[Creationside]

Black's eyes narrow.

Yup, now Magtok has managed to get a reaction. "And who are you to accuse anyone of cowardice, Magtok? You can lie and boast about all your fantastic achievements and claim they're proof that you're brave. But your clones exist for exactly the same purpose as Affidavit transferring himself into our mental network. To cheat death. To live far beyond you're ever supposed to. Individual MagClones may not care, why would they? They're just one of many! If they dies, why does it matter? But as a whole, Magtok...the MagCollective, whatever undoubtedly stupid name you have for your big gang of Magtoks, you're all cowards."

Black gets up and walks over to the door, standing by it. It reaches out to knock, then stops and turns back to address Magtok once more.

"I can see why Affidavit is so dismissive of you most of the time. You are just as arrogant and ignorant as he is. He thinks you're a damn fool because you waste so much time and resources on pointless activities, wastes of time that accomplish little other than giving you a chance to show off. All those songs and dances, proposing to that catgirl by writing it into the moon of all things!" Black shakes its head and strides back across to its seat, "You should know better than to think Affidavit would ever let something as simple as money convince him to stab someone in the back. You're right that he's honorless, but you're wrong in thinking that Excelsior has anything of value to offer him. And he should have known better to be surprised that you managed to kill a god. But all this secrecy about Excelsior? It's nothing to do with cowardice. We do not want to make ourselves the enemies of the Nexus. The days of KNAVES are long gone, AMEN is a joke by comparison, Excelsior with all their resources couldn't defeat you. There is no value to be gained here in conflict any more. We are trying to establish ourselves in the Nexus to resume our research in a manner that will be more rewarding. But Affidavit is concerned of what fools like Excelsior could do if left unchecked. Eventually someone will decide to deal with them head-on, and he'll be there to cripple them from the inside. Do you understand what he's trying to do now?"