[Akira's listening, his stare something intense that he can't tamp down. He gets like this sometimes, locked onto a topic that means so much to him, and the intensity is enough to put some people off. It won't put Solomon off, Akira thinks. They're on the same wavelength, and while they are, he isn't going to censor himself.]

But if you do nothing at all, the hydra continues to wreak havoc. There's always risk involved, a chance you'll screw up the approach and make a bad problem worse, but it's always worth taking that chance. If you don't, you're guilty of doing nothing at all. You become part of the problem.

[So why not go after the system itself? It's a solid question, one Akira has lost so much sleep over, and he has an answer for it too. There's no telling if his plan will bear fruit, of course, but he has to try. All he can do is try, and if he fails to strike the right things... well, he'll deal with that when it happens, won't he?]

People are the system. Every structure our societies rely on were built by people... but that's only part of the problem. [...] Solomon, do you believe in a "higher power"? In gods?