Has it really been almost two years since the last update!? Mercy!
"-Misaka-10032, who just became unconscious, is most likely in danger."
"Mm."
Tachyon listened intently to his blue Gekota phone next to his ear.
He was holding a replacement, of course; upon his request to regain his old one, he was told that the original was destroyed in his battle with the Vampire.
On the other end of the line was Shokka, who immediately reported this alarming news to him. Misaka-10032 suddenly lost her consciousness in a secluded alleyway. This was indeed a cause for concern.
"Alright, I'll check it out right now. Thanks for telling me."
The call ended.
It was now 11:53 AM. Since he had just received the call, he deemed transmigrating to the location in question five minutes ago to be sufficient. He decided to make it ten just to be sure.
It was now 11:50 AM.
For seven minutes he laid flat upon the rooftop of the nearby building. In his hands was his portable periscope which he used to peek over the roof every so often.
Then he saw it; the clone, who was just in a conversation with Mikoto ten seconds ago, first leaned onto the wall next to her, and then slid slowly down onto the ground.
The chances of this being a collapse from exhaustion was possible, but unlikely. The most probable conclusion was that this was a planned attack. Tachyon still did not make a single movement yet; he judged that it was better for him to wait for the enemy to make the next move.
Soon came a tall blond man accompanied by the cute chick he had seen earlier today; the same one who gave the opening speech along with Gunha. Could they be the ones behind this attack? Certainly, they expressed no shock or surprise or fear upon seeing the collapsed clone. Their intentions, Tachyon felt, were nothing good.
An ambulance came to pick up the unconscious clone after the tall man made a phone call. Tachyon briefly contemplated transmigrating inside the ambulance, but rejected that idea; there was no guarantee that he would be able to safely transmigrate inside the moving vehicle without alerting the drivers. Drawing attention to himself was the last thing he needed. Instead, he began to skip across rooftops while tailing the rapidly moving ambulance. His years of experience gave him foresight on just the right amount of distance he should maintain from the vehicle he was trailing.
Who was that man, and who was that girl? While keeping one eye on the ambulance, Tachyon thought to himself intently. As he had never seen that man before, Tachyon pushed him out from his mind to concentrate on the girl. She appeared to be in her final year of middle school, or in the freshman year of her high school. She stood next to Gunha while giving the opening speech... which logically meant that her Esper level was 5, just like Gunha.
The mystery began to clear itself after that realization; he knew all the names of the Level 5 Espers and their respective abilities. However, he did not know all of their physical characteristics. Tachyon's major source of information were hushed voices of magicians swapping information regarding their enemies; hence, he knew the names of the Level 5's, but not their faces. He recognized Misaka Mikoto on his first day at Academy City not due to her appearance, but by her repeating her name to Index.
Then he subsequently met Accelerator, a man with breathtaking anger management issues. Then, yesterday, he met Gunha, the gutsiest man he came across so far. That left four. Two men named Kakine Teitoku and Aihana Etsu... clearly, the blonde-haired girl in question was not either of them. That left Mugino Shizuri, the woman with... laser powers, or something along those lines, and Shokuhou Misaki, the woman with Mind Manipulation powers.
He sincerely hoped it wasn't Shoukhou he was dealing with; he fought against magicians that could control minds before, and they were particularly troublesome to deal with.
It was at this point when the ambulance made its unexpected stop at a parking garage.
It was obvious that something was off; ambulances were supposed to immediately bring their patients to a hospital, and this was no hospital. Instead, the Misaka clone was transferred into an unmarked car which quickly drove off toward a different direction.
"Impossible," Tachyon muttered while squinting through his binoculars. "This is an abnormal behavior. I wouldn't be surprised if this was illegal."
Why would an ambulance drop off its patient into another random vehicle?
Tachyon thought back to how that man and the girl approached the clone almost as if they expected her to be there.
"-Most likely, they prearranged the situation to go in this direction. And the simplest way to compel the ambulance drivers to give up their patient is to..."
Mind control the drivers. Which in turn meant that the blonde-haired girl he saw before was Shoukhou Misaki, the Mental Out.
