Between the lines: A Certain Exploitation of Mental-Out

"I can't say I'm that surprised," Ruiko said, "This is exactly the sort of things that the messed-up scientists in this city would create."

"It even makes some morbid sense," Kuroko said wryly, "It'll take a telepath of considerable skill to hack into this system."

The two girls were standing on the third level of the GROUP headquarters, staring into one of the thousands of locker-like cabinets that formed neat rows all throughout the various levels. Each one held a liquid-filled jar set on top of a ceramic plinth, not unlike water coolers found in many corporate offices. Only, except for water, each jar contained a straw-colored solution, as well as what looked like living brain matter.

"I found it!" Uiharu panted as she ran up the steps with her computer, "Here's the paper explaining this whole system."

Kuroko took the laptop and scanned over the screen, showing a research paper with the title that said, "Organoids, Chemicaloids cloned for their cerebral storage capacity."

Her lips curled in disgust as she read out the abstract. "In neuroscience, there is no known limit to the extent of how much memory can be stored inside a human brain. Certainly, no research yet exists that has probed the limits of rememberability. Recently, a method was pioneered by the Exterior Project to cultivate in-vitro neuro-ganglia cultures into fully functional facsimiles of the brain. Their goal to amplify the abilities of "Mental Out" was significant, but their creation had many drawbacks that led to its destruction in the events of September 20. Therefore, to mitigate the risks, and to use the methodology for a more elegant purpose, a chemicaloid was genetically altered to enhanced growth in the hippocampus, and then cloned in in-vitro tanks used for the Radio Noise project. Exactly 1000 clones were euthanized, and their cerebral tissue were harvested. Ultimately, this process was used to create a self-contained database that operates similarly to blockchains used for cryptocurrency. Additionally, the data storage system would be easily adapted from the recent technology of recording memories into the so-called Indian poker cards."

"Mental Out?" Ruiko repeated. "You don't suppose Shoukuhou-san would know anything about this?"

"Masaka!" Kuroko shook her head, "She would never allow for this project to happen. It's more likely that Aritomi-san was referencing the research paper written by the original team."

"Hidoi!" Uiharu said, "To think that there were thousands of little girls like Febrie and Janine who were treated like this, like they weren't even living things!"

"This might also explain the powered suits," Kuroko said, "Perhaps the rampage was a way for these brains to protect themselves."

"What should we do?" Ruiko asked, "Should we dismantle this apparatus?"

"No," Kuroko shook her head, "The data held in these jars are just too precious. It's hard for me to say, but we must stick to the present course. We need to mine for more data to find all the missing espers. It's our only window into the dark side of Academy city."

She turned to Uiharu. "Did you send the file to Kamijou-sempai?"

"Hai," Uiharu nodded, "I converted the memory sequence and sent it to him as a video file."

"Good, I'm sure he will find some answers for the Frenda case." Kuroko said with approval, "Tonikaku, I think we're done here. I'm sure other Judgement and Anti-Skill teams will find the database more useful."

"Yeah," Ruiko grunted. "Let's go home."

Chapter 31: At the Maltese Crossroads

The Knight's Order of Saint John was housed in District 8, in a sprawling hospital complex. It was made entirely of red-brick buildings, and its parameter was encircled by a wrought iron fence with brick borders and box hedges. Its entrance resembled the gatehouse of St. James's palace in London. Standing at seven stories tall, it had two narrow octagonal towers flanking the façade. High above the middle gate was a large diamond-shaped clock, inscribed with the round clock face. Black roman numerals circled its circumference, and a red Maltese cross was inlaid with the white frosted glass.

After we passed underneath the gatehouse, Komoe-sensei pulled up to the circular driveway, dropped us off at the entrance, and then drove off to find a parking space. The rest of us went inside. After checking in at the front-desk, we followed a nurse up to the second floor, to the "Special medicine ward".

We could see where the vast majority of those harmed at the GROUP headquarters were staying as they underwent treatment. Many of them were awake and walking about in the hallway, as they only suffered minor cuts and bruises. Others, however, weren't so lucky.

