[SS] Project Radio Noise

It flew back at her so fast, so unexpectedly, that Mikoto could only allow her reflexes to act without thought. The final crash announced the rail’s meeting with the ground behind her, leaving the area in deathly silence.

‘What…..?’

Her entire body was numb and trembling. A thickening sheet of ice was forming over her bewildered mind, freezing it with shock and fear. The rails that she had thrown at him with full force, had barely even touched her taget. One had even flown back at her, loaded by an even greater power. If she hadn’t reacted in time, she would have been easily sliced in half.

She couldn’t understand it.

"I see, I see. I thought something was up, since this wasn't according to schedule..."

Mikoto’s widened eyes slowly looked up to the owner of the cackling voice, taking in the sight of the albino’s glinting teeth in the darkness. A cold shiver wracked her form.

"You're the original, huh?"

Mikoto’s lips parted, but no sound left her mouth. Beads of sweat ran down the sides of her pale face, cooling rapidly in the cold night air.

While the Electromaster had already known she was the original of those clones, it was something else to have another person- somebody who she didn’t even know- address her as such so casually. The obvious amusement with which he spoke the word only made it worse. How did he know? What connection did this person have…?

No.

Her fingers curled into tight fists.

That didn’t matter right now.

The red-hot anger boiled anew, and she took an aggressive step forward despite the unknown fear protesting against the reckless move. Rage-filled brown eyes glared at the albino viciously, eyebrows above them knitted together into a furious frown.

“Tell me! Why did you kill her?!” She growled out the words between clenched teeth, “Did you have some kind of a grudge against her?!”

A sweaty hand fished out an arcade coin from her skirt pocket. It trembled slightly, but aimed the object directly at the albino without hesitation. Just having the coin there in front of her erased some of the terrible, nagging fears.

There was no way he would be able to counteract the Railgun’s ultimate move.

No one could.

“Tell me! Why did you kill her?! Did you have some kind of a grudge against her?!”


"Interesting. You really don't know, do you?" His shoulders shook in a quiet laugh. "What other reason is there?" He stood proudly, lifting his head to gaze up at the light of the moon above. "To gain absolute power."

He tilted his head to look at Mikoto, matching her fierce gaze with the unhurried apathy of one who had nothing to fear.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter." Accelerator's posture lowered, his shoulders rolling forwards and his head dropping as he stepped forward with unmistakable intent. "I was getting bored. I'm counting on you, 'Original'." Without fear or hesitation this frail looking boy prepared to face the Level 5 Electromaster, Misaka Mikoto's most powerful signature move head on.

( BGM : Setsunai Omoi )

She had been following Mikoto all day, and she had finally reached her goal.

The goal she had saw was more than what she bargained for, the sight of the bloodied, arm-missing clone was not to her liking, though she did not turn her head away as Accelerator was about to finish off the 9982nd experiment.

“NO!!!!”

She somehow cringed at Mikoto's scream of horror, followed by a terrible crushing noise.
That was what indicated her that the experiment was done.

"Either way, today's experiment: completed. Maybe I went overboard. I wonder if they get to clear this up too?"

Natsumi did not understand what he had meant by 'they', though she figured she would see soon enough.

She was close enough to hear him, though she was making sure of not being noticed, even if she was she wouldn't budge unless she was attacked.

Somewhere around, she spotted a detached arm, but paid it no heed as she wasn't an avid lover of detached body parts.

She quietly pulled out her cellphone and started composing a text to Miyako.

“Today's experiment, complete. Don't reply.”

Somehow quoting Accelerator, and warning Miyako to not text her back, she put the cellphone back in her pocket.

She couldn't read Mikoto's expressions nor figure out her train of thoughts, but not by lack of skill, she wasn't paying any attention to Mikoto any more, her mind was completely set on Accelerator and the dead clone.

Then she saw that Accelerator was surrounded by clouds of iron sand, but even after getting caught in the explosion that followed, Accelerator was intact.

"What's this? A new power? Manipulating iron sand by magnetism, huh? Interesting. But if there's a gap in the centre it'll do no good."

(Magnetism, huh... Doesn't seem like he has even the tiniest scratch, so this is this fucked up city's strongest esper...)

The one-sided fight went on between the two Level 5s, while Natsumi was trying to understand Mikoto's overwhelming rage, to no avail.

She was used to seeing corpses and people die, even people that were close to her. Mikoto's way of thinking was completely foreign to her.

"I see, I see. I thought something was up, since this wasn't according to schedule... You're the original, huh?"

“Tell me! Why did you kill her?! Did you have some kind of a grudge against her?!”

"Interesting. You really don't know, do you? What other reason is there? To gain absolute power. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I was getting bored. I'm counting on you, 'Original'."

Frankly, Natsumi thought that the reason why she murdered her was beyond any kind of stupidity,  she would have never guessed the 1st Level 5 would be dumb at the point of believing that killing clones would give him absolute power.

(That's completely ridiculous, he's supposedly the strongest esper in Academy City, why would he need that kind of shit...)

Then she noticed that Mikoto was about to fire her railgun, Natsumi wanted to facepalm hard.

“Misaka you idiot, you wanna die or what...?”

"Interesting. You really don't know, do you?"

The Electromaster stood frozen as Accelerator's shoulders shook with a quiet laugh at some private joke. He glanced up at the moon, the predatory gleam in his eyes eerily illuminated by the shining orb in the night sky.

"What other reason is there? To gain absolute power."

He tilted his head back leisurely, meeting her eyes with a look of apathy that feared nothing and no one. Mikoto's entire form trembled at the sight, a new kind of terror she had never experienced before freezing up her insides.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter." Mikoto tensed as Accelerator's posture lowered with an unmistakably predatory intent. "I was getting bored. I'm counting on you, 'Original'."

