Hey everyone! I'm back after over two months! Did you miss me?
*crickets chriping*
Wow, no tough crowd. Sorry it took long to put out an update. I was hit with a serious case of writer's block while working on another project, and then hit with butt loads of college work, so I didn't have a lot of time to write. But that's all behind me now, so I can spend my free time this summer writing for all of you! So now, let's get these reviews answered so you can get to the new chapter!
5waydragon: I can't say much, but I am planning on saving Frenda. How exactly it happens and what follows afterwards is being kept a secret for now. Of course, that's a looooooong time away. I don't think I have to worry about OCs right now, considering I only have a single OC in this story, and a pretty minor one.
Herox100: Glad you love the occasional use of music. I'd love to do it more often, especially with how amazing the Toaru soundtrack is, but I have trouble finding just the right song at times. Oh, I'm well aware of how useful Index's photographic memory can be. Don't worry, her own illiteracy with technology isn't going hinder her usefulness in this case. I have just the method to get around that.
OnePunchPlayer: Those are fun words. Good choice! Three Stories Arc will be coming soon enough, but not before an original arc I have planned. For Mikoto's portion of the Three Stories Arc, she's getting an upgrade from fake date to first real date.
ahsoei: This one's going to be another longer one. Starting to think I'm dealing with serial escalation here.
ArmoredCoreNineBall: Glad you thought it was acceptable. Sadly, my reluctance to let things stray too far away from canon at this point has left little room to spice things up outside of additional character interactions. Currently trying to improve on that front, especially in this chapter. Particularly, I'm trying to fix what seems to be one of the biggest problems people had with this arc in the anime is that people didn't seem to care very much for the antagonists and just saw them as nuisances. With any luck, I'll be able to rectify that.
ARandomFanfictionAuthor: Technically, Touma's group already has a name, the Kamijou Faction. Of course, it status as an organization as always been unofficial. No plans to give it a name made from all capital letters any times soon, but maybe later. Much later.
mohamadstar94: I'll be sure to work on my word choice.
fencer29: Well, this franchise has always been about the moral gray area; no one member of the cast; almost no one in the story is a totally solid shade of black or while on the morality scale. Heck, one could say that Touma isn't even on the morality scale. Well, the Sisters are being given the chance to live "normal lives". Them developing more into normal human behavior.
ultron emperor: Accelerator will appear soon enough. Give or take a couple of chapters. He is listed as a main character.
vampireharry the 2: Thank you for the kind words!
GhostlyStranger: Hey, Touma's luck in a constant neutral stat, i.e. he is under the constant influence of Murphy's Law.
Berix: Thanks for pointing out all those spelling errors. Trying to get better at that, but no one's perfect. Glad you liked the chapter.
RedSS: In my defense, that's just in line with Touma's character. He's not one to let something like danger stop him from accomplishing his goals. To my knowledge, the only times he's really hesitated to take action was when someone points out the moral ambiguity of his own actions (Fiamma pointing out how he was lying to Index about his memory lose to protect her) and when someone outclasses him outright in everything he does and makes his existence seem worthless (Othinus creating World Omega). Touma has always been an optimist, or at least fakes it when faced with someone that needs help. I will say that you are right in that me blaming the source material is just a weak excuse. I'm the one trying to make this arc more enjoyable, so I'm to blame if it doesn't pan out like I want it to.
LegallyRestricted: Short answer for both questions, not long at all. Long answer for both questions, the entirety of OT takes place over a couple of months, which isn't really a long time to begin with. Touma's already trekked through Academy City's Dark Side plenty of times. As for Shizuri finding out about magic, there is an arc coming up that would make for a perfect family vacation that quickly goes off the deep end. While Index doesn't have anything physically keeping her from using the Grimoires at this point, she chooses not to use them as to not give the church a reason to take her away from Academy City. After all, she has the potential to become a Magic God because of all those books. Best not to give the church a reason to fear you and act prematurely.
Anycartoon123 (Guest): You'll just have to wait and see what I have in story for the finale of this arc. Only two chapters away after this one. I can't say much for Touma and Mikoto's relationship status at this point, but I can say they would have gone on at least a couple of dates by the time the Daihasei rolls around.
Generation Zero: I'm just doing what I feel would be a natural progression of the arc given the character relationships I've build so far. I will admit, the villains aren't too different in how competent they are then how they were in the anime. Really, I don't think the issue was competence, but likability. Looking at the comments of their respective wikia articles, the members of ITEM are highly disliked as people, so my main goal at this point is to better flesh out their characters and better sell their backstories as underappreciated geniuses so their attack feels less like a tantrum and more like a rebellion against the status quo. This arc will have ramifications in the future of the story, just not a big as you might like.
Percyfan1998: I will admit that the Silent Party was played up a bit too much as a city threat. Really, the arc should have focused more on the realistic consequences of having a city of science that is capable of manufacturing fantasy, that being that the actual act of scientific research is forgotten in the pubic eye in favor of the fantastical results they produce. I will try to have this arc have lasting effects so that it actually matters. I actually have certain plans in effect right now that will result in this.
Guest13 (Guest): Indeed, Touma is very cool. Well, he's got going to attack Therestina for no reason, but he will attack her, I can guarantee that.
Healthcare: Glad you liked the chapter. That's the thing about this arc; it explored a lot of parts of Academy City that aren't normally touched upon, but it fell flat in actually making you care. I aim to rectify that. Thanks for being so understanding with the massive amounts of time this took.
Kami (Guest): I just really wanted to bring all the characters I had at my disposal in for this.
Kim454 (Guest): Honestly, the thought slipped my mind.
