IV

Chapter 18: Sparks of an Upcoming Storm

Trojan_Horse

Part 1

Unknown time and location.

The room was eerily dark. Even "those two", who enjoyed dark places, were feeling uncomfortable by the overall atmosphere of the place. It was like a large hall devoid of all furniture besides the plastic chairs some were using to sit down and the table on the center of it all. There were also several cables running on the floor, but those hardly mattered compared to the amount of empty space. From there, it was impossible to see the walls or even the ceiling. The only source of light was the thin and wide monitor placed on the top of the table, displaying an experiment that was happening somewhere else in the city.

Actually, only those in white lab coats would call it an experiment. "Torture" and "massacre" would probably be the best words to use to describe what was going on. But "those two" were the only ones that could see the experiment by what it really was and feel disgusted by it.

The one on the left - a woman of about 25, wearing big round glasses and with her black hair tied in twin ponytails - leaned closer to her coworker and whispered without trying to hide her disapproval. "Look at those barbarians… they would probably watch this with their family during a Sunday afternoon over popcorn and soda. It feels like I'm surrounded by a bunch of brainless monkeys."

"Takayama-san, I wouldn't voice any complaints about those people here if I were you. What will you do if they happen to hear you?" The man on her side - which had darkish blue hair, several scars on his face, a mechanical left eye and wore a brown leather glove on his left hand - answered with a cold tone without taking his eyes from the graphs being displayed on the tablet device on his hands. "I understand how you feel. This isn't pleasant to me either. But we have no other choice since we lost the remaining "material" from the late Radio Noise project. So try and bear with it until we collect enough data."

The woman named Takayama could only sigh in resignation and turned her attention back to the screen. The experiment was lasting a little longer than the last one, but it seemed to be close to the end. The specimen was deprived of its weapons and was utterly cornered by the predator. It tried to fight with the little power it had in hands, but it was a futile effort. The predator simply brushed the attack off and closed in step by step, finally reaching the defenseless victim.

And then…

Takayama turned her head away, knowing what was about to come. She was glad that they were on the last row, so no one would notice her action. In order to distract herself, she focused on the graphs on the screen of the tablet of her coworker. A few of them had their values skyrocketing all of a sudden, while others kept oscillating on low levels. But it didn't took long until all of them decreased to 0 without showing any signals of raising again, which could only mean one thing: the experiment was over. A few of the researchers started talking on how it was a success, and how to improve the results for the next one, but the scarred face man only closed his single eye and sighed in dissatisfaction. "This was hardly enough. If they could at least last a little longer..."

"Well, their opponent IS the #1 after all, so nothing can be done about it."

"I know, but still..." He stopped right there. Continuing on this line of thought wouldn't help. There were a ton of "what ifs" he could argue over that would make their life easier, but he - and probably most of his team - had already gone over them a thousand of times. Even though their situation was dire, all they could do was try to make it work with the few they had in their hands.

Part 2

August 5, 12:32 - The border between Districts 7 and 10.

An expansive looking limo came from the street that led to district 7 and parked right in front of a back alley. It couldn't possibly go further than this, since a vehicle of this port would attract unwanted attention in the streets of District 10.

Waiting in the alley was a brown haired boy wearing jeans and an open blue jacket over a white shirt, carrying a suitcase. If he was seen talking to the person that was inside the vehicle by the normal people of district 7, it would pick the attention of the curious eyes of the boys and girls living there.

In summary, this place was a perfect spot for the "transaction" that was about to happen.

Men in black suit left the limo and opened the last door of the vehicle, revealing the owner of such luxurious car.

The person in question was… rather short. Too short. Even shorter than Hinata. No matter how you looked at it, it was a boy that couldn't be older than 10. He wore a social shirt and brown shorts, while carrying a large notebook under his arm. He also had a childish looking school bag on his back, and it seemed that he was making a conscious effort to not show it too much.

