Hello everyone,

This is another story I wrote inspired off a concept from Sparity Ikari's fic, Painted Prison Chronicles, which they graciously gave their approval for me to publish.

This story revolves around the GAGARS, a plot element from earlier on in his fic. Reading it gave me the idea of how the Railgang might react to using it, and thus this story was born.

Please enjoy!

"So…what did you say this machine was again?" Kuroko Shirai asked with an unimpressed expression.

"It's the Genetic AI-assisted Growth And Recombining Simulator!" Ruiko Saten proudly presented the tablet-sized device like a saleswoman on a TV infomercial. "Or GAGARS for short."

"That's a mouthful. Where'd you even find this thing?" Mikoto Misaka inspected the device closer. It was obviously electronic, but the circuitry inside was complicated enough that she chose not to probe further with her power.

"Well, you know how Saten-san is with these kinds of things." Kazari Uiharu said with a smile, though her tone wasn't quite as sweet.

"I found an exhibition for it at Seventh Mist," Saten continued, seemingly unaware of the comment her friend made. "I was happy just to participate, but the researcher actually gave me one of the prototypes to use in exchange for getting test data for it. It was such a cool opportunity, I just couldn't say no!"

"Test it how?" Mikoto asked.

"Um…It says here the GAGARS uses advanced simulation routines to predict the growth or combination of users based on the person's DNA," Uiharu read from the device's accompanying pamphlet. "Insert a piece of your DNA and let the device scan you, and a simulated image of your physical development after a ten year period will be shown."

"Simulated development based on DNA? Maybe the research is being used to help improve the models predicting onset of genetic diseases?" Kuroko suggested.

"Ooh, but if it shows you your growth after a decade, we'll all get to see how we look as adults!" Saten jumped in. "Isn't that exciting?"

Kuroko shrugged. Uiharu gave a nervous agreement. Mikoto…

If I see what I look like as an adult, I'll get to see if I turn out like Mama…or heck, I'd even settle for growing like that older Sister from Hawaii…

"Yeah, let's do it!" Mikoto gave a firm nod.

With renewed vigour, the quartet turned on the GAGARS, but before they could even start using the machine they all froze. The GAGARS all on its own had displayed an image of someone else who already had their details recorded into it, possibly the device's last user. Before them was a holographic image of a black-haired man wearing a cheap and generic suit, with a tired but still friendly smile on his face. The man would hold no significance towards them in any regular situation – there was nothing about his appearance that suggested he was anything but a regular salaryman that you could find anywhere.

That is, if it weren't for him possessing a particular spiky hairstyle.

"Is that…?" Uiharu begun.

"That idiot!" Mikoto gasped.

"That ape!" Kuroko growled at the same time.

"Hey…I think that's Kamijou-san." Saten spoke last with a look of amazement.

"Kamijou? Wasn't that the guy you danced with back during the Daihasei Festival, Misaka-san?" Uiharu asked.

"Huh?" Mikoto flinched at the sudden address. "Oh…yeah, that did happen, didn't it? I almost didn't recognise him at first since he looked so…so…"

"Handsome?" Saten suggested with a playful grin.

"What?!" The volume of the word was amplified across the three shouts of Mikoto, Kuroko, and Uiharu. The temperature of the room seemed to rise a few degrees from the explosion of crimson that adorned their faces.

"Oh, come on! We're all thinking it; even you were stunned to see how good he looks, weren't you Shirai-san?" Saten teased. However, despite her bold words, she began to fan her cheeks to cool her own blushing face.

Kuroko huffed. "As if I'd ever call that troglodyte 'handsome'. I was just…surprised to see that he still has that stupid haircut, that's all!"

"If you say so. But I wonder, why is he dressed like a salaryman?"

"Oh, um…" Uiharu picked up the manual again. "It says as part of the simulation experience, the simulated image will depict the selected person in a randomly selected job. These jobs should not be taken as an indicator of future career prospects."

