Inquiry 1-The world view of a soon to be god
Uiharu Kazari was anxiously sitting in a waiting room, the location itself was rather unassuming. However, in that room sat a rather large number of Anti-Skill and Judgement members alongside the flower wearing girl. Even brushing aside the concentration of such personnel, one could glean the importance of this event by its simple purpose.
A face to face talk with the new Board of Directors member, Othinus.
The new director had made it clear that she would focus on the law enforcement aspect of Academy City and seek to improve it. Three days after her inauguration, she was already making good on that promise. Uiharu, alongside every Anti-Skill and Judgment member, had received an email the day after Othinus' statement about this event. They were invited to this event for any suggestion, concern, or problem they had with the current state of affairs regarding Academy City's law enforcement and share it with Othinus.
Naturally this attracted a lot of members to share and the waiting room reflected this, it was packed. Uiharu didn't expect to be called up for quite some time as a result. Even if there was some sort of listing, she wasn't exactly the first on any alphabetical list. The girl had also arrived rather late so the idea of "first come, first serve" wasn't on her side either.
Which is why when a blonde haired girl in a two piece suit stepped into the waiting room. Uiharu was surprised by her words.
"Uiharu Kazari, please follow me this way to All-I mean Othinus."
The girl was nearly taken aback, she had just gotten there and her name was already called up. Even then, she didn't recall giving her name to anyone at the location. Granted her name was on a database which Othinus would have access to but that would imply that she already knew Uiharu's face. Despite this, Uiharu grabbed her belongings and followed the girl.
The two entered what appeared to be a rather long hallway, that was until Uiharu looked around the hall and was yet again surprised, this time by how soon they reached the room with the director. Uiharu then turned around and saw a corner she swears was not there before, as her suspicion grew the blonde girl spoke.
"The Othinus is waiting for you through this door, please be on your best behavior."
Uiharu nodded before stepping through the doors where she saw Othinus, dressed in her attire from the speech she gave during her inauguration. The magic god sat behind a desk facing directly towards the door, and by extension, Uiharu.
The girl stammered a bit before the war god cleared her throat and spoke first.
"So mortal, what do you have for me?"
"I…uh…I have this idea for how to improve Academy City's law enforcement capabilities…" the girl said as she rushed to get something from her bag
"Go on…" said Othinus as she gestured Uiharu to proceed
"Well…during an incident in October I witnessed first hand how effective AIM field jammers were at shutting down esper powers at the second reformatory. After Operation Handcuffs, I thought maybe we could use some on those jammers on a mobile platform to help with dealing with high level espers. I-I designed a simple modification to the Octopus armored vehicle to accommodate this." Uiharu said while handing a tablet to Othinus, "I have the schematics on this tablet here."
Othinus then grabbed the tablet and began scrolling through its contents. After a minute, the magic god handed it back. During that minute, Uiharu was fidgeting her thumbs hoping for the best.
"Well mortal…"
Uiharu closed her eyes to brace herself for the verdict that was about to be placed on her.
"I have to say, I'm rather impressed."
"You are?" asked Uiharu
"You managed to put together a schematic like that in a short amount of time. I think someone of your skill has promise, not to mention from what I've read on your file, you're possibly the best hacker in the city." said Othinus, her serious expression unchanging despite her words of praise
"But what about the idea itself?"
"Ah yes, well it's a good start."
"Just…a good start?"
"Yes, it needs some work, though I personally want to be in touch with you at some point." Othinus said while reaching out her hand for a handshake "I'll be in touch when the time comes mortal."
"I…t-thank you director." Uiharu replied as she shook Othinus' hand. Though it was during that handshake that the girl noticed something about the new Director. This caused a pause in the flower crowned girl.
"Is there something wrong mortal?"
Uiharu then shook her head before replying "Ah no, just a random thought."
(This new Board of Directors member, why does she seem so familiar?)
"I trust you to show yourself out, now go, I have a quite a few more talks today"
As commanded, Uiharu left the building, the thought she had about Othinus lingering in her head.
Later that day
Uiharu was currently in the 177th branch of Judgement looking through a database. It was then, the girl came across something that made her heart skip a beat.
"Misaka, Kuroko, I found something! Come quick!" Uiharu shouted at the two girls on the other side of the room
"What is it Uiharu? I was talking with my Onee-sama about the new Director. She wouldn't even give my idea about making Misaka the mascot of Academy City the light of day!"
"Kuroko, please just stop ok?" replied Misaka
"This has to do with the new Director you two. I found this email that was sent to every level 5 back in November, and It has a photo of the new Director. She's the international terrorist from back then." Uiharu said as she pulled up a photo of Othinus and the email in question
Silence only came from the two espers.
"Uh, any comments, you two? Your silence makes me think that you don't believe me."
"Because I don't, I got that email, Uiharu. In fact I was there to 'help' hunt down the girl…well the idiot with the girl, but I'm pretty sure she died back then. There's no way it's her."
"Yeah, last I heard, the girl blew up," Kuroko chimed in. "Well, that's the prevailing theory anyway. They say she disappeared after the incident in Denmark, but a person like that doesn't just go away."
"Well…that doesn't change the fact that the new Director looks exactly the same as that international terrorist, they even have the same name!" Uiharu desperately shouted
"It's simply a coincidence Uiharu, you're being paranoid. They could be twins, doppelgangers, or even clones, there's a thousand other explanations for this other than a dead woman coming back from the dead. Also the new Director wouldn't wear something so skimpy, you saw her directly, she wears a suit. Besides, the chairman wouldn't let someone like that on to the Board." replied Kuroko
"I mean the chairman did kill over 10000 people." muttered Mikoto
"Ok besides himself, there's no way someone like that terrorist could get onto the board."
"Are you sure? I did some more digging and look at this." Uiharu said as she pulled up a gallery of old looking photos, cropped paintings, and even some cave drawings. All of them had Othinus featured in some way. "All these photos indicate that the new Director was around for quite some time. 1940s Denmark, Viking Era England, even ancient Rome. This has got to account for something."
"What are you implying that she's immortal or something? That's impossible, these are clearly the work of photoshop or something."
