The constant, dull hum of hundreds of computers, machines, and devices whose purpose she could not begin to divine filled the air like the buzzing of a distant hive. Even more than the sound, Mikoto could feel it, grating against the inside of her skull and running through her body, raising goosebumps over her skin. Electricity was thick in the air, so much so she wondered how the man in the white coat standing across the room from her, a man that had been introduced to her as Doctor Corrin, couldn't feel it. But he seemed oblivious to her discomfort, fiddling with a large panel full of switches and blinking lights.
Not for the first time, Mikoto wondered if they ramped up the power output specifically during her visits just to unnerve her.
It wasn't that she couldn't take the presence of so much power, far from it. After all, her body was capable of producing in excess of one billion volts of electricity. Most of the time, she felt comforted by the presence of so much of her element. She remembered feeling distinctly uncomfortable the last time she had accompanied her mother on one of their annual camping trips in the mountains. She'd felt practically naked without the familiar hum of electricity all around her.
Here though, it felt different. There was something malevolent about the energy she felt here, something sick. Mikoto knew it was ridiculous to assign such labels to something as cold and neutral as an electrical current, but she couldn't shake the feeling. It weighed on her every time she approached the labs, and stuck with her long after she left, clinging to her like an odor.
Maybe it was just that she just hated coming here.
"That ought to do it," the researcher said, turning and offering Mikoto a smile devoid of any actual joy. "I've calibrated the room to respond specifically to shifts in your AIM field. That will ensure that we can properly conduct the test without having to worry as much about your natural resistance to external electrical fields. I have to say, Misaka-san, it is a testament to your abilities that a room like this is required for this kind of test at all."
It was hard for Mikoto to tell if he was actually paying her a compliment, or if he simply saw a particularly successful test subject.
"You still haven't told me what exactly this test is about," Mikoto said after a moment of glaring at the man, who in turn offered her the same empty smile he always did. "You've been having me fight level fours for the last month now, why the sudden change?"
"Ah, well, the chief thought it was time to test you on something else," Doctor Corrin said with a dismissive air. "While combat simulations are good at testing your adaptability and helping improve things like your response time and judgement, there's really only so much improvement that can be made in such a chaotic environment. Of course, you did specifically ask for that kind of training, so I'm sure there will be more of that, don't you worry your pretty little head.
Mikoto simply grunted in response, crossing her arms. "That still doesn't answer my question about what we're doing here."
"Children these days, so impatient." He flipped a few switches and the distant humming grew louder. A large, circular platform rose out of the center of the room. "If you would please stand on that pedestal, Misaka-san, I will explain today's experiment."
Mikoto did as she was asked, stepping onto the raised platform and looking around to get a better look at the room. The walls curved into a domed ceiling, and were covered in metal panels that each seemed to be covered in divots, each no larger than a tennis ball. Energy raced through the walls, making Mikoto tense. She could feel it, hungry, restless, waiting to be released, yet still somehow foggy, like she couldn't quite grasp it.
"You're batte instincts are impressive, as is your ability to adapt on the fly. However, despite the fact that you are capable of producing an incredible amount of power, you lack the ability to maintain that level of power for a sustained period of time. In order to rectify this, what is needed is an endurance test. Allow me to demonstrate."
Corrin flipped a switch, and Mikoto felt the shift in the energy coursing through walls the instant before it slammed into her. Agony ripped through her body and she screamed as electricity tore through her system, unbidden and out of control. For a moment, everything went black, and when she opened her eyes she was staring at the ceiling.
Mikoto gingerly rose to her knees, trying to get her feet under her so she could stand.
"What... what the hell did you do?" Furious eyes stared at the researcher who stood calmly at the controls, regarding her with what seemed to be amusement.
"It seems Tokiwadai's famed Electric Princess can't handle a little shock," Corrin said with a chuckle. The sound sent shivers down Mikoto's spine, but a moment later he was all business again, though his expression did not change.
"As you may have noticed, the current was tuned to a specific wavelength that would interfere with your AIM field, thus making it much harder for you to control."
"That doesn't make sense," Mikoto panted, getting to her feet. The smell of ozone and burnt hair assaulted her nose as she stood. Her legs were unsteady beneath her, but she stood tall, determined not to show any more weakness. "I've never had any trouble controlling any electric currents outside of my body, let alone been hurt by them."
"Well, I did say that I had tuned the current specifically to interfere with your AIM field." Corrin turned his attention back to the console. "Think of it this way. Let's say your ability allowed you to control water instead of electricity. Assuming that you were powerful enough to control almost any volume of water, then it would stand to reason that no water based attack could hurt you."
