Second Opinion

[ACMI: Alchemy]

As Index and Joule were reaching the hospital, they were just in time to catch someone leaving.

"Miss Kanzaki?" Joule called out, stopping the saint in her tracks.

Index stepped back slightly and Kanzaki looked a touch uncomfortable but Joule stepped forward.

"Can we ask for your help with something?"

"We?" Kanzaki looked between Joule and Index and after a moment, nodded "What is it?"

They went to find a corner of the car park where they could talk in private and Joule explained what was going on with her body in a supernatural way and Joule suspected it was possession.

As Kanzaki looked Joule up and down she frowned and admitted "I can't really see it, generally the cases I've dealt with before show mental symptoms long before physical ones. Hallucinations, phantom voices, mania. But you're saying the physical things came first?"

Joule nodded "I'm just going off of Index's assumption of the information, I was going to ask the doctor to allow us to look at the data to give Joule a clearer look. Do you mind not leaving until we've checked it."

Kanzaki paused but nodded "I'll do one better. I'll check it with you."

So now the team of three headed in to the hospital. They asked for the request to be sent through to the doctor then sat together in the lobby.

Index and Joule sat on one of the benches while Kanzaki sat across from Joule. There was an awkward silence betwen the three of them. They'd worked together in the past, but then it always seemed Touma was around.

"So..." Joule had to break the silence "Miss Kanzaki, how did you meet Touma? Did he save you from someone?"

The saint shook her head "No, it's a little more... ah... dramatic."

Joule was feigning disinterest as Kanzaki continued.

"It's..." She fished for the words "I guess in a way you could say he saved me from my own actions? My desires and actions didn't line up and he... he helped straighten them out."

Vague, but if the saintess was going to be vague, she probably had a reason.

"She was an enemy once." Index spoke up "And she hurt Touma badly when she was. But since then, and she's offered at Endymion and during other events, she and her group have proved their trustworthiness."

"So why the discomfort then?" Joule tilted her head "You were both... well... better about each other during Endymion as far as I saw."

Joule shrugged while Kanzaki stayed quiet. There felt like there was a wall there. One where action and intention were distorted. Judging by what Joule knew, Kanzaki had been very careful around Index, always seeing to her safety. But Index seemed to not know much about her really.

"Did you have an argument about something?"

Kanzaki laughed slightly, but it sounded forced "Not as such, but something did happen. It doesn't matter that much though, give it a few weeks and everything will be okay again."

Finally they got the call that they could head to Heaven Canceller's office.

"Index and Kaori Kanzaki." The man in question shook his head when he saw them "Well, if anyone could help work this out, you two would be good."

He brought the images of Joule's potential possessor up on screen to let the two of them examine it. As they did, he spoke quietly to Joule.

"I also sent this to Miss Kiyama, she hasn't gotten back yet as she's still taking care of the children but I wanted the input of one who had more information of the AIM burst."

He was coming at this from many different angles then.

Joule was looking at the monitor but she'd started muttering, working through information.

"Attributed to the common cold... induced fatigue... Joule?"

"Yes?"

"I don't suppose you have any images of what it looks like while using your ability?"

Heaven Canceller was the one who answered the question "We haven't got anything clearly when she tries. The AIM around her throat just becomes fuzzy and it hides... whatever that things is. Besides, the machine we needed to get this picture would be rendered useless by AIM outside the range it's programmed for, it would have just blinded the sensors."

"Hold on a moment." Kanzaki looked over "I'm not an expert in this field, but are you saying that thing is only growing foggy around her throat. Is it clear elsewhere?

"Well..." Heaven Canceller thought about the question "Most Espers put out a fairly regular field during ability use. Some do have a greater focus on specific body parts. A Pyrokinetic who summons fire into his hands will normally have a higher focus of AIM in that area. In Joule's case, the level around her throat has alway been higher. But..."

He paused, sorting through the notes before finding the right document from Joule's checkups.

"Here... yes. The AIM rate is high, but not as high as to be worrying."

Joule had a thought "How does that compare to the amount of AIM force i've lost across my entire body. Proportionally?"

The Doctor checked the information and ran some quick calculations. Finally, he spoke.

"You've lost something near twelve percent of the force your field would normally put out, across your body... But not twelve percent of these fields. There you've only lost around two or three percent."

"Isn't that strange?" Kanzaki asked "Regardless of if it's some sort of Tumour or a possessing entity, wouldn't it be feeding from the nearby area most?"

"Unless it was deliberately concealing itself." Joule suggested "Which shows sign of self-awareness. I'm sure now. Or sure enough at least. Kanzaki, will you do it?"

The saintess nodded and Heaven Canceller sighed "Oh dear, a medical grade exorcism. This will be one for the books."

"We should get Touma for this." Joule asked "How is he?"

"Cleared to use a wheelchair." The doctor nodded "If you think he'd be needed, I'll send a message. Joule, do you want to call GV?"

"I will." Joule nodded, she'd need to make the call outside though.

She could take the time to fill Shokuhou in on what Joule said.

End of chapter

This can only go well, obviously

Also, it looks like FF net might be being buggy with emails again. Maybe. It's unclear.