"Yeah, Kuroko's right, there's no such thing as immortality, even with Academy City's advanced technology, the human body could only go on for so long. Not to mention accidents or acts of violence."
"Ugh! Why are you two so obstinate? It's like something is affecting everyone else not to connect the new Director with this international terrorist." said an exasperated Uiharu
"I don't think it's us, I think you're just reaching." said Misaka
"Fine then! I'll go get some hard proof that she's at least related to this international terrorist."
The next day, Kamijou Touma was heading home from school, he had a slightly embarrassed expression on his face. This was due to all the bewildered looks he was getting from nearby bystanders looking in his direction. They weren't looking at him per se, but they were still looking at someone close to him.
"You know Othinus, when you offered to take me home on some transportation, this wasn't what I imagined." said Touma to the person in front of him. Othinus who was wearing her usual skimpy attire, she was also holding Gungnir in her hands titled at a level in front of her.
"Well human, I would've taken you home by car, but I don't know how to drive yet. We could have used a self-driving car but I recently had a bad experience with those." Othinus then muttered to herself her next statement "Just took off for no reason I swear by the bifrost."
"Still, Itsuwa knows how to drive, you could've asked her. I mean with this, everyone is staring at us." Touma then gestured at their transportation
Touma and Othinus were currently riding on a giant cat. A giant calico cat named Sphynx to be specific. The method for steering the cat was a chunk of tuna attached to the end of Gungnir. Needless to say, the cat was very motivated to move.
"Actually, I need to talk to you about her, human. I don't think that girl is in her right mind."
"I know that's important, but are you trying to change the subject?"
"No human, that girl is unbelievably desperate to serve me and I worry, given her affiliation with the Anglican Church, about her mental state."
Touma sighed before responding "Seems like a tough situation, not helped by the fact that Itsuwa is hiding why she's doing this in the first place."
Sphynx then broke the tension by attempting to lick one of the nearby bystanders. The cat was stopped by Othinus hitting him on the head with the hilt of Gungnir.
"Still, riding on Sphynx like this seems a little…out there. That and the fact you, who is now part of the Board of Directors, is out in the public dressed in what amounts to a skimpy swimsuit. Why not use that bone boat spiritual item to teleport us to the dorm?" Touma said getting things back on track.
"Hmph, human these mortals should be grateful to view my divine body in its full splendor. As for the choice of Sphynx, it is so that these mortals could get a glimpse of the fear that I was under before." Othinus then moved her left arm in a sweeping motion around her, pointing at all the nearby bystanders "You mortals hear that? Gaze upon this beast and know fear!"
"Othinus, please, stop drawing attention to us."
"Oh please, even if they took pictures of us, what is that going to do?"
Meanwhile, a block or so down the road, Uiharu was currently taking pictures of the war god, her understander, and the enlarged cat.
"She's wearing the outfit she had in Denmark, this will prove she's that terrorist!" the Judgement member exclaimed as she looked down her camera
"U~i~h~a~r~u!" said a cheerful voice
Uiharu's friend, Saten Ruiko, had snuck up on her and flipped her skirt as she said those words. Normally, this would embarrass the girl, but Uiharu didn't respond. She was too focused on what was being picked up on her camera lens.
"Uiharu, are you ok?" Saten asked
"Not now Saten, I'm working on Judgement business right now." replied the girl
"What do you mean? There doesn't seem to be anything going on right now."
"You see that down the road." Uiharu said as she pointed at the giant cat down and its riders
Saten then stumbled back a bit, "Woah, yeah I see that."
"Ok so you recognize how the new-"
"I must be hallucinating, I'm seeing one of the Directors of Academy City in a swimsuit riding a giant cat."
"What? No, I mean that girl is an international terrorist. The giant cat is irrelevant."
"Are you sure it's irrelevant? If we're both seeing a giant cat, that means we're both hallucinating. There might be a gas leak then."
"I…No!" Uiharu then showed Saten a photo she took with her camera "That thing is caught on a digital device, it's real!"
"Might be because we're hallucinating whatever that is as a giant cat. I mean, if there really was a giant house cat there, what's your explanation for it anyways?"
"I dunno…magic?"
"Yeah, my point exactly."
"Fine, I'll get eyewitness reports from bystanders then and camera footage from nearby buildings and robots." Uiharu said as she brought out a tape recorder "Everyone and everything in a 2 kilometer stretch of road can't ALL be hallucinating."
Meanwhile, back with the Sphynx, Othinus, and Touma. The trio had reached the building with Touma's home. As Touma got off, Othinus waved at him.
"You go on ahead into the penthouse human. I'm going to undo the phase shift on the cat here."
"Alright Othinus, I'll be in the kitchen preparing dinner." Touma said while he waved back.
"We have maids now you know?"
"Yeah, but there is always going to be a certain satisfaction to making something with your own hands." The spiky boy said as he entered the building
"Fair point…you know that mention of dinner made me a little hungry. What if I…" Othinus remarked as she tried reaching for the piece of tuna on Gungnir
However, the calico cat grew wise of the attempt to steal his reward. So he threw Othinus off his back before lunging at the chunk of tuna.
"You dare!?" Othinus shouted at the cat
This led to a brawl between the war god and the enlarged cat over the chunk of tuna. Well, not really a brawl, more of a game of keep away combined with hot potato as both sides tried to consume the tuna first.
Sometime later at the 177th Judgement Branch Office. Uiharu laid out all her evidence on the desk before her and looked at the trio of girls in front of her.
"Alright, Kuroko, Misaka, and…why are you here?" Uiharu asked
Instead of Saten, the other level 5 of Tokiwadai, Shokuhou Misaki, was standing in front of Uiharu.
"Oh, I just wanted to know what Misaka does in her free time, don't mind me." Misaki responded, grinning as she looked to her side and saw Misaka roll her eyes.
"Anyways, I have evidence here that the new director is that international terrorist." Uiharu said holding up the photo she took earlier of Othinus on top of an enlarged Sphynx.
"That's some nice photoshop ability you have there, but I'm afraid it's quite obvious that it's photoshopped." replied Misaki
"Yeah, cats don't get that big, and besides, a public figure like her wouldn't wear something like that in public." Misaka chimed in
"But…she's wearing the same exact thing as before. Fine, I have live footage and eye witness accounts as well." the Judgement member said in an exasperated manner.