"Oh, so it'll be like dressing up for a job fair day," Mikoto pondered. "This should be fun!"

After deciding the order via Rock-Paper-Scissors, Uiharu was to go first. She inserted a piece of her hair, and let the GAGARS's camera scan her from head to toe. After a few moments of processing, the image of her simulated future was complete and it showed…

"Wow, Uiharu-san. Very professional!" Saten approved.

The older Kazari Uiharu was depicted in a well-pressed shirt and jacket, paired with black pencil skirt. Still wearing her signature flower headband, her hair was now styled into a bob-cut and she was wearing a headset with a microphone, her fingers poised as if typing on an unseen keyboard.

"Ooh, ooh, let me guess: a receptionist? A call centre worker maybe?" Saten suggested.

"I know these jobs aren't set in stone, but you really look in your element there, Uiharu-san." Mikoto chimed in.

Uiharu flushed slightly from the attention. Mikoto was right, she felt most at home when she used her talents, small as they may be, to aid others like at Judgement. She hoped in her heart she'd be able to use them to continue to help others even as she got older.

"I wonder if you'll still be wearing polka-dot panties at that age…" Saten continued.

"Saten-san! Why would you even say something like that?!"

⁂

Next was Kuroko's turn. She too was depicted in an office-type outfit, but it gave off a completely different air to Uiharu's more approachable vibe. With her girlish twintails changed into a more professional low ponytail and the fierceness of her depicted expression, one could feel she was not the sort of lady you'd want to cross.

"You look like a cool lawyer!" Uiharu gasped.

"I bet she'd be the kind of lawyer all criminals fear," Saten giggled. "Objection! This is my judgement! Take That!" She made a dramatic point with her finger.

Kuroko, meanwhile, wasn't paying attention.

"Ehehehe…so, what do you think, Onee-sama?" Kuroko sidled up to Mikoto with a lustful look in her eye. "I grow to look quite mature, don't you think? Together, we can age like the finest wines and-"

"No thanks, I've seen what alcohol does to a person." Mikoto said bluntly, keeping her roommate at a literal arm's length.

⁂

Saten was next. In comparison to the other two, her future simulation was depicted wearing a dress that was cut so as to show off the best of her more mature body while still remaining professional. The sparkle in her eyes, wide grin, and poised posture would have been enough on their own to guess the job the GAGARS had assigned to her, but the addition of a microphone in her hand made it all too obvious.

"A TV presenter!" They all chorused, before breaking out into hearty giggles. Now that the image had been presented, it was hard to imagine, even for the girl herself, a more fitting future career prospect.

"Do you think you'll still be investigating urban legends at that age?" Mikoto asked.

"I sure hope so! There's so many more interesting ones out there. Ooh, I heard of this new one recently: there's a world parallel to ours that we can't see that you'll be banished to if a certain boy catches you in his shadow, and…"

⁂

After Saten managed to calm down a bit, it was time for Mikoto to peer into the future. Now that it was her turn, she suddenly found herself hesitating even as she plucked a hair from her head. Not that any of her friends could know why exactly, but still…

The last time I gave some of my DNA to a researcher, they used it to create the Sisters... Could they use this sample to do something else…?

"Onee-sama?" Kuroko seemed to sense Mikoto's drop in mood. "Is something wrong?"

"N-No, it's just…" Mikoto wasn't sure what exactly to say. Why was she even hesitating? This little device had nothing to do with the Sisters project; even if someone did want to abuse her DNA map again, their ability to do so would be limited now that Tree Diagram was gone.

Still, it wasn't as if the scars from that time would disappear just because the problem was solved. A lot of people suffered because she gave out her genetic information carelessly. She looked at Uiharu and Saten, currently looking through the GAGARS's other registered users, and felt an unusual sense of envy; no one would be interested in the potential of their DNA maps, so they could record them without any worry. The same went for that spiky-haired idiot. Mikoto wondered if he hesitated before doing the scan...what was she thinking, of course he didn't. That idiot never seemed to hesitate before doing anything and always acted with this dopey look on his face like everything was fine and nothing was wrong with the world. The same one he had after he saved everyone from the graviton bomber. The same one he had in the hospital after he foolishly took on the city's strongest esper.