There, that word again.

Somehow, this guy knew. He knew about her clones.

And he had killed one of them.

Because he was bored...? Because he wanted more power?!

"What kind of..."

The whispered words died on Mikoto's lips as the hot fire ignited again. Her teeth gritted against the incomprehension as the raw anger rippled through.

"Bored?! Absolute power?! For that... For something like that..."

It was unforgivable.

"YOU KILLED HER FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!!!"

With that roar of fury, the Railgun fired her signature move without thought; the coin between her thumb and forefinger launching forward at three times the speed of sound. The bright orange beam's aim was true, racing directly towards Accelerator's head.

His words had ignited a fire inside the Electromaster. 

(Background Theme: Only My Railgun)

"What kind of..." The air hummed with static, crackling with snaps of electricity. Accelerator continued undeterred as arcs of blue skipped between the metallic surfaces around them both. Accelerator couldn't help but smile."Bored?! Absolute power?! For that... For something like that..." 


Here it was...


"YOU KILLED HER FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!!!"


The coin burned a path towards the ablino boy with a screaming howl of chittering lightning. That sheer, overpowering force of a metal projectile launched at One thousand and thirty meters per second was capable of tearing apart even the toughest armoured tanks like paper. Against a weapon like that, no normal enemy could possibly hope to survive.

The fragile looking boy would surely be torn apart.

Accelerator reached out lazily with his right hand...

...and plucked the coin from the air.

(Background Theme End)

He opened his hand and the smoking coin dropped to his feet with a clatter. There was a terrible stillness in the air.

One shock after the other.

Just like that, the fragile looking albino had plucked her projectile to a stop from its terrifying momentum. Mikoto stared as the smoking piece of metal dropped to the ground with an audible clang that starkly contrasted with the silence that followed afterwards.

“….How…?”

Never before had her attacks been this useless with the exception of that certain spikey-haired girl. But that had been a one-off situation. Mikoto had always been confident of her powers, of the certainty that her Electromaster abilities could achieve anything she ever wanted. Even that spikey-haired so-called-Level-0 had shown wariness of her electricity despite her immunity to it. This was completely different. This person displayed absolutely no fear even when he obviously knew who she was. He looked simply amused as if she was a source of great entertainment.

He was toying with her.

Mikoto’s trembling eyes slowly trailed back up to the monster before her as the slow realisation dawned. There was only one other- apart from Touko- who she knew could shrug off her attacks without effort.

“You’re…” Her voice was a strained whisper, “Accelerator…”

The fear caught in her throat and she retreated a step backwards unknowingly. Her frozen mind could hardly place the jumble of thoughts together in the face of this knowledge. Shaking visibly, she stared fixedly at the Strongest esper of Academy City, unable to turn away her horror-filled eyes from those gleaming orbs of crimson.

“W-why…?” Mikoto breathed.

The girl herself wasn’t even sure what she was trying to ask.

"YOU KILLED... SOMETHING... THAT?!?!"

The loud voice partially entered Kaede's unconscious mind. Why was she unconscious? She could remember fragments of what she had been doing. Her brother is whom she could recall. She felt like she hadn't seen or talked to him for a long time. Why did it feel like she was lying on rough solid ground? Where was she?

Her eyes slowly opened, revealing the sight of a construction site-like location. That's right, she could remember she was pursuing the truth behind Project Radio Noise. She also followed up by recalling stealing the documents behind Project Radio Noise. Her mind seemed a bit cloudy after that.

The suppressed noise of loud collision followed by yelling caught her attention. In attempts of moving, she felt pain struck as her ribs prevented her from moving. Not only that, her own back was heavily in pain. Why was she injured? Trying her best to rolled over to see the source of the loud collision, she felt the horrendous pain sore through her veins forcing her teeth clench.

As she managed to do so, the sight of two figures were caught off in the distance. One being an albino haired boy, and the other being someone she'd definitely recognize. It was a sister. As she tried to comprehend what exactly was happening, she realized the events that occurred before hand. The experiments for the Level 6 shift. The brutal massacre of the sisters by the hands of Accelerator. The death of the clone she failed to save.

Her stomach curled up as she recalled these shocking events. She could remember her own scream in desperation to stop Accelerator from murdering the clone. She passed out right afterwards. These thoughts were unforgivable. Why did Accelerator had to go so far as to murder innocent girls? Why did the higher ups allow this to happen? She was slowly starting to learn the evil within Academy City, such things that she was ignorant of.

But something else took her attention, the fact that Misaka was standing. Impossible. The clone couldn't have survived. Did that clone escape? Or was it another experiment? It had seemed like she had passed out for a long time. But nonetheless, seeing another Misaka die because of Accelerator would pain her more.

She accessed her personal reality to use her ability, Blood Control, on her damaged rib and soreful back. She had enough control of her own blood to pump it through the location of injury and clot it to create an artificial volume to cover the broken vicinity. This had prevented from pain striking further for only a short amount of time. She used the same ability to prevent her back receiving any pain whenever she moved. It was like her own artificial painkiller.

She slowly took a stand while clenching her teeth and swallowing in the excess pain. Interfering both Misaka and Accelerator's confrontation, she yelled,

"Accelerator!!! Tell me why!! How could you bring yourself to kill an innocent girl?? *sniff* I won't let you hurt her! I won't let you kill them anymore! So just stop... please!"

She tried her best to gain the #1's attention.

Mari

*Step* That was the simple noise made by Mari as she hopped off the side of a buildings window, to leap to the top of an adjacent building, and run across that. She then leapt to a building a few feet lower, and kept running, her speed enhanced by her ability.

As she repeated the process several times, she wondered what was happening at the railyard she was heading too,

Oh man! Two Level 5's duking it out! I REALLY don't want to miss this! Mari leapt off one of the lower buildings, and stretched her arm out to grab a light pole, which she swung off of, and then landed on the ground, continuing at her abnormally fast pace.

