Faris

Pinon: Whaugh!
Faris: What are you doing?
Pinon: Sorry, Faris...
Faris: That's a five-point deduction.

Pinon: Oof... That was so nerve-wracking.
Nevin: What's on your mind, rookie?
Ramiel: You look tired. You were scheduled to deploy with Faris today, yes?
Pinon: Oh. Hi, Nevin. Ramiel. You see, the thing is—
Nevin: Say no more. I get the gist.
Pinon: I literally haven't said anything, though.
Nevin: Your face says it all. This is Faris we're talking about, after all. He's a lot.
Pinon: Wow. That's kinda eerie, but yes. Even if I do hate to be so blunt about it.
Pinon: He graded me on every little thing I did, which made me super self-conscious, and then I started making MORE mistakes...
Nevin: Ha ha. He's the sort of perfectionist that grades himself AND others, and he's not shy about sharing.
Nevin: The man's exhausting, in a word.
Pinon: Okay, that's being a little TOO blunt.
Nevin: Still, that's just him trying to be a good son. Don't hold it against him.
Pinon: A good...son?
Nevin: The whole reason he strives for perfection is to live up to Uriel's expectations.
Pinon: Huh. I never realized.
Ramiel: Uriel is quite the stickler himself. It's little wonder where Faris got it.
Pinon: Interesting. So it's a "like father, like son" sort of thing.
Pinon: Now that I know that, it casts all of our interactions in a different light.
Pinon: I used to think he was scary, but I guess Faris is actually a pretty affectionate guy!
Faris: Ahem.
Pinon: FARIS?!
Faris: You went to deliver your report and never came back. I see you decided to spend the day chit-chatting instead.
Pinon: Sorry!
Faris: That's another deduction. Get back to work.
Pinon: Yes, sir!
Nevin: Would it kill him to ease up JUST a little?
Pinon: It's my own fault for standing around jabbering while I'm on the clock.
Nevin: I guess the bottom line is that he's not a bad guy, even if he's a little prickly.
Nevin: Try to play nice where you can, but don't let it distract you from your missions.
Pinon: I won't. I was only afraid of Faris because I didn't know the first thing about him.
Pinon: As a fellow apostle, I'd like to take this opportunity to find out what makes him tick!

Pinon: Blarg...
Pinon: (Office work really isn't my forte.)
Pinon: *siiigh*
Faris: Seven points.
Faris: Filing reports is as much a part of the job as fieldwork. Stop pouting and do it. Perfectly.
Pinon: Perfectly...
Pinon: Hee hee. You're right. I'm on it!
Faris: What're you giggling for?
Pinon: You always try to be perfect because you want to make your father proud, right?
Pinon: Nevin told me you always push yourself to rise to Uriel's expectations of you.
Pinon: Thinking about that made me feel all warm and fuzzy. The laugh just kind of slipped out.
Faris: *sigh*
Pinon: Um... Was it something I said?
Faris: Sixty points. You fail. Flunk out entirely, in fact.
Pinon: WHAT?! Why would I—oh! Are you bashful about it?
Faris: Does my current tone strike you as bashful, Pinon?
Pinon: No. You mostly seem super mad.
Faris: Correct. Ugh... Nevin chose quite the flippant rumor to spread this time.
Faris: But I suppose this is an opportunity to educate a colleague, as her senior.
Pinon: Er... Faris?
Faris: As you're clearly so curious, I'll elucidate why we must be perfect at all times. And about the station we both occupy.
Pinon: As apostles, you mean?
Faris: Indeed. We are Sigil-bound to the angels. What happens if that bond is severed?
Pinon: The apostle dies, and the angel suffers ill effects as well. They have to find a new apostle to bond with as soon as possible.
Faris: Correct. This is why a program to scout and train new candidates exists at Church HQ.
Faris: Though few within the Church know of its existence, they gather promising children there and raise them to be apostles.
Faris: Should something befall us, they would dispatch a replacement immediately.
Pinon: Right, that's my understanding.
Faris: Then on to the next point. Angels can sever the Sigil bond unilaterally at will.
Pinon: I knew that, too. Though I imagine things would have to be REALLY serious for them to go that route.
Pinon: They'd be putting themselves in danger, after all.
Faris: Thirteen points. It seems you've been coddled rather severely until now.
Pinon: Hey, now! I don't care if you talk down to me, but don't go badmouthing Gabriel!
Faris: Your feelings notwithstanding, it remains true that you are naive. Gabriel's methods are clearly lacking.
Faris: It is manifestly clear that you have no grasp of your own position.
Pinon: I'm an apostle! I understand that just fine!
Faris: My point is that you have failed to grasp what that MEANS. You do not understand what an apostle is, fundamentally.
Pinon: It's a servant of the Goddess Ilia who—
Faris: That's merely the official line. I'm asking if you know the true essence of the role.
Pinon: The what? I don't follow.
Faris: Disposable pawns. That's what apostles are.
Pinon: Oh, come on. Disposable?
Faris: They spin a pretty narrative about deities and holy missions, but that is the bottom line.
Faris: When we die, they just bring in the next one. Neither you nor I have any real value or significance beyond that.
Faris: And that being the case, what meaning is there to you and I being here right now?
Faris: What identifies us as individuals? What justifies our existence in this world?
Pinon: That's not... Why should we have to justify our existence in the first place?
Pinon: Gabriel has shown me nothing but love. I'm not just some tool to her, to use up and throw away.
Faris: If that is your best argument for the value of your own existence, I must conclude that you are hopelessly naive.
Faris: You fail to meet the barest minimum of criteria as an apostle.
Pinon: ......
Faris: I'll tell you what the answer is: to embody perfection as an apostle. To make yourself irreplaceable.
Pinon: So in your eyes, it's be flawless or get tossed to the wayside. Is that why you're so strict about everything?
Faris: If I'm imperfect, I'm meaningless. That is why I reach ever higher.
Faris: Ours is not a role where we can indulge in pretty, escapist fantasies of love and piety and whatever else.
Faris: Now do you understand the position you're in?
Pinon: Oh, I definitely understand YOUR view on the matter now, Faris.
Faris: I take that to mean you choose to disagree. Hmph. Sixteen points...
Nevin: Hey, uh, did I come at a bad time? Tension's a liiittle thick in here.
Faris: It's fine. Do you require something?
Nevin: Sandalphon's calling for you guys.
Faris: A mission, then. Come, Pinon.
Pinon: Acknowledged.
Nevin: Okay, yeah, I would've needed my GOOD knife to cut that tension. Ah well. Guess this is a good opportunity.
Nevin: Time to toughen up, rookie.