"Uiharu, we know you're good enough with computers to create a fake video like that," Kuroko said "As for the eye witness accounts. It might just be a case of mass hysteria, like Third War syndrome causing people to see all that weird stuff, or like how three days ago onee-sama and Misaki over here passed out from shock after seeing that interview of the new director."
"To be honest, I'm surprised I could still pass out from shock." said Mikoto
"Is that…a pun?" asked Misaki
"What do you…oh, I didn't mean it like that!"
Uiharu's eye started to twitch and she uttered the next words through gritted teeth "That's not how mass hysteria works Kuroko."
"I mean, even disregarding that, there's the possibility that this evidence is all fabricated. I mean the giant cat is a pretty dead giveaway." said Kuroko
"Ngghh!" Uiharu then tried to flip the desk over, but it was too heavy, and instead of flipping it over, she barely tipped it. The noises of exertion and subsequent panting she made were rather cute.
"Fine, I'll just go get more evidence then, physical evidence that you can't refute and pictures without ridiculous cats in them."
The girl then grabbed her camera and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind her.
Normally the penthouse residence of Othinus would be difficult to access without one of the two methods, having someone on the inside or having keycard access. However, Uiharu recognized the methods as being digital in nature and thus susceptible to cyber attack. Othinus and Index aren't naive enough to neglect their cyber security, however there was practically no system in the world that could withstand Uiharu's skill. So the Judgement member successfully arrived at the penthouse.
The girl walked into the foyer to be met by the quite substantial arsenal of automated security installed there. However, Uiharu continued walking as if the guns pointed at her were not there. This was not out of naivety that they were loaded with non lethal rounds or the arrogance that they were for show. No, the secret lay within Uiharu's phone.
A program was running on the phone, a short message displayed on the screen, one that said:
"IFF update complete."
And so the girl was free to roam around the residence free from harassment of the automated security. She had brought a duffle bag, a camera, a laptop, the aforementioned phone, and oddly enough, an ultra compressed cardboard box. Uiharu was not equipped for confrontation of any kind, however that did mean she was not unprepared at all.
Uiharu looked at her phone and switched to another program, it was a rough layout of the penthouse. Though she could not find any public blueprints of the place, it was as if the building appeared there by magic, she could trace the layout by examining the camera feed.
This was not a perfect process however, there were gaps. Places like the personal room of Othinus were complete dead spots. It was inconvenient as the dead spots for camera feeds would be the places where the most incriminating evidence would be found. It was one of the main reasons for Uiharu's physical presence there, well that and her slight tantrum at her friends' obstinance at accepting hard evidence.
"Alright, this place is huge, so no time to waste." said the Judgement member to herself
On the second floor, Uiharu almost ran into one of the maids, with long black hair that was tied up, a rather impressive body, and she wore a rather lewd outfit. Said maid was currently using a machine to clean the carpet on the floor, so Uiharu had enough time to hide under her cardboard box.
The whirl of the carpet cleaning machine got closer and closer to Uiharu, causing her heart to race and sweat to drip down her face. However her fears were relieved when she heard the whirring noise move further and further away…then reignited as it got closer again. Uiharu peaked through one of the holes in the box to see the maid coming back to her location, the reason why apparent on the ground.
The girl had forgotten to take off her shoes and was leaving a trail on the carpeted floor.
Wasting no time, the girl started to move away while concealed by the cardboard box, but the maid was gaining on her. The noise of her cleaning machine getting closer and closer.
"I swear, I cleaned this entire area before, so where did these footprints come from?" asked the maid, unaware of the source of said footprints right in front of her.
After some time of this rather odd cat and mouse chase, Uiharu and the maid's movements devolved into walking in a circle. The maid sighed in frustration at her seemingly never ending task, all the while Uiharu's stress levels were through the roof.
"Hmm, maybe these footprints are coming from this magic moving cardboard box here?" asked the maid
That sentence nearly gave Uiharu a heart attack. She quickly searched for a way out of the situation. It was then, the Judgement member took out her phone.
A loud alarm soon played on the 2nd floor.
"Huh? An attack?" the maid could be heard saying followed by the sound of a sword being unsheathed and the light thumping of footsteps.
Uiharu confirmed that the maid left her field of view before throwing off her box and running away. Meanwhile, the maid was searching through the entire floor for an intruder.
"Kanzaki, I noticed the alarm here, what happened?" asked Index who suddenly appeared besides the maid
"I don't know Index, the alarm went off all of a sudden and I've been searching for an intruder ever since. But no one but us is here." replied Kanzaki in a combat stance, her eyes scanning the area
"What were you doing before? Maybe something you did tripped it, you know how technology could be finicky like that."
"Well…" Fallen Angel Ero maid said while leading the magic god through the halls "I was cleaning the carpets that kept getting dirty for some reason before the alarm activated, I don't think I did anything to set it off."
Index then saw a box on the floor and ran to it, "Oh look a cardboard box, I found fishsticks hiding under one of these a few days ago. Honestly, it seems pretty lucky that a selkie was just right there. Oh and more footprints."
Kanzaki sighed before resuming her duties. "Someone forgot to take off their shoes."
On the fifth floor, Uiharu bore witness to an odd conversation. A short, blonde maid was currently manufacturing explosives when she was approached by another maid.
"Uh, Frenda, are you allowed to use the lab?" asked the other maid
"In the end, I got permission from All-Mother…" Frenda then looked around for a moment, "Yeah, All-Mother allowed me to use the lab, there's no issue here Itsuwa."
"Oh, well if Lord Othinus has allowed it then its fine, though I wonder why you're using this lab specifically." said Itsuwa as she tapped her finger on one of the tables
"In the end, the reason why I'm using this lab was because one of my friends blew up my personal lab."
"You had a lab yourself? I'm a bit impressed that a Valkyrie like yourself has that much aptitude for science."
"In the end, I was an esper before All-Mother remade me into a Valkyrie. Besides, what's stopping a magician from becoming adept in science in the first place? I know All-Mother has another Valkyrie that's also a doctor under her command."
