Alexei glared at the figure before him; this certainly wasn't the same person he had been talking to earlier. It reminded him of another person, long ago; what he was saying struck a nerve as well. "I know I'm not perfect, dammit!" He shouted, no longer caring whether or not people on the outside heard them. "I abandoned the girl I thought I was going to marry in our hellhole of a city! She's probably dead now, and it's my fault! Don't lecture me about god damned flaws!"
"Maybe I will be caught in a bad situation later down the line if you rise to power, but I'll never regret it. Do you know why? Because no matter what ends up happening as a result of today, every bit of it was a result of my choices! I was the one who incurred your wrath. I made the decision entirely myself! Nobody else will suffer for anything I did today."
"I might lead the world into corruption; I might be a parasite to you. But that doesn't matter to me! The power of the few is nothing compared to the power of the many, or the power of one! The power of the few is a half-assed attempt to have the best of both worlds, and it will inevitably fail! I can't see how you can't see this! If anything, YOU'RE the parasite here, co-opting innocent and guilty alike in order to further your own deluded schemes!"
"Maybe I will be caught in a bad situation later down the line if you rise to power, but I'll never regret it. Do you know why? Because no matter what ends up happening as a result of today, every bit of it was a result of my choices! I was the one who incurred your wrath. I made the decision entirely myself! Nobody else will suffer for anything I did today."
"I might lead the world into corruption; I might be a parasite to you. But that doesn't matter to me! The power of the few is nothing compared to the power of the many, or the power of one! The power of the few is a half-assed attempt to have the best of both worlds, and it will inevitably fail! I can't see how you can't see this! If anything, YOU'RE the parasite here, co-opting innocent and guilty alike in order to further your own deluded schemes!"