In my heart, I do not know whether to respect him or hate him.

It's been 22 days since the explosion, and I don't know what to make of the man who destroyed Empire City. He's killed thousands, left people without homes and families, and yet he's doing what he can to make a difference.

I don't understand it. Is he trying to atone for his acts? Was he really the man who set off the bomb? So many questions race through my head, and the only thing I can do is watch him reap the praise and adoration of my fellow man. Do I forgive him for that, or hate him more?

Empire City is a shell of its former self because of Cole MacGrath, and yet, because of that very same man, it feels like a better place than when the bomb stripped us of our dignity. People are helping each other out, and the police and doctors are doing everything they can to keep the city together. Food may be scarce, but people are sharing rather than killing each other for it. Strangest of all, the villain we want to hate is the same man others have grown to love.



I remember when the first airdrops of food came to the Neon District, how he fended off the Reapers and, instead of hoarding the food for himself, kept watch as people scrambled to take what they could. He's restored power to the city after the Reapers destroyed the main substation. He's escorted prisoners for interrogation by the police. He's even rescued hostages from Reapers who had taken over the El train.

His exploits, it seems, have always been fraught with choice. I wonder if he stops every time a man is dying on the street, or if he climbs onto rooftops and rides power lines to avoid seeing our faces. Maybe he wasn't given a choice when he started, I don't know, but the more I think about it, the more I believe that he chooses to be the man he is now.



Does that exonerate him from genocide? I wonder... Did he lose anyone in the blast, or in the ensuing chaos that came from it? Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. I may not be able to look him in the eye without shooting him first.

Perhaps I've been rambling like a man waiting for justice to come. It's been a long three weeks, and while the worst seems to be over, the world has still all but abandoned us. I wonder, will Cole MacGrath abandon us too?

I hate him, I respect him... it's all a blur to me now. If I can forgive him now, maybe I can live with myself for not dying as well. Till the day my end comes, I'll watch him, and pray for him, and maybe, just maybe, I'll offer him my peace while I still can.