Are there explosions!? Who's winning!? Who's losing!? Is Mack okay!? How freaking far is this damn railyard!? Were Mari's last thoughts before she saw a flash, with electricity snaking into the air. Mari was looking in the direction of the railyard,

"Shit! I'm missing out on the good stuff!" Mari dashed forward, and then pushed off the ground, to send herself flying forward into the railyard, and quietly stopped, and started sneaking through some of the containers,

As she was moving, she thought she saw a girl with long brown hair, but didn't pay her any mind, more focused on finding Mack.

From what she caught from Misaka Mikoto, and Accelerator's curent conversation, she could tell one thing,

This isn't a battle, Mari thought, interested to see what would happen, It's just Accelerator completely owning the third most powerful Level 5.

Suddenly, Mari caught a glimpse of her target, wearing his usually dark clothes, and tapped him on the shoulder. When He tried to hit her, Mari easily caught is fist without issue,

"Relax, it's me," Mari said, her voice changed by the vocal distortion device in her mask.

Mack

"Sorry, reflexes," Mack said in a low tone of voice, looking back at the scene going on, "Do you have what I need?"

He saw Kaede Faye starting to stir after passing out from either pain or trauma, As well As Accelerator stalking toward Misaka,

"In my pack. Did I miss anything?" Mari Whispered,

"Well... Misaka Mikoto attacked Accelerator with iron sand and shot her railgun at him, both of which he repelled," Mack said, and ignored Mari's swearing about 'missing all the good stuff' "By the way... did you see anyone on your way here?"

"Yeah... it looked like a girl with long brown hair, but I didn't seeh er face. Why?" Mari quitely placed her right fist into her left open palm, "Should I try quietly grabbing her?" Mari stated, "The risk could be worth the payoff if she's valuable, I mean,"

Mack nodded his head, "Nah, we don't want to get noticed by these two. Besides, my main focus-"

"Accelerator!!! Tell me why!! How could you bring yourself to kill an innocent girl?? *sniff* I won't let you hurt her! I won't let you kill them anymore! So just stop... please!"

"...Her," Mack said.

I can almost feel her jaw dropping in her mask. Who could blame her, a woman just called out the most powerful esper in the city. Mack thought, Oh well, better keep my fingers crossed and hope she survives,

The Electromaster whispered his name and Accelerator stopped, an expression of confusion writ large across his thin features.

"Huh?" He rocked onto his back foot lazily. The girl seemed to have lost her fight. Compared to the 'never say die' attitude of her clones this was something of a disappointment to Accelerator. The reason for her timid display became apparent as he looked down at the smoking coin. "Oh. I get it. That thing right now was your big move, wasn't it?" He half sighed in disappointment, giving a short shrug to no-one in particular.

"Accelerator!!! Tell me why!! How could you bring yourself to kill an innocent girl?? *sniff* I won't let you hurt her! I won't let you kill them anymore! So just stop... please!"

Accelerator's eyes fell on the blonde girl and a flash of anger passed across his face at the suggestion that she could stand in his way. He briefly considered popping her head like a grape before deciding against it with a frown. Killing someone involved in the experiments would only give him more hassle. Instead the albino Level 5 slipped his hands into his pockets and strolled past Mikoto.

"Nice to meet ya." Accelerator hissed into Mikoto's ear as he passed.

"Oh. I get it. That thing right now was your big move, wasn't it?"

Mikoto felt the last remnants of her remaining pride shatter as Accelerator let out a sigh of disappointment. She could hardly breathe let alone move.

‘What have I… gotten myself into…?’

"Accelerator!!!”

The familiar voice made her turn, despite the terrible stiffness in her body. There was a sharp intake of breath as she recognised who it was.

Kaede Faye.

‘What is she doing…?’

“Tell me why!! How could you bring yourself to kill an innocent girl?? *sniff* I won't let you hurt her! I won't let you kill them anymore! So just stop... please!"

The shouted words made Mikoto’s head spin.

‘Why... How did she...?’

The trail of questioning bewilderment froze as sounds of crunching footsteps on the loose stones approached her. Her muscles tensed again, turning to stone with raw fear.

She could sense Accelerator leaning towards her, but she was too afraid to move, too frozen to even flinch away. Her entire body trembled, and she could feel her knees knocking together wildly. A whisper tickled and lingered in her ear, their hidden threats consuming any confidence she had left.

"Nice to meet ya."

As the albino walked away, Mikoto’s shaking knees gave way and buckled, sending her roughly to the ground into a sitting position. She stared at the scattered stones before her, unable to process anything but the pure terror the other Level 5 had induced.

Time seemed to have frozen. She could hardly feel the cold air frosting over her bare skin. A presence approached her and she stiffened.

“Please leave this area immediately, Misaka requests politely. There is a lot of clean-up to do.”

Slowly, with dazed eyes, Mikoto looked up, coming face-to-face with an image of herself, shadowed ominously under the night sky. Her brown orbs widened at the sight, and in a moment of terror, moved to back away hurriedly. But another presence was behind her, blocking her away.

Another mirror of herself, a face devoid of expression.

Then more and more appeared from the darkness, the same faces eerily illuminated by green goggles. They surrounded her in a tight semicircle, lined up neatly like rows of porcelain dolls. Her breath hitched in her throat, and her mouth worked but produced no sound. Her shocked eyes stared off into the distance where the outlines of familiar bodies could be discerned.

She had been living under another illusion.

There hadn’t been five clones of her.

Because right now, before her very eyes, stood more clones of her than she could count.

As she was keeping a close eye on Accelerator, not even minding Mikoto anymore, she felt the presence of someone passing by.

