"Politics is war without bloodshed, while war is politics with bloodshed." Mao Zedong, communist leader of China.
John himself remembered two years ago. That was his first infiltration of Academy City, where he drugged a hotel staff so he had a nice nap, taking his suit, sneaking onto the roof where an M82A1 sniper rifle has been deposited using a fishing line by his former associates, who disassembled the rifle and snuck it in, under the disguise of computer parts. Let's just say the tungsten bullet made a nice entry hole on the "bullet proof" glass, and on the skull of his target; an ambitious yet inexperienced CEO based in Academy City who was among the first who proposed Espers needing special identification. One month after his assassination, the company chief of security was found dead in his safe house under the cause drug overdose. Actually, the chief of security has a hidden history of drug use, but he had moved on from rehab at least five years ago. Still, the PTSD and pain from witnessing an IED blowing his criminal informant to pieces and the shrapnel embedding in his central nervous system causing impaired vision lasted long. It was convincing that he still secretly took opioids.
Let's admit it, John. He did not kill himself. Where did you get the heroin? He would say it was "a souvenir from Afghanistan." When the chief of security lay on his couch choked to death from his own stomach contents, the syringe of the hypodermic needle was missing fingerprints, it sat as if untouched. His laptop along with the companies' top secrets were stolen, but no one noticed that little detail. In fact, no one was even aware of that laptop containing top secret plans ever existing. But John was.
"Sneaky bastard." Accelerator would smirk. "You sold the information to the CIA didn't you?"
Back to the present timeline, John was so full of energy that he and his bed was never closer than five meters.
The news popped up at three in the morning, right before John and Accelerator's departure to Moscow. A board member of Academy City has been confronted with the bone chilling question, of whether or not Academy City started stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. More plot has been revealed, including Japan's closer ties with Academy City. What's similar between those two countries is that both are not allowed a state military. NATO, a military alliance created in order to counter the Soviet backed Warsaw Pact, has achieved their goals. They reevaluated their purpose, and still aim to keep peace. Economic and mild military sanctions has been proposed against Academy City, even though China will likely support them in times like this. The US embassy decided to withdraw, Germany cancelled its latest delivery of small arms to the Antiskill police force. CERN has stopped giving them access to the Large Hadron Collider for particle research. Most recent images indicated construction plans for arsenals. The border of Academy City and Japan are now a blurry mess as they are working together on unimaginable plans. Further actions, and they will be deemed a terrorist organization. The two need to infiltrate Russia fast, meet Nikolai, and erase the tensions permanently. If keeping peace means having to mobilize the Russian military, they will have to get Russia on their side.
"This is gonna be fun! Imagine, not using our powers." John stated sarcastically. Before they left, the American scientist had mentioned that only people like John and Accelerator can meet Nikolai. The American himself would have trouble, diplomatic tensions, not to mention that Nikolai himself would grow suspicious.
"This is Russia, товарищ. We cannot let accord to draw attention here. We cannot raise awareness of Esper powers. This is the whole point of infiltration. Maybe after we are done people think it's the work of rival political groups. No way to trace us down."
"Yes yes yes whatever you say. I don't have a memory blocker as for my mission in Academy City. This is the fifth time I've come to Russia. Did you know that they changed the name from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd, in the Great War, because it sounded too German?"
"Fucking nerd. What kind of personalities did they give you?"Accelerator inquired.
"A little altruism, like some nice teenager that wants to get involved in crime fighting. Now I'm just trying to be a little normal, but a little spiced up on the intellectual side. It's easy to maintain it this way, with the fact that I killed just as many people as you did, it's easy to start evaluating your life and become a smartass."
"Alright…"
"If you had fake personalities you could've been the Big Papa of bad boys. Just, don't smoke weed."
The two just left the airport. It's May already. For months organization and research was conducted in the Los Angeles based research branch, and by ITEM back in Academy City. For John and Accelerator, it was a break. Now they are back in action.
"Alright, remember we cannot use abilities." Accelerator reminded John.
"They fucking know we are here."
"Look, they have no idea about our Esper powers. They know someone working with Nikolai is here for special purposes. In other words, me."
John has been worried about not using Esper powers. The American scientist had assured him this way. "Even without using abilities Espers still have extraordinary reaction, just like the special forces. Enabled by Level 6 Esper brain, you are the elite of the elite, absolutely no training is needed. This is evolution. To translate into non Esper terms, you are already experts with guns, with brilliant senses you've perfected skills such as reconnaissance, solo combat, cooperation of any number, and stealth. You can improvise and fight guerilla warfare like the Vietcong, cooperate and become organized like the Roman legions, storm enemy positions and deal out catastrophic damage lighting fast like the Mongol cavalry, and thrive in extreme conditions like the Soviet Red Army defending Stalingrad. Most importantly of all, a small number of Esper combatants can conduct the most vital operations with surgical precision like the SEAL." John has clearly done much more than assassination. He had fought countless militias, mercenaries. Most blurry memories included planting a bomb in a lab.