They say that love covers a manner of sins.
Loyalty clouds our judgement. By the time we see the world for what it truly is, often it is too late to make a difference.
I see a dog.
To look at the dog, one wouldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. It looks just as content and loyal as any other pup one would meet. It is surrounded by those that love and care for it. The dog, for all intents and purposes appears to be a regular pup.
When we see through our flawed eyes, we see but the surface of the beast. Not the secret that lies within.
For the pup harbors a fatal flaw that slowly eats away from the inside out. By the time the pup’s family notice the dog showing symptoms, it will already be too late.
The dog will begin to act irrationally, aggressively. It’s mind altered by the virus within.
When I see the dog, I see that virus. I see rabies.
It is not clear exactly where or when the dog contracted the virus, but what is clear is the devastation it leaves in its wake. Those loyal to the dog will fight hand over fist to protect it, to cure it, despite the truth staring them in the face. That the pup is gone, all that is left is the rabies.
Even as the dog becomes aggressive, spreading the virus through its bite, their loyalty clouds their better judgement.
CJ Thorpe is that pup.
Perhaps it was Deathrow that inflicted him with rabies. Perhaps the virus was in his system throughout his rough life lived on Arcadia’s streets.
But somewhere along the way, he changed.
He found Jasper Redgrave, and the virus told him to put all of his loyalty into this new ally. It told him to turn his back on his family and bite the hand that feeds it.
Jackson Cade, you’ve been fighting for your brother out of loyalty for long enough now. You’ve turned Arcadia upside down to find him, and it cost you your livelihood. Now, you fight to free him from the rabies that is Jasper Redgrave, but at what cost? To your family? To Arcadia?
It is a virus that Attano knows all too well. He can see the effects of Jasper Redgrave’s virus stamping his own family. But as he swears vengeance on his daughter’s killer, he runs the risk of being bitten and inflicted with the same virus.
For rabies spreads through the bite of the dog. And Jasper Redgrave has no trouble biting to spread his chaos.
If you allow your loyalty to cloud your judgement when it comes to your brother, Cade, the more families will end up being torn apart like Harold Attano’s. Look in the eyes of the pup and see the truth I can see.
The humane thing to do, is to put a bullet between his rabid eyes.
CJ Thorpe is already gone, you’re just chasing rabies.
Yet it takes a blind man for you to see the truth.