SOE04
[BRANCH] PALM BEACH
[SERVER] EMPLOYEE NO. 17
[DATE] 7/11/22
[INDEX ID] SOE04
[SECURITY] DINER
Friends become allies, eh? That's the way things often go in this business. While it's easy to see our Cafe as a beacon of light and ourselves as the eternal protagonists in our own story—it's important to remember we are not. That's not to say we are bad people, of course. Most of us, anyway. But the work the Cafe does isn't always in the best interests of everyone everywhere all at once because it cannot be, yes? We approach the coffee business largely from a tourist's perspective even if we like to pretend that we are no longer tourists ourselves. And yes, we have some Canadian views as well, between No. 224, 422, VI, and so on. But… we are what we are, is what I am trying to get at.
Umbra has often been a thorn in our side… as we've been in his. I don't mean to sit on the fence or argue that there is no inherent good or evil, but I want to present to those uncomfortable with No. VIII's addition to the Cafe the reality of the matter. Collectively, Canadians, Americans, Tourists, those in the Trade, those no longer in the Trade, Friends, Allies, Family, everyone—we're on one side. And Willow DeWeaver? The Devil? Bird? They're on another. They care not for any of us, and to them, we're all but annoying little specks of next to nothingness, only here to briefly annoy or bemuse them, no?
It is a harsh reality, but I encourage you all to come to grips with it and soon. There's no black and white, good and evil, or any such nonsense… there are only those who create… and those who have been created. An inherently unequal existence in which we are free—to some extent—to air our petty squabbles here and there, but at the end of the day? What has been made can be unmade just as easily. The only choice we have is to fight, and we cannot fight if we are fighting among ourselves. And No. VIII? He is an invaluable addition due to his particular ability to resist Willow DeWeaver's siren call. I know many who have failed to do so—myself included.