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Outside of the Hospital

Xander's POV

~Famous last words.~ He thought trying to figure out where all the confidence he'd spoken with minutes ago had come from.

He was in a city, a REALITY, he'd never been too before and while it was close to what he knew there were some big differences. People with powers for one and tech that was well ahead of anything back home for another. Knowing all this he'd had the balls to claim that he would 'think of something' that would get Kihara and his goons off their backs?

He had a feeling that either he was still suffering from fighting the blue guy earlier or going part cybernetic was messing with his brain.

Still he'd made the boast and if he didn't do something to make good on it his damsel's big sister was likely to go off on her own to do something stupid.

What did he need?

For one thing he needed tools and resources because he doubted he'd manage much with his powers and the clothes on his back. For him that means tech and gear since either or would make tackling Kihara and his forces easier.

~They got wifi? Can you tap into it?~ He thought at his A.I partner since talking aloud might give away his plans to the enemy.

~Wireless access to the internet is possible.~ The A.I thought back to him, ~What do you require?~

~Guns and some kind of protective clothes.~ He thought in response deciding to move right to his strengths.

~Firearms and protective clothing superior to that which is available to civilians is regulated and in some cases restricted to government affiliated personnel.~ The A.I thought with warning to him, ~Acquiring them legally would be difficult and would alert your pursuers of your location. Acquiring them illegally runs the risk of doing the same and potentially adding both Anti-Skill and Judgment to numbers seeking your capture.~

Point.

It didn't matter if he was in another reality because weapons of any real strength wouldn't be available to anyone who wanted them. The only places where that'd be the case would be wretched hives of scum and villainy where the only concern would be who you planned on aiming the guns at. In Mos Eisley nobody would care if you loaded up on blasters since it meant a profit for them but they would be concerned if your plans were to aim them at Jabba the Hutt or some other scumbag. Here? Here the gun laws and rules for getting them were probably a lot closer to what he knew existed back home. Same thing for bulletproof vests or more high tech counterparts.

Plus he'd bet good money that Kihara and his goons probably had the best of both at their disposal already.

~There is a solution.~ The A.I thought in a way that could've been mistaken as tentative, ~It might be possible to construct suitable armaments and protective clothing.~

He supposed that could work but for one tiny flaw.

~I don't have a lot of experience when it comes to making guns or protective clothing.~ He thought to his partner, ~Maintenance is easy enough but making something from scratch isn't something I can do.~

~That will not be a problem.~ The A.I thought to him as images began to appear in his vision, ~Upon our arrival here I have been familiarizing myself with the hardware hosting my program. It was during this assessment that I discovered these files. They were not a part of my original program. I am at a loss to explain where they came from. Nevertheless they should aid in the creation of what you need.~

Watching as the files circulate through his vision he had to admit that the files looked detailed enough but the question still came as to whether or not he had the skill to make use of them.

Then again…there was a possibility…it was dangerous but it could solve the problem.

~Does Academy City have a factory or a complex where things can be fabricated and assembled by machines?~ He asked his partner, ~Some place where we can just feed these files into the system and let it do all the work?~

~It does however such systems are connected to city networks and any unexpected activity will likely garner attention.~ The A.I thought in reply, ~Based on numerous simulations the safest solution would be to locate the desired components and utilize the techno-organic material hosting my program to create the desired items.~

~It can do that?~ He thought with some surprise.

Since waking up and first getting a look at this metal arm he'd speculated about what it might be capable of but most of his ideas were centred around superhuman strength and durability. Sure it was the hardware that hosted his A.I partner and sure because it was integrated with his body he gained certain technological benefits but he'd assumed that its form was fixed.

~Affirmative. It is currently maintaining a default form consistent with your mental definition of 'normal' however this program should be able to utilize it to meet out needs.~ The A.I thought in response to his inquiry.

~And will getting the parts we need draw attention?~ He thought not wanting to get to excited about this unconventional solution.

~Not if the parts are acquired in a roundabout manner.~ The A.I replied before the files were replaced with a map that presumably was of Academy City, ~If we went directly to the locations where the individual parts are manufactured it is possible that the enemy forces could discern our intent. However if we target existing products that have the desired components incorporated into its design and remove them it will take time for the enemy to discern our objective.~

It could work.

Even if they caught on to who was behind the seemingly random B&E and thefts they'd still need awhile to figure out what his plan was. If he could get everything he needed before they decided to take action they'd be in for a rather nasty surprise.

"Looks like we got a plan." He muttered before trying to figure out where the nearest component was, "Keep the map up and display the direction along with the distance to the closest thing we need."

~Acknowledged.~ The A.I thought before a red dot appeared on the map in his vision.

With a place to go he made sure to pull the hood as much over his head as possible in order to keep his face obscured both from human eyes as well as from the cameras. Depending on how seriously Kihara was looking for him and how diligent the people who were monitoring the camera feeds were he might have enough of a head start to get the first two items no hassle. If the opposition was as diligent and hardcore as an all business military he'd probably already already been spotted leaving the hospital and any teams in the area would be moving to capture him.

~Then let's make them work for their catch!~ He thought deciding to see if the same tactics the Council used against magical tracking would work on technological tracking methods.

HQ For Project SYSTEM

Kihara Gensei's POV

"Subject zero-zero-one-omega is heading north-northwest from the hospital." One of the people monitoring the video feeds from the Academy City cameras reported, "Appears to be engaging in escape and evasion maneuvers."

"Order team one to pursue but keep the others at least five blocks away at all times." He ordered considering this new development, "Should team one fall team two will move in to replace them but the others will remain at a distance."

"Um…sir…would it not be more…effective to have all of the teams pursue him?" One of the subordinates he didn't care to learn the name of asked with moderate hesitation.

He sighed as he heard the words of one who'd clearly only been hired because he could be counted on to take his job seriously. While he doubted that there were many in Academy City whose intellect could match his own or at least prove to be refreshing to work with it was annoying to have to work with such cavemen.

"As much of a bother as it is to say the hospital was a wise place to take refuge from pursuit." He said with mild irritation at the thought of his old foe, "Not in terms of what physical resistance it could offer us but rather the influence and connections one of its doctors possesses. Yes we could simply charge in and take what we want but there would be repercussions that would interfere with our work here that I would rather not be forced to deal with. Had both the subject and the prototype remained inside we would have had no choice but to simply surround the building and wait for them to emerge.

