A Sister's words

Misaka and Joule stood in the waiting room for a few moments, internalising all that they had heard.

[ACSR: Oh dear!]

Once the moment had passed, Misaka tried to ask something to Joule but she was interrupted by a shaky voice behind her "Sis, sis. Are you there?"

Coming up to their side was Kuroko with a crutch, she wasn't fully using it though so it was likely just to keep her stable rather than to say she had an injured leg. That wasn't about to stop Kuroko pretending to be worse than she was.

She acted like she was badly injured and she groaned with fake pain with each step she took.

"Sis, you have to help me." Kuroko grunted in a voice that was meant to sound like she was in great pain. Honestly in Joule's opinion it sounded like she really needed to use a bathroom.

Misaka sighed but asked "What do you need Kuroko?"

Kuroko perked up at that before acting wounded again "Oh the only thing that could heal me is the kiss of a princess but where am I going to find someone wonderful like that!"

A audible sigh could be heard from Misaka "I'm not going to play this game with you, just come with us if you want to see Febrie." She then turned before Kuroko reached her and walked into Febrie's room.

[ACSRS: Quiet Stratagem]

The moment she was out of sight, Kuroko stood up straight and looked to Joule who was turning to follow Misaka. In that moment, Kuroko's voice got serious "Is something wrong? Sis looks like she is upset about something."

Joule looked around and spoke quietly about Febrie's true nature. She was interrupted part way through as Misaka along with everyone left Febrie's room. Febrie looked up at Kuroko and Joule and waved.

[ACSRS: Old Feelings]

Kuroko and Joule waved back slightly. before falling into the group behind Misaka. They just walked quietly with the rest of the group Uiharu, Saten and Febrie were talking happily. Rather Uiharu and Saten were talking to Febrie who was listening.

Kuroko looked between Misaka and Joule before speaking softly to not be overheard by the excited group in front of them "So, what is this I heard about Febrie being artificial?"

Misaka turned to Joule in shock "You told her?"

Joule nodded "Did you plan to keep this secret from the others? When doing so could hurt Febrie?"

Misaka was taken aback but she spoke quietly "Is it so wrong to say yes? I wanted to prevent you all from worrying."

Kuroko spoke with wisdom "There isn't anything wrong with asking for help with this sort of a problem, you are still only one person."

Misaka nodded and then looked around at the sound of a meow. Kuroko and Joule looked too and they saw a small black cat.

Kuroko wondered what the cat was doing but Misaka looked up from that cat to the threes that were to their side and behind them. Then Joule saw what she saw, she couldn't see exactly but it looked like someone in a Tokiwadai uniform with hair like Misaka's.

A clone, one of the sisters then.

"What's up?" Kuroko asked, she had seen both of them react to something

Misaka made a few sounds as she searched for a believable lie. Finally she spoke "I forgot to ask the doctor something so I'll head back there." She picked the cat up off the ground before continuing "You guys go on ahead. I'll catch up." and running back.

Kuroko looked at Joule before turning back to Misaka "What are you hiding now?"

Joule closed her eyes for a small moment before walking after Misaka, as she left she said "Don't worry, we'll catch up."

As they left Kuroko sighed again "You two had better explain this later."

[ACSRS: Misaka's Sister]

Joule caught up with Misaka and the sister in the nearby park. The sister was petting the cat and Joule could see that her face was bandaged.

She spoke up while approaching to make it known she wasn't eavesdropping "Hey Misaka, Hello Misaka's sister."

The two of them looked around to see her walking up Misaka looked scared while her sister didn't have any visable expression.

Misaka jumped to her feet "Oh, Joule this is my sister-" she then cut off, realising that Joule had referred to her as 'Misaka's sister'. "Have you met before?"

The sister shook her head while Joule said "No, I have seen them before but it was GV who told me about them."

Joule then looked at Misaka "I do also know their true nature, GV told me."

Misaka gave a sad sigh and sat down on the bench again. Joule sat next to her so she was sandwiched between Joule and her sister.

The sister looked wary about talking with Joule there but she did "I spoke to that girl who came into the hospital with you last night."

Misaka turned her head "You mean Febrie?"

The sister nodded "Yes, I could not help but notice you stayed up all night waiting to see the outcome of her treatment. She must be quiet important to you. You haven't even visited your younger sister-" Misaka cut in "Hey, hold on," but the sister continued "and yet you waited for hours out of concern for this young girl right, Misaka asks with a pouty look on her face and a dejected slump of her shoulders."

Misaka blushed "You stop that right now. It's not like she's more important to me or-"

[ACSRS: Mistakes born out of purity]

"May I continue please?" the sister asked "Late last night, I had a look inside her room." The sister then told the story and of what Febrie said.

Misaka's face fell as she thought about what it meant but Joule just said it out loud "I wonder if her sister is another artifical human?"

The sister nodded "It's possible, theres also more. While talking it stood out to me, Misaka pauses for effect. I sensed that all the knowledge she possessed seems to adhere to a specific pattern embedded at the most basic level."

"What does that mean?" Misaka asked slowly.

Joule spoke then "She was taught with a Testament right?"

The sister nodded "It is very similar. In Misaka's opinion that is not unlikely that she was taught in that method. In fact considering the similarities in the underlying pattern it is highly probable that the Testament program for the girl was made by the same individual that developed Misaka's program, says Misaka, expressing her conjecture."

"Which would mean..." Misaka stopped but Joule finished her thought "Nunotaba Shinobu."

Misaka turned towards Joule in surprise "Do you know where she is?"

Joule spoke slowly "In theory, I know who she works for these days and knowing what we do that makes them the likely makers of Febrie."

Misaka looked impatient while the sister hadn't changed her expression. Joule nodded "Give me a moment." she took out her phone and called GV, she left the phone on speaker so everyone could hear what he said.

After a ring he picked up "Hey, What is it?" it sounded like he was tense. It looked like his voice had prompted interest in the sister though.

Joule explained about Febrie's condition and that Shinobu was involved in her creation.

"Okay," GV responded at the end "So we are basically adding the recipie for the candy to the list of things to search for?"

"Wait, hold on." Misaka spoke up "You knew where she was?"

GV was quiet for a moment "In theory, she was sold to a group called STUDY. I've been trying to find where they were keeping her but it's harder than I expected, they have a lot of back-up plans."

Misaka nodded slowly, putting the pieces together "So it was likely Febrie somehow escaped and they have been trying to get her back."

Joule nodded and GV spoke over the phone "If they used Shinobu to create Febrie and they need Febrie back it is likely she is more important than we know. I shouldn't have to say this but keep a close eye on her." towards the end of that GV's voice became quiet, quickly he said "I need to go, sorry." and hung up.

Misaka looked deep in thought but Joule just spoke "Let's go find the others."

End of chapter

I found a new playlist that had the song's names in english so I will be using the english names for a bit

The hardest parts of writing this can easily be summed up as "Have these characters met yet?" My memory is fuzzy on if Joule has met a sister before so I just put in an answer that could be both. If someone can confirm one way or the other I'll update this chapter. Update: I have updated the chapter to make it clear that they haven't but Joule has heard about them from GV

Also, Misaka now has information ahead of schedule, hopefully I can write the next few chapters without F***ing it up.