Though neither Reid nor Patrick fought to kill, neither held back either.
The entire conference room was turned upside down by their brawl. Angie and Siegel even had the leisure to stand against the wall and watch the fight, while the secretaries from both sides could only cower trembling in the corners.
The fight only stopped when Siegel intervened after Reid kicked Patrick away again—mainly because he noticed his old friend was already panting heavily while Reid remained full of energy. Continuing would have left Patrick at a severe disadvantage.
In terms of injuries, Reid won this fight, but visually, he looked worse off.
Patrick, as if possessed, had desperately aimed for Reid's face, while Reid, wary of accidentally causing serious harm, only struck the harder parts of the skull even when targeting the head.
Of course, where it wasn't visible, Reid didn't hold back. If Patrick were to take off his clothes now, he'd find himself covered in bruises, whereas Reid only had a slightly swollen face, a nosebleed, and no other injuries.
After stepping in to stop the fight, Siegel walked to the center with a stern expression and said,
"Both of you have fought enough, haven't you? Now that you've vented, it's time to discuss serious matters.
"However, Mr. Reid, I must state upfront that the tragedy of Junius Seven is an eternal wound for PLANT. I cannot forgive your involvement in that insane operation just because you were dragged into it."
Reid immediately recognized this as diplomatic rhetoric—Siegel clearly intended to use this as leverage to pressure him into concessions during their subsequent cooperation.
So Reid cut off Siegel's hopes without hesitation, replying bluntly:
"Hmph, I never expected your forgiveness. Apologizing and admitting fault is my stance, but whether you forgive me or not is your business. It doesn't matter to me if you don't. The whirlpool of hatred between Earth and PLANT has long since spiraled beyond any clear distinction of right and wrong. No one should expect forgiveness from the other, and no one has the right to forgive on behalf of the dead."
The moment Reid said this, Patrick, whose anger had slightly cooled after the fight, exploded again. If not for Siegel holding him back, he would have lunged forward once more.
Instead, with his old friend restraining him, Patrick roared on the spot:
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting? How can you say there's no clear right or wrong? Wasn't Junius Seven a sneak attack by Naturals first?"
Reid immediately countered with righteous indignation:
"Chairman Patrick, people like you—who escalate issues to an entire race at every turn—are the real culprits behind the current state of affairs between Earth and PLANT. You're practically PLANT's Blue Cosmos.
"What do you mean by 'Naturals attacked first'? It's Blue Cosmos that's always been at odds with Coordinators. If you insist on blaming someone, then the Atlantic Federation, which supports Blue Cosmos, is also culpable.
"But since when does the Atlantic Federation represent all Naturals? And even if we stretch the argument, the Junius Seven disaster was caused by members of the Earth Alliance, a military organization. But the Earth Alliance is composed of the three major economic powers—they don't represent the entire Natural race either."
Otherwise, where would you place the Equatorial Union, Muslim Republic, African Community, South African Unification Organization, a bunch of neutral nations, and your PLANT ally, the Oceania Union?
Following your logic, could I then argue that by allying with the Oceania Union, PLANT is forming an alliance with one of the perpetrators of Junius Seven?"
Reid's words left Patrick utterly stunned. He suddenly realized that the man before him was no political novice—his impulsive words had handed the other side leverage.
Fortunately, Siegel was quick to step in and salvage the situation for Patrick, answering on his behalf:
"Chairman Patrick's phrasing was indeed inappropriate. However, it's undeniable that the Earth Alliance, currently formed by the three major powers, is speaking as the representative of Naturals. Aside from explicitly neutral nations, other factions—even if unwilling—have not openly voiced dissent, so they are tacitly allowing themselves to be represented.
And as for so-called neutral nations, how small their voice is on Earth, I'm sure Mr. Reid is well aware."