Sigh...
The current state of affairs became much more complex due to that sort of troublesome ability. He dealt with mind controlling magicians before, but he had zero experience in battling an Esper with such an ability. He need to be prepared.
But his first priority at that moment was to watch over the unconscious clone; Tachyon duly continued his tailing of the unmarked vehicle.
After about an hour or so the car came to a stop. Tachyon had very little idea where he was; his GPS was currently haywire, refusing to function. Tachyon did surmise that he was in another district due to the fact that he had crossed a border-like wall on his way here.
The clone was taken out from the car and was carried into the building.
The little strips of windows the building had were covered. There was no way to observe what was going on in the inside of the building. Just like before, the chances of him being able to transmigrate inside without alerting its occupants were slim.
On the other hand, he had zero idea as to what the clone was going through within that building. It was a difficult situation to manage.
...
He attempted to contact Shokka, but the phone had no signal, just like the GPS.
Well, this was one of those times where his ability came in handy; if there indeed was something being done to the clone, he would find out about it sooner or later. Then all he would need to do was to go back to time to prevent it from happening. Tachyon came to the conclusion that waiting was for the best.
His thoughts then roamed back to the identity of the Esper he was facing against.
Mind Manipulation.
As Level 5, it would not be far-fetched to assume that she had all sorts of mental-related abilities at disposal. Reading minds, controlling minds, reading memories, changing memories, changing personalities, controlling emotions, etc, etc...
Again, what he needed was information. Without information, directly confronting this Esper was a suicide. Unfortunately, his phone had no mobile signal whatsoever. He would first have to leave this place before engaging in a thorough research.
An hour passed while Tachyon kept his hawkish eyes on the unmarked building in his sight. He confirmed beforehand that the side of the building he was observing was the only side with an entrance. Unless a Teleporter was involved, he was certain that he'd notice any sort of movement by those who held the clone hostage. So far the only activity he noticed during his watch was the blond-haired man he saw earlier entering the building shortly after the clone was taken inside.
Was a man responsible for a crime he committed while not being in control of his own actions? Certainly, if the situation allowed the judges to identify the mind controller, proper justice could be carried out. But what if such opportunity was not available? How could judgment be carried out in all fairness if proper guilt could not be determined? Such was a common conundrum caused by a trouble ability known as mental manipulation.
Tachyon thought back to the legend of Heracles, when he, in a fit of madness induced by a jealous pagan idol, killed his wife and his children. He wished to commit suicide to atone the atrocity he committed, but Theseus intervened, reminding Heracles that it ill behooved him to die a senseless death in an impossible attempt to achieve complete atonement; rather, he told Heracles to nobly struggle against this great misfortune by continuing to live. He grasped the blood-stained hands of Heracles, fully accepting a share of burden carried by the committer of such an unheard crime. Theseus ultimately rejected the idea that a man was responsible for a crime he had no control over. Tachyon was inclined to agree with that line of reasoning.
Several more hours passed before Tachyon was awoken from his drowsy state by a sound of an alarm originating from the building. His body in alert, Tachyon swept the perimeter with his binoculars.
On the rooftop came the same blond man he saw before carrying the clone. He was visibly out of breath, and he set the clone down as quickly as possible before taking out his phone.
Not gonna work. Tachyon grimaced. This entire area is dead as far as signals are concerned.
Indeed, the man was visibly struggling with his device.
The clone looked as same as the last time he saw her; perhaps there was nothing done to her so far. But what exactly was the point in bringing her to this remote location?
With surprise Tachyon saw the man make a successful phone call. The grip on his binoculars tightened as Tachyon closely observed the man make a desperate conversation with his device.
Then, a geezer stepped forth from the same entrance. He had a slightly crooked posture with his hands behind his back. He was completely bald with birthmarks that would make Gorbachev proud. As for this man's physiognomy... there was an indication of complete moral insanity.
The man that carried the clone all the way to the top of the building was clearly no ally of this old hoary fossil; upon noticing his presence the blond fellow immediately took out his gun, but in middle of his action he suddenly froze; a great shock washed over his face at this unexpected turn of events. A single click on the cylindrically shaped device the old man held in his hand was all it took for this to occur.
