Chapter 2: Re:animation
Part 1
Roppongi, Tokyo 11:56 a.m
It was May 23rd.
The spring breeze blew across a certain city bustling with life.
It had been two years, after all.
Ouma Shu, closed his laptop and got up from his desk.
It had been two years and he had already began his college education, even with a visual handicap, Ouma Shu was leading a peaceful life.
"Shu!" a female voice called out to him.
Walking with a mechanical cane in hand, Shu approached a paraplegic brunette on a wheelchair. She was sporting the university's uniform and had glasses between her two golden brown orbs. Her auburn hair was collected in a high ponytail and on her hand were textbooks about robotics and biology. Her name was ShinomiyaAyase—a former member of Funeral Parlour and an ex- Endlave pilot. However, right now, she too was living a quiet life as a student.
"I see you're early Ayase!"Shu remarked as he pushed her wheelchair towards the crystal building's elevator with a smile.
"Actually, I was the one to finish our activity first. It was just all about the mechanisms of Endlaves and stuff!" Ayase replied to him while taking off her thin rimmed glasses.
"Well, you're after all a former pilot, so you should know, right?"the brown-haired 19 year old boy told her and pushed her out off the crowded elevator.
"Of course! How about you, Shu? Is school fine?"Ayase asked him with inquiring eyes.
"Yeah, sort of...it's quite difficult when you could see nothing at all. But, I'm doing my best to adjust...now that she's not here anymore," he replied to her truthfully—making a deep sigh.
"So, you still do think about Inori..."Ayase muttered to herself as her voice trailed off.
"Did you say something, Ayase?"the boy asked her in an instant.
"Nothing! Nothing at all! By the way, Tsugumi called me last night and she told me that she'll be living in Academy City from now on as a researcher," the brunette informed Shu—trying hard to change the topic.
"Wow! That great! We should celebrate once she returns here in Tokyo," Shu replied and continued to push Ayase's wheelchair through the automatic glass doors. "Speaking of Tsugumi, does she have someone she likes? You know, a boyfriend or something?"
Simultaneously, a dark aura surrounded Ayase which made Shu slightly cringe.
"You know I will never let a gentleman over there violate Tsugumi~ I WILL TEAR THAT PERSON LIMB BY LIMB!" Ayase said with a smile on her face, yet her voice gradually became more vicious with every second passing.
Scared of joining Inori in heaven earlier than scheduled, Shu deliberately changed the subject at hand.
"Ah, y-yeah! You're right! Anyway, we better eat some lunch! I'm hungry!" Shu suggested as the two of made a blind curve to the right.
"Sure! I want to eat katsudon today!"Ayase couldn't agree more as Shu wheeled Ayase forward.
Reaching the cafeteria, Shu made a few orders and eventually returned to the table both he and Ayase were sitting with a tray on hand.
"For a blind person, you seem so adept in doing lots of things, you know!" Ayase remarked as she helped Shu with the food he was carrying.
"Well, you can say that I got used to it." Laughing a bit, Shu then continued. "However, there was a time where I bumped into things here and there."
Looking at the PDA she was holding, Ayase made a small gasp at the news which lay before her eyes; enough for Shu to hear it.
"What is it Ayase? Is there some sort of problem?" He asked.
"So, the reason why the signal was cutoff when I was calling Tsugumi was a meteorite!" Ayase answered with an astonished tone on her voice.
But Da'ath, the will of natural selection will not allow Mana to die. Even if she died, she'd just be reanimated again.
Reanimated...
Recalling what Tsutsugami Gai had told him two years ago, Shu shivered in fear as his eyes dilated. The Apocalypse Virus...Mana...Lost Christmas...is it going to happen again?
"Ah! It seems like nothing is to be worried about, Shu! The meteorite that fell was merely a piece of space rock! Well...that's what the news said but don't worry! You ended everything that time, right?" Ayase comforted him after noticing his dread and fear.
"Y-you're right! Everything should have ended there! Well, let's eat!" Shu replied hesitantly and began to dig in his katsudon.
Ayase smiled at him and began to eat as well.
Part 2
Academy City School District 7 12:09 p.m.
It was May 23rd.
The brazen sky was cloudless over a certain city mostly composed of students.
Academy City.
A place famous for developing espers—it is a city full of darkness and secrets yet most of its dark intentions are hidden perfectly from the society filled with children.
