"Friends help each other"

[ACSR: Precious Friends]

As the walked together, Joule heard Misaka's phone ring. Misaka checked and said "It's Kongou, I wonder what it is about?"

Joule thought for only a moment before answering "She likely wants an update on Febrie. I'll just head off on my own so you can take the call."

She watched Misaka sit on some stairs to take the call while she left. Once she was out of sight she whispered to Lumen "Please, keep and eye on her."

Lumen gave a telepathic nod before lifting off the butterfly pin and sitting on top of a nearby lamp post where she could keep an eye on Misaka without invading her privacy.

Joule walked back home as she was already most of the way home but before she got there Lumen reported that Misaka had finished her call and had been found by Kuroko. Joule nodded and Lumen disappeared from the lamp and reappeared on top of the butterfly pin.

For a moment there was silence before Lumen spoke "While it is easy to understand her position I don't think she's right."

Joule nodded and thought back "Yeah, I just think she doesn't realise how much we would help if she asked. It's not like we haven't been in dangerous positions before."

Lumen let out a short laugh "Don't let GV hear you say things like that, if you intentionally put yourself in a dangerous situation without reason it might cause him to worry."

Joule tilted her head "It's not as if I am helpless..."

"You might as well be," countered Lumen "You don't hurt people with your telepathy and that means that you lack a weapon. Compared to Misaka or Kuroko you are lacking in that regard."

Joule looked annoyed "Who says I need a weapon? Uiharu and Saten get on quite well without a violent ability."

"Saten has a baseball bat," Lumen added but shrugged as if she was done "either way, I'm just playing devils advocate. You don't have to worry."

[ASG: Cyanotype]

Joule got home and washed up. When she was dried and dressed in a new set of clothes she noticed GV was sitting at his desk.

Lumen flitted up and took human form before leaning over GV "Hey, what did you get."

GV flinched before realising it was Lumen. Joule sat down on a chair around the table as GV described the Lab.

"So I found the files that had info on cloning, altering genomes and biomechanical engineering. All likely to do with how they made the girl but I can't find anything in them that could be the candy's primary ingredient."

Lumen and Joule nodded along but before he got much further, Joule's phone rang, she saw it was Misaka and answered it.

"Uh, hey?" Misaka's voice had a tinge of embarrassment in it as she spoke.

"Hello Misaka, what is it?" Joule spoke politely

"I-, I'm taking back what I said earlier." Misaka's embarrassment grew. Joule remained quiet and allowed her to finish "I got some advice from Kongou and Kuroko and..."

She was silent for a moment before continuing "We are meeting up at Uiharu's place. Can you come?"

"Yes, of course." Joule said warmly, There was an equally warm smile on her face but only Lumen and GV could appreciate it.

[ACSRS: Little Wish]

She arrived slightly after everyone else but Misaka had been waiting for everyone before starting. All four of them had come when she had asked.

"So?" Kuroko smiled as she asked. They were all waiting for the problem that they would help Misaka solve.

Misaka took a breath "First, Joule already knows most of this but I asked her to keep it quiet as I wanted to deal with it alone."

When the others looked over and nodded once.

Misaka continued "Early this morning, the doctor called me outside and Joule followed. He told me what I am about to tell you." To Joule it felt like Misaka was trying to build up the will to actually tell them.

She took another breath and spoke quickly "Febrie wasn't born in a normal way, she was made artificially in a lab. She was created with a failsafe; if she didn't consume the medicine within her lolipops she would die."

There was a gasp at this but Misaka plowed on "The team that made her are called STUDY, they are someone outside of Anti-skill's control and likely a part of Academy City's Underworld."

They were all shocked, Uiharu spoke first though "Febrie was artificially created?" She then paused for a moment before continuing to herself "Imagine if your life depended on eating lolipops."

Kuroko was thinking "You said it was a failsafe, do you mean that it was done intentionally?"

"Probably." Misaka confirmed.

Saten grimaced "They are beyond Anti-skill's control? Organizations like that exist."

Misaka didn't want to answer at first but eventually she said "I think they are connected to Academy City's Underworld as I said before, I've scuffled with people like them before and they were very dangerous. I want to make sure you understand that, to help Febrie we need to take serious risks and we would explore some shady places. I hate the idea of putting any of you in danger and honestly I don't know how well I can protect you. With that in mind I understand if you don't want-"

"First up," Uiharu was talking to the others, they would help Misaka "We somehow need to track down the people who created Febrie."

Joule raised a hand slightly "GV has been checking out buildings that belong to them. I could ask for his list."

Saten nodded "That and we can ask Kongou for a better description of the man she saw as we know he is part of it."

Uiharu nodded "Both good ideas, we will need to fill Kongou in and we can ask her for help too. We should also check out the place we were attacked, there might be helpful info on the cameras"

Kuroko raised a hand "It's possible the camera's were not working due to the construction."

Uiharu nodded "They could have also tried to hack them, I'll check for signs of tampering."

While all this was going on, Misaka just stood and watched them at work.

Saten spoke next "We can't forget that Febrie needs those lolipops to stay healthy, Has GV found anything about those Joule? If he did we could make them ourselves."

Joule shook her head "Sorry, he found books that would have likely helped in her creation but nothing about the medicine."

Saten nodded "I'll look into it, perhaps we could chip a piece off and have the doctor examine it."

Kuroko spoke "We also need to worry about the powered suits, I'll check with Anti-skill to see if they discovered anything."

"Now what else?" Saten asked

"Everybody." The voice had a slight croak to it like the sound of someone holding back tears.

They looked over at Misaka who was still standing.

Uiharu noted "You've been quiet."

Saten nodded "We could really use your help making plans."

Kuroko raised a finger "It would be best if we could strike first before they get the chance to try again."

Misaka's eyes were wet but she smiled.

Joule spoke quietly to her "Didn't you know? Work shared is work halved? You don't need to do it all yourself."

Misaka sniffed and then spoke "Right!"

End of chapter

Episode 21 is ending up really long. I don't really mind though.