The following is a non-profit, fan work based off the respective works of Kazuma Kamachi and Ryūtarō Nakamura
All rights belong to the original creators, J.C. Staff Co., Ltd.; and Triangle Staff
The Bluefire Phoenix presents...
A Chapter of The Serial Experiment...
Layer X: EP 5-3
Academy City may have been forty years ahead of the world, but a sewer was still a sewer no matter how advanced a civilization might be. It was dank and grimy and I didn't want to know what was sliding down my back. I was carrying Lain while trying to check my cellphone. Not that there was a chance in hell I was going to get a bar, but I needed something to keep my mind off of the insanity of what just happened.
Thoughts of my conversation with Avri, the revelation about Lain, and whatever Kiyama was up to all bounced around my head. My arms start to strain under Lain's weight. I looked around and set the girl down. I slumped over next to her. Lain curled up against my chest.
I ran my hand through her hair. It was still damp from the tube that Lain had been...reborn from? My quickly fingers recoiled as they passed through her brown locks. Lain's hair didn't…didn't feel real. I wanted to believe it was because the fact that it hadn't dried yet.
But even in the dry parts it still didn't feel natural. Her hair was coarse and plastic-like despite looking so life like. Come to think of it, I her hair never grew all the while she lived with me.
My hand crawled down to Lain's face. I closely inspected her skin. There wasn't a blemish or fault to be found. There was also an unnatural order to her pores.
Lain stirred from her nap and looked up to me with brown eyes. Even her stare had an inhuman nature to it. "Mikoto, what happened? I remember being at the train station and now…now I'm here with you."
"I'm not sure, Lain."
The girl looked away from me. "I had…a dream. You were there and so was someone else. I'm not sure who the other one was," she mumbled. I'm not sure who the other one," she mumbled.
Was she talking about Avri? Did she hear what they said? Lain seemed to have drifted off again. She was examining her hand, running it over the concrete floor, over her leg, and down her face. A sigh passed over her lips. "This isn't my body, is it Mikoto?"
I felt my heart freeze. "What are you talking about?" I stammered out. If what Kiyama said was true, then yes that was technically her body. But I knew full well what she meant but I didn't want her to panic. Not now anyway.
"Nothing feels quite right," she elaborated. Her fingers began to curl, eyes blinking constantly. "I see things, touch things, smell things; but it's like I'm witnessing it all through a lens."
Lain grabbed my shirt. She looked deep into my eyes. "What…am I?" she asked. Her eyes looked at the passing refuse in the sewer water. My arms wrapped tightly around her. Our foreheads were locked together.
"All I know is that you are Lain and that you're the most important person in my life. No matter what comes to pass: nothing will ever change that," I swore to Lain. I backed off of the girl and kept our eyes locked. A plan formed in my head. My hand slipped into my pocket and I clench the drive. I was going to rip off the veil of lies and secrecy right of the face of this city!
A rush of energy pulsed through my body. My muscles were reinvigorated with enough lifted her up again.
We tracked over another kilometer before reaching an exit. I set Lain down again and adjusted the head set I grabbed off the Anti-Skill officer. The droning, automated call for about something called EP 5-3 had ended. Instead there was nothing but static, which limited my options. I wasn't thrilled with the notion of popping my head out of a manhole to come face to face with a rifle.
I started climbing up, my mind churning through what to do. Then it hit me. I put my hand on the metal lid. Electricity began to flow from me into the metal. I focused it and created a sort of electrical radar out of it. The images formed in my head were fuzzy. Air wasn't a great conductor for the kind of fine tuning I needed but it worked. I spent a good two minutes waiting for a disturbance in the electrical field. Nothing stirred. I clambered down and yanked off my shirt, putting it on Lain. I left the plastic rag on the ground as I scooped up Lain, putting her on my back. She clung on tightly as we ascended back up.
I checked the surface again then lifted the lid with a magnetic push. I scrambled up to the surface. I pulled out my phone, grabbing hold of Lain's leg to brace her as I began to run. We seemed to be in District Two. That meant we were in the middle of the general high schools on the island. And our class's tour day was next week.
What I needed was a general spot to hide in plain sight. Unless Anti-Skill really, really wanted to catch us, then we were totally screwed.
The thundering sound of a helicopter forced me into an alley. It hugged the wall the best I could. My heart kept racing as it flew over. I pulled out my cellphone. It was getting full bars. I quickly went to Kuroko's number.
"Pick up. Pick up," I angrily muttered.
"Sissy what's..."
"Shut it, Kuroko. Where are you?"
"Wha...yeah, I'm at the office. Anti-Skill is mobilizing hardcore. Do you know what's going on?" she asked.
"I think I've managed to piss off the powers that be in the city."
"Um wow, that's…"
"Never mind, I need you to meet me and Lain in District Two," I requested. Kuroko was silent for a moment.
