Chapter 10 - Imp0ssible_
Athena stared blankly at her right hand.
She was a synthetic human, an android. Her whole body was made to accurately depict a normal human being.
Cyborgs were common in Academy City due to their applications in prosthetic technology, however, Athena was not a cyborg nor was she just any ordinary robot, she was an existence that was truly one of a kind. She was not originally a human in the beginning and had her brain transferred to a robotic body like some cyborgs, she was a robotic existence ever since she first gained consciousness.
Most of her organs and other body parts were a combination of machinery and synthesized cell tissues. Certain parts were mostly mechanical, including her arms which could hold certain weapons like the miniature tank buster she used.
However, that was not the only reason why she was special.
I have a Personal Reality now.
Athena recounts the events during their confrontation with an unknown esper on the bridge where she had awoken to a power that was originally theorized to be exclusive to human beings only.
My power activated because I desperately wanted to protect shishou. I have to take note of this next time he is in trouble...
Was it because she displayed human-like emotions that she was able to possess a Personal Reality?
Or was it her immense knowledge regarding the principles behind espers and her computational capacity which were her special functions as an android?
Was she becoming more human as time passes?
She continued to ask these questions while trying to reach a deeper understanding of the principles behind her existence.
"Hey uh... Can I ask you something if you don't mind?" A boy named Takayama Akito looked at the android beside him nervously, trying to match her pace.
The two ran around the empty streets of Academy City at night, trying to reach the boy's dorm while being pursued by a mysterious organization affiliated with the dark side of Academy City known as ITEM. But the two did not know of these facts, especially the boy. The only thing Takayama Akito knew for sure was that the researchers working on Athena was working together with said organization in order to capture her.
"Yes?" The girl snapped out of her deep thoughts.
"Since you have weapons stored in your body..." Akito with a tensed voice "Does that mean the researchers who made you are going to use you as a weapon?"
"...That is correct, I have mechanisms in my body for holding various weaponry but I only had that missile equipped because I am only just a prototype and the plans for other weapons I can use are still under development." Athena spoke to the boy with a calm demeanour.
"That means you will be mass-produced once they prove in their experiment that an android with an advanced AI is able to gain a Personal Reality, which we have proven already?"
"Yes. I do not know much about the details of the project however I assume they will copy all the data stored in my brain, including my Personal Reality files, and install them on the later models for production. My fate is uncertain however since the later versions will most likely surpass my specifications."
Akito's face stiffened as he heard the cruel plan laid out for Athena.
So they're just gonna use her as a disposable weapon?! Dammit... Academy City is full of fucking war mongers. I knew this twisted city was rotten to the core!
"Please do not get mad at Academy City because of this, shishou." Athena with a quiet voice, commenting as if she had just read Akito's mind.
"How can I not get mad?! Those fuckers think you're just some disposable weapon!" Akito raged, tightening his grip on the girl's hand. "You don't want that to happen to you, don't you?!"
"Yes. I do not want to hurt or kill anyone, or be destroyed as well, but... if it were not for them, I would not have been created nor got to see this world, and... I would not have met you." Athena smiled a bit. "The world isn't just made up of black and white, remember?"
"I-it's not like I was thinking of you or anything! I just don't like how Academy City just does whatever it wants." The boy avoided eye contact before taking out his phone. A map was displayed in the phone's screen, showing a single red dot."Good. It looks like they still haven't caught up to us."
"Is that dot the location of our pursuers, shishou?"
"Yeah, I was able to access the phone of that girl from the bridge and retrieved its identification code which I used to pinpoint its coordinates in the GPS."
They turned around the corner of the lamp lit street, the dorm was now in full view.
"Still though..."Akito trying to change the subject."It's amazing that you act so human despite the fact you are operating under an AI. I suppose the researchers spent a lot of time creating it?"
"Well, from what I have heard, their approach allowed them to create my AI in under a month."
"What?! Is Academy CIty's technology really that frightening?!"
"I surmised that the process was automatized using a system consisting of a machine learning program receiving input from a TesC:sd/_adnt machi_dXywur."
"Huh?" Akito furrowed his eyebrows after hearing Athena utter some words that sounded like a speaker under heavy static noise.
They paused for a while, trying to understand what just occurred.
Athena lightly touched her neck.
"What is hapXmgoc:dks?"
Before they could react, a dark figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere, standing directly behind Akito.
"Huh!? Owww!"
"Are g:/sW_sd okay, shishX:dl/?!"
The figure grabbed hold of the boy's right wrist and shoulder, and then pulled his arm behind him into an awkward angle which prevented him from making any movements.
Akito looked behind him and saw a girl that was taller than him with dark shoulder-length hair, wide-open eyes, and wearing a dark blue trench coat. He was now forced down on his knees.