Hearing Siegel's explanation, Reid immediately sneered:
"So this is how Chairman Siegel interprets it. After Blue Cosmos committed the Bloody Valentine tragedy, slaughtering 240,000 innocent people, PLANT retaliated by using Neutron Jammers to indirectly kill a billion people on Earth—among whom the elderly and children made up an extremely high proportion.
And the vast majority of those who died were from outside the three major powers. Because the three major powers have better medical infrastructure and large food reserves, aside from some smaller nations in the Eurasian Federation with weaker resilience, the three major blocs themselves didn't face catastrophic collapse. In fact, thanks to the wave of unemployment caused by the energy crisis and public fury toward PLANT, they smoothly expanded their militaries, didn't they?
Your actions are like being ambushed by a strong man from your neighborhood while walking down the street—then retaliating by poisoning the entire neighborhood. The strong man just gets a stomachache, but all the weaker neighbors die.
What a reasonable act of vengeance. Truly admirable. I'm in awe."
Reid's biting sarcasm even made Siegel lose his composure, but the problem was—Reid was stating facts. Any rebuttal would just sound like an excuse. So Siegel could only coldly skip past the topic and ask:
"So, Mr. Reid, you've always believed that PLANT is the evil side in this war? That we're the ones you must defeat?"
Reid didn't bother hiding his stance.
"Justice? Evil? Heh. In my eyes, neither side in this war has the right to call themselves just. The Earth Alliance's oppression of PLANT is real, and as someone who survived the hell of Junius Seven, I have to say—Blue Cosmos is utterly inhuman.
So no, I don't think PLANT's retaliation was wrong. But your so-called retaliation was like wounding three hundred enemies while accidentally slaughtering ten thousand innocents. How can you still claim justice after that?
Chairman Siegel, when I was fourteen, my parents died in a conflict between Naturals and Coordinators. One was a dentist, the other an elementary school teacher. They never participated in any anti-Coordinator activities.
But those Coordinators, unable to catch the ones who hurt them, took their rage out on the innocent. My home was burned down. I only survived by jumping into a river."
"Chairman Patrick, the Lenore you mentioned earlier must be someone very important to you. Let me ask you this—if you were in my fourteen-year-old shoes, what would you have done?"
Patrick fell silent again. Reid's eyes brimmed with tears as he spoke, and his words didn't seem fabricated. Moreover, stories like Reid's were all too common in those days.
As for what he would have done, Patrick already knew the answer. When he learned that Lenore had died in the Earth Alliance's nuclear attack, his grief had quickly transformed into an unquenchable thirst for vengeance—the kind that made him want to skin the Earth Alliance alive.
However, Patrick couldn't possibly encourage Reid to seek revenge against Coordinators now. So he gritted his teeth and sidestepped the question, instead asking, "So you've hated us since you were fourteen?"
Reid shook his head calmly. "Thank my grandfather for that. He was known far and wide as a kind-hearted man. He taught me not to judge an entire group through the lens of prejudice. He hated the Coordinators who killed his daughter too—so much so that he wanted to hunt them down with his shotgun.
"But he said he would never point that shotgun at all Coordinators. Because, as he put it, Coordinators are people too, and he didn't want more tragedies like his daughter's to befall innocent lives.
"So I wasn't completely swallowed by the whirlpool of hatred. My principle is simple: if I judge someone to be an enemy, I pull the trigger. Though often, I don't have the freedom to choose who my enemies are. Still, I try my best to preserve goodwill toward others.
"For example, when ZAFT forces attacked soldiers of the New Misurugi Empire without cause this time, I didn't kill a single one after they surrendered. I didn't mistreat them either. Aside from their lack of freedom, they were treated well. Many have even gained weight these past few days.
"Alright, I've said all I wanted to before this meeting. Chairman Siegel, Chairman Patrick—do you intend to keep this cycle of hatred going because of someone like me? Someone who played a minor, non-principal role in the Junius Seven incident?
"As the top leaders of PLANT, I'm genuinely curious to hear your thoughts."
(End of Chapter)