The Green Pact

Nov 2, 1988

TRIGGER

So when you let me in

You let me justify my own reward

You put your hands on me

And I’ll learn the words I didn’t know before

— from Katatonia - “Deliberation”

ECO

The Tradesman shook The Cop’s hand firmly. The deal was made.

In return for his son’s life - and his own freedom - The Tradesman would live a life of solitude. He would follow a strict set of rules:

• He is not to speak of his research career to anyone - not even his wife.
• He is not to reflect his son’s ideas.
• He is to maintain the persona of a silent, stoic protector. He is to be neither good nor bad; he simply “is.”
• He is not to offer advice to his children or wife. He may only offer advice when a specific question is asked of him.

In kind, the son would live a life alone, until such a point as he has discovered a cure for the virus. His only guide would be the technology that raised him:

You have the choice: saint or the beast?

Prove you can be force fed war and spit peace.

— from Caligula’s Horse - “The Cannon’s Mouth”

The two would live a life of empty words: speaking, but never hearing. Listening, but never sharing.

For 31 years.

CAT

data.stats.symptoms = [
    - determination
    - understanding
]

ECHO

Time to open your eyes to this genocide

When you clear your mind you see it all

You’re receiving the gold of a better life

When you change yourself, you change the world

— from Gojira - “Silvera”