Mistborn #03 The Hero of Ages

Lord Ruler and overthrown the empire. Now you've been soundly imprisoned for what . . . a week now?"
    Vin didn't respond. Why come taunt me? Does it expect to learn something?
    Ruin shook its head. "I would have thought at the very least that you'd have killed Yomen."
    "Why are you so concerned with his death?" Vin asked. "It seems to me that he's on your side."
    Ruin shook its head, standing with hands clasped behind its back. "You still don't understand, I see. You're all on my side, Vin. I created you. You're my tools—each and every one of you. Zane, Yomen, you, your dear Emperor Venture . . ."
    "No. Zane was yours, and Yomen is obviously misguided. But Elend . . . he'll fight against you."
    "But he can't," Ruin said. "That's what you refuse to understand, child. You cannot fight me, for by the mere act of fighting you advance my goals."
    "Evil men, perhaps, help you," Vin said. "But not Elend. He's a good person, and not even you can deny that."
    "Vin, Vin. Why can't you see? This isn't about good or evil. Morality doesn't even enter into it. Good men will kill as quickly for what they want as evil men—only the things they want are different."
    Vin fell silent.
    Ruin shook its head. "I keep trying to explain. This process we are engaged in, the end of all things—it's not a fight , but a simple culmination of inevitability. Can any man make a pocket watch that won't eventually wind down? Can you imagine a lantern that won't eventually burn out? All things end. Think of me as a caretaker—the one who watches the shop and makes certain that the lights are turned out, that everything is cleaned up, once closing time arrives."
    For a moment, he made her question. There was some truth in his words, and seeing the changes in the land these last few years—changes that started before Ruin was even released—did make her wonder.
    Yet, something about the conversation bothered her. If what Ruin said was completely true, then why did he care about her? Why return and speak to her?
    "I guess that you've won, then," she said quietly.
    "Won?" Ruin asked. "Don't you understand? There was nothing for me to win, child. Things happen as they must."
    "I see," Vin said.
    "Yes, perhaps you do," Ruin said. "I think that you just might be able to." It turned and began to walk quietly from one side of the cell toward the other. "You are a piece of me, you know. Beautiful destroyer. Blunt and effective. Of all those I've claimed over this brief thousand years, you are the only one I think just might be able to understand me."
    Why , Vin thought, it's gloating! That's why Ruin is here—because it wants to make certain that someone understands what it has accomplished! There was a feeling of pride and victory in Ruin's eyes. They were human emotions, emotions that Vin could understand.
    At that moment, Ruin stopped being an it in her mind, and instead became a he .
    Vin began to think—for the first time—that she could find a way to beat Ruin. He was powerful, perhaps even incomprehensible. But she had seen humanity in him, and that humanity could be deceived, manipulated, and broken. Perhaps it was this same conclusion that Kelsier had drawn, after looking into the Lord Ruler's eyes that fateful night when he had been captured. She finally felt as if she understood him, and what it must have felt like to undertake something so bold as the defeat of the Lord Ruler.
    But Kelsier had years to plan , Vin thought. I . . . I don't even know how long I have. Not long, I would guess . Even as she thought, another earthquake began. The walls trembled, and Vin heard guards cursing in the hallway as something fell and broke. And Ruin . . . he seemed to be in a state of bliss, his eyes closed, mouth open slightly and looking pleasured as the building and city rumbled.
    Eventually, all fell still. Ruin opened his eyes, staring her down. "This work I do, it's about passion , Vin. It's about dynamic events; it's about change! That is why you and your Elend are so important to me. People with passion are people who will destroy—for a man's passion is not true until he proves how much he's willing to sacrifice for it. Will he kill? Will he go to war? Will he break and discard that which he has, all in the name of what he needs? "
    It's not just that Ruin feels that he's accomplished something , Vin thought, he feels that he's overcome. Despite what he claims, he feels that he's won—that he's defeated something . . . but who or what? Us?