Doppelganger
[ACMI: Omen]
GV rushed over to the source of the explosion. The skyscraper was still standing and there was a familiar figure examining a crator in the ground in front of the building.
"Misaka?"
The Electromaster looked up as GV dashed over.
"GV? Did you happen to see where she went?"
"She? Whoever did this?" GV asked to clarify, he shook his head though before she answered "No, I just saw the explosion and came over to see what had happened."
Misaka scowled. Looking at torn banners that were lying around the crator.
"Well, best case scenario... no, what am I saying? There is no best case for this. Just progressively less bad cases."
"What were you looking into?" GV asked as Misaka pulled out her phone.
Misaka dialed, and spoke quickly "I'll tell you on the way. Give me a moment." She then put the phone to her ear.
"I think your suspicion turned out to be the truth."
...
"Something like that, though I didn't get a good look at her."
...
"You did? Then why do you sound tired?"
...
Misaka winced as she heard whoever was on the other side's answer. Not as in the kind of wince that showed you were sorry for them. More an 'Do I have to put up with this?' wince.
She continued though "Where are we meeting up?"
...
"Okay." Misaka nodded "Ah, before you hang up, I think GV might be getting involved too."
...
"That depends on him." She gave an answer to an unheard question before looking over to GV "Do you actually want to look into this, or do you just want to go home?"
GV thought about it for a moment but... "This wouldn't have anything to do with why Joule was looking into souls earlier, would it?"
Misaka paused, tilting her head.
"I don't know for sure, but I imagine it could have been... oh?" She listened to the other side of the phonecall for a moment and nodded "It was."
For goodness' sake.
"I'll stick around long enough for the full story, then I'll decide." GV answered.
Misaka nodded, passed the information on and ended the call.
With a moment to pause, Misaka pulled out her phone again to check the directions to where she and her other contact were going to meet up. As she sprinted off, GV easily kept pace.
"So what's going on?"
Misaka gave him the short version. There was a girl who'd been split in half and given cybernetics to allow each half to carry on as normal, both halves had then been recombined to form a human body and a robotic body. The robotic body had been held in that skyscraper and Misaka had gone to investigate it. That explosion was probably the robot breaking out.
"The question is, why now?" She muttered "Nothing should have changed for it, unless Shokuhou did something stupid and tipped them off somehow."
"Shokuhou is involved?" GV asked with a scowl of his own.
Misaki nodded "I don't know specifically what brought the matter to her attention, but she brought me in by implying that whatever data on souls they'd be getting out of this might be tested on my sisters next."
GV sighed as he dashed along the ground.
"So where are we going after we meet up with her?"
"The room where the previous owner of the cybernetics lives." Misaka answered "Actually we're going there now, we're going to meet up with Shokuhou outside first."
GV thought to himself for a moment. Did he really want to get involved in this? Joule had been pulled in mostly just to ask Index about souls as far as he knew. This matter wouldn't cause any further problems to her. He could simply leave and go home.
...Mitsuari might want to know what Shokuhou was looking into. He might as well stick around. Plus, if Misaka had been called in to help, this would likely be the sort of job that had some sort of impact. Keeping up to date on things was part of how one stayed ahead on the dark side.
"I'll stick around." He told Misaka as they began to slow, reaching the appartments in question.
[ACSRS: Mistakes born out of purity]
There they met... a random woman that GV hadn't met before.
The woman offered him a smile and GV noticed the stars in her eyes. A proxy then.
"Whose this then?" Misaka asked in an off-hand sorto of way.
The woman answered in Shokuhou's style.
"She isn't much of anything now, but she used to be a scientist in Clone Dolly. I've kept her employed as part of my extended staff, just if I needed an adult proxy for whatever reason."
Misaka frowned "So her work is just being mind controlled by you?"
"I pay well when I need her." The Proxy said for Shokuhou "So I'd rather we get this done sooner rather than later."
She told Misaka the plan she'd formed to get a talk with this "Kuriba Ryouko."
Misaka would be hacking the woman's front door camera, making it look like the proxy had an official reason to come in, that would give them a foot in the door and face-to-face they'd be able to get some more out of her.
Misaka sighed but agreed, GV just standing by downstairs for them to be done. Before the Proxy left though, she turned to him.
"You might as well come to the park ahead of us. I'm sure you have things you want to talk to me about."
GV sighed. The park was nearby and it was private enough that Shokuhou thought it would be a good place to ask about the robot.
He turned and began heading away, allowing Misaka and the proxy to do their work in peace. Having a few words with Mental Out hadn't been part of his evening plans but it was better than nothing.
End of Chapter.
I'm really annoyed I forgot to upload at the normal time last week. I don't even really know how I failed to do it. I nearly always remember. I had it written out and everything. Argh.
Finding a way to keep GV involved in this arc was tricky but this should do.
