"Yeah, that's what the Ascendancy was founded on, right?  It's not about which race is above the other, it's about ability.  In the Ascendancy, people are awarded according to their contribution, so people who don't succeed, sort of...deserve not to...right?" Israfil simply repeated the mantra that he was raised with, that his own failures were due to his incompetence, and not because there was any inherent oppression of Wildtypes.  He consoled himself with the fact that he was here as a test pilot for revolutionary technology; he had succeeded in his own way, despite his incompetencies.

[hr]
"Is there no one besides Claire who cares about you...?" Tera asked, almost painfully, "What about the person who gave you that necklace?"

[hr]
Maya bit her lip, she had not intended to mean it that way, but Claire was right.  "You're not...wrong," Maya conceded, "...Not all is well in the Ascendancy military, or the government for that matter, that much should be obvious.  We can either ignore the problem, or change it from the inside."  Maya shook her head, "But if anything drastic occurs internally, FAS, maybe even Horizon, will sense weakness and might attack.  How do we fix ourselves on the inside when there are so many threats on the outside?"