As we went down the long hallway, a pair of double doors opened, and a hospital bed was pushed around. We could see it carrying a Hispanic boy, who was wearing an oxygen mask.

We found Takitsubo-san signing some paperwork at the Nurses' desk. She looked up as the hospital bed trundled past her and smiled when she saw us come in.

"It's good to see you again," she said, "It's been quite the day, hasn't it?"

Oni-chan chuckled, "Well, there's never a dull moment in Academy City."

She rolled her eyes at his remark, but then her eyes fell upon his hands.

"Your right hand," she wondered out loud, "I've been curious about it ever since I first met you."

Oni-chan raised his hand curiously, as Takitsubo-san elaborated her thoughts. "I can sense the AIM diffusion field that permeate all of Academy city, but it acts so strangely around your hand. It's like the gravitational lensing effect you'd expect around a black hole."

"Yeah, it's always been weird like that." Tap, tap, tap, the sound of crutches came to our ears as Hamazura-san hobbled in. "Accelerator says that your hand is like the clear button on a calculator. He thinks that you reset reference frames when you touch someone and it returns any power to zero, whether they are based on esper abilities or on magic."

"An interesting observation," Oni-chan replied, "It very well might work the way you say it works, but even I don't quite understand it myself."

Hamazura-san shrugged. "Hey, I'm just a level 0, so what do I know."

The two laughed and exchanged warm embraces. "How are you doing?" Oni-chan asked, "I'm sorry to have put you through all this trouble."

"Nah," Hamazura-san waved away the remark. "I wanted to go, remember? Besides, I thought that I could help somewhat in unmasking this City's underbelly."

That's when Kamoe-sensei came in and ushered us down a hallway. As we all followed her, Oni-chan asked, "Where are the others? Where's Fukiyose and Aogami?"

"I sent them back home," She responded, shrugging, "They were bothering Tsuchimikado-kun too much, especially when he really needed rest from all his troubles."

Together, we arrived at room 2024A. Quickly, she knocked on the door before sliding it open. "Tsuchimikado-kun! We're coming in!"

Walking in, I couldn't help but feel a little déjà vu. Only this morning, I was entering another hospital ward, watching a boy getting fed by a girl. This time, it was Tsuchimikado-san who was sitting upright in his bed while Maika sat in his lap, spooning lunch into his mouth.

"Yo, Kami-yan!" The lanky blond teenager greeted us cheerfully as we filed into his room. "You'll forgive me if I don't get up to greet you. I'm afraid that I'm not really dressed for the occasion."

"Tsuchimikado! I see that you're living the happy life," Oni-chan grumbled as his eyebrow twitched at the absurd scene. "How nice of you to be so close to your own sister-maid."

"Guilty as charged," Tsuchimikado-san bowed solemnly, still sitting in his hospital bed. Then he wrapped an arm tightly around Maika-san and kissed her on the cheek. "But when you are blessed with such a cute sister-maid, do you have any right to refuse?"

"Tsuchimikado is right," Etzali said as he appeared suddenly, pushed in on a wheelchair by Xochitl. He glanced at the couple on the hospital bed, then at Hamazura-san and Takitsubo-san standing together, and he smirked. "As far as I'm concerned, we're just ordinary boys, enjoying the simple gifts in life! Except you, Kamijou-san! I'm afraid you're the lonely man out."

"Fukou-da!" Oni-chan muttered to himself. I looked up and saw his dejected look, and it made my blood boiled.

"He's not alone!" I piped up loudly, glomming onto his side, "He's got me!"

"And me!" Index did the same, clinging onto his other side. "We're with him until the end of the line!"

"Korra-korra!" Oni-chan laughed as he struggled against us, "Index! Otohime! I can't breathe!" I held on for dear life. The others all laughed at me, but I stared them down until they backed off. No one was going to insult my Oni-chan like that!

"Thanks, Otohime, Index," Oni-chan smiled as he ruffled my hair. I beamed.