The same one he had when he said to Mitsuki Unabara, without a single pause, "that he would protect her and the world around her."

...If you say things like that, I'll expect you to make good on it when the time comes, idiot.

With a deep breath, Mikoto inserted her hair and let the device scan her. The quartet waited with baited breaths as the GAGARS performed its simulation. Perhaps it was her mind, but she could have sworn the device was deliberately stalling the results just to toy with her emotions some more. Finally, the image that represented Mikoto's potential future was revealed, electing a collective gasp from them all.

"Hey look, it's Misuzu-san!" Saten joked.

Indeed, the 24 year old version of Mikoto Misaka bore a close resemblance to the woman they had met briefly during the Daihasei Festival, especially with the youthful appearance the latter had presented (though in this case, the young appearance actually matched the age). Much to her delight, the chest region of the younger Misaka also looked set to grow as well – perhaps not as much as her mother or even Saten's simulated future, but it wasn't like she was about to complain about that.

What shocked the group about the simulated image was not Mikoto's growth nor how closely she'd end up resembling her mother; instead, it had all to do with the clothes she was presented wearing. In contrast to the others wearing professional workplace outfits, the GAGARS had put Mikoto in simple, plain clothing, on top of which she wore an apron. Her hair was tied back into a short ponytail and she did not wear any makeup. It was a look that was clearly put together in a few minutes without care. In other words...

"I look like...a housewife!"

"Wow, that's...different." Uiharu observed with wide eyes.

Kuroko, on the other hand, seemed elated.

"Don't worry, Onee-sama. You look radiant no matter what clothes you wear. If your calling is to become a housewife, then I will gladly take upon the role of breadwinner able to support our lives in beautiful matrimony!"

Lives...in matrimony… Mikoto thought in a daze.

"I'm not really sure I can picture it," Saten said with a hand on her chin. "The GAGARS has been pretty good with its guesses for the rest of us, but I just don't really see the housewife role being...you, Misaka-san."

"H-huh? Oh, yeah…sure…" Mikoto said offhandedly. In truth, she hadn't really paid attention to what anyone was saying. Her mind, young and impressionable as it was, was currently considering the potential of that future. Compared to the high-class ladies of Tokiwadai, it could be said that she was not as traditionally ladylike or graceful, but did that restrict her from taking that role? Or could she still choose that path if she wished to do so?

And if she did, would it be with…?

⁂

It was the end of a long day. She tasted the dish she was preparing for dinner and let out a sigh of satisfaction. It was delicious. She was making his favourite and had become quite good at it after some practice. Now her idiot of a husband had no more room to tease her for not knowing how to cook.

She turned her head towards the front door as she heard the distinct sounds of it unlocking. There, stumbling into their new house they'd just moved into together, was her husband. Her love, in a cheap and generic suit that he insisted on wearing (despite her clearly explaining to him that she could easily purchase him a more expensive tailored one), and a dopey smile on his lips.

"You're late. Where have you been?" She scolded, putting her hands on her hips and doing her best to frown.

"I got caught up; you know how bad my misfortune can be sometimes," her husband gave a nervous chuckle, running his hand through his spiky hair (seriously, how did he get a job with a hairstyle like that again?). Then he took her in his arms and a warm smile spread across his face. "But I'm home now, Mikoto."

Her heart fluttered. When he first did this, it would have resulted in literal sparks flying were it not for his mysterious ability to render other powers ineffective. Once, she would have been too flustered, too prideful to open her heart to him, to tell him what she wanted. But now...

"Yes. Yes you are." She replied softly, reaching up to gently stroke his cheek. There was no more need to be coy, no reason to deny what she wanted anymore. They were together, and they had vowed to be so till death do them apart.