(…I don’t have the time to deal with that. Even if there is someone, I doubt that person will be stupid enough make herself noticed by Accelerator.)

While the woman questioned Accelerator, claiming that she would protect the remaining Sisters, multiple questions rang in Natsumi’s head, though she made no attempts to even answer them herself.
She snapped back to reality after hearing a voice that she did not recognize.

“Please leave this area immediately, Misaka requests politely. There is a lot of clean-up to do.”

Clones of the Level  5 Railgun, the Sisters.

(So they finally came, these Sisters… That means that they take care of cleaning the experiment grounds huh… This should be interesting.)

As Accelerator had left, Natsumi took a less concealed position and made sure to hear everything the Sisters were saying.

Kaede struggled to press forward, as her spine and limbs ached with pain despite her artificial blood clotting suppressing it. She witnessed Accelerator whisper something in her ears and quietly leave acting as if nothing happened. She felt somewhat relieved seeing Accelerator leave and Misaka unharmed. But her guilt overtook her seeing that she failed to save the sister from getting killed.

It was then, she widened her mouth in sight of the numerous clones who approached the scene.

“Please leave this area immediately, Misaka requests politely. There is a lot of clean-up to do.”

Cleanup? Did they mean disposing of the corpse? The sister sounded like if this duty was daily routine to them. Kaede paused her movements realizing this. She felt sick, as if she was going to hurl. This whole experiment. Academy City's intentions. If she had never accepted the offer for Genetic Engineering, she would never have had to deal with this. But she brought it upon herself, and even more so, she got attached to the sisters.

The sisters stood idly by, emotionless as always ignoring that their sister's corpse was underneath the wreckage. Kaede wanted to know why. She wanted to know their reason for following such a cruel experiment. She continued forward, approaching closer and closer to the group. Teary-eyed, she spoke,

"Why? *sniff* Tell me why? Even after knowing that your own sister was going to die? Why would you go through with this horrible experiment??? *sniff*"

The sisters spared Kaede a look that could have been mistaken for sympathy. Or was it a trick of the light perhaps?

"This is what we were made for." The girls motionless faces turned away from the blonde woman wordlessly as they continued their work. Like worker ants gathering materials the girls tended to the area affected by the catastrophic confrontation. One retrieved the severed leg that lay on the floor and unceremoniously dropped it into the heavy black sack she carried.

Beside Mikoto two of the girls spoke.

"Misakas 9995 through 10007 will work on removing the rails..."

Sayuri headed into Seventh Mists with Midori and Watanabe who were students of Haru Chugakko, the school her sister attended.

As they entered the mall Midori did some window shopping with Watanabe carefully watching Midori to see if she was interested in anything.
After finishing window shopping the group left the mall and began walking down a few streets before they arrived at 'Haru Chugakko'.

The campus size of Haru Chugakko was fairly small and it overlooked a canal which had steep embankments.
The two students lead Sayuri into the campus where she took out her whiteboard to reply to the two older students who lead her there.
"Do you know where my sister is? Fujiwara Ami" Sayuri had wrote.

"Ami-san? Er yeah, she is in our class.. she spends most of her time in the library" Midori replied before Sayuri put her palm to her face in realisation that she knew her sister quite well and it should of come to mind.

"Thank you for your help" Sayuri nodded before walking into the building following the signs towards the library; which she felt thankful for because she didn't feel like she could ask Midori or Watanabe because they thought she was a student who should obviously know.

Sliding the door to the library there were only a few people inside.  She saw her sister sitting at a desk by the window quietly as other students were working on homework around her.

In a daydreamy state she looked out the window completely oblivious to her sister who had appeared in the room.
The students working on their homework gasped in excitement at how the two sisters looked almost identical if it weren't for their age difference.

"Ami-san do you know her?" One of the group leaders asked, snapping Ami out of her daydream.
"Huh?.. oh er.. Sayuri-chan?!" Ami's reaction was of surprise as she stared at her sister who was standing before her with the same uniform as her.

"Hello Oni-san" Sayuri said silently before pulling out her whiteboard.  "I need your help"
Ami frowned when she saw that her sister wasn't making any noise and was writing on her whiteboard.  Was she playing around.. even so how did she get that uniform and why was she all the way in Academy City without her knowing about it?

Walking up to her sister she pinched her cheek.
"ow ow ow!" Sayuri silently cried out.
Ami who was watching let go and was surprised as much as the other girls as she wasn't making any noise, even when she started to cry.

Had Sayuri been able to make noise she would of got the whole library's attention from the noise but she still made no noise.
Ami hugged her younger sister and looked at the other girls who shrugged confused as she was.  "What trouble have you gotten yourself into this time" Sayuri kept crying and Ami wiped away her tears.  "Don't worry, I'm here now"

Some of the girls smirked at that comment from Ami, but she just dotted a glare at the girls in response.
There were many questions she had to ask, but what was most important was making her sister was okay first.


Once Sayuri had finished crying the two sisters left the library.  Ami immediately pulled out her phone and phoned up the first person she could think of to help her.

Ring.... Ring... Ring...
"Hello, you've reached the answer phone of Mori Kita.  Please leave your message after the annoying *BEEEEP*"
"Hey Kita can you stop by my room later?  I've got a situation I could use your help with"  Ami hung up.
"You'll like Kita, she's friendly and abit of a wildchild" Ami smiled making Sayuri smile back in return.

The two sisters walked back into the library where Ami continued to help people in the homework club before heading back to her student dorms.

Walking back at dusk the two girls got quite a few stares from people because they looked almost identical, which wasn't something you see everyday.

"Okay we're here! Haru Chugakko girls dorm!" Ami said waving her hand out to the entrance.
The dorms had a lobby area with 3 doorways leading off into different directions and a staircase that looked like it was shoved in the corner of the room.
Ami ascended the staircase up to the second floor and walked down the corridor till she arrived at her room.

