Not the Best Person

For a moment, I just stared at the woman with disbelief, before I burst out laughing.

I couldn't help myself. It was just too funny.

Once I calmed down a bit, I glanced at her. She sat on the bench without a word, looking at me. When I saw how serious she was, I almost burst out laughing again, but I managed to mostly contain myself.

"Was that supposed to be a joke?" I finally responded, although probably not the way she was hoping for.

The look in her eyes seemed to have gotten slightly colder. "No, that is a serious offer. I know it might be unexpected. I don't need an immediate answer, but I would like you to consider it carefully. I'm sure that it would be beneficial to both of us."

"Alright. Look, Miss," I sighed and ruffled my hair. "First of all, I find your idea very unrealistic, but we'll get to that later."

I paused and nonchalantly took out another cigarette. She was just observing me, patiently waiting for what I was about to say next.

"So you have this amazing project that would allow us all to live in peace," I continued with a smirk. "That's great and all, but what made you think that I'm the right person to work with you on that? After all, I'm… how did you describe me again? An extreme threat? Well, I destroyed multiple worlds, so I get it. I'm a criminal in your eyes. But, here you are, asking me to help you work toward peace. I'm sorry, but that's just hilarious."

"I know you're not the best person for the project," she stated almost as soon as I finished speaking. Seems she wanted to say it for a while, but didn't want to be rude and interrupt me. "You are simply the first person on my list that I was able to reach out to. Moreover…"

She paused for a moment. I was constantly watching her, and my eyebrows went up out of surprise. Maybe my eyes were deceiving me because it was dark in the park, but I could swear I saw a hint of a smile on her otherwise emotionless face.

"Wouldn't that be even more meaningful, if I managed to convince a criminal such as you to cooperate with me? With a success like that on my account, the future of my project would be bright, don't you think?"

I chuckled upon hearing her explanation. "Hahah, I guess that makes sense."

I started looking at her in a bit different light. She might have been way too naive, but maybe she wasn't as stiff as she seemed. Or at least, she wasn't an entirely boring person.

Still…

"But that doesn't mean that I would be willing to work with you. You don't have the organization's approval after all, right? And there's no guarantee you will succeed, so it might be a complete waste of time."

"I am certain that if our cooperation goes well, I will be able to proceed…"

"Okay, you are certain, but I think it's unrealistic," I cut in again, not letting her finish. "To put it simply, I am certain that your plan won't work. Even if I were to accept your original terms and play nice, that still wouldn't be enough. There's no way that everyone in your organization will suddenly agree to let the rogues live their lives however they want."

I finished my cigarette and threw it on the ground. My hands were starting to get cold. It was time to end this. "I think that while your idea is not terrible, it's way too naive."

"I can see that," she said with her brows slightly furrowed. "However, I'm still going to ask you to give it a try. You have nothing to lose. I can at least ensure your safety during the time we work on the deal…"

"Fine," I sighed. "Then next time, bring me the copy of those laws you have. Then we can continue the negotiations."

I didn't entirely hate the idea. As long as the terms of the deal were beneficial to me, I wouldn't mind making a deal with the organization. It was at least worth considering.

I got up from the bench and stretched out. It was still early, so I might as well go to another club. Who knows how long I have left when I can do it in peace?

"Wait!" The woman quickly stood up as well. "About the radios…"

I glanced back at her. "I thought you said you didn't need them to teleport?"

She shook her head. "I don't need them… But, I intended to give one of them to you, so that we can communicate while we're working on the deal…"

"Does it have a tracker?"

She paused for a moment. "…Yes."

I raised my brows. Of course, I wouldn't believe her if she denied it, but I didn't expect her to admit to it so easily either. "Yeah, so there's no way I'll be taking it. I don't want to get ambushed."

"You don't need to keep it with you," she quickly explained. "You can just hide it somewhere, in a locker, or somewhere normally inaccessible…"

"That still won't work." I ruffled my hair, slightly annoyed. "I don't wanna risk getting forcefully teleported to your base when I touch it. So, no, thanks."

"But…"

She wanted to say something else, but I didn't wanna waste any more time on this pointless discussion.

"Still nope. Just come see me on your own again."

Not waiting for her response, I jumped up on the top of the trees and got out of the park, leaving her behind.

That was an unexpected turn of events. I didn't even know what to think.

But most importantly, the organization knew what world I was in right now. The woman might have said that she would guarantee my safety, but that meant nothing when I didn't even know whether she could be trusted.

There were a lot of things that I had to consider. But for tonight, I just needed to have a drink and relax. Although I acted so confident and nonchalant before, I was a bit tense from constantly being on guard.

Alyssa Campbell from the HR department of the Trans-Reality Oversight Agency, huh?