Chapter 30: Synchronization

"Thanks for giving us a ride, Komoe-sensei," Oni-chan said, "You need not have bothered though. I was going to catch a train, anyway."

"It's no trouble," The dwarfish teacher said, "It's the least I can do to thank you for saving Tsuchimikado-kun."

Index-san and I were in the back, playing with Sphinx, while Oni-chan sat in the front, next to Kumoe-sensei. Somehow, the nun had smuggled the little cat in her habit and had kept it safe during all of our adventures.

Soon after the battle in GROUP headquarters had ended, the rest of our gang decided to split up.

Uiharu-san and Saten-san decided to stay behind. Uiharu-san, as the data scientist of our group, couldn't wait to start digging into the GROUP database. Meanwhile, Saten-san wanted to stay and help too. As the technology was based on something called Indian poker, she wanted to lend her expertise in accessing the database.

Similarly, Kuroko decided to stay behind and provide extra security. At the same time, she wanted to help Anti-skill out with their mop-up duties.

As for Misaka-san, the electromaster had to fly her big metal contraption back to its hanger in the Garden of Learning. The Anti-Arts Attachment, as she called it, looked like some giant flying spider. It was a contraption bristling with all sorts of armaments.

"At full power," she said, "This bad boy could level the entire school, along with the neighborhood around it."

She tried her best to teach me how it all worked, but unfortunately, I barely understood all the technobabble she was spouting. In the end, I could only agree to visit the great mech in a future date.

Finally, Stiyl Magnus left us too. As the liaison to the Anglican church, he had to report to the authorities about what he'd learned.

He tried to invite Index along, but the nun declined. Instead, she chose to come with Oni-chan and me to visit all the people who had gotten hurt in the incident.

Thus, we were well on our way to district 8, where many of those injured in the incident had been taken to. According to Fukiyose, Tsuchimikados-san, Hamazura-san and the rest of the old GROUP members had been taken to a private hospital run by the Hospitallers.

And so, we left, not knowing about the host of terrible treasures dug up in our absence.

Between the lines: A Certain Meltdowner Ending

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Uiharu said as she typed away at the computer terminal. Soon, a file dated to October 9 appeared on the screen.

She turned to Saten Ruiko, who had awkwardly lain herself down on the strange metal table. The central grove kept her position fixed along the longitudinal axis.

As she laid there, Ruiko couldn't help but compare herself to a hotdog.

"Now, all that's left is the ketchup and mustard," she thought wryly to herself. Uiharu's voice was somewhat muffled, thanks to the bowl-shaped headrest that kept her head fixed in the center. It also obscured any direct sounds from entering her ears. She peeked over the rim and saw Uiharu watching her, waiting for an answer. She grunted in the affirmative.

"I need to know what happened." Ruiko said, "That day, she was supposed to meet up for dinner, but she never showed up. Now I know she's dead, I just want to know what happened."

"Besides," she added, "That night, you showed up at my place with your arm in a sling, and you've never told me about what had happened."

Uiharu shuddered. "A lot of things happened that day. Terrible things…I don't want to talk about it."

With a heavy sigh, she turned back to the computer. "Anyway, I'm loading the file onto your screen."

She typed in some final keystrokes. Then she pressed Enter.

Suddenly, the glass halo emerged from the slot near Ruiko's right ear. Ruiko hastened to lie back down, and the vibrations from the hidden mechanism made her teeth rattle. She endured the ordeal until at last, there was an audible click, and the glass viewscreen filled her line of vision. Then, it brightened, and a little virtual card appeared in the middle.

Clutching tightly to her mother's charm, Ruiko closed her eyes and listened to Uiharu's muffled voice. "Engaging memory, in 5…4…3…2…"

[[Memory Sequence 01: Start]]

Suddenly, Saten was standing in an alleyway. Its garage door had opened, and she, or rather, the person whose memory this belonged to, was standing in front of it.

"Yeah, I found her," Saten—or rather the person she inhabited—was speaking, "Looks like they tortured her, the poor girl."

Looking down, she found a girl kneeling on the ground. She had blonde wavy hair that went down to the small of her back. Her usual blue jacket was a grimy mess, and her favorite beret lay in tatters to the side.

Frenda! Saten exclaimed, though the girl didn't respond or even react. Instead, she looked even smaller than usual, and she was crying.

"My guess is that they found out she was a level 0, not even fit to kill," The liaison growled, "That damned Darkmatter! Why does he get to run around the city and do as he pleases?"

"Shikata -nai ne!" The woman on the other side of the phone call said, "He does good work for the higher-ups, so they tend to turn a blind eye to his activities. Besides, it's not like they could stand against Kakine-san."