Opening the door she let Sayuri inside and closed the door behind her.
"Make yourself at home, I'm sure Kita will be around in a bit"

"Why? *sniff* Tell me why? Even after knowing that your own sister was going to die? Why would you go through with this horrible experiment??? *sniff*"

"This is what we were made for."

A detached answer, spoken with a detached voice. Kaede’s heartful questions obviously had had no effect. The Sister’s words were cold, leaving Mikoto shivering on the ground.

The girls quickly spread out to clean the damage of the battle, their faces revealing nothing in the darkness. Bile rose up to her throat when her eyes fell upon a Sister picking up the torn arm of the dead clone. Lowering a black sack she had on her shoulder, she unzipped the container and dumped the severed limb into it without care. Like trash.

Mikoto covered her mouth with a hand, fighting the urge to vomit. Was this what her clones had been created for, to die and clean up the blood and gore afterwards? Was that what they were saying?

Mikoto clutched at her head as the nausea gradually passed, her legs curling up to her chest to form a trembling ball. This whole situation made no sense whatsoever. Perhaps this was just a nightmare, a terrible manifestation of her greatest fears in her subconscious. But the stabbing pain in her heart was too intense, too real for all of this to be just a dream.

“Why…” She suddenly spoke. Her voice was quiet, but a nearby Sister stopped in her tracks to look at her.

“I don’t get it… I don’t understand… Why are you guys even doing this? What’s all of this about?! Tell me!!” Her voice steadily rose, growing alsmot hysterical in pitch. Tense hands grabbed fistfuls of loose stones on the ground. Their sharp edges dug into her skin, but she hardly felt them admist the pain. Her head raised, glaring up at the Sister with fierce eyes full of disbelief.

“Are you all seriously just throwing your lives away?!” The words were coming out in a rush now, hot fiery anger sparking from every syllable. “Whatever damn reason there might be, nothing, NOTHING can justify someone dying like this!!!

After some point, Natsumi got tired of hiding surrounded by naiveness and came out, standing behind Mikoto as she yelled out to her sisters.

“Why… I don’t get it… I don’t understand… Why are you guys even doing this? What’s all of this about?! Tell me!! Are you all seriously just throwing your lives away?! Whatever damn reason there might be, nothing, NOTHING can justify someone dying like this!!! “

“....Do you really think the Sisters have those kind of feelings? Misaka, how many do you think were murdered, for you to say that...?”

She had not waited, nor expected an answer from Mikoto, Natsumi turned and headed towards Kaede..

“It must've been tough to see this, right?”

Surely it was, this kind of despairing scene was something that Natsumi faced so much times. She had asked out of seeking feelings towards this kind of 'despair', as she had forgotten it herself.

She crouched down and looked at Kaede with curiosity.

“Are you one of the researchers for the cloning project of the Level 5 Railgun?”

She didn't wait for an answer, again and followed up with another question, with a smirk.

“You wouldn't happen to know anything about Haragi Faye's involvement with this? I heard that a Faye participated in the cloning project, but he surely doesn't look like he's aware of anything. The researcher going by the name of Faye, and Accelerator. Tell me more about it.”

It wasn't a threat, nor was it a demand. She was casually asking questions to her, fully expecting a response due to how things were currently turning.

"This is what we were made for."

What? Kaede herself supervised their development and growth. Nothing had been done to them during that time to affect their mental state. Unless... Something had clicked inside Kaede's mind after thinking about what happened after they were taken out. She hesitated to speak as teardrops exited her face,

"T-the Testament...."

She crushed the gravel of dirt beneath her, only to finally realize what had made them act this way. The Testament machine was a device used to install information like fixed emotions and thoughts towards the sisters after they ripe from growth. Since the developing sisters have only grew physically but not mentally, these emotions and thoughts were programmatically created for the purpose of giving the sisters closest to what an average human's mind can offer.

This had meant that it was possible for the higher ups to alter some of the information and secretly implement the set objective of willing to fight Accelerator and die for the progress of Level Six Shift. All of this happened right under Kaede's nose. Through what she was hired to do, she had been used by the higher ups for their own goals and intentions in mind.

An unexpected outburst came from one of the sisters or what seemed like to be a sister. She seemed just as confused as she was. She wanted answers from the clones just like Kaede desired. Though it was now pointless as she wouldn't be able to change their mind. Her thoughts would only be able to point to one person if she wasn't a sister. She gasped while realizing,

"Misaka Mikoto?"

If she was here, then she knew somewhat of what was going on. But Kaede's guilt kicked in after knowing that this was her own fault to begin with. She didn't need Misaka to burden herself with this.

"Misaka-san... This is my fault to begin with. *sniff* If I hadn't agreed to doing such a sketchy job, the sisters or these experiments wouldn't have existed. I'm sorry for all this... *sniff* I'm sorry for not realizing sooner..."

More tears hit the ground as she couldn't bare to keep her head facing towards her. However someone else had approached the two of them. She was another girl from Tokiwadai given her school uniform. Did she follow Misaka Mikoto to find this place?

She asked about the cloning project for the Sisters, and mentioned Haragi Faye's involvement. Her eyes widened only to look more serious,

"Haragi? No, he's not involved at all. What makes you say that? In fact, how do you know about the sisters so much?"

Kaede averted her attention to Misaka only to ask,

"Misaka-san, do you know this girl?"

The clone nearby her simply stood silently, giving Mikoto a long, unreadable look. A moment passed and she walked away, tending to the clean up once more.

"Misaka Mikoto?"

Mikoto flinched slightly at Kaede’s voice, but otherwise gave no sign she had heard her name being called.

