“That’s right, the girl that had befriended my worst enemy was my own daughter, and she was the one who took my life from behind my back. All my power was ended in a short second because of my cruel words to the one person I should have been leading. I was her idol, and when she heard me trash her so wickedly, she proved that power means nothing if you are cruel. But, as you can see with me standing here, that wasn’t the end of my punishment. Instead of ceasing to exist as a bad thought, the System Director was kind enough to still consider me worth thinking about again because of my past. Mind you, we don’t keep or trash thoughts based on anything similar to how souls are evaluated in biblical terms. As programs, it’s more of a practical matter than trying to symbolize or illustrate anything heavenly. That said, I woke up with all my cybernetic tainting removed, allowing me to think clearly and see what a selfish fool I had become all because of bitterness and humiliation at being defeated by commoners. While the Drawing Board physics does help some, I’ve still had to spend centuries living with the regret of what I did to my friends and family. They’re all here and have forgiven me eons ago, but that still doesn’t undo what I did. I would say I can’t even work toward repaying my debts to the ones I love because of being dead, but the struggle between AB and Ultimax resulted in us all coming back to life for a while, allowing me to, hopefully, do some good for those I’d hurt so badly. Mind you, when I first woke up in the Drawing Board, I didn’t have to wait for my wife and daughter to arrive. They were already there because this place didn’t exist at the time that I died, so from my perspective, I woke up, fully aware of the pain I caused them all, only to see them standing with me, so I assumed I killed them or maybe got them killed by Blue. I was so relieved to learn the truth about the situation of the Drawing Board.”
Porter feels like there’s more to say, but he’s already ashamed that he has to tell this story again. Growing up, there was a popular figure in history named Gotras who had done the same thing Porter would eventually do, and it was understood what an utter failure Gotras was. It boggles this man’s mind how he went from being a hero to making the same mistakes as someone he had been warned about, and how easy it was to change in the moment of one crushing heartache.
Seeing his father-in-law at a loss for words, Blue speaks up. “The lesson of your story then is obvious. The lesson of your story now is of moving on and knowing that those you may have hurt still love and respect you. In reviving, you demonstrated that you learned from your mistake, and it was that period in your life that made me proud to call you my father. Incidentally, your own kid was happy, too.”
Punching Porter, Red comforts him as well, saying, “Who is it that has taught me to swordfight as well as Blue, giving Marcia a run for her money? Yeah, it’s you, my green mentor, ol’ pal!” Red hugs Porter Williams, causing him to smile, along with the teens watching this scene which proves the longstanding forgiveness of the family that’s grown over the centuries.
Scratching his chin, Paul adds, “I’d have to say that you can add me to that list of happy family members, sir, seeing how you are my ancestor and all. I’ll try to honor you by learning from your failures AND your successes. Unlike Gotras’s legacy, most everyone that I know is MORE aware of your Galarian War days than of your Ruin fad. So, now that we have heard your confession, we can all move on and smile again with you.” Everyone echoes this, and the dark time of Porter’s past is left behind.
However, this one topic leads into several simultaneous discussions as this hefty, but brief, lesson comes to an end. This soon even has the group spreading out a bit, with a few of the other mentioned characters walking up to join the fellowship. Standing where the lesson was held, Kammy discusses her arms with Z2 while Paul chooses to talk with Porter and the Xames club. If you are wondering why both SBX and SBVII versions of Xames and their siblings are always together, it’s because both sets of famously virtuous teams are such open learners that they’d rather hear what the other team has to say than brag about their own achievements. No matter how high you climb, never stop learning.
Inner Man Theatre 