Talk:Academy City/@comment-2A02:C7F:9C3B:B000:B93B:B49B:D6FA:A4F9-20180723051040

Toaru Wiki User 381176:

I have recently been reading volume 15 of "A Certain Magical Index" Old Testament; and a certain quote - from chapter 2 part 9, caught my eye:

“Academy City is a city of students. No matter how many residents it has, they will eventually graduate. Without new students, the city’s numbers will continue to fall until it can’t even function.”

This quote has raised some questions for me.

In this comment, I will be exploring the nature of this quote; and how it may impact Academy City and the world around it.

During my "exploration", I may hypothesize a few scenarios - in an effort to get my point across. Do not confuse these scenarios with what is written in the light novels.

My point is this:

As 80% of the people living in the city are students, we can assume that these students are currently undergoing the Power Curriculum Program. Therefore, we can assume that 100% of the students - living in Academy City, are Espers. Even Level 0's - such as Saten Ruiko, are Espers. Even though level 0's can't use any noticeable abilities, they still emit weak AIM - therefore they cannot use magic.

My main question is this:

"Would these students be graduating from Academy City as Espers?"

If the answer to the main question is yes, this may create a few problems:

Would the world - outside of Academy City, be comfortable with a bunch of Espers roaming the streets of their countries? Would they have the technology - which organisations such as Judgement and Anti-skill have, necessary to deal with Espers who commit crimes - in their respective countries? Would "normal people" feel intimidated by these Espers? Would there be discrimination against Espers by "normal people" - who feel intimidated by them? Would the world consider these Espers a security risk?

Would Academy City be okay with their Espers leaving the city? Would they be okay with making all that effort to turn their students into Espers; only to have them leave the city eventually? Imagine if the 7 level 5's left the city; would the students of Academy City have no level 5's to look up to? Aleister Crowley talked about how the city had the military strength of 2.3 million Espers - in volume 2 of Old Testament; would he really be okay if a large amount of these students left the city? Wouldn't that pose a security risk to Academy City - due to decreased strength? It takes time for Academy City to gather the necessary drugs - required to awaken a student's AIM. Wouldn't an enemy of Academy City use this vulnerability to their advantage? If too many students reached the age of graduation, would Aleister Crowley put a system in place that prevents them from leaving the city? Is that system already in place?

During the Daihaseisai festival, there were "guards" in place to prevent "outsiders" from stealing Esper's DNA maps. Wouldn't this security be in vain if the Espers were to eventually leave Academy City? Wouldn't the "outsiders" just wait until after they graduate; to steal their DNA maps?

If the answer to the main question is no, this may create a few problems:

What would be the point of Academy City spending all that time and effort in turning their students into Espers, if they are just going to lose their powers when they graduate? What would be the meaning of "graduation", if they don't even get to keep their powers? Why would the students need to learn how to use their powers, if they do not even get to use them in the workplace - later in life?

Wouldn't this scenario support the case for students - such as Saten Ruiko, who want to keep their powers to stay in Academy City. After all, they went through all this effort developing their abilities; why should it be in vain if they can just keep their powers by staying in Academy City?

Aleister Crowley wants to materialize the "imaginary number school district/5 element agency" using the students AIM fields. If students left Academy City - and didn't keep their powers, wouldn't this hinder Aleister's plan? Why would it benefit him in any way, If any Esper were to leave Academy City?

Taking into account the problems above, would it be a good idea to allow Espers to leave Academy City?

Taking into account the problems above, would it be worth it to enrol into the Power Curriculum Program; if you were just going to lose your powers when you graduate anyway?

Have any students already graduated and left Academy City? If so, who are they? and where are they?

How many students have graduated from Academy City since the Power Curriculum Program was created? What is their situation? Does Academy City pay any attention to them?

Academy City doesn't want any other country developing their own Espers - as evident by them sending ITEM to assassinate the leader of the "Stargate Project". If Academy City doesn't want other countries to develop their own Espers, why would it be a good idea to allow them to leave the city; so that other countries can get their hands on them - so that they can find out what alterations Academy City has made to their brains, so that they can compare it to a normal brain and attempt to replicate it.

To the reader of this comment:

You may answer any of the questions above or you can simply share your thoughts on the subject.

I would be interested in hearing your opinion.