Taking her hand in his, her husband's face approached hers. Slowly, gradually, the distance between the two decreased, their lips mere centimetres, millimetres away from-

⁂

*Bzzt* *Bzzt* *Bzzt*

"AAHH! Misaka-san! The lights!" Uiharu shrieked.

Mikoto's domestic fantasy was interrupted, crashing her back to reality to find the lights of the room flickering wildly in response to her subconscious power emission.

"Are you OK, Misaka-san?" Saten asked, concerned. "You do know the jobs we see in the simulation is just random, right? Were you that bothered by it?"

"No, it's just...uh…" Mikoto quickly tried to change the subject. "Hey, this thing also said it has a 'recombination' function, right? What's that about?"

"Let me see..." Uiharu picked up the manual again. "It says that after data of a user is input into the GAGARS, it is capable of simulating the potential combination of two users' DNA would produce."

"So, like a child between two people, then?" Saten asked, her eyes lighting with inspiration. "How exciting!"

"A-A-A child?!"

⁂

The embrace between husband and wife was cut short by an excited young voice.

"Papa! Papa's back!"

Quick, but unstable footsteps came from down the hall and her husband staggered back as a little girl embraced his leg. She was their daughter, no older than four years of age.

Breaking away from her husband, the wife put her hands on her hips, trying to look authoritative. "Now, now," She said to her daughter. "What did I say about running in the halls? You don't want to slip and fall, do you?"

"I'm sorry, Mama…" Their daughter said, saddened. Her husband just laughed.

"It's fine. Your mama tries to look tough, but really, she loves you very much." He said, kneeling down to her level and running his hand over her black locks. He tried to comb down the few stray strands that stuck up unnaturally, but to no avail.

The wife simply folded her arms and looked away embarrassed.

"Here, maybe this'll make you feel better." Her husband said, taking out something from the bag he was holding.

The little girl's eyes lit up like sparkling stars.

"You bought a present for me, Papa?!"

He grinned, and produced a stuffed pink frog.

"Pyonko!" The little girl squealed, immediately hugging the plushie.

"I thought you might like this one; Mama's already given you that Gekota that she had as a child, yes? Make sure you take good care of them."

"I will, Papa! I will!"

Watching the her husband and her daughter smile so blissfully filled the wife's heart with warmth. Marrying that man, even if he was (and continued to be) an idiot, was the best thing that had ever happened to her…

⁂

The best thing...that could ever happen to me…

In trying to change the subject, things had actually gotten worse.

If Mikoto had been hoping to stop the suspicious stares of her friends, she had utterly failed, but she couldn't care less about that now. Like a woman possessed, Mikoto's arm started to move by itself. Activating the device's recombinant page, she first selected the profile of the spiky-haired boy and then to select her own profile so she-

"Abso. Lutely. Not!"

Mikoto's finger met empty air as the GAGARS quite literally disappeared from her hands, as if the 11th dimension itself was objecting to what she was trying to do.

It turned out Kuroko had teleported both herself and the GAGARS to the furthest side of the room away from Mikoto. Standing upon a desk there, She held the simulation device high above her head so that even Mikoto would have trouble reaching if she wanted to reclaim it.

"K-Kuroko…?" Mikoto asked, mouth agape.

"Oh no, don't think you can talk your way out of this one, Onee-sama," Kuroko growled, teeth clenched. "I know that look in your eye, and the fact you selected the profile of that ape only confirms it. I've held my tongue about him until now, but I will not stand for this unbalanced romance any longer!"

"Kuroko!" Mikoto suddenly gasped, eyes widening.

"Don't think I haven't noticed it, Onee-sama," Kuroko continued, waving her arms angrily. "I don't know what it is you fancy about that troglodyte, but this has gone on for far too long. Your pristine purity has been utterly tainted by him!"

"Uh, Shirai-san?" Saten said.

