[SS] Project Radio Noise

"Is that your sister or something?"

Mikoto turned to Haragi’s grinning question, eyes strangely lost. Sister? Ah, that was what Kaede had also said… Sister… What did that even mean...?

Her mind felt completely numb, but there was one clear thought overriding everything else. She had to get away from Haragi and talk to this… girl… alone.

For now, she quickly put on a cheery act, not wanting Haragi to be suspicious.

“Ah~ yes… Who else…?”

A faint smile struggled on her lips, but it quickly faded as the girl approached. Mikoto visibly tensed when the look-alike began to talk in a soft monotone.

"Apologies. This Misaka was not aware that the original was in the vicinity. This Misaka lacks the original's electro-perception abilities and was unable to sense you from a distance, says Misaka explaining the situation in detail."

Mikoto stared with wide eyes, feeling the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. It was like looking into a mirror, but finding your reflection eerily acting on its own. It made her feel ill.

She struggled to find words but failed miserably. Her throat did not seem to be able to remember how to function properly. Breathing deeply through her nose, Mikoto turned her head away, a shadow looming over her eyes, and waited for the feeling of nausea to pass.

"Does this Misaka's appearance displease you? Asks Misaka, gauging the situation." She spoke dryly. True to her words, the girl was keeping her distance with a relaxed poise and stoic, observant stare. It seemed that at any moment she might vanish as suddenly as s he had appeared. As though the slightest movement might scare her off.

It was difficult to read into her blank eyed expression, but it seemed she was almost as confused by the situation as Mikoto.

"Apologies. This Misaka was not aware that the original was in the vicinity. This Misaka lacks the original's electro-perception abilities and was unable to sense you from a distance, says Misaka explaining the situation in detail. Does this Misaka's appearance displease you? Asks Misaka, gauging the situation."

The way this girl spoke was in awkward monologues, not only her voice sounded as though if she was programmed to speak this way. Her eyes gave off an expressionless look, similar to Haragi at times. Misaka started to feel tense around this girl, more than when she felt disturbed from before. Was she not comfortable around her own sister? It seemed like she was staring at complete stranger but feeling horrible because of it.

But then, something struck Haragi's head. From the information he gathered about the Academy City espers as he grew up, he never recalled the Railgun to have any siblings, let alone siblings in Academy City. But that wouldn't make sense since this girl was wearing a Tokiwadai Uniform meaning that she had attended the same school as her. The Level 4 at narrowed his eyes with suspicion towards the girl who was believed to be a sister of Misaka Mikoto. Though looking into this would possibly get himself involved into unnecessary conflicts. His expressionless eyes were directed back at Misaka's uncomfortable self.

"Misaka... you know I didn't give that pop back to you for nothing... Drink it and relax, baaka...."

"Does this Misaka's appearance displease you? Asks Misaka, gauging the situation."

Mikoto looked up, staring blankly at the mirror image in front of her. Everything felt surreal. Was this really happening? She was dreaming right? Her stomach continued to churn uncomfortably, reminding her that this was, infact real.

"Misaka... you know I didn't give that pop back to you for nothing... Drink it and relax, baaka...."

Startled, Mikoto glanced at the soda can, still tightly gripped in her hand. She focued on relaxing for a moment, loosening each strained finger curled around the aluminium.

“Ahahah~ Sorry, I just didn’t expect to see my… sister here.”

A bright smile suddenly dominated her expression, covering all traces of the previous discomfort like a mask. Acting like this and covering her true feelings almost came naturally to her, allowing no outsider to see what she was truly thinking inside.

“You know, I already had a drink before you turned up, so I think you should keep it, at least for later.” She offered the drink back to Haragi, keeping her eyes away from the clone. Goosebumps ran across her arms, feeling the “Sister’s” eyes on her. Mikoto thought she’d actually be sick if she ate or drank anything now and she didn’t want to take any chances.

“Hey Imouto,” Mikoto said suddenly. Although her voice remained cheery, her eyes darkened ever so slightly as she turned them back to her look-alike. “Why don’t we go and-“

“Meow! Meow~~!!!!”

A startled cry abruptly came from somewhere above them, hidden high in the tree branches and interrupting Mikoto's speech.

“Hey Imouto, Why don’t we go and-“ The girl's eyes never left Mikoto's as the older girl spoke to her. It was only the quiet mewling that eventually drew her attention from the electromaster. Her wide, brown eyes followed the sound upwards until she spotted the kitten stranded between the branches.

The distressed animal wailed with a shrill cry, trembling a little as it backed further up the tree's limbs.

"Nya~" The girl replied to the cat's frantic meows. "There you are, says Misaka, expressing relief."

“You know, I already had a drink before you turned up, so I think you should keep it, at least for later.”

Misaka looked as if she wanted to leave the area as soon as possible. Why though? Did her sister have something to do with this? Along with her words, she offered the can of Soda back to Haragi.

