Part 8
The media has been covering the disappearing research facility and interviewed all the remaining researchers.
Unfortunately, not even the offense of the constant reporters had any luck on getting anything relevant out of them.
Except for one important piece of information.
The memories of the researchers regarding the missing facility that they worked in were either altered or completely erased.
Memories of their co-workers, regular life outside of research, and the heavy drinking and karaoke parties are all what's left.
How can everything regarding about the disappearing research facility be wiped out from the face of the earth without anyone knowing why or what exactly happened?
These were the thoughts of Aiho Yomikawa, a female Anti-Skill operative with long blue hair who also has a job as a PE Teacher.
She stands in formation with a number of other Anti-Skill operatives as if they were soldiers of an army presenting a member of royalty.
Their purpose right now is to lead the researchers that appeared in front of Tokiwadai Middle School to the Supersonic Passenger Plane leading to Great Britain. They are being sent to be temporarily taken care of by an Academy City-operated psychiatric hospital.
The teacher in Anti-Skill looked forward sternly like a soldier taking their job with utmost seriousness.
However, this was not the case. Aiho Yomikawa is thinking heavily about the situation. She has been like this since the reports first started coming in.
She was like this until ordered to keep a safe distance from the Supersonic Passenger Plane.
After the passenger plane takes off, Yomikawa keeps her eyes on the plane as it climbs up in the air. Her train of thought continues to ponder on the possibilities that could have affected the memories of the researchers and the disappearance of the research facility.
She continues looking at the plane like a young child mesmerized by seeing a giant metal bird flying for the first time.
Slowly, her mind drifts away from the thoughts running through her mind. Holding her stomach, she tries to remember what kind of leftovers were left in the fridge back in her apartment complex.
Fish? Rice? Hamburgers? Can't remember.
The thought of food is making the teacher hungrier by the second.
She stands still in that very spot for a good couple minutes until she hears the confused murmurs from her fellow Anti-Skill operatives.
Why was she staring up at the sky again?
Part 9
"How can that be? How can you not know anything about the research facility?"
"'Any records regarding the missing research facility does not exist within the network,' says Misaka explaining even further."
Touma had met up with one of the Misaka Sisters to find out more information about the research facility that disappeared out of thin air the previous day.
Contrary to Touma's reassurance he gave to Mikoto the day before, the boy wanted to know more.
However, he was unable to get any useful information out of her.
Part 10
"'Misaka is also unable to find any information about the huge magic trick,' says Misaka Misa—"
"Shut it, you little brat!"
Part 11
"'Furthermore, reports say the researchers that were relocated from the aforementioned research facility have had their memories altered or erased,' further explains Misaka, trying to get the annoying boy off her back."
"Oh great. I guess I can also thank that to my bad luck. Geez, Mikoto has been feeling really down lately because of this whole thing. I really thought I can get any information at all that would make her feel better and possibly prove Shirai's innocence."
Hearing the boy mention the name that belongs to the original source of the Sisters, Misaka reaches for the heart-shaped necklace she had around her neck and presses it firmly against her chest.
Touma sighs in defeat.
"Asking one of them is out of the question now. I have no other options left."
"'How about tea?'"
Touma looks at Misaka, taken aback by the sudden invitation from the usually unperturbed girl.
Why is she getting closer?
"'Would you like to drink tea,' asks Misaka in a nicer tone of voice, making sure to look deeply into the boy's eyes to stimulate the feeling of seren—'".
"What's this sudden form of attack!?"
The calm and emotionless clone grabs Touma's hand as she walks passed him, pulling him along to her side.
Touma struggles to keep his balance while being pulled by the younger Misaka Sister.
Part 12
The streets of District 7 was completely filled with people.
In most cases, this wouldn't be unusual, however, the reason why these people are here is very strange.
Standing in front of the tall windowless building of District 7, hundreds of citizens are staring in awe and pointing up at the sky. Not believing what's in front of their eyes, many are taking pictures and immediately sending them and their thoughts to their personal blogs and other social media sites within the Academy City network.
Anti-Skill operatives and vehicles occupy the streets as well.
HsB-02s, now only used for internal city protection, covered the skies along with helicopters owned by the news stations.
Anyone witnessing what these people were seeing would take many more than just a mere double-take to make sure if their eyes were working properly.