Isokage (Guest): I am well aware of the upcoming anime seasons. I keep up to date on that stuff. I'm glad you like the story so much. There are plans for the rest of the gang to learn about the Sisters, just not quite yet. Sorry to keep you waiting.
O (Guest): Sorry to keep you waiting.
YeetusFetus (Guest): Sorry to keep you waiting. I can't exactly take credit for the cliffhangers; that's just how they play out in the anime, for most of them anyway.
mohamadstar94: Sorry to keep you waiting. I am well aware of the new anime seasons coming out.
Anti-Mage 29: Glad you like the story. Don't worry, I am quite familiar with the timeline. I may be mostly an anime fan, but I do keep up to date with the rest of the fandom. You sir actually gave me plenty of inspiration with this one review.
Ryder (Guest): Don't worry, I'm not planning anything crazy like that. Besides, I'm way to far away from those events to even consider waiting for the anime releases to use as a base.
jonathanblade00: Thank you so much for the kind words and patience.
Rajarshi Sarkar: Well, this story is very much a "in spite of a nail" situation. At least at this point. Trust me when I say future events will spiral in some pretty radical ways much later down the line. Not many people can resist the Kamijou charm once they see it in action.
Well, that took a while. No more waiting! Disclaimer! Story! Boom!
Disclaimer: All characters and plotlines of the "A Certain" franchise are credited to Kazuma Kamachi.
Chapter 48: Unheard Voices
Finally having some time off, the field members of ITEM were relaxing by a luxury pool, one of the many recreational facilities that they had exclusive access to thanks to their underground connections with the higher ups. Everyone was enjoying the cool waters of the pool in one way or another, be it swimming laps or floating like a corpse. Everyone but Shizuri, who was relaxing in a lawn chair before receiving a call on her cell phone. It was ITEM's Liaison, the person responsible for the finer details regarding the organization's operations.
"What do you need?" Shizuri asked once she picked up the phone.
"We have another job for you. It's another request from the group that had been giving use those dud jobs recently," the liaison answered.
"Did you do what I asked in the event they contacted us again?" the Level 5 inquired.
"We are investigating them as we speak," the faceless voice replied, "However, we still need you and the rest of the field agents to take the job as to not arouse suspicion towards us. We need this mysterious client to believe we still don't see what they're doing. You will be paid for the trouble, of course."
"You better hope that this investigation actually goes somewhere," Shizuri threatened.
"You seem awfully intent of discovering who this client is," the liaison noted, "I understand you were pissed about being tricked, but this is beyond how you normally react."
"Let's just say this mystery client got a bit too personal."
"Your brother, Touma Kamijou," the liaison deduced, "He got roped into all this, didn't he? You know, you making contact with him again was not part of the deal when you were given that special training and made the head of ITEM's field team."
"So was you giving me accurate information, but here we are now," Shizuri snarked, "Just give me the details on this job."
"Same story, new setting. A supposed arms deal in a factory in District 17 scheduled for tomorrow morning. Overnight preparations are advised," the liaison answered.
"Pleasure doing business with you," the Level 5 said as she hung up.
"What's the call about? More work?" Frenda asked, getting out of the pool.
"Yup, though I can't say I'm too excited about it," Shizuri said, getting out of her chair, "Hope you ladies are ready to work up a sweat."
'Just you wait, you sons of bitches," Shizuri growled in her head, 'When I find you, I'm going to make you pay for messing with my family.'
Sitting behind bars before Touma and Mikoto was a most deplorable individual. A woman so twisted in her devotion to her research and the quest to create a Level 6 Esper that she views the people of Academy City as nothing more than lab rats. A woman who has caused untold suffering for dozens if not hundreds of people. The lead researcher in the Ability Crystal Project, Therestina Kihara Lifeline.
"Your face is looking more grown up these days, Railgun," the mad scientist mused, "You've seen your fill of darkness yet? Has this city made you jaded? So how did it happen? Something hit too close to home and you investigated. You went seeking the source and you found darkness."
Mikoto dipped her head and closed her eyes, silently confirming the prisoner's deduction.
"Then, at long last, you realized that what I said was correct all along," Therestina chimed triumphantly, "Academy City is one big test site, and all the students inside it are lab rats. Well? What did you come to ask? Or did you come here seeking the comfort of someone who knows the truth as well?"
"I want to help a friend. To save her," Mikoto replied, earning her a confused and baffled look from Therestina.
Reaching into her pocket, Mikoto pulled out the two capsules they retrieved from the Powered Suits that attacked her and Touma.
"Her name is Febri," Mikoto explained further, "She's a little girl who was artificially created. If we do nothing, she is going to die within 72 hours. We're here for her sake."
"Our investigation has told us that an underground organization was responsible for creating her," Touma added, "Given your connections, we thought you might know something."
"Oh, come on, don't you learn?" the mad scientist said in exasperation, getting up from her chair, "What is it going to take? You got a whole heap of your own clones and you still get all mushy over a little girl you barely even know? This girl, whatever her name is, she's just one more lab rat spawned by this city! You want to survive in this town? Give into the darkness and become livestock or become one of the people in charge, because those are the only two options in this place!"
"Then what does that make you?" Touma challenged, raising his ODD higher, "Here you are, trapped in a cage, being threatened by a high school boy with a shock prod. That's a pretty textbook example of livestock, wouldn't you say?"
"Please, you're the last thing I'd feel threatened by, Mister Judgement Dog," Therestina snapped, clinging on to the bars of her cage.
"Besides, your wrong," Mikoto replied, "I've seen it. I know the darkness you're talking about. At first, I felt lost and hopeless. Desperate and destructive. But you know, it was the people I met in Academy City that wound up saving me from myself. I'm not alone. I have group of friends that are dear to me, and if it weren't for the city, I wouldn't have met any of them. There are a lot of things that disgust me about this place, but even so, I can't bring myself to hate it like you do."