"Misaka-san... This is my fault to begin with. *sniff* If I hadn't agreed to doing such a sketchy job, the sisters or these experiments wouldn't have existed. I'm sorry for all this... *sniff* I'm sorry for not realizing sooner..."

“….”

Mikoto’s fists clenched around the loose stones more tightly, jaws grinding together. She was completely confused, and frustration borne from the lack of answers was transforming the bewilderment into a throbbing anger that threatened to consume her. Kaede's words washed over her, their meaning unable to be grasped.

“....Do you really think the Sisters have those kind of feelings? Misaka, how many do you think were murdered, for you to say that...?”

Mikoto froze and turned her head slowly to the direction the new voice had come from. A familiar figure stood, dressed in Tokiwadai uniform. It took Mikoto a few seconds to put a name to the face.

But by then, Hujisaka Natsumi had already turned away, eyeing Kaede with curiosity.

As the two exchanged words, Mikoto’s burning anger continued to grow. It was fuelled by Natsumi’s cold detachment as she asked those questions to Kaede, as if she knew all that was happening but simply didn’t care.

"Haragi? No, he's not involved at all. What makes you say that? In fact, how do you know about the sisters so much? Misaka-san, do you know this girl?"

Mikoto lifted her head again, her eyes narrowing towards Natsumi.

“Hujisaka Natsumi…”

She quickly stood up to her full height, grabbing Natsumi roughly by her collar and leaning in with furrowed brows above angered eyes. Mikoto had never exactly been friends with this girl, but they had never been enemies either. She was simply an acquaintance, another fellow student who went to the same school as her. Right now though, Mikoto didn't care. Anyone who was involved in the mess was suspicious and the way Natsumi had been talking...

The grip around Natsumi's collar tightened, almost threatening to choke her.

“I don’t know how you’re involved in all this…,” Mikoto hissed. “But tell me what you know! Just how many of those Sisters were killed?! And why?! Why did Accelerator kill that girl?!”

Her tone was dripping with ice. “You better give me a fucking good reason for all this!”

"Haragi? No, he's not involved at all. What makes you say that? In fact, how do you know about the sisters so much? Misaka-san, do you know this girl?"

It didn't seem that Haragi was the Faye she was looking for. As she was about to prepare her next questions, she heard her name being called by a certain voice she knew too well

“Hujisaka Natsumi…”

She stood back up and was suddenly faced with Mikoto grabbing at her collar, any more than that and it would've been choking. She stared into Mikoto's eyes without moving.

“I don’t know how you’re involved in all this… But tell me what you know! Just how many of those Sisters were killed?! And why?! Why did Accelerator kill that girl?! You better give me a fucking good reason for all this!”

After a minute which may have seemed like an eternity for anyone except herself, Natsumi finally reacted, though not in the way Mikoto would have expected.

“Heh. Try doing that again.”

As she said that, Natsumi kneed Mikoto and followed up by a punch in the abdomen to get away from her.

While walking around to make sure she kept her distances from Mikoto, she continued talking as she had finally sorted her thoughts.

“Really, you have no respect for your elders, little brat... I'll tell you if you spare me your sugar-coated emotional bullshit.”

She recalled each and every thing she could think of to answers those particular questions.

“9981. The experiment that just finished was the 9982nd experiment of the Level 6 Shift Project. The Level 6 Shift Project is an experiment that was conducted in order to create the first Level 6 of this Academy City. It apparently was deemed that only the #1 Level 5, Accelerator, was able to attain Level 6.”

Frankly speaking, her attitude could've misled anyone into thinking that she participated in the project, yet it was quite the opposite. She was extremely curious as to why Accelerator would ever participate in such a horrible experiment, aside from wishing absolute power.

“Those clones of yours. They are called the Sisters. Originally, they were supposed to be Level 5 Clones for... Military purposes I think it was? But anyway, it seems like they didn't even have a fraction of your power. The cloning project was frozen. But looks like that they've been using the cloning project for the Level 6 Shift”

Her wry smirk showed the very fact that Natsumi refused to let her real emotions pass through, she preferred passing for an emotionless bitch rather than let people know what she was feeling.

“Now let me answer the questions you're dying to hear: In total there are 20,000 Sisters, they have been created to make 20,000 battlefields for Accelerator.”

As she stopped in front of Mikoto, she wondered how anyone could ever come up with the idea of murdering 20,000 clones. Natsumi didn't see them as genuine humans quite yet as she had never encountered one herself, but the fact that they were strong enough to face death in such gruesome ways was enough to make her question the purposes behind this experiment.

“All of these Sisters were created for the purpose of being killed. 'Guinea pigs' in the truest sense of the term. Not a single one of them are scared at the idea of being killed in such gruesome ways. As for myself, the only reason why I'm right here, right now is because I wanted to see with my own eyes this experiment. And I also want to know who is the researcher going by the name of Faye, since Haragi Faye seems to not be involved. Does that answers your questions, Misaka Mikoto?”

She was somewhat provoking her, wishing that Misaka Mikoto would realise the true face of the city she always admired. A city that Natsumi hated more than anything else.

Hujisaka Natsumi was the girl's apparent name. Misaka muttered those words as she grabbed her by the collar as if she had met face to face with an enemy. Her angered eyes glared into Natsumi's, asking for answers. However, Natsumi simply gutted her in the stomach, shoving her away.

Kaede couldn't bare to see Misaka getting harmed seeing that she greatly resembled the sisters. She attempted to stand up, forgetting her dire injuries.

"M-misaka-sa- Ahhh!"

She immediately fell to the ground, coughing out blood. She exhausted her Esper Ability of temporarily suppressing her wounds. More tears followed as she met face to face with the ground. She barely could do anything for Misaka at this point, let alone the sisters whom she truly desired to help. Natsumi on the other hand, continued as to Kaede's surprise, she briefly explained what the Level Six Shift Experiment was. From the sisters' purpose to Accelerator's desire to reach a state where no esper could ever compete.

