October 24th, 2006

"Whoa! This part of the city looks like a war zone this morning!" exclaimed Kamijou Touma as he walked through the city looking for his new school. Of course, due to his considerable amount of bad luck, he had yet to find it. The detours that the collapsed building caused made this effort even more difficult. He slid down a side alley away from all the traffic and Anti-Skill officers and continued on his way.

"That building must have taken a beating for there to be rubble this far from the site. Wait a sec... What is that?" said Touma as he spotted a streak of purple against the dull earthy tone of the former building. As he approached he noticed a hand stretched out from beneath a pile of brick and splintered wood. There's a person under there! He frantically began moving trash off of whoever had been trapped beneath it.

"It's... a girl!" he said as he reached out with his right hand to pull her out of the wreckage. "Hold on, I may not know where my new school is, but I know the hospital is close by, it'll be faster if I take you straight there."

The girl had slowly opened her eyes at that point to see this stranger holding her. "Don't... touch..." was all she could manage to say before fainting, her voice feeble and weak.

"Don't worry; I'm taking you to the hospital. The doctor I know there will be able to help you, I'm sure of it! Just hang in there, okay?" said Touma as he made his way through the back alleys, finally making it to the Emergency entrance to the hospital. As he carried her inside, Touma noticed that the doctor he knew, Heaven Canceller, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a doctor he wasn't familiar with approached them.

"Is she a victim of the explosion that happened earlier at the Institute building?" asked the doctor.

"I think so, I'm not that familiar with that area of Academy City yet, but I did find her beneath some rubble from a building. If you don't mind me asking, where's the regular doctor that is usually here?"

The strange doctor stared down at Touma, his attitude not as amicable as Heaven Canceller. "He's taken some leave, so I'm covering for him. I'll take the girl with me, she needs medical attention right now, not a game of Twenty Questions." As he said this, the man picked her up out of Touma's arms and started to walk away towards the inner rooms of the ER.

"Maybe it's just me, but I got an awkward vibe from that doctor. But I should leave them be so they can take care of her. I'll come back tomorrow to check on her." And with that, Touma left the hospital and once again attempted to locate his new school.

The doctor continued walking through the hospital, with Subject 37 unconscious in his arms. He entered into an area of the hospital that wasn't in use anymore and put the girl down on a waiting stretcher. From beneath it, he grabbed some blankets and very carefully wrapped 37 up in them, covering every area of exposed skin.

"Not taking any chances with you, Utsu-ru. Now to get you out of this disgusting city and back where you belong." The doctor removed his lab coat and name tag, revealing that he was no doctor at all, and began pushing the stretcher towards the back exit.

...

Early the next day, Touma arrived at the hospital to check on the girl with the violet hair.

"Hi, I came in here yesterday with a girl that was injured. I was wondering if you could tell me what room she's in?" he asked the receptionist in the main lobby.

"Sure, what is her name?"

"Uh, actually she wasn't awake when I found her, so I never got her name. But she was probably a few years older than me with long light purple hair. She was wearing what looked like a bodysuit, all gray. She was hurt bad, the doctor met me in the main lobby and took her back himself."

The receptionist typed the information into her computer, then shook her head. "I'm sorry, no one with that description was admitted here yesterday. I could have one of the nurses do a check if you want. It's also possible that her family could have had her transferred to their own doctor's care as well."

"I was hoping to see how she was doing, but if it's possible that her parents came for her, then I probably shouldn't interfere. Thanks for your help." Touma smiled and waved as he left the desk and exited the hospital. He still had that same uneasy feeling that first appeared when he talked to that doctor from yesterday. Should I keep checking into this? It seems strange for her not to have any record of being here...

"Hey, Touma! Did you ever find the new school building? What are you doing at the hospital?" yelled one of Touma's classmates from across the street.

"Oh hey there! No, I couldn't find it yesterday. I kinda got caught up in some stuff, and the hospital..." Touma said as he crossed the street to meet him.

"Haha, figures with that bad luck of yours, Touma. Come on, we can look together," replied his friend. As they walked away, Touma turned for one more look at the hospital. I should just let that feeling go, it's probably nothing. The two friends proceeded on their journey.

...

The strange man that took possession of 37 was now driving a large van out of the city. Behind him, several magicians gathered around the stretcher that 37 occupied.

"She's out cold, it may be a while before she comes back," said one of the men, Arthur Waite.

"Her power isn't controlled, for that, I blame her parents. They knew the potential she had yet did nothing to develop it. What use is she to us in this state, Robert?" Dion Fortune said, her cold tone representative of her current mood.

Robert Felkin replied, "None as she is now, this is obvious. But now isn't the time to be impatient or rash. Golden Dawn will see the collapse of Aleister's false power, and this girl is the key to his undoing. Considering her origin, our best course of action would be to leave her in the care of those who would do best to foster her power. They'd know best how to control and develop it properly. Once she is ready, we'll simply retrieve her."

"So you mean to bring her back to Musutafu? They'll never take her once they find out who she is and what she's being used to do! And what if they do find out and decide to fight against us?" asked Arthur.

"They'll have no way of finding out who she is, and she's known nothing of herself but a number. Their people are indeed strong with their so-called 'Quirks.' But they are also pacifists and have always kept their distance from the affairs of Magic. Once they identify her as manifesting a Quirk, they'll accept her without question," answered Robert.

"Well, there's no use doing anything if she doesn't wake up. Why didn't you let her get treated by that frog-faced doctor back in Academy City anyway, Paul?" Dion said to the man driving the van.

Paul Case sighed heavily before he answered her. "Because then she would have been even harder to retrieve, Fortune. He's got ties to Aleister, so any attempt to seize her after she came under his care would have revealed us."

"Paul is right, we'll just have to find a quiet way to treat her and then leave her for the people in Musutafu to find," Robert said as he looked down at the girl. "I know of a hospital just outside of the city that we could use."

They made it to the hospital and wheeled 37 in after Robert spoke with several nurses and doctors. Warning them of the danger directly touching 37 would present, they carefully examined her. One of the doctors revealed that 37 had fallen into a coma due to the traumatic injuries she had sustained.

"We can keep her monitored and comfortable, but there's no telling when she'll wake up from this severe of an injury," the doctor told the group.

Robert answered for them, "That's all we wish for the poor girl, but we are very sorry to have to take our leave. We were on a vital mission before we found her abandoned along the roadside. We're willing to pay for her care, my friend here can work out the details with you," he said as he gestured towards Arthur. "But if at all possible, if she does begin to awaken from her coma, we would like to be notified as soon as possible. We just want to learn more about the girl once she awakens."

"Certainly, that's very kind of you to be taking such care of a stranger. Leave your contact information with us, and we'll make a note of it in her chart to call you once she's conscious."

"Thank you for all of your help, Doctor. We'll be seeing you again soon, I hope," Robert said as their group started to walk out of the hospital lobby. He quickly caught up with them and noticed a faint red light bordering the doorway as he walked out.

"So you managed to set up the spell while we were speaking, Dion?" asked Robert.

"Of course, no one that leaves through any of the doors will remember us. They'll still know to call us when Utsu-ru wakes up, but they'll have no idea what we'll look like when we show up."

"Good. All that's left to do now is continue to work on our plan and wait."

It's a good thing Robert had mentioned remaining patient because it would be five years before they finally received their phone call.