"Even as meagre as their intellects no doubt both would know this. Logically they would have no other option but to remain in the hospital until a suitable opportunity presented itself." He said grudgingly explaining his actions even though he shouldn't have to, "As such this decision to leave the place of safety is an anomaly. True it could simply be a bout of stupidity but I do not think so. His actions prove that he knows we would be waiting for him and that we would pursue him. Therefore we must ask ourselves: what is the point of this action? What does he hope to achieve?"

He waited for ten seconds to see if there were any brave enough or intelligent enough to provide the correct answer but when nothing happened he sighed with disappointment.

"He has a plan. A plan that he is confident enough in that he is willing to risk capture." He said providing the answer, "While some shortsighted fools might be willing to simply end this now I on the other hand see a chance to acquire more data on the subject. For a scientist nothing is more important than gathering data because not only does it serve to validate existing theories but helps to give rise to new ones. As such allowing the subject to proceed with his plan for the time being while maintaining the pressure he is no doubt expecting will be quite informative. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." The idiotic subordinate replied before carrying out his orders.

"Good." He said before hearing his cell phone ring, "Alert me of any changes of significance."

With that he left the room to take the call since only a select few people had the phone number to his cell phone and the programs he had installed on it would not allow a call through without a high enough authority code. Once he was outside and relatively sure that the discussion would not be overheard he pressed the 'accept call' button before placing his cell phone next to his ear.

"Yes?" He asked reserving any indication of impatience until after he knew who it was.

"DON'T YES ME OLD MAN!" Yelled the distorted voice that identified it as belonging to the handler of ITEM, "You owe me big! You never said the guy was contagious!"

Contagious? An odd word to use and one that implied several things but he knew better than to rush to conclusions before being in possession of the necessary facts.

"If you're referring to subject zero-zero-one-omega not once during the experiments did he exhibit any signs of carrying a disease or anything else that could be considered contagious." He said calmly to the handler, "Perhaps if you provided me with the symptoms I could discern the truth."

"Kinuhata Saiai's skin has turned into some sort of organic metal and her strength has increased beyond what her esper ability's previous best. Frenda Seivelun is somehow creating gold spheres of energy that blow up." The handler said showing frustration but also understanding, "Takitsubo Rikou is showing signs of physical prowess that should be impossible for her and Mugino…her skin has turned dark glowing green, she can fire energy blasts from her hands and might have some flight capability."

"Fascinating. I knew that subject's abilities were unique in that they did not come from his own personal reality like other espers." He said even as his mind began to work through the possibilities and probabilities, "However I never thought that he could somehow induce something similar in someone else through contact of some sort."

"Yeah, yeah! I'm sure this is all very thrilling to an egghead like you but what I want to know is how to get them back to normal!" The handler growled with impatience, "Right now it's all I can do to keep them someplace where they won't draw attention to themselves. If this keeps up ITEM is going to be a complete write-off and I'm going to need to recruit some new espers. NOT looking forward to that."

Typical.

~Presented with an amazing scientific development and the instinct to retreat to what is safe kicks in.~ He thought with disapproval before saying, "While your concerns are…understandable I believe that you are looking at things as a 'glass half empty' instead of a 'glass half full'. With some experimentation and training ITEM could be even better than before."

"I'm no esper specialist. I handle the logistics and background work for teams like ITEM." The handler pointed out admitting her shortcomings.

"Then perhaps you should give the job to someone else." He said before an idea popped into his head, "I have the necessary personnel to aid in ITEM's training. While I cannot offer you my current base of operations as a training facility but fortunately the facility used by a Level 6 Shift program is vacant. Relocate them there and the personnel will arrive within twelve hours. Will this suffice?"

"Fine. Send me the address and I'll get them there." The handler replied sounding mostly pacified.

"Of course. I look forward to seeing the results of their training." He said before pressing the end call button.

It took less than a minute to send the requested information and once done he began to consider this new development. At first he had seen the subject as a singular point of scientific interest but if what he'd been told was indeed the case then subject zero-zero-one-omega could be a genuine game changer. It would've been one thing if all that happened was a replication of the subject's known abilities but to be capable of inducing a variety of abilities in other specimens was something else altogether. His mind was a flurry of theories being assessed and dismissed at a rapid rate of speed. In the end though he forced himself to stop since it was pointless to do so until he had hard data to examine. It would be easy enough to conduct experiments and run a few lab tests on the members of ITEM so long as it was disguised beneath the lie of helping them gain control of their new abilities. Once he had enough information to formulate a respectable theory he could begin work to either prove that it was correct or disprove it while using the results to form a new theory.

Before all that though subject zero-zero-one-omega needed to be recovered with greater urgency than minutes ago.

~It would seem that I will need to bring the chase to a close sooner than I would prefer.~ He thought as he began to make another phone call, ~A pity. I would have liked to see just what the subject's objective turned out to be.~

A Little Under an Hour Later

Xander's POV

~Two parts down and three to go.~ He thought as he slipped his second acquisition into the bag he'd 'borrowed' for practical reasons, ~Where to next?~

In response to this a new dot showed up on the map of the city that'd remained in the corner of his vision since he'd left the hospital. After a moment to orient himself he took off at a decent pace ducking into the first alley he came across to make it harder for his pursuers to follow him in their vehicle. He'd noticed them fairly early on but it looked like since this was daytime they didn't want to completely blow their cover and bring the local cops down on them. That meant no screeching tires or guys jumping out of the back to grab him and since he'd kept his route random as well as roundabout they had no way to get ahead of him. If any of them got out of their vehicles to try and pursue him on foot he was fairly sure he could escape them without drawing too much attention to himself.

After all he could telekinetically lift himself to a rooftop much quicker than the people chasing him could run up several flights of stairs or an elevator could lift its car to the top floor.

