You Owe Me Some Explanations

Escape by teleporting away? "Don't you need the radio for that?" I asked out loud without thinking. It was a pointless question, as she was unlikely to be willing to share any information.

However, she surprised me once again and answered. "No, I can teleport on my own."

I guess that explained why she was so calm this whole time.

But that also put me even more on guard. I suspected it already before, but this confirmed it. She was not an average member of the organization, but must have been one of the higher-ups.

Which also meant she might be capable of breaking the reality laws to a higher extent.

As if knowing what I was thinking, the woman spoke up again. "Just to make things clear. All of my abilities, aside from teleporting, are currently fully restricted. I cannot attack you in any way," she explained.

Of course, that didn't make me feel reassured about my safety. She seemed to be an important member of the organization, so anything she said couldn't be trusted. Besides, I already knew that she just needed to teleport back to the base, and soon would be able to return much more powerful.

But there was something else I wanted to confirm. "Is that why I couldn't sense anything odd about you?"

That would make sense. It would match all of my previous observations.

"Yes. I decided it was the best way to show my sincerity." The woman only gave a short answer, without any further explanation. She probably wasn't willing to reveal anything more than necessary.

I looked at her skeptically. Sincerity? Yeah, right. More like, she wouldn't be able to get close to me in the first place if she didn't have her aura subdued. But she revealed her identity to me pretty much straight away, so I let it go, at least for now.

"Anyway. I forgot to introduce myself. I am Alyssa Campbell from the Human Resource Department of the Trans-Reality Oversight Agency. As I've mentioned before, I am here to negotiate a deal with you, that would allow us to…"

"Hold up," I interrupted her. "First of all, don't you think you owe me some explanations? Or rather, apologies?"

Her brows furrowed slightly. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what do you mean?"

I exhaled the smoke nonchalantly, observing her from the corner of my eye. "You know, an apology for how your organization… that Trans-Reality Agency or whatever it was, attacked me without any provocation? Cause I believe I have never harmed you in any way. It was my first time encountering any other outliers, and you just attempted to assassinate me several times, without any prior warning…"

I used a similar provocation to that one sniper I took hostage before, but the results this time were very different. My speech didn't seem to affect the woman in any way. She just looked at me emotionlessly.

"I think you might be misunderstanding something. We haven't attacked you because of any personal issues." She cleared her throat and straightened up, even though she was already sitting all stiff and proper. "We are the organization that governs all the worlds. If any trans-reality law is broken, we will naturally seek to apprehend the criminal."

I listened to her explanation, acting as if it had nothing to do with me. Of course, I knew what she was going to say next, I'd already heard it before, but it didn't stop me from playing innocent.

She paused for a moment, observing me with a serious look on her face. "You, Mr. Foster, have destroyed multiple worlds. Due to the severity of your crimes, you were judged to be an extreme threat to all the societies, and sentenced to execution without trial."

I chuckled upon hearing her explanation, but my expression turned cold right after. "Is that so? Then now tell me, what else was I supposed to do? Just let the worlds kill me? Cause defending myself would inevitably end up destroying the world. Do I not get the right to protect my life?"

The woman hesitated, as she knew I had a point. However, she quickly collected herself and once she spoke up again, she did it with full confidence in her voice. "Self-defense is a valid excuse that can be used in court. However, Mr. Foster, we both know that your actions went far beyond that. You have been causing disruptions on a regular basis, abusing your abilities, and treating the lives of the inhabitants of any world with complete disregard."

I smirked. "Are you trying to say that normally you would approach me differently, and give me a chance to speak up for myself, but you couldn't do it because I caused too much destruction? How convenient."

Of course, what she said made a lot of sense. It was reasonable that someone like me, who did whatever they wanted, would be treated differently from a person who only did enough to survive. However…

"You know, things would have never escalated to this point if you only have reached out to me earlier. I have been an outlier since I was 6 years old or so, and I was just left alone, to try to survive on my own… I definitely wasn't abusing my abilities then. I didn't even know how to use them properly, I was barely able to defend myself." I paused for a moment, letting it all sink in, to give my next words a bigger impact. "Where were you then?"

The woman turned her eyes away, remaining silent for a while. "…I have nothing to say in the matter. Your complaint is… justified. The organization should have taken you in."

"Why didn't they?"

She hasn't answered, but was still maintaining perfect composure, appearing professional. Any changes in her expression were so minuscule, and only visible for a moment before her face returned to the norm, that I had difficulty reading her emotions.

"So you are not going to give me any explanation, huh?" I said indifferently.

She sat still, looking at her hands resting on her legs. "I'm sorry, I cannot. Those are classified information. I can only offer you our sincere apologies."

"Whatever." I threw my cigarette on the ground and lit another one.

Sincere? Yeah, right.

We sat in silence. Was she waiting for a sign from me whether I am ready to continue? After all those attacks from the organization in the previous world, what was the point of trying to act considerate toward me now?

"Alright then," I finally said with a sigh. "So, what would be the terms of that deal you mentioned?"