By Andrew Adelman

“The scary thing about God, isn’t his control but rather, if he ever lost it.”

-Martin Hatch (Played by Lance Reddick in Quantum Break)

I see you scorn me. I hear your words of hatred. I feel your brandings. Brandings such as “Heretic,” “Fool,” “Coward.” You think you are justified in calling me these names. You think you have the right to shame me for my research. You think me a crazed old man, spreading conspiracies as easily as a rat would spread a disease. But I must ask you…

Why must you call me a heretic?

Is it because of who I am? I? Lysandre Mir, Son of Malled? Father of three beautiful children? Is it my profession? The very thing I’ve devoted my life to? Science is a wondrous study. Fascinating to those who have sufficient patience, and an open mind.

There once was a man long before our time, before the Whirlwind that stripped us of our cities, before the first Reborn came to be. This man was known to history as Copernicus. In Copernicus’s time, most people believed that the Earth was the center of our star system. It was a misguided belief, bolstered by our species’ ego. Then along came Copernicus, and the research he conducted. Research proving that Sol was the center of our system. Not Earth.

The most vivid reaction to this discovery came in the form of fear. Fear, stoked by the religious institutions of the time. The Church made him into an outcast. Shamed him. He is known as a hero to science, not because of the discovery he made, but because he faced the full brunt of religious persecution for it. Persecution that ultimately was the result of an idea being challenged. And when a popular idea is challenged, the weak tend to react with fear, and uncertainty.

I suspect a similar reaction is unfolding due to my recent theories…

Why must you call me a fool?

Is it foolhardy to challenge your beliefs? After all, if you wish to believe in something, you should take care to make sure that it is built on sound foundations. For if your house would be made of glass, you would be hypocritical to throw stones at others.

I believe that my house will shelter me and my family, not because I simply trust the blind instincts of the people who built it, but because I tore it apart, and put it back together when I remodeled my basement. I trust that the Reborn will protect us, not because of some blind trust in these… “Beings” with superior power, but because I have built ties with them. I have befriended some of them.

The only fools are those who blindly follow an idea, simply because they were told to do so. The weak of mind refuse to ask questions. They have complete and utter complicity with being told to do something simply because they were told to. This mentality is what led to atrocities such as the Holocaust. Men who were “Just following orders.” Men who had utter faith in Hitler, simply because he appeared strong to them!

I suspect similar faith is being placed in The Gift...

Why must you call me a coward?

Is it cowardly to seek knowledge? To increase our understanding of the world around us? Is it cowardly to challenge the ideas that so many hold to be true? To seek an alternate explanation or theory to something we think is fact?

Nothing is fact in science. Nothing is fact in humanity. Nothing is fact in any study that we concern ourselves with. Everything is theoretical. Even if something can be proven a fact, someone will take it, and twist it to suit their needs. We all distort things to suit our own visions.

Cowardice is the very wrong description of my research. My research is founded in understanding The Gift. It claims to help us. It has given the Reborn their powers, built cities of mythical proportions, and gave us weapons capable of total annihilation. And yet, we know nothing of why it does this for us. We know nothing of it’s true intentions.

I suspect that The Gift may be the true coward here…

Having laid out the arguments before you, I now propose a rather simple thought experiment…

The Gift came to us centuries ago with it’s powers of Order. When it came to us, it threw us into a new Age. An Age where the things we could only dream of prior became possible in seconds! An Age where we reached for the stars and they reached back! However, we asked a question to the cosmos, and something answered us. The Curse. It came to us with powers of Chaos. It took away everything we ever worked for in a Whirlwind of pain.

Now, If. If we had the chance to utterly wipe The Curse from existence, Obliterated! Gone! Vamanos! Would you take it?

*Nervous chattering*

The consensus seems to be yes, hmm? Good. It is natural for us to wish to take revenge on an enemy who had wronged us. It is a natural evolutionary instinct. One that is baked into us as humans.

However, suppose you had been given the exact same opportunity, with a catch. In order to perform this feat, in order to remove The Curse from this plane of existence, The Gift would have to follow it. The Reborn would lose their powers, Order would not bring us any further miracles, and we would continue on in a world equally devoid of both Chaos, and Order. Would you still take that opportunity?

*Prolonged silence*

And there you have it.

I am no Heretic. Nor am I a fool or a coward. My research is purely invested in the interest of understanding this cruel universe better. For that is the true nature of science. To ask a question, and receive an answer. And for us, Order was the question, and Chaos was the answer

-Lysandre Mir, Moments before the Council of Bastion exiled him