Unless something was done to change things Kihara's thugs would never catch up to him never mind succeed in capturing him. For a moment he considered whether there might be some manner of hidden purpose to this, some strategy he wasn't seeing, but in the end shrugged it off. Even if the old mad scientist was scheming something subtle he'd have the edge so long as the monster in human clothing couldn't act with impunity. The very same veil of secrecy that allowed the man to conduct his immoral experiments would keep the sicko from succeeding under current circumstances.

Once night fell and most of the locals went home things would change but that was still hours off.

By the time that happened he'd likely be armed and ready for anything they threw at him.

He took another look at the city he'd been dropped in, being mindful not to misstep, and felt himself wondering just how close to the surface Kihara's kind really were. Were they close enough that any adult with half a brain could see them or at least suspect their existence? Did the methods that concealed them run deep enough and complex enough that only those who were familiar with them could see the truth that lay beyond? He was more inclined to think the latter since the only way things could be this peaceful looking would be if the people his eyes perceived were unaware of the truth. If the truth was made common knowledge people would flee the city in droves and the immoral scientists would need a small army to lock down all methods of departure as well as control the people. Such an effort would require quite a bit of money, no few resources and probably some connections with the Japanese government to prevent them from taking action.

Far easier to exercise some discretion and conceal their foul deeds while at the same time putting forth a convincing performance to make the city look attractive to live in.

~Enjoy your security blanket while you can.~ He thought with an edge to his thoughts, ~It isn't going to last.~

He wasn't stupid though.

He knew that even if he went all in and pushed himself to his limits there was no chance of him completely wiping out the darkness that existed in this city. It'd likely been in the city for a long while with roots that went plenty deep. The most he could hope for was to give them a serious scare and make it clear to them that their safety was not as absolute as they believed it to be. Maybe, just maybe, his actions might even spark enough public interest that even after he was gone the scum of this city would have to look over their proverbial shoulders regularly to see if they'd been discovered.

Coming to a stop across the street from the location indicated on his HUD map he did what he could to evaluate the building from a strategic mindset. As if sensing his intentions the A.I in his arm shifted to a map of the building it'd somehow obtained and relocated the destination dot to what he presumed was the room that contained the part he needed. From what he could tell there were three ground level ways into the building but the part he needed was on the second floor and in keeping with his usual brand of luck it wasn't in a room with a window. If it had been he would've been able to slip in, grab what he wanted and then slip out before anyone could do anything to stop him. Now though he was going to have to pretend to be some kind of stealth operative and sneak his way to the room hoping not to get tangled up along the way with something troublesome.

Simple.

Piece of cake.

He was SO going to screw up at some point but that hadn't stopped him before so why should it now.

~Better give the side entrance a try since it doesn't look like anyone from the sidewalk would have a clear line of sight to it.~ He thought before heading for the nearest crosswalk, ~Aside from a security system that may or may not include cameras it's the best way to get in without being spotted by people.~

Minutes later he was in the alley and as luck would have it he couldn't see a single camera whether it was the type shaped like shoe boxes or the dome shaped ones.

~Just how important is this place?~ He thought to his A.I partner, ~The security on the outside is pretty lame.~

~The business's focus is academic support rather than one intending financial gain.~ The A.I thought in response to him, ~While it is equipped with advanced equipment there are no immediate combat applications for the data contained within and neither does it have any contracts with combat focused organizations.~

Translation: there was no reason for a place like this to have a serious level of security.

What probably existed was nothing grander than a step or two above what your average middle class family could afford or would bother to purchase.

Coming to a stop in front of the entrance he reached out with his right hand and placed it on the door before letting telekinetic energy flow out from it. This was a trick he'd come up with on the fly to deal with security systems in order to learn more about them without tripping them in the process. By letting his TK energy flow he was feeling out every contour of the door as well as anything in contact with it. While he hadn't had enough practice to be able to form a clearcut image in his mind of what his telekinesis was touching the results thus far had made it a workable method. Even as he worked to understand the door and what was attached to it he worked to refine the image in his mind to make it clearer and improve the level of detail.

~Okay…okay…looks like some contact plates in the top and bottom right.~ He thought once he was sure enough, ~Plus what looks like something on the other side hooked up to the door jamb. Shouldn't be too hard.~

He might not have a good idea of how things worked but he was willing to bet that as long as the right amount of pressure was maintained on the plates and the part of the door jamb the door itself is touching no alarm would go off. Feeling like Indiana Jones in the long lost Peruvian temple he used his past experiences along with his instincts to figure out just how much pressure would be needed. When his patience ran out and his confidence in his guess reached a certain level he acted using his TK to exert the necessary pressure on the three points. Once his mental grip was secure enough he put his right hand on the door handle in order to let his partner manipulate the techno-organic matter that was his robot-arm in order to pick the lock. Being a material that could shift from being as solid as steel to something akin to pudding it could easily flow into the keyhole before taking on the shape needed to unlock the door.

Click!

~And I'm in.~ He thought entering the building through the open door, ~No alarms either. Hope my luck holds out a little longer.~

Closing the door behind him before he released the pressure on the three points he immediately began to navigate his way to his destination sending out light waves of TK energy as he went. None of it would be enough to disturb anything but it'd be a lot more effective for not accidentally turning a corner and bumping into someone than using his eyes. He couldn't make the waves powerful enough to extend very far unless he wanted to risk moving something tangible but it'd reach far enough if used properly.

~You messing with the cameras?~ He thought inquiringly to his A.I partner.

If the cameras had all been connected wirelessly to some central hub it would've been possible to tap into their feed and feed them false images. However since they were wired the most that his pal could do was generate energy waves that'd basically cause any images that'd pop up on the security monitors to be marred by interference. It'd only last as long as the cameras were in range of the waves but his partner had been certain at the last location that it'd be enough for him to escape visual range.

~Affirmative.~ The A.I thought in response, ~This unit has refined its efforts since last use to decrease the likelihood that security will be suspicious. This unit estimates there is less than a ten percent chance you will be discovered so long as we work together.~

He didn't comment on the estimate one way or another since he knew that either way Murphy would take action making his only hope silence since it might confuse the bastard.