The boy thanked the men and asked for one of them to follow him as he quickly approached the other male waiting on the back alley. "I assume you are Yamazaki Hishiro, correct? It's a pleasure to meet you in person."

The out of place sight summed with the unexpected polite way of talking took the older boy by off guard, but he did his best to not let it show. The less this kid could figure out about him, the better. "Y-yeah, that's me. So you're Aleat the info broker?"

"Surprised?" Asked the kid, making an expression of mockery to the older male.

"N-not really. I mean… maybe a bit."

"Do not worry, everyone reacts the same way when they first meet me." Answered Aleat while giggling. There were several urban legends surrounding him - like getting restricted information regarding the Tree Diagram, or digging out the dirt of the directors - but none of them ever mentioned him being so young. In fact, Hishiro was about doubt the legitimacy of most of those legends. A child wouldn't be able to do that, right?

Not noticing his doubts, Aleat sat on the dirty ground without a second thought and opened his notebook. "I don't have much time, so let's get straight to business, shall we? I assume you have the payment ready?"

"Here." Hishiro cut out his line of thought there and threw the heavy suitcase forward. It didn't matter if that kid hadn't actually done any of those things as long as he could do what Hishiro had hired him for.

While typing on the portable computer, Aleat made a hand signal and the man in black reached for the suitcase, checking its contents. "Master, it seems to have even more than the accorded value."

"Consider it an extra to guarantee my privacy." Said Hishiro nonchalantly, making the kid raise an eyebrow.

"That was unexpected. Usually my clients try to bargain at every given opportunity. Sometimes I am even forced to use… some inconvenient methods to make them pay."

"I-I see..." The older boy thought it would be for the best to not ask for details. "Money isn't a problem for me. As long as you can find what I'm looking for, I'm willing to pay your price for it."

"That is good to know." Aleat stopped typing and flipped the notebook so both could see the screen. "Please take a look at this."

Hishiro got closer and crouched down to get a better view. The first thing that caught his attention was the picture on the top left of the screen. It was a person's portrait. A young girl's portrait to be more precise. She had a long platinum blond hair with a flower shaped red ribbon, eyes with a tone of light blue that almost seemed to be gray, wore a pink one piece dress with white cats stamped on the sides… he recognized who it was and had to keep his emotions in check to keep the conversation going. "Yes… there's no mistake, this is definitively her."

"Your confirmation comes as both a relief and a surprise." Said the boy with a satisfied and prideful smile. "With the little information you gave me to start looking, it was quite difficulty to find those files."

"Sorry about that. All I really had was her nickname from back then and… the experiment that went wrong."

"Not having her name was sure an obstacle, but not the biggest of the problems. The worse of all was the institute you mentioned that was supposed to take care of Child Errors."

Hishiro tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"Well… it officially never existed."

The older male felt shocked. The facility they were talking about was an orphanage dedicated to receive, take care and research rare cases of Child Errors that, for one reason or another, developed abilities that deviated from the expected by the Parameter List - which was the place where Hishiro lived during a part of his childhood, alongside with his friend Lilly whose picture was still being displayed on the screen. Supposedly, all the responsibilities that place held was to give those children a proper place to live and study, and then take them thrice a week to the many affiliated labs to take care of the rest.

Being related to Child Errors, it wouldn't be a surprise to him if it was somehow connected to the darkness and had no official registration, but… "No, this can't be right. I checked it myself more than once in the past. I wasn't able to find anything about the people living there, but there were all those signed documents and authorizations for it to be running."

"But it still lacked several crucial details needed for it to be called 'official'. According to the files in the database, the facility was nothing but an empty terrain. A project that never went forward despite being approved."

"T-that… can't be... how…"

"Yes, it is indeed strange. I went there myself during my investigation. Even though the terrain is now used for a whole new purpose, there were traces of the old building that match the blueprints submitted for its construction."

This only showed Hishiro how amateurish his own investigation regarding the matter had been so far. "Then… where did her registration file came from?"