But then...

The silent but audible meow reached Haragi's ears. The sound of a helpless animal cried from within the branches of the tree behind the relaxed Level 4.

"Nya~, There you are, says Misaka, expressing relief."

Haragi averted his keen eyes towards the direction the relieved sister was looking towards, and spotted a feline trapped within the staggering branches of the tree. Was Misaka's sister searching for this cat? Is that why Misaka was tense all of a sudden? Haragi gave a long drawn out sigh as he was about to expend some portion of his recently conserved energy.

"What a pain...."

The Level 4 stood up from his relaxed state expressionless, and focused onto his Personal Reality. OFR molecules had formed beneath his feet, and solidified which gave him the ability to levitate on air. In other words, Haragi stepped on 'thin' air and pushed himself upwards to the destined branch. The scared cat gripped tightly onto the branch to avoid from falling down.

Haragi slowly reached his arm towards the cat, and gently wrapped his hand around it's petite body. He freed the trapped feline from it's demise, while levitating back down. The cat was offered back to the little sister, as he avoided eye contact to both of the identical girls.

"Here...."

"I'll look around the area, see what I can find," Meirin replied, walking into the alley Accelerator had just exited. She looked around; it was just a normal alleyway. There was a little trash in a corner, one of the walls had an unknown, slimy substance on it, and there was a bank card on the ground. Nothing out of the ordina--

"I found something!" Meirin called out, picking up the card. "I think it's one of those cards you told me about." She held it up to the light. It looked brand new; there were no signs of wear, and it was in pristine condition. There were a few small, extremely shallow scratches on the back, but that was likely because it had been on the ground.

"Nya~ There you are, says Misaka, expressing relief."

"What a pain...."

Mikoto’s frustrations at having been interrupted was replaced by curiosity at Haragi’s display of his ability as he rescued the cat.

‘Eh? Floating? Is he some kind of air esper…?’

"Here...."

As Haragi handed the cat to her look-alike, Mikoto stared at the furry ball of fur, her irritation at having being interrupted earlier rekindled. But when the kitten abruptly turned its small head towards the Electromaster, its innocent, beautiful orbs stared back at her so solemnly, Mikoto could no longer find any motivation to dislike it.

“Ah~ I wonder how it even got up that high?” Mikoto found herself wondering out loud, shining eyes glued to the cute animal. She inched closer, but the cat mewled loudly and she stopped, reminding herself (with much regret) that such sensitive animals disliked the electromagnetic waves her body passively let out.

A small frown pulled down the corners of her mouth. Looking back at the “sister” who seemed very content with the cat in her arms, Mikoto wondered whether she had similar problems. If this… doppleganger really was her clone produced with her DNA then…

Gritting her teeth slightly, Mikoto attempted again, inwardly chastising herself for getting so easily distracted from the real problem.

“It’s getting late already… Hey Imouto, we still have things to do and talk about right?”

She walked up to her mirror image, grabbing at her arm more forcefully than she had intended. She felt nausea swell up again at the sudden thought that she may be touching her own arm… on another’s body.

Swallowing against the unpleasant feeling, Mikoto smiled brightly at Haragi and waved.

“It was good talking to you, Faye-san, but we really have to go~”

She just hoped this doppleganger would follow without complaint.

“It was good talking to you, Faye-san, but we really have to go~”


The Level 5 was eager to leave with her sister. Even after saving that cat, she still seemed a bit disturbed. If Misaka wasn't concerned about the cat then what was she concerned about. Both Mikoto and her 'sister' had walked away, with Mikoto waving goodbye with a smile. However, Haragi could tell with his expressionless eyes that she didn't really feel that way. Though without saying anything, he stood still watching their figures disappear in the distance.

The spiky haired boy was left alone with the can of pop that Misaka had kindly gave him. With Misaka gone, he would finally be able to relax. Though that wasn't the case. It was as though he felt a bit strange himself of what she could have been concerned about. He couldn't tell what exactly she was concerned about, but he knew it had to be something bad. Being apart of the dark side, this was something easy to make out.

Something odd had come to mind though. Misaka felt completely normal when he had met her 2 hours ago at his own house. But now she feels a bit strange. Did it have something to do with his sister? An unspeakable feeling suddenly had come over him. What did Misaka do with his sister while he was gone? What was exactly said?? Was she in danger? His eyes shot wide open filled with worry.

"Aneki!"

His feet stomped onto the concrete, charging towards the direction to his house.

Mikoto did not speak until they were well out of Haragi’s hearing range, pulling her “Sister” along quite roughly. She glanced over her shoulder, checking to see no one was around. They had stopped at the entrance of a deserted alleyway, darkened with shadows from the nearby buildings.

Satisfied that no one was listening in to them, Mikoto let the other’s arm go and rounded upon the doppleganger with angry eyes and tightly clenched fists. Now that she didn’t have to keep up appearances that nothing was wrong, her previously suppressed emotions spilled over.