Tsuchimikado-san whispered into Maika-san's ear and then gave her a quick peck on the cheek. She squealed and got off the bed. Then, she and Kamoe-sensei left, leaving the rest of us behind.

For the rest of our meeting, Oni-chan debriefed the others on what had happened at the GROUP headquarters after they had left. During the conversation, I kept hearing about some key organizations, and I asked about them.

"GROUP, MEMBER, SCHOOL, ITEM, Scavengers," Oni-chan explained, "These factions acted as private security for the Board of Directors, including Chairman Aleister. Officially, they were call upon to safeguard the sensitive research data generated within the city."

Tsuchimikado-san nodded. "You could think of us as secret police, to be used when the upper crust of Academy City could not involve Anti-skill or Judgement. Such cases usually involved data from the city's various research projects or intel on many high-ranking espers."

"That's the official justification for our existence," Hamazura-san said, "In reality, we were used to fight in proxy wars between the various board members."

"Of course, there's little evidence to support this theory," Takitsubo-san said, "The higher authorities have done their best to cover up their tracks, but if you follow the breadcrumbs, you could easily link each faction to a board member."

"Let's see if I remember correctly," Oni-chan said, as he listed the factions on his fingers. "Kumokawa-senpai was Tsuchimikado's liaison, so GROUP worked for Kaizumi Tsugutoshi. Then there's Yakumi Hisako, who closely associated with ITEM, as she was well aware of Fremea's existence at the time of Agitate Halation. Then there's MEMBER, who worked for Shiokishi."

"That's right," Xochitl piped up, "Shiokishi was employing some of my crew as bodyguards. It was an agreement we made with him, so that I could be in Academy City and find Etzali."

"Right," Oni-chan said, "So that leaves Nakimoto Rizou, who has the most factions under his employment, including the DA, Scavengers and SCHOOL. Then there's Oyafune Monaka…"

"Monaka-sama had you," Tsuchimikado-san finished for him, "Don't pretend like you weren't involved in any of this, lest you forget our trip to Paris!"

"How can I forget?" Oni-chan groaned, "Especially after that stunt you pulled! Then, I somehow ended up falling out of a plane in the middle of Europe! It was all such a blur that I don't even remember how I got home!"

"Yeah," Tsuchimikado-san laughed, "It's funny how certain plot points just fall through the cracks, isn't it?"

"As I've said before," Oni-chan went on regardless, "There are scarlet strings spread all over this city, pulling on all these organizations by the people in power. Even now, many of these strings still exist to control the people of this city."

Suddenly, there was a buzzing sound, and Oni-chan pulled out his phone. He took one look at the screen, and his face went grim. "Anyway, that's all I have to tell you, today."

Standing, he turned to Hamazura-san and asked, "Is Mugino-san here?"

The blonde delinquent hesitated, "Yeah, but why do you want to know?"

"I wanted to talk to her about a different case," Oni-chan said, "Do you suppose that she will grant me an audience?"

"She might," Hamazura-san said nervously, "But it will go better if Takitsubo-san and I talk to her first."

"That's fine," Oni-chan smiled, "I'm all for anything that makes these things run more smoothly."

Together, we bid Tsuchimikado a goodbye and reconvened out in the hallway. Maika-san greeted us warmly, before going back in closing the door behind her. Etzali and Xochitl bit us goodbye and went back to their own rooms. Oni-chan gave them a nod before rejoining Hamazura-san and Takitsubo-san.

I attempted to follow them, but Oni-chan held me back with a hand. "Otohime, I'm sorry, but I can't let you come with me," he said, "Can you help me find Index? I won't be gone for long."

"Hai! Waga-tta!"

The nun wasn't hard to find, especially with my powers activated. Scanning the hallway with my special vision, I spotted her as a bright light standing in the middle of the hallway. As I approached, however, I saw that she was talking to someone shone in yellow gold. Index heard me coming and beckoned me closer when she saw me. "Nice timing, Otohime-chan!" She said, smiling, "There's someone I want you to meet."

"I'm pleased to make your acquaintance," The man who shone like gold bowed with one hand on his chest, "My name is Dorsselmeyer."