Chapter 40 The Final Chapter
Shaper Journal 7.046 Hierarch 4 entry 0592 - Shaper Enoch Tero
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Yes, the condition of mankind is to suffer. Even now I sense forces arrayed against me on this point--as if by lending mankind the compassion it has so misused it would make any difference to the crimes it has committed. Where was this sense of compassion when blood ran in the streets during all the wars that have been fought? I tell you where it was, not in the hearts of men because their nature is akin to the beasts. Beasts must be tamed, they must be controlled--they must be fearful. They must be given a structure that allows the strongest to emerge victors, and the weak ones to suffer and die. They must have an order imposed on them that involves survival and fear for their lives. That is what mankind needs, what it craves, what it desires. All of these other shapers have wrecked their ships on the rocks because they tried to do what could not be done--not with their assumptions. Not with the idea that man is essentially good--that given the right order his "divinity" will shine through and that peace will prevail. Look back through history, oh idealistic Shapers! What you will find is a mound of corpses. Stinking, rotting, fetid corpses with maggots. They did not die because of old age, but because of swords, arrows, and killing words. That is the true nature of man. A mere handful of men are the ones who do not act as beasts! A MERE handful! If mankind were a crop of potatoes, we should be obliged to throw the produce away--to burn the fields! I shall be the one to set the fields ablaze, and as the black smoke billows to the heavens, perhaps I shall give mankind salvation yet--by letting it sink into the sludge that it is--by acknowledging it--accepting it--embracing it!
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This is the final chapter of The Rogue Scholar The Rogue To Victory. After some editing to clean up the text (I am sure you spotted many typos) it will be available for purchasing in physical form. Please consider supporting this work and if you liked it, consider donating to the next book--The Celestial Intelligence Agency. You can read all about that here.
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