“Just who the hell are you?! Are you really a-?”

She couldn’t bring herself to say the word out loud, her teeth gritting together with a crunching sound.

In a certain unnamed park, a man in his late twenties is sitting on a bench waiting for someone, and he is giving off an... odd presence. Well, more like he's just odd himself.

His attire is all dark clothing, black jeans, and dark skin. His shoes were white, with blue and red, and what appeared to an eyeball on the sides. What was strangest about the man's looks were his facial features. His nose was sharp, his teeth resembled a shark's, and his eyes were blank, opaque pools of emptiness. Looking directly into them, no one would be able to guess how he felt.

Thankfully... the expression on his face is pretty obvious. He's irritated about something. Also, he's grumbling to himself about whatever it is,

"Act normal... act normal they say... I am perfectly normal, I am so normal, it's not even normal. In fact I'm so normal, it's abnormal... DAMMIT!" He screams, facepalming himself, except it's not with his palm, it's with the actual book. So technically it's be a face... never mind.

Anyway, this man appears to be trying to act normal while he waits for someone on a bench, and doesn't seem to notice all of the stares that he gets from mumbling to himself loudly. He also doesn't notice a tall woman with blue hair wearing a green track suit walking towards him, file in hand, as she stares at a photo of him. This woman is known as Yomikawa Aiho, visiting the park on official Anti-Skill duty. Since it isn't anything dangerous, she's still wearing her regular clothing,

So that's the new Judgment member? He doesn't seem to be as off as I've been told... She smirks to herself, Maybe I should try something, She thinks to herself, walking to the bench, roughly sitting down.

The man sitting on the bench has his head staring straight down at his nees, and is tlaking to himself again, still holding the book in the same position as if he were still reading it,

"Honestly, this is what normal people do all the time right, I see them staring at books all the time and sitting around doing nothing... am I actually supposed to read them!?" He abruptly lifts his head up, "Have I been doing this wrong the whole time!?"

"That's generally what books are meant for," The gives a shrill scream, accidentally throwing the book he had into the air, at hearing Yomikawa speak,

"What the Hell!? How long have-Ow!" The book he threw into the air promptly hits him on the head mid-sentence, and he rubs the spot that he was hit on, and goes on with his sentence, "How long have you been here!? I didn't notice you! Are you a ghost?" He asks with seemingly genuine curiosity. "If so, you're not nearly as pale as I imagined you to be. So," He leans his elbow on the back of the bench, "what brings you here miss ghost? If you're in the city for the science to prove you're real, you may leave disappointed. You'll probably still be written off as science fiction." Yomikawa gives the man a curious look, and then thinks back to what she read about him,

Right, it did mention that he tends to act... eccentric outside work.

"well, I had something to do today, and I was planning to go for a walk anyway, it's such a nice day." She says, leaning her head back,

"Yeah... it... really is bright," He says strangely, in a serious tone. "I actually had something to do as well. See, I'm supposed to be meeting with someone about my future job. I may finally earn it today I've had a few meetings to go over information, interviews to make sure I'm telling the truth, but those outside of when I was training were random. This one is planned, so I have a good feeling about it." The man picks up the book in front of him and holds it up,

"So... you were trying to act normal, yet you didn't know you had to read the book?" Despite her polite tone, the man still sunk into some sort of depression, suddenly holding his knees very closely to himself

"...I was trying to act normal, and I always saw people holding books in front of themselves. I thought they just stared at them, so I bought a blank book, and decided to challenge myself to figure out if I was holding it upside down or right side up... I almost had it but I got scared and... *sigh*" the man states in a monotone voice, "I'm never getting this job, if I can't act normal..." Yomikawa taps the man on the shoulder, and he reluctantly looks at her,

"It's not about being normal, it's about being professional. And from what I've read about you, that doesn't seem to be much of an issue."

"What you've...?" Yomikawa shows the man the file, and he goes pale, his jaw dropping, and he shoots up from his seat, and salutes, facing forward instead of facing the actual interviewer, "I am very sorry for my casual attitude ma'am! I had known who you were, I would have been more polite, ma'm! Please punish me in any way you see fit ma'am!" He says, extremely high-strung. Yomikawa simply laughs it off and says,

"Calm down, there's no need for that, I'm off duty right now. Just call me Yomikawa. And you are...?" She already knows his name, but decides to let him introduce himself,

"Kerri! Kerii McKinley." He says, calming down and taking his seat, noticeably less fidgety and looking more professional, "What exactly are we doing here?"

