Networked (A Certain Scientific Railgun SI) #02.5

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It had been quite some time since I'd been anything but the driver, it was… nice, and it felt good to just put the seat back and be a passenger as the Sister drove through the city. It was relaxing, and quiet, with none of the rage-inducing stupidity I'd experienced whenever commuting. Although, it might have been more enjoyable were the Sister not insistent on making conversation. Unfortunately for her, the topics were ones that I'd just rather not become involved with.

"'Additionally, Misaka 10091 has been most insistent as she has come to the deluded conclusion that by receiving a piece of jewelry from the Boy she would have the right to lay claim on him over other Sisters,' reports Misaka with no small amount of frustrated trepidation at her sister's… presumptiveness."

I tried to ignore her, but hearing a quiet creaking fill the cab I glanced over to see the Sisters hands tighten around the steering wheel; knuckles turning white from the force of her grip.

And unfortunately for me, being stuck in the car with her and all, I couldn't simply block her out by closing myself off from the network.

"'In response to this stance though, Misaka 10032 has taken begun taking action and is actively sabotaging Misaka 10091's efforts, even going so far as to discretely ruin her attempts at dieting as 10032 believes she has the greatest claim. Misaka wonders, however, do you think her efforts would be better focused if she were to bypass her sisters by taking a more direct approach with the boy?"

I kept my eyes on the road and pretended I didn't hear her ask me anything. But the silence. The silence. For three blocks and two red-lights, there was nothing but silence as she waited, waiting for me to respond. Eventually, I caved and sighed. "To be honest, I couldn't give you an answer, and all this teenage romance is outside my comfort area." Lord knows I didn't exactly do the dating 'thing'. "So… yeah," I finished lamely and shifted in my seat. "Sorry. I'd help if I could, but I would rather avoid being drawn into this... thing, you and the other Misaka's have going on with the boy."

Another pregnant silence descended on the van as the Sister came to a stop at a busy intersection.

"'I see and I apologize,'" she finally said, "Misaka simply assumed that because she and several others went through a great deal of effort to acquire objects for your dormitory that you would be more conducive to assisting her in this relatively minor matter. It seems she was mistaken."

Blinking, I playing her words back a kernel of guilt seeded itself in my guts. She was doing it on purpose. I knew she was doing it on purpose— she'd said so herself —but… I sighed in resignation and sank back into the seat. Probably should have figured one of them would get to me, though, especially considering how often they guilted their 'Big Sister'. "Fine. I'll tell you what I was planning to tell Mikoto, is that acceptable?"

"Yes. However, Misaka does request Aka refrain from giving the same advice for as long as she can."

Not give the same advice? Oh. The competitiveness. I could just see it: Pulling herself onto the plateau Misaka sees another Sister barely hanging onto the cliff edge and walks over. "'Long live the king,' Misaka intones ominously."

I shook my head at the silly visual despite knowing it probably wasn't too far off the mark. "Sure. Well… Basically, the best thing you can do is to keep things simple. I'm not saying to be blatant or excessive in conveying your affection for him, but don't bother using subtlety. Teenage boys…" I bit back a cringe as I remembered my own obliviousness. "Let's just say that boys in general— unless they have prior experience —are about as dense as Nintendium so most forms of subtlety expressing interest will go right over their heads. Just be clear about how you feel and keep things simple."

"'Keep things simple…' Yes, Misaka understands, she will 'keep things simple'."

I opened my mouth to add to emphasize the part about not going overboard, the words were on the tip of my tongue and I turned in my seat to… to… I tried to recall what I was going to say but hit a blank. My lips pursed together and I turned back to the road.

It would probably be a good idea to try and tell her to take it easy on him, but as I'd already all but thrown him under the bus— and a bus filled with Sisters and an angry Mikoto hot on their heels at that… Well, it was probably a bit too late for that. My bad?

Eh, he'd be fine. He'd suffered worse and what was the attention of a bunch of girls after him… the kernel mutated in a different direction. But, just because I didn't think it was a problem mean it sat well. In fact, it didn't sit well at all and for a number of reasons.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as the kernel grew heavier and heavier.