And the well-known icon of this esper development program was...
Railgun.
The Tokiwadai's Ace and the strongest electromaster there ever was—
Misaka Mikoto.
The Number Three of the only seven Level 5 Espers in Academy City stood in front of vending machine in a park in District 7. She was currently attending make-up classes over spring break due to her several battles in the cold Russian front and recently at one of Hawaii's islands.
Sporting the prestigious Tokiwadai Winter School Uniform—a beige blazer and a pleated checkered skirt, the girl with shoulder length brown hair clung into a Gekota cellphone strap as she gritted her teeth. It seems that she will soon change back to her usual summer uniform now that spring was at its demise.
Frowning, Railgun shot daggers with her piercing glares at the vending machine she was facing. However, the vending machine was not actually the one at fault but the perpetually unlucky spiky haired boy who regularly buys beverages here every now and then.
That bastard Level 0! He never told me what was actually happening around him! I thought I already told him to count on me on these kinds of things?!
Mikoto again gritted her teeth and a few bluish electrical sparks shot from the edge of her bangs. Oh boy, she was definitely furious with him! And the next time they would face each other, Mikoto will obviously without fail make him go on a round of 'Railgun Hell' over and over again.
Maybe a Yoshinomi cider or an apple juice will soothe my anger—the Number Three thought at last.
Jumping up and down, she prepared herself for her special cheating technique to make juice cans spit out of the vending machine without feeding it money. However this technique also has its down sides since you can't choose what it would actually spit out.
Railgun then shouted—not her signature 'Chaser!' yell but something out of rage towards a Level 0 boy.
"DAMN IT!"
Making a skirt-level high kick at the side, the vending machine made a painful noise of something falling and in an instant, a can of guarana green juice—one of the juices from hell popped out of the vending machine.
"Aww, darn! Maybe I should try again!"
Railgun frowned in disappointment. Today was probably not one of her lucky days—the girl assumed, looking at the bright green can on her left hand. Again, she planned to use one of her secret underhanded tricks to make the machine drop some more desirable juice.
Placing the palm of her right hand just above the the vending machine's mechanisms, the electromaster used her electrical abilities to hack into the system and make the machine spit another can of juice—this time, it was a Yoshinomi cider.
Despite being lucky with having her favourite juice pop out of the poor and battered vending machine, Mikoto was not really that lucky as three or four automatic security robots came dashing towards her in alarming speed.
[Malfunction on Vending Machine#9283757! Vandalism detected! Vandalism detected! Sending alarm calls to Judgement!]
Though today was not really her day, Mikoto was not that misfortunate compared to a certain spiky haired Level 0, as she made use of her esper abilities again and sped behind the nearest bush in a quarter of a second.
Mikoto—with her back on the soft green grass, recollected of the exact moment which these situation played before. It was at middle of summer and the Level 6 Shift Project was still ongoing—it all felt like deja vu...except...
He wasn't here right now.
And Mikoto admits—she misses him.
Lying on the ground, Railgun balled her fists and lightly slams it on the grass as she muttered to herself with a resolute glare.
I'll find that blockhead! I'll make him return to Academy City!
Accelerator had been looking for Last Order all night to no avail. He had been roaming around several districts already and decided to go to District 23 for a flight or to District 17 for a train ride to where Last Order was though he had no idea where she actually is.
All night he had been stumbling into several Level 0s already who had tried to kill him and as usual, they were all blown away by Accelerator's ability.
Resting in some park in District 7, Accelerator gripped the sandal which belonged to Last Order. He was in a state of fury and rage and was ever so ready to storm the Windowless Building where Aleister Crowley was residing. Yet, learning from past experiences, he knew nothing will come out of it.
Observing his surroundings, he managed to spot a familiar figure sitting on a bench. She had that similar shoulder length brown hair, those bright brown eyes and good features. Accelerator would have easily mistaken her as a Misaka clone yet what made her different from the other clones is that she unconsciously attacked a paper bag that was floating near her with a bluish white spark measuring to a million volts. No clone was able to do that.
Accelerator clicked his tongue.
It was the Original.
It seems she was in a very severely foul mood today and sparks kept flashing from her forehead from left to right. Well, so was he. He had no intention of talking to her as it will only cause an unnecessary fight between the two of them.