"Before I get onto that, I just want to go over your record." Yomikawa opens up the folder, and starts reading out information about him, at a volume not too loud so no one but them will hear it,

"Kerri McKinley, Age: 26, you moved here twelve years ago, when you were fourteen, and apparently dropped out of school at age eighteen, right before your last year was about to begin. At the time, you're ability, Volt Streamer, was registered at Level 2, the same level it was when it was tested when you first met with us. " The man known as Kerri nods without hesitation,

"After which, you started working at Damon's delivery, and stayed there for eight years, until you decided to resign and join Anti-Skill, but... Anti-Skill only accepts those with a High School degree at least. However, a special deal was made for you," Yomikawa looks directly up at Kerri, who stares back at her, "That you would spend an entire year working at Judgement, which would count towards high School credits, eventually allowing you to join Anti-Skill." Se then looks at him seriously,

"And you have indeed managed to work through the physical and psychological tests without issue, and you mentioned you had a reason to train your body... what was that reason? It had something to do with the scars you had on your back," This was where she started questioning him about things that Anti-Skill needed to be sure about. They had performed lie detector tests on him, but there are ways for it to be wrong, so they kept asking routine questions every once in a while to ensure that they remained the same.

"Well, when you're delivering packages in certain areas, especially at night when i usually make some of my runs, you tend to run into less savory types. Skill-Outs and espers wanting to have a little fun, or thinking they can make an easy buck selling whatever I have. My boss recommended that I train to better take care of myself, and avoid them, but I can never shake them completely. Plus, they tend to use weapons," Kerri looks at his hand, with a scar on it, and tightens it, "Like knives..."

Yomikawa listens carefully, before moving on to her next question, "What made you decide to join Anti-Skill? And why now?" Kerri fidgets a bit before answering,

"Well... it's a little childish, but I'm hoping to make my brother proud..." Yomikawa gives Kerri a curious glance,

"May I ask why?"

"Sure, but it's nothing special," Kerri reaches into his pocket and pulls out an image of a man, who looks similar to him, but with a more normal face, and a beautiful wife with her belly bulging out noticeably. Looking on the back, Yomikawa sees a question asking what's odd about the picture, and she sees it immediately.

"And who are these people?" She says, still maintaining her professionalism,

"My older brother, and sister-in-law, though I've never met her personally. I have heard about her from my brother. He's really happy, and he's even... having a kid." Kerri then looks solemn, "And when you compare him to me, I think you can a huge contrast... this job wasn't something I even wanted to do, but I had to to help him out. My bro got into some financial trouble after my parents were killed in an accident," Kerri shrugs, and Yomikawa keeps a serious expression on her face, listening diligently, "I'm not a selfless person, Ma'am. I'm doing this to do something that my brother would be proud of. After my brother didn't need any more money, I just stuck with the delivery job. It kept me busy, sure, but it was a dead end job. My brother... he'd never be happy with the choices I've made, so I thought I'd start giving him something to be proud of... but like you explained, I have to work with the Kiddy Brigade instead of the other adults," He grips his head, "Just because I didn't finish High School! Man!" Before calming down.

Yomikawa looks at the files, and the responses to questions he's answered were the same as these, and he's given the answers to why he dropped out of High School, and for his reasons to join Anti-Skill. These questions were asked to him over ten times, and he's answered them consistently each time. He's passed the physical and psychological exams without any issue, and was even willing to train each day and fill out all of the paper work, so he's certainly dedicated...

Let me ask one more thing, "Kerri McKinley" Kerri perks up, "While the age difference between Judgement and Anti-Skill is different, along with authorization levels and our ways of performing tasks and duties, at our core, our job is the same. Do you know what that job is?"

Kerri nods without hesitation, "To perform your tasks without hesitation, in order to keep the innocent safe, and the criminal imprisoned. To maintain order and stability, as well as aid the people when they're in peril." He says, very seriously,

Yomikawa pauses, and then nods smiling, "Good answer, though," Yomikawa pulls out a Judgement armband from the file, brand new, along with a pin to hold it "Just make sure that you don't call the people you work with 'kiddies'. After all, they'll be your superiors, and if their kids, you're the man working under kids." she says smiling warmly, ""

Kerri gets excited, and snatches it out of Yomikawa's hand, and starts spinning around,

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!!! Ma'am!" He walk in front of her, and as it looks like he's about hug her, he restrains himself with a bit of effort, and grabs her hand, shaking it vigorously, "Don't worry, I'll do my job, and make my brother proud! I'll do my best, not to disappoint you," He hays, and quickly runs off,

"You known which Branch you're heading towards?" This prompts Kerri to stop in his tracks, , and turn around, shouting back,

"That reminds me, which Branch am I heading towards," Yomikawa chuckles, amused by the odd man, and looks briefly at the file to see which Branch he's been assigned at,

"Judgement 177 Branch Office! Oh and Kerri!"

"Yeah?"

"Good luck!" Yomikawa says, waving,

"Thanks!" He shouts back, running off. Yomikawa observes him, as he is startled by some pigeons standing around in the park, more so then they are by him. He cautiously steps around them, and when he can con continue in his path, he points at the birds menacingly and dashes off, earning plenty of stares from bystanders.

