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What? How?! In what way am I the same as them?!

How are you any different? You want our children to give up their land, go to the nomadic cities, and live the kind of life where they could lose everything at a moment's notice.

Agni's lips are trembling. There are a thousand words she wants to say, but she can't bring herself to voice even a single one of them.

A thunderous rumble can be heard from afar.

Agni had lived in the village long enough to grow accustomed to the roar and its vibrations, but this one is much more intense than usual.

Bugger me, what's with all the shaking this time?!

Not far from the village, a gigantic mining platform drives right past. The vibration is no less intense than the tremors that precede a Catastrophe.

Agni staggers, finally realizing why the Originium Slugs do not build their nests here anymore.

But she also catches something else out of the corner of her eye.

The school!

The school?!

The gigantic mining platform slowly drifts away, and the vibrations in its wake gradually subside.

As for the wobbly two-story building built by amateurs, it has crumbled into a pile of debris.

When the vibrations have fully subsided, Agni falls to her knees.

Be thankful that school's out and there was no one inside.

Go home, Agni. Don't worry about us anymore.

You're a good girl, but I told you from the start: we're from different walks of life.

The village headman leaves Agni behind and starts walking toward his home.

After a short distance, he turns around to find her still standing there.

'What a stubborn girl,' he thinks to himself, 'but she'll end up like her father in the end. Maybe a decent person, maybe less of a pain in the arse, but much more dangerous.'

But just as he thinks that and is about to turn and go on his way, he sees her grab the bottle of champagne on the ground.

He sees her hold it with both hands and violently shake it up and down, as though what is trapped inside are not champagne bubbles, but somebody's soul.

He sees how she has almost completely exhausted herself just to shake that bottle. And when she's completely spent, she lifts the bottle up high, pointing it toward the sky.

Pop!

He isn't able to hear it very well.

But he can see it clearly. The cork flies straight into the sky. Perhaps it will ultimately land in the rubble, or perhaps not.

The last thing he sees is Agni smashing the bottle onto the ground, before walking away in long strides.

Agni, it's been hours, and you still haven't said a word.

Pouting isn't going to solve anything.

Please, you need to look at reality. The bigger the mining business grows, the less hope these villages will have.

If they'd just abandon their past and embrace their easily reachable future, then both they and their descendants would have the chance to live truly affluent lives.

And both you and I are working toward a future where that aspiration can come true.

But you simply don't understand yet. To truly give them better lives, we must first convince them to wake up from their illusions. The quicker this process, the less painful it is.

(Laughs dryly)

...Then I have good news for you, Dad. We just took a huge step forward with that.

The school we built for the village just came crashing down. It couldn't withstand the tremors caused by the mining platform that passed by.

It collapsed?

I didn't even notice. The shaking was quite intense, though. I'll help you rebuild it—

Are you worried that... I'll go back on our promise?

Don't worry.

I've been thinking seriously about what you said. From the moment I got in the car till now.

There are lots of things I haven't thought through yet—almost everything, actually.

But there's at least one thing I have.

Honestly, you're a good employer, a good citizen, and... a good father.

But Rim Billiton has no shortage of good people.

Dad, I'm afraid. I'm afraid that by being a good person for too long, I'll lose sight of the things around me. Like, say... the collapse of a school.

Which is why I won't be joining the family business.

...Dad.