Therestina glared at the Level 5 with eyes full of hate and disappointment. She thought that after seeing the city for what it truly was, the Railgun would have come around to the truth, but it seems she was wrong. If Mikoto wasn't going to accept that the city was dog-eat-dog world, then Therestina had nothing she wanted to say to her. However, there was one person in the vicinity that intrigued her at the moment.
"And what about you?" the mad scientist asked Touma, "I've said an awful lot about the darkness just now, especially pertaining to your little girlfriend here. Yet for some reason, you don't seem the slightest bit phased. Most people would be pretty shaken upon hearing something like this."
"Maybe the first time they hear about it, sure," Touma shrugged, "You probably didn't know this, but that thing about Mikoto's clones getting killed? I was the one that put a stop to it. I was the person that lent out a hand and saved Mikoto from herself."
Therestina could hardly believe what she was hearing. This nobody, this little worthless Level 0 of a lab rat not even worth testing was responsible for the end of Project Level 6 Shift? She was well aware of the project's cancellation; even behind bars, getting information was rather easy. She even knew that the experiment was stopped because Accelerator was defeated by a Level 0, as ridiculous as it sounded. But to think that this unremarkable Level 0 of a Judgement Officer was the brat who did the deed was just unthinkable.
"I've heard enough," Therestina said as she turned around, "You can go now."
"We're not going anywhere," Touma declared, "Not until you tell us we came to learn."
"Who was it that created Febri?" Mikoto demanded.
"How should I know?" the mad scientist replied, brushing off the question.
"What is their objective? What is this?!" Mikoto continued to demand, holding up the hair capsules, "You must know! Please, tell us!"
"What if I lie?" Therestina proposed, "What possible motivation could I have for answering you honestly? The three of us have a history. Can you really believe what I say?"
"The answer's obvious, isn't it? Of course we'll believe you," Touma replied simply, "After all, we're backed into a corner with no real idea of where to go. Right now, you're our only option for answers."
"Is that so?" Therestina mused with a fake smile, approaching the cage bars once again, "Railgun, hold out your hand."
Pulling out her signature tube of candy, Therestina dropped a single piece of chocolate into Mikoto's open hand.
"Well, aren't you going to eat it?" the prisoner dared, "It's just ordinary chocolate, nothing sinister about it. What's the matter? Eat up. You believe me, right? I know your little boyfriend will go to any lengths to help someone and he looks like the kind of person that will trust anyone if he has no other option, but what about you?"
It was an obvious gambit. It was clear to everyone that the Kihara was just trying to prove a point: Mikoto was not the kind of person to put faith in someone she knew as evil. Touma was a special case, the kind of person who aimed to help his foes even if they had every reason to not be trusted. He was one in a million, really. But Mikoto couldn't stoop to Touma's level, or so Therestina though.
The Therestina's surprise and Touma's pride, Mikoto ate the piece of chocolate without skipping a beat, her resolve clear.
"I said I'd believe you, didn't I?" Mikoto replied, causing the prisoner to grit her teeth in frustration.
"Go away," Therestina huffed, turning away.
"We're staying!" Mikoto yelled defiantly, "Now tell us about Febri!"
"You're wasting your time," Therestina replied, turning her chair so it faced away form the bars, "I don't have anything I want to say to you."
"We're going anywhere until you answer!" the Level 5 demanded again.
"No thanks, I'm done talking," the redhead prisoner replied as she sat down.
"Tell us about Febri!" Mikoto begged, "Please! What do you have to lose trapped in here?!"
"Guh, you are such a pain!" Therestina snapped, munching on a piece of candy in anger.
The two students outsider her cell irritated Therestina to no end. They naïvely believed that they could fight the darkness of Academy City like they could any other lowlife they found on the streets. They continuously refused to accept the truth and admit that Academy City was a place for those with power and everyone else was a steppingstone. All she wanted was for the two brats standing behind her to just leave. Unfortunately for her, the only way that was happening was to indulge their demands.
Either give them the answers the sought and the satisfaction of having their way with her or remain silent and have them continue to bother her as they struggled to get her to talk. One option meant they left and suffered as they tried to fight the city's darkness, the other option had the suffer trying to fight the city's darkness while making her suffer at the same time. It was a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils. Much like deciding one's place in Academy City, both options resulted in someone suffering, but the lesser of two evils meant Therestina wouldn't be among those who suffered.
"Chemicaloid," Therestina finally admitted, "If I'm remembering correctly, that's what they called it."
"Called what?" Touma inquired, "You mean a Chemicaloid is what Febri is?"
"At the time, of course, it was all theoretical," Therestina explained, "But it seems those boys found some way to make it happen."
"These 'boys' are the ones that made Febri then?" Mikoto asked, "Then what was their objective?!"
"Humph, beats me," Therestina scoffed, "it's probably their elaborate way of getting their existence noticed."
"Getting noticed?" Touma mused.
"There's some kind of fancy event coming up, isn't there?" the mad scientist suggested.
"You can't mean…," Touma gasped in shock.
"The Reach Assembly!" Mikoto cried, "They had to artificially create a person just to get attention?! That doesn't make any…"
"Doesn't make any sense?" Therestina cut the Level 5 off, getting out of her chair and approaching the bars once again, "Hahaha! Oh yes, that's good! Spoken like a true Level 5! Don't you understand, little girl? Here in Academy City, you are one of the privileged elite. Pin on your Level 5 tag and even a pathetic lab rat like you will have plenty of 'dear friends' flocking eagerly to your side!"