"Were you sent by Academy City's 12th Mechatronics Research Center to recover Athena?" The girl spoke in English in her first word but then switched to Japanese with the rest.
That question did not come from the young boy, but the mysterious girl holding him down.
"What are you talking about?!" Akito tried as much as he could to break free of the girl's hold but she was fairly strong.
The mysterious girl inspected Akito for a bit before stating the result of her assessment.
"Hmm... it doesn't seem that you are from the dark side. You don't have any sort of killing intent in you. I apologize." The girl released Akito.
Athena rushed over to Akito's side to aide him while keeping an eye on the mysterious girl.
The young boy slowly stood up and rubbed his wrist.
"Who the hell are you?!" He spat out, turning to face the stranger.
The girl gave a sharp glare at Akito before letting out an exasperated sigh at his helplessness.
A cross-shaped vein popped up on the boy's forehead, representing his anger.
Akito was about to retort but the girl put forth her hand to stop him before finally answering his question.
"My name is Nunotaba Shinobu."
"AARRGHH! I'm gonna kill that fucking piece of shit!" Mugino Shizuri pulled at her long hair in frustration. She was currently sitting inside a stolen car near a metallic bridge.
The car was currently parked on a road by the bridge as ITEM waited for the Level 5 Meltdowner to regain consciousness.
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to use my ability." Takitsubo Rikou lay limply on the passenger seat of the car."The target and that boy already left my effective range when we got here."
"It's super not your fault Takitsubo-san." Kinuhata Saiai said in a carefree voice beside Mugino Shizuri before pointing at the driver of the stolen car."It's Hamazura's fault for being such a crappy driver."
"Then why don't you drive!" The delinquent behind the wheel retorted. "Anyway, where's Frenda?"
"She said that she'll scout ahead and that we shouldn't blame her if she gets to the target first." Kinuhata replied.
ITEM were currently under a mission to pursue a rogue android that escaped an Academy City facility. The usual liaison contacted Mugino Shizuri, their leader, on her phone and gave them the necessary details on the android while concealing top secret Academy City information.
"Tsk.. Hamazura!" Mugino called out the delinquent behind the wheel.
The delinquent twitched at his superior's call. He was well aware how frightening the Level 5 could be when she is in this state.
"Yeah...?"
"Send the information about the boy and his Telekinetic ability to Frenda. I vaguely remember that he called it Vortex Point or something before I lost consciousness. And also..." Mugino rubbed her temple, trying to ease her irritation. "Call the intel corps for information on his ability, and tell the rest of the subordinate organization to be on the lookout for the target and contact us when they find her."
"Right!" Hamazura pulled out his phone immediately, trying not to talk back at Mugino's bossy demands, and dialed the numbers of the subordinate group of ITEM and Frenda.
"Speaking of which, did that boy really have that super Vortex Point ability?" Kinuhata inquired to the rest of the members.
"What do you mean?" Mugino turned to face the girl beside her.
"Well in our fight earlier, he didn't use his ability even once. He even made use of a blunt weapon instead." Kinuhata said with one eye out.
"Maybe he forgot...?" With a weak and unsure voice, Hamazura tried to add to the conversation but Mugino instantly gave him a sharp glare, telling him to focus on contacting those people she had told him.
They took a brief moment to figure out the reasons behind the boy's unusual behavior.
"Maybe it was..."
Mugino broke the silence inside the car before a rip-like smile appeared on her face. Interesting...
The dark side made its move, slowly closing in on the young boy and the rogue android.
"It seems that due to the usage of her ability, a system dump is being performed by her main program in order to refresh her files." Nunotaba Shinobu sat in front of her computer.
Takayama Akito and Athena were now inside Nunotaba Shinobu's old office inside one of the temporary apartments she used during her time in Academy City as a researcher. The bright room had a very western style, with an old-looking book case beside a desktop computer on one side of the room, a big classic lamp on top a large desk on the farthest side, and a long coffee table surrounded by sofas in the middle.
"Isn't that supposed to be a good thing." Akito inquired as he rubbed around his right leg, checking for its condition. He was sitting in one of the sofas far away from the two.
"Her program is outdated and can't handle the stress from the usage of her Personal Reality." Nunotaba turned towards Athena who was sitting down on a chair beside her. A wire connected from the android's neck to her computer. "A dump would only revert her registers to their original state. It does not recognize the new directives she has gained as an esper so all esper related data will cause errors in the system and the process will loop infinitely unless a patch is applied which will recognize these new directives."
"Uh-huh..." Akito understood most of what the girl explained however the complexity between an android and a regular robot were apparent from what he heard.
Akito got up and looked around the room. He needed something to keep himself calm especially in this tense situation.
