Chapter 018

A Quarter of the Phenomena - Part One (Gravitation & Electromagnetic Force)

Update Time: 2011-NOV-22 19:06:28

Mikoto feels that no matter how many times she meets anyone in the future, she will never have the same feeling again.

Like a mirage reflecting an unreal virtual image, the dream that only existed in ideals becomes a reality at this moment.

The girl stands there in a poised posture with her hands holding her school bag in front of her, in a calm and leisurely manner that seems to have experienced too many stories, displaying a natural and elegant charm.

The delinquents around her are all suppressed to the ground by an invisible unknown force, and they look like they are prostrating themselves to her.

Staring at the girl's figure, she can't help but be amazed and speechless.

Words like beautiful, cute, pretty, and lovely are not enough to describe her beauty. This beauty is so dazzling that even people of the same gender can't escape it.

The figure in her dream-like state bows to her gracefully.

"I'm sorry for worrying you."

"No, it's me... um, these guys should be okay, right?"

Mikoto stammers and doesn't even know what she's saying.

"Please rest assured, it's just a simple gravity suppression. I still have some control over it."

"Ahaha... I didn't doubt you or anything..." Mikoto quickly denies, "By the way, are you also a student at our school?"

"Yes. My name is Unabara Sorano, a first-year student. Nice to meet you."

The other side speaks and bows gently again.

To be honest, Mikoto isn't good at dealing with people like this. It's not that she has any prejudice against the other side, but being with someone who is so polite and serious makes her feel like an immature little devil, which is quite uncomfortable.

Of course, she naturally chooses to ignore the fact that she is indeed an immature little devil.

"I'm Misaka Mikoto."

The girl in front of her shows a slight expression of surprise.

"Misaka-san...? Could you be the Level 5 one?"

"Well... yeah. But, Unabara... could you be the rumored granddaughter of the chairman?"

"If there's no other Unabara among the freshmen this year, then it should be me."

There is no hint of showing off, just a very indifferent admission.

It's unexpectedly easy to get along with her, even though she's such an outstanding person...

Looking closely, during the time the two were talking, those delinquents were still firmly pressed to the ground. And Mikoto, who was also in this area, didn't feel any abnormality at all. Such a control ability is amazing.

No, if it's just the control ability, it's not too surprising. However, such a long period of exquisite control is really unbelievable.

In fact, for ten minutes until the members of Judgment arrives on the scene, Sorano has been maintaining her ability stably and accurately, which makes Mikoto feel extremely surprised.

If Mikoto knew that Sorano's accuracy in controlling gravitation reached the thirteenth decimal place and she had been applying the ability to herself for almost 24 hours per day, she would probably be shocked and jump up on the spot.

But this is not surprising. Although Mikoto is a Level 5, she is indeed unable to compare with Sorano in terms of accuracy. This is theoretically the limit that already exists, because general relativity used by Sorano is one of the two most accurate scientific theories in human history. Except for quantum electrodynamics (QED), any theory that wants to compare accuracy with general relativity will not have wonderful results.[1]

Mikoto's ability is Electromaster, with the unique nickname Railgun, and the theory currently used by her is mainly Maxwell's electromagnetic field theory. It is completely unrealistic to compare accuracy with general relativity used by Sorano before being corrected by quantum electrodynamics. As for quantum electrodynamics, it is at least not something that middle school students can fully master for now (except for weirdos like Sorano).

When explaining to the on-site members of Judgment, they attract a lot of attention. After all, the two girls from Tokiwadai are quite conspicuous, and they encountered such a thing.

After a simple inquiry, Sorano reaches out to Mikoto.

"Grab me."

Mikoto, who doesn't understand her meaning, grabs her hand. Although it's a bit awkward (because Sorano is left-handed), that hand is really soft...

"Huh?"

The scenery in front suddenly changes?

Looking down, she and the other side are actually floating in mid-air together? And still rising?!

"Wow wow wow wow wow wow wow!"

"Please don't scream so loudly, it's just a normal height."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute! At least let me have some psychological preparation for this kind of thing!"

The two bodies draw a high arc in mid-air and gently land on the top of a building.

"Really, although I know we need to leave as soon as possible, your way of leaving is really surprising," complains Mikoto.

Upon reflection, she realizes that she didn't feel any pulling force from the other side's hand when they were lifted up together. This helps Mikoto understand what exactly the other side's ability is.

"Is that so? I'm sorry."

"Well... but to be honest... it's really interesting," says Mikoto, feeling like she's being too critical.

Before Mikoto's eyes, Sorano smiles slightly. Her smile, delicate and ethereal like crystal, is so mesmerizing that it makes Mikoto feel as if she is in a dream.

"Yes, the feeling of flying is a unique experience that can't be imitated by anything else. Misaka-san, someday you'll be able to experience it too."[2]

"As for me? I can't fly anyway, so it doesn't matter."

Mikoto denies casually, but she notices that Sorano seems to give her a meaningful glance.

"Misaka-san, don't you realize it? Well... it's just a matter of time."

Sorano speaks in a way that's a little different from others, as if she's deliberately holding back something. However, it doesn't make Mikoto dislike her. Because her tone shows full respect for the other side and simply expresses that she won't interfere with her will.