Sandalphon: Your orders are as follows. Heed my words closely.
Sandalphon: Children have been disappearing from a certain orphanage.
Sandalphon: Sealing stones may be involved where sudden changes in human behavior are observed.
Sandalphon: We cannot overlook this incident. Uncover the truth behind these events and deal with the cause accordingly.

Pinon: This is the place. Looks like your everyday orphanage from here.
Faris: I should've known...
Pinon: Faris? Is something wrong?
Faris: This orphanage is...a place I'm well acquainted with.

Faris: This orphanage is...a place I'm well acquainted with.
Pinon: You know it? What do you mean?
Pinon: You didn't mention anything when we went over the dossier together.
Faris: My memories of it were hazy. I was very young at the time. But seeing it now, in person... This is the place. I'm certain.
Faris: Apostles are disposable tools. As such, they're frequently recruited from orphanages.
Faris: I was what I suppose you'd call a war orphan. I was raised here until my transfer to the apostle training facility.
Faris: This was the only place I've ever been that allowed me to be less than perfect—

Mother: Faris! Look at you, all grown up!
Faris: I apologize for not keeping in touch. You look...just as you did, Mother.
Mother: I'm not dressing my age, is that what you're implying? The cheek on this one!
Faris: I'm saying that you look stunning as ever. You always were our pride and joy.
Mother: Ha ha. Thank you, dear. It's truly lovely to see you again.
Mother: I'm touched you still remember this place, now that you're a big, fancy executive at a Church Headquarters academy.
Faris: I know full well what an excellent operation you're running here.
Faris: If the methods you use here could be more broadly adopted, there would be a lot more happy orphans in the world. I believe that.
Faris: I'll be taking careful notes while I reacquaint myself. I hope I won't be a nuisance.
Mother: Oh, hush, you're family. This is your home, dear. Stay as long as you like.
Pinon: A perfect lie, that.
Faris: All part of the job. Well? Did anything immediately strike you as suspicious?
Pinon: Nothing yet. The children seem happy and well cared for. Hard to believe people have gone missing here.
Faris: What, then? You think the disappearances are another "perfect lie"? Not likely.
Faris: We're here to find the truth. Let's go.