Huh?
There were lots of peculiar books lined up on the shelves however there was one that especially caught his attention because it had no title in its binding.
Akito grabbed the book next to the book entitled "Gemstones". The book he held was written by Tsukuyomi Komoe. It's contents were a compilation of research regarding Level 0's and their possible role in the SYSTEM.
He read through the table of contents and then skimmed through half of the book at an amazing pace.
"This is the first time I've read detailed theories about Level 0's." Akito muttered as he read the book. "This person must have great interest in them. But she does make a good point though."
Akito went into deep thought as he took in the knowledge from the book.
Logically speaking, if a subject in an experiment did not show its expected result, then it is most likely that a particular variable must have been overlooked in that experiment, assuming the experiment was free of any external interferences of course. Possible reasons for the error could have been the subject's incompatibility with the experiment or the experiment itself could have been flawed.
The young boy had researched about Personal Realities to a certain extent in the past to progress his esper level however the book he was reading contained ideas which contradicted his previous belief about Level 0's being irrelevant to Academy City's research.
A Level 0 such as myself underwent the same Power Curriculum Program as the rest of the students in Academy City and strangely enough, there are a lot of students having trouble... Perhaps there is a greater mystery behind it all. Perhaps Level 0's are a completely different factor altogether. Just as Athena had stated before, things change depending on what perspective you take. By using that reasoning, one could say that a Level 0 is unable to learn esper abilities not because he doesn't have the ability, but because an unknown factor in this world is preventing him from doing so...
"Interesting, isn't it?" Nunotaba Shinobu replied at the boy's remark. "Perhaps that is the direction Academy City should be focusing on instead of ones like Project ATHENA."
"Project what... ?!" Akito looked up towards the girl and saw her casually groping Athena's chest. "What the hell are you doing?!"
Athena blushed slightly, not making any movements as she assumed that this was part of her check-up.
"Oh sorry." Shinobu withdrew her hand. "This is my first time seeing a fully operational android in real life. As a researcher, I'm absolutely astounded."
Nunotaba Shinobu's expression hardly ever changes from being serious.
Akito looked at the genius girl with suspicion in his eyes before repeating his question. "What do you mean by Project ATHENA?"
Shinobu gave a brief glance at Athena, her eyes showed some sympathy to the android, before slowly turning to face the young boy. "Before I answer your question, tell me, what is your motivation for helping her? You have nothing to do with the dark side yet you are intentionally putting yourself in danger just by being near her."
"The...'dark side'?" Akito asked the girl who seemed to know a lot about the matter.
"You don't even know who you are facing up against..." Shinobu sighed before continuing. "I've met someone like you before..."
"Before, I have fought against someone who might be affiliated to this 'dark side' you are referring to so I'm not completely clueless on what is going on."
Athena stared at the two nervously. Her voice was currently undergoing erroneous bugs so she couldn't voice out her opinions.
"I guess it's pointless hiding it from you since you are already on their list."
A chill ran down his spine. He had a slight suspicion that these people from the dark side were after him but now he was completely sure based on this girl's serious expression.
Shinobu sat back down on her office chair. "... Academy City, as you may already know, is obsessed with science and technology. It keeps its public appearances neat even though its experiments are just within the boundary of human ethics, however, Academy City also takes part in activities which crosses that boundary, activities which should not be known to the public or else Academy City's image will be at risk. Activities which involve cruel human experimentation, assassination, and other criminal activity. That is the 'dark side'."
Akito silently nodded. He felt his heart beat faster after learning that his previous assumption regarding Academy City was humane compared to the real one.
"The people who are chasing you are part of that world. They are an organization from the dark side who takes direct orders from the administration. They take on missions such as protecting Academy City's darkest secrets."
"So Project ATHENA is one of those secrets?"
"Yes. But before that, prove to me that you're someone I can trust by answering my question." Shinobu stared at him coldly from her chair. "After hearing about the dark side, is your will still unchanged?"
Akito thought for a moment as he stood in the middle of the room under the bright light.
He did not have any special powers. From his experience, his fighting capability was on a laughable scale compared to those on the dark side who live their lives in constant danger. He had some talent in hacking but beyond that, he was just an ordinary Level 0.
Why was he protecting the girl knowing full well that she was not even human nor did he have the power to protect her?
What did he stand to gain by protecting her?
"I have always known that there must have been some ugly truth behind this city." The boy broke the silence in the room.
"Then is this ugly truth what you had expected? Will you save yourself the trouble and withdraw from this battle?"
"No, it was deeper and more disgusting than what I had imagined however... this city doesn't belong to the darkness alone. There are also people willing to risk their lives for someone important to them."