Nevertheless even with the efforts he'd made to conceal his presence in the building there was still a level of tension within him that could not be dismissed. Why? Because he was outside his realm of experience and therefore the odds of failure were distinctly greater than if he was doing something he'd done a dozen times before. Then there was the fact that he wouldn't have the Scoobies or the Council as backup so he had only himself to rely upon. If he was Buffy or Faith they'd probably have the confidence to think that he could handle such a dangerous situation solo but he wasn't them. He could only be Xander Harris and he didn't have the same level of confidence that a Slayer had just by being what they were.

Would it get easier the longer this 'adventure' continued? Maybe.

Depending on how things were in the other realities he'd be visiting it could get worse if they turned out to be more alien than what he was used to. Given who his 'travel agent' was he would bet good money that he would indeed wind up in worlds where he'd be lucky to recognize enough to keep from unknowingly killing himself. He'd bet good money that D'Hoffryn was watching him right now getting a good laugh at the difficulties he'd experienced while eagerly anticipating the ones he'd likely face in the future.

Hopefully whatever cosmic force kept sending him into 'interesting' situations was more powerful than the Lord of Vengeance since that force was inclined towards keeping him alive.

Turning the last corner his eyes fell on the door to the room that held the third component he needed for the surprise he intended to give Kihara and his goons. This component according to the design specs was basically going to be the brain of the device controlling the various functions with speed and precision that no human could match. At the moment it was incorporated into some techno device in the room and would need to be extracted carefully since it wasn't built to be sturdy. There was also the fact that because of its design it needed to be kept in a specific environment to keep from being damaged. It'd make retrieving it dicey but he was sure that if he erected a tight TK field around himself and didn't let so much as a speck go off on its own he wouldn't break the very thing he'd come for.

~Time to get serious.~ He thought as he approached the door and placed his metal hand up against the keypad next to it.

Feeling his A.I partner begin to manipulate the security device he had to wait almost a full thirty seconds before he heard the click signifying the door was unlocked. Taking back his hand he mentally summoned his resolve even as he began to generate the TK field around his body before shaping it to fit every contour perfectly.

Then, with a mental snap, he was ready and so he entered the room.

~Willow would absolutely LOVE to get a chance to play around in here.~ He thought taking in the landscape of technology that the room embodied.

He couldn't identify half of the tech in the room never mind grasp how it all worked and that was enough to convince him that his best bud would've enjoyed herself. Without even being asked his partner highlighted which device had the component he needed and the best location for extraction giving him no reason to hesitate. With careful steps he walked until he faced the desired side of the object that looked like a spherical mass of circuits, wires, microchips and what could've been cooling mechanisms for the piece of tech. It made sense since depending on the function of the device and how it was designed it could generate quite a bit of heat after it'd been turned on. If generating too much heat would cause it to malfunction or even break down then logic dictated that a method of keeping it at optimum temperature would need to be incorporated into the design.

~Caution. In order to extract the necessary component we will need to take the device offline.~ The A.I thought to him in warning, ~This will almost certainly be noticed by the occupants of this building whose activities require that it be online. Depending on where they are and how they respond we will not have much time to accomplish the mission.~

In other words the extraction needed to go by the numbers and happen in as short a period of time as possible so that they'd be gone by the time anyone showed up.

~Then guide my hands partner.~ He thought even as he put them in position to remove the outer panel of the device, ~I trust you.~

A moment later he felt it, the presence of his partner, reaching out past the confines of his right arm until before long his hands began to move without any commands from him. His mind was not completely free of worry but it wasn't high enough to cause him to consciously or subconsciously resist what the A.I was doing. He'd determined the second that he'd woken up in the cemetery that the two of them were going to be together for a long time. The odds of anyone being able to remove the techno-organic matter from his body without killing him likely weren't that great and the chances of a substitute program being developed for controlling was about the same. If neither the program nor the hardware it lived in could be removed without serious consequences then the only thing to be done was to make their partnership the best it could be.

And all partnerships were built on trust.

Without trust the foundation of the relationship would be unstable making it highly probable that it'd fail.

Thus he watched as the A.I carefully took the device offline and once the lights went dead the work began to remove every component that obstructed the removal of the component they were after. It was a little odd for him to see his arms and hands moving with such precision with the closest activity of similarity that he'd ever done was the cleaning of his guns. While the majority of the Council still employed melee weaponry for slayage he'd long since adopted guns into his field gear options and with that came the required maintenance.

THIS however was a level of difficulty harder especially since they couldn't afford to take it slow if they wanted to be done and gone swiftly.

When the component was finally extracted and not a word of mishap or failure was conveyed by the A.I he took that to mean that the 'operation' had been a resounding success.

~Do we need to put it into some special case until we start assembling things?~ He thought at his A.I partner.

~Negative. While preferred to be in a contained clean environment exposure to variables outside of this room will not be immediately detrimental to the component.~ The A.I in his arm thought in reply, ~Only if the component remains exposed for more than six hours will its suitability for the weapon be nullified.~

Okay so he had time but not an endless supply of it.

He could work with that.

After watching the component be placed in the bag he felt himself gain full control over his body and the sensation of his partner withdrawing fully back into his techno-organic arm. Satisfied that he had everything he needed from the place he turned towards the door intent on leaving…

…only for the door to open and reveal that someone had been quicker to investigate the shutting off the device to pry out the component.

Standing before him was a young woman who looked like she'd graduated from college not too long ago clad in a white untucked dress shirt, black pants and brown leather ankle boots. Short brown hair and a cross look on her face he got the distinct impression that his activities might've interrupted something important to the lady. That made him feel a little guilty but only to the point where if he could before he left this reality he'd try to do something to make it up to her.

"Sorry about this gorgeous but my need is greater than yours." He said reaching out with his TK to grab ahold of her, "I'm sure they'll get it back up and running soon enough."

With that he flung her, GENTLY, away from the door in the hope that she'd be too dazed by her landing to stop him from leaving and would grant him some lead time before the alarms sounded.

Sadly there were two oversights that made themselves immediately apparent much to his dismay.

First was the fact that apparently flattering the young lady on her appearance had a decidedly different affect on her than he'd been expecting. He'd been aiming to distract her or throw her off balance so he could toss her out of his way but instead it looked like he'd pissed her off. Maybe she didn't like the fact that the person who'd ruined what she was doing acting all cocky and talking to her like he had? In any case the look on her face reminded him all too well of the look that he'd seen on Buffy's face when he'd gone too far complaining about Angel.

