“Death is a necessary physiological phenomenon.”
“What a fool!” thought Yourii, as he irritably exclaimed,
“Good gracious me! What does it matter if our death is necessary to anyone else or not?”
“How about your crucifixion?”
“That is a different thing,” replied Yourii, with some hesitation.
“You are contradicting yourself,” observed Novikoff in a slightly patronising tone.
This greatly annoyed Yourii. Thrusting his fingers through his unkempt black hair, he vehemently retorted:
“I never contradict myself. It stands to reason that if, of my own free will, I choose to die—”
“It’s all the same,” continued Novikoff obdurately, in the same tone. “All of you want fireworks, applause, and the rest of it. It’s nothing else but egoism!”
“What if it is? That won’t alter matters.”