What is that? It looks...God, it looks human.
I'd guess the Vanguard are growing these creatures for a purpose. Maybe as soldiers? That's one war I'll do my best to prevent.
They're humanoid.
I don't know what they're growing in these tanks, but whatever it is, it's disgusting...and alive.
That's an amazing view. I can see clear across the city.
There are documents scattered all over the desk.
There's another elevator here, and apparently, it only goes up.
Papers... There's nothing here that...
That's my...that's my name! And my address. Obviously there's...God, they've been tracking me, watching me!
Uh-oh.
It doesn't respond. It must require a key or a code.
I made it this far, and I'm not about to turn around now.
Oh.
(gasp)
You were the last person I'd expect to find here, Shifter.
I've spent an obscene amount of money and resources tracking you down, since before we knew your name, before you even came to Newport.
And then you simply...walk into my lap. Like a mouse into a great big trap. Looking for the cheese, I'd imagine? The Guardian?
Well, he's not here, I'm sorry to say. He's being held elsewhere, awaiting your directions.
You do have them, yes? The directions to the Guardian's Realm?
I know where the entrance is, but I'm not telling you anything.
Let me go, and I'll tell you everything.
Sorry, but I never managed to find the entrance to the Guardian's Realm.
You're not? Hmmm. That's unfortunate. I thought you were such a bright young girl, especially considering your...heritage. But apparently, I was wrong.
Hmmm. Pity, really. And I thought you'd done so well on your journey across Arcadia.
You promise to give me a call, then? Or at least write? I wish I could trust you, Shifter, but you've been in the habit of...disappearing on me one time too many.
At least you have the disc and the two jewels I'm missing in your possession. So good of you to bring them here. I thought I might have to go pick them up myself.
I have friends--
Oh, you do. You do. The very best friends, too.
He's been using you. Tobias, Cortez, the bloody Kin... All your "friends". They've been using you for their own selfish reasons.
Don't make me laugh, girl. Did you really expect your good buddy Cortez to tell you the truth? Or to come to your rescue like a knight in shining armor?
They're no different from me, Shifter. No different at all.
The difference is that they care about people.
They've helped me. You haven't.
How have they been using me?
Care? Care about what? I care about people. I have no intention of destroying mankind, or enslaving it. I just want to open the borders, to allow mankind to fulfill its true destiny.
Haven't I? I could have caught you earlier, Shifter. I had my eyes and ears in Arcadia, and you made quite a spectacle of yourself from time to time.
But I let you go about your business. And now you return to me with precious gifts. So don't tell me I haven't helped you, just as you're helping me now.
The Sentinel...they say one thing, I say another. It's all subjective, isn't it? Does the fact that I want to reunite the worlds and allow mankind its true destiny sound like an evil deed?
No, but the way you go about it--
The way I go about it? Then what about the damned Sentinel? They've kept the truth from most people for millennia! They've buried the past, and indoctrinated Arcadians into their own, outdated faith.
The Sentinel, they are the ones who wish to keep the truth secret, to keep the past locked in their sacred Scriptures and behind their well-guarded doors.
No, you have been kept from the truth just as much as everyone, Shifter. You are just a piece in a grand game of chess. You're not even a big piece. You're a pawn.
Now, give me the disc and the jewels, the Dragon Eyes, and then we can wrap this game up. I'm quite certain you know more than you let on about the Guardian's Realm as well...
I'll have that information, too, very soon.
I'm not giving you anything.
All right, I give up -- here's the disc and the jewels.
I have an army of devoted soldiers in this building, Shifter. I run this city. What are you going to do, round up a mob of your "friends"? Forget about Shifting as well...there are magical barriers against that in this building.
You see? I wasn't lying to you, unlike some of your...accomplices. You don't have a choice. You must give me what you have.
Fine. Who the hell cares anyway. I'm exhausted, and I'm... I give up. Cortez has abandoned me, I've hurt my two best friends in the world, and-- And maybe you're right.
Maybe you're no different from the Sentinel. Maybe they're as bad as you, and maybe you deserve each other. It doesn't matter, you've won. What are you going to do now?
Let me guess -- this is where the heroine coaxes a confession from the villain before the final act of the play commences?
Very well, I'm all for a satisfying denouement. What now? I have the Guardian, I have the disc and the jewels -- the key to the tower.
So you don't need me anymore?
Apparently not. I thought I might, so I decided not to kill you. But now that I have the Guardian himself, your role in this game is...up. After you tell me what I need to know, of course.
Then what will happen to me?
Nothing. I'll let you go. You can do me no harm, and I'm not a cruel man. Not unusually so, at any rate.
And soon, if you play along like a nice little girl, I'll know where the gateway is.
What happened to Cortez?
Cortez. I had Gordon take care of him. He was just interfering too much for his own sake. There are rules, and he broke them. He brought you into... He broke the rules.
What will you do once you open the gateway to the Guardian's Realm?
Gordon Halloway will take the Guardian's place in the tower, and he will rule according to my plan. The worlds will be reunited, and the Earth will be one realm, as it was, and as it should be.
So this is all part of your master plan to rule the Earth?
When you put it like that, I guess...yes. But I'll be a fair and just ruler, my dear.
What's the point? You're like, what, sixty? In another sixty years you'll be dead, and then what? Leave the kingdom to your first born?
I'll be around a lot longer than sixty years. A lot longer. You really don't know me, do you? You really don't know anything about me?
Apparently not.
How did you get the other two jewels?
I've had one of them for...ages. The other came into my possession only a week ago, as luck would have it. And now I have the last two. And the disc.
Why didn't you go look for the jewels and the pieces of the disc yourself?
(sighs) I would have, but my power over Arcadia has been...disturbingly limited. Until now.
Now, I may be a charismatic man, but I doubt they would have told me anything. And those wretched magical races, you think they would have cooperated?
No, they were waiting for their savior, their prophecy come true. And you seemed to fit the bill. Why not take advantage of that?
As for the jewels, the White and the Blue of the Draic Kin were not likely to submit to me. And that was a battle even I'd be well adviced to avoid.
But time is ticking, Shifter, and the Wheel of the Balance is turning. Please, enter the elevator to your right. I want to show you something.
But still, locating the stones would have required the cooperation of the Sentinel.
The Tyren haved proved a valuable addition to my...disciples, and with their help, I've dispensed with most of my opposition in Arcadia.