Pinon: We still haven't turned up any leads.
Pinon: If anything, the longer I stay here, the more it feels like paradise.
Pinon: Happy smiles, laughing children... This place feels so full of love.
Faris: No doubt. It was the same back during my time here.
Faris: Revisiting it has beckoned all sorts of memories to the surface.
Faris: I used to study hard, hoping for praise. Used to always be on my best behavior out of a desperate need to be loved.
Faris: I was far from perfect then, but... I had a place here. I belonged.
Pinon: Those sound like wonderful memories. Can I...ask you something?
Faris: You may.
Pinon: The truth we're after here could taint those happy memories of yours forever.
Pinon: Are you sure you still want to uncover it?
Faris: Just what are you...?
Faris: The assembly is beginning. Today is our only chance to search Mother's quarters.
Faris: We stick to the plan. I expect flawless execution.
Pinon: Ah, er... Yes, sir!
Pinon: (The truth behind this incident could—no, I'm sure it WILL ruin those happy childhood memories of his forever.)
Pinon: (He's putting on a brave face for now, but if he hesitates when the time comes, I'll need to be the perfect one.)
Pinon: (Hope I'm up to the task.)

Pinon: Scriptures and textbooks... Letters... A journal... I don't see anything suspicious.
Faris: ......
Pinon: Faris? Why are you staring at the wall?
Faris: This room wasn't always this small. That isn't where the wall used to be.
Pinon: Huh? Are you sure about that?
Faris: I am.
Pinon: Then this wall was erected after you left. And behind it...
Faris: ...lies open space. It's quite likely there's a hidden room. Find it!
Pinon: Right!

Faris: Nothing here... Or here...
Pinon: Ah! This part moved!
Pinon: The wall's opening up!
Faris: Let's go.
Pinon: (For all his talk of being perfect... there's no way this won't hurt.)
Pinon: (Are you really gonna be all right, Faris?)

Mother: All right, children. Let us sing.
Mother: Lift your voices to the Goddess's ears. Sing her praises in love and in joy!
Faris: How about a hymn of confession instead?
Mother: Oh, hello, Faris. What's this about confession?
Faris: For your part in the disappearance of children from this very orphanage.
Mother: Goodness. I'm afraid I have no idea what you mean.
Pinon: We found the secret door to the hidden room in your chambers, ma'am.
Pinon: And the records of your transactions with a certain organization inside it.
Pinon: You raised talented children, then sold them off for a colossal sum.
Faris: What are they after? Why are they gathering gifted children?
Mother: Ha ha. I have no idea. About any of this.
Pinon: I find that hard to believe. I have proof right here!
Mother: That's simply proof of my love, child.
Mother: I don't care in the slightest who that organization is or what they're after. I couldn't possibly care less.
Mother: I just wanted to prove my love. I wanted it seen. Recognized.
Faris: What are you saying?
Mother: One thing I can say for certain... This all started with you, Faris.
Faris: Me...?
Mother: You were so bright. Do you have any idea how happy I was the day you were taken in by the academy at Church Headquarters?
Archbishop: Faris is an exceptionally gifted child.
Archbishop: I'm certain the true love you nurtured him with cultivated the soil for his myriad talents to take seed.
Mother: You can't imagine how happy those words made me. How proud...
Mother: I gave, and I gave, and I gave... and in the end, I had nothing left.
Mother: Such is the fate of an orphanage caretaker. But that time was different!
Mother: My love was recognized. TRUE love, he called it!
Mother: I needed to show more people the strength of my love. Needed to use that rarefied love to help my children's talents blossom.
Mother: Just like they had with you.
Faris: Rgh!
Pinon: So you sold off the most talented children. What about the others?
Mother: If you wish a rose to bloom to its fullest, it must be pruned. The same principle applies. Heh. Perfectly logical, isn't it?
Pinon: How could you?!
Faris: We are apostles: the executors of Ilia's will.
Faris: Your twisted expression of love ends here, Mother. You're coming with us.
Child 1: No! Stop!
Child 2: Don't shoot Mother!
Pinon: ?!
Child 3: Mother LOVES us!
Child 4: Yeah! It was those kids' fault for not doing as they were told!
Child 2: Why are you being mean to Mother?
Child 5: She's not the bad guy... YOU people are the bad guys!
Pinon: That isn't true! We're here to save you!
Mother: Oh, bless you, my precious darlings...
Mother: Do you see now? You speak of the Goddess's will and break these children's hearts in the same breath.
Pinon: That's not—!
Mother: Faris.
Mother: As someone who grew up here, surely you can see the cruelty in your actions.
Faris: ......
Pinon: (Faris knows better than anyone how these kids feel.)
Pinon: (The drive to work hard to make a parent proud... The hunger for approval...)
Pinon: (Faris loved her. I'm sure he feels conflicted.)
Pinon: (So I have to be the one to step up. There has to be some way to get her to turn herself in without scarring these children!)
Mother: I don't want to fight with you, Faris. We're family. We don't need words to understand each other, do we?
Mother: Come to Mother, child. Let me hold you in my arms and we can lay this all to rest.
Pinon: Faris!
Mother: ?!
Pinon: She's armed?!
Pinon: (She was planning to feign a hug and go for the kill!)
Faris: Not one step closer.
Children: Waaaaah...
Faris: And you, children. Lay the weapons you're hiding on the floor beside you.
Faris: Even if you tried to use them, you wouldn't stop us, and it won't bring Mother back.
Pinon: (She gave weapons to the kids? And he knew it from the start...)
Child 5: MOTHEEEEER!
Child 5: She was all I had... Mother was the only family I had!
Child 3: No matter how hard it got, I could always be strong and get through it for her sake.
Child 4: She was everything to me! Why did you kill her?! WHYYYYY?!
Pinon: ......
Pinon: (The screams of sobbing children, met only with Faris's cold stare...and beside him, the remains of what was once his mother.)
Pinon: (This place is far from paradise. It is a vision of hell itself.)

