All of the characters herein are from works written by our lord and savior, Kamachi Kazuma, which includes (but is not limited to): A Certain Magical Index: New Testament, A Certain Scientific Railgun, A Certain Scientific Railgun Spinoff: Astral Buddy, and A Certain Magical Index SS: Biohacker.

Chapter 1 – The Twenty-Ninth Day of November.

Part 4

"What do you mean, oh no?" Ayu demanded, striding forward to see the screen for herself.

"I have a good memory for who belonged to which organization," Mitori said, referring to her stint as a temporary Board of Directors go-between. "And there are two names, no, make it three, that I watched out for. The first-"

"Wait, I think I can get a bit more." Dolly's face scrunched up in concentration as she interrupted Mitori, and an odd spark of blue leapt off her brow as she once again interfaced with the bunker's computers.

A few more lines appeared on the screen, neon green against a dead black.

"There, that's all I can do...oh." Dolly herself stopped talking as she took in the new information, which consisted of three new lines.

"...the Freshmen, assembled in response to the War's end, have proven to be insufficient…"

"...methodology of the Dark May Project in examining..."

But in accordance with the usual literary rule, it was the third and final line that had caused Dolly to fall speechless, and it was the line with the most relevance to the three girls present, which also held the most damning implications.

"...as a replacement candidate to restart the Exterior Project…"

Exterior.

I know for certain Shokuhou had it destroyed. Kouzaku Mitori recalled the Daihasei Festival, where she, personally, had held a portion of that giant brain's power, forcing the growth of Misaka Mikoto in the hopes of fulfilling her desire to destroy the City. But 'replacement candidate' could only mean...

Her thoughts trailed off as she looked at exactly who else was in the room with her.

Ayu seemed to have come to the same conclusion as the screen cracked in front of her, followed shortly by several loud thumps echoing throughout the bunker.

"Don't screw with me!" The obese Misaki had came apart, once again revealing Ayu in her form-fitting powered suit, as the tentacles of Designers' Gel stabbed into the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. Ayu's gloves began to leave indents in the workstation's metal surface as she tightened her grip in anger.

"Ayu-chan…" Dolly started.

"This again. It's always this. And it was the same with my benefactor, too. Shokuhou this, Mental Out that." She clutched her head with her hands, the now broken display reflecting the horrific expression on her face. "Maybe that was why I was picked up in the first place. But too bad!" She stared back at the two others in the room with a grotesque smile, a picture of despair. "I'm only a Level 3, so a clone of my brain wouldn't be as powerful."

"Mitsuari…" Mitori kept her voice neutral. Damn, so much for just babysitting. This is turning out to be more like a job for an asylum nurse, Shokuhou.

"Ayu-chan…" Dolly said sadly, before her eyes widened. "Your arm!"

The suit of the Five_Over was of a standard make that enhanced its user's strength and speed, but its main purpose was always to be a convenient way to interface with the actual Five_Over itself. As such, it paid no heed to actually providing material protection to the user within, leading to a skimpy, swimsuit-like design.

Ayu looked down at herself. "Ah."

Along with assorted scratches and bruises where skin was exposed, a nasty gash was present on her upper arm. The blood made a steady drip, drip as it fell to the floor.

"Must have been the mantis. First aid, first aid…" Dolly bustled about, before she thought of something. "Where's the washroom? A bunker like this should have a washroom, right?"

"It's, ah, over there-" Ayu barely had the chance to point it out before she was dragged off by her other arm to get her wound washed. She shot a look at Mitori, but Mitori herself only shrugged and gave a crooked smile, in a 'you'll-get-used-to-it' manner.

~~[z]~~

My head hurts. Everything hurts.

She sat dumbly on a shower stool as the girl known to her as Sakami Hitsuji applied the finishing touches on the bandage to her largest wound. Within the past five minutes she had been hosed down and made to change back into the Tokiwadai uniform. Outside the tiny washroom Mitori was speaking to someone on the phone, no doubt one of...Shokuhou's...many contacts, in order to retrieve the Five_Over to be placed somewhere safe.

"After you have saved yourself, please come and save me."

"I understand. So, wait here for me."

She had been saved, hadn't she? Her prayer had been answered, hadn't it? The wish from ████ an eternity ago, words that made her head hurt every time she tried to remember.

So why can't I move on? Why am I still like this?

Shameful, disgraceful, unstable, dyed in darkness.

"Ayu-chan?" Sakami's fingers grazed her knuckles, and she jumped in response. "Sorry."