"Actually, you know what else? I swear I've been hearing that ape's name everywhere as of late. In Tokiwadai, in Judgement, around the city—it never ends. It's like a disease!" Kuroko gripped the GAGARS as if intending to break the infernal machine. "And it's always the same things too! They all go 'Ooh, Kamijou-san saved my life', 'Ooh, isn't Kamijou-san just so handsome?', 'Ooohh, I felt so safe in Kamijou-san's arms...' Is he such a man-whore that he's not satisfied until the whole city's female population is under his thrall?"

"Shirai-san, you should-" Uiharu tried to speak up.

"I mean, what's with that guy, anyway? I know that he saved my life too, and made sure I was OK when I collapsed during that heat wave, a-and that was really nice of him...but that doesn't change anything!" Kuroko's face was now fully red...but was it really from anger? "If he really wants to be a hero, then why doesn't he join Judgement like a normal person? At least that way I could watch him...I-I mean, Judgement would be able to keep a close eye on him rather than letting him put himself in danger all the time! How many people has he saved? How many people has he protected? How many girls has he carried in his arms? That's supposed to be my thing, for god's sake! If he's going to make more girls fall in love with him, then he should at least think of more unique ways to-"

"Kuroko!"

"Shirai-san!"

"What is it?!" Kuroko snapped, finally listening to the voices of her friends. Three fingers raised and pointed towards the simulation device that had started Kuroko Shirai's rant. Confused, she lowered it down and took a closer look.

She blinked.

In all the commotion, the GAGARS had at some point produced another image. Before her was the holographic image of a young boy. His hair was tawny-brown, a similar shade to hers, and he had a confident grin on his face, his lips curled in a way that reminded her of her own triumphant smile.

No, the resemblance was not a coincidence, Kuroko realised. The GAGARS had been last set to recombine mode, meaning the boy was related to her; he was her child. When she had snatched the device away from Mikoto, she must have grabbed it in such a way that she had accidentally set herself as one of the genetic donors for the recombination simulation.

Despite her former anger, Kuroko felt her heart soften as she looked upon the holographic image of her future son. Though she could only see a future with her Onee-sama, she still had a soft spot for kids; all things considered, she wouldn't mind having children of her own to take care of.

For a moment, Kuroko got lost in one of her fantasies. If she did have a son...it didn't have to mean she'd have to separate from her Onee-sama, right? There were...ways that she could bear a child of her own and stay with her. Of course, she'd be sure to give the father, whomever it was, plenty of opportunities to see him.

Perhaps...if she found the right man...perhaps she could even raise it along with the father, by her Onee-sama's side. If Onee-sama approved...

The image of an adult Kuroko cradling a baby boy, with her lovely adult Onee-sama beaming alongside her, flashed through her mind. She could almost hear their joyous laughter together, almost feel her heart start to race as she was picked up in the strong, protective arms of the baby's father…

Kuroko suddenly shook herself to rid herself of the impure thoughts. Trying to distract herself, she remembered there was still an important question that needed to be answered:

Who was the other donor?

Their eyes all widened as the answer seemed to dawn on all four girls at the same time. Before Kuroko had taken the GAGARS from her, before she had gone on her tirade, someone else had intended to use the device for her own benefit.

Yes, a certain Level 5 Electromaster wished to see the combination of DNA between her and a certain spiky-haired boy.

When she had gone to make that simulation, hadn't she selected that boy's profile first?

They all took another look. Closer inspection showed that Kuroko's future son did not share her eye colour, instead being a greyish blue that held a depth of determination behind it, like he was the sort of boy who would stand up no matter how many times he was knocked to the ground. His facial structure, while still resembling hers in a way, seemed like it would suit having a particular spiky hairstyle very well.

No one spoke. The silence was almost suffocating.

All of a sudden, Kuroko's fantasy of raising a little boy alongside her beloved Onee-sama included...him.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

An ear-splitting wail of despair reached the ears of Mikoto, Uiharu, and Saten. Raising the device above her head, she threw it down to the ground in a hideous sounding crunch of plastic and glass. Kuroko Shirai, esteemed student of Tokiwadai, peacekeeper of Judgement, then grasped her head in her hands and started to cry loudly.