Too bad that unlike Buffy this young lady didn't consider him a friend so he was unlikely to get off with the cold shoulder routine.

The second oversight was that when he'd taken the action to throw her aside it'd been a little too casual. Instead of tossing the lady well clear of him to the wall furthest from him he'd chosen to just toss her past him to his right figuring it'd all happen too quick for her to do anything.

Sadly it looked like this young lady had excellent reflexes because just as she was passing by him she managed to grab ahold of his shirt. It was all he could do to remain on his feet but as a result of his actions the young lady was about to swing around onto his back like a kid looking for a piggy-back ride. Using both hands he tried his best to break her grip and get her off but it was quickly proven that she had experience with this sort of thing and knew how to stay put. He knew he could probably use his TK for added power but was concerned that if strength met strength that he might injure the lady however lightly. This went against his current objective and after a moment of thought he decided that the best thing he could do would be to put the young lady's resolve to the test.

"Fine! You want a piggy-back ride? You've GOT a piggy-back ride!" He declared before running for the door as fast as he could.

While her grip on him was strong she wasn't in a position where she could impede his movements or lock him in place. If he was right she was trying to choke him out like some sort of professional wrestler but thanks to his TK he'd already made that an exercise in futility. With TK energy coating his neck she'd need to have superhuman strength enough to topple skyscrapers to achieve her goal. While he'd seen a lot of different powers since showing up in this reality he'd yet to see someone with that kind of raw power.

Thus she'd have two choices: keep her grip on him and come along for the ride or let go to save herself from the unexpected.

Best of all thanks to his TK carrying her around wouldn't be a problem because he wouldn't be using his physical muscles by themselves.

Deciding that there'd be no way to keep things low key for the foreseeable future he fired a TK battering ram at the door sending it to the other side of the hallway along with most of the frame. Sprinting out of the room with his cargo, both the wanted kind as well as the unwanted, he decided that there was little point to leaving the same way he came in. Instead he utilized the map on his HUD to find the nearest window both to escape the building and to give the lady on his back her first real hint that not letting him go was a bad idea. Lucky for him the nearest window was not too far away and as he began his approach he could feel the lady realizing what he was planning on doing.

"Are you crazy!?" She yelled in his ear clearly having decided 'yes'.

"Let's find out!" He replied with a 'devil may care' smile.

With a single leap and a TK shield breaking the window a foot ahead of him he was out of the building and mid-air with the young lady screaming the entire time. It only got worse once he tripled the telekinetic output because instead of letting himself drop to the ground below he propelled himself upwards to the rooftop above. Since he was a guy walking about with a woman piggy-backing on his back was attention grabbing by itself without her yelling at him about something or another there was little reason to hold back. By going to the rooftops the only people that'd be able to follow him would be in choppers or those that had access to enough cameras to stay on top of his movements.

Not an ideal situation but it was the best he could come up with given how little time he had to work with.

Landing on the rooftop like a pro he ran forth not even needing to ask his partner to highlight the next destination for him but giving him all he needed to know what roof to leap to next. As a positive the experience of roof hopping had silenced his unwanted passenger and he seriously hoped that it lasted until she decided to give up. His plans were going to be hard enough by itself he didn't want to even think about what it'd be like with some young lady sticking with him the entire way. It wouldn't take long since no sane person would be enjoying something so far outside the norm as well as obviously dangerous.

"WWOOOOHHOOO!"

~What the-?~ He thought as the young lady cried out in exhilaration.

"Go, go, GO! Higher! Faster!" The lady bellowed like she was riding some sort of amusement park ride.

"Shouldn't you be shrieking in fear right now and telling me to stop so you can get off?" He asked her a little incredulous at the opposite reaction to what would usually happen.

"PLEASE! I've seen espers burn holes through tanks and blow up houses." The young lady scoffed in reaction to his words, "Roof hopping's nothing compared to that. Besides you're not getting away with ruining two weeks of hard work! You're taking responsibility for that!"

This dispelled some of his incredulousness since he had to admit that if so many people in the city had super powers of some kind roof hopping would be pretty tame. As for the rest? He could kinda understand getting pissed at some stranger ruining something you'd been working on for two weeks but what this young lady was doing was overkill. Most people would've just explained what he'd done and use that as an excuse to be allowed more time to redo things. It'd take a rare individual to actually go after the person responsible, glomp onto them and then refuse to let go no matter what until they were fairly compensated.

And just his luck this lady was one of those rare individuals.

Great!

"Well it's going to have to wait until after I've finished my little scavenger hunt." He said hoping that she'd at least give him that, "I'm gonna have a lot harder of a time getting the last two things thanks to you."

"What are you trying to get? Where are they?" She asked with curiosity.

He thought for a moment and figured that there'd be no real reason not to tell her if she was planning on hanging onto him until her matter got settled. However just as he was about to open his mouth to say something a familiar loud noise caught his attention since its increasing volume indicated it was getting closer by the second. Turning towards the source he was only a little surprised to see a helicopter with a blue and white logo on the side that reminded him of a double u. What clued him into the fact that it had something to do with law enforcement was the fact that sitting in an open side door was a guy with a bulletproof vest, helmet, goggles and a deadly looking rifle.

"Alexander Harris!" A woman's voice said from the external speaker of the chopper, "Release your hostage and surrender!"

"Hostage? What part of this situation makes them think of you as being MY hostage?" He asked in disbelief not really expecting an answer.

"I know! If anything this should look like you're MY hostage." The young lady said with casual confusion.

He had to repress the urge to try and turn his head to look at her incredulously since in his time the whole hostage thing kinda required that she have the means of harming him which she didn't. Didn't change the face that the cops in the chopper had a pretty poor grasp of the situation. The lady on his back he knew wouldn't let him go just to dispel the whole 'hostage' error and trying to run off would definitely fit the bill for resisting arrest. He could try to force the young lady off of his back again while she was distracted, it could work, and once free of her he could make a break for it faster than the chopper could follow.

And it'd rid him of his annoying passenger.

Done! Decided!