Only revealed after her gloves had been removed, Ayu's knuckles were also bloodied and bruised from where she had used the suit's enhanced strength to pummel the robots.

"I'll wrap those for you as well." Sakami said, grabbing another bandage.

"Hey, Sakami-san." Ayu said hesitantly.

"Hmm?"

"Why are you so nice to me?" I only met you today, and I nearly attacked you, and I'm half-crazy…

Something something personality disorder. She recalled from one of her lessons, then silently gave a single laugh to herself. So much studying only to end up here.

"Why shouldn't I be?" Sakami said easily.

"Because…"

"Let me tell you a secret." Sakami gently picked up Ayu's left hand. "Mi-chan would probably not like it, but…" she looked at Ayu a bit more seriously. "People can't read your thoughts, right? No Telepathy, no Clairvoyance?"

"Yes." Ayu replied as if reciting by rote. "Mental abilities interfere with each other. I can block Telepathy and the like."

"Okay," Sakami breathed. "Then it'll probably be fine." Another breath. "You were in Ideal, right?"

"Yeah." Ayu said. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Do you know the facility's full name? Ideal's full name?"

"Yes." Ayu said again. "It's Clone Dolly Ideal." It was something mentioned only occasionally in passing, and there had been many things more important than satisfying her fleeting curiosity about what it meant.

"Well...I'm Dolly." Sakami said.

"You're…" What does that even mean? Come to think of it, that was what Kouzaku had been calling her, right?

"I'm a clone of Misaka Mikoto, the #3 Level 5. I was created to be a disposable prototype for a certain project, and my original body died long ago."

"Then…"

"If I'm not thinking of myself as a spare," Dolly said seriously, "then you, Ayu-chan, really shouldn't be."

You, with your own name, your own blood, and your own ability, regard yourself as a spare? Stupid. That was what Dolly, what Hitsuji was saying to her.

Ayu fell silent immediately.

"I know Misaki-chan, even what she's like deep down inside." Hitsuji continued saying. "I've only known you for a short while, but it's clear that you're very, very different. There's no point in you trying to become Shokuhou Misaki."

Ayu understood the point of Hitsuji's words entirely. The girl tending to her wounds was a life that had been created to be thrown away, and still lived happily in spite of that. But still, even as she knew, she couldn't quite stop herself.

"But Touma-" she protested involuntarily, before shutting up. Dolly, however, appeared to recognise it.

"Kamijou-kun again, huh." There was a crooked smile on her face. "Honestly, how that boy manages to win the hearts of so many girls is beyond me."

"She stole him." The worst part of it was perhaps how she had stolen him, without even realizing, and then went on with life in blissful ignorance of the sin she had committed.

"There is no point in you trying to become Shokuhou Misaki." Dolly repeated patiently. "I got Misaki-chan to tell me about what tried to do to her. Do you really think that erasing her memories would change anything for you? Do you think that you could simply replace her if she died or lost her ability?"

Dolly's voice grew unexpectedly fierce towards the end, and Ayu shrank back.

"No." Dolly completed. "It would not. Misaki-chan is Misaki-chan, and you are you." She finished wrapping Ayu's knuckles, and straightened from her crouch. "Sorry," she added. "I got a bit loud towards the end-"

"No, you're right." Ayu said automatically. "I shouldn't have-"

"Therapy is over, friends." Mitori's voice cut in where she had let herself in without knocking. "And I have bad news." She held up her phone's screen.

~~[z]~~

The problem was that simple words were not enough. Ayu's feelings over being the fruit that was pruned to allow Shokuhou Misaki to be grown was a vast complex, a tumor that had ingrained itself very deeply into her character.

Overcoming the tendency to view herself as a spare would not be achieved with a single conversation.

But it was a good start.

"Anti-Skill." Mitori said without preamble. "Somehow, they were alerted." The floating cameras that Mitori had left outside on their way up were showing a few vans making their way to the top of the mountain.

"And if they find this base, there's no doubt that the Five Over is going to be lost in transit." Ayu commented.

"What does Misaki-chan want us to do?" Dolly asked. "We can't escape if we need to bring the equipment along, right?"

Mitori turned to look at her trolley luggage. "It might fit in there. I just need to have my Liquid Shadow out with us." She winced. "Though I already have a headache from trying to coordinate both her and my movements in that fight."