The kid wore a serious expression and pointed to the screen. "Please take a closer look at it."

Taking his eyes away from the picture for a moment, the brown haired boy started actually reading the file. First of all, he caught a glimpse of her name: Evelina Rosenberg. Ah… I never knew that. So she was a foreigner after all. Then her blood type, Esper ability, level, body measurements… the list went on and on until he finally found the name of the institution she was officially enrolled with. "Nagatenjouki Academy?"

"The same school attended by Academy City's #1: Accelerator. With a power such as hers, I found it to be quite intriguing. Are you absolutely sure she never took lessons there?"

"No, that's impossible. All children were taught within the facility and only left for the experiments and ability tests. Maybe that's where she was taken to for those? No, it doesn't makes sense either..."

"Indeed. Because if that was the case, then the whole academy would be nothing but a massive crater nowadays."

Those words were like a cold stab for Hishiro. Not noticing it, Aleat took the opportunity and changed the window on the notebook to another file. Instead of a person's portrait, that one had an eerie picture of destroyed building. Hishiro had seen it many times in the past. It was the place where said accident happened. "I also gathered information regarding the event, though it gets even more strange here. There is a lot of mismatching material and is almost impossible to tell which one is accurate, but after comparing them all, it's most likely that someone tried to forcefully turn her into a level 5, causing an RSPK syndrome, which resulted in what you are currently seeing."

"... does it mention anywhere who was the one behind it?"

"Like I said, it is difficult to validate the content of those files-"

"I got it, but even if it's not correct, it's still better than nothing." The cold tone of the older male's voice made Aleat sigh and resign.

"I suspect it was Kihara Gensei or someone in a position really close to his."

"... I see." Hishiro bit his lip and tried to calm down. There was something more important he had to confirm. "And the number of victims?"

"Another mystery. However, the mismatched information in this case may be because it was difficult to count the bodies. The official report states the 100 people had died, but some of the staff that was not inside the facility the moment the explosion happened said there was 88 people inside the building, and they had found traces of all of their bodies, so that must be the actual number."

"All of them? That doesn't include Lilly herself, right?"

"Huh? Uh..." The kid obviously wasn't expecting that and had to look into the file before answering. "Now that you mention it… no, her body was not among… wait, could it be that you believe the girl is alive?"

"..." He couldn't answer it right away. He already knew the truth of it, but it was difficult for him to admit it. "... no. No one could have survived that. But still… it always bugged me that her body was the only one that left no trace behind."

"Hmm… she was at the very center of the phenomenon, so it is not impossible."

"Though the people that were close by were still found..." The two of them fell silent, thinking if there was some kind of meaning behind this. Hishrio gave up eventually, knowing that they wouldn't get anywhere without more clues. "Anyway, that's enough for now. I don't want to take much more of your time."

Aleat then took a small USB drive from the notebook and handed it to Hishiro. "I will look into her body disappearance in more detail for the next time."

"Sure. Feel free to contact me anytime if you find something."

Bowing to the older male one more time, the kid turned around and went into the black limo followed by his bodyguard. Hishiro made sure to wait until the vehicle was gone to head back to his apartment.

Part 3

August 5, 5:50 PM - Hishiro's hideout in district 10

The PC was turned on with the external drive plugged in and the files were being displayed on screen, but Hishiro was no longer reading it anymore. He was lying on the mattress, covering his eyes with his forearm. Though he had learned a lot about the incident, the main question was still unanswered. Not that I expected it to be that easy.

While reading, he couldn't help but recall that time of his life, and that always gave him an unbearable headache when his mind drifted to the memories of the day of the accident. Which is why he had spent the last 3 hours there without moving a muscle. The pain was weaker by now, but it showed no signs of going away any time soon. Still, he refused to waste any more time like this and forced himself to stand up. There was an unpleasant feeling of sweat covering all of his body, which was unusual for someone like him that had his body temperature unconsciously held in check all the time. Ignoring it, he grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the refrigerator and headed outside to breathe some fresh air.

