Quoted By:
You think he is wrong, but you can't exactly articulate why. Mr.Roughscales shakes his head in anger.
“It's such bad rotten luck. God dammit! Just imagine if we evolved just a few thousand years early. Hell, if our planet unified just a hundred, maybe even fifty years earlier. We could be telling those apes what to do instead. If only those pathetic cowards at InterCon didn't give up our nuclear weapons, our one deterrant. Maybe we wouldn't be of the dead. The apes wouldn't have driven us to extinction.”
<span class="mu-b">”What are you talking about, Mr.Roughscales? We're still alive, and free. You're just making things up about the Jaxtians that are even true.”</span>
“No! NO! You dumbass kid! Don't you get it yet?! We <span class="mu-i">are</span> already dead! We are <span class="mu-i">already</span> extinct! It's the accumulation of advantage! They've denied our airspace and choked our resources. We'll never be able to expand and create the numbers and discoveries we need to advance! They'll always be ahead, no matter what! And we can't even stop them when they come to finish us off!”
<span class="mu-b">”That's ridiculous.”</span>
“You don't know anything! You're just a stupid kid. You don't have any idea how the business world works; much less evolution. Once you bow to a rival, once you give up ground or resources, show weakness... that's it! It's over for you! ”
<span class="mu-b">”...Like how your own business is getting swept away by the Ribbionfin's garage, right?”</span> You say, with a small smirk.
“...Yes, exactly like that.” Mr.Roughscales says, through gritted teeth. “But that does nothing but further prove my point. Which is why this attempt of yours to reach out is foolish. Why are you helping those who have killed you? Are you even a man? Even a predator, who eats fish? What difference is there between you and one of your Norken Snails? Kept locked up tight in a jar and milked for medicine for your superiors? Is that the philosphy you want to embody in your life? Just let others walk all over you and take things that you want; even if you can't stop them otherwise? Are you going to sit back and twiddle your thumbs while other men come by and take the jobs, businesses, or mates you want? What about the girls in your troop; Mary-Jane? Constance, maybe?”
You flinch, not wanting him to see you have feelings for her as a way to push you, but you don't think he noticed at all. He's practically talking to himself.
“Is that what you are, Grover? A cleaner-fish who eats the trash left between the teeth of the alpha Zhark? A cuckold who lets other men steal everything you want and you offer it with a smile, as you can't even put up a token resistance?”
<span class="mu-b">”You help other people too. You give extra space in your garage to the Scouting troop. It doesn't offer you anything.”</span>
He shakes his head with a laugh. “It's a tax write-off kid. Come on. It's time to wake up.”
