"Congratulations!" Said John, as he untied the director. "As I said, your big day. You see, apparently your status is too important. If you died, paperworks gonna be all over the place. You said you have no regrets, so go back to Academy City, continue what you have started. Your life is yours."
"If you died, we don't know who's gonna fill your place, your void of influence. No one should change or even affect the path of the researches, or everything becomes a mess. Worse things could happen, the government could interfere with the researchers and gain power faster. Surely even you don't want that." Said the American. "You are still on their side, it's just eventually Academy City will be invaded, all of you will be tried for your contribution. That is why, we actually want to give you a chance to become an associate."
"So what am I now? A spy?" The Level 6 scientist/director rephrased the ridiculous job opportunity.
"Depends on how you see it. You see, your commitments are needed to drive this world. You, researcher, that's your lifetime commitment in this area. Isn't this what you wanted? Better chances? So what does it matter to you as in who you work for? We offered you a chance because based off of your statements when you thought you're gonna die, you mentioned all we wanted to hear. No regrets. I just thought, that our goals and paths can be compatible, or at least we can coexist in peace." Answered the American.
"One more thing before you make your decision. Remember Shinobu? Your Testament operator? She's ours when she realized the true face of your projects. Based off of what Shinobu told me, Aritomi Haruki is not a good associate. He is delusional of his ideals, that he became a puppet of the certain Board member who is truly behind the scene. Like it or not, you are being used too, you're better than that. what I'm saying is, find the right sponsor." John whispered the last sentence into his ears and winked at him.
"You are right, I'm just a scientist," He signed. "dangerously ambitious, competitive, but also with a sense of alertness. I don't know if my goals can work with whatever yours are, I don't know if I trust you. I am not a visionary, I just do. Though I know for sure, that you guys recognize my achievements and have more or less a sense of respectful for me and my area of focus. I'll do it."
"Great." Said john, opening the vehicle door and revealing that the scientists were all alive. "We still had to make a point back to certain fuckers in Academy City. We also had to alert the world of what's going on. That means unfortunately the combatants still had to go. I'm sorry, they made that choice." The scientist fell to his knees again, then to the ground, weeping silently. The pain of the deaths finally hit him.
"Hey hey hey. I made this choice too, and Accelerator, and ITEM members. We all know, someday, that Espers like us will die, either naturally or in combat. It's what we do, to change it will be hard. You're an ambitious scientist who focuses on practical applications, it's what you do too." After a minute the scientist got up.
"You speak about us being able to work together, yet you emphasize on professions, lifetime commitment, what everybody should do. Are you bringing some form of the rigid caste system? Social classes?" Asked the scientist stepping forward.
That's not what I meant. Look at where we came from. There's only so much you can do, but don't believe in self denial. It's hard to change who we are, people have to start over from scratch. So we cool now?"John made sure, walking towards the rest standing behind them. Mugino had a fancy cigar in her mouth, but not smoking it. Just casually biting on it to ease tension. John took out a cheap plastic lighter and a bottle of liquid with a handkerchief sealing the top. He soaked the handkerchief in a liquid, which turned out to be flammable. He lit the soaked handkerchief along with the cigar for Mugino, and threw the bottle into the pit. With a high pitched shattering sound of the glass the fire spread, igniting the fuel. The bodies and whatever remained of them went up in flames.