"Ladies! Gentlemen! My dearest fellow citizens of the gardens of Eden! I stand before you all today, not to speak of the coming shift in power, nor of the failures of the men in power currently...nay!" General Charles Von Crois began, his hoarse old voice echoing across the exhibit, the chitter chatter died down and every creature from a roach to old crone turned to listen with rapt attention.

"...I stand here, to show you the truth!" He declared, the confident voice echoing across the halls made me sick to the stomach, "It is something we are all aware of, yet we refuse to face it, we prefer to sit by idly, ignoring what's in front of our very eyes!"

I stared at the man, as he gazed across the crowd, making sure that his words were sinking in to his ever faithful dogs.

"Men, women, children, my people, I...have lived a long life...I have seen many a sight, some etched into my memory and some I wish I could forget, yet, in my life of sixty three years, there is one thing that I could never forget..." The old general gave one of his signature dramatic pauses, balling up his fists, he bought it down on the podium, making the thud echo across the silent room.

"Rage!" he announced, anger evident in his eyes, "I could never forget the rage I felt as we were driven into these glorified bird cages! We call them the Gardens of Eden! We were driven from our homes, our lands taken, our families killed, we're trapped inside glass, fighting for our lives as we watch those monsters that stole our freedom play with us! And yet there are those that would call this paradise? FOOLS! CAN THEY NOT SEE THAT THIS IS NOTHING BUT HELL?" The man declared loudly, his voice breaking as he burst into a coughing bout, he had shouted his throat sore.

The museum director stepped forward, a lanky man with greying black hair and thin, almost non-existent facial hair, a worried look in his vibrant green eyes, he handed the old general a glass of water.

The man, despite being past the age of retirement, took the glass and emptied it in a single gulp with the gusto of a drunkard during a drought, then turned to face his audience again, who were enraptured as if under a spell.

I let out a soft inaudible sigh, it was too much to hope for, I already knew the entire plan was ruined the moment Von Crois made a show out of a blown fuse.

"I admit, I may seem a bit too excited, we have lived behind these walls for these past forty nine years after all, yes, but please, please do pay this senile old fool some mind, the only reason that I have the courage to stand here to speak, not for me, not for you, but for your children and their children is because I have seen it...I have seen true paradise! I have lived in it and I cannot bear to see our people stuck in these greenhouses from hell!"

If the man knew he was senile, he should have already retired, but of course, things could never be that easy, the damn general would be around for another century at the least if he had it his way.

"I have frolicked around in endless fields, I've spent many a night gazing at the stars and I once lived a life without walls to bind me! You may think of this as a selfish whim of an old man like me, but I want my grandchildren to live the same life I did! Free from fear, free from these walls and free from the weeds corrupting them within these very walls!"

I walked through the crowd, towards the exit, staying here any longer was pretty much pointless, I'd just end up being arrested for assaulting a senior citizen.

"...Yes, it may seem a pipe dream, after all, we did try to escape this prison of glass, fifteen years ago, what good did it do? you ask, the collective progress of thirty five years, all gone in a single instant, along with whatever hope we held of freedom! What do we have left? You ask, wondering if this old war crone wants all of us to fight tooth and nail against those unfathomable creatures risking our lives? What good would I be in a fight! I can hear your fears, your anxiety, my people, I implore you, do not fret..."

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I pushed across a few more of his mindless listeners, their previous silence had slowly grown into small chatter yet again, the people were slowly losing their interest as people do when an old man went on for too long without getting to the point.

Not that it mattered in this case however...after all, the old General knew exactly what to say to get every damn fool with a mouth to follow him around, wagging their metaphorical tails.

"...It is at times such as these that I am reminded, that kindness is the greatest virtue, that no good deed goes unpaid, and we, my people, I would say, even in these darkest of times, are the kindest we can be..."

I saw the red haired girl again, back against the door, shivering like a leaf in the wind.

"Oh, hello." She greeted me, "Leaving already?"

"Just wanted to get some fresh air, it's too stuffy in here..."

"Yeah, makes sense, this place wasn't meant to host these many people, even with the air conditioning on, at best, there could be what a hundred to a hundred and fifty on this floor? I still don't understand why General Von Crois wanted to hold his meeting here..." She rambled.

"I wouldn't know what goes on in his head, but I'm sure that he has a reason."

"Yeah, yeah! The General definitely has some reason, after all, a museum is no place to hold a meeting! It was just supposed to be the opening of an exhibit, I don't know what went on in daddy's head when he invited General Von Crois of all people..." She replied with a twinge of poorly veiled sarcasm.

I looked at the jittery girl, her striking eyes, while a different shape was the same green of the director's.

"...I mean, sure he was someone who lived in the old world but that doesn't mean..."

"...We took pity on them, we provided them shelter, those pitiful weeds that are scattered across our gardens, I say it is time that our kindness is repaid, these parasites must now earn their keep, that is the only way left for us to move forward!" Von Crois declared as if he were the only one who had the gift of voice in this damned world.

"...What...what is he talking about?" The director's daughter asked, scrunching her face in confusion.

The General slammed his hand down on the podium yet again.

"My people! Those monsters disguised as children! the very things that we could not bring ourselves to kill, they might as well be our salvation! The rotted are the only ones that can stand against their own kin! It is the only way!"

"...Hey...I...I don't get it...what is he talking about?" Twin tails asked, not really expecting an answer from me, the awkward smile on her face poorly masking her disbelief.

I looked at her, bruised face, dirtied dress and all, then let out a short chuckle, "You probably don't go out much do you?" I asked, not really expecting an answer either, "The rotted is what people call those that don't abide by society's standard of a human being..."

"I know what a rotted is!" Twin tails cut in quickly, "I...don't understand...why is he saying these things!" she murmured, taking in heavy wavering breaths.

"...I suppose throwing away the lives of a few inhuman creatures doesn't really matter as long as humanity survives..."

"I BEG OF YOU! Look upon this wasteland and realize that we can no longer live like this! the very fact that we have to live in such fear, like pathetic sheep from a pack of ravenous wolves! I say we fight fire with fire! monster against monster!"

"That's not right...he can't do that! that would just be throwing lives away!"

"Really? It's just a few dozen rotted, what's the big deal? it's not like they're worth anything anyway..."

"How could you say such a cruel thing! they're still alive! they deserve to live!"

I smiled at the terribly defensive redhead, "Why do you care so much? They're the rotted, why does the daughter of a museum director have such compassion for such disgusting things?"

The glare I got in return looked more funny than terrifying.

"Unless of course...you're rotted yourself..."

Her green eyes widened for but a moment, as if she were about to stammer a rejection, but out of nowhere, she quickly caught herself, "Is that an insult? I'll have you know, that I can throw you out of here whenever I want...the only reason I've tolerated your words so far is because you have a right to express yourself, any more and you'd be testing my limits."

"The time is now! WE'VE WAITED LONG ENOUGH! We have suffered enough! We need to act now! For the sake of the future, we need to accept this now! But the damned fools at the Ecclesia can't understand!" Von Crois had successfully segued into the politics that he wasn't going to talk about.

I took another look at her, she seemed even more strained than before, "Ah...I'm sorry, I've been told that I have a dry sense of humor by my friends..."

"If that's what passes for a joke from you, I'm surprised that you even have friends."

I gave her a thin smile before I walked out of the door, I had no interest in listening to whatever else Von Crois was going to spew out of his disgusting old mouth.

And knowing exactly which monkey threw the massive wrench in my plan didn't give me a reason to stay either.