My first experiment as a child was when I found a frog. I decided I would put it in a pot of water and let it swim and slowly I raised the temperature of the water.
Hour after hour, degree after degree, until eventually, the water began to bubble and boil. The surface tension of the water kept breaking, the little frog couldn’t swim anymore as the water pulled him under and he boiled alive.
That little frog never thought to get out of the water, it just contentedly swam until it couldn’t swim any longer. It truly had the heart of a hero. It didn’t fear the temperature change, it was almost as if it couldn’t perceive the danger, I mean that little frog jumped right into my hands and refused to run.
The past few weeks have made me nostalgic for that first experiment. A subject like this comes along very rarely, with such resilience and drive. James, maybe you have a bit of frog in you? We could call your rebirth an amphibious one as you came out of the Odyssey Pool the changed man you are now.
You’ve spent the last few weeks inside the pot and as I’ve turned the heat up you’ve yet to shy away or fight back. You’ve provided me with data sets I would’ve never gotten without your participation James. Helping me to perfect my newest gases and seeing your fear as the water grows warmer.
But what will your decision be as the bubbles start to break the surface and you find yourself unable to swim any longer? How will you keep yourself afloat young hero? How can you keep yourself from being pulled below the water and boiling alive?
Because this weekend young James the water you’ve been swimming in reaches full boil and the whole of Arcadia’s seen what happens when someone treads into my depths. Luther Grim was the proof of concept…
So, make no mistake hero, you and I are not equals.
You will be the prototype of how I shall take every hero in Arcadia and pull them down from their pedestals. You’ll be my example to the world but as your skin bubbles and I give you the same way out that Grim will you choose to ease your pain or suffer?
I know what will happen as the gas takes hold, you’ll fall to me. An example to the rest of Arcadia. The test case as to the helplessness and weakness of the Arcadian hero class and one by one they’ll all come to me after you. More frogs for the pot and soon Arcadia will be the Uprising’s plaything, nothing but a notch in our belt, and it will all start with you, dear James.
And it all started with you and some slowly boiling water.