At first, he really had no intention. Everything changed when one of the Misaka Sisters approached the Original casually and pointed at the direction to where Accelerator was after telling her something that was pretty much urgent.
The Original simply twitched in surprise and directly glanced at Accelerator who was giving such a pissed off look. However, he was not angry at the Original but at the clone who was making a mocking expression on her face which seemed to be intended for Accelerator.
Great...
Mikoto stood up—still with a Yoshinomi cider on her hands and walked towards the #1 Level 5. Behind her, Misaka Imouto followed silently while she held the guarana green juice.
"Hey. This one said that a girl named Last Order was kidnapped. Is that true?" Mikoto asked as she looked at Accelerator with intense eyes.
Accelerator nodded and replied, "It has nothing to do with you though,"
However, the one to respond was Misaka Imouto.
"'She specifically asked me and the other Misaka to ask help from the 'the lost boy' and Onee-sama since she's in big trouble', Misaka says as Misaka informs the two of you who are now at the verge of killing each other," she said with her usual monotone voice.
"Where is she?! When did she broadcast?!" Accelerator asked; somewhat frantic because of the missing Last Order.
"'Six hours ago. Unfortunately, we do not know where she is at the meantime but we have received memories from her which shows an airplane', Misaka tells you with much urgency,"
"I'm going," Accelerator immediately said after earning a lead where Last Order was.
"Wait! We still don't even know where that plane was headed for!" Mikoto exclaimed—also worried about Last Order though she had never officially met her. Yet, for the clones, Mikoto will do everything. It was also her fault that half of the Misaka Sisters were killed.
"Tsk. Then what do you suggest we should do?" Accelerator clicked his tongue again and turned to look at the two girls.
"Um, what do you suggest we do?" Mikoto repeated the question; now looking at Misaka Imouto.
"'Hack the Bank,' Misaka suggests after processing the data from the recent broadcast," the clone replied immediately.
"Alright! I actually prefer doing things like this anyway!" Mikoto said while flipping her portable terminal open with a huge grin.
"Ha? What are you trying to—!"
All of the sudden, bluish white sparks emitted from Mikoto's hands and made Accelerator stop midway in his sentence. It was simple enough—Mikoto was trying to hack the Bank which held all of Academy City's secrets.
An Internet Storage System—the Bank was Academy City's information storehouse and only those who are authorised can have access into the system. Inside, the Bank has a range of information from every esper on Academy City to high-profile experiments to dangerous technologies deemed useful by the city's Board of Directors.
Since the one's managing the Bank knew the abilities of each esper on Academy City, they had also built several walls and tightened the security of each level against not just normal hackers but also esper hackers.
Right now, Mikoto was performing a standard password cracking.
She would often use her powers past security holes and bugs yet, now that she was on the level near Level Red—the highest, there were less or often no paths to go. However, when it comes to something that a normal hacker could solve, she would use the methods of normal hackers and when it gets a little bit harder, she will use her powers once again.
For short, she was using the best method possible in pursuing her goal.
Pressing a few keys on her terminal, Mikoto got rid of the password checkpoint and went on to the next level—level Red.
Accelerator was patiently waiting for her to finish breaching the Bank and continued to lean beside a tree.
Slowly scrolling down the menu, she had found several folders and clicked the one with the most interesting name—Apocalypse Virus.
"Is this correct?" Mikoto asked as she showed Misaka Imouto the file she opened which the clone nodded in agreement as she spoke.
"'Yes, that is what Last Order said', Misaka confirms."
"Hmm? What are you looking over there?" Accelerator asked with a rather irate voice.
"Misaka Imouto over here told me that something about the Apocalypse Virus might help us find Last Order," Mikoto informed him as she went back hacking with her portable terminal.
"Apocalypse Virus, eh? How should that help? Aren't you just conveniently guessing out things?!"
"'It is true. A broadcast around the Misaka Network had been reporting about the case for almost a week already', Misaka confirms," the Imouto interjected which made Accelerator keep his silence.
"Just a bit more and I'll have the whole picture shown soon!" Mikoto exclaimed; proceeding to enter the last password.
Part 3
Academy City School District 15 12: 21 p.m.
The smell of fast food lingered everywhere inside the family restaurant.
In the midst of the different costumers, Table 13 is the loudest.
