The Boast #
Aulus stands and delivers a philosophical defense of the "Builder" over the "Keeper." He argues that every civilization begins with creation—the hammer, the seed, the forge. But eventually, the Keeper replaces the Builder, focusing on the ledger rather than the horizon.
"When the mountain fell, the Keepers saw ruin. The Builders saw clay," Aulus declares, gesturing to the factory smoke. "To build is the only true morality. Not by taxing the sun, but by bottling the fire."
He looks around the table with fervent intensity: "The world does not belong to those who own the land. It belongs to those who can shape it. The Keepers inherit the dust. But the Makers... the Makers outgrow them."