Neo had originally wanted to burst out laughing and retort, "See? You finally admit you're Him? You always said you hated Vien Miso, but now you've finally shown the soybean paste stuck to the corners of your mouth, haven't you?"
But after those words rolled around in his throat, he involuntarily swallowed them back down.
For the Trusted Believers represented by Muli and Earl Recar, their understanding of Kallen still largely overlapped with the "God of Order";
At another level stood Alfred, who clearly understood his young master's attitude toward the gods and the God of Order.
And beside Alfred stood another person: Neo.
Neo knew very well that Kallen's persistent refusal to acknowledge himself as the God of Order was not simply affectation. He distinguished between "himself" and the "God of Order"
very clearly, never confusing or blurring the two.
That also meant that when Kallen said those words, he was not comfortably laying that figure, that identity, that reverence, and that glory upon himself.
What he identified with was a responsibility.
Why would he need to whisper to himself?
Since they both had a grand goal, both shared the same ambition...
What more needed to be said?
Neo's feelings suddenly became incredibly complicated. He was deeply shaken by the caliber of Kallen's Divine Revelation, because he knew he had not encountered some raving mad charlatan. The person before him had truly, in some unseen way, been granted an "audience" by that legendary "God of Order."
Even more shocking was that the God of Order had nothing to say to him. That silence could itself be understood as a form of approval.
Neo's back teeth ached a little. He was jealous. Yes, jealous yet again.
He was terribly afraid of Kallen having a bad life, but when Kallen did