Dimitri has, even as a Tier 1, been trying to find a bit of common ground. He has tended to see the Zenith as wanting something similar - their worlds back or part of them. He thinks that there's common ground to be found between their factions; it was a question of means (and to some extent, also ends) being different. As he's told Kaeya, he genuinely thinks (or thought) that there was something worth reaching out to on the other side. It's a disagreement, not something that's necessarily existential or that can't be overcome.
He was disappointed in the result of their first Oracle mission and although his focus tended to be toward the people of the island that he tried to save, he was still willing during that mission to work with some Zenith people to reach common goals and didn't actively seek to fight them unless he absolutely had to.
Then he ended up at the diplomacy meet and greet.
He walked in expecting that there would be a chance to find common ground of some sort. That there would at the very least be an understanding that they were trying to operate in good faith and that the Zenith representatives would likewise be doing the same.
Instead, what he found was people being snide and outright dismissive of the evidence and arguments that the Meridian brought to the table, with no apparent wish to actually find a solution. Just stonewall. He watched Zenith members insult people on his side of the table for no discernible reason except to try and score points; to push buttons and tug on emotional strings for the sole purpose of starting arguments. He expressed this disappointment to Claude and more than anything, the experience has made him a bit bitter and confused.
If Zenith cannot come to a diplomatic conference without hiding daggers behind their smiles, what else are they going to do? Turning to Meridian for more power - if only to protect the people he loves and the world he wants to reclaim - seems to be the logical solution. He is beginning to think that the Zenith will have no compunction to do whatever it is they need to do to win (and in doing so, destroy his hopes for restoring what was lost). He still doesn't trust Meridian. But he does find them more palatable and they're not treating his home and friends as already lost.
no subject
He was disappointed in the result of their first Oracle mission and although his focus tended to be toward the people of the island that he tried to save, he was still willing during that mission to work with some Zenith people to reach common goals and didn't actively seek to fight them unless he absolutely had to.
Then he ended up at the diplomacy meet and greet.
He walked in expecting that there would be a chance to find common ground of some sort. That there would at the very least be an understanding that they were trying to operate in good faith and that the Zenith representatives would likewise be doing the same.
Instead, what he found was people being snide and outright dismissive of the evidence and arguments that the Meridian brought to the table, with no apparent wish to actually find a solution. Just stonewall. He watched Zenith members insult people on his side of the table for no discernible reason except to try and score points; to push buttons and
tug on emotional strings for the sole purpose of starting arguments. He expressed this disappointment to Claude and more than anything, the experience has made him a bit bitter and confused.
If Zenith cannot come to a diplomatic conference without hiding daggers behind their smiles, what else are they going to do? Turning to Meridian for more power - if only to protect the people he loves and the world he wants to reclaim - seems to be the logical solution. He is beginning to think that the Zenith will have no compunction to do whatever it is they need to do to win (and in doing so, destroy his hopes for restoring what was lost). He still doesn't trust Meridian. But he does find them more palatable and they're not treating his home and friends as already lost.