"Huh, well I shouldn't be surprised, I have learned how to operate most vehicles myself, so technical skills like this aren't out of the question. Oh and what are these mushrooms for?" asked the Amakusa magician before pointing at a bowl of what appeared to be purple mushrooms
"Those? Those are berserker mushrooms. In the end, I've been snacking on them raw for the past few days."
"Raw? Why not cook them?"
"In the end, If you cook them they get WAY stronger, too strong for my purposes."
"So…are those the reason for this?"
Itsuwa then grabbed a page on the table and showed it to Frenda. It was a picture of Gokusai Kaibi with red writing scribbled all over it saying "KILL, KILL, KILL"
"In the end, that's an intended side effect I'm trying to induce in myself. That bitch in the dress is going to get her due one way or another." replied Frenda "I can just imagine the look on her face as the life drains from her eyes. Her last words a gurgle as she-"
"Ok, no need to get that graphic about things. Wait, is this written in…blood?" asked Itsuwa looking at the picture of Kaibi
"In the end, it's not my fault that a side effect of those mushrooms is increased blood production leading to nose bleeds and," Frenda then turned and grabbed Itsuwa in a fit of berserker rage "I COULDN'T FIND THAT STUPID RED MARKER TOO!"
"Ahh, stop shaking me!"
As Uiharu witnessed all of this in a hidden position she thought,
(Hmm, intention to commit murder huh? Well that's not evidence on Othinus but this girl over here…Hey doesn't Saten know her? Also, why did that one maid have such a lewd outfit compared to everyone else?)
On the 7th floor, the dining area, Uiharu finally caught a glimpse of Othinus herself. She was sitting at one of the tables, across from her was another girl wearing a maid outfit, an innocent looking one with a bob cut.
"Well, Maidono Hoshimi, you have passed every test in our maid entrance exam except the final one." said the war god
"What kind of maids are you looking for where they can take out an entire brigade of armored vehicles?" asked an exasperated Maidono
"If you're worried about the danger of the last test, then you needn't worry. You already passed every single combat trial. This last test is instead a test of your ability to genuinely be a maid." Othinus then pointed to another table with a tray of food on it, "You are to bring that tray of food over to this table and feed me."
Maidono froze up, the sole reason for it was this, a single set of chopsticks on the tray. They were the only set of utensils there.
"Can…can I get an alternate test, another combat trial maybe?"
"No, you have already proven yourself in combat."
"Cleaning?"
"We already tested you on that as well."
"Cooking?"
"Already done mortal. Just do your task."
"I…uh…ok."
With shaky hands, Maidono brought over the tray, it was a simple platter of tempura and soba noodles. The esper then went and picked up the chopsticks.
One minute later.
Maidono tried her best to complete the task before her, however the aftermath was not pretty. Involved a sauce and crumb covered Othinus, a crying Maidono, and a glare from Othinus, though that was pretty much her default look.
"Well, Maidono, you may have failed that test, but you passed a;; the other tests with flying…colors. Where'd she go?" asked Othinus
Meanwhile, Maidono was running out of the penthouse sobbing all the way. The penthouse shifted its layout to make sure she arrived at her destination in no time.
"Hmm, well I'm sure she'll be back later. She passed enough of the test, so the position is open to her." the war god then looked down at her sauce covered body "I need a bath."
As Othinus got up and walked to her private quarters, she was followed by an unseen intruder. Uiharu had seen the entire interaction, but it wasn't any incriminating evidence, however the war god may unintentionally lead the girl to what she needed.
Even though the penthouse had a spell in place to warp its layout for guests and residents, but force intruders to traverse the full length. However, a weakness in this spell is that if one were to follow a guest or resident at a close enough distance, they would traverse the warped distance of the penthouse instead of the full length.
As such, Uiharu arrived at the 9th floor of the penthouse shortly after Othinus. The war god still unaware of the Judgement girl's presence. So when Othinus entered her private bath, she let Uiharu have full reign to investigate the 9th floor.
Uiharu first started with Othinus' electronic devices. Even though she was a magic god, Othinus was required to keep records of her actions as part of her duties as a member of the Board of was actually a new reform from Accelerator to keep the board in line. A member could omit more unsavory dealings from their records but the chairman made it a deal that if he ever found out they were trying to hide their sketchy dealings then the punishment could be greater than if they had not hide them at all. If there was any indication that Othinus was a terrorist, it would be held in those devices.
"There aren't any terrorist plots here at all!" shouted Uiharu "It's all just Board of Directors work. Why doesn't this terrorist keep her plans here?"
Unbeknownst to the girl, Othinus stopped being a terrorist a few months prior and as such, didn't have any plans to speak of. Disappointed by the lack of evidence, Uiharu decided to look elsewhere.
"Let's see, she's gotta have spare outfits somewhere. If I take some of those outfits that she wore as a terrorist, then it'll be solid evidence that she's the same person."
Uiharu searched around till she found a large wardrobe filled with various articles of clothing. Formal suits, a teacher's outfit, and oddly enough a school uniform for a male student. The Judgement girl did find what she was looking for though, capes, witch hats, and what look like modified swimsuits.
"Hmm, if I only take one, then everyone could say I just forged these so I'll have to take multiple. After all, custom clothing like this would be difficult to manufacture quickly in this quantity."
It was then that Uiharu had a thought.
(Even with all this evidence, people could still doubt it, so the only natural course of actions to gather even more)
So the Judgement girl walked towards the bath where Othinus was bathing..
Othinus was currently relaxing in the bath, she was seated down in the water and leaning back on the walls of the bath. Her long flowing air floating around in the water like fresh seaweed. The room itself was steamy from the hot water and the smell of lavender permeated the air. However the relaxation did not prevent Othinus from hearing the door to the bath open.
The war god then stood up, not out of alarm or to assume a combat stance. After all, the security in her home was top notch, she'd know way before someone got to that room that they're breaking into her house. Not to mention that Othinus was a magic god, very few people in the world could pose trouble for her in the first place. No, she stood up for a different reason.