However, she kept bringing up her little brother's name. Who was she to say her little brother was involved in this experiment? Was she bluffing? Even if Misaka knew her, there could be no doubt that she is working under someone who was able to get their hands on such confidential information. Even more so, why was she curious about the name Faye? What would she accomplish by knowing that Kaede was one of the key people involved in the development of the Sisters.

Kaede lied on the ground, trembling in pain as she grit her teeth to raise her head towards Misaka. She took deep pauses as she tried her best to speak while ignoring her injuries.

"Misaka... I don't know how she was able to know about this experiment.. But she's right... Accelerator's not going to stop until he reaches Level 6... I wasn't even able to stop him... Because of me, I let that Sister die... I made this my burden since I couldn't realize sooner that these clones were made for this purpose... I learned to love all those clones... I just can't bare to see another one die... So Misaka... If you have any anger or grudges... take it out on me!"

Her view was slowly getting hazy, she was losing too much blood. She couldn't die now, not when Accelerator is still involved in the Level Six Shift.

"M-misaka-san... I truly want to protect the Sisters... But looking at the way I am right now... I don't know how much longer... I can go on. Misaka-san... I at least want to clear your hatred... I just can't stand looking at you like this...  So please... make it quick so I won't be able to feel as much guilt... Just don't let Haragi find out... that I was involved with any of this... even if I die...."

Mack

Mack and Mari had been hidden for several minutes, waiting for an opportunity to confront Kaede. They had listened to every word, learning the name of 'Hujisaka Natsumi', the person Mari saw earlier.

They had overheard the information of the Level 6 Shift Project, and had gotten a reference photo the the long-haired girl somehow involved in all of this, along with several others. Mack's phone had become full, so Mari had to take a few on hers

The two of them were patient with waiting all night until Kaede said something that got Mack worried.

"M-misaka-san... I truly want to protect the Sisters... But looking at the way I am right now... I don't know how much longer... I can go on. Misaka-san... I at least want to clear your hatred... I just can't stand looking at you like this...  So please... make it quick so I won't be able to feel as much guilt... Just don't let Haragi find out... that I was involved with any of this... even if I die...."

That's not good! All this crazy talk has me concerned, but I know where not to stick my nose. Unfortunately if the good doctor dies, I'm in for hell.

And if it isn't necessary, I'dd prefer a person not to die.

"Mack, did she just ask a middle-schooler to kill her?" Mari said.

She doesn't seem to be taking it seriously, but I honestly believe she just doesn't think it would happen.

"I don't know, but I don't want to find out..."

I took a moment to consider the possibilities. There are three people, Kaede Faye, who's injured and has no real fighting skills, Misaka Mikoto, the Level 5 Electromaster, and Hujisaka Natsumi, whom I don't know anything about... esper ability wise. I know despite her calm demeanor, she really likes hitting people. I don't know anything else about her, I just thought she was a rude middle-schooler until now... but she could be dangerous. What should I do...? Mack looks at Mari, who tilts her masked head in curiosity, Mari may be able to take them, but I really don't want to fight with anyone when we're not really prepared. Maybe there's a way to do this without getting hurt...

Mack thinks for a moment and comes up with a quick plan,

"I have an idea for what we can do to keep her alive."

Mari perked up when she heard this, "Really?! What're we doing?!" Mari said, eagerly,

"We're going to force Kaede to let us kidnap her," There was a pause before Mack sighed, saying,

"Okay, just hear me out on my idea... and possible backup plan in case things go south. They probably won't but a back up plan never hurts,"

And Mack explained his ideas to Mari, ignoring what Kaede Faye said to Misaka. His only concern was to stop her from doing anything more with the experiment, not the other two.

“Heh. Try doing that again.”

A yelp wrenched out from her lips as unexpected pain suddenly erupted. Mikoto fell to her knees, clutching her stomach. Before she had even hit the ground though, blue sparks were leaping from her hair defensively.

“Why you…!” she gritted out, glaring up at the other Tokiwadai girl.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw Kaede reaching out towards her, but failing to do so due to her injuries. Mikoto felt her heart constrict; it was a different kind of pain from the one that now lingered on her torso. Still, the electromaster kept her fierce eyes narrowed on Natsumi.

“Really, you have no respect for your elders, little brat... I'll tell you if you spare me your sugar-coated emotional bullshit.”

Mikoto’s angered retort died on her lips as Natsumi continued to speak in that nonchalant manner the Electromaster found infuriating. She couldn’t understand how the other girl could remain so calm.

But what she couldn’t understand even more, were the words that left Natsumi’s mouth.

Level 6 Shift? 20,000 sisters?! Guinea pigs?

‘Just what is all this…?’

“….As for myself, the only reason why I'm right here, right now is because I wanted to see with my own eyes this experiment. And I also want to know who is the researcher going by the name of Faye, since Haragi Faye seems to not be involved. Does that answer your questions, Misaka Mikoto?”

Behind the cool façade, Mikoto could detect something else in Natsumi’s tone, although she could not identify what it was. For the Level 5, nothing but disbelief and anger roared inside. How could she respond to such an explanation? It couldn’t be true… it just couldn’t be…

A detached arm, swimming in a pool of crimson...

Mikoto cringed against the image, so firmly imprinted in her mind. A choking gasp escaped her throat and she stared wide-eyed at the ground before her unseeingly.

'It’s all true… It’s all true…'

"Misaka...”

She flinched slightly at the sound of her own name. She numbly noted how weak Kaede sounded, but she couldn’t even gather enough energy to raise her head and look at the blonde woman. Instead, she continued to stare fixedly at the stones littering the ground.