As soon as she was by the bars of her cell, Therestina reached out and grabbed Mikoto by the collar of her shirt, roughly pulling the middle school girl face-to-face with her.
"Don't even pretend you understand the true darkness of those who lack even your status in this city," Therestina lectured, "At the end of the day, you know nothing, stupid brat."
Stunned by the sudden physical confrontation between the mad scientist and the Level 5, it took Touma a second before he could properly react. Seeing Mikoto being handled in such a rough manner, Touma wasted no time in hitting Therestina with his ODD in its shock prod mode. The sudden electrical shock forced the prisoner to let go of Mikoto and take a step back, but the Level 0 didn't give her the chance to retreat into her cell. Retracting his ODD, Touma reached into the cell bars and grabbed Therestina by the collar of her shirt and pulled her in face-to-face, turning the tables on her.
"You're the one that knows nothing," Touma growled, "You want to know how I first met Mikoto? She was a girl out late at night that I thought needed help. She was being hit on by a bunch of scruffy guys, so I thought I'd lend a hand and help get her away from them. I had no idea that she was a Level 5 and the time, and I would have done the same thing even if I did. I'll tell you right here and right now, I'd be more than happy to call her my friend if she didn't have the status she has now.
"Level 5, Accelerator, Meltdowner, Railgun. Those are nothing but titles! They're illusions of grandeur that supposedly make the people that hold them better than everyone else! Those titles mean nothing to me! To me, Accelerator is just Yuri Suzushina, my first and best friend! To me, Meltdowner is just Shizuri Kamijou, my loving older sister who goes to any and all lengths for me. To me, Railgun is just Mikoto Misaka, the girl that I tried to help and the first girl to ever confess to me! Don't even think about saying that titles are the only thing that gives them attention, because that's nothing but a load of crap! With or without those titles, they're people precious to me, so don't disgrace their value!"
"Ha! That's rich! Did I strike a nerve, lab rat? Didn't like me touching your little girlfriend?" Therestina laughed, "People precious to you? Do you even know who you're talking about, you little shit? Your 'best friend' is an experienced killer with the blood over ten thousand clones on his hands! Your 'loving older sister' is one of Academy City's most deadly hired guns! You of all people should know just how swamped in the darkness they are! They are the ones that can actually survive in this city! To them, you are just another rat to be left behind!"
"Here's the thing about darkness," Touma countered in a low voice, "No one choses to wander in it. They always are left with no choice but to do so and get lost in it. After Yuri and I were separated, he joined Project Level 6 Shift so he would be so strong that people would leave him alone and not fight him. When Shizuri and I were separated, she became a hired gun to make sure people like you don't exploit people like me and started losing herself because of it. The deeper you go, the darker it gets. But the thing about darkness is the more intense it is, the easier it becomes to see the light.
"I swear I will be that light. I will reach out and do what I can to save those precious to me from the darkness you say chokes this city. If you think that fighting the darkness the plagues Academy City is a futile battle, then I'll shatter that cursed illusion."
As Touma made his declaration of war against Academy City's darkness, Therestina couldn't help but notice the fire in his eyes. It was intense and unyielding, like the flames of a sun threatening to burn those that opposed it alive. The resolve that Touma displayed in that moment shook Therestina to her core. For someone to be that determined to accomplish a goal as far out of reach as fighting the darkness of Academy City just wasn't logical. For the first time in her life, Therestina Kihara Lifeline was faced with something she had no hopes of comprehending. For the first time in her life, she had felt fear.
"Touma," Mikoto said, tugging on the high school boy's sleeve, "That's enough, we're done here."
Looking over his shoulder, Touma saw Mikoto look at him with gentle but firm eyes. Silently agreeing with his friend, he gave Therestina one last glare before slowly letting go of her shirt and retracting his arm from the prison cell. Retreating back to Mikoto's side, the high school boy turned around started walking back the way they came in. The Railgun followed closely behind, once again leaving Therestina alone in her cell.
"You okay?" Mikoto asked her crush in concern, "You got a bit intense back there."
"I'm fine, don't worry about it," Touma insisted, "Let's just tell the others what we found out."
The pair continued to tread down the dark hallway, leaving Therestina far behind them. They remained silent, not having much to say about their recent discoveries. However, Mikoto broke that silence with a simple, almost unnecessary comment.
"Thanks for sticking up for me," she said in a near whisper, "Really, it means a lot to me to know you don't care about status like that."
Despite all the tension he had placed himself in just a minute ago, Touma couldn't help but smile back at her.
"Think nothing of it," he insisted, "Like I said, titles mean nothing. It the people that hold them that matter."
"I'll keep that in mind," Mikoto agreed, racing ahead, "Come on, let's get out of this gloomy place."
When the pair returned to the 117th Judgement Branch Office, they quickly reported everything they had learned that day during their investigation. Needless to say, everyone was quite shocked by the new information, including Febri's remaining lifespan based on the number of lollipops she had left. Seeing as the Reach Assembly was the anticipated target for Febri's creator's plans, Uiharu immediately started screening everyone involved in the event to see if she could find anyone of suspect. Index also aided in the search, using her photographic memory to help Uiharu cross-reference any and all information she may come across.
As the office's local computer expert and the living library got to work, the group was greeted with a surprise visit from a certain trio of Tokiwodai students.
"Good afternoon! How is everyone?" Kongou greeted as she, Wannai, and Awatsuki entered the office, "We brought something I think all of you will be excited about!"
"Really?! You mean you finally found a lead?!" Uiharu asked excitedly.
"Huh? Oh, no. No, we weren't," Kongou admitted sadly.
"We're really sorry," Wannai apologized, "We searched everywhere for that man, I swear. All throughout the city."
