A/N: Science Time is a two-part "prologue" to the next "real" arc. I'm sure everyone can figure out the mystery I'm building up to, but I'm more looking forward to the implications rather than the actual reveal. Putting it cryptically, this mini-arc will end with a major event that the actual arc will revolve around. But as always, please keep your expectations low. This is supposed to be a low stakes gag-like comedy, dang it!
Cold Open
"This is bad!"
Level 5s of Academy City were gathered around a long table. Preoccupying themselves one way or another, they all more or less sat in silence.
"Bad! Bad! Really bad! Really really bad!"
Kakine Teitoku seemed to be in hibernation mode, vibrating in place at a certain time interval.
"Where are you taking me?-! What's going on?-!"
Mugino Shizuri played with her phone, moving her thumbs in an almost calculated pattern.
"I wish I could answer that, but I have no idea either!"
"What?-!"
Shokuhou Misaki stared out the window with a bored expression.
As they waited for the rest of the members to arrive…
The door abruptly slammed open with a stilted bang!
Winded…
"Y-Yo! It's me! Hamazura Shiage! Yeah, long time no see! Ha ha ha ha ha! I don't know why I'm laughing…!"
…
The dropout composed himself as much as he could.
"I've… got a huge favor to ask."
『 Divergence Levels: Stabilizing 』
5:00 AM/Earlier That Day
In an undisclosed area, Nunotaba Shinobu presented Accelerator with a worksheet.
"…"
"You look displeased."
The boy frowned further.
"Understatement. We're starting the day off with a pop quiz, and I haven't even had my first cup of coffee. If this happened during Super SS, I would've told you to fuck off."
"It's an assessment, not a quiz. You're expected to do at least this much."
…
He reluctantly took the page.
"It's simple."
The wide-eyed girl explained.
"On the page there are multiple blank spaces, numbered one through seven. I'll read several words allowed, and you will write down the words in what you deem to be the most appropriate space."
"…and with these numbers and words, I'm sure there isn't supposed to be any correlation to real life, right?"
"Interpret it as you will."
…
Word Association
Nunotaba Shinobu proceeded with the test.
"Paranoia."
"Hm."
"Ignorance."
"Ah."
"Foolishness."
"Go~tcha."
"Contempt."
"Huh."
"Arrogance."
"That so."
"Cowardice."
"Interesting. Super interesting."
"Self-Disgust."
…
Pencils Down
"[ Trouble? ] Would you like for me to repeat a word?"
Despite saying this, her expression did not show any hint of concern.
"No. You're fine. But… I will say that some of these terms are too close in meaning. Ignorance and foolishness are easily interchangeable."
"Are they? To me, ignorance is the absence of knowledge. And foolishness is just a form of self-deception. But of course, there's no need to think too much on it."
Accelerator placed the sheet face down in front of her.
"It's done."
"Thank you for your continued cooperation."
"Fuck off."
Locking glances for a brief moment…
"…?"
A smile slowly crept onto the girl's grim face.
"I watched your movie."
"And now I'm leaving."
Office Space
The white-haired boy passed by Hamazura Shiage, who was in the process of turning on a computer.
"What? Heading out?"
"Taking a research break."
"But didn't you just-"
Accelerator shut the door on him before he could finish his sentence.
…
"Good talk."
Sighing, Hamazura Shiage went forward with his tasks.
Moving his mouse, he started to get to work.
"…"
…
[ SFX: Click. Click. Click. ]
In the search bar of his browser, he typed…
[ Anime Tiddies ]
"Cut it out."
Nunotaba Shinobu spoke from behind.
Plot? What Plot?
Nunotaba Shinobu stared coldly.
"Please don't use our equipment to search for porn. At the very least, don't do it while there's a girl in the room."
"I-It was a joke. I've got a punchline quota to fill. I wasn't really-"
" [ Pause. ] "
The girl rubbed her temple.
"Honestly. Out of the two of you, I didn't expect you to be more difficult to handle.
"Do you even understand the importance of what we're doing here?"
"Not at all."
…
"…What?"
The girl's expression of shock was no different than her normal face, but she was shocked nonetheless.
"Well… no one's told me much about anything, but I assume we're just screwing around. I mean… are we actually doing something important?"
"How is this possible? Why are you even here if you don't know?"
"You tell me. It's been like 26 chapters, and there hasn't been an explanation for anything."
Un-Canon Valley
"…"
Nunotaba Shinobu's face displayed a mixture of disdain and bewilderment.
Maybe. Who knows.
"Wait, by the flow of things… are we finally gonna get some answers?-! If you want, we can do a flashback!"
Hamazura Shiage seemed to be getting excited for some reason.
"No… just… okay, shut up and listen for a bit."
The researcher took a deep breath in preparation for an information dump.
It's suggested that the audience imagine something more interesting in the duration of Nunotaba Shinobu's explanation. For those of you who lack imagination, how about visualizing Shokuhou Misaki balancing a phone on her chest in accordance to the Tawawa Challenge?
"Some background information. Before the supercomputer Tree Diagram was destroyed, it played a large role in managing Academy City's various R&D projects. Scientists would funnel requests into Tree Diagram to pursue certain research, and those requests were sorted out into a schedule using an equation that determined 'optimal efficiency'. This calculated schedule was a primary reason why Academy City was able to evolve so quickly in a short period of time. However… with Tree Diagram now gone, 'optimal efficiency' is just a pipe dream."