…

While walking aimlessly on the streets to cool his head, he caught someone with the corner of his eye. "Huh? That just now was..."

He approached the figure from behind, trying to confirm who it was without getting their attention. It was a girl with a short brown hair wearing a Tokiwadai uniform. That was enough for him to know who it was, but there was still more. Namely the military goggles on the top of her head and the giant instrument case on her back. "What is the Railgun doing here in district 10?"

He kept following her from a safe distance for a while until she made a turn and headed into a back alley. Where is she going? Places like this are a nest for Skill Outs... Split between stopping her or just keep watching, he let his guard down for a moment and she sent a quick glance to him just before disappearing on the corner.

"She… ignored me?" Remembering what happened during their last conversation at the hospital, the hypothesis seemed unlikely. The girl had let him go back then because of her friend that fell victim of the Level Upper, but if given another opportunity, Hishiro doubted that he would escape so easily. "Well, that's for the best, but still… something feels wrong here."

But he wouldn't have much time to be bothered by that. His modified cellphone started ringing with the annoying melody that ruined his peace, informing that another battlefield awaited for him. "Tsk… now? Really? *Sigh* my head still hurts..."

...

The lone girl in the alley was afraid she had been followed, but after checking it twice, that boy was nowhere to be seen. "It was probably just a coincidence - says Misaka as she feels relieved that she won't have to deal with outsiders during the experiment."

Part 4

August 5, 7:50 PM - West side of District 19

"Are you sure that is the place, Asuka? No matter how I look at it, this can't be anything but a laboratory."

"Trust me, the amount of containers they received today leaves no room for mistake. They are using the facility as a storehouse of some sort."

Hishiro was currently on the top of an abandoned building, using special binoculars to observe that night's target. According to Asuka, it seemed like some high end equipment that was supposed to be used in a secret research got diverted and stored inside that laboratory. Alongside it, several deliveries were made to that same location earlier that day, all of them officially containing electronics and mechanical parts. So far she wasn't able to tell for sure if all of that was to give a cover for the stolen equipment or if someone was intending to build something with all of it.

The mission was to infiltrate, confirm if item in question was indeed stored there and, if so, destroy it. Hishiro alone couldn't possibly take it back, and there was the risk that the equipment had been modified or sabotaged, so their only option was to get rid of it.

"Still… how am I supposed to get in there? The security is unusually tight for such a worn out place…"

"Don't let the appearances trick you, Shiro. They probably let facade decay on purpose to match the surrounding buildings." Asuka reassured him while typing on her keyboard nonstop. "You can leave the cameras, alarms, electric fences, sensors, automatic turrets, electronic locks, security robots and scouting drones to me. All you have to do is bypass the guards patrol."

"What is this place, an ancient Egypt temple? Don't tell me there are going to be spike traps, boulders and snakes chasing me as well?"

"No, but I guess it would be easier for you to handle those with your ability. Have you ever considered becoming an archaeologist?"

"You do know that this is not what archaeologists actually do, right?" Rubbing his temples, he put Asuka's jokes asides for a moment and watched the movements of the guards, looking for a hole in their rounds. "Can you give me a detailed chart on their patrols as well, or would that be asking for too much?"

"Yes and yes. You know I can do it, but why? Have you develop a fetish of overworking me or something?"

"No… sorry, it's just that I'm not feeling very well. I can't get enough focus to map their patterns in my head right now."

"Hm? It's rare for you to come down with something… should we cancel the mission?"

"No need to take it this far, I can still get it done. I just need a better laid out path to follow."

"If you say so..." None of them exchanged words for a few minutes until Asuka was done with his request and sent him which route to go. "There. This should keep you out of trouble. But don't overdo it. If you feel you can't go on, head back immediately, okay?"

Without answering, Hishiro stretched his back and rubbed his eyes one last time before heading towards the stairs leading to the lower floors.

