Unified Bureau, central building. Behind the windows overlooking the blood-red distance and the storm, scenes of conflict appeared on the monitoring screens in the Decision Room.
In silence, Yegor watched the scene quietly. After a long while, he sighed soundlessly, rose, and headed for the door. "I'm going to rest for a while."
Outside the restroom, water flowed silently from the sink.
Yegor washed his hands again and again, seemingly lost in thought, not knowing what he was thinking. After a long while, footsteps sounded.
"Move over. You've been hogging it too long."
Ms. X spoke.
"Ah? All right..." Yegor finally came back to himself and stepped aside. He was about to leave when he heard Ms. X's voice. "Did it remind you of your own class?"
"Not a pleasant memory."
Yegor smiled helplessly. "For someone fifteen or sixteen, it was too heavy. But for someone eighty or ninety, it was too bitter."
"Jealous?" Ms. X asked without looking up.
Yegor froze where he stood.
Ms. X pulled out two paper towels. After drying her fingers, she finally looked at him. "You're jealous of Solomon, aren't you?"
"...Yes."
After a brief silence, Yegor nodded helplessly. "The word sacrifice really is fitting. The living envy the dead. Someone like me, with a head full of power and desire, would envy the straightforward way Solomon lived."
"If you were given the chance, would you trade places with him?" Ms. X suddenly asked.
"..."
Yegor did not answer. He merely smiled at himself mockingly.
She understood that hypocritical answer.
When he looked once more at the storm clouds outside, faintly stained blood-red, he could not help but sigh.
That Solomon...
He had probably been secretly studying and exploring the Regeneration Plan all these years, hadn't he?
He had even delved into its core