"Thank god you're awake." Said… a man. A doctor. I was still feeling groggy, but I finally opened my eyes. I lost track of time and my usual train of thoughts. Maybe whenever I thought I woke up I was dreaming, and whenever I thought I was dreaming I was well awake. "Open the window, please." Sunlight shone through, instantly making me feel better.

"You fainted on that airplane. It was being hijacked, ring a bell?" The doctor asked, and I could only stare at him blankly. He signed and continued. "Everyone made it out, even though the plane continued west after refueling in Tokyo. Here, have a sip of water." He said comfortingly. My throat was burning up. I drank from the cup like a water buffalo.

"Where am I?"

"You are in Academy City." I spat the water out all over the bed. "Your friends brought you here. You fainted from shock, at least that is what I believe as the most reasonable answer. After all, you're only getting used to your Esper brain. Can you remember anything? Anything at all?"

Maybe I did faint, maybe it's just my imagination when I thought somebody sedated me. I can't remember anything, who brought me here, who was with me. I'm just moving around everywhere, it's like as if I am just an illusion, a phantom.

End of flashback.

In the Tokiwadai Dorm Room:

"So, Misaka Mikoto, can you please explain your absences?" Asked the dorm supervisor coldly. The temperature in the room instantly dropped down to absolute zero. "You've been out for that long, surely you weren't studying for exams were you?"

"Well ummm… I ah… it's hard to explain. You see, I thought being a Level 5 doesn't mean I can enjoy privileges, I have to do something for the city right? I don't like all those sneaky things going on lately. Like ummm… with greater power comes greater responsibility right? Hehehe…"

"Alright, Misaka Mikoto, your absences have been excused." The supervisor signed a pass for her. "Next time be sure to tell me first."

"Yes Ma'am!"

The dorm supervisor left the room. "She's gone.' Whispered Kuroko. Immediately her two other friends Saten and Uiharu crawled out under the bed.

"Sorry sis." Said Kuroko. "I really tried to hide it. Every night I would turn on the shower to make it look like you are in there. You know, she has the keys and is checking on us at random times after 6."

"Thanks Kuroko… I'm so sorry I made all of you worried. It's nice to be back. Wanna go out for lunch? I will tell you guys everything that happened. I'm sorry for hiding."

"No, if it's very personal you don't have to tell us."

"I'd rather say, because I trust you guys." Said Misaka.

"Is it something to do with that guy? What's his name again? John?"

In the Heaven Canceller Hospital:

"Are you guys okay by yourselves?" Asked the doctor. The clone nodded. Heaven Canceller had just finished his last check of the Sisters, their brainwaves were altered by the Level Upper. Now it's just been back to normal before the usual coma happens. Tons of treatments might be needed, no one knows how their body conditions will be after being submerged in that liquid with artificial hormones and treated like crops.

"Good, it's good you can experience emotions now, really. Find someone to talk to, other than me. I can't tell you what to do. You will find your own normal lives and what you think is meaningful." The clone simply nodded again. She walked out of his office.

The Researcher:

Later that day. It is the same researcher that oversaw the Level 6 shift. What's his name? That doesn't matter. What matters is that they are onto something. They sat on a luxurious private jet, he and his core members. They seemed to have some guests.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we, are honored to have a special guest visiting us tonight. I would like to address him first. Aritomi Haruki, leader of STUDY, a research group focusing on technology, medical, and pharmaceutical areas. He had great technological breakthroughs over the course of his career. Mr. Aritomi himself is an eloquent speaker, a deep thinker, an innovator. Although we serve different purposes, that shouldn't restrict our interactions at all. We walk in the same path, with the same ultimate goal. This is what matters because it's what brought us together. Hope we can be excellent partners, learn from each other in our collaboration while developing a new friendship. Welcome, welcome." Everybody clapped at his little speech, and Aritomi smiled mildly and raised his hand a little in a humbled manner.

"I'm sorry for dominating in this meeting, but I must report our latest progress. Researches have been going great, we've never stopped receiving funds. We lost contact with Accelerator, although I believe he has became a Level 6. The clones were lost, but they are cheap plus we still have Railgun's DNA. The facilities were all expendable, they were expected to be attacked at some point. This is still a decisive victory for us as we know the concept of Level Six Shift works."

He took a sip of water.

"Allow me to remind you of our ultimate goal. Diagram please. This goes beyond a simple scientific breakthrough, we will change the concept of Esper powers. Even if we have a complete understanding of it's nature, we cannot utilize it. I personally do not hate Espers. But we need to stop enslaving ourselves for a concept that cannot be accessed by everyone. Instead, what if we use it to power our world and to…" He suddenly stuttered. Aritomi cut in and finished his speech for the researcher.

"use that as part of us to perfect ourselves. This will be a new era, far past the industrial society and overtaking the world of data. Consider this a transition. When we perfect what we cannot control, it goes rogue. When we perfect what's not part of all of us, it's pointless to be frank. Tools are not part of us, they exist to help people that aren't capable of things a normal person can. Abilities are something extra for some of us, imagine. Great powers at a flick of a finger and is available to a percentage of us only. Are they a threat? If we use them as part us, no. I don't wanna hate Espers as they are people too, but Academy City is going in the wrong direction. By cracking the code of the ability alone, we can use them as an extra limb, that everyone can have. We still have to perfect what we use, tools. But we can also use what's part of us to perfect ourselves in the same time, in the next few centuries."

"Oh, I can already sense that we are gonna be awesome partners."