“I don't know how she was able to know about this experiment.. But she's right... Accelerator's not going to stop until he reaches Level 6... I wasn't even able to stop him... Because of me, I let that Sister die... I made this my burden since I couldn't realize sooner that these clones were made for this purpose... I learned to love all those clones... I just can't bare to see another one die... So Misaka... If you have any anger or grudges... take it out on me!"

Mikoto remained still. The only sign that she was even listening was the curl of her fingers into tightly trembling fists.

"M-misaka-san... I truly want to protect the Sisters... But looking at the way I am right now... I don't know how much longer... I can go on. Misaka-san... I at least want to clear your hatred... I just can't stand looking at you like this... So please... make it quick so I won't be able to feel as much guilt... Just don't let Haragi find out... that I was involved with any of this... even if I die...."

Die?

To talk like that…

Her jaws clenched against the sharp stabbing pain in her chest. So Kaede thought this was her fault did she? She thought she was the guilty one?

That's just…

The flames of anger and frustration grew and grew, increasing in intensity. It fuelled her anew, and Mikoto slowly pushed herself off the ground into a standing position.

“I don’t want to help people who are so willing to throw away their lives like that…” she said quietly. Her tone made it clear that she was referring to both her clones and Kaede. Her bangs shrouded her eyes in dark shadow. “But… I can’t forgive the bastards who used my DNA for such stupid experiments.”

“You might be willing to give up like that and wallow in your pain, but I…” she took a deep breath and her voice hardened to steel. “I’m not going to let it end like this.”

“I have no idea which side you’re on, Hujisaka, but take Faye-san to the hospital at least…" Her tone dropped a few degrees in temperature. "If not for my or her sakes, then for yours.”

She turned away from them.

“Leave this to me and don’t interfere. I’ll clean this fucked up mess myself.”

Her head dropped as she began to walk away.

“I was the one who started this after all,” she whispered.

“I don’t want to help people who are so willing to throw away their lives like that… But… I can’t forgive the bastards who used my DNA for such stupid experiments. You might be willing to give up like that and wallow in your pain, but I… I’m not going to let it end like this.”

As she stared at the sky, yet unable to see the stars herself, Natsumi was somewhat amused yet annoyed by Mikoto's naiveness.

For a girl that only knew about this city's good side, her way of talking was quite irritating to Natsumi, who knew how terrifying Academy City could be.

“I have no idea which side you’re on, Hujisaka, but take Faye-san to the hospital at least…"

Her head dropped down to look at Mikoto again, returning any stare Mikoto could give her by a nonchalant look.

"If not for my or her sakes, then for yours.”

“...Faye, huh. So she's Haragi Faye's sister... That means that his encounter with the Sisters were coincidental..”

She lost herself in thoughts, before coming back to reality with Mikoto's next words.

“Leave this to me and don’t interfere. I’ll clean this fucked up mess myself.”

As Mikoto turned away, Natsumi called out to her. Her words had made something snapped inside her.

“...What the fuck do you think you can achieve by yourself? Are you an idiot?”

She threw a scary glare at her.

“I would've expected you to take a rational decision, such as at least trying to ask help from your friends. But are you naïve at the point of honestly believing that your childishness can do something against the darkness that's hidden from your eyes on your own?”

Hypocrisy from the lone wolf. The girl who would never call out to help no matter how desperate she is.

Something greater than an 'independence strike'. She had realized long ago that her questions applied to herself as well.

Recalling what Guy had told her about 'her being stronger than she looked' during their first meeting she slightly backed off, thinking out loud.

“...Guy can say all he wants, the only reason I'm still alive is thanks to that...”

“...What the fuck do you think you can achieve by yourself? Are you an idiot?”

Natsumi’s outburst stopped Mikoto in her tracks. She stood silently with her back still turned to them, unable to ignore the agitation in Natsumi’s voice.

“I would've expected you to take a rational decision, such as at least trying to ask help from your friends. But are you naïve at the point of honestly believing that your childishness can do something against the darkness that's hidden from your eyes on your own?”

Mikoto remained silent but jerked her head to the side slightly in response, as if something had irritated her greatly.

“...Guy can say all he wants, the only reason I'm still alive is thanks to that...”

The Electromaster turned her head to side-glance back at the older Tokiwadai student. The name “Guy” had hardly registered in her heavy mind, and she failed to recognise who Natsumi was even talking about.

A long moment passed wordlessly. Mikoto’s expression was blank, undecipherable. Brown eyes locked onto Natsumi’s in a challenging manner, now holding nothing but a deep shadow within. When she spoke, her voice was subdued, yet there was a menacing edge to it, undoubtedly full of determination.

“Just who do you think I am?”

“Just who do you think I am?”

It seemed that Natsumi's point was not getting through Mikoto. From that fact, Natsumi gave up and calmed herself down, adopting her crossed-arms posture.

“...Fine. Do whatever you want.”

At first it could seem as if she was granting Mikoto freedom to do whatever she wished, but...

“...But you'll cry once you see the true face of the city you love so much. The darkness of this experimental city and what they do to their students. If you're naïve enough to think you're ready to walk on such an unlighted path on your own then, Tokiwadai's Railgun, Misaka Mikoto... So be it.”

While her words flew out smoothly from her mouth, her thoughts were fighting each other, mixing both Mikoto's naiveness and her own. She had claimed Mikoto's title as a way to provoke her to not underestimate the darkness of the city, by using that which Mikoto relies on.

She had returned to her cold attitude, not planning to get agitated anymore. Yet unconsciously, she was seeking for a way for help to get to Mikoto.

Pulling out her cellphone, she started writing while barely seeing the screen.

“...I'm tired. I'll make the report tomorrow, for now I'll just look for a place to sleep outside. I don't think I can return to the dorm right now.”

Miyako's reply came quickly

“Got it. Be careful.”