I'd told the Sister to keep things simple. But them and simple… that didn't quite mesh. Moderation was a thing that, from what I knew of the Misaka Network, wasn't something they had the firmest grasp on. And I'd all but told a Sister to throw out what subtlety she did know. And then there was the fact that there were who knew how many of the Sisters infatuated with the poor kid.

I grabbed onto that thread before it could fade. Why were the Sisters really infatuated with him? If I remembered correctly, it boiled down to hero worship which was… not exactly the best foundation for a relationship. Any kind of relationship for that matter… fuck. But moving on, the relationship implications were one thing, then there was the fact that there were over nine thousand of the Sisters, with however many of that number having some level of interest in him with a 'there can only be one' mentality. And if that wasn't enough, had any of them actually considered why they were interested in him?

Sure, he'd stopped the experiment, defended them and defeated Accelerator, but the Will could probably have ended things before then if she'd been willing to deviate from the canonical termination method… then again, just the memory of the original scenario might have been enough to… I grimaced and shook my head to force myself back on track.

So ultimately, beyond hero worship… what was there? I must have spent several minutes after asking myself that question mulling over everything that I knew and... I honestly couldn't find a reason. There was of course the matter of a different perspective and not swinging that way, but still; nothing.

"Just make sure—" I bit my tongue to keep from mangling what I was trying to say and mentally sounded it out.

"Yes?"

I opened my mouth again but hesitated, about to dismiss what I was going to say when the words fell into place. "Just make sure you know what you want. Ask yourself why you're doing what you're doing every once in awhile. If you don't stop to think about things— and I mean really, really, think about things… Eventually, you'll blink and realize you're somewhere you didn't want to be, doing something you never wanted to do with no way out…" I glanced over to the Sister. "Do you get what I'm saying?"

"'Yes... No,' Misaka confesses she is somewhat conflicted. She does understand what you are saying, however only to a certain extent— She only understands in a theoretical sense, you see. However, much like the feelings she and her Sisters feel in regards to Big Sister and the boy, at the present time she is lacking the experience necessary to provide sufficient context so that she may fully grasp the information Aka is trying to convey. She and her Sisters do understand some of what you are saying, though, and the effort is appreciated."

Silence descended on the cab once more, though of the thoughtful variety rather than the awkward silence of before until the Sister broke it once more. "Due to the context of the previous discussion, I presume that this is related to the boy?"

"Not exactly but…" Waffling I tried to come up with another reason before quickly drawing up blanks. "Pretty much, yeah. At least it's what made me think of it."

Dropping my elbow on the door's armrest I stared into the distance, imagined scenarios of conflict among the Sisters coming far too easily. "It's just… With how many of you there are and there being only one of him you need to ask yourself, why? You need to ask yourself if this attraction has any substance? You need to ask yourself: Is this is little more than hero worship, or is there something greater behind it?"

I grimaced as the subject matter made me remember some of my misadventures into the field. Infatuation, Attraction, Romance; all variations of the same transient thing in the end. "Of course, thinking about something like the reasoning behind a relationship… it may not be the easiest thing to quantify, but it's something that becomes necessary after a point. Not to say you need to be constantly considering and over analyzing every little thing, but—" I cut myself off, realizing I'd gone off the rails and lost the train of thought. I reached for it again and tried to think of the words, but the moment was gone.

I sighed. "Just stop occasionally. Slow down and think things over."

I'm not an orator. I'm not an inspirational speaker and I'm not someone that rouses people to action. But, I am someone that has made more than a few mistakes and fucked up enough along the line that neglecting to make some small effort to keep others from making the same mistakes I did would be inexcusable.

But I'd said something now and realized only after the fact that I was breathing a little easier. Whether the Sisters actually took my words into consideration though, that was another matter entirely, but I'd said my piece. "Just take what I said into consideration, ok?"

"I will /return."

Eyes widening and looking to her I didn't see the Will, or Misaki, or whatever her number was; but simply a Misaka behind the wheel, her hands at ten and two with her eyes fixed on the road.

Experience. Context… That was right, wasn't it? This Sister had her disguise, but that was a superficial difference, take that away and she could have been any of the other Sisters.

But still, despite lacking the experience to put what I'd said into a context she could understand, it seemed to have reached her nonetheless, and where I could reach one… well, for now, all for one and one for all worked just fine.

Lips turning up, I sat back and closed my eyes to enjoy the rest of the drive.

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