We live with our eyes forward, facing our futures. If we live only in the past, remembering and regretting what we did wrong, we aren’t really alive. Life is about movement, about change. So I look to the future, to the things I can do to make things better, to the things I can learn and tell my people, and I keep flying. And sometimes I have to kick Jack in the shins to get him moving too.
I’ve been a lot of places since I left the military, seen a lot of things and done a lot of things. Sometimes I’m asked if I enjoy all the adventure I see. Well, the way I see it, adventure is someone else being cold, hungry, in pain, and in danger a long ways away from you. Me, what I enjoy is sitting on a beach with a guitar in my hand, a bonfire burning, and some pretty girls dancing.
I became real hard after the Shang killed my parents. I didn’t want justice; I wanted revenge. That was my kryptonite and it would have killed me. I hid it real well. Only the cybers and the dogs figured me out. They picked me up and put me back on solid ground and helped me find a reason to live, not just kill. That made all the difference for me. They saved me. Betty saved me. We’ll be friends to the end, side by side, whenever it comes. I owe her that.
There are all kinds of different people in the universe. And some people are many kinds of people. We are travelers, going places we’ve never been before. We are also defenders and sometimes avengers. Don’t get us wrong, we do a lot of things for money. But we answer the call even if there is no money in it. I suppose it’s OK to admit that here since nobody will take advantage…you know how these diaries are.
In my life, I have found the two scariest words that can be uttered in the American language. “Watch this.” They are often later followed by “It seemed like a good idea at a time.” I have said those words. I know you might not believe it what with my current clean living and all, but I was a real crazy teenager back in the day. I got in a lot of trouble, and that was just what they could prove.