Directly in front of the face of the windowless building is a large Supersonic Passenger Plane in the middle of flight.
Actually, that's not an accurate way of putting it.
If one were flying this passenger plane, one would definitely say it is currently being operated and is in the state of flight. However, this plane is defying the laws of universe and is currently still. The nose of the plane is barely touching the windowless building by a fraction of a centimeter.
It was as if an invisible giant is taunting the windowless building by holding the plane back from crashing into it.
Anyone seeing this phenomena happening in front of their eyes would get an ominous chill down their spine.
Mikoto Misaka, Saten Ruiko, and Uiharu Kazari noticed the commotion happening outside of their usual hangout at Joseph's and went out to see what was going on.
"What the hell is this?"
Mikoto cannot believe what she was seeing. People were flooding the streets until it became impossible to navigate through and the skies were filled with helicopters.
What she fails to accept is the large passenger plane in the middle of flight but refuses to move from its fixated position.
"Mikoto, I'm scared…"
"Don't worry, Uiharu. If anything happens, I'll take care of it."
In truth, Mikoto is a bit frightened herself. Is the plane going to suddenly move and crash into the building? Is it suddenly going to fall? What about the passengers inside the plane? Are there even any passengers on it at all? How did the plane even get there in the first place? Even if the plane wasn't there, the amount of people gathering in the streets would cause a lot of accidents or trouble. The whole atmosphere of the situation would be too much for a regular person to handle and will probably snap.
"You guys go back to the shop. It's safer there. If it's all clear, I'll meet up with you."
"Right!"
"You take care, okay, Misaka?"
Before Mikoto could even respond, her eyes suddenly fixated into Saten's eyes. Her eyes were filled with fear and worry about her friend.
The Level 5 responds with a smile that immediately soothes the long hair girl's heart.
"You too, Saten."
The girls exchanged smiles and went off their separate ways.
Part 13
"Fascinating."
Those words came out in an obviously sarcastic tone from a high-schooler in a blue buttoned shirt standing outside of the huge gathering that is looking up at the physics-defying passenger plane.
"If anything, this one takes the cake. I'm not even sure what's going on anymore. Academy City sure is interesting."
After a sigh of boredom, the boy turns and walks away from the loud commotion and into a nearby alley.
After walking for a bit, the boy in blue finds himself in the middle of an open space of the alleyway with multiple pathways.
"Did I…"
The boy looks around from his position, not recognizing which alley he even came from.
The noises from the commotion in the streets, to his surprise, could not be heard.
"Fuck, did I seriously get lost?"
The boy looks up and sees the blue sky as the only available exit to this labyrinth.
"'You have nowhere else to go,' says Misaka-13577, warning the mysterious boy before attempting his escape."
The boy quickly turns to face where the sudden voice came from.
Appearing from the other side of the open space is a girl in a Tokiwadai uniform wearing high-tech goggles over her eyes.
Other than the goggles, the neck-length hair and body shape looked very similar to another girl the boy met earlier that day.
"Are you… Mikoto?"
"'Incorrect. We are clones of the original. The original whose name you mentioned belongs to,' says Misaka-10339, further correcting the ignorant boy."
That voice was the exact same voice from the girl standing in front of him, however, it did not come from the same girl.
Turning to his left where the voice came from, another exact model of the previous girl appears from the shadows.
The exact same Tokiwadai Middle School uniform and high-tech goggles covering the eyes.
"'Misaka is very sorry for doing this to you, but according to current evidence, you are the likely culprit,' says Misaka-19090, threatening the confused boy."
Again, the boy turns behind him and sees another girl that looks exactly like Mikoto and the first two "clones".
The only difference is that her voice seemed to be more emotional than the first two. The boy couldn't help but notice her knees were shaking as well.
Another thing that the boy couldn't help but notice is the large high-tech sub machine gun unsuitable for a girl like her.
The fragile clone readies her weapon, causing a loud clanking noise.
Similar clanking noises can be heard around him.
The boy was surrounded by three clones of Mikoto Misaka with their high-tech weapons aiming directly at him.
"'Evidence'? Damnit, hold on! What do you mean by 'evidence'?"
Tatatatatatatatata. Tatatatatatatatatata. Tatatatatatatatatatatatatatata.