"I don't know Sissy. We are on lockdown here," Kuroko said.
"Please, at least help get Lain out of here," I pleaded.
"Okay, I'll see what I can do," my friend said.
"We'll be around the main train station. Keep an eye out."
"Got it," she hung up. I pocketed my phone and grabbed Lain's hand. We bolted for the train station. Anti-Skill had a single armored car stationed there and a couple of officer patrolling. They were in armor, without helmets.
No students could be seen around the station. I hung around the corner in the blind spot of the street camera. Anti-Skill set a trap. It had to be the only reason for such an incompetent display.
My pulse pounded second after second as sweat rolled down my back. All my hope was riding on my pink haired friend. There were worse bets in the world I suppose.
I heard a familiar warp to the side and Kuroko ran up to us. "Okay I need you to take Lain as far from here as you can. Use the sewer system if you have to, just get her somewhere safe. Then get Delphi and Uiharu to the same place," I ordered. Kuroko bit her lip and nodded.
"What are you going to do Sissy?" she asked. I peeked around the corner at the Anti-Skill officers still lollygagging in front of the train station. A wave of anger came over me. I wanted to destroy them. Watch them fry by my hand! To send a message to their masters that I was not to be trifled with!
A self-inflected slap across my face banished those thoughts. A lingering concern haunted the back of my mind. I remembered what Dr. Cutter said, that high level Espers tend to develop mental illness. Was I coming down with something?
"I'm going to break Alice Mizuki out of the mental hospital," I bluntly stated. Kiyama may have unveiled what Lain was, but little else. If Lain could remember her past, maybe we'd have a better picture of what was going on.
"Are you crazy?" Kuroko stuttered. That…was a good question. I suppose we were going to find out.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," I reassured my friend. Well it was mostly true. "Alright, on three you grab Lain and run." Kuroko nodded in acknowledgment.
I raised up two fingers, my head just leaning over the edge to watch the Anti-Skill officers. "Two. Three!" I shouted, steeping around the corner. Static bolts began to erupt around my body.
The officers saw me almost immediately. They drew pistols on me. That was unexpected. Granted if they were expecting me, tasers wouldn't have been their first choice.
"Stand down Railgun!" one of the officers shouted. I kept walking towards them. "Stand down!"
One of the officers pulled their trigger. I created a small magnetic storm around me.
The flaw in their decision to use firearms was the simple fact that well...
The bullet ricochet off of my shielding and launched into a wall.
…bullets were made of metal...
Another bullet was shot at me only to wind up in a fate similar to that of its predecessor.
...and metal was my bitch.
Their one smart move was the fact that they were using Glocks, so I couldn't just crush the weapons. The officers took a step back. One of them pulled out what looked like a detonator. I bit my lip, ready for whatever they threw at me.
They pressed the button and a silver sphere on a cylinder popped out of the top of the van. Ah, crap. I was forced to my hands and knees. Damn it Kiyama. The officers aimed their weapons at me again.
I strained to lift my head up. My hands had to go to my forehead in order to attempt to use my finger nails to dig into to my brain and rip it out. It only left me face first in the concrete. This wasn't the same thing they used in the asylum. No this one was meant to incapacitate me.
I needed to focus. Negate the field. Sparks erupted all around me. The formulation was coming to me. But I couldn't muster the will to make it reality. The interference was too much. Chewing right at the borders of my mind.
A hand braced my shoulder. It assured me that this was not the end. I forced a barrier around me, creating a sort of funnel that reached the sphere. Such a technique required a tremendous amount of concentration. But now I had a clear shot and creating a bolt of lightning was nothing but pure instinct for me. One charge at the tip of my finger and a simple chain of charges that led up to the orb, set the voltage and the amps. My whim made reality, an arc of lightning spanned the gap in between.
The offending sphere burst into charred scrape. I rose to my feet. One of the officers grabbed their shoulder mounted radio and requested back up. The roar of a helicopter around an apartment complex, just out of my range. A sniper was sitting in the hold, aiming right at me. I nonchalantly raised up another field to repel the assault. But the bullet past through! It hit only a couple of meters behind me.
They were using rubber bullets! Another helicopter came up from behind me. Crap, the bastard set a trap. It seemed the time to run. I turned west for District One and bolted.
The helicopters remained in hot pursuit. Their gunners kept taking shots at me. The initial officers I ran into were also tailing me in their van, staying just outside of my reach.
Sweat coated my skin as my arms pumped faster and faster. A bullet finally struck me on my left shoulder. I flew face first into the concrete. My body went numb as I heard the van stop followed by the sound of boots approaching.
My arms failed to lift me up, crushed by the pain. Another bullet struck my right calf. I screamed in agony. Tears rolled down my face. Fear festered in my core.