"Doggone it, another mind manipulator?" Tachyon grumbled under his breath.
Several tense moments passed while the old man conversed as if nothing was amiss using the phone the blond man held before. There was no rush in his movements whatsoever; Tachyon was reminded of a spider slowly crawling toward its prey as the old man now strolled toward the collapsed clone
Normally, this would be the time when he intervened on the situation. It was most strange, however; he still did not see himself appear to directly confront the geezer. He required that confirmation from his future-self before making such a bold move.
A small flash of light in mid-air interrupted his thoughts; an index card that appeared along with the flash floated toward the ground. Snatching it up before letting it hit the floor, Tachyon glanced at the written message:
Stay put.
Succinct and to the point as usual. Tachyon had zero idea as to why his future-self would give such an instruction, but he supposed that he himself had a good reason for doing so.
Still, the manner in which that old man carried himself was rather slimy. He held out his cylindrical remote toward the hapless clone, and pressed once, and pressed once more.
Immediately the clone began to shriek in agony as streaks of darkness appeared in the air, connected with her body. The afternoon sky appeared as if it was covered with heavy rain clouds.
Tachyon's grip on his binoculars tightened to the point of fracture. Just what was going on? What exactly did that old bastard do to the clone?
Then out from the door of the rooftop entrance came Misaka Mikoto.
The paroxysm of wrath that outburst from her at the sight of the collapsed clone was terrible to behold; but the geezer remained unfazed. Turning toward her with much languidity, he clicked his remote once more.
The black streaks which collected in the atmosphere now converged into Mikoto's body. Then a solitary strike of lightning hit her directly; out from the resulting cloud of plasma came out something that could not be described as terrestrial.
Attached to her rising hair were two horns akin to the ones on a common goat. Attached to her back were wires with diamond shaped trinkets attached on every set interval.
"...Aw f**k."
It was painfully obvious that this entire state of affairs was entirely removed from his hands. There was nothing he could do to salvage the current situation. His only way of preventing this from happening would be to go back in time in an attempt to change history. The current School District he was in right now was in severe chance of becoming a ground zero for an unseen disaster never witnessed before.
...
Wait a moment.
That wretched geezer first did something to the clone that resulted in this outcome. Logically, as all Misaka clones were connected through their brain network...
"Shokka," Tachyon whispered as his gaze hardened.
Her safety took top priority; he had no choice but to transmigrate to her first before taking any other option.
A large teapot lay on a small wooden table; it gave off a sweet aroma that filled the dorm room. Kneeling in front of the table was Shokka, who, with movements marked with grace, poured boiling water into the teapot.
"The Testament Learning Device did not educate us on the topic of proper consumption of Tea. However, it is Misaka's desire to know more about it."
On the right-hand side of the table was a special programming laptop solely used by Tachyon. It displayed a video of a woman in kimono preparing a teapot. 'The Japanese Tradition - Tea' was the title of the video.
"While Misaka does feel that the video is informative, Misaka also feels that the legitimacy of the information in question is up for debate. The woman in this video pours the crushed tea leaves into the pot all the way to the brim. Misaka's common sense goes against this act."
Following the direction the video gave her, Shokka took the teapot and began to rotate it.
Then came the step to use the Tea-Whisk.
"A Tea-Whisk?" Shokka haltered for a moment, faltering. "Misaka was unaware of the importance of this tool..."
A Cream Whisk was found in a quick kitchen raid conducted by Shokka.
"This will have to do."
"How it's used..." the video continued. "Is a mystery."
...
"Misaka is beginning to have doubts about this traditional pastime."
The rest of the video, on the other hand, passed without a hiccup. Lifting the teapot, she poured tea into her cup a third at a time. Then, she gently blew on the tea, reducing its temperature.
Finally, it was time to drink the fruits of her labor. Lifting the cup to her lips, she took a sip.
"Ahh." Shokka sighed mechanically.
She took another sip.
