Spoilers: "Redux" (just a little) Rating: PG He took a long drag of his cigarette, letting the thick pollutant flow deep into his lungs. The man then exhaled, and the vapors formed a ring like some dark mockery of a halo around his head. He watched the smoke drift toward the ceiling and disperse. He sighed exhaustedly, and again he stared at the tiny jar in his hand, at the miniscule chip within. So small yet so vastly powerful, it gave him the ability to give life or to cut it short. He felt incredible strength while he held it, but knew that the sense of omnipotence was as fabricated as the lies he and his black-suited associates generated day after day. Plausible denial worked on the public, but not on himself. In truth, others' fear of him gave him his hold. Were they not afraid, he would be nothing. By destroying thousands of lives, he had created his, set himself upon a cardboard throne. But this chip, this technological miracle, could be the key to turning his life around and finally having genuinely deserved power. He would for once save a live instead of ending it, possibly saving his own soul in the process. But did he really want this? Was he willing to give up the prestige and strength, no matter how counterfeit, of his lies in order to save that young woman? Was true power really worth losing all that he had gained, perhaps even being killed? He had put himself in danger many times before, but this pitfall was far greater than any previous hazard; he would be facing the wrath of his associates as well as the truth about himself: that he was weak without the lies. Time and fate would soon force him to choose between two evils-a life of lying to himself or one in which those lies couldn't protect him. Whatever his decision, it would have to be reached soon; her time was running out. A life with unimaginable artificial power, but one spent shrouded in shadows and mist. Or an existence filled with diminutive true power, in which creation came before destruction. Which one was the better choice? He pondered this as he brought the cigarette to his mouth again.
