Snippet #2816041

The old woman returned the bow as best she could while seated. She'd long extolled the importance of manners - how it was equally important to know how to wield them as a weapon, and when to deliberately flout them. She'd gained infamy for that, in the leaked recordings of those early meetings with the Aschen, though those recordings had long been overshadowed by the events in the decades that followed. "Take care, Ms. Shaw," said Drulović, in Taiyou now. "The road on which you now embark is treacherous and lonely - and the ghouls you fear - or ought to - much more like to be your own than some other conspiracy or ambush. I hope you can find your peace." And to Keiko, "Please send my regards to your son Yosho as well." She smiled faintly, sadly, pain evident along her jawline and in her eyes. There was no use trying to hide it now. "Perhaps we'll be able to share in a meal together one day. I think I'd like that very much."

She was surrounded by people - but so rarely had friends come to visit. Everyone else had their own needs - emotional, political, it all became the same thing in the end. Hers were so easily forgotten.