"Oh human, I didn't know you would be taking a bath at this time," said Othinus with her back facing the door, she took a stance to accentuate the curves of her body. "Why don't you join me? The water is the perfect temperature and-"
Othinus was cut off from the sound of a camera shutter going off at a close distance. The magic god turned around to address the source of this sound. There she found Uiharu, approximately 2 meters away from her, snapping photos of the bathing Othinus.
"Mortal, how did you get in here?" asked Othinus with a bemused expression
"I'm not telling you terrorist!" replied Uiharu
"Mortal, I have the power to lock you up in the reformatory, tell me how you got in here and I will decide your fate accordingly."
"Oh YOU lock me up? I'll have you know, that I've been assembling a case against you and have definitive proof that you are the terrorist that caused so much damage back in november. You lock me up the investigation on my activities will reveal this evidence and expose you." said Uiharu with a smug expression on her face
"To be honest I haven't been hiding it that well mortal, I'm surprised you're the only one to recognize me so far. But very well, you have this case on me, but I have to ask. What's stopping me from killing you right now?"
Uiharu then began to sweat a little before answering "Um…it's illegal?"
Othinus then outstretched her right arm to the side, Gungnir suddenly appeared in her hand, "Uh huh, is that the only reason?"
"It wouldn't be very nice?" said Uiharu who began shaking, the fear so great she didn't have time to question how a spear suddenly appeared like that.
Othinus began twirling Gungnir above her head.
"I can work for you!?" Uiharu said while putting up her arms to defend herself
The war god then paused before resting her spear on the tile floor of the bath.
"Go on."
"I hacked into your security system to get in here. I'm a great hacker, if there's any digital system in the world, I could get past it."
"Hmm, I also know you're in Judgment…very well, you are to relay information to me from Judgement and hack any system I need you to. You do this and you live. You refuse, you get to see which afterlife you go to. Are the terms of this deal satisfactory mortal?"
"Yes madam Othinus, thank you for your consideration!" shouted Uiharu in a panic
"Please, no honorifics, I'm already getting tired of being called 'lord' all the time by another girl. All-Father or Othinus is fine mortal."
(Wait, she forgot to mention the case in the deal, I could still expose her!)
It was then the whirl of a carpet cleaning machine was heard just beyond the open door. Kanzaki was there still operating the machine, she had followed the footprints created by Uiharu. Well perhaps follow was too generous a term, she was cleaning up the footprints and ended up at her current location.
"You forgot to take off your shoes." said Kanzaki to the flower crowned girl
"Ah, Kanzaki, it's good that you're here. Please escort Uiharu over here out of the premises."
"Yes Othinus," Kanzaki bowed before gesturing toward Uiharu. "Please follow me."
One hour later
Uiharu set up her photos on her corkboard; it contained her entire case on Othinus, including the recent evidence she acquired in her raid on the war god's residence. The Judgement girl then turned towards the 4 other people in the room, her friends Misaka and Kuroko, the tag along from Tokiwadai Misaki, and fellow Judgement member Konori.
"And there you have it, my water tight case on the new Director being that terrorist!" said Uiharu, puffing her chest out in a triumphant manner
Konori Mii took one look at the cork board, saw the photos of Othinus bathing while striking a rather lewd pose and responded.
"Uiharu, where did you get some of these photos?"
"Well, Konori, I snuck into the new Director's home, took these photos myself and snagged a few of these." Uiharu said as she reached into her duffle bag and brought out the skimpy clothing Othinus usually wore "I have multiple of these by the way so there's no chance I could've had these made on short notice."
"Did…did you just sneak into a woman's home, take nude photos of her and raided her panty drawer?" asked Konori
"I…uh…I can…uh….hah." Uiharu's face suddenly went red as she turned to look at her cork board, she tried to speak but kept stammering her words.
"Yeah, Uiharu, this isn't a good look for you." Misaka chimed in.
"You could get written up for sexual misconduct for this you know. I think we have to report you for this Uiharu." said Kuroko
"Wait, you can do that?"
"Of course you can Onee-sama."
"Oh, that's great cause I want to file one as well against a different Judgment member."
"I could help you with that Onee-sama."
"Uh…you know what Kuroko, I think I'll have Konori help me with that."
"Girls I think we should bring our attention back towards this girl and her creep ability." interjected Misaki, "Honestly, I'm surprised you're in Judgment at all."
"Uiharu please come to my office, we need to talk." Konori said while walking away
"Wait, I have more evidence," Uiharu said while hastily grabbing a folder and spreading its contents all over a desk, "Here! These were rejected due to their crude nature, I swear I have a point. I'm not a pervert!"
"Uiharu. Office. Now."
"Yes, ma'am…"
With that Uiharu and Konori exited the room to speech in private, leaving Misaka, Kuroko, and Misaki alone with all of Uiharu's evidence. Misaki grabbed one of the copies of Othinus' outfit, she looked at it and thought to herself.
(So this is the outfit of that girl who lives with Touma now? His understander, someone who claims their bonds run deeper than marriage. Maybe if I wore this he'd remember me)
With such thoughts running around in her head, Misaki made a fateful decision.
"I'm going to the restroom for a moment." Misaki said, making an excuse for herself as she exited the room, outfit in hand.
Next up, Misaka Mikoto walked over to Uiharu's duffle bag and grabbed one of the lewd clothing sets. She thought to herself.
(Does she wear this because the idiot wants her to? They live together and she did say her bond with him was great. So maybe he is into this kind of stuff. Maybe I should try this on, see how it'll look on me.)
"Hey Kuroko, I have a call to make, so I'm going to go somewhere a little private." The Railgun excused herself as she left the room with the outfit in her arms.
This left Kuroko alone in the room, who repeated the motion of the previous two girls and grabbed one of the outfits from Uiharu's duffle bag.
"These look great, I'm sure Onee-sama will love this. I'm going to put it on!"
2 minutes later
Three girls entered the room again to find themselves all wearing the same skimpy outfit, cape, and witch hat. They all blinked for a few moments before responding.
"What possessed all of you to wear this!?" all three girls said in unison.
Misaka was the first to reply to the collective question "I thought it looked good and that idiot would like it."
"Onee-sama? You put this in for that ape?" Kuroko said while reeling back in shock.
