"Maybe you should reevaluate your priorities, in that case, because getting me discharged isn't a great way to get me on your side!"
This particular comment made Aaron chuckle. "Wait a minute, just hear me out. For obvious reasons, the things I told you in that hallway could very easily come back to bite me, especially if you did the rational thing and informed on me. Now, I promised you that you could walk away, and even report me, and I would take no hostile action against you. This is true, and I will hold myself to every word of it. While I trust you completely, I wouldn't get anywhere in this job if I wasn't paranoid. As I said, the punch and the words were a precaution against me being bit in the ass, but allow me to state several obvious facts first. Besides, nobody here gets kicked out for minor brawls such as that."
"First obvious fact: You have anger issues, especially regarding your heritage. Not only is this in your file, I know this from personal experience. The second, less obvious fact is that the Second Coming has become the equivalent of the boogyman among the DICE overlords, as the organization was killed off ten years ago, and there has been no evidence of it since. Third, you're fairly new here, and you also have quite the history of pissing off your superiors, while I (semi-literally) got in bed with most of them during my tenure here. When we add all of this together, assuming you informed the higher-ups about my statements about the Second Coming, the story from their side looks like you got angry at me for some choice comments on my part and attacked me, no surprises there. However, when you run to them about how I'm involved with an anti-DICE organization that was crushed before I even joined? Now it's just starting to sound like you want some petty vengeance. Add to that our individual standings with the bosses and our respective tenures here, and they'll never believe you." At this point, Aaron removed his grey bowler hat and spun it in his hand, revealing his faded black hair underneath. "Do you think that it's a coincidence that the hallway we were talking had its camera destroyed during the battle, and also that the cleanup crew walked in just in time to see you wreck my shit?"
"In short, I goaded you into attacking me to keep the senior men in power from believing you. That way I wouldn't need to keep you quiet with any threats or actions, as that would be missing the point. I do truly apologize for my actions, and I hope that you will not hold them against me. I sincerely hold no negative feelings against you or your heritage, and I honestly desire your forgiveness for my actions." Aaron adopted a bow at this point, hat over his heart, and hoped that Sophia would absolve the grievances in order that he may convince her over to his side.
This particular comment made Aaron chuckle. "Wait a minute, just hear me out. For obvious reasons, the things I told you in that hallway could very easily come back to bite me, especially if you did the rational thing and informed on me. Now, I promised you that you could walk away, and even report me, and I would take no hostile action against you. This is true, and I will hold myself to every word of it. While I trust you completely, I wouldn't get anywhere in this job if I wasn't paranoid. As I said, the punch and the words were a precaution against me being bit in the ass, but allow me to state several obvious facts first. Besides, nobody here gets kicked out for minor brawls such as that."
"First obvious fact: You have anger issues, especially regarding your heritage. Not only is this in your file, I know this from personal experience. The second, less obvious fact is that the Second Coming has become the equivalent of the boogyman among the DICE overlords, as the organization was killed off ten years ago, and there has been no evidence of it since. Third, you're fairly new here, and you also have quite the history of pissing off your superiors, while I (semi-literally) got in bed with most of them during my tenure here. When we add all of this together, assuming you informed the higher-ups about my statements about the Second Coming, the story from their side looks like you got angry at me for some choice comments on my part and attacked me, no surprises there. However, when you run to them about how I'm involved with an anti-DICE organization that was crushed before I even joined? Now it's just starting to sound like you want some petty vengeance. Add to that our individual standings with the bosses and our respective tenures here, and they'll never believe you." At this point, Aaron removed his grey bowler hat and spun it in his hand, revealing his faded black hair underneath. "Do you think that it's a coincidence that the hallway we were talking had its camera destroyed during the battle, and also that the cleanup crew walked in just in time to see you wreck my shit?"
"In short, I goaded you into attacking me to keep the senior men in power from believing you. That way I wouldn't need to keep you quiet with any threats or actions, as that would be missing the point. I do truly apologize for my actions, and I hope that you will not hold them against me. I sincerely hold no negative feelings against you or your heritage, and I honestly desire your forgiveness for my actions." Aaron adopted a bow at this point, hat over his heart, and hoped that Sophia would absolve the grievances in order that he may convince her over to his side.