"Are you saying that you are one of those people?" Nunotaba Shinobu tilted her head slightly as she looked down on the young boy.
"No... I'm just a dumb kid who throws a tantrum just because of his low level. However, I have learned that there are more important things than levels or abilities." Takayama Akito stared back at the genius girl. "This is my chance to prove my worth. I don't care if you think I'm just a weak Level 0, I don't want to lose her to Academy City!"
Seeing the young boy filled with determination, Athena couldn't help but be surprised by the fact that he was willing to go so far just for a disposable machine like her.
"...I suppose it will suffice." Nunotaba Shinobu frowned. "I have been involved with a project that is vastly similar to this one. From the reports which I have stolen from the 12th Mechatronics Research Center, Project ATHENA is a plan to mass-produce disposable espers for military use. The project I previously took part in and left, involved the production of clones for a similar purpose however this project acknowledges the fact that the cultivation of clones consumes a large amount of time therefore they concluded that machines capable of psychic ability are easier to reproduce and with consistent results."
The young boy recalled Athena's earlier comment regarding the incredibly fast process of creating an advanced Artificial Intelligence, and the fact that once she was able to obtain esper abilities, the researchers only needed to copy the data from Athena's brain and install it on the later androids models.
"I returned to Academy City because the device that I have designed is being used again by the dark side."
"What do you mean?"
"The Testament machine I designed, installs information on a human's brain. However in this case, the subject receiving the input was a machine learning program embedded in Athena in order to produce a self-learning Artificial Intelligence with emotions. Also, the information recorded in the Testament and its functionality are stored within her, so I suspect she also has the ability to install information on a human's brain. You could say she is a walking Testament machine."
Was that the reason behind her know-it-all habits? Akito thought to himself.
"...I sent you the information I have on your pursuers. I believe they call themselves ITEM, they were also involved during the last project I dealt with."
Akito received an email on his phone which he then looked up. The phone's display showed short descriptions and pictures of the members of ITEM.
Name: Kinuhata Saiai, Power Level: 4, Ability: Offense Armor... Name: Takitsubo Rikou, Power Level: 4, Ability: AIM Stalker... Name: Mugino Shizuri, Power Level: 5, Ability: Meltdowner... Name: Frenda Seivelun...
That woman from the bridge was one of Academy City's seven Level 5's... shit...
"We must retrieve the program code inside the facility in order for me to create a patch for her and then delete all the existing records regarding her existence. In the meantime, I will have to take the entire module responsible for her processing her powers or else the errors that are accumulating will render her unable to move." Shinobu retrieved a thumb drive and plugged it into the computer.
"You think they will stop just from that? Won't they just repeat the experiment again?"
"I believe they expended a serious amount in this project, that is why they are doing their presentations in the Science and Liberal Arts Exhibition, to gather investors for the project. So if they come out fruitless with their fund-gathering while their only prototype and data was missing, it would spell disaster for the project altogether."
"Right." Akito returned the book back to its proper place as he waited for the girl to finish her task. He checked his phone for the current whereabouts of his pursuers but it doesn't seem that they will be reaching the three anytime soon. "We'll have to keep this up until morning. I don't think ITEM will try to make a move once there are more people around."
The three then hurriedly left the building and got into Nunotaba Shinobu's car before driving off to the 12th Mechatronics Research Center's Laboratory B in District 5.
"Oi~ Why so quiet all of a sudden~?" The boy made a wide, despicable grin as he teased the artificial girl beside him on the back seat of the car.
"L;s.d_ammk mss." Athena pouted after failing to express her thoughts into words. She then moved closer to the boy to mess with his hair in frustration, and the boy fended off the attack as a response. They looked more or less like brother and sister.
Shinobu looked at the two from the rear view mirror with uninterested eyes. "Well, is this forbidden love I am seeing? Now I understand your current situation."
"It's not what you thi- ?!"
Athena covered the boy's mouth before pushing him down on the seat. The girl smiled while she executed her revenge on the young boy.
Extremely annoyed, the boy this time pulled on the girl's cheeks painfully as he was forced down to lay on the seat. Out of nowhere the car took a quick and sudden turn.
"Waaaahhh! You idiot!" He cried out to the driver, but she was too busy looking at the road and planning out a route to take notice.
Both of them got caught up by the momentum and flew out of their positions. The two now lay jumbled over on the seat in awkward positions.
"Please save the flirting for later, Takayama." Shinobu said nonchalantly as she drove the car. "And please don't distract me while I'm driving. I only just got my license after all."
The car arrived at the street across the facility. There was an entry way for vehicles in front of the facility's main building, being blocked by a check point and a guardhouse.
It was already midnight in Academy City.