Pinon: So we still don't know the full scope of the organization Mother was working with...
Faris: We know it's a large-scale operation, and that their activities include unspeakable human experimentation.
Faris: Given its vast scale, it will be difficult to get a complete picture.
Faris: We know neither their ultimate aim nor the identity of their leader.
Faris: But for the moment, they've been judged to not be a clear and present threat to the Church.
Faris: The matter will be leaving our hands shortly.
Pinon: Yes, sir...
Faris: What is it?
Pinon: Those children are all headed to other facilities, aren't they?
Faris: Yes. That orphanage's doors will close forever.
Pinon: Did things...really have to end that way?
Faris: Meaning what, exactly?
Pinon: Did you really have to kill her right there, in front of the children?
Pinon: I know I wouldn't want to watch Gabriel perish before my eyes.
Pinon: I'm sure you're no different, Faris. Wasn't there some other way to—
Faris: Nine points.
Faris: An apostle's job isn't to make people happy.
Faris: Surely you've had to end lives in the course of your work. No doubt those people had friends and families who loved them.
Pinon: Still...
Faris: This mission was hardly unique. Wounding people is a fundamental part of what we do.
Faris: Yet do it we must. No matter who we end up hurting. Even if we hurt ourselves.
Faris: As long as we bear these Sigils, we must continue to fight, and do it perfectly.
Faris: That is what it means to be an apostle.
Pinon: There's truth in your words, but even so—!
Faris: That's another deduction. No backtalk.
Pinon: I don't care about your dumb points!
Pinon: If the perfection you're so obsessed with comes at the cost of our humanity...
Pinon: Then I don't ever want to be perfect!
Pinon: I'm going to become my own brand of apostle. Imperfect, but perfectly ME.
Faris: Our humanity, hm?
Mother: Dear little Faris. Hee hee. What a good boy.
Mother: I love you, my child. And I always will, even when we're apart. Forever...
Faris: (She raised me with her love. True love.)
Faris: (As a child, I needed it more desperately than anything.)
Faris: (Uncovering the truth behind this incident may have been justice to the Church, but it was violence to those children. Evil.)
Faris: (But if being perfect requires me to kill my own mother, I'll do it. I'll gladly be evil. Even if it tears my heart apart...)
Faris: We can't stay children forever. What I need now isn't love.
Faris: It's perfection. Nothing less...and nothing more.

Pinon: (I couldn't do it. Couldn't kill her.)
Pinon: (There, in the heat of the moment, I froze. I was so caught up in finding a solution that wouldn't hurt anyone, I did nothing.)
Pinon: (So Faris pulled the trigger himself. And that eats me up inside.)
Pinon: (The perfection he espouses is the purest form of resolve as an apostle, but it's also a curse that's frozen his soul over.)
Pinon: I can't be perfect. ...No. Not "can't." Won't.
Pinon: I refuse to relinquish my heart and soul just because I'm an apostle!
Pinon: (Now that the dust has settled on this horrific mission with Faris, I know one thing for certain.)
Pinon: I won't become like him. Not now, not ever.