Networked strike
[ASG: World's end]
Lumen looked at the whispering figure. Even if she couldn't break Misaka out right now, she could at least stop whoever this was from controlling her.
She was a lover, not a fighter. So even then, her impulse wasn't to attack.
"Stop this." Lumen ordered as she dropped down.
The figure reacted suddenly to that. It didn't move but it did speak.
"Who said that? The network?"
Apparently they couldn't see her, that would help but-
"Misaka~" The voice said in a sing song voice, "There's someone else here, can you see them?"
There was no response from her friend at first but her head turned.
Her eyes were dark, there was a lack of light reflecting in her eyes until she turned to look at Lumen.
Lumen's light however could be seen reflecting back at her.
"L... Lumen?"
"Who?" The other figure looked baffled "Who's Lumen- No, that doesn't matter. She doesn't matter-" and her voice shifted again "She doesn't matter at all, you can just push her away~"
Misaka looked confused though, like she didn't know what was going on? She couldn't see the red chains around her but her voice was quiet.
"No, she's..."
"She's not important~" The figure continued, Lumen was fairly sure that it was a girl by now. Something in the voice gave it away.
Finally Lumen spoke up again "Misaka, can you hear me?"
"Lumen?"
"No!" The figure responded again "You can't hear her, you can't see her. You have to focus, there's something you have to do, isn't there?"
Misaka's eyes lost a slight sparkle they had been gaining as more chains wrapped around her. They were the chains formed from the network itself.
That left her with two choices. Attack the network or attack the person trying to control her friend.
The answer really was obvious.
Lumen flew down, the figure couldn't seem to see her and Misaka was no longer looking towards her either. That meant that she could do this without being seen.
She pulled back a fist and threw it hard into the figure. The girl gave a squeak as she fell over but chains suddenly swarmed around her in order to protect her.
"Damn it..." The girl complained "Where are you...?"
It seemed she couldn't get rid of her without stopping her control of the chains. She'd need to go deal with the network itself first. The virus.
So, back to Last Order. She knew where the attack would come from this time and she could protect the control node from that direction easily.
Describing the direction in 3D space wasn't really possible. It wasn't just where Misaka was in reality, it was... above the network. Below the network.
Regardless, she set down right next to Last Order's star. She'd need to be fast.
She pulled off the first parasite and the reapplication sped towards Last Order.
"Not this time!"
She could block the attack from the impossible angle. Her attacker was attacking with a complicated program that took a fraction of a second to apply. Lumen however, while she had this strength from Joule, could act in a fraction of that fraction.
She slowed it all down. Her perception catching the virus data as a fast moving projectile.
In her hand she imagined a blade. A smaller and thinner version of GV's Luxcalibur.
She cut the projectile as it passed and deleted it before removing another piece of the virus code.
Multiple projectiles now shot towards Last Order. Lumen took a breath, her clothes changing to free up her movements as she swung her blade in a deadly dance.
Of course, this was all a metaphor. It was simply how she and the network agreed this all worked.
"These code fragments being uploaded are projectiles that can be blocked."
"I possess a sword that can cut projectiles moving at a computer's speed of thought in order to delete them entirely."
She didn't know what was agreeing with her. The network should be bound. It was bound by the virus after all. Yet even now it agreed with her as she blocked this small piece of code.
Joule's ability wasn't just telepathy. It could hack electronics just like GV could after all. This right here was a test of her talents. Minds and machines and she had to control them both in instants.
Finally she removed the last block of virus code and slapped a patch over the top. The same patch she had tried on a sister before. It hadn't worked that time as Last order had overpowered her. That wasn't a problem now though. Last order blinked, her eyes opening.
"The network...?" She wondered.
In a moment, every star reacted. They shot lines all together to try and overwrite Last Order's code. Before this had been a sneak attack that exploited a hole in their defenses. Now though, that hole had been filled.
"No." Last Order said as the code all arrived "Denied. By Order of misaka 20001, Misaka Misaka announces."
The lines shattered as Last Order's head turned to look at her "Go to our big sister. I need you out of the way so I don't delete you during the clean-up."
Lumen raised an eyebrow but left her and returned to the space with Misaka and the girl controlling her.
The figure's voice sounded panicked as Lumen returned to normal speed.
...Last Order had talked to her at the speed of thought. Huh.
Regardless, the girl was worried and Lumen could understand it as she looked up. The network was being cleaned. The chains were fading.
Even here, at the top/bottom of the network, the chains holding Misaka were begining to fray.
With a smile, Lumen dropped beside the controller again, her armour lost to the effects of Last Order's purge of the virus. Lumen once again made a fist and she scored a hit on the girl's face. The girl went spinning mentally.
End of chapter.
So, here's a question, Misaka only starts going to level 6 because of the network's boost. While the mind control was broken early in canon, she still needed to deal with the network powering her up.
Would the same happen here?
Legitimate question. I wrote this but I have no idea what the effect would be.
Regardless, next chapter is GV and Touma. I'll need to decide what effects this will have by the time I write that one...
Hmmm... Drama or a quick resolution and a let down? I can't do dragon strike if Misaka calms down on her own of course.