"Kerri McKinley... well, he seems to be good at being serious when he needs to be, and when he's not... I guess it'll be good for keeping the other Judgement members on their toes," she says, chuckling to herself, before standing up, and walking away, "I wonder what Komoe's doing later... maybe she wants to head out for a drink...?" She says quietly to herself.



Kerri, on the other hand, dashes through Academy, City, avoiding, and barely avoiding, barreling into and people, or hitting any inanimate objects,

Man, all these people make it hard to run... but not impossible, he thinks, keeping a grin on his face, and he brushes by more bystanders, while running past some of the buildings in the area. He wanted to get to his branch post haste.

He thought that nothing would stop him on his run to his first fay as a member of judgement, but as soon as he sees a certain person, he is surprised, and tries his best to stop running, to avoid getting too close to him. He nearly trips himself up, and needs to grab onto a mailbox in order to stop himself, accidentally letting one leg swing out, before properly balancing himself.

The figure walking out of the alleyway is a skinny young man, with pale skin, white hair, and red eyes, seemingly just an unhealthy albino boy to those who don't know him. To those who do though know much better. They know hat this man is infamous for his reputation: Accelerator, the number one Level 5 in Academy City. His reputation is one filled with brutality and broken bones, even dead people, and while they were only rumors, one things was known for sure: This guy was capable of doing anything mentioned in the stories about him.

Kerri watches as he walks away, and cautiously continues walking forward several feet behind him, but looks down the alley where he came out of, curious.

That's strange, what would the Strongest be doing walking around in an alley? Does he just have nothing better to do? Well, whatever it is, I don't need to... Kerri looks at the Judgement armband still gripped in his hand, and sighs, I guess I do have a duty to see to it that nothing shady is going on. He says, putting the band onto his sleeve, and reluctantly walking into the alley.

As soon as he does, he notices two other peculiar people in here. A small, timid looking girl with flowers in her hair, and a girl with long, red hair hair, and notices that each of them has a Judgement band on their arms, but they don't notice him at all.

They seem very focused on something else... probably Accelerator. they must have seen him too.

Both appear to be looking for something, and he decides to have a little fun, since not much is going on,

I found something! I think it's one of the cards you told me about. She says to the younger Judgement member, while holding up a bank card, whom Kerri notices looks a bit... freaked out. He might almost feel bad about doing this to the poor girl... almost.

Kerri quietly slinks towards the two girls, and then, as soon as he gets close, he screams "HEY, WHAT'RE YOU DOING!?" Right next to them. He screams, and watches their reactions, and jumps back before either can take a swing at him, and shows his arm band before kneeling down, and saluting to them,

"Pleasure to meet you, ladies, my name is Kerri McKinley, member of Judgement Branch 177 for..." Kerri looks at his wrist to check the time, and pretends that he only just noticed, "...right no watch," he mumbles to himself, but goes on, "around an whole hour! It is a pleasure to meet my fellow Judgement members!" He says, as he observes them, and at the same time, pays attention to their reactions, standing up, and brushing his pants off, as if he didn't do anything strange,

The girl with the flowers in her hair, her limbs are thin, and she appears to be particularly young, so her muscles shouldn't be developed. The girl with the red hair has noticeably thicker limbs, she's even slightly toned, so her physical skills are most likely well developed. Maybe she had martial arts training, or just weight training. I'll need to keep observing them to learn more... if I'm even in the same Branch as them.

He then goes on to say, after seemingly ignoring what they said, "If you're wondering why I was kneeling through that whole speech, it was so I could take you guys seriously. It's hard to do that when your superiors are so much shorter then you... or maybe you're just short in general... anyway, what're your names" He says, way to casually.

Meirin jumped and performed a roundhouse kick towards the source of the noise. She hit a tin trash can and completely destroyed it, caving in one side so completely that it would never be usable again as a trash can.

She stood there, quietly fuming, as the man who claimed to be a part of Judgment prattled on and on, introducing himself and offering some reason for startling them. Her rage boiled over more and more as he continued to talk endlessly.

Eventually, she marched up to the man - Kerri, she thought she had heard him say - and picked him up by the collar of his shirt and pinned him to a wall, looking rather angry. She put her face right in his before speaking.

"If you ever do something so completely idiotic again, I will literally melt your face off, got it?" Meirin said, in a tone more threatening than inquisitive. "I don't take kindly to being startled for the amusement of someone else."

Meirin then suddenly dropped Kerri and stepped back, looking rather annoyed. "So, what are you doing here, and whose armband did you steal?" she asked, pointing at Kerri's armband. "You're too old to be in Judgment. Be a good boy and return it to whoever you took it from."

“Just who the hell are you?! Are you really a-?”

"-Clone, says Misaka, finishing the original's sentence." The girl intoned quietly. "That is correct, Misaka gives an affirmative answer."

She didn't volunteer any more information, responding only when questioned. The kitten in her arms pawed at her chin playfully, letting out a giggle like mewling that had an unexpected side effect. The corners of the clone girl's mouth curled upwards in the barest hint of a smile.