"But we weren't able to find anything worth mentioning," Awatsuki added, deflated.
"Don't be so hard on yourselves," Touma encouraged, "It's like finding a needle in a haystack, only the needle is constantly moving on its own."
"Never fear! Give us more time and I am sure we will find him!" Kongou declared, whipping out her fan, "Anyhow, we're here on other business today. We came because we have a little present for Febri."
"A present for me?" Febri asked in awe.
"Indeed! This is for you," Kongou said, placing a red clothing giftbox closed with red ribbons in the center of the coffee table.
"While we were scouring the city, we found the most adorable outfit," Wannai explained.
"When we saw it we thought, 'Wow, that sure would look cute on Febri!'" Awatsuki added.
"Yeah? Isn't that nice Febri? A new outfit just for you," Saten mused, encouraging the little girl to open the box, "Okay then, why don't we open it?"
Undoing the ribbons holding the box closed, Saten lifted up the lid to reveal a white gothic lolita dress accompanied by black ribbons.
"White Gothic Lolita, eh?" Touma mused, holding his chin and nodding to himself, "Excellent taste."
"Wow!" Febri sighed in awe, "That's for me?"
"Yes," Wannai replied softly.
"Mitsuko, Wanna, Atsuki, thanks so much!" Febri beamed, instantly making the three middle school girls blush with her intense cuteness.
"Think nothing of it!" Kongou insisted, "Anyone else would have done the same!"
Holding out her new dress for everyone to see, Febri happily celebrated her new gift. However, that happiness quickly disappeared when she collapsed on the spot, her face becoming flush and her breathing heavy. She whined about her head going foggy, as if she was on the verge of passing out. It was clear to everyone what the reason for this was: the toxins building up in her body threatening to kill her.
"She's getting worse, we have to hurry," Kuroko stressed as Saten got Febri another one of her lollipops.
Back at her desk, UIharu typed furiously as she went through the files one people involved with the Reach Assembly with Index acting as an additional archive. Looking through the previous contestant list, Uiharu pulled up a file of a certain man with black hair and rounded glasses, one that Kongou immediately recognized.
"Hold on a minute! It's him!" Kongou cried, rushing over to the computer, "That's the man that we saw! The one that was talking on his phone at the Reach Assembly site."
"Wait, really?" Touma asked, shocked by the sudden coincidence.
"Yes, that's definitely him," Wannai confirmed, looking at the file herself.
"Oh yeah. I'd recognize him anywhere," Awatsuki agreed.
"What that photo from?" Mikoto asked, joining in around the computer.
"The participant list from last year's assembly," Uiharu replied, reading through the file, "Haruki Aritomi. Oh, according to this, he won the Academic Reach's first prize two years ago. In fact, it seems he a regular participant and winner."
"Wow," Wannai mused in amazement, "If he consistently wins top prizes in the Assembly…"
"… it means that he's one of the most brilliant people in all of Academy City," Awatsuki finished the thought.
"This man, really?" Kuroko inquired, "That's odd. I've never even heard of him before."
"Of course not," Konori sighed, "In a city full of high level Espers, an ordinary genius doesn't exactly stand out.
Upon hearing this, Touma and Mikoto immediately thought back to their conversation with Therestina. How she said that those without status are the ones were truly victims of Academy City's darkness.
'So, this is what she meant,' Touma thought to himself in frustration.
"Oh hey, something else. It doesn't look like he's participating this year," Uiharu pointed out.
"Now that you mention it, Captain Yomikawa said that a lot of the regulars weren't showing up to the Reach Assembly this year."
A quick look at the participant list for the upcoming Reach Assembly confirmed this fact. Just looking at the shear size of each list, it was apparent that much fewer people were participating in the current year's Reach Assembly compared to those of the previous year. Upon seeing this, Uiharu quickly turned the screen to Index so she could memorize and analysis each list in hopes of determining who was in the same position as Aritomi. After all, it was quite possible that other missing participants were his associates.
After a whole day of nothing but dead ends, the investigation to save Febri was finally going somewhere.
Making his way home from the Branch Office, Touma couldn't help but wonder what could have pushed Aritomi to do the things that he has done. By all means, the man was a successful academic, a genuine genius in his fields of science and recognized as such. But at the same time, he went unrecognized. He's not exactly the kind of celebrity that passerby would know. Even then, why wouldn't he be satisfied with the recognition he got from his fellow scientist? Even if normal people didn't appreciate his genius, shouldn't it be enough to be respected by your peers, those that understand you? Just how deprived of attention could Aritomi be to attempt something at the Reach Assembly?
After the day Touma had had, he was more than ready to get back home and just relax for the night. However, when he got to his and his sister's shared home, he was greeted with two unpleasant surprises. The first was an email from Shizuri saying that she wasn't going to be home that night. Apparently, she had a job scheduled for tomorrow that was going to require some overnight preparation. Nothing special at this point, especially with this underground organization constantly trying to get free combat data from people of interest. That surprise came when Touma arrived at his building's lobby. The second surprise came when Touma reached his floor and found himself meeting a certain. Said guest was someone he was well acquainted with and was easy to identify based on his open shirt and sunglasses.
"Yo Kami, how have you been?" Tsuchimikado greeted, leaning against the door to the apartment directly next to the one Touma lived in.
"What are you doing here?" Touma demanded, too exhausted to worry about pleasantries.
"Funny story. See, I was going shopping not too long ago when I came across a lottery booth I happen to have a ticket for," the double agent explained, "So, I used the ticket and rolled the lottery, and by some luck I managed to win the grand prize, a new apartment that just so happened to be right next door to your new apartment."