"By the way, whether it's Judgment or Anti-Skill, why do they always show up after the fact? Is this some kind of B-list superhero script?"

Mikoto says as she absentmindedly touches her hair, watching the members of Judgment below who are busy cleaning up.

"No, it's not like that," Sorano shakes her head, "The so-called law enforcers must have a delay in the 'execution' phase. This is determined by the limitations of law and physics."

"Are you speaking for Judgment and Anti-Skill? They were both late just now."

"Yes. According to the law, any criminal act cannot be used as a basis for conviction before it occurs. This is a limitation on law enforcement. Active and proactive law enforcement is unimaginable because it means giving law enforcers the power to enforce before the crime is established. It seems like there's no problem, but if this is established, it means that anyone can be labeled a 'criminal' with non-existent intent. Therefore, the fundamental limitation on law enforcement is to restrict the time when law enforcement powers are exercised, which is a legal limitation. As a result, a natural consequence is that unless they are present at the time, law enforcers cannot arrive at the scene in the first place, which is a physical limitation. So I don't think they did anything wrong, and they did their best. As long as the delay is not too long, I'm willing to admit that it's reasonable."

"You are very rational."

"'Reality cannot be so idealized, so the way to achieve the ideal cannot be divorced from reality'," Sorano opens her five fingers toward the direction of the sky, "It's just that simple."

Mikoto stares at her in surprise, suddenly feeling that she doesn't seem like a middle school student at all. Although on the surface, Sorano doesn't look like a middle school student either, it's on a psychological level.

She seems to have experienced too much and know too much. This is no longer like a middle school girl of their age.

Noticing Mikoto's gaze, Sorano blushes a little.

"It's just something my father told me."

This explanation makes Sorano's words seem so reasonable, but it's not that simple to correctly grasp the derived concept of this sentence. Although if she just understands it literally, this sentence is indeed very simple.

"Mmm, everything is fine like this," Mikoto says, swinging her backpack over her shoulder with one hand and resting the other on the railing of the rooftop. Her casual stance doesn't look like that of an elite girl, but it's not unattractive either. She looks into the distance, a slight smile on her face. "Hey, forget about flying and all that, just standing up high and looking at things gives me a grand feeling. It's like the whole world is beneath our feet... oh, but the world is really beneath our feet, isn't it? Anyway, you know what I mean, I don't know how to explain it."

She feels like she's said something inexplicable and embarrassing. She's not sure why, but even though she's only been with this girl for a short while, she feels like she's relaxed a lot without realizing it.

"I understand. After all, I often put myself in the sky."

Sorano, who maintains her dignified posture even when there's no one else around, which is quite different to Mikoto, responds to Mikoto's words with her gentle voice.

"Yeah, you're right."

Mikoto says softly. A soft warmth rises from the bottom of her heart.

Misaka Mikoto, a Level 5 who became a celebrity at Tokiwadai as soon as she entered, is actually very afraid of loneliness. Although she never admits it verbally, she can feel it in her heart. In fact, she is the kind of person who gets depressed when cute little cats she feeds run away because of the electromagnetic waves emitted from her body.

She can be the center of attention as long as she wants, but she still can't really blend in with the group. Although she can get along well with most people, there always seems to be some kind of inexplicable barrier. To be honest, maintaining this kind of daily life is not easy.

The most important reason why she doesn't plan to join any group is probably because of this. It's better to keep a proper distance than to be in the center of a group but still not be able to blend in. In this way, it can be more natural for everyone.

However, during this short time spent with this girl, she really feels relaxed. It doesn't matter even if she says some embarrassing things unintentionally.

[1] Footnote by the translator: the experimental measurement of the electron anomalous magnetic moment can maintain consistency with the theoretical calculation value given by quantum electrodynamics after the eleventh decimal place.

[2] Footnote by the translator: Water molecules have weak diamagnetism and can be suspended in a strong magnetic field. As the main component of biological organisms is water and large biomolecules such as proteins also have diamagnetism, small animals such as insects and mice can also be suspended as long as the magnetic field is strong enough. Even humans can theoretically be suspended, but there have been no human experiments yet. I hope that our dear Misaka-san can become the first person to do so. British physicist Andre Geim won the Ig Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000 for suspending a frog, and the video he took was really funny. What's more noteworthy is that ten years later, in 2010, he won the real Nobel Prize in Physics for his outstanding contributions in the field of graphene materials. In addition, China has built a research facility simulating lunar surface low-gravity conditions in 2022 for manned lunar landing missions, which was inspired by this.

Endnote by the author:

About the title of this chapter:

The title "A Quarter of the Phenomena" will only appear under specific conditions. When the conditions are met, the original title of the plot will be ignored and replaced with the title "A Quarter of the Phenomena". No matter how the plot develops, "A Quarter of the Phenomena" has the highest priority. Note that the number after this title itself does not have narrative continuity, it just indicates how many times this title has appeared.

Endnote by the uploader:

By the way... this is the first time I've been charmed by the protagonist. The last time I felt like this was with Sasaki from "The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya" light novel. It seems that I really lack resistance to this type of intellectual beauty. Furthermore, in addition to the title, the subtitle is also an important spoiler.