"K-Kuroko!" Mikoto ran over to her friend to check on her.

"Well, there goes the prototype…" Saten said dejected. "I hope that researcher isn't too angry..."

"Well, they should still be able to extract its information from the device as long as the internal memory's undamaged," Uiharu suggested. "But no one's using the GAGARS anymore, that's for sure."

"Shame. I was kinda excited to see what kind of child I'd be able to produce." Saten admitted, folding her arms behind her head.

Uiharu looked at her. "Really, Saten-san? If I'm right, I'm pretty sure Kamijou-san's profile was the only male in there..."

"So? I wouldn't mind that." The words slipped out before Saten could stop them. She covered her mouth as she realised what she just said. "I mean, uh, I just wanted to see what'd happen! It's just a simulation, right? Not like it's going to actually happen in the future or anything..." She quickly tried to cover up her mistake.

"Saten-san...were you looking forward to seeing what the child between yourself and Kamijou-san would look like?"

"H-He's actually a really nice guy, once you get to know him! I'm just a little curious, that's all..." Saten said, touching her index fingers together shyly.

"Oh, yeah...right…"

Seeing her friends get so flustered in the course of playing around with the GAGARS filled Uiharu with a mixture of emotions, not the least since their reactions seemed to be centred on that spiky-haired boy. Having only had the opportunity to meet Touma Kamijou very briefly, the fact that she didn't seem to know him as well as her friends made her feel oddly hollow; like they all were in on a secret inside-joke that she didn't know about. Even if she wanted to get to know him better...

...it may not even be right for her to try and barge into that territory because her selfish desire. Her friends had clearly formed some connection with that boy already; Misaka was obviously smitten with him, Shirai was in full denial of her feelings, and Saten seemed to glow with happiness whenever his name was mentioned. With the feelings of those three, anything she had to add would be lost to the background.

Besides, there'd be no reason for someone like him to be interested in her anyway. She wasn't really that pretty, like Saten was. She wasn't a high level, like Misaka is. She got tired easily and couldn't fight, like Shirai could. Hoping someone like that spiky-haired boy, who from what she heard was someone very trustworthy, and amicable, and protective, and heroic, would notice a nobody like her was next to zero; it would be worse than Cinderella wishing for her prince or a trapped damsel hoping for a hero to come and rescue her.

...Oh dear...what am I thinking? Uiharu suddenly started to beat her head with her fists as her face burned hot. Why am I suddenly thinking of that guy like he's some knight in shining armour?!

At that time, unbeknownst to the Tokiwadai girls, the two Sakugawa students blushed quite red.

Kuroko, at least, was too busy bawling her eyes out to notice.

"That ape! How dare he. How dare he defile me so! Besmirching the image of my beautiful future son...next time I see him, I'll kill him. I'm seriously going to kill him!"

⁂

Meanwhile, elsewhere, a certain spiky-haired boy suddenly got a chill down his spine before sneezing twice.

"Damn, am I getting a cold now?" He wondered, rubbing his nose. "Such Misfortune."

He decided to head straight home, doing his best to avoid anything that could make him stand out.

For some reason, he really wanted to avoid a run-in with Judgement for the next while…

Once again, huge thanks to Sparity for giving permission for me to use the GAGARS as a story idea. Of course, I encourage everyone to go and read Painted Prison Chronicles and give them your support. This will most likely be the last time I make a story directly inspired by the fic for a while, but who knows what the future holds?

I extended the concept out a bit further here and ended up creating a situation where each member of the Railgang became interested in our favourite unlucky boy in their own ways. One note to mention is that I deliberately chose to describe Kuroko's future son the same way that Sparity described him in PPC, but chose to have Mikoto imagine having a daughter to differentiate things.

Unfortunately for that certain spiky-haired boy, I may have just doomed him next time he crosses paths with that twintailed teleporter. Let's hope Uiharu is around at that time to keep some semblance of order.