***

Kazari jumped clear off the floor with a startled yelp at Kerri's approach and clutched at her chest, feeling her racing heart and the girl braced herself against the nearby wall as she calmed herself down, muttering reassuring words under her breath.

"-Clone, says Misaka, finishing the original's sentence. That is correct, Misaka gives an affirmative answer.”

Mikoto trembled, jaws clenched tightly as she glared at… her clone before her. To have her fears absolutely confirmed like this made her heart grow icy cold. The fact that this girl kept referring to herself as “Misaka” and to Mikoto as “the Original” somehow made it even worse.

Mikoto hardly noticed the playful kitten, her mind swirling with possibilities. Kaede’s dark warnings replayed over and over, and this time, Mikoto couldn’t just simply push them away. She waited for a moment, hoping that the clone would elaborate, but when it was clear she wasn’t going to, Mikoto continued to question her, her demanding voice filled with desperation.

“That project or whatever… It was supposed to have been abandoned! So, why does someone like you exist? For what purposes were you created?! Answer me!”

Kerri started giggling at both of their reactions, picking himself up after the red haired girl dropped him against the wall,

Yep, she's strong, and not afraid to make threats... which she probably might make good on. As for the smaller girl... yeah, I do almost feel bad for startling her... almost.

As Kerri picked himself up, he backed away slightly to avoid getting his 'face melted off', as the girl so eloquently put it, prepared to evade her if she tried. He put on a semi-serious face and says, while bending down a bit to speak with her at eye level, still at a distance,

"Idiotic? I was simply inquiring into what you two were doing... with passion. I wasn't trying to startle you, you were just very focused on your work, which I applaud you for," Kerri claps twice and continues, "Also, I fail to see what's so bad about introducing oneself. If anything, you two are in the wrong for not knowing proper manners. You're supposed to tell someone your own name after they tell them yours."

Kerri grinned as he stood straight again, "And also... you should be more like me and ask about things before pretending to know about them. I am a member of Judgement, I was just forced to settle with Judgement because well... Anti-Skill is normally made of teachers, and they didn't see any reason to turn away a volunteer. Sadly, I didn't have a High School degree which was necessary, so I was trained and assigned to work in Judgement to earn credits for one, and put through all the standard procedures," Kerri pulls out a disposable cell phone, "Don't believe me? Here," Kerri tosses it to them, "The number for the Anti-Skill office I usually report to is programmed in there. Call and ask about me if you don't believe me. Heck, call your Branch leader, she should have gotten a memo."

Kerri looks around, and realizes something.

A new way to mess with these two. I'll get serious in a minute, might as well have a little more fun,

"By the way, you were rather aggressive with me... I think that could count as assault. And against another Judgement member no less." He says to the red haired girl, "Also, there's false accusation, for thinking that I stole this Judgement band, oh and there's damage of public property..." he says, referring to to the garbage can.

Kerri started wagging his finger, keeping it close to himself to ensure the red haired girl can't grab and break it, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, and-a tsk! Three criminal charges within our first minute of meeting, that is not how you make a good first impression."

Kerri then burst out laughing after observing their reactions, "Sorry, sorry, I was just messing around, hahaha! Hehe... seriously, though, I am Judgement like you, and it really is a pleasure to meet you... whoever you are." Kerri says, and notices the girl with flowers in her hair, shivering behind the red haired one,

He looks past the red haired girl and stares straight at the girl with flowers in her hair and says, "It's very nice to meet you as well. Since she's planning to melt my face literally... are you going to melt it metaphorically?" He notices her shy away, "Oh don't be nervous, I don't bite," He says, giving a wide grin with his sharp teeth. While a smile is normally comforting, his smile was too wide and accentuated his sharp teeth. It was very unnerving.

Of course, that was kind of the point.

Well, that was fun. Time to see how willing they are to exchange information

"Anyway, do you need help in here with... what exactly are you doing in here?"

Kerri asks, despite having a pretty good idea of why they are in the alley... more specifically who they're investigating.

Meirin growled. She really hated this guy already. "The smashed trash can is your fault, you know. Don't startle an Esper like that; one might actually hurt you for that some day." She snatched the phone out of Kerri's hand and dialed her branch manager. After a few words and Meirin blowing up at her manager for not informing her about "this dumbass" beforehand, she was tossing the phone back at Kerri - note; at Kerri - and glaring at him, looking like she had just taken a bite of something and realizing it tasted extremely bitter.

"Tch. What he says checks out, Uiharu," Meirin called out over her shoulder. "Well then, newbie, I have a few things to say to you. Do that again, and I make good on my earlier threat. You wouldn't be the first, nor would you be the last. Got it?" she asked Kerri, her tone threatening. "As for what we're working on, Uiharu and Kuroko know more about it than I do. What I do know is that someone is leaving bank cards with small, varying sums of money on them, and that Accelerator is involved."