He paused for a moment, looking back over his shoulder at Mikoto. The numbness in her fingers and toes had started to fade, but she still felt as though she had a bad sunburn.
"Your situation is a little different, given that you don't simply control electricity but produce it as well, but ignore that for the moment. So if I wanted to injure Misaka-san the water esper with a water based attack, I would have to change my strategy a little bit." The hum began to build again, and Mikoto tensed.
"Now, suppose instead of water, I used mud? There is water in the mud, and you would be able to control that, but not the earth inside of it."
"You mean, when I tried to move the water, the effort of moving the earth with it would make it harder for me to control," Mikoto said, beginning to see what Corrin meant.
"Ah, I see you understand," Corrin said, clasping his hands together. "That's it exactly. A rather crude analogy, I admit, but it serves its purpose. So we apply a similar process here; by tuning the current against your AIM field, we are essentially muddying the mixture, and that makes it harder for you to control, and your body sees the current as foreign."
"But how is that supposed to help me?!" Mikoto shouted, finally losing her patience. "How is electrocuting me supposed to make me any stronger?"
"Think of it as a game of tug-of-war," Corrin said, ignoring her outburst. "You can still sense the current, it's simply that you cannot exert full control over it. So you must use your own power to direct the harmful current away from yourself. If you falter, you will be electrocuted, as you were before. I thought it might help if you had some motivation."
Mikoto tensed at the memory of the sudden, blinding agony. Under normal circumstances, such an exercise would be child's play, but this was different. It was disturbing enough to even know it was possible to tune electricity against her. Mikoto had always felt comfortable around it, ever since she had learned she was an electromaster. Even as a level one she had never been afraid of her power. Now though, she had tasted a bit of what it could do when it showed its teeth. She had no desire to feel it again.
"H-how long do I have to keep that up?"
The hum rose to a screech, and Corrin grinned as he flipped another switch.
"For as long as you can."
"Gaaa! This is hopeless!"
Ruiko Saten flopped back on her bed, letting out a sigh of frustration. Her computer lay open before her, nearly a dozen open windows displaying all of her favorite rumor and urban legend sites. Yet none of them had more information about Power Pox than what she had already known.
"Don't worry, Saten-san," Uiharu said from her position on the other side of her friend's desk, her own computer open and her fingers working furiously at the keyboard. "I'm sure we'll find something, we just have to keep looking."
Ruiko grumbled, pulling at her hair in frustration. "I thought for sure I'd be able to find something useful, but all anyone seems to talk about are the symptoms, and "oh hey I think my friend has that" stories. I figured with my sleuthing skills and your computer wizardry we'd have found something by now."
"We've only been at it for a couple of hours," Uiharu pointed out. "If there's anything to this rumor, then it's not likely that we'd be able to find out what's causing it just by checking the rumor sites, and it will take me awhile to delve any deeper in Academy City's databases. I can't just snap my fingers and get into any system I want."
Ruiko sat up on her elbows, staring at the ceiling. "I know, I'm just impatient, you know? We haven't seen Misaka-san in weeks, and Shirai-san seems to be getting really worried about her. I just want to help."
"Hm, well maybe we should visit her this weekend. I'm sure she'd be happy to see us, and maybe we can convince her to tell us what's going on."
"That sounds like a great idea!" Ruiko said, flipping herself into a sitting position and grinning at Uiharu. "She probably won't tell us anything though, you know how she is about these things. That girl can be too stoic for her own good sometimes."
Uiharu smiled. "That's true. She can have a hard time being open with other people, even her friends. I wonder if it's because she's a level five and feels like she should be able to rely on her own power?"
"Nah, that's not really like her," Ruiko said, waving her hand in dismissal. "Misaka-san is more the type to want to solve her problems herself because she doesn't want to get other people involved. No matter how many times we try to tell her we're here to help her, she never seems to learn that lesson."
Uiharu smiled. "We'll just have to keep trying. Sooner or later, I'm sure she'll understand that we just want to help her."
"Yeah, you're right," Ruiko said with a grin, sitting back down at her desk. "Guess in the meantime we'll just have to do our best to help her without her permission. Find anything new?"
"Nothing we didn't already know," Uiharu said with a small frown. "Most of the reports that I've been able to link to espers that might be suffering from Power Pox mostly just list symptoms. Decreased control of their ability, erratic behavior, insomnia, paranoia, instances of complete loss of control. There's a report here of a pyrokinetic who set fire to her room while she was asleep."
Ruiko made a face. "Is she alright?"