"Grr! The next time I see him, I'm gonna fry that rabid dog! Look at the mess he made to our penthouse!" Snarling, Ruiko—or the woman she was inhabiting—snapped her phone shut and glared down at the little girl. "Get up Frenda!"

The girl looked up in surprise, so taken aback that she could only utter a feeble, "Heh?"

The older woman growled and bent down to pull on her companion. "I said, get up! I still have need of you."

"You're not going to kill me? Mugino?"

The woman named Mugino rolled her eyes. "It's not like you had any loyalty to ITEM, anyway. Hell, I'd do the same if I were some insignificant level 0. Especially, if I were facing the likes of him." She said, growling at that last word. "I'm sure you had your reasons for betraying us."

Frenda's lips quivered and then changed into terrible anguish, "I'm sorry! It's Fremea! They killed Ritoku to get to her!"

Mugino's brows furrowed. "I thought we had kept them safe! That was why you joined ITEM, isn't it?"

"They're targeting my sister!" Frenda repeated furiously as she struggled to her feet. "Please, Mugino you have to…"

Shlick

Everything seemed to happen all at once.

Suddenly, Frenda appeared to have stumbled and was falling again. Mugino instinctively caught her under her arms, but when she tried to pull the younger girl up, Mugino found her to be much lighter than usual.

The answer literally knocked against her legs, as Mugino found Frenda's legs and lower torso lying against her. Blood gushed from the severed arteries and bathed Mugino in blood.

For a moment, Frenda didn't register what had happened, but then the bewilderment decayed into shock and pain.

"Tch! She moved!" Not far away from them, stood a high school boy with light brown hair. A single white wing sprouted from his back, and its tip was covered in blood."

"Kakine! Teemeee!" Mugino's growl was low and guttural, and her lips parted into a nasty snarl. Big green balls of energy appeared around her. If only she could disintegrate him!"

"Ot-to!" Teitoku smirked as he easily dodged the deadly beams. "Don't shoot the messenger. I'm only here on an errand from the higher ups."

As he said this, Mugino's phone started ringing. Teitoku's smirk widened even more. "You better pick that up!"

Still holding Frenda, Mugino pulled her phone to her ear.

"Yo!" the caller's voice had been altered, Mugino couldn't even tell whether the speaker was a man or a woman. "We know you've been hiding her away. Fremea is as precious to us as she is to you."

"Who is this?" Mugino snapped, but the caller was undeterred.

"Tsk-tsk, I'm making the demands here," The voice said, "I have a very particular set of skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you do exactly as I tell you, that will be the end of it. If you don't, then I will look for her, I will find her, and I will kill her."

"AAAAHHHHHH!" Mugino bolted forwards, and her head slammed into something hard. Pain lanced through her skull, and then everything faded to black.

[[Memory Sequence: Ends]]

"Ah! Kyaa!"

Saten Ruiko had slammed her head straight into the glass viewscreen as the nightmare played out. Now, she was rolling on the metal table, clutching at her head.

Groaning, she gingerly extricated herself from the glass halo that encased her head and sat herself up on the side.

Uiharu wasn't at the console. Instead, she was found sitting on the ground, against the table. Her eyes were gaunt as she stared off into the distance. She barely registered Saten presence as the latter girl sat down next to her.

"Hey," Saten-san probed. "Everything alright?"

Uiharu jerked her head over to look at Saten. For a while, she just stared.

"I know that guy."

"Who?"

"Kakine Teitoku," Uiharu said at last, "I was protecting this little girl, and he attacked me. I didn't know about the attacker until much later. He's a level 5 esper, second most powerful esper after the Chairman."

Uiharu quivered, and she clutched her shoulder like it was hurting. "He's the one who broke my arm."

Saten wrapped an arm around Uiharu, who leaned into it gratefully.

"I'm sorry," Saten said, "You went through all of this trouble because I want to relive that memory. I never meant to put you in so much distress."

Uiharu shook her head, "You wouldn't have known, anyway. I've never told anyone else."

Suddenly, the radio in Saten's ear crackled to life, and Kuroko's voice came through. "Is everyone okay? I heard some screams."

"We're okay," Saten said, speaking into her earpiece, "We just encountered some unexpected revelations, but everything's all right. What about you?"

"Well… we might have found something… irregular. I think we've found what's powering the whole apparatus."

"What?" Saten-san asked, "you mean they're keeping the servers on site?"

"Not exactly," Kuroko said shakily, "It'll make more sense if you come up here."