"Even I can tell that's a lie, but I'm too tired to argue so I'm just going to accept it," Touma sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Is it though?" Tsuchimikado mockingly suggested, "Anyway, that's not the only reason I'm here. Since summer is almost over, a bunch of the guys from class were thinking about getting together for a game of paint ball or something so I thought I'd stand by and invite you to join us."
"As much as I'd love to participate in a game in which you will undoubtedly use me as bait in, I'll have to pass. I kind of have a lot on my plate right now thanks to Judgement," Touma sighed, "Actually, there's something I need to ask you. Does the name Haruki Aritomi ring any bells for you?"
"Why do you ask?" the sunglass wearing student asked, his face growing serious.
"He's a prime suspect in an ongoing Judgement case," Touma explained, "We believe he has some involvement in an underground project known as the Chemicaloid Project. Apparently, Febri was created as a result of this project and part of her design is slowly killing her. If we don't find the people responsible, she will die. Have you heard anything about any of this?"
"I've heard some rumors, but nothing overly concrete," Tsuchimikado admitted, holding his chin, "A while back, Aritomi did propose a thesis regarding the potential of creating Espers artificially from scratch, suggesting that the process would create powerful Espers much more consistently than current methods. The thesis was mostly disregarded among the scientific community at the time, and honestly, I did the same. Never looked too much farther in after I initially heard it. I never would have thought that the project would actually take off, even in an underground setting."
"So, you don't know anything else?" Touma inquired.
"Nothing left to offer you. Sorry Kami," the blond shrugged.
"It's fine. Thanks, Tsuchimikado," Touma said, patting his friend's shoulder as he walked past the double agent and into his own apartment, "I'll see you tomorrow."
Once back in his apartment, Touma got to work getting ready to call it a day. Since he was the only one home and was too tired to cook, he settled for some leftovers he found in the fridge from the night before. After eating his leftovers dinner, he took a quick shower and headed straight to bed. Unfortunately, fate seemed determined to make sure Touma didn't have his way, as per usual, and he was met with a string of unfortunate events.
Upon entering his room, Touma ended up stepping on his misplaced school bag. This caused him to trip and fall on his back, as well as send the school bag flying through the air. Miraculously, the bag hit the book shelf that Touma happened to be laying under, knocking loose a binder than then nailed the misfortunate boy right in the face, as well as his first prototype ODD.
"Rotten luck," Touma whined as he lifted the offending binder and tool off his face.
Upon closer inspection of the binder, Touma noticed it had a label on the front of it. According to the label, it was a binder of his previous essays on Academy City Research Exhibition Assembly winners and their projects. This instantly brought to mind the fact that Aritomi had won the Reach Assembly two years ago. While Touma had no memory of going to the Reach Assembly two years ago, he now had in front of him a detailed record of what he experienced that was excluded from his journal.
Opening towards the essay his previous self had written two years ago, Touma was intrigued to see that he had indeed wrote about the joint project between Haruki Aritomi and Jun Sakurai. Based on the essay, the two students and budding researchers collaborated in the development in a revolutionary piece of technology. Using Sakurai's expertise in molecular biology, the two of them were able to create nanobots whose structure was based on those of microorganisms. These machines were extremely versatile and fulfil a variety of preprogramed tasks, such as constructing temporary structures, aid in medical treatment, and breaking down things like trash and non-decomposable materials. They were also self-replicating, using material the collected from breaking down structure to build and program more of themselves. Truly, something that revolutionary deserved the praise it earned in the Reach Assembly that year.
Touma could hardly believe what he was reading. When he first met Aritomi on the street turning a crowd of people against Kongou, he had taken him for a blowhard that was all bark and no bite. When he heard that Aritomi had nefarious plans regarding Febri and the Reach Assembly, Touma labeled him a criminal that had to be stopped. Now, looking at his own personal accounts of the man from two years ago, he could see that Aritomi was not all that bad a guy, or at least he used to be. He was a brilliant scientist with some truly revolutionary ideas. He's joint project from two years ago could have changed the world if he had put more effort into further advancing it. He was a respectable man who had so much he could have offered to the world.
But that left Touma the question of why. Why did Aritomi become so resentful of Espers? He had a bright and successful future ahead of him, so why throw it away for a life of crime? Why would he go through with such a twisted experiment like the Chemicaloid Project and put innocent people in danger like he did with Mikoto, Shizuri, and Touma himself? Why did he turn out like this? These were the thoughts that plagued Touma's mind as he drifted off into sleep.
The next day, everyone gathered at the Branch Office once again to report on their findings regarding the people involved in the Chemicaloid Project. Based on Uiharu and Index's findings, Aritomi and a small handful of other the missing regular participants of the Reach Assembly were all listed under a list of lead directors of a company known as the STUDY Corporation. According to Uiharu's findings, the company mainly deals with pharmaceutical manufacturing and chemical engineering, the perfect fields of study of someone wanted to completely construct a whole new type of organism from scratch.
Further investigation into the STUDY Corporation revealed that the owned a rather suspicious facility in School District 17. It was an old factory, nothing very special. However, the company paid a considerable sum of money for it, one far greater than what one would expect for such an old building. Thus, Mikoto volunteered to go to the factory and investigate it in person in hopes of finding something they could use to help save Febri, like the formula for her lollipops or clues towards the STUDY Corporation's true goals. In response, Touma volunteered to go with her, not liking the idea of Mikoto going in on her own. And so, the Level 5 and Level 0 were now riding a monorail in route to District 17 to investigate.
The pair sat on the monorail side-by-side in silence with Mikoto on the right and Touma on the left. As the monorail ran along, Mikoto couldn't help but notice that Touma had that look on his face, a look of worry, anxiety, and doubt. It was a look she always thought did not suit him.