"茶禅同一味 - The taste of Zen and Tea are One." Shokka recited. "Misaka now fully appreciates the meaning behind that statement.
She took another sip.
"静心养神唯吾 - I can cultivate my Spirit only with a calm Heart. Truly, Misaka feels that the energy given by the tea is something deeper and more profound than any other beverage."
She took another sip.
"Shokka! Shokka!" Tachyon barged into his dorm room, startling the clone within. The tea that was in her cup came dangerously close to spilling.
"Where are you- are you alright? Wait, what's the time?"
Tachyon glanced at the clock on the south wall.
5:36. He had about 3 minutes.
"What am I saying? Of course you're fine- wait, what are you doing?"
"Misaka is drinking tea."
"Weren't you the one who informed me about the danger one of your clones are going through right now? How could you be so relaxed a time like this!?- wait, is that my programming laptop!?"
"Misaka decided to take this chance to try out a packet of green tea Misaka bought the other day. Tea is famous for its calming properties." Shokka held her cup out toward Tachyon. "Yoi otemae des ga?"
"No, I do NOT want tea right now." Tachyon glanced at the clock again. He had 2 minutes. "Shokka, something is going to happen in matter of seconds; please, lie down on the bed. You'll hurt yourself if you are standing when it happens."
"Misaka does not know as to what's going on-"
"Come on, there's no time. Lie down this instant." Tachyon scrambled around while fetching various items. Would a towel help? If so, should it be a cold towel or a hot towel?
"Misaka protests to this sort of alarming behavior." Shokka wrung the ends of her school uniform. The rest of the tea in the pot were going to become 'over-steeped'; a new term she learned today.
Overriding her protests Tachyon guided Shokka to his bed and covered her head with a cold towel. "Stay with me; you must stay conscious."
"Misaka is unsure as to why you are so concerned-"
With a tick and a tock, the clock now displayed 5:39.
"-Right now, I am more worried about my tea. Please allow me- hvsvhngndvehgbah-"
"SHOKKA!" Tachyon roared. "SHOKKA!"
It was no use. She immediately lost consciousness in middle of her garbled speech; Tachyon felt his mouth run dry. Her pulse was faint, and her head began to grow abnormally hot.
A quick look outside confirmed that there was indeed a black cloud forming in the sky just like before. Tachyon's gaze hardened as he began to think.
How can I prevent this? What information do I have that will help me...?
"All Misaka's are clones, and therefore we all share similar brainwave frequency patterns. Through this we can form a brainwave network with our Esper abilities, sharing our thoughts in quasi telepathic manner, and we are able to transfer information."
"Oh, no, you don't." Tachyon growled as he figured it out. Misaka network is made possible because of the fact that all clones had nigh-identical brainwave patterns; as they were all Espers, they are able to form a network that allowed them to share their mental capabilities.
"Ohh, no, no, no, no, no... " He growled again and again as he began to straighten up. "Not this time."
So, how to stop Shokka from being affected by this mental attack directed at all the Sisters? It was simple. He clasped his hands together in front of his chest and yelled out:
"타키온 파괴 간섭 (Tachyon Destructive Interference)!"
Millions upon millions of tachyon particles began to shoot out from his pressure points; collectively they began to form a rough dome-like shape covering the perimeter of the dorm room.
Brainwave networks formed by Espers are connected by electrical signals. However, no electrical signals can be sent nor received when blocked by interference waves. The tachyon particles traveling at superluminal speeds made sure to not let any electronic signals get into the dorm room.
The streaks of darkness could not find a path toward unconscious Shokka.
"Under my Protection." Tachyon snarled with savage triumph. A quick check on her forehead confirmed that her temperature was cooling down. She appeared to be safe for now.
"Haaah..."
Well, the immediate problem were over for the time being. However, there still were other clones suffering from this attack, and then there was this issue of Misaka Mikoto turning into something out of Lovecraftian horror story...
...
He was positive that Shokuhou Misaki was involved in this sordid state of affairs in some way or form. The trouble was, he could not just confront her directly; that was a sure-fire way of getting your mind taken over. He would need to plan this carefully.
Another sleepless night for himself, he supposed.