Two weeks ago, a few hours post Ascension.
[James digs through the rubble of his family home, sifting through burnt debris and throwing aside planks before he gets to the bare dirt underneath. While he does so, his voice echoes over the footage]I’ve never liked you Nero, I always thought your whole justice through revelations shtick was complete bullshit from the get go, that you didn’t care who you hurt with your truths and there was a darker side of you just waiting to come out.
That it didn’t matter what you did, how good you proclaimed to be, that it was mostly only evil people you targeted, you were going to slip up one day, that mask would fall and the real Nero would come out, that whatever hidden agenda would surface and show the world who you truly are.
And as that mask slipped, as your identity as Lucien came to light, and the truth of why the mask of the Red Reboot was born in the first place, I realised why I hated you so much.
Because it was like looking in a mirror.
[James stops digging, his hands meeting something solid as he begins trying to drag it from the soil]Twelve months ago, the same night you first appeared, was the last night I wanted to be a hero. Everything broke, everything felt wrong. All I saw was an angry cloud of rage and vengeance against the man who took everything.
But that mask of anger and pain faded a while ago, but the guilt and the shame never did. I looked in that mirror, the same one you did Lucien, and saw a coward staring back. A man more focused on personal grudges then what matters most.
Being a symbol to guide everyone else.
[James pulls out an object, a small wooden box that he proceeds to open up slowly]Lucien might feel broken and alone, absolutely helpless to stop his former friend taking everything from him but Nero….Nero is something else.
A symbol of the broken, a beacon of light that will shine down on the corruption of every man, who gives the people a reason to keep fighting.
Something that even the most terrifying of wolves cannot hope to kill.
So what will it be Hacker, will you wallow in your past and be the sheep led to slaughter?
Or will you survive in the future and be the Hound that drives the wolf into the light?
Because a mask is nothing without the right man behind it and if you Nero, can be a symbol of justice again?
[As the camera fades away, we see what James pulls out of the box]Maybe Hope can live on once more.
[His original red mask]