"Why are you even wearing this Kuroko?"
"I thought it looked nice and that you would like it, Onee-sama." the teleporter said while looking at the ground and shuffling her feet
"What led you to believe that I'm into this?"
"To be fair to her, with your aggressive ability, it's pretty hard to tell what you're into other than Gekota." snarked Misaki
"Oh don't you start Shokuhou, you always seem to be seducing that idiot whenever you two meet. It's probably why you even put this on as well."
"Well first off-"
Misaki was then cut off when she noticed something on the desk.
"W-What h-how h-huh." Misaki said stammering over her words, the look of fear on her face being very pronounced
"Shokuhou, what are you…oh my god." The next person to notice was Misaka, who began to understand Misaki's fear.
"Onee-sama, what's wrong?" Kuroko then turned towards the desk the two other girls were looking at. She then screamed at the sight before her.
What all three girls saw…was a picture of a bathing Othinus with her magic god attire sharpied over her naked body. It was among the photos Uiharu threw in desperation to get them to see her po8nt of view.
"That girl, s-she's alive, how? What is this survival ability?"
"The idiot is living with her, no doubt she has him hostage, I need to get him out of there right now!."
"So that's the new Director, this terrorist!? Oh my God, Uiharu was right "
As the three were coming to grips with this revelation, a fourth person entered the room.
"Rejoice, flower crowned mortal! I have decided to…give you my…backing." the girl trailed off at the sight before her. Said girl was Othinus, dressed in her formal attire, so ironically the only person not wearing Othinus' outfit in the room was Othinus herself. "Why is the blonde bitch in heat wearing my clothes? Wait, the Railgun too? A-And the twin tailed teleporter? Why is everyone wearing my shit?"
"Why do you have to call me that?" asked Misaki
"Mortal, need I remind you what you tried to do with my human on Christmas?"
"Oh…you were there for that huh? You aren't going to press charges right?"
"Shokuhou, she's an international terrorist, she's going to do much worse than sue us." replied Misaka
"Actually, I'm trying to move away from the whole 'killing mortals for little to no reason' thing. My understander is really hung up about that, but the more pressing matter is why are all of you wearing my clothes?"
Silence filled the room as the three Tokiwadai girls were at a loss for words. Perhaps they were all trying to come up with an excuse for this display.
(Well…at least that idiot isn't here to see this.)
A fifth person then entered the room.
"Othinus, have you cleared things up with that girl who broke into our penthouse?" It was Touma who seemed to have tagged along with his understander "Wait biribiri, why are you wearing Othinus' clothes? Shirai-san too? And…who are you?"
Misaka thought to herself upon Touma's arrival.
(Such misfortune)
"Human, I think you should wait outside while I handle this. This might get ugly."
"Othinus you aren't going to try and kill them for just wearing your clothes right?"
"No, of course not human."
Touma raised his eyebrow at that remark.
"...well it depends."
Touma continued to give Othinus a look of incredulity
"Yes, yes I am, now please leave." What looked like a dried animal limb appeared in Othinus' hand, she then shoved it into Touma's left arm, upon which the spiky haired boy vanished. After that scene, Othinus turned back towards the three girls. "Ok now give me one good reason not to kill any of you."
Before any of the girls could answer, the photo of the bathing Othinus with her attire drawn over her slipped from the desk and floated onto the ground in front of the magic god. She looked at the photo, looked back at the girls, summoned Gungnir, and started preparing projectile magic.
Misaka was the first to react to Othinus' imminent attack. Currents of electricity flowed throughout her body as the esper prepared to fight back against the magic is…until the 177th Branch of Judgment suddenly exploded. As the world began to get dark for the girls in the office, except Othinus, they heard the voice of a certain unfortunate boy.
"Othinus, what did you do?"
"I didn't do anything human…yet, there must've been a gas leak and the Railgun must've ignited everything. Also how did you get back here so fast?"
"Hmm, I wonder how." Touma said sarcastically as he waved the Bone Boat Othinus forced into his left arm.
"I thought you didn't know how to use that?" asked Othinus
"You're right I don't." It was then, as if on cue, Index popped up from behind Touma
"Othinus…don't you think you overreacted here?" asked the nun turned magic god
"IT WASN'T ME!" Othinus then used her free hand to take out a phone she had on her suit, "I'm going to call an ambulance for all these mortals…great I got so angry I forgot what I was going to do here."
"Why don't you just fix everything here with your powers?"
"Why don't you? You can do the same." Othinus said, shooting an annoyed glare at Index "Besides I…why wasn't I doing that?"
Othinus then tapped Gungnir on the ground and suddenly the environment shifted, the building was repaired and everyone on the verge of death had been healed, though they remained unconscious.
"So what was I doing here in the first place?" pondered the war god
"You were going to kindly, not threaten an innocent girl into not revealing your past identity." Touma reminded the god
"Oh right, I should…" Othinus then caught something in the corner of her eye, she had repaired the entire building so Uiharu's cork board remained how it was before the explosion. "That flower crowned mortal did this? I'm a bit impressed, she went through all this work and gathered all this evidence to prove my identity. Though that begs the question of why she even snuck into our home in the first place."
Uiharu found herself resting her head on Konori Mii's desk, the Judgment chief was in the process of reprimanding her when she suddenly lost consciousness. When the girl woke up, Konori was no longer in front of her, instead it was Othinus. Konori had instead been propped up against the wall outside.
"So you're wondering why I'm seeing you again so soon." said the war god to the esper
Uiharu's heart began to race, of all the possibilities running in her head, one had come to the forefront of her mind. Othinus realized what kind of loose end the flower crowned girl was and came to rescind or alter the terms of her deal.
"I've come to alter the terms of our deal."
More and more the Judgment girl grew nervous, she began to curse her journey to Othinus' penthouse, her hubris for trying to defy a god.
"Congratulations mortal, I'm offering you a job. Work for me and you get all these benefits."
Othinus then slid a form across the desk towards Uiharu. It detailed Uiharu's wage, health plan, vacation days, and a bunch of stuff Uiharu didn't really grasp especially concerning this magic stuff.
"I…you aren't going to kill me?"