"Hey! Hey! We super have a new job right now!" A girl with short brown hair exclaimed as she flashed her phone beside her.
Well, apparently, the people who are in Table 13 are the so-called "New ITEM".
"What? Didn't I already told you that we don't do those jobs anymore?!" A girl with long brown hair said angrily while rolling her eyes. She was the #4 Level 5 esper— Mugino Shizuri, the Meltdowner
"Eh? But the client said that it was super urgent! They super want us to get the meteorite that super crashed in Okinawa last night!" The girl with short brown hair replied. Her name was Kinuhata Saiai, also a member of ITEM.
"I don't care about some space rock! We're not going to accept jobs any longer! Plus, we have this little brat here bothering us!" Mugino shouted and slammed the book about fairies to the table.
"Nyaaaahh?! Essentially, I'm not bothering you at all! You're the one who decided to help me!" The blond girl about the age of eight or ten reacted instantly. She was holding a large grey book also about fairies and it seems that she was proving their existence in the world.
"A signal...from northeast...no, southwest..." Another girl spoke in monotone as if she was sleeping. She was looking outside the window with blank eyes as the passers-by walked in every direction.
"But isn't this super suspicious?! They super want as to get the meteorite as soon as possible!" Kinuhata continued to push Mugino to agree with her.
"What are you two arguing about anyway?" Hamazura Shiage entered the scene with a can of soft drink on his hands. He was the only Level 0 in ITEM but he seemed to fit in nicely with everyone. However his true purpose right now was the babysitter of the blonde girl from earlier—Fremea Seivelun.
"Well, a client super called just now and he super offered us a job to secure a meteorite immediately!" Kinuhata first replied earnestly.
"We won't. A certain person freed us from the darkness of Academy City so we can't just march right back in! It's like an insult to his efforts!" Mugino answered back; scanning the book about fairies over again.
"Mugino is somewhat, right...Kinuhata..." Hamazura's voice trailed off—turning into a tone of a scared hamster after noticing the killing intent behind Kinuhata's bright smile.
"However, I can't change the fact that I'm curious about the matter," Mugino then interrupted with serious eyes.
"What are you going to do?" Hamazura asked as Kinuhata shouted a loud "Yess!" and was now doing a victory dance on top of the chair.
"Hmm? I'll investigate, of course! If this has something to do with the darkness again, I'm going to crush this whole project before it could even start," the #4 said while making a face full of rage, sadness and determination.
"What do you think are they super going to do with that meteorite, Mugino?" Kinuhata asked with a cheeky smile.
"I don't know. Maybe some kind of research again," she plainly responded and shrugged.
"I super disagree!" Kinuhata declared while munching the leftover ice cubes from her orange juice. "Academy City has a lot of those things already! I super don't think they'll just super add that rock they specifically ordered us to get to their super collection."
"She has a point," Hamazura remarked; shrugging his shoulders in the process.
"Then, what are you trying to show me here?" Mugino asked as she narrowed her eyes.
"I'm trying to say that we should super accept the job to super know something much deeper. After all, only the higher-ups super know about the meteorite except us," Kinuhata replied with devious eyes and a big grin.
"What do you mean by that?" Mugino asked; now suspicious.
"What I super mean is that, the meteorite is not just a super ordinary one. It seems that it super holds some importance!" Kinuhata explained.
"Hmm? I'm quite interested with your theory. We'll take the job, but if it really is related to the dark side, we'll destroy the rock immediately, got it?" Mugino exclaimed and stood up.
"Ah...sure," Hamazura replied with a sweat drop.
"Super got it!" Kinuhata added with a bright smile.
"Great. Now, where do we start?" Mugino said with a smirk on her pretty face.
Part 4
Academy City School District 7—School Garden 2:08 P.M
A tour bus stopped at a certain station in District 7 as a girl with cat ears peered out of the door.
"Is this District 18?" Tsugumi—the girl with dark purple hair and a confused look on her face asked as she got off. Then after seeing the sign before her bearing the name "SCHOOL DISTRICT 7 (SCHOOL GARDEN)" in bold white letters, her eyes widened and ran for the tour bus.
"Ahhh! Shoot! W-wait! Please! Hold it!" Tsugumi dashed desperately yet the bus went off to its route while ignoring the poor girl.