"Let's see..." Uiharu frowned as she scrolled through the report. "Mizushima Hanako, a level four pyrokinetic. According to the report, she suffered severe burns in the incident, and is currently recovering in the District 7 hospital. The official report doesn't say anything about Power Pox, but it does note that she had no history of similar accidents, and it is being classified as a "highly unusual" case."
"You said she suffered burns?" Ruiko asked. Uiharu nodded, prompting a thoughtful expression from Ruiko. "I thought elemental type espers couldn't be hurt by their own powers. Misaka-san never shocks herself, even when she gets super mad."
"That's sort of true." Uiharu said, tapping her chin in thought. "For someone like Misaka-san, controlling her electricity is second nature, but even much less experienced espers rarely hurt themselves when using their powers. Most of the time, it's because the level of the ability can't really exceed their ability to control it. If a level three was capable of producing the same amount of electrical current as Misaka-san though, there's a good chance they could get hurt."
"So this Power Pox thing doesn't lower an espers power so much as it lowers their control?"
"At this point all we can do is speculate, but it seems like there's a good chance you're right. Of course, that's assuming that's what we're looking at here at all." Uiharu absently adjusted her flower band, eyes locked on the screen. "But if that's true, and Misaka-san does have it, then things could get a lot worse than we thought. Mizushima-san nearly burned down her entire dorm, and she's only level four."
"Yeah, I don't want to think about what might happen if Misaka-san lost control," Ruiko said with a grimace. "She'd never hurt anyone, at least not on purpose, but she's so stubborn sometimes. She'd probably end up hurting herself."
Uiharu nodded, watching as the sun crept down below the horizon. It was getting late, and they had been at it nearly all afternoon, scouring the net for anything they could find that might let them help their friend.
"Well, we're not going to get anything else done sitting around here," Ruiko said, standing and stretching. "If there's nothing in the official report about Power Pox, then, we'll just have to do some more hands on research."
Ruiko pulled her friend out of her chair and towards the door, taking a moment to slip her shoes on before beckoning Uiharu to follow.
"Come on, it's almost curfew. No time to waste!"
"Eh? W-wait, Saten-san!" Uiharu stammered as she pulled her shoes on. "Where are we going?"
"The hospital of course!" Ruiko said, taking off at a run while Uiharu chased after her, shouting for the other girl to slow down.
By the time Mikoto staggered out of the facility, it was nearly curfew. The last of the sun's rays cast a web of pink and orange across the sky, highlighting the few clouds that lingered in the twilight.
Every step was a struggle as her body threatened to give out on her. Her muscles strained to keep her moving forward, and Mikoto had to grit her teeth to keep from keeling over right there on the sidewalk. It was going to be a long walk home.
The test had been much more strenuous than she had anticipated. Fighting the constant barrage of electricity taxed her in a way she had never experienced before, draining her reserves far faster than she had anticipated. Keeping up the battle had been too much, and after the first hour, she had slipped up. The resulting shock was more intense than the little jolt she had received prior to the test, and it had left her twitching and moaning on the floor for a solid minute before she managed to get herself together again.
After that, she had been more careful. Instead of trying to push back against the opposing current, she had used her power to change its direction so that it wouldn't hit her. Even still, there was only so long she could keep it up before her concentration slipped and she was shocked again.
After the fifth such slip up, she hadn't been able to get up again, and had blacked out temporarily, waking up to find herself in Doctor Kamui's office. The woman had treated her burns and given her something for the pain, but it wasn't enough to fully dull the tingling burn that covered much of her body, nor the bone-deep ache that was making it harder and harder for her to walk.
And of course, she still wasn't sure she had gotten anything useful out of the exercise. It had made a certain amount of sense, when she had been listening to Doctor Corrin's explanation, but she certainly didn't feel any stronger at the moment.
Mikoto was no stranger to hard work. She was a level five, after all, and she had reached that level through hard work and perseverance. Shrugging away from something just because it was hard wasn't in her character, but she was starting to wonder if these visits were such a good idea after all. She was constantly tired, her injuries barely had time to heal before new ones were inflicted, and she was starting to slip in her studies. To top it all off, she was worrying her friends again. She had promised herself she wouldn't do that anymore, but what choice did she really have?
On more than one occasion, Mikoto had toyed with the idea of telling them everything. If not Uiharu and Saten, then at least Kuroko. Kuroko could take care of herself, when it came down to it, and she was incredibly resourceful. Doubtless she'd be a great help if anything like what happened at the Daihaseisai were to happen again. She had even come close to telling her, after that incident with the remnants of the Tree Diagram.