"Of course not, w-why would I do that? You must be hallucinating if you ever see me try to do that."
"But you-"
Othinus then placed her finger on Uiharu's lips to silence her.
"That didn't happen ok, so will you sign up?"
"I don't know, I'm a part of Judgment after all." Uiharu said while scratching her head
"Your job is to relay information about Judgment to me, you keep your position in Judgement while having this side job, I might even pull some strings to get you promoted faster, and to sweeten the deal I'll make sure your proposal for those new mobile AIM jammers gets passed. So do we have a deal?"
"That sounds nice but-"
"Ok, it's either you sign up or I sue you for taking nude photos of me."
"Deal!" Uiharu shouted as she quickly signed the form.
"Welcome aboard then." Othinus offered her hand to Uiharu for a handshake, the Judgment girl accepted, finalizing the dealings between the two.
A few minutes later, Othinus, Index, and Touma were back at their penthouse, sitting at their dinner table enjoying their meal.
"You know human, I felt like I did a good thing there, that flower crowned mortal has a good head on her shoulders, she's got a bright future ahead of her."
"Othinus, you blackmailed her into working for you." Touma pointed out
"But I didn't threaten her with death, that's an improvement right?"
"It's still blackmail."
"I'm trying ok…"
Touma then patted Othinus on the head, "I know you are."
Back at the 177th Judgment Branch office, Uiharu was busy packing away all the evidence she had on Othinus into a folder when she heard someone speak from behind her.
"That was a nice deal she gave you." It was Misaka Mikoto, still wearing Othinus' clothes
"Misaka, why are you wearing that?" Uiharu then realized that the still unconscious Kuroko and Misaki were wearing the same outfit "Wait, you heard all of that?"
"Yeah I woke up, heard some weird things being said, I swore I heard that nun who rooms with that idiot, and I heard the conversation between you and the new Director. I should congratulate you, someone from the top saw potential in you."
"Oh…thank you, you know I thought you would be upset at this."
"Why would I? It's not like the new Director was a terrorist or something."
Uiharu chuckled while rubbing the back of her head.
"Anyways I'm going to change out of this outfit." Misaka said as she exited the room
Misaka pondered the events that just happened, the gas explosion knocked everyone out…everyone except Othinus and her. She heard that conversation between Touma, Index, and Othinus when they thought everyone was knocked out. She didn't get what kind of power they were talking about, but she didn't want to dwell on something she didn't understand.
However, she looked down at her hand, grasping and grasping her palm. After the explosion, her body was badly maimed to put it politely, however the level 5 esper mended her own body, not the one eyed magic god or the nun. Bones were realigned, muscles reattached, and organs healed. She didn't expect a stress test so soon, but Mikoto felt that she passed with flying colors.
The Railgun walked into the closet in which she changed into Othinus' clothes. Perhaps "changed" was the incorrect term, for the copy of Othinus' clothes still sat folded up on the ground in the closet. It was then electricity ran across Misaka's body, the clothes Misaka was wearing deformed, reformed, and reassembled. This process went on for a minute until Misaka was wearing her Tokiwadai uniform again. Misaka grinned to herself, proud of her achievement.
"This aspect of my ability sure is useful, I wondered why I never tried to do it before." the esper said as she left the closet.
Between the Lines: A harmless doodle
Saten arrived at the 177th Judgment office, however no one was around. Though she did find photos of the bathing, Othinus laid across Uiharu's desk. The girl picked one of the photos up to examine it.
"Hmm? Is this the new Director? She looks surprisingly nice, though I wonder how a naked photo of her ended up here." Saten then grabbed a black marker from her bag. "Oh well, guess I could have some fun but what to doodle on here."
Saten looked around before seeing a photo of Othinus in her magic god attire on Uiharu\s cork board
"Aha, Uiharu was going on about how this lady is that terrorist, might as well draw that outfit on her."
And so Saten began drawing. The girl hummed to herself as she happily doodled with her marker. However, at a certain point, something snapped into place within Saten's mind, causing the girl to drop her marker.
"I-I…it really is her isn't it? I have to tell people immediately!"
So the rumor pursuing girl ran to spread the news of the international terrorist Othinus. Unfortunately for her, before she could tell anyone, she tripped and hit her head, forgetting about the whole ordeal.
AN: Guess who got off their lazy bum again? I intended for this to be a shorter chapter but it kinda kept on extending…and it's not even over yet. I got some more stuff here, but it's not related to the main cast so I thought I'd separate it like this. It's some stuff to set up my own OCs who'll play, mostly a minor role in this fic, with the exception of one but you aren't meeting him here…or well…you met him he was looking for his sister.
Anyways this chapter basically stemmed from a rejected SYSTEM/MAJIN idea where Uiharu snuck into a school shower to take nudes of Othinus for reasons similar to ones in this chapter. So thank Cray for the idea of this chapter. In fact, the title of this chapter is a straight up spoof of SYSTEM/MAJIN's title
In addition, those mobile AIM jammers are going to play a role later….like 10 or so chapters later but there's a reason why this chapter is setting up Uiharu's SHIFT to level 6. But there was a hint at what the next chapter will be about with that scene with Misaka. I mean I don't intend to leave questions about her new powers unanswered after all.
Oh also, I wanted to ask you guys, I've got the next 3 or so chapters solidly planned out but after that I could switch up the order a bit. So the question is, after chapter 10 do you want some Himegami related stuff or OC related stuff?
At Necessarius headquarters a group of odd looking blacksmiths were carrying a few crates around. The mages of the Anglican Church kept their eyes on them, though they made no motions to stop them. They were guests after all and they had brought gifts for the Anglicans.
Each of these odd looking blacksmiths wore a silver pendant depicting the moon at various stages. Most of them wore pendants depicting a waxing crescent, some wore a pendant with the first quarter stage, a few wore the waxing gibbous, and only one wore a pendant of the full moon. She was an older woman, nearing her 60s, she wore a black apron over an orange jumpsuit, on her head was a welding mask that was lifting up covering her graying auburn hair, and she wore steel toed workman's boots.