Tsugumi then halted as she gasped for air and tried to look around. The whole area looked like a piece of Europe lost in the midst of an advanced city. There were shops, gardens and fountains everywhere and she could not see a trace of the male species inside.
"Where am I...?" Tsugumi asked and tried to walk slowly on the cobbled street.
As she was wearing the uniform of the school she was supposed to go to, Tsugumi attracted a bit of attention from the other female students, yet she seemed to be more confused by it. It was quite unfortunate that she can't bring along Funnell since Academy City would not allow any foreign technology such as him to enter the city to avoid infiltration.
If he was here, I would have easily located that school.
Taking a step back, Tsugumi had bumped into a group of girls chatting and in a flash, the girl with metallic cat ears apologized.
"I'm sorry!" She said and waited for the person she had accidentally interrupted to speak.
"Oh? You're from Nagatenjouki?" That was the immediate reply and left Tsugumi in another misunderstanding.
She then stood up straight to see who was the one who spoke to her and saw a beautiful blonde girl with a well-endowed body especially her chest. She had a white sling bag hanging from her shoulders and as Tsugumi glanced closer, she had noticed the the mysterious girl had 'stars' in her eyes.
"Ah...well..." Tsugumi replied, unable to think of what to say. The new change of terrain rendered her speechless and more or less confused.
"Are you lost?" The girl asked as she grabbed some kind of remote control from her bag.
"Yeah! I'm quite new he—!" A strange force had banged her from the side like an invisible hammer and almost made Tsugumi fall to the ground. As she turned to look at the girl, she noticed that the blonde had pressed a button on the remote control.
"What the hell was that?!" Tsugumi ferociously answered back. She knew that the girl had done some "esper magic" to her.
"Sorry! My bad~ It seems that my interference doesn't work on you. I wonder why," she replied and returned the remote to her bag.
"What was that for?" Tsugumi asked; now more curious than angry.
"Hmm? I always wanted to have someone inside Nagatenjouki. Too bad, they're so cautious against people like me," the girl answered her question with a smile and shooed her other companions away.
"...okay?" Tsugumi replied—still confused. Is this how espers really act?
"Anyway, I'm Shokohou Misaki! The #5 esper—Mental Out~ !" The blond girl introduced herself while making some sort of horizontal peace sign.
"..." Tsugumi was greatly overwhelmed by the strange girl's actions. Normally, Tsugumi would not react this way, however, the fact that she was expecting a fine and elegant oujo-sama but was instantly crushed in a second had made her seem to lag.
Clearing her throat, Tsugumi tried to remain as calm as possible.
"I'm Shibata Tsugumi. I'm new in Academy City, so I got lost. Could you help find where Nagatenjouki Academy is?"
"Yeah, sure! I don't mind helping you a bit!" Misaki winked and grabbed Tsugumi's arm. The two proceeded out of the School Garden as the other students simply watched from the distance in surprise.
"Hey, what was that remote from earlier for?" Tsugumi spoke as they finally got a seat inside a bus headed for District 18 where Nagatenjouki Academy was.
"Ah?" At first Misaki just gave her a confused expression, yet after remembering something, the girl then replied.
"Right, you're new here. I forgot that you're just a newbie in this kinds of things, but I'll explain anyway. My ability is Mind Control under the category of Telepathy, the remote was something like a 'boundary'. My power has very wide coverage so I had to set 'boundaries' in order to tame it or else I'll over exert myself."
"I see! I kinda understand it now!" Tsugumi remarked with a smile.
"I still wonder why it doesn't work on you. Could it be that you have the same power as that person?" Misaki continued to talk.
"That person?" Tsugumi cocked her head to the side.
"You don't seem to have any electrical barriers like the #3... So is it really that?" Misaki completely ignored the confused Tsugumi and went on talking to herself.
"What are you talking about?" Tsugumi then interrupted and finally caught the other's attention.
"Oh, sorry~ I was really bothered. Could it be that you have an ability?" Misaki asked.
"Ability? You mean esper powers? Sorry, but I don't think I have," Tsugumi casually replied and shrugged her shoulders.
"Oh yeah! You're new here, so it isn't possible that you're an esper. You haven't undergone the Power Curriculum Program after all!"
"Aye! I came as a researcher!" Tsugumi proudly declared with a bright smile on her face.