"Mugino, we have information of a strange movement around the research lab of the client." Kinuhata Saiai spoke to the girl beside her after checking the information on her phone.
"As I thought. Hamazura!"
"Y-yeah. I'm on it." Hamazura manipulated the wheel and headed for the location on the map.
Takayama Akito, Nunotaba Shinobu and Athena infiltrated the facility grounds in the darkness of the night.
Akito manipulated all the security cameras in the vicinity with his phone and set them to record the same empty scene in a loop.
They entered the facility using an ID card which Shinobu had stolen prior to their meeting.
The facility only had two floors and one basement floor which Shinobu pointed out to be their destination.
Akito continued to manipulate the security cameras as they moved along the dark empty hall way of the facility, sneaking past through security guards at every corner.
"The security here sure is tight. As expected from Academy City's research facilities." Akito connected to a security camera's live visual feed a certain distance away to scout ahead.
"Don't be careless, Takayama-kun."
They crept up slowly towards the door that will lead them to the basement floor.
Upon opening the door to the large room of the floor,
"W-what the hell?" Akito stood motionless at the sight before him.
With their feet hovering just above the floor, several life-sized figures hanged from the ceiling above through a chain attached to their bodies. A single wire twisted and wrapped around those chains like a snake.
Their appearance was drastically similar to Athena. They wore straight-jackets which she used to wore back when before she met Takayama Akito. Some of them were missing their appendages like their eyes, hair and arms.
They hanged motionless like a bunch of mannequins.
"It's this way." Shinobu led the group, unfazed by the eerie scene.
"So they made preparations ahead of time..." Akito commented as he looked at all the lifeless machines. "We may have to destroy these things afterwards. I'll secure our escape route through that emergency exit."
"Then I'll access the terminal for the program code. The process will take a bit of time to finish." Shinobu took out an external memory device from her trench coat and headed towards a large screen computer before turning it on.
Athena stared at the imperfect recreations.
If they manage to stop Academy City's plan, then she will be the only living android esper in existence however that was not was she was concerned about. Her special existence did not matter to her.
I... I just wish to be by shishou's side. I want to walk around Academy City with him. I just want to do all sorts of enjoyable activities like eating various dishes and watching movies... I hope everything turns out well...
"Nunotaba-san!" A worried expression can be seen on the boy's face as he approached them while holding out a smart phone in his hand. "That group from the dark side, ITEM, is heading towards the facility!"
"I have found the program but the transfer will take longer than I expected." Shinobu grew worried. She did not have her usual calm expression. "I just need a bit more time."
"Based on their displacement in the GPS, they are most likely riding on a vehicle. Will you be able to retrieve the program in time?"
"Factoring in the size of the program plus the download duration, it's barely enough..."
Akito looked around the large dim lit room. He looked towards an incomplete android dangling from a black wire. "I've got a plan... But I'll need a sample of her AIM."
"Huh?" Shinobu thought for a moment, trying to figure out the boy's intention.
"... I see. I'll help you with the installation." Shinobu took out an object from her trench coat. It was not a thumb drive holding the data of the AIM sample he was expecting, but a handgun. "You're gonna go out and delay them aren't you? If so, then you will have better chances with this." She handed the gun to him.
The cold, heavy metal caused a bit of numbness in his hands. Much to his dislike, there was no time to modify it into something that couldn't kill. Given the opportunity, he might inflict a severe wound on the enemy. He will have to remind himself to be careful.
Full of uneasiness, Athena stared nervously at the young boy.
Noticing this, he said a few words to her. "I know what you want to say. I promise this will work so trust me..."
Mugino Shizuri, Kinuhata Saiai and Takitsubo Rikou were riding inside a stolen car being driven by Hamazura Shiage.
The car was already moving past the normal speed limits of Academy City.
Suddenly, a small object hit the car's windshield with a large impact. A sudden, loud cracking noise invaded their ears as the shards of glass from the windshield burst out in front of their faces. Hamazura put his left arm in front of his face, and beside him, Takitsubo did the same. But following that, their view was replaced by a large spider crack which spread out through the surface of the windshield.
"Oh shit!" Hamazura lost sight of the road and steered blindly.
"Hamazura!"
"Waaah!"
The car shook uncontrollably and veered off its path. Thankfully, the street was completely empty so they had a low chance of colliding with another vehicle.
After getting a grip on things, Hamazura slammed down on the brakes to stop the car from moving any further. The car drifted for a bit in that dark road with only the surrounding streetlights serving as a guide, making swiveling burnt tire tracks. But the car eventually stopped just as it titled a bit to the right, and when it did, Mugino, Takitsubo, and Kinuhata wasted no time in getting out. What they saw was a girl and a blonde-haired boy holding a gun about 30 meters ahead, standing on a sidewalk on the far corner of the street.