"You okay?" she asked, leaning forward in her seat.
"It's nothing," Touma denied, attempting to wave off the topic.
"Don't give me that," Mikoto demanded, "You've got that worried look on your face, the one you always make whenever your thinking really hard about something. So, tell me what's bugging you."
"Alright, fine," Touma sighed, slumping his shoulders and looking away, "I found an old essay a wrote a couple years ago for an extra credit assignment. It was on Aritomi's project, the one that won him the prize that year."
"So, you wrote a paper on the guy in middle school. So what?" Mikoto asked.
"It's just… from what I had written down, everything he had created was filled with potential," Touma admitted, "He had ideas, amazing ideas, the kind that could change the world for the better if he let them develop into something more than what they were. Instead, he threw it all away for a life of crime, hurting innocent people and discrediting the good work of people like Kongou who just try to help. It just doesn't make sense to me."
For a moment, Mikoto wasn't sure what she was supposed to say. For as long as she had known him (and for as many times as she's peeked into his journal when he wasn't looking) she still had a hard time grasping Touma's line of logic. He was a pretty straight forward kind of guy who believed in saving everyone and giving everyone a happy ending, going to any lengths to accomplish his goals so long as he didn't cross that final line. But at the same time, he could not seem to acknowledge the existence of morally gray areas, or even evil for that matter. He could not understand why someone would hurt others to reach their own goals.
Mikoto herself was rather curious as to what Aritomi's reason could for choosing the life he did. Their talk with Therestina suggested it was about attention and recognition, but she doubted Touma would accept that response. Honestly, she didn't want to accept that response either, but it looked to be the only logical explanation at this point.
As Mikoto continued to ponder how to respond to Touma's problem, she noticed something passing by outside the monorail's windows. Not too far away from the rails was a familiar metal structure scorched with electricity and covered in gashes. It was something that Mikoto recognized all too well as it marked a major turning point in her life.
"Hey Touma, look," Mikoto instructed, nodding her head towards the window behind them.
When he turned around, Touma rose an eyebrow at what he saw.
"Isn't that the bridge where you confessed to and nearly killed me?" Touma asked, not sure why Mikoto was bringing up the event now.
"More than that, idiot," Mikoto huffed, slightly annoyed that he was already missing the point of the conversation, "It's were you saved my life. I was about to throw my life away, but then you showed up, not even offering an alternative solution at the time, and made me reconsider. I was wandering alone in darkness, but then you came helped me find a way out."
"Is there a point to this?" Touma inquired, still not sure where Mikoto was going.
"When we spoke to Therestina, you swore you would be the light that stretches out a hand and help guide others out of the darkness. You've done so with me, you're making progress with you sister, and Accelerator is next on that list," Mikoto said proudly, "If anyone is capable of doing what you said you would do, it's you. We will save Febri and give her the chance to live, and maybe along the way, we'll find out why Aritomi is doing what he's doing and put a stop to it."
"How can you be so sure we'll succeed?" Touma asked skeptically.
"Because you're here fighting along side us," Mikoto replied reassuringly, leaning on Touma's shoulder, "You're the guy that people can rely on to get the job done when all else fails. The person others can believe in. That's why a believe we'll succeed. Because when the chips are down, you always come through."
Despite his own doubts, Touma couldn't help but smile at his admirer as she made her declaration.
"Really? A gambling analogy with my rotten luck?" Touma joked, "Not to mention how daring you've been getting lately."
"Shut up and let me have this, idiot," Mikoto huffed, not appreciating Touma ruining the mood.
"Sorry," Touma laughed, feeling much more at ease.
When Touma and Mikoto arrived at STUDY Corporation's factory in District 17, they split up so they could cover more ground. Touma stayed on the ground, patrolling the area for any suspicious characters. Meanwhile, Mikoto took to the rooftops to get an overhead view of the factory's interior. The two of them stayed in contact with a communicator carried by Mikoto that was connected to Touma's ODD's communication channels.
"Hey Touma, did your sister happen to have a job today?" Mikoto asked over the commlink.
"Why do you ask?" Touma asked in turn, pressing himself against a wall while checking behind a corner, spotting a nearby door.
"I just found her and her team clearing out a couple dozen Powered Suits inside the factory, and it looks like they're leaving now."
"Wait, which way are they heading out?" Touma asked in a panic.
As if on cue, the door Touma had spotted just a second ago opened. From it walked out the four field members of ITEM, with Shizuri in the lead and the other three girls following closely behind. Seeing as he had stumbled upon his sister during her business hours, Touma quickly pulled back from the corner he was peeking behind and held his breath as to not potentially draw her attention. He was already well aware of how much she disliked him going above and beyond in Judgement work, especially when he started dealing with threats from Academy City's Underworld, so he'd rather not be found by her in a place that was clearly associated with an underground organization.
When he was sure that Shizuri and the rest of her group had left, Touma released the breath he had been holding and contacted Mikoto again.
"That was way too close for comfort," Touma whispered, "At least we know this place is associated with some form of underworld activities. Looks like whoever is responsible hired Shizuri on another but job to collect data."
"And it really looks like they did a number on this place too," Mikoto replied, "Hang on, I'm detecting functioning electricity deeper within the building. I'm going to go follow it. Contact me if you see anyone else enter the building."
"Copy that."
After nearly having his cover blown in front of his sister, Touma once again continued to patrol the perimeter of the facility for anyone of interest. For the most part, it was quiet, disturbingly so. No guards, no security robots, no real security measures whatsoever. Even if Shizuri and her group had just torn up the place, he would have expected there to be some signs of a struggle like wreckage from a fight. It was almost like the place was never meant to be protected.
