seems so unreliable. Weak, corruptable, always getting overtaken by darkness. I wonder how something so changeable can make a person a person. But what else does?
[He sighs dramatically and changes the subject.]
All these holidays coming up! Work's getting too busy for me. [He hasn't been home the previous night already.] So hard to work for slave drivers. I guess I won't be home for another night or two.
[The video feed shows a dark alley, obviously at night. Axel is holding the NV, but the camera angle is awkward and his face can't quite be seen. Off to the side, out of sight of the feed, there's a soft, inhuman growling.]
Because we do, don't we? The source of feelings, obviously, the source of light and darkness--that which makes worlds and destroys them. Oh, and friendship! 'Friendship without feeling shouldn't exist', right? 'Bonds are made through emotion'? The most fundamental of fundamentals. If someone didn't have a heart, we'd have to deny their personhood, wouldn't we?
[The growling becomes a snarl, and there's a sound of thudding paws. Axel makes a gesture with a hand and orange light flares off-camera, bright and flickering. Something shrieks and is quickly silenced. The light dies away slowly, accompanied by the crackling of flames.]
Still, it seems so unreliable. Weak, corruptable, always getting overtaken by darkness. I wonder how something so changeable can make a person a person. But what else does?
[He sighs dramatically and changes the subject.]
All these holidays coming up! Work's getting too busy for me. [He hasn't been home the previous night already.] So hard to work for slave drivers. I guess I won't be home for another night or two.