After firing that shot, Akito quickly moved towards the nearest alley with a robot which looks just like Athena trailing behind him.
"That damn nuisance again! Takitsubo!" Mugino called out the name of their Level 4 AIM Stalker.
In response, Takitsubo wordlessly took out a small case of white powder. She lightly touched it with a finger before licking the powder.
"Beginning AIM diffusion field search." Her eyes awakened from their sleepy state.
The whole process took only about 7 seconds, and then she stated her findings.
"Vortex Point successfully recorded." Takitsubo spoke like a machine. "... Results indicate multiple Vortex Points in 4 different locations."
"W-what?"
"Is that even super possible?"
They stared at each other for a bit with shocked eyes. ITEM had given up on the assumption that the boy held the power of Vortex Point, and concluded that the android must have been the real one. So they placed the android as their target for the AIM Stalker.
"Did he have decoy transmitters prepared?!"
"What about the boy, Takitsubo-san?" Kinuhata faced the AIM Stalker.
"AIM diffusion field successfully recorded for the unknown boy. However..." The AIM Stalker paused for a minute. That short delay was an ambiguous silence, and the rest of the gang couldn't discern what it was for. "Results indicate a fluctuating field. Location will be difficult to trace."
Mugino frowned when she heard that, but there was no time to bother with every single detail. She had to follow the objective first and foremost.
"What should we do Mugino?!"
"...We split up. I will go after that brat. Hamazura and Takitsubo to one of the targets. Kinuhata and Frenda will go after the rest alone. And on that note, contact Frenda again and tell her the current situation."
ITEM proceeded with their plan to capture the android esper.
"I hope they took the bait!" Takayama Akito ran through the dark empty streets of Academy City alongside an incomplete reproduction of Athena, one of the closest ones he could get which looked like her. The android wore a white straitjacket just as the original one did before meeting him.
Without warning, multiple beams of light shot above him, piercing through the darkness of the empty night sky. They were the Particle Waveform High-Speed Cannon, Meltdowner. With a powerful and destructive blow, they hit the concrete wall of a apartment building past him. A loud crash resounded in the street.
The boy wondered if there were any people inside that building but there was no time for such idle thoughts. "Oh, crap! Looks like the troublesome one is here, but at least she's alone." He looked back behind him and saw the Level 5 closing in from a fair distance.
A small orb of green light floated around Mugino's shoulder. A split-second later, it let out a sudden burst and fired another powerful beam towards the Level 0.
Akito and the incomplete android turned towards the corner of the street to avoid the powerful beam. He heard another loud crash caused by the Meltdowner.
"Hahaha... Level 5's sure are something." A sweat drop formed on the Level 0's face. He checked the remaining ammo in his gun and saw that he had 10 shots left.
"I'm gonna kill you, you dumb fuck!" The Level 5 cried out.
Their path led them to a wide park filled with trees.
This is good enough… The Level 0 thought as he turned around, aimed the gun at Mugino Shizuri, and fired unhesitatingly. But the Level 5 put her hand up and produced a shield made out of electrons without much effort. Once, the bullet made contact with that shield, it disintegrated as it passed though, leaving nothing behind at the other end. It was most likely due to the electrons behaving at such a rapid state.
A sadistic smile crept up on the woman's face. It looked so horrible that it contrasted with her beautiful appearance. "Did you honestly think that a gun is enough to fight me? I'm a Level 5, you damn brat! You're nothing but a piece of trash to me, so why don't you just bow your head down and let me pierce that puny skull of yours huh?!" Her hysteric laughter was audible from everywhere in the darkness. It made an unpleasant sweat trickle down the boy's cheek.
They were now in the inner most part of the park, inside a small forest covered with tall trees. Only the bright silvery moon served as illumination for them.
Takayama Akito, whom had no special powers whatsoever, a normal Level 0, now stood face to face against the impossible, the 4th ranked Level 5, one of the strongest beings in Academy City.
It was like a small mouse fighting against a vicious lion.
His chances of winning against the Level 5 in a straight out fight were utterly close to zero, about 0.000000000001%. And this was optimistically speaking. This cruel truth was a known and proven fact to everyone in this city of hard science. There was just no way. It was a tremendously tall wall that just by looking at it face to face would send anyone into despair.
"You won't know until you try!" Akito ran towards the sides, not letting his eyes off the ridiculously strong esper.
The incomplete android stood a fair distance away from them, lifelessly staring at the two.
"Don't you realize that what you are doing here is useless?"
Four orbs of energy floated around Mugino Shizuri as she stood in the middle of the open space of the forest. The orbs fired Meltdowners consecutively at the Level 0.