"A researcher? Ah! So that explains why you're admitted to Nagatenjouki Academy! But, aren't you so young? If I were you, I would either be hanging with my friends or looking for a boyfriend!" The glamorous Misaki remarked with a little smirk hidden beneath her smile.
After hearing the word 'boyfriend', a certain blond boy immediately filled Tsugumi's mind which somewhat had made her blush as red as beet.
"B-boyfriend?! I don't think I have time for those!" Tsugumi replied while shaking her head to get rid of the image her mind was projecting.
"Aww, come on! You're face clearly shows that you left someone important in the outside world!" Misaki continued to tease her with a smug smile.
"No, I haven't! It's not like that! I haven't met him for almost two years, so I don't know if he's alive or not!" Tsugumi spoke—accidentally blurting out something that she shouldn't have said.
"See? You really have someone you like!"
"Mou~! Please stop it! Misaki-san!"
"Fine! Fine! Anyway, back to your job, what branch are you working on?" Misaki then abruptly changed the subject after making an amused queen-like laugh.
"It's robotics. I design small robots and often times Endlaves," Tsugumi replied; slightly relieved that Misaki had listened to her pleas.
"Endlaves? What are those?" Misaki asked with innocent eyes.
Tsugumi widened her eyes in disbelief.
Endlaves are used widely by the GHQ during their administration as a commonly issued weapon. It was heavily applied during their battle against the Apocalypse Virus that it became so unnatural to have someone ask what an Endlave is—even a seven year old knew what it was, or at least, had a vague understanding of it.
"Endlaves! You know, they're giant mecha robots for military use!" Tsugumi explained hastily.
"Oh! You mean power suits! I see, so the outside world has a different name for it! But I kinda like the term Endlave than power suits though!" Misaki casually remarked with a smile; making Tsugumi release her breath. It was strange that the girl was not familiar with the name Endlave, yet her statement made Tsugumi feel less scared at the moment—it all felt like something fishy was going on though.
"Oh, look! Here we are!" Tsugumi cheerfully exclaimed as she jumped from her seat.
"Well, you'll only have to walk a few blocks from here and you'll arrive there! Want me to accompany you instead?" Misaki offered while taking Tsugumi off the bus.
"Don't worry! I'll handle it! Thanks again, Misaki-san!" Tsugumi politely declined and waved her hand to the bus that was beginning to move.
"You're welcome! See you some time! Oh, and welcome to Academy City!"
"Bye~!"
Turning around, the girl with her signature cat ears faced the city of science and wind turbines and audibly declared.
"Aye! Let's do this!"
Part 5
"I've got it!" Mikoto happily declared with a bright smile on her face.
Apparently, she took the task of hacking the Bank using her esper abilities as Accelerator and Misaka Imouto stood near her in anticipation.
"So, what does it say?" Accelerator asked irately. He was getting impatient by the minute—well, who could blame him? Last Order might be in trouble right now and the fact that he could not locate her was making him furious.
Mikoto glanced back at her portable terminal and could see readable articles inside the folder and began to read it out loud.
"Hmm...Lost Christmas...happened at a Christmas Day twelve years ago...there was an outbreak of the Apocalypse Virus that had put Japan into greater turmoil and led into the takeover of the GHQ of the whole island of Japan–but where does Last Order fit in this puzzle?"
"Why don't you read more about the virus outbreak instead of wasting it on worthless information?" Accelerator scowled—earning a severe glare from Mikoto as sparks flew from her bangs. He seems to be back with his horrible attitude.
And so, Mikoto continued. "The Apocalypse Virus originated from a meteorite that has landed at the island of Oshima. The virus itself is quiescent in form yet when exposed to a certain genomic resonance, it will begin to rapidly grow and spread throughout the body. Its symptoms are the crystallisation of the body—usually on the face spreading onwards and weakness of the body. It seems the entirety of Japan is infected,"
Accelerator narrowed his red eyes and clicked his tongue. He did not like the sound of that.
Accelerator pondered. Mikoto could only read several items so far and it seems the other files in the folder are just mere pictures and random anecdotes.
"I see. It perfectly makes sense now," Accelerator spoke and made a crazy laugh which left the two girls in confusion.
"What do you mean by that?!" Mikoto asked with a frown.
"There was a meteorite that crashed somewhere in Okinawa, it was on the news last night," he began as he faced Mikoto and the clone.