This woman walked up to a thin red haired girl in a white dress and an aged woman in a long dress wearing a crown, the current Archbishop of the Anglican church, Dion Fortune, and the Queen of the United Kingdom, Elizard.
"Dion, are you sure we can trust this cabal? You said they've remained hidden since they're inception, even to other magic side factions." said the aging woman
"The Silver Moonlight cabal is, if anything, consistent in their alignment. We can trust them if they're willing to work with us." replied Dion Fortune
"Excuse me ladies, but I believe we have business to discuss." said the blacksmith in a calm tone "To require this many spiritual items in such a short amount of time. You must be preparing for something, am I right?"
"Uh, yes that is precisely the case." replied Elizard "The Archbishop said that your cabal specialized in the creation of spiritual items, which is why we contacted you. You didn't make it easy though."
"I mean, Necessarius is known for hunting down rogue magicians, pardon us for the caution if we didn't believe this was a trap. Though if you really are preparing for something, then perhaps you'd let me take a look at Curtana."
Dion was about to speak up but Elizard held her back before speaking.
"No deal, that sword is too powerful, besides it's been shattered since my daughter's attempted coup."
"It's precisely those reasons that I wish to see it, its power is valuable to you but in its shattered state, its power is limited. I could forge a new Cutrana close to the power of the original that was destroyed during the coup. That is, if you let me."
"And what do you ask in return?"
"You misjudge me, Queen Elizard, for a craftswoman like me, to work on a piece of art like Curtana is reward enough."
Dion and Elizard quickly huddled together and whispered to each other for a bit.
"Elizard, we should take up her offer."
"Are you crazy? We barely know this woman, she could backstab us at the first chance."
"The thing is, with us fighting Othinus, I think we should take up on her offer. Besides, if she tries anything you can trust on the great Dion Fortune to stop her."
"Alright fine, but if portions of London get destroyed…again, I'm blaming you."
The two then turned back towards the blacksmith.
"Alright, we'll take up your offer, but you'll be under constant surveillance while you do so."
The blacksmith's eyes then lit up and she suddenly hugged Elizard.
"Oh my god thank you so much, this is the greatest thing that has happened to me in my career. I mean I was fine with just seeing Curtana but to work on it? It's like that time when I was 15 and I made the first sword that my mentor said was actually good. IcouldjustkissyourightnowI'msograteful."
"For the love of all that is holy, calm down lady!" said the Queen to the bubbly craftswoman.
Meanwhile in Academy City, a man in his late 20s with an unkempt brown hair and a thick beard, which made him look older, was laying in bed before his alarms rang. He shut it off, before reaching for his nightstand, where on top laid a phone, a custom built pistol, and a silver pendant depicting the full moon. The man grabbed his phone and started sorting through his messages.
The first message:
"Hey Clark, it's Rose, I'm back in Academy City and I think my stay this time is a bit more long term. I was wondering if you could help your little sis out and install some things for me at my new place. I'm sharing it with a few other people but All-Father granted me permission to use a space for…you know what."
(I should probably call Rose and set up a time I could do install all that stuff)
The man then went into his contacts and called his little sister. It rang for a few seconds before the call was picked up, on the other side a very tired girl.
"Clark, it's 5am right now, can you call at a more appropriate time?" said the girl before hanging up
(Great, Rose, guess all that bulk makes you a real sleepy head. Pretty sure John and Hank are up at this time? Speaking of John though, there's a new message from him.)
The second message:
"What's up Clark? I'm still job searching at the moment but I'm still considering your offer to help you with your work. Rose thought I should work for her boss given my skills and I'm considering it. I know you have qualms with Rose working for both a terrorist and a pagan deity, but given that the lady is a member of the Board of Directors now, I think she's gone legit. This could be my break to go legit as well."
(Damnit John, I know you thought World War 3 would've lasted longer than 3 weeks, but I didn't think you were so desperate for income, you'd consider working for Othinus.)
The third and final message:
"Sir, we've found an esper that could meet your force requirements of 500 gigapascals. Her real name is unknown, but she goes by Maidono Hoshimi. I'm sending you her files with this message."
The man grinned slightly at the last message, he finally found what he wanted.
Later, Clark arrived at a dorm room, he read the number to confirm it was the right place. He then knocked on the door, a minute later an innocent looking girl with a bob cut opened the door. Her eyes were red, a result from prolonged crying.
"Christ girl, you look worse than I do…and that's saying something." Clark said under his breath
"What do you want? Are you Anti-Skill? Have you come to arrest me for my dark side dealings? If so, just cuff me already." Maidono said while holding her arms out waiting to be handcuffed
"Woah girl, I ain't no lawman if you're wondering."
"So you're an assassin? Fine, make it quick."
"I ain't one of those either."
"Then go away."
"What's gotten you in a sour mood?"
"You wouldn't understand, it's you adults that did this to me."
"Girl, you're like 16, aren't you a little old to be using language like that? Besides I'm sure what's bothering you isn't that bad."
"It is though, I have a disability, a bad one that can't ever be fixed. I tried to move on with my life despite it but everywhere I go and anything I try, I'm constantly reminded that I can't do what everyone else can do. Do you know how it feels? To look normal like everyone else but deep down, you know you're in some way inferior than anyone else."
"You should talk to my sister, it seems like you two have something in common." muttered Clark
"What was that?"
"I said, I could use your abilities, not as muscle for a job or anything, but rather a scientific endeavor."
"Pass." the esper said while turning around and walking back into her dorm
"What if I offered you a fix for your disability?"
Maidono brushed the man off, "You don't even know what it is, how sure are you that you can even fix it?"
"If it's got something to do with the human body, then I know some top experts that could help you."
"The medical experts of Academy City couldn't fix me, I doubt your experts can."
"Well, they are Academy City experts as well, but you should know that scientific progress is not a static thing. Huge strides could be made even as we speak that could help you. Maybe if those experts knew your plight, they'd focus on trying to come up with a fix. If push comes to shove…I have some friends on the other side."
"The darkside of Academy City?" It was then Maidono stopped walking
"Something like that. So what do you say? I'll also pay you a lot of money."
"Well…I suppose it'll depend on what you want me to do."
"Tell me, have you heard of metallic hydrogen?"