With Asuka's map in hands, he easily made his way through the security system without being noticed. All he needed to do was to pay a bit of attention to his surroundings to see if there were any guards moving slower or faster than expected. I know that asking this of her was too much, but seriously, I could get used to this. It didn't take long for him to reach the door and getting inside the facility. If everything was to go according to the plans, there shouldn't be anyone inside and all of the security devices should have been disabled. This mission was as good as done thanks to Asuka.

…

"A-attention all units! Intruders have just broken through the south gate and taken out six of our men! Requesting immediate support! Repea- ahhh… AAHHHHH!" Before the guard could finish, his whole body got covered by paper sheets. He tried to resist, but after half a minute, he ran out of breath and suffocated. The papers then left his body free to collapse down on the concrete floor and went back to their owner: a young girl with purple hair that was completely naked. Slowly covering her body, the paper sheets turned into a maid maid uniform with a bunny tail.

"Leader, it's all clear here!" She shouted and waved to the small group composed of two girls waiting a little far back.

The said leader had short brown hair, wore a short-sleeved shirt, shorts and a white flu mask with two black crossed hands printed on it. The other one following close behind wore a blouse, black spats, a belt and a brown cap that hid most of her hair.

"Did you kill him, Naru?" Said the Leader, approaching the unconscious man.

"You asked me to not to, so I didn't."

"Good." After making sure he was still alive, she turned to the other girl. "Yakumaru, tie him up and check his radio… though it's probably not working as well"

"Okay, but why keeping them alive, Leader? Wouldn't be easier to just eliminate them?"

"Usually, yes, but this time we are not supposed to harm the official personal on the outside. We're free to rampage at will inside though. Also..." She made a small pause and held her chin with her right hand. "Something is weird. The whole security system seems to be out."

"But isn't that a good thing? It makes our job way easier!" Said Naru innocently.

"Yes and no… but never mind, you wouldn't understand anyway." Answered Yakumaru before turning to her leader again. "That's why you left Seike behind, right? To give us cover in case anything happens. So I think we should just get going. The faster we finish, the less time we are putting ourselves in risk."

"That's right." Agreed the leader. "Alright Scavenger! Time to get this party started!"

Hello, ladies and gentleman! We are starting the new year with a new arc right off the bat! Well… not exactly, we are already in February… I'm 1 day too late to post this, my deadline was January 31, but I guess it was close enough.

To be honest, I spent most of my free time planning rather than writing. I had the beginning of the story very clear on my mind, but I left empty spots from the middle onwards on purpose. Why? Because I could adapt it on the go accordingly with the releases of the series, which in this case, opened doors for Scavenger to make their appearance! Well… again, they aren't exactly new, but I fell behind on the Railgun and Accelerator mangas and just caught up recently. Long story short, I didn't knew about them when I first started writing, but now I do and believe they fit this scenario perfectly.

Anyway, this was a huge build up chapter. Get ready because things in the Dark Side of Science are going to get messy from now on. Also, I managed to slip in a bit about Hishiro's past there, something I've been wanting to do for a while now. I actually left some hints last arc, so I hope this didn't came off as too sudden.

So, let's move on to the replies:

Guest (1): Yeah, I decided to skip the Deep Blood arc for two reasons. First, the story there is airtight, there's no room for a backstage. Second, the last arc had a lot of magic already, so I thought it would be for the best to balance things out and go for a more scientific arc… (not saying there will be absolutely nothing about magic this time)

Guest (2): The idea is that Hishiro will be involved in most of the incidents of the series, but will never be part of the main events. Just like the Sisters arc that has two sides: one from Touma's point of view and another from Mikoto's. Hishiro will have his own side of these stories that will have connections to the main one.

As for the number of chapters… well, that's a tough question. I'll give you a raw estimative based on how things have gone so far and say about 70~80 chapters. My intention is to keep this going for a long time, but I have a clear ending point in mind.

This is it for now. Thanks for those supporting me, specially for those that left a review! See you next time!