Reacting just a split-second earlier, Akito gritted his teeth and leaped to the side. Just as his position changed, a beam hit his white hood and another grazed through his right shoulder, tearing his sleeve open and causing a long wound to appear.
There were also beams which passed by him and struck through the trunks of several trees, cutting them in half. Their leaves rustled wildly as they fell down to the ground.
The barrage of beams continued followed by loud explosions.
Akito continued to circle around the powerful esper as he evaded however the Meltdowners gradually got closer and closer.
Oddly enough, the boy let out a small grin as he ran around trying to dodge beams left and right.
So this is what it's like to fight with everything you got!
He was not confident that he could win against the Level 5 and yet at the same time, he felt that his heart was free of any other thoughts, only focusing on the goal of protecting a precious friend.
The boy was not fighting in hatred against espers or Academy City.
If it had been himself in the past that was fighting against this Level 5, he would have undoubtedly ran away without a second thought, surrendering to the most logical decision for a Level 0 such as himself. However, his current self was different. Something was welling up inside him. It was something that was overwhelmingly filled with resolve and hope.
For once, he discarded the notion of power levels in this fight. It was like the same as discarding scientific notions and just following one's desires in pure form.
The Level 0's narrowed eyes carefully observed Mugino Shizuri as he ran around her, breathless. Once she makes her move, he will counter. A shot fell down on him but he quickly leapt forward. And just as he saw the orbs stop emitting those deadly beams, his chance opened up. He fired another shot during the split-second where the orbs were preparing to fire at him again, reducing his bullet count down to 8.
The bullet was able to hit the upper part of her left shoulder. Blood splattered at the point of impact. But at the same time, a Meltdowner hit the ground beneath the boy. It felt like time had completely turned to a halt. He was unable to react in time.
A giant explosion appeared. Piles of earth from the point of impact flew to a great height.
The boy flew backwards due to the sudden explosion.
"Gaaaaahh!" Akito cried out. He fell down and hit an uneven ground with his back. A loud thud emitted from the impact.
He struggled to get up, not having the time rest, and instantly fired three shots at Mugino but this time, the Level 5 brought out her right hand to put up a shield and again, the bullets melted due to the rapid movement of electrons. His shot count went down to 5 instantly.
"Tch... This is getting real annoying." With a disgusted look, Mugino grabbed her left shoulder. "You got real lucky there, punk, but luck is scarce when your opponent can erase you in an instant while you're just crawling around on the ground like that." A stream of blood leaked out from the Level 5's shoulder, staining her dress.
The Level 0 gritted his teeth as he tried to compose himself when, suddenly, a figure dressed in a black hoodie and jeans was running towards them from a distance. The two turned their heads at the unknown person.
"Y-you idiot! Stick with the plan!" The boy grew wide-eyed at the girl's sudden appearance.
Hearing the boy's frantic reaction, Mugino looked at the newcomer clothes and then towards the incomplete android peeking from behind the tree. Their faces were the same. But from what she remembered, the android she met on the bridge wore the exact same clothes as the one that was fast approaching them.
"Hahaha! Looks like your plan has been foiled." The Level 5 laughed. "You must've turned off some part in her system to stop her from emitting AIM and to hide from Takitsubo's AIM Stalker."
Mugino Shizuri let go of her shoulder and began to collect a massive amount of electrons into an orb in her right palm. The size was far larger than anything she has gathered before. She aimed the Meltdowner down at the boy who was having a hard time standing up.
In that instant the large beam of bright green light that could bore through a naval vessel headed towards Akito.
It was game over.
The situation took a turn for the worst because the beam did not hit Akito but the android he was trying to protect. The girl wearing the black hoodie pushed the boy out of the way from the massive Meltdowner.
"!?"
The beam incinerated the android's entire body.
She could not cry out.
Every part of her was torn through by the Level 5's Meltdowner.
Akito sat there motionless, watching the horrific scene unfold in front of him.
Once the beam subsided, he could only see a large hole on the ground.
He crawled towards the hole but nothing was left of her. Not a single trace.
The boy did not move from his spot.
His expression was completely empty, like his entire soul was ripped into shreds.
"Tch... I screwed up." Mugino scratched the back of her tea-colored hair. Her mission was only to retrieve the android, not annihilate it. It was a complete failure, and she caused it with her own hands. She reached for her phone to contact Hamazura Shiage. "The mission's a bust. Call everyone back and also..." she took a quick glance at the boy before continuing. "Call the cleaners. I don't want to deal with this pathetic cockroach."
The phone snap shut.
The entranced boy did not respond or was even paying attention to what she was saying.
Mugino looked at the incomplete android standing a certain distance away before firing a quick Meltdowner.
The android fell to the ground subsequently.