Then, grumbling, Meirin sat down next to the trash can, and with careful applications of heat, began to mold it back into its original shape, hoping it would shut Kerri up. "And when Accelerator gets involved, people usually end up hurt or dead. Oh, and Uiharu? If he causes you any trouble, let me know right away. I'll hit him for you."

You saw me where I never was and where I could not be. And yet within that very place, my face you often see. What am I?
======

A young girl in a dark forest green dress walked down the street attracting some attention from other students as the girl seemed to stick out from not just her fashion choice but what looked like blood and dirt marks covered across the dress.

It wasn't apparent at first but upon further inspection the girl was panting after having run away from something or someone, but the odd thing was the fact that her breathing out was silent and had nobody looked where they were going they might not of noticed the short girl; which ofcourse was what just happened.

The impact to the ground startled the girl for a second before she came to her senses and began to feel the pain of the solid paved floor underneath her.
Cursing loudly if she could the girl looked up at the stranger.

A pair of brown eyes calmly looked down upon the smaller girl on the ground, no emotion evident on her expression. A pair of goggles sat upon her head, glinting brightly in the sunlight.

“Please excuse this Misaka, Misaka apologises in a formal manner as she extends out a helping hand.”

Her voice was monotonous, and she gracefully extended out a hand to Sayuri in a gesture to help the little girl stand back up.

“You should really watch where you are running next time. Misaka offers her advice.”

"You bumped into me!" The girl silently shouted up,
As the girl raised her arm out and grabbed the girl's hand to pull herself up there were a couple of bruises scattered across her arm.
Despite being knocked down the girl shrugged off the sharp pain from the ground quickly and brushed herself down even though her dress was far from clean.

Looking at the stranger for a moment, the girl paused and reached into her pocket to get a small whiteboard and pen.
"Do you know where I am? I'm slightly lost" read from the whiteboard as she held it up to the stranger.

"You bumped into me!"

The brown-haired girl tilted her head in a quizzical manner as Sayuri’s lips moved silently, but her face remained impassive. If she noticed the bruises on Sayuri’s arm or the blood on her tattered green dress, she did not comment on them. Instead, she seemed almost content to stare back as Sayuri regarded her for a moment.

The girl peered over to glance at what the smaller girl was holding up on a whiteboard. Her brown eyes ran over the words as she vocalised the letters.

" ‘Do you know where I am? I'm slightly lost’ Misaka reads out aloud from the whiteboard.”

She focused her calm gaze back on Sayuri.

“You are currently standing within District 7 of Academy City which is populated by 2.3 million people. Misaka answers your first question correctly as she ponders how you got lost.”

Sayuri began writing on her whiteboard when a few shouts came from behind her.
Throwing the whiteboard back into her pocket Sayuri quickly withdrew behind the stranger scared.

"There's the brat!" A bunch of two skill-outs approached, one of them had a mark across their face and the other seemed unharmed but stood back with a smug look.
"You and your friends have caused quite a ruckus" The guy beat his hands together, this only made bystanders whisper as it was starting to create a scene.

"Leave me alone" Sayuri said silently.

“That project or whatever… It was supposed to have been abandoned! So, why does someone like you exist? For what purposes were you created?! Answer me!”

"That question is not within this Misaka's capability to answer, says Misaka philosophically." The clone lifted her eyes from the cat to stare into Mikoto's own. The dull brown orbs seemed to wait for her to digest what the clone had said before continuing. "That was an attempt at humour, explains Misaka."

It was at that moment that the cat in the clone's arms wriggled free from her grasp, bouncing along the ground with long strides that took it off into the trees again. The clone gave a muted gasp and moved to give chase.

***

"And when Accelerator gets involved, people usually end up hurt or dead. Oh, and Uiharu? If he causes you any trouble, let me know right away. I'll hit him for you."

The short haired girl had been unusually quiet, even for her. The incident with Accelerator, though brief, had been enough to unnerve her. The feeling of his eyes on her made Kazari shiver involuntarily. She blinked sharply at the sound of her name. She nodded at Meirin uncomprehendingly.

"No sign of them. Whoever he was talking with managed to give me the slip." Kuroko anded softly in front of Meirin with her back to the newcomer, Kerri. She hadn't noticed the peculiar man yet, it seemed.

"There's the brat!”

The brown-haired teenager calmly stared at the approaching skill-outs, her still expression never changing. A single side-glance was cast at the younger girl, who hid behind her in fear. Her dull brown eyes shifted towards the gathering people once more as the guy spoke,

“You and your friends have caused quite a ruckus.”

Some passerbys were forming a crowd, wondering what was going on.