"There were other doors in the hangar," Dolly pointed out. "Could we-"

"No," Ayu shot down that idea immediately. "I don't know where they lead. For all we know we could end up at the bunker of some other Dark Side organization. I'd rather," she swallowed, "confront Anti-Skill directly. Actually…" she looked at Mitori, "how many people do you think are coming?"

Mitori gave an estimate. "Three vans...if they're at full strength, twenty-one. But the actual number is probably going to be sixteen or seventeen."

It would be difficult. Ayu thought to herself. To control that many people, and they'll probably have safeguards anyway.

Think, Ayu, think! Use your brain! You have no other ability, so think!

Her eyes jumped from item to item, tool to tool. Broken robots...Hitsuji could use those to fight but probably not. The powered suit...become a distraction? But it's part of the Five Over, so we need it…

Her eyes settled on the Designers' Gel, and-

The magnetically-controlled monitor.

"Does that girl want that?" Ayu jabbed her finger towards the machine that resembled the scorpion wasp - the Five Over in name that could only reproduce Mental Out by destroying the original user.

"Don't think so." Mitori said. "In fact, she said it might be better off destroyed-"

"Then Hitsuji-san can destroy it with her ability." Ayu said, her mind now racing. "I can use the Outsider to get us out of here."

It was a shame to have to change back into the dirty suit, but there was no choice.

"What?" Mitori said incredulously.

"The magnetic dust. We can use that as camouflage-"

"But it has to change dynamically." Hitsuji returned, having made short work of the so-called Five Over. "Depending on the background, right?"

"Yes." Ayu gritted her teeth. "I think...you should control it. An electricity-based ability like yours should would be a better interface."

Mitori looked back and forth between her best friend and the girl she was babysitting. "No other options, huh?"

"Have your Liquid Shadow distract them. Lead them off."

"I can't." Much as Mitori was loathe to reveal one of her weaknesses, this was a dire situation. "Not if you want me to walk in a straight line at the same time."

"Not even with us leading you by the hand?" Ayu questioned.

"Look, my ability is best for scouting out places while I sit safely in a cosy office with a cup of coffee." Mitori snapped. "You try controlling two bodies at once and see how well that goes."

I shouldn't have come with them here, but I didn't trust Dolly to be safe alone with her. Shokuhou, you are going to owe me. A lot.

"Fine then." Ayu said irritably. "Let's just get going."

~~[z]~~

The three of them made a strange image, with an obese blonde schoolgirl at the front while Mitori dragged her luggage out at the rear.

"I don't care, I'm bringing it." The liquid metal was worth its weight in gold to the former Dark Side operator, and she had insisted on not leaving it behind. "There's not many factories that produce this stuff any more."

The entrance was shrouded in bushes, which made for a safe exit, but things were less simple once they reached open air.

"They're searching everywhere," Hitsuji whispered as they crept onwards. Indeed, the reservoir's side was crawling with Anti-Skill officers, their rifles already out and sweeping the area. Their vans had been parked, not at the the parking lot, but at the entrance of the 'park' that was on their side of the artificial lake.

Waddling along, Ayu gripped her phone in an increasingly sweaty hand, the other holding on to Hitsuji's as she walked, leading her along. Dolly's other hand was held by Mitori, forming a human chain.

They had made their careful way through the shrubbery, careful to keep out of sight, but their cover did not last forever.

"We're going to have to pass to the side of that van," Ayu said in a low voice. "Are you ready?"

Hitsuji only nodded, silent in concentration. So far they had been getting by by emulating shades of green, but now-

As soon as they walked out, they were spotted.

"There!" The officer shouted and fired immediately.

Are you kidding me? Instantly, Mitori swung her suitcase in a wide arc, taking the brunt of the very real bullets. From some opening her Liquid Shadow burst out, fully formed, even as she tossed the now-empty luggage to the side. "Run!"

Ayu, on her part, whirled around, aiming her phone's lens towards the man's face. Take my side!

However, there was only-

justice-purging-zealotry-justice-justice-JUSTICE-

Unknown feedback like a burst of static shocked her consciousness, and she winced, but only for a spilt second.

Making an executive decision, she seized the scruff of both Hitsuji's and Mitori's shirts (or blouses), then leapt forward with all her might.

Limiter release.

The suit's enhanced speed and strength allowed her to throw both girls over her shoulders, one each (width and thickness substantially increased due to the extra fat) , and simply sprint all the way back down to the carpark, whereupon she unceremoniously dumped them both to the ground.

