"I do not believe in improving one's powers solely for personal gain, such as the Level 6 project. You see, out of the many reasons I chose you as a potential ally, the main one was because of your benevolence towards lower level Espers."
"I know the pain of feeling inferior. Believe me, I was once a level 1." Misaka replied.
"We live in a world of equality. But some people are more equal than others." Aritomi added. "To be honest with you, I used to despise Esper powers. It has always stolen my spotlight. I was like a child begging for attention. Now I think Esper powers have endless potential, as long as we get to control it. I wished to study it within my field of research, so I started working with Board members who funded me. Guess what they did? They just used my research to keep the public stupid and under control. From your understanding of history, what other country is in desperate need of an army and therefore likely funded me and the board for military technology?"
"You mean Japan. Their prime minister ****** ***."
"I need a new ally." Aritomi stared at her in the eye. "I cannot be seen collaborating with other researchers, especially Heaven Canceller and Kiyama Harumi. Right now this project is independent, and exclusively funded by the government. There is no compromise."
"Now, I am just a secondary school student, but please hear my theory. Based on my countless experiences, every conflict that has ever taken place in Academy City was ultimately a form of socio-economic competition between different levels of Espers." Haruki nodded at the words from the child prodigy. "Our education system advocates for personal improvement, that is, striving to improve your powers. Our legislative system is rigged to give higher level privileges. Imagine that, higher levels always get to go to the best schools and live in the most prestige districts. It used to be more merit based, and one could work hard to level up, but the problem is, higher level Espers want to keep their powerful positions and not be replaced. Basically, we put low level Espers in already undesirable positions, then we hate them for not improving."
"Seems like what divides us is not ideology, not factions, but Esper levels."
"Yes, there is that intrinsical division. Adding to what you said, the government keeps the public under control by establishing a reward system for loyalty to the State. They use higher level Espers as positive examples and diverts our attention away from the inequality. They shove that hierarchical system in our faces and we unknowingly play by their rules." Misaka drew quotation marks with her fingers. "Ideally, we need to abolish the Level system. Only the State can conduct Esper projects designed to improve our society. That way, there will be no more exploitation between classes." Haruki listened carefully while calmly sipping his drink. "Most important of all, researchers like you would have a greater voice and a place equal to Espers."
Emily was not listening. She was adding Half & Half to her tea and stirring sugar cubes into it. She was making milk tea. It was a habit passed down from Shinobu. Most of the sisters started doing it ever since, as they all felt some sort of emotional attachment towards her. After all, she was the one that gave them emotions in the first place.
"I know why you are here." Aritomi began. "This is a DNA map analysis facility. I am aware of foreign powers creating Espers using methods that are analogous to our own. Now, I know that you are looking for a information on a boy? Perhaps slightly older than you?" Misaka sighed at her intentions being discovered. "He has been genetically modified. His power cannot be measured using our conventional system, but is probably somewhere that is higher than a level 5. Here." He took out a thick brown envelope from underneath his lab coat. "This contains all records of the experiments that has taken place here, and the discovered methods of modifying genes that are currently in use. I tried to condense it." He finished as he took another sip of espresso.
Aritomi got up from, and so did Misaka. "Let me show you something." He said. They walked towards the center of the office. There was a cabinet embedded in the wall which Aritomi opened with a key. The cabinet doors opened to form a hidden whiteboard. There were two link charts on it, one with the world map being it's background. Misaka's eyes immediately travelled to the United States, particularly the Southwest. A picture of a man was pinned to it, with a white string leading to it from Academy City. The man who she instantly recognized, was the director of the Level 6 Program.
"I was about to cooperate with him. He disappeared. That was the last place he visited." Another string lead to Russia. In the picture was a frail teenager with white hair. He was wearing a T-shirt with black and white stripes. The stripes were shaped like Vs.