“Although Misaka is uninformed of the details of this situation, Misaka feels very inclined to help you for some reason. Misaka reflects with much honesty,” the brown-haired girl muttered in a lowered voice, almost to herself. Then with an unfaltering gaze zoned on the guy who had just spoken, she said calmly,

“You are the ones causing the ruckus here, Misaka tells you with a disapproving look. Why are you ganging up on a small child? You should be ashamed, Misaka berates you thoroughly.”

***

"That question is not within this Misaka's capability to answer, says Misaka philosophically."

Mikoto’s throat was dry as the clone lifted her dull eyes to stare into her own. That emotionless gaze... produced by her very own eyes, but still so unfamiliar... chilled her spine, freezing her in place. It took her a moment to restart her thought process. This response was what she had predicted, but had also dreaded- this clone wasn’t going talk willingly. But why though? Was it so terrible that she couldn't speak about it...?

"That was an attempt at humour, explains Misaka."

.....
????
What??

Mikoto’s darkening stream of thoughts suddenly met a dead end. Confusion reigned, creating a mess of uncertainty in her consciousness. Humour? What humour? Was she saying this whole thing was a joke? Was this a joke? Was she meant to laugh? Was it meant to be funny? What was she even talking about…?

“Eh?!!”

The clone had suddenly darted off without a sound, leaving Mikoto standing alone with her lower jaw hanging in the air. She saw a flicker of a cat’s tail and her image chasing after it.

“Hey, hey! I’m not finished with you yet! Come back!”

Growling, Mikoto ran after them, not wanting to lose this chance to find out the truth.

The first skill-out approaches the two girls and to Sayuri's perspective the guy seems to increase in height as he was quite tall.
"I should be ashamed this girl gave me this mark in the first place, now stand aside missy" The guy reached over to push the girl roughly out the way so he could reach and grab Sayuri.

The other skill-out stood slightly further back and was darting looks at everybody while holding something in his pocket; no doubt some kind of weapon but it was unclear at this point. The crowd didn't want to take any chances of being a hero as it could be a knife or it could be a gun.

'I wanna get paid already' the other skill-out thought as he held onto a tazer inside his pocket. It wasn't the best weapon but his crew called him a bad shot and didn't trust him with a real gun so he improvised by keeping his weapon concealed to keep up the illusion which seemed to have worked for him in the past.

"The smashed trash can is your fault, you know. Don't startle an Esper like that; one might actually hurt you for that some day."

I'm sure I'll find plenty of other ways to do it, don't you worry, He thought to himself, deciding to give the girl a minute to cool off.

Kerri watched amused as the red haired girl berated her officer, listening on her conversation, not minding how she called him a dumbass. He was actually glad he was getting to her, it was fun for him.

The red haired girl tossed the cell phone at Kerri, who let it hit him in the face, and fall into his hand. He could have caught it, but where's the fun in doing thing's normally, "Nice arm." He comments, and glances at the girl with flowers in her hair, apparently named Uiharu,

"Well then, newbie, I have a few things to say to you. Do that again, and I make good on my earlier threat. You wouldn't be the first, nor would you be the last. Got it?" She says, her voice laced with venom,

"Rodger dodger!" Kerri says, saluting in the least serious way possible.

"As for what we're working on, Uiharu and Kuroko know more about it than I do. What I do know is that someone is leaving bank cards with small, varying sums of money on them, and that Accelerator is involved."

"Is that right..." he says, observing her mold the trash can into place, A heat ability, huh? Well, considering the face-melting threats, it's not a surprise. The other girl, Uiharu... I'll keep an eye on her. I may have to ask her outright what she can do,

"And when Accelerator gets involved, people usually end up hurt or dead. Oh, and Uiharu? If he causes you any trouble, let me know right away. I'll hit him for you." Kerri watches as the girl absentmindedly nods her head...

It's safe to assume, given how Uiharu's scared, but I should ask to be safe.

"I came in here because I saw Accelerator walking out of the alley, did you two see him too? If so, do you-" Kerri stops mid-sentence, when a young girl about the same age as Uiharu, possibly a little older, suddenly appears.

A teleporter... "No sign of them. Whoever he was talking with managed to give me the slip." She says, not yet having noticed Kerri.

This must be Kuroko, the other person she mentioned who knew about the bank cards. Well, no startling, I need to show the red haired one i can learn from my mistakes,

"Oh, so someone else was talking with Accelerator, were they? You never mentioned this, Who-ever-you-are." He stated, referring to the red haired girl. As the girl named Kuroko turned around, Kerri introduced himself... with creativity.

Kneeling on the ground again, he politely holds his hand out, saying, "Hello, nice to meet you, my name's Kerri McKinley, most recent addition to Judgement Branch 177. i noticed these two in this alley and after asking about what they're doing, I think I'm going to tag along to see if I can help. By the way, I would mention that the red haired girl just racked up three criminal charges, note: she only denied one of them, not the other two, but it's not important so I won't. Also..." Kerri glanced at Uiharu, stiff as a statue "Is she going to be alright? She's been a little freaked out for a while."

And I know it's not because of me.