With that he waited until he felt the young lady's grip get to its weakest before sending out a TK pulse as strong as he dared make it given the current surroundings. For a split second he didn't think it was going to work but when the grip on his shirt broke and the weight left his back he knew he'd succeeded. Without bothering with any parting words at all he sprinted for the edge of the roof intent on breaking the rifleman's line of sight pronto. Now that an aircraft was a part of the scenario the rooftops weren't the safe spot they used to be. He'd be a sitting duck for the guy on the chopper and since he refused to fight back they'd be able to follow and shoot with impunity. Sure his TK would keep the bullets from hurting him but there might be a ricochet and then there'd be how the chopper would be able to coordinate the cops on the ground.

On the ground though the cops would be less eager to shoot on the off chance that they might wind up hitting a civilian and if he was quick enough he might be able to lose them somehow. Either lose them in a crowd or get underground somehow since there had to be sewer or maybe a subway station. If he kept them guessing as to where he was going it'd be impossible for them to clear out where he was going quick enough to make the strategy pointless. Unless the city was so high tech that they had cameras or sensors below ground in the various tunnels they'd have to search for him in person giving him a lot more options.

"What the-? Who is that?" The lady on the chopper said through the speakers, "Shooter on the roof! Shooter on the roof!"

Whirling around to find the shooter, given that he was most likely the target, it didn't take him long to find the guy with an assault rifle. However the thing that had him bursting into action wasn't the fact that he was in danger but rather because the gunman wasn't aiming at him.

He was aiming at the young lady he'd tossed off moments ago who was only just beginning to recover her senses!

Doc Frog's Hospital

Half an Hour Later

Misaka Mikoto's POV

She SO didn't like waiting.

However at the same time she couldn't think of an argument that she could bite her teeth into for leaving the hospital to tackle the problems involving her newest Sister. After everything that'd happened the last time around it was a safe bet that everyone on the dark side of the city knew who she was, what she could do and how she'd attacked the labs the last time around so they'd be prepared. She might have confidence in her abilities but in the end it'd taken the stupid actions of that IDIOT to save the Sisters and put an end to the experiment for good.

Would it turn out any different if she gave it another go?

Probably not but that didn't mean she liked sitting down instead of doing something productive.

At first she'd done what she could to protect her newest Sister by tapping into the hospital's security cameras using a combination of her electromaster powers and a palm computer. However that only kept her satisfied for a short while before the lack of developments got her frustrated. She was a person of action not someone who waited while others did the heavy lifting! To be stuck waiting to see if her little Sister's friend had any luck getting the bastards responsible to back off on their pursuit was slowly driving her nuts.

With a growl of frustration she grabbed the remote for the TV in the room and switched it on hoping she'd be able to find something to distract herself with.

"Our top story of the hour: one hour ago Anti-skill was alerted to the presence of a known terrorist and saboteur within the border of Academy City." The news anchorwoman said before a picture popped up in the upper right of the screen, "Alexander Harris, formerly of the United States of America, has numerous outstanding warrants in over a dozen countries for crimes ranging from destruction of private property to the murder of over fifty people. While it is unknown how precisely he managed to enter Academy City he is the prime suspect in the theft of numerous cutting edge prototypes."

What the hell?!

The name didn't ring a bell but the picture could only be of the guy that'd left to end the threat to her youngest Sister. While she considered for a moment whether or not the charges against him were genuine she ultimately decided that they had to be lies. From the moment she'd first met the guy he hadn't done anything to make her think that he was cut from the same cloth as one of the bastard scientists. Assuming that she hadn't been tricked somehow that meant that the same people who were trying to get her Sister back had chosen to influence both the media and probably Anti-Skill into lending their aid to the hunt.

"It was half an hour ago that Anti-Skill had finally cornered the Harris atop a building shortly after silent alarms alerted them to a break in close by." The anchorwoman said before the picture shifted to what looked to be a live video feed, "However when they attempted to arrest him they found that he'd taken a hostage in the form of a local college student. Details are still coming in but according to our sources an accomplice attempted to use amoral tactics in order to throw Anti-skill off balance but when that failed resumed trying to flee from law enforcement officers his hostage firmly in his grasp."

The live video feed was shaky but as it zoomed in she could see things clearly enough to confirm that it was indeed the same guy who'd left to fix things. However it was when the camera zoomed in close enough to get a good look at the hostage that she received a shock so bad that the remote slipped from her fingers completely.

No…it couldn't be…

The image was grainy enough that a completely positive ID couldn't be made but the number of attributes that could be seen told her that either it was precisely what she thought it was or a miraculous coincidence. The colour and style of the hair matched and so did the clothes she could see but the sheer odds against it being the case made want to believe it was a coincidence. However her nerves insisted she make sure so she took out her Gekota phone before tapping on her mother's cell phone number and putting it to her ear. Hearing the ringing she took that to be her first bit of good news but with every ring going unanswered her hope that things were okay with her mother faded.

CLICK.

"Hello? Misaka-chan?" Came her mother's voice putting her at ease since there were no indicators of stress or trouble.

"Hey mom. Just thought I'd check in and see how you're doing." She said trying to keep her mother from suspecting that anything was amiss.

"Uh…things're going great. Terrific!" Mom replied sound momentarily unsure of how to answer, "Getting a jump on some work for my class. How about you?"

"Same as always." She replied quickly while keeping things short and to the point, "Kinda boring really."

The silence that followed didn't fill her with confidence and the grunt that usually got produced when you were jumping only caused worry to seep back into her heart. When she looked to the TV that still had the square of live video feed on it the trickle of concern spiked when the woman being carried by Alexander was shown holding a cell phone to her ear. Now while she might want the more optimistic possibility to be reality she wasn't stupid enough to ignore the evidence when it was presented to her so bluntly.

"But it looks like you're having fun." She said with some disapproval since she had a feeling that the reason her mom was in trouble was because the idiot woman didn't run away from it.

Like a SANE person would!

"Huh? I-What do you mean honey?" Mom asked even as the woman on the screen looked about before looking right into the camera of the news copter, "Heheheheheheheheh…"

"Don't 'heheheh' me idiot mother!" She yelled into her phone, "What the hell're you doing?!"

