"We've done no such thing." Erskine, who'd entered after the others with a lot more subtlety and a lot more charm, but no less confidence, smiled brightly at the sorcerer who spoke. "What we did was destroy an outdated, and frankly immoral, not to mention creepy, defence force that was really no longer needed."
The stir of angry whispers at those words, far from pushing Erskine back, almost seemed to buoy him up. He wouldn't say politics were his game, exactly - he wasn't mature enough to handle this sort of thing on a daily basis, and he certainly didn't want to be. What Erskine was, however, was persuasive. Charmingly and endearingly convincing. Compelling, when he wanted to be. While it might have helped if these people were warned about Bliss's return, at least China agreed to wait outside. Adding her questionable loyalties into the mix was just asking for trouble.
"Immoral," he answered those whispers, "because when we discovered Mr. Bliss was trapped inside the Cleavers, we couldn't sit back and do nothing. Outdated, because it was impossible to create any more of them, and with a growing demand for them these days as well as an increase in death rate, that was always going to come back to bite us. No longer needed, because once we realised replacing the Cleavers would be necessary, we put an alternative in place before we did anything else."
"An alternative?" someone else spluttered. "You mean those angel statues?"
"The Host, I believe they're called." Erskine nodded affirmation. "Yes. More of them can be created whenever we need them - in fact, more are on the way. They're animated by pure belief, which means their one and only mission is to protect the Sanctuary and those affiliated with it. They're able to communicate with each other, they're remarkable fighters, and we're already working on ways to improve them in the future. Such as making them indestructible." He hesitated for a moment, and his bright smile turned somewhat dry. "They're still creepy, but we had to keep something the same."
He could see the tide turning in the crowd, slowly but surely. He worried for a moment that someone might ask how exactly they knew Bliss was trapped, but since the evidence that they were right was standing right there, that worry turned out to be completely unfounded. Erskine crossed his arms. "We did not simply have a whim this morning and decide that destroying the Cleavers sounded like a good idea. And honestly, I'm a little offended that we were trusted enough to be elected, but not enough to be given the benefit of the doubt here. Anyone else? Offended?"
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The stir of angry whispers at those words, far from pushing Erskine back, almost seemed to buoy him up. He wouldn't say politics were his game, exactly - he wasn't mature enough to handle this sort of thing on a daily basis, and he certainly didn't want to be. What Erskine was, however, was persuasive. Charmingly and endearingly convincing. Compelling, when he wanted to be. While it might have helped if these people were warned about Bliss's return, at least China agreed to wait outside. Adding her questionable loyalties into the mix was just asking for trouble.
"Immoral," he answered those whispers, "because when we discovered Mr. Bliss was trapped inside the Cleavers, we couldn't sit back and do nothing. Outdated, because it was impossible to create any more of them, and with a growing demand for them these days as well as an increase in death rate, that was always going to come back to bite us. No longer needed, because once we realised replacing the Cleavers would be necessary, we put an alternative in place before we did anything else."
"An alternative?" someone else spluttered. "You mean those angel statues?"
"The Host, I believe they're called." Erskine nodded affirmation. "Yes. More of them can be created whenever we need them - in fact, more are on the way. They're animated by pure belief, which means their one and only mission is to protect the Sanctuary and those affiliated with it. They're able to communicate with each other, they're remarkable fighters, and we're already working on ways to improve them in the future. Such as making them indestructible." He hesitated for a moment, and his bright smile turned somewhat dry. "They're still creepy, but we had to keep something the same."
He could see the tide turning in the crowd, slowly but surely. He worried for a moment that someone might ask how exactly they knew Bliss was trapped, but since the evidence that they were right was standing right there, that worry turned out to be completely unfounded. Erskine crossed his arms. "We did not simply have a whim this morning and decide that destroying the Cleavers sounded like a good idea. And honestly, I'm a little offended that we were trusted enough to be elected, but not enough to be given the benefit of the doubt here. Anyone else? Offended?"