I felt something spark inside of me. A quiet snap and a thought. I turned inward, lining up charges along the offending injuries. A stream of electricity raged around my body.
Adrenaline flooded my veins. I rose up like the wisp of smoke of a dying candle. My head seemed to swivel aimlessly around, hell's furry . My eyes spotted a vending machine on the sidewalk. I ripped off the front of the machine by the screws and launched at the goons. The officers were violently slammed to the ground.
I recalled the front of the machine to me, using it to absorb several incoming bullets. It wasn't going to last long. I reinforced my shield with metal from the guts of the machine.
My gut yearned to fight back. Fortunately there were a few quarters in the machine. I brought them to me. I loaded a shot and waited a moment.
I rolled out of my cover and fired. The helicopters were out of my effective range, sitting back at about a hundred and sixty, a hundred and seventy meters. They weren't necessarily out of range, only any hit I made would be yield less than my maximum.
The coin launched from my hand and flew up and just skimmed the side of my target. The contact was still enough to put the chopper into a wild tailspin. It crashed into its companion, sending them to a fiery end on the street. I collapsed my makeshift shield around me to deflect the incoming debris.
After the air was clear of danger I flicked my defense aside and started walking to District One with those stolen quarters clutched in my hands.
My journey to the mental hospital was fairly uneventful. The only sign of activity was the occasional Anti-Skill helicopter hovering a few meters outside of my reach.
I reached the hospital and burst inside. The place was deserted. There was still a hot pot of coffee in the waiting room. I marched over to the wards, destroying the jammer without a moment of hesitation. I ripped off the door to Alice's room. The place was still a mess. Alice was huddled in the corner. She looked up at me with wild eyes.
"Well, well if it isn't the mighty Railgun," the charming, calming voice of a woman said over a hand held radio that was sitting on the floor. "Tell me, Mikoto: what do you think breaking Alice out will accomplish?"
My hand reached down and grabbed the handheld. "Who are you?" I growled.
"Who am I? Well I'd say it doesn't matter, but I suppose it does for the sake of conversation. Call me Caiaphas if you'd please," the woman said.
Caiaphas...I heard that name before. Whispered somewhere on the Wired. "My question still stands, Mikoto," the woman interrupted my thought. I shook my head, firming my grip on the radio.
"I'm going to find the truth about Lain. Alice will fill in the gap in Lain's memory and I'll finally know what the hell is going on in this damn city, Caiaphas," I spat.
The woman let out a snickering laugh. "Even if Lain really did know 'what the hell' was going on before her memory was wiped, Alice still wouldn't be of much use to you. Especially now thanks mostly to Kiyama and a little bit to me. But just a sliver because I had no idea she was up to, so you can't blame me too much," she cackled.
"I don't believe you," I shouted. She was setting up a ruse. Whoever this Caiaphas woman was, she knew I was only moves away from a brilliant checkmate. Whatever the masters of Academy City were hiding was going to be dragged kicking and screaming into the light.
"That's fine. You are under no obligation to believe a word I say. But since you are determined to follow this course of action, let me give you a warning: do not think that you will win this fight. No matter what power you wield, it will not be enough," she calmly addressed in a polite but icy tone.
"You've overestimated yourself," I countered.
"Please, Mikoto. Walk out of the hospital alone, right now. Place your hands on your head and surrender to Anti-Skill."
"It's over Caiaphas. Whatever your plans are, they're finished. You've lost," I declared. I heard a sigh from the woman.
"Very well then, Ms. Misaka. From this moment on, any blood spilled will be on your hands." The radio went dead. Her words didn't bother me in the slightest. Whoever she was, she was soon going to be a number in the international prison system. I set it down and went over to Alice. I knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Can you move?"
Alice nodded. I helped her up. We quickly left the facility, running through backstreets in an attempt to throw the helicopters off our scent. I pulled out my phone once they were gone and called for Kuroko. Hopefully she and Lain were still safe.
"Sissy, are you safe?" she asked in hushed whisper.
"Yeah, I have Alice," I answered in a similar tone.
"Good. I've done what you asked. Give me a minute and I'll get you here."
To Be Continued...
A/N: Mental illness was inevitably going to show up, as both a theme in Lain and something I referenced earlier. For now I'm going to focus on Misaka's decline into a sociopath. In the mean time I changed up chapter three a bit so Misaka wouldn't be insanely powerful, just extremely. Why? Because KE = .5*m*v^2, that's why.
I've found the most fun I've had writing as of late have been the snippets of Caiaphas. I know that she hasn't shown up a lot, but I think that's why I enjoy writing her. It also helps keep the antagonist interesting.
So as we're entering the home stretch, there is still a lot to do yet. I'm excited.
Interested in another portrayal of Lain? I've started up a co-op project crossing over Lain and the MCU. You can find it here: s/11397285/
Until next time, video killed the radio star {but their sentence got commuted}