[Darkness. A compass rests on stone, needle settling.]
[Lux stands behind it. Bathed in light. Hands clasped in prayer.]
“A compass still points north in darkness. But it cannot show what lies between here and home. For that, you need light. And even then, you must choose to follow.”
[Lux taps the compass. The needle flickers.]
“Rambro, you know that darkness. You faced it in Vietnam, then in Moretti’s crosshairs. You endured, outsmarted him, escaped, then carried that momentum into Ring King and claimed the crown."
“Every soldier dreams of returning home.”
“And you made it, didn’t you? You found your hope. That crown was sunlight breaking through ‘Nam’s canopy. Proof you’d survived.”
“But tell me, Rambro… did all of you make it home?”
“Your body returned, but your soul is still out there, amongst the jungle and gunfire. The war gave you purpose. Even now you search for another battlefield, mistaking it for a way forward.”
“That is how you lose your way.”
[The compass needle begins waywardly spinning.]
“Then there is you, Pixelshift.”
“You’ve searched for home for so long. Respawn promised a path, a light at the end. But where does it lead? Straight to the man sworn to stop you.”
“Perhaps Mars isn’t the darkness you imagine. Perhaps he’s the warning you refuse to hear. He hath seen what your path brings, yet you follow hope without considering the cost.”
“After the Glitch swallowed us all, how sure are you that you recognise the path?”
“Rambro, you made it home, but part of you never left. Pixelshift, you haven’t made it home at all.”
“Not every light leads you home. Some are false promises. Some are warnings. Some lead you deeper into jungle. Before you know it, you’re lost.”
[Lux closes his eyes.]
“I know what it is to be lost.”
“Not in a jungle or searching for another world. I lost my way within. My purpose. My faith. My home.”
[A beam of light catches the compass.]
“But I was not abandoned in that darkness.”
“I was found. A hand guided me back to my path. Solomon Rhodes was that hand. He guided me… back home.”
“That is the difference between us.”
“Rambro, you survived the dark. Pixelshift, you are still searching for north. I walked through the valley of shadows and found my way back.”
“Padre believed darkness had claimed me. He was wrong. But this is no longer about him. It is about you two, still searching for the way home.”
“Physically… Spiritually.”
“I cannot promise the road will be easy, or that the darkness will not follow. But when the dust settles, I will still know the way.”
“Rambro, your war is not my destination. Pixelshift, your way home is not mine. At the bell, there will be no jungle to outlast, no portal to escape through. Only the light I carry, and the truth it reveals.”
[Lux lifts the compass into the light. Its needle rises, pointing heavenwards.]
“I found my way back. Now I will show you what it means to walk in the light.”
“Lumen accipe.”