A few minutes went by before anything of note happened on Touma's side. As he was about to turn a corner, he saw a car pull up in front of the building. Coming out of the car was Aritomi himself, who seemed more pleased than anything given the circumstances, with the factory a complete wreck and security being breached multiple times within a single day. Seeing this, Touma figured something wasn't quite right with the situation and tried to contact Mikoto via their commlink. Unfortunately, he couldn't get a proper signal to her. If he had to guess, Mikoto was too far into the facility for the signal to reach.
"Too much concrete," Touma whispered to himself, "Better contact Headband at headquarters. Hopefully, Zapper's wiretap tracker is still working."
Deep in the factory, Mikoto had stumbled upon a computer room, as well as its sole occupant, Shinobu Nunotaba. At first, the Level 5 had thought that the researcher was in league the Aritomi's group and the person who told Febri her name. And while that was true, it was not the complete truth.
As explained by Nunotaba, she had given Febri Mikoto's name in hopes that the latter would be able to save the former and give her a future. While everything didn't go exactly as she planned, Nunotaba was satisfied by the resulting turn of events that led Mikoto to the very factory she was in. Now that the Railgun was in front of her, Nunotaba quickly handed over the formula for Febri's neutralizing agent that she had just retrieved form the factory's computers. With that, Febri would be able to continue living without the need of STUDY Corporation.
Sadly, an unexpected third party entered the fray with some unfortunate news.
"I'm afraid things aren't going to play out as you planned," a new voice interrupted.
Turning around, the two girls were shocked to see the face of the man behind the whole operation, Haruki Aritomi.
"What you have in that data capsule is just a dummy formula," the man explained, "It won't do anything to help with Febri's condition. I knew it would be a good idea to have some insurance. Always have a contingency plan."
Adjusting his glasses, Aritomi focused squarely on Nunotaba.
"So, you were the one who orchestrated Febri's escape. For a traitor, you sure do keep interesting company," Aritomi mused, "Enlisting the help of a celebrity, very resourceful. I'm impressed."
His focus then shifted to Mikoto herself, his face oozing with confidence, as if he had full control of the situation.
"It's nice to finally have a chance to meet you in person, Railgun," Aritomi greeted in a pseudo-polite manner, "put a face to the data I collected, and very useful data it has been."
"So, your Haruki Aritomi, huh?" Mikoto mused.
"Well this is surprising," Aritomi noted, "You seem to have gone through an awful bit of trouble, and just to save Febri's life. She is a fine product, but even so."
"A fine product," Mikoto sparked, "then you're the one responsible for creating her."
"Easy now," Aritomi instructed, holding out a similar data capsule that Nunotaba had given Mikoto, "You shouldn't use electricity. Not unless you want to destroy the real copy of the neutralizing agent."
Gritting her teeth in frustration, Mikoto silently admitted to herself that Aritomi really had the entire situation under his control. He was blocking the only exit from the computer room, and even if she fought her way through, he also had the neutralizing agent that she and Touma had came to the factory to find in the first place. If Mikoto made any hostile moves, with or without her ability, the data capsule would be destroyed, and she wouldn't have another chance of getting it. She couldn't even call for help at this point since there was so much concrete between her and Touma that the commlink went dead, and that was a long time ago.
"Nunotaba," Aritomi said as he pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it to the traitor, "Inject that into Railgun."
In Nunotaba's hands was an injection pen, the kind used for self-administrating insulin and allergy suppressants.
"It will only incapacitate her," Aritomi explained, "She won't die. And what's more, if you follow my instructions exactly, I'd be more than willing to hand the real neutralizing formula over to you. After all, we have no real need for it anymore at this stage."
"No…" Nunotaba refused, "I can't do it."
"Inject me," Mikoto instructed, holding out her right arm to the unwilling scientist, "This is to save Febri's life. Just do it."
Despite her every instinct telling her not to go through with it, something told Nunotaba that she could trust the Level 5's judgement. With unsure hands, she held Mikoto's arm in place and injected the contents of the injection pen into her body.
As soon as the drug was injected, Mikoto felt the effects of it immediately. She suddenly lost all feeling in her body and was unable to stay standing. With very little grace, she collapsed on the ground in a heap.
"Strong enough to render even a Level 5 powerless," Aritomi laughed, happy with the results.
"Alright, I've done as you asked," Nunotaba demanded, "Now, give me the formula."
"Well, about our deal," Aritomi said mockingly as he dropped the data capsule on the floor and crushed it under foot, "Like I said, we have no use for Febri. After all, she's just a spare."
"Just… a spare?" Mikoto gasped, completely stunned in more ways than one.
"Yes," Aritomi postulated proudly, "For an invention that is truly revolutionary, we call it Janie."
This was the last thing Mikoto heard before slipping into unconsciousness.
Special End Card Segment: Animan Temple
"Welcome back to the Animan Temple," a man in a red long coat brandishing a massive white sword cheered, "I'm your host, Animan von Elysium X, with my assistant, Priestess Number 1: Aisa Himegami!"
"It's a pleasure to be here again," the girl in the Miko outfit and hime cut bowed.
"Been a while since we've done this, huh?" Animan grinned.
"You've gotten lazy, master," Himegami snarked, "you need more discipline."
"Hey, I was busy! Anyway, we had quite a bit going on this chapter, with Touma basically declaring morality war against Academy City's darkness and a look at Aritomi's past as a research as seen by an outside observer. Give a bit more to the character, don't you think."
"It is nice to see a little of what he was before his fall to darkness," Himegami admitted.
"I see this as an absolute win!" Animan yelled to the sky in joy, "That's all the time we have for now. We'll see you next time for the next chapter, 'A Hand in Reach'."
"See you soon," Himegami said with a wave goodbye.