You always were a wimp, Anome! - Recursion - 6/1/06

Those who truly deserve power do not seek it out. As a result, those who do not deserve it too often get it first.

Anome, even with the power he is supposed to possess now, dares not confront the consequences of the choice he's made; he's still so insecure that schoolyard taunts from me can goad him into wasting his forces. He strikes without warning, through proxies, hungry for power themselves.

Chances are they won't get it; Anome doesn't like to share. That supreme selfishness, and other traits of his, should have been warning signs. But he was an old confidante, who had known how to make himself useful, or at least convenient, at the right times, and who to suck up to, or who to treat with apparent deference--an operator, in more than one sense. He never screwed up quite badly enough to merit more than a slap on the wrist, under regulations.

But I should have seen it. I never trusted him, yet I never treated him as a serious risk, either--never tried to raise a consensus against him. He would have been too slick for a committee... **bleep** it, I'm just making excuses again.

I failed you, Niobe. I failed you, but I swear it's the last time. I don't know if you're going to live or die as a result of my mistake, but Anome... Anome, I'm going to make certain of.