Not Human

[ACSRS: Junsui yue no ayamachi]

The clock in the waiting room was like a metronome. Joule thought something like this as she slowly woke up. She was still too tired to open her eyes but her mind was wandering around grasping onto sounds.

The soft breathing of her friends was audible, most were likely still asleep but Misaka was likely on the verge of waking up.

With her ears listening out to the room around them, she heard the sound of a door sliding open. A few footsteps could then be heard before someone spoke "good morning."

She opened her eyes slowly and looked over to see a doctor with a frog like face.

Misaka looked up too, like Joule she was still tired but she asked "Is Febrie okay now?" Her voice, while sleepy, had a tinge of desperation in it. The doctor gave something like a nod and Misaka quickly stood up. This made Saten and Uiharu fall over like dominos and woke them both up. Joule opened her eyes too, they were still blurry with sleep but the four of them ran through the door, Misaka calling out for Febrie.

Febrie was sitting up in bed, a lolipop in her mouth and the finger puppet on her finger. She looked over as the four ran in and joyfully exclaimed "Mikoto!"

Saten hurried over to her bedside and asked in a voice full of caring "Are you feeling okay Febrie?"

Febrie seemed confused and she parroted back "What? Am I okay?"

Uiharu smiled "Hi sweety, we were worried about you. You collapsed all of a sudden."

It seems Febrie didn't quite understand the situation, she asked the finger pupper if it was okay. The was a moment of quiet before Uiharu spoke "It seems she's fine now."

Febrie laughed and while Saten and Uiharu payed attention to Febrie, the frog-faced doctor spoke softly "A moment please?"

He opened the door and Misaka left to follow the doctor. Joule made a quick decision and followed them out.

The doctor nodded to Joule, Misaka looked round to see who had followed her out but nodded too at the site of Joule. She then turned back to the doctor and bowed "Doctor, we would like to thank you for all your help."

The doctor turned while speaking "Please don't, I didn't actually do anything."

Joule spoke then "Then how did Febrie recover? Based on how we saw her last night she wouldn't have recovered so quickly."

The man turned away for a moment before replying "I'm sorry but helping her is beyond my capabilities."

Joule stayed quiet and yawned slightly while Misaka spoke "I don't understand. Is it serious? Please, surely something can be done?"

The doctor shook his head "No, if it were some human condition, I'm sure I could."

[ACSRS: Ketsui to kakugo]

The man paused as if choosing his words carefully "But the fact is, She's not human."

"Huh?" Misaka didn't seem to understand what she was hearing so Joule chimed in with disbelief filling her words "Are you saying she's some sort of animal or alien?"

The man shook his head again "Nothing like that. I'm saying she wasn't born. That girl was scientifically created. She is a construction."

"What?" Misaka seemed lost for words but the reaction from Joule surprised even her.

Joule looked annoyed at the doctor's words before she spoke "And? Are you really saying that how someone's born makes them not human?"

The doctor sighed "You have to understand here that I'm looking at this through science. A construction can be considered a human just as much as a clone can be. It's just I need to point out the line."

Misaka looked between the two of them for a few moments before starting "Scientifically created? Are you being serious?"

The doctor nodded so she continued "You mean that she's artificial? Made by guys in lab coats?"

"More or less" the doctor commented.

There was a drop of sweat on Misaka's cheek but she spoke next in a joking tone "No way, you're joking."

The doctor just looked at her "I can't blame you for not believing. Most wouldn't. Common sense seems to negate the possibility from the very start. However, we humans aren't always good at knowing the limits of common sense."

The doctor turned to look out the window "Of all people though, I think you would understand. It was only a short time ago right?"

Joule looked at Misaka, The doctor was hinting at her clones. Misaka's fists clenched.

The doctor spoke, still looking out the window "I began my investigation by analysing the proteins that make up Febrie's body. It wasn't long before I realised that some of them were not proteins that occur in nature. Her hair and skin mostly are like this, the difference is smaller inside her body. For her part though she seems unaware she isn't just a normal person. 'Course you can't tell just by looking at her. Her body functions very similarly to the way yours or mine does except there is one problem. Everytime her body produces new cells through mitosis to replace old cells, it creates a waste product that the body can't process. You could call it a toxin."

"Toxin?" Misaka asked while at the same time Joule asked "How much of the waste product has she built up?"

The man nodded to Joule "You're on the right track, it does build up in her body. It is what caused her attack yesterday. It causes her organs to shut down. It could kill her."

Misaka asked "You must be wrong, she recovered so she must have been able to get rid of the toxin."

The doctor cut in "That's because of her candy. A component within it allows the body to dispose of the waste safely and neutralizing the toxin. The toxin is still within her now but it is of no danger. It is no exaggeration it is those suckers that are keeping her alive right now."

Misaka's voice had little emotion in it but there was a note of fear "Without the lolipops she dies. Is that what you are trying to say?"

"I'm telling you what I know," the doctor said sadly "unfortunately I can't fill in the details for you. This could be a mistake made in the lab or something intentionally designed. Either way, if you want to find out how to keep her body functioning as it should, the best idea is to track down the people who created her in the first place."

Misaka was angry "Who is that? Who are the people that created Febrie? And for what reason!? Are the people who run this city starting another twisted experiment?"

The doctor waited a moment before speaking "I don't know for sure but I have some leads," He glanced at Joule "your friend is already chasing down those leads. You can either ask him or check for companies attached to the city's underworld. It is their sort of research after all. Just remember I don't advise you doing anything reckless, we are talking about people so strong that even Anti-skill can't touch them. If you want to save that girl," the doctor stood up "And if I am understanding you properly you do, you should be ready to face the darkest parts of academy city."

The doctor began to walk away while Joule and Misaka glanced at one another.

End of chapter

So yes, Febrie's nature as an artifical human does really call out to Joule.

Febrie, in my mind, might as well be mostly human. Her skin is slightly less porous and her hair is slightly hydrophobic but she also has the flaw in mitosis.

I changed how the flaw was worded to make it more "realistic" but for all intents and purposes she is the same as in the original series.

Having cells create something the body doesn't know what it should do with is possibly more dangerous than them creating a poison the body would try to use the liver to filter.