( Misaki: Too easy~! )
"With no easy way to determine an optimal path of progress anymore, the way it works now is… bureaucracy. All R&D projects are presented to an elected committee for funding. The committee evaluates a project's priority and appropriates funds to match. For organizational purposes, projects are split into 3 categories: high priority, medium priority, and low priority.
"There are, of course, problems associated with this system, and it's not surprising that corruption is heavily involved, but it's not my place to complain."
( Misaki: Ahn~! It's vibrating~! )
" [ Question. ]. We've been performing various experiments which you call 'screwing around'. Which label do you think is given to the research we've been working on?"
Hamazura Shiage looked around the lab. The space they were occupied in was a small apartment run by three people.
"We got the short end of the stick, huh?"
" [ Correct. ] "
Un-Canon Valley II
"The purpose of our group is to handle the Low Priority segment of Academy City's ever-growing pool of research."
Nunotaba Shinobu continued.
"What defines 'Low Priority' mainly lies with the question: Is it possible to do this with practically no money with next to no effort?
"If the answer is yes, we take on the project. If no, we attempt to send the project up to 'Medium Priority' or outright terminate it. More often than not, we do the latter with our limited time and resources. That being said, we play the role of gatekeeper by taking care of things no one really cares for."
"I see."
Hamazura Shiage nodded along.
"That sounds good enough to be canon. It probably isn't, but yeah. Sounds pretty good."
He immediately felt the girl's icy stare.
"Erm… I understand! It makes perfect sense! You're so good at explaining things, senpai!"
Nunotaba Shinobu released him from her gaze.
"But…Hold on a second…"
The boy had a thought.
"Are you telling me that… Super Seven, an experiment that gathers all Level 5s in a room together… is something no one cares about?"
"Of course. It's a terrible idea that's bound for failure. But since it requires minimum effort to maintain, it passes our standards."
"…"
Chemistry
After Nunotaba Shinobu took the time to lecture Hamazura Shiage…
The two settled into their respective seats and began their daily operations. This, in the boy's case, meant half-paying attention to video game streamers while playing Minesweeper.
( Computer: Woah~! Looks like we got another subscriber! This calls for choo choos in the chat everyone! *blows train whistle* )
[ SFX: Click. Click. Click. ]
"…"
The girl was once again agitated, but she hid that frustration underneath the cool façade of her usual expression.
Idly…
She made small talk while scanning through e-mails.
"I've been meaning to ask you this for a while…"
She spoke in monotone.
"You've gotten yourself involved with the affairs of various Level 5s, haven't you? You've associated yourself with Accelerator, Dark Matter, Railgun, and especially Meltdowner. A normal person would typically want to stay away from such dangerous individuals. But you don't seem to mind."
"…"
[ SFX: Click. Click. Click. ]
"Why is that?"
Chemistry II
…
With a slowly swelling atmosphere, the boy responded with the same level of monotone.
"How do I say this…"
Putting a little thought into it…
"I used to be terrified of people like them. No, scratch that. I still am. But…
"I've gradually come to understand something important.
"There's a point where someone can become so smart… that they circle back around and become idiots again.
"At least… that's what I always keep in mind."
…
Even though he gave a somewhat non-answer, Nunotaba Shinobu seemed satisfied.
"Hearing that from you is quite surprising."
"What can I say? I'm not as shallow as you think I am."
"No. I'm one hundred percent sure that's not the case."
Ground Zero
The door to the lab crept open.
"Ah. Accelerator. Done sulking already? We were just talking about you."
Hamazura Shiage's face noticeably went blue.
"Smartass comments like those would usually set me off. But today, I think I'll let that slide."
"How gracious."
Instead of provoking confrontation, the white-haired boy chose the path of indifference. In other words, he chose to ignore reality.
Accelerator hobbled toward the kitchen part of the lab.
"Before you get comfortable, I should let you know…"
Half-listening while attempting to make coffee for himself…
"I checked my inbox. Apparently, several researchers seem to hate your guts after you terminated their funding."
"Great."
"Being civil, I've allowed each of them a special one-on-one appointment with you where they can make their case."
"Awesome."
"They'll be here within the next 30 minutes. So please prepare for that."
"Fan-fucking-tastic."
Hamazura Shiage chimed in.
"Also, the coffee maker's broken."
"…"
"We've got a big day ahead of ourselves. But at the very least, you passed your assessment with flying colors."
3:00 PM/10 Hours Later
Altitude: 20,000 feet above sea level.
Oxygen: 9.5%
Radiation: 0.6 mSv
…
…
Up in the skies of Academy City…
A hole appeared.
『 Divergence Levels: Relatively Stable 』
Pop Quiz! Of the following words, place the appropriate number from 1-7 in the space provided. There are no wrong answers! There's absolutely no meaning to this! Really!
_Paranoia _Ignorance _Foolishness _Contempt _Arrogance _Cowardice _Self-Disgust
Timeline (condensed): 10, 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 19-27, x, 3, x, 12-17, x, 5-7, x, 11