"Don't talk to me like that young lady!" Mom fired back attempting to assert some maternal authority, "It's not like I asked for this! It just turned out this way!"

Somehow she doubted that.

If there was one thing she could say about her mother it was that the appearance didn't match the actual mental age. Her mom might physically be an adult but most of the time she acted like a teenager or a drunk with impulse control problems though the latter only happened during 'special occasions'. To her mother's credit even while drunk the woman had sense enough not to let things get too far, her love for dad was that strong, but it still didn't make it any less embarrassing to witness the ridiculous behaviour. During the time her mother was sober she acted like a teenager and never missed a chance to rub her nose into the…areas she was lacking in.

She loved her mother.

The woman's antics however she hated!

"Well the second you land someplace you make sure it 'turns out' into you getting as far from that guy as possible." She ordered in such a way so as to make it clear that this was not a request, "Then you surrender yourself to Anti-skill until things calm down."

"I am your mother Misaka Mikoto not the other way around." Mom said rising to the challenge of her words, "Besides it's not quite-"

"Did you say Misaka Mikoto's your daughter?" Alexander asked with a distant voice relative to how far his mouth was from her Mom's cell phone.

~Nice to know I'm not the only one she can shock.~ She thought ruefully as she imagined what the guy was feeling.

"Yes she is." Mom replied with a bit of enthusiastic pride, "My name's Misaka Misuzu."

"Of course it is." Alexander groaned as though he was well acquainted with such turns of events.

She was about to reiterate the need for her mother to get as far from Alexander as possible as soon as possible. While the guy himself wasn't a threat to her mother the people chasing after him and her newest Sister definitely were. The fact that they were getting Anti-Skill involved along with the press told her that they were willing to allow a little exposure, properly portrayed of course, if it meant speeding up the securing of their quarry. She didn't want her mother to be exposed to that level of danger especially when she wasn't anywhere close enough to protect her.

"You know Misaka-chan?" Mom asked with her usual immature curiosity.

"A little. Bumped into her last night when-" Alexander replied sounding like he wanted to divulge the details about as much as she did.

Too bad that was when something happened to cause Xander to suddenly dive off to the right, MID-AIR somehow, in a less than skilled manner. The worst part though was that this sudden shift was soon followed by the sound of wind in her cell phone and then…nothing.

"Mom? MOM!?" She asked hoping beyond hope that what she thought had just happened hadn't happened.

Taking her phone away from her ear her worry spiked when she saw that it'd displayed the symbol meant to convey that the call had been terminated. Put it all together and it was plain to see that the sudden change in direction had caused her mother to drop her phone after which it'd plummeted to the ground before shattering on impact. A moment later the television's connection to the events her mother had been embroiled in was cut when Alexander jumped off the side of a building. The news chopper was quick to reposition itself to reestablish contact but when it arrived there was nothing for it to see. Not two people on the move but neither was there evidence that they'd impacted the ground…hard.

"That's it!" She said throwing the TV remote onto the table, "He had his chance to fix things and only made them worse! Now it's my turn!"

She knew that the smart move would be to stay with her youngest Sister given the high odds that without a living person capable of stopping them thugs might succeed in kidnapping her. But at the same time the not knowing what'd happened to her mother and possessing no way to find out remotely left only going there in person. Still…she couldn't leave her little Sister unprotected.

Hit with an idea she immediately dialled Kuroko's number.

When it came to tough moments like these she'd always been able to count on her roommate to watch her back and handle the parts that she either wouldn't or couldn't. Plus with her best friend's power of teleportation if something happened to make the hospital unsafe as a sanctuary they'd have a quick way to get clear.

"Kuroko? You free for a few hours?" She asked after she heard her friend pick up.

"Let me guess: this is about your mother?" Kuroko asked in reply sounding knowledgeable, "Just let Anti-Skill handle it. It doesn't look like that guy's trying to hurt her. As soon as he lets her go Anti-Skill will come get her and everything'll be okay."

"That'd be nice but I don't think things'll go that easy for me." She said knowing that as a member of Judgment Kuroko had more faith in the system than she did, "It sounds like they already tried that and something got in the way. I'm betting whoever's after Alexander and…her are behind it. I need you to come to me and take my place as watchdog for a bit. If something happens get both of you out of here and someplace safe but if not then stay put."

"I'll be there in five minutes." Kuroko said in a tone that made her think she didn't like that the system she had faith in might not be enough.

With the call ended she turned to look at her little Sister and imagined for a moment what would happen if those bastards got ahold of her again. She'd never seen one of the dark side experiments in action but with the data she'd been able to pry from their systems and what she'd witnessed of the Level 6 shift project in the open….

…that'd been enough.

Knowing what she knew and remembering what she'd seen none of the possibilities her mind produced could be called anything other than monstrous. To the people involved her Sisters hadn't been people with minds of their own but rather something along the lines of petri dish samples or lab mice. To them such 'things' didn't need to be treated with kindness or compassion since the sole reason for their creation was to serve their purpose in the experiment. Creations such as the Sisters didn't have feelings, didn't have thoughts of their own and definitely weren't human and thus anyone who let their feelings get in the way was to be held in contempt.

If her little Sister was recaptured she'd likely never escape that world again and the best that could be hoped for was that the clone would be unconscious when they killed her.

Not again and if she had her way NEVER AGAIN!

The first thing she'd do once she got to her mother and Alexander was separate the two of them and get her mother someplace safe. She didn't know nearly enough about the guy to be too concerned about him but he'd saved a Sister and seemed to be doing a decent job of keeping her mom safe. The least she could do was remove the excess baggage so he could move about easier.

Once her mother was someplace safe she'd…she'd do something to make this whole nightmare end sooner rather than later. She wouldn't go against Anti-Skill because they were just following orders and the few she'd met were good people who believed in their purpose. At most she might use some of her tricks to mess with their chopper to make them set it down or mess with the cameras in the area creating blindspots. It wouldn't be easy but as long as she didn't leave any obvious signs that an electromaster was responsible she'd be in the clear. It'd be easier since the Tree Diagram satellite was gone and to her knowledge it'd be another two months before they'd have a replacement in orbit. It was by no means the limit of their orbital surveillance of Academy City but the absence of the Tree Diagram satellite left a hole that could be exploited.