But then, she remembered the cruel, taunting eyes of Accelerator, and the face of Mugino Shizuri, twisted in rage. She couldn't afford to get her friends involved with the likes of them. They were dangerous, cruel, and ruthless. It didn't matter how much she wanted to tell them, or how much they might be able to help her. The fact of the matter was, if they knew, they would never let her try to face the danger alone. They would put themselves in danger time and time again to help her, and that was something Mikoto couldn't allow. Sooner or later, their luck would run out, and one of them would be hurt or worse.
If that happened, Mikoto didn't know how she would be able to live with herself.
The last rays of the sun had finally disappeared over the horizon, the polished glass of Academy City's towers reflected only the light of the city itself. Her feet carried her forward without her really thinking about where she was going. If she thought too much about it, Mikoto didn't think she'd be able to keep walking.
It was getting harder and harder to focus. Her vision swam before her eyes, the world tilting at odd angles and lights leaving luminescent trails across her field of vision. She was only vaguely aware of her surroundings, finding it hard to focus on anything other than putting one foot in front of the other. Soon, even that seemed to be too much effort, and Mikoto stumbled, falling to one knee before she managed to catch herself.
Her stomach lurched as she forced herself back to her feet. 'I can barely even walk anymore,' she thought, dragging her feet as she attempted to keep moving forward. What she really needed was to rest, just for a moment. If she could catch her breath, then she'd be able to make it back to the dorm and collapse into her bed. Kuroko would have questions, but at the moment, that hardly seemed important.
Mikoto stumbled towards a nearby bench, hardly even aware of what she was doing as she collapsed onto it, slumping onto her side . Just a few minutes, and she'd be fine. She didn't want to arouse any suspicion—it had to be nearly curfew by now—but she needed to rest.
Her gaze lingered for a moment on the lights of the distant towers. They seemed to swirl and dance before her eyes into a kaleidoscope of color before gradually dimming, darker and darker, until the world was black.
Kuroko sat at her desk, doing her best to focus on her homework. It wasn't particularly difficult; under normal circumstances she would have been done by now, but she was having a hard time concentrating on the work. She tapped her pen idly against her temple, her eyes glossing over the contents of her textbook, reading without comprehending. She blinked, realizing that once again she had read the same paragraph three times without paying any attention to its contents. Her eyes cut to the small clock she kept on her desk, biting her lip as she did.
Five minutes to curfew.
A forlorn sigh escaped her lips as she let her pen fall, closing her book. It wasn't as though she was going to be getting any work done tonight anyway, distracted as she was. Just where could Onee-sama be? Kuroko kept expecting to hear the door open and to turn and see her Onee-sama, smiling and apologetic (though that might have just been wishful thinking), but every time she turned, convinced she had heard something, the door was shut, and there was no sign of Onee-sama.
It had been like this a lot lately. Onee-sama would disappear after classes, and wouldn't return until after curfew. Sometimes she wouldn't get back until the early hours of the morning, and every time she did she would thank Kuroko for covering for her before passing out on her bed. Sometimes she didn't even bother undressing.
'Where are you right now, Onee-sama? What are you doing that leaves you so tired you pass out as soon as you get home and need me to wake you up in the mornings?'
She had tried asking her, tried being subtle and even tried the direct approach. That particular attempt had resulted in a particularly painful shock, but Onee-sama always denied that anything was wrong, brushing off her concerns. It was maddening, but there was very little Kuroko could do about it short of outright spying, something she was loath to do. She kept telling herself Onee-sama just needed time, that she would open up when she was ready, but it was getting harder and harder to convince herself of that.
Saten-san and Uiharu seemed to think it was this 'Power Pox' thing, or at least, Saten-san did, and she was dragging Uiharu along for the ride. Kuroko had her doubts, but there was no denying that Saten-san's intuition about these things had been right in the past. On more than one occasion it was her instincts for urban legends that had pointed them in the right direction. Perhaps she was right this time too.
Kuroko's eyes caught the clock just as the bells that signified curfew sounded over the school grounds, ringing with a tone of finality that made Kuroko's chest tighten. There was still no sign of Onee-sama. She checked her phone to make sure she hadn't missed any calls, but she knew it was pointless. She had been checking her phone every five minutes for the last two hours, but there was nothing. Not that she really expected to hear anything, but that hadn't stopped her hoping.
With a heavy sigh, Kuroko stood and stretched before heading for the bathroom, hoping a shower might help take her mind off of things, and that just maybe her beloved Onee-sama would be back by the time she finished.