Mugino turned towards the boy this time. She knew she could kill him in an instant. It was all too painfully easy. Just one beam could end his life right here and now. It was just like flipping the on and off button of a TV remote, of course, she could only do the off side. But thinking clearly now, she had taken a bullet to her shoulder. She regretted not using that last Meltdowner on this boy. It would have satisfied her. But playtime was over sadly. She decided that her wounds were more important so she did not idle any further and left the boy to his grieving.
Left alone in the darkness of the woods, the boy did not move a single fiber of his muscles.
After a while, he slowly stood up unsteadily.
"Oww!" The boy touched his back before fixing himself up. "Are 'cleaners' some kind of grunt group who do their bidding? Better hurry and get out of here then. I need to move some of the stuff in the dorm to create space for her."
The boy walked limply, taking small steps.
His phone vibrated from inside his pocket. He turned it on and brought it up to his ear.
"I've finished downloading the code. We're outside the facility now." Nunotaba spoke through the phone.
"I see. I've finished things here so I'm gonna head towards your location. By the way, how are we gonna wipe all her information from the lab's bank?"
"No need to worry. I know a certain Electromaster who specializes in this kind of thing. On a side note, Athena's anxiety is growing past its limit. In other words, she's very, very worried about you so you best be hurry."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm on my way." The boy let out what looked like a faint smile. It was almost illusionary.
"Moreover, she wants a new set of clothes for the ones you stole from her..."
"I'm the one who paid for those! But yeah, I'll buy her new ones so calm her down..." Akito turned off the phone and left the darkness of the park.
Things are slowly changing... Academy City looks darker now but at the same time, there's also a lot of people around me now... I have to be cautious from now on. I'm not just gonna let this dark side do whatever it wants.
Takayama Akito walked along the street towards his dorm in daylight, while holding a plastic bag. He wore a clean white shirt and pants. A bandage wrapped around the his shoulder underneath his sleeve.
In his plan against ITEM, he used several imperfect androids, installing them with Athena's AIM module, as decoys to split the group up while exploiting the information he had received on the AIM Stalker, and giving the control of the androids to Nunotaba Shinobu. But even then, he used another android as a decoy for another decoy. It was a trap hidden beneath a trap. However, whether or not he would come back alive was a total gamble for him. There was no guarantee that the group would spare him but he accepted his fate. He was prepared to die as long as his precious friend, Athena, was safe.
He made a content smile as he turned the door knob to his room.
"?"
After a moment, he stopped in his tracks after seeing several shoes at the entrance.
They were not his.
"Those freeloaders again." The young boy let out a small sigh as he walked further in but was stopped immediately at the sight of Nunotaba Shinobu and some other people he didn't knew.
"Welcome home, shishou!" Athena greeted the boy before serving tea to the guests.
"Ah! Welcome Akito-kun!" Tsuchimikado Maika worked at the kitchen doing all sorts of stuff.
"Huh?"
Saten Ruiko, Uiharu Kazari, Shirai Kuroko and Misaka Mikoto looked up at the young boy.
"Ne~ Wasn't this some sort of dorm-styled cafe?" Misaka turned towards Nunotaba Shinobu.
"Yes, it is." Shinobu smiled as she took a sip from her tea. "He is the owner of the cafe. One of his talents is his good acting skills."
"Eh~? So he performs shows here as well?" Saten Ruiko took a bite from crepe which Tsuchimikado Maika made.
"As I was saying, I met this annoying woman the other day during my patrol in the Science and Liberal Arts Exhibition." Shirai sounding displeased as she put her elbow down on the square table.
"What was she like, Shirai-san?"
The group of girls continued their idle chatter as they sat on the orange cushions around the small square table.
"Ah! There's no more tea. I must head out!" Athena rushed out of the room, brushing past the young boy.
Akito stood silently in the entry way.
Another group of people was using the boy's room as their private lunch area.
"..."
Akito stomped menacingly towards the table. He was emitting a fearsome vibe.
The girls looked up at him with puzzled and worried expressions.
What was the boy going to do to them?
Was he going to throw the strangers out of his beloved dorm room which has recently been a haven for people looking for a place to eat?
Akito gave them a brief cold hard stare before bringing forth the plastic bag.
"... I brought cake."
END AN:
I'm currently working to improve my writing. I know it's very sloppy so I really appreciate the feedback if you guys find anything I can improve on!
To be honest, I didn't put much thought into Takayama Akito's name. I just took the surname of "Takayama" from Railwars because that character was wasted in that "all-fanservice-and-no-plot" anime, and then I took "Akito" because he was my favorite character in Air Gear but when I looked up the translation for the name, it turned out that it meant "Satisfaction", pretty ironic considering his attitude back in the previous chapters.
EOF.