The first day of October.

[ACMI: Calm Days]

Joule was dozing. She'd fallen asleep by GV's bedside last night after everything had calmed down.

Half on a chair and half on his bed, she relaxed.

The fact that everything before had taken place before midnight was kind of amazing. The day had turned over.

Light trickled in through the window as morning came but Joule continued to sleep. It was only when she felt a hand lightly shake her that she opened her eyes.

GV was awake. He was looking at her with a slight smile.

"You're okay!"

She grabbed for his hand to hold it, greatful of his swift recovery.

After he got her to let go, she filled him in on the rest of what had happened. Once she was done though, he looked up at the clock.

"Hey, isn't today a school day?"

...

Joule blinked. She opened her mouth to deny it and-

"Yep. It's a school day."

She needed to go to school. She didn't even have that long.

She hadn't eaten anything in twelve hours, she was still wearing yesterday's clothes that had been rained on and she had a very limited time to even get to school.

She dashed off in a panic, GV watching her go.

The room was left quiet without her but he was glad that she wasn't hurt at least.

Index wouldn't be in school, but he didn't have her number to ask about the things that Joule hadn't seen and was curious about. He had Touma's number but he'd have to wait for lunch.

He wasn't really hurt by what had happened so he swung his legs out of bed and stood up.

Where should he go though? He could go to school too but he doubted anyone would complain if he was still "recovering."

It was actually really easy for him to get permission to leave school. He needed to keep his grades up but taking days off to do missions wasn't really a problem. This could be defined as a mission too in a way.

But... what research could he do while all the primary actors were at school?

"You're meant to be in bed." Heaven Canceller commented as GV stepped into his office.

GV shook his head "I'm sorry to bother you doctor, but I've recovered and want at least some answers. I would be asking others but they aren't currently in Academy City to my knowledge."

"I am limited by patient confidentiality." The doctor remarked "But very well, I finished my phone call just a few moments ago. I have time to answer your questions."

"How much do you know about the supernatural?"

Heaven canceller looked to the side "My knowledge is only surface level. When it comes to those with magical afflictions, I've learned the best practice is to listen to my patients because they'll likely know more than me when it comes to their problems."

"So you can't tell me about the woman who attacked the city last night?"

He shook his head "Nothing more the gossip really. She's a member of an organization that belongs to the catholic church. Her magic allowed her to prevent oxygen from reaching the brains of her targets, you experienced that first hand."

GV nodded and waited for him to offer up anything else.

"Unfortunately I don't know that much more about her." The Doctor explained "All I could really tell you about was how the city responded."

GV frowned at that lack of information but did ask for more information about the city's actions.

"Just like what happened at the end of August and during the Daihase festival, a Virus was implanted in the Misaka network. One designed to form the AIM of the espers in the city into an angel."

That was as Joule and Index had figured out apparently, but GV still wanted to know something more.

"Why?"

"AIM disrupts Magic. Actually, it would be more fair to say they interfere with each other. Contradictory laws cannot coexist peacefully. When the artificial angel was deployed, it made the magician's magic go haywire and inflicted damage on them with each use. It's a means to protect Academy City, at least, in theory."

[ACMI: Curse]

GV nodded at the explanation and asked the obvious follow-up question "In theory?"

Heaven Canceller turned around to look out of the window.

"The Misaka network was used to control the AIM fields. So why was it that they were allowed to travel all over the world?"

GV blinked and his eyes opened wide.

"It's a weapon?"

Heaven Canceller didn't respond at first. When he did, it was in a solemn voice.

"As far as I can tell, He sees all of you as weapons. It's just that the Misaka Network is planned to be used on a much greater scale. I've given him my ultimatum and he's made his choice. I simply hope it doesn't go to the worst place it could."

As GV left the office. Thoughts spiralled through his head.

All of the Espers that he and Joule called friends were weapons. The Misaka network and Kazakiri were the equivelent of equivalent of an anti-magical WMD.

He needed to find someone else to talk to.

He wandered the city for the entire day of school, hoping to run into someone who might know more by chance. At the end of school he made sure to stop by home to show Joule he was okay and to change clothes himself.

On Joule's side, she had apparently been unable to get in contact with Touma or Index. Apparently his class was doing some sort of event and she'd been invited along.

The feelings on the street as he continued to wander around were tense in a way.

There were rumours of war. With who wasn't entirely clear though. People just threw out countries at random. If you were to take them all as true, it would mean that Academy City would be going to war with the entire world.

As the sky darkened and night fell, he had moved on to moving more quickly. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop.

It was luck alone that allowed him to see Touma, standing on a street and looking up at the moon.

Time to see what he had to say.

End of Chapter.

If not for a late postman, this chapter probably wouldn't have been written this week. I would have been too busy playing Tears of the Kingdom. Not a problem though, I just wrote this while waiting for my copy to arrive.