"So? There are tons of meteorites crashing on Earth every time. Unless..." Mikoto gave Accelerator a questioning glance and halted midway in her sentence.
"Unless that meteorite contains the same virus that hit the outside world," Accelerator continued her words.
"Wait! It still doesn't make sense!" Mikoto interjected. "How could you be so sure that it's connected with the case?"
"Remember first that Last Order is the control tower of all the Sisters, so if they are on to something, they first have to take Last Order then proceed with the plan and if that plan proceeds, it will also affect the other parts of the world due to the network. So in short, if Academy City, got hold of that meteorite, I bet they will use Last Order, the Misaka Network and the Sisters in order to achieve it," Accelerator explained and left Mikoto with nothing to argue anymore.
"'So, what do we do now?' Misaka asks," the Imouto who was quietly watching them argue spoke.
"I'd rather look for Last Order first but we still don't know where she is," Accelerator immediately replied while he stood up from the bench with his cane.
"Hmm...we still haven't got the whole picture yet, you know," Mikoto remarked; placing a hand on her chin.
"Huh? What exactly do you mean? Do you still want to argue about my theory?" Accelerator replied as he furrowed his eyebrows.
"No, it's about the files I just read. I haven't realised it before since we were busy trying to form a theory,"
"I'll ask you again, what are you thinking?"
Mikoto glanced at Accelerator with dead serious eyes and spoke.
"The Apocalypse Virus...Lost Christmas, a widespread disease outbreak that involves the whole world. If that's the case, then why are we unaware of this incident?"
"So, you're trying to imply that Academy City purposely hid it from it's residents?" Accelerator replied as he narrowed his eyes.
"It's just a theory but i'll try looking it up. It should be on the net,"
As Mikoto said those words, her attention returned to the portable terminal that was on her hands.
...
Mikoto simply opened a search engine and typed the words "Lost Christmas". It didn't took a few minutes for the page to load, yet what she saw confirmed her assumptions.
"..."
"You look like you've found something," Accelerator commented and Mikoto only gave him a grimaced expression.
"Everything...everything was blocked or deleted. Someone intentionally hid the incident from us," Mikoto replied.
Accelerator clicked his tongue and closed his eyes.
This is getting worse...
"I don't care if you want to come or not, but I'm still going to look for that brat," the white-haired kid snapped and turned around.
Mikoto simply glanced at Accelerator's back and let him go with no complaints. The issue with Last Order was terrible and Mikoto knew they have to locate her as soon as possible, yet things could've get any worser when she had heard a voice she loathed to hear.
"Misaka-san~!"
"Oh crap...!" Mikoto muttered under her breath.
It came from a young middle school girl with blonde hair and had an unusually large chest. She was sporting the same uniform as Mikoto and seemed to be wearing a very mocking smile.
"Y-you...Shokohou Misaki! What are you doing here?!" Mikoto muttered under her breath and shot a vicious glare.
"Hm? What am I doing?" Misaki repeated the question and placed a finger beside her lips. "Well, I was just taking a walk~! Parks are supposed to be public, you know?"
"I know that!" The browned haired girl shouted angrily as a spark emitted from the side of her bangs.
"'Nee, Onee-sama,' Misaka calls for your attention," the clone tapped Mikoto's shoulder as she glanced up high at the sky.
"What?! Can't you see I'm trying to shoo a pest here?" Mikoto snapped which in turn earned a mocking giggle from the #5 Level 5 esper.
"You should give your attention to your little sister, Misaka-san~! She must have something important to say," the blonde girl said, mistaking the clone for Mikoto's imouto.
Giving a glare to Misaki, Railgun simply clicked her tongue and turned to the left.
"What is it now?"
"'Misaka believes that Onee-sama has something more important to do than entering unnecessary fights with random people,'" the clone nonchalantly replied while Mikoto twitched her eyebrows in defeat.
"I know...! Jeez! I'll help Accelerator! Happy now?" She shouted and marched out of the scene.
The clone simply made a nonchalant bow as she made way for her Onee-sama to follow Academy City"s strongest.
Suddenly, the blonde haired girl called out, making the Ace of Tokiwadai stop and sigh.
"Nee~! Misaka-san~! Would you mind if I come with you?"
"Ehh?"
A/N:
Hey ey~! MisakaNetwork here!
Finally an update!
Please stay tuned and please review!
Thanks!