Editing Reference:Saavedro, personal journal (section)

== Entry Eight ==
''(Voltaic, at the bottom of the corkscrew elevator)''

I see it all so clearly now. So clear, without the fog to sweep it away. How the young men in the village don&#39;t want to listen to the Elders. How they stand together at the back of the room, a growing knot of anger twisting inside them. Why should we abide by your rules, old men? they scream. You have no life inside you left to live&#33; You gave it up decades ago to the Tree&#33;

Tamra wants to take the children home. She doesn&#39;t like the way the tempers are rising. Do something, Saavedro, she whispers. Tell them to stop shouting and make them listen. Tell them.

What, my love? Tell them what? That their young lives do no belong to them alone? That our people are meant to be slaves to our world?

Sirrus and Achenar can see the confusion they&#39;re creating. I catch them looking at faces, measuring which men are most dissatisfied. Later they will approach these men in secret. They will urge the malcontents to boycott our rituals. They will prey on their youth and dissatisfaction. And the young men will begin forming gangs. They will throw off our traditions, rise against the Elders, and follow the brothers. Riots will start. And the Tree will be neglected.

Oh, Tamra. It&#39;s all so obvious now. But why couldn&#39;t I see it at the time? Every lie the brothers told. Every whisper made to put themselves in power. And when our world started collapsing around us, why didn&#39;t I see how Sirrus and Achenar didn&#39;t care? They never believed the truth behind our tradition. They never understood the work we had to do. They only knew the time had come to leave.

And when they left their linking book behind, knowing I would use it to chase after then. They lured me to this world, tied me up, and left me here to die.

Because I didn&#39;t stop them when I should have.