If there was nothing she could do without leaving signs that screamed 'Misaka Mikoto did this' then she'd be satisfied with getting her mother to safety and resume protecting her new little Sister.

It'd be all she could do.

Draining funds wouldn't stop the experiment.

Destroying equipment wouldn't stop the experiment.

And fighting? The one thing she was good at? She couldn't fight a project with who knew how much in the way of resources to be brought to bear against her.

All she could do was hope for another miracle.

Too bad that miracles were precious because they were rare as fuck and almost impossible to make happen.

Times like these made her wonder if ignorance wouldn't be preferable.

Project SYSTEM HQ

Director's Office

Kihara Gensei's POV

"She has? Excellent." He said listening to the report being provided through his phone, "Wait ten minutes then proceed with the mission."

With that he ended the call eagerly awaiting positive news.

While he was not overly interested in being on the receiving end of the repercussions of violating Heaven Canceller's domain the mission description would not do that overly much. Its purpose was merely to flush out the prototype via her most likely sole protector and once it was in the open the esper operatives would move in to acquire it. All of them had been given ample incentive to follow the specifics of the mission to the letter even though they might be tempted to do otherwise. Even the most volatile element had sounded amicable enough in light of the promised compensation but that did not mean his trust in them was absolute. They were after all a part of the ignorant masses who did not see the world as he did and so he made sure to put certain precautions in place to nullify any independent thoughts.

It was after all standard policy of the board of directors to be thorough in their appraisal of scouted assets for use in the…unofficial activities that took place in Academy City. The trivial data did not interest him but the psychological work up done on each asset did especially since there would be notes on psychological weak points that could be used to ensure obedience. If the file was light on those there would include alternatives for outright termination but he doubted that such heavy handed measures would be needed.

Suicidal or mentally unstable assets were rarely taken into the fold unless they possessed an esper ability useful enough that such weaknesses could be overlooked.

As for subject zero-zero-one-omega while there had been a few surprises events were still proceeding within expected parameters. It had been a moment of inspired strategy that had caused him to order the field operative to take aim at the woman but it had paid off well enough. With the local media employed to ensure that Railgun learned of her mother's predicament he'd predicted that she would be unable to stay at the hospital. With the level 5 gone and the most likely replacement only a level 4 teleporter reacquiring the prototype would be a simple matter of exhausting the defender by forcing repeated use of her ability. After that it would be easy enough to overpower her physically and the injection of a simple drug would distort her short term memory enough to mitigate any risk of data leak. While some cruder individuals would no doubt suggest simply killing the girl he was too intelligent and long thinking to take such ruinous action. If Railgun's friend were discovered murdered or even missing during the current state of affairs the level 5 would almost certainly become irrational in the extreme. Any of her normal inhibitions regarding the usage of her esper abilities would likely be rendered null and void or at least severely weak.

Once he would've debated whether or not such a reaction could prove useful in his pursuit of the ascension to level 6 but he knew better now.

Nevertheless a mentally disturbed Railgun could inflict considerable damage before being neutralized and if too public in her efforts would garner a reaction the Chairman would rather avoid. As such only methods that would assist in reacquiring the prototype but not provoke an emotional response could be employed.

A bothersome necessity but so long as his work was not overly disrupted he didn't care.

RINGRING! RINGRING!

"Yes? What is it?" He asked picking up the phone on his desk.

"Subject zero-zero-one-omega has deviated from expect E&E path." A worthless subordinate reported to him, "His new route is more direct. The analysis division is in the process of evaluating possible destinations along his current route but we believe he's given up on being subtle with his plan sir."

Hmmmm.

He'd had a theory about the subject's intentions after being alerted to the second break in but once the location of the third had been provided the intent was clear. The subject's intent was to construct something, a weapon most likely, to aid in his efforts at opposing recapture. Field operatives had posed as city officials in order to learn what had been stolen but while interesting he could not say he understood what the end result was intended to be. Whatever it was did require sophisticated components so it was nothing particularly crude but it did make him wonder what had prompted this course of action. Evaluation of the subject's intellect during the experiments had not indicated anything impressive leading him to believe that an outside factor was responsible.

Once they had this information they'd mapped out various companies that possessed similar components before he eliminated the unlikeliest due to their incompatibility with the stolen ones. From there it'd only required taking the subject's youth into account to anticipate the most likely route.

THAT was when they'd notified Anti-Skill of the subject's location.

They'd already been notified of 'Alexander Harris' being in the city and assured of the authenticity of his 'criminal record' by all the right organizations. However his location had been kept vague with excuses that various intelligence agencies were chasing down leads until a short while ago when the third component had been stolen by the subject. After that all assets, the ignorant and the briefed, had been moved into position to run their quarry to ground. The involvement of the Misaka woman had also been intended to serve the secondary purpose of an addition encumbrance to limit the subject's options.

Now though it looked like the subject was finished with simply running and intended to pursue the original objective possibly believing that doing so would force control to change hands.

~How informative would it be to let the subject complete his construct I wonder.~ He thought flexing his curiosity as a scientist, ~There would be some danger involved but at the same time it might also provide clues as to who had provided the blueprints to the construct as well as the location of the components. If the same people were also responsible for the subject's unexpected reawakening it could mean that there is a significant security breach that needs to be dealt with.~

"Continue to monitor the subject's activities but take no action to impede him further." He ordered having reached a decision, "We shall allow chance to determine whether or not the subject succeeds in accomplishing his goal. Ensure that all methods of monitoring are functional and in optimum position for data capture. Should the subject succeed in assembling a device I want to learn as much about it as possible."

"Understood sir." The irrelevant subordinate said before ending the call.

He might receive some reproving looks from certain members of the unseen elements of Academy City but the increased surveillance would minimize what they have to work with. Not only would it provide valuable information on the subject's construct but it would also allow them to identify witnesses allowing the necessary parties to clean up with greater precision. So long as none of them proved incompetent at their tasks the potential fallout would be minimal and the data they would acquire would be well worth it.

~When pitted against my intellect all others might as well be corpses ready for me to experiment with.~ He thought with a confident smile.