"How-"

"What-"

"Go! Now!" At Ayu's assertion Mitori started the engine and shot out of the carpark, going as fast as she could manage. To Ayu's side, a bullet had grazed Hitsuji's leg and she was tearing open a bandage in her mouth.

Anti-Skill was on their tail.

"They aren't-" Ayu panted, still not fully recovered from that burst of exertion. "-they aren't normal Anti-Skill. These guys, they...someone's done some conceptual tinkering with their brains. They're obsessed with justice, but it's like someone also made them think that 'justice' is just 'person X's orders'-is this making sense?"

"No." Mitori said through clenched teeth. The front seat, which was currently vacant, now had a pool of metal at its base, a dematerialized Liquid Shadow, and its owner's face was twisted in concentration. "Dolly, do something. And call Shokuhou and tell her we're coming."

"They aren't normal Anti-Skill, you said?" Dolly leaned her head out of the window.

"Yeah," Ayu said, shaken. She was still in disbelief that she had just used the powered suit to-

"I'm not going to worry about hurting them, then!" Lightning crackled, and her tea-colored hair fanned out into the air. There was an electric hum, followed by several loud booms, the sound of metal breaking the sound barrier, and the mountain road itself exploded, asphalt and shrapnel bursting into gray clouds, obscuring their vision.

Then, there was the sound of several further explosions, the smoke from which their pursuers did not emerge, and Ayu and Dolly exchanged a glance, with Dolly giving a minute shake of the head.

Another mystery. Ayu thought silently to herself.

~~[z]~~

Far above them, a single black bird circled in the air, the single eye of its rider narrowing as she watched the events happening down below.

~~[z]~~

The drop off point was in District 2, to the south, reached only after taking a winding path that ensured nobody was following them.

To be more specific, it was in a rundown building which Mitori was highly familiar with: the former site of the Exterior project, which before that had housed the Clone Dolly Workshop. The unlikely trio were met by a tall blond man in a dark brown suit, who did not deign to introduce himself.

"The fake was destroyed, but we got the Outsider." Mitori waved a hand. "Ayu, you need to remove the suit now."

But I could just take it and run, right? Ayu thought to herself. With my Level 3 ability, I should still be able to cover my tracks well. (No.) I'm giving this over to Shokuhou, my worst enemy. (You know it's better off with her than with you.) No I don't. (No you don't, but it's better than it falling into the hands of the adults, who are actually responsible for this whole thing-)

She jumped as Dolly-Hitsuji- placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let it go, Ayu-chan." Off to the side, Mitori looked mildly impatient, while the blond man's face was impassive.

Ayu took a breath. "Okay. Okay."

A short while later she was back again in Tokiwadai uniform with the powered suit folded neatly in her arms, as Mitori finished reporting the day's events.

"I've heard of them." The man was speaking. "'Justice', you said? Then it is probably DA."

"DA?" Mitori questioned.

"Short for 'Disciplinary Action'." The man continued in his unchanging tone. "You can think of it as 'the collection of all of Anti-Skill's darkness'."

"What a stale and dull concept." Mitori rolled her eyes. "Fine then. Does Her Royal Highness want me to do anything else?"

"Only to investigate the residue data. There is also the matter of who apparently stopped DA from pursuing you, as well as, of course, the original matter of who nearly got to Mitsuari Ayu before we did."

"And Mitsuari Ayu herself?"

The girl in question stopped in her tracks, her hand on the door handle.

"Keep an eye on her until this dies down."

"Brilliant. Excellent." Mitori said sarcastically.

Ayu chose this moment to step out. She placed the suit on a nearby half-broken table, and spoke to the man directly. "The main body made from the fat is inside. The controller is embedded in the suit."

The man inclined his head. "Thank you for the instructions. I will take care of this." With that, he walked off, presumably to inspect the equipment.

Ayu held her phone in her hand within her skirt. A part of her wanted to try controlling this man, but her more rational side told her it (a) probably wouldn't work anyway and (b) might cause more problems, which might give more reason for Mitori and Hitsuji to distrust her.

Well, Hitsuji anyway. She was sure Mitori didn't have much else other than disdain for her.

Sighing, she walked over to the pair, Hitsuji giving her a wan smile.

There's no point in you trying to become Shokuhou Misaki. But then, Ayu thought to herself, does what I think matter if everyone else only sees me a certain way?

The plot thickens...like soup. Delicious, delicious, soup.

I hope you like how I'm portraying the girls thus far. Drop me a scathing comment if not.

Dolly really is a saint, isn't she?

Review please!