People do not change. His thoughts on that still did not change. He could tell just how static and unshakable human nature was, from just looking at the news. Those that were imprisoned for fraud would aim for other people’s pockets even after they leave. Sexual criminals would also chase the weak again in order to prove their superiority. Prison might be a very special experience, but that special experience did not change the evil nature of mankind. There might be some rare cases where a strong experience changes a view a person has on life as a whole, but changing one of their views and changing their ways was definitely different. “I didn’t intend to do it” - this excuse that appeared on the news every time just showed how hard it was to change a man.

That was why he always maintained a minimum distance. That distance was an insurance of sorts to minimize damage in case something happened. Being close to the center of the explosion would mean a higher degree of burn. People were all walking explosives. The reason they didn’t explode was because a strand of reason suppressed primitive instinct. Despite the 12 years...