With more than 2.3 million inhabitants, Academy City certainly qualified as a sprawling metropolis. Being without question the most modern and technologically advanced city in the world went a long way towards keeping order in the city, with everything from law enforcement to public transportation being monitored and managed by the incredible network of automated systems that was one of the city's crowning achievements. There was a reason even young children were allowed to live on their own in Academy City; with the simple layout and impeccable public transit systems, it was almost impossible to get lost.
Index had never been the kind of girl to let impossibilities get in her way.
"Toumaaa..." the young nun whimpered, shuffling along in her white habit, a large plastic bag full of snacks trailing behind her. She ambled along, zigzagging along the sidewalk in a vain attempt to collect her bearings. While blessed with a perfect memory, not even she could find her way home if she hadn't been paying attention in the first place.
A soft meowing issued from the collar of her robes. Index absently scratched Sphynx behind the ears, trying her best to recall the route she and Touma had walked earlier.
It wasn't her fault she was lost. She'd just been following Touma, playing with Sphynx. Finding the way home was supposed to be his job. So was buying the snacks. And doing the laundry. But that wasn't to say she didn't do anything important. She kept the fridge clean, after all, and someone had to play with Sphynx while Touma was at school. It would be a shame if the little kitten got bored, after all.
Touma had offered to buy her some snacks, and course she had agreed. When they got to the convenience store though, he had gotten a phone call from Komoe-sensei and run off, asking her if she'd be fine getting back on her own. Index had been too distracted by all the food to do anything other than nod.
Now, she was wishing she'd paid a little more attention on their way to the store, or at least asked Touma how to get home.
The sun had long since set, and Index was just considering resorting to her old standby of collapsing on the sidewalk when she spotted a telephone booth, gleaming like a beacon beneath a street light.
"Ah! Sphynx, we're saved!"
With renewed energy, she sprinted towards the phone booth, ignoring the startled cries of Sphynx, who dug his claws into the fabric of Index's habit for dear life.
As she neared the phone booth, she caught sight of something strange out of the corner of her eye. There, lying on a bench, was a girl. Index came to a stop, staring in confusion. It wasn't often that you saw someone sleeping on a bench in Academy City. From what Touma had said, the security forces tended to crack down on that thing pretty hard, in order to keep up the city's image.
Index hesitated for a moment, indecision playing across her features as she took fitful steps between the girl and the phone booth.
On the one hand, it was really none of her business if the girl wanted to sleep on a bench. It wasn't as if it was all that cold out or anything. On the other hand, it would be a shame if she got in trouble just for falling asleep outside, and if she did need help, then it was Index's duty as a servant of God to help her.
Steeling her resolve, Index took a tentative step forward, calling out to the sleeping girl. "Um, are you alright? You can get in trouble if you sleep there, you know? You should probably go back to your dorm."
She waited a moment for a response, but there was none. The girl didn't even seem to have heard her. Instead, she simply lay there, not moving. Anxiety began to creep into Index's chest, and she took a few more steps.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Still no response. By now Index was beginning to think the girl might actually be hurt. Any lingering apprehension she might have felt was overridden by concern as she knelt beside the girl, gently shaking her shoulder.
"Can you hear me?" She asked again, shaking a little harder. The girl didn't respond, but this close up, Index was able to make out her face, and she frowned. This girl looked strangely familiar. She searched her mind for the appropriate memory, and when she found it, her eyes widened in recognition.
"Short-Hair?"
A/N: This was a chapter I enjoyed writing quite a bit, though I'm not really sure how it came out. I think I like it overall. I'm trying really hard to avoid Mikoto coming across as too angsty, but I think a certain amount of that kind of thing is necessary (not to mention it just seems to be the way I write), and it's going to come up a bit more in the next chapter. The purpose of this story is mainly to explore Mikoto and the way she feels about her clones. Protective is the most obvious emotion, but I always got the impression that she really got into the idea of fulfilling her roll as their big sister. It's certainly an interesting dynamic that didn't seem to get enough attention in the series, so I'm trying to address that here. It also just makes for a bunch of really fun to write interactions.
I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone that has reviewed. It's good to hear that I'm portraying the characters well, as that's something I'm always worried about. I fell in love with the story and its characters, so I want to do them justice.
Next chapter will be out soon, probably about a week. I actually have most of it written, since I cut this one down from about 10k words. It all works as one chapter, but I don't want to have this one be twice as long as the others, and it gives me an excuse to stop on a bit of a cliffhanger, which I've always wanted to do. Thanks again, and please keep reading and reviewing!