"Currently, the Sixth Division is investigating the Radio Noise experiment."
"I see, I see."
—I knew you would say that.
To my answer of "I'll get involved in the incident," Claudia replied with a smile.
She told me that what she was about to share was something that hadn't been shared with the Sixth Division yet, and that I absolutely must not tell anyone else.
"Of course, not even your friends, okay? The way they'll react will be different if they're explicitly aware of the investigation versus if they aren't."
The hands of the clock were pointing straight up, overlapping.
Just as she said she had anticipated my answer, Claudia's explanation continued without hesitation.
"To begin with, the Sisters were designed and produced as military clones of the Level 5 Railgun, 'Misaka Mikoto.'"
An image on a holographic display, not a paper document, moved to supplement her explanation.
"Misaka Mikoto must have provided her DNA map to researchers when she was a child, judging by the timing. She thought it would help in the treatment of a certain disease... and it was misused."
"I see..."
So that hasn't changed.
"As I said earlier, the Sisters were a project to use a Level 5 as a military clone, but for some reason, the clones, who should have been born with the same DNA, never grew to be a Level 5."
"That's strange."
Even with the same genes and the same education, they didn't get the same results. Does this prove that something else is involved in the growth of psychic abilities? In any case, it's irrelevant right now.
"The Sisters only ever reached Level 2 at best. From the perspective of the project's goal, it was a complete failure. They were called Radio Noise, and the project itself was supposed to be buried in darkness... or so it should have been."
But it didn't turn out that way.
"That's when another project came up. The 'Absolute Ability User Evolution Project' Level 6 Shift."
It was a forbidden project that should never have happened.
"Based on the research that states psychic abilities grow faster the more they are used, this project was designed to use abilities in combat to achieve a level up."
It was a plan to gain experience points in real life, like in a video game.
"According to this method, there is only one of the currently existing Level 5s who can reach Level 6. The strongest esper in Academy City—'Accelerator.'"
"—"
Finally, that name came up.
Just hearing the name of someone I had never met before made my body tense up.
"But here, another problem arose."
I wish that problem had just crushed the project.
"According to the calculations of the world's best supercomputer, the 'Tree Diagram,' Accelerator will evolve into a Level 6 by killing the Level 5 Railgun 128 times."
The Tree Diagram is a supercomputer floating in space, far above this island. Thanks to it, the weather around this island isn't a "weather forecast" but a "weather prediction."
It predicts the weather with 100% accuracy through calculations.
And this Tree Diagram, of course, is also used for calculating experiments. The calculation results so far have been 100% accurate. In other words, the calculated results become the actual results of the experiment.
But it seems that some excellent scientists can't believe the results until they see them with their own eyes. I wish that ridiculous story had stayed on paper.
They're making the calculations a reality. By fighting in the battlefields specified by the Tree Diagram, they can manipulate the direction of growth and eventually reach Level 6.
"However, it's impossible to prepare 128 Level 5 Railguns. We just said that the clones failed, right?"
"If they could prepare that many, the world would be overflowing with espers right now."
A plan that is already insane at the part where it says "kill 128 people."
If they could mass-produce Level 5s, they wouldn't have to go through all this trouble. There are only seven people currently classified as Level 5. They are not born that easily.
The project was a failure. It should have ended in failure.
But it didn't. The Radio Noise were just unfortunately noticed at the wrong time.
"It was found that a similar result could be achieved by killing 20,000 Sisters instead of 128 Level 5 Railguns."
128 people for the Level 5 Railgun.
And 20,000 for the Radio Noise, who are at a lower level.
At this point, it's just a numerical massacre.
The numbers are on par with the victims of a bad disaster. It's so unrealistic that I can't even imagine it.
If these were casualties of war, I could still understand. But it's not a number that one person can kill.
"Phew..."
"Your drink has gone cold. I'll make a fresh one."
Claudia got up from her seat.
We had a short break after hearing the general outline of the incident.
Although I already knew the content, it felt overwhelming to think about taking action to solve it.
"So, what do you think? Do you have any good ideas?"
Claudia, who had poured a fresh cup of tea, sat back down across from me.
The information sharing about the incident was over. Next was the solution. I'm saying "next" easily, but this is the most difficult part.
"The best thing would be for Accelerator himself to voluntarily withdraw from the experiment."
"That would be the best, but unfortunately, we don't even know where he is."
"You haven't looked into that?"
"No, I went to the room registered in his resident registry. But there was no one there. The room was in a mess and not in a state where anyone could live there, and Accelerator himself hasn't returned even after a week."
"Himself?" So someone else came?
"Two or three groups of people came to test their skills against the strongest esper. But they didn't know anything more than what you can find by just looking him up."
Testing their skills... It must be tough to be famous. And two or three groups in a week. If you consider that they might also be ambushing him on the street, it might be almost every day.
In that case, even the strongest Accelerator would get annoyed and want to disappear.
"Then how about breaking into the experiment and defeating Accelerator?"
It's a plan to stop the experiment by throwing off the calculations, just like Touma Kamijou did in the original story.
"And what will you do after you defeat him?"
"Well, I mean, if Accelerator loses, the calculations will be thrown off, right?"
Claudia shook her head at my words.
"Just because you cause a small error doesn't mean anything if they can just recalculate."
"Ah..."
That's right. In the original story, the Tree Diagram was destroyed, but in this world, it's completely unharmed. This plan is useless.
"Besides, the opponent's concealment ability is too high, and my investigation can't find out any more details. Even if we wanted to interrupt the experiment, we don't know where the crucial experiments are being conducted. The experiment schedule is probably top-secret."
"I see... Then how about, as a second option, annihilating the scumbags behind the project who want to create a Level 6? That was in the documents, wasn't it?"
"That's... not very realistic either. The scientists seem to find the 'unprecedented Level 6' very appealing. The documents only list a fraction of them. It's not that we couldn't investigate them, it's that there were too many to put in the documents."
You mean they'll just keep popping up like cockroaches, no matter how many you crush?
"By the way, that method of crushing the research facilities is what Misaka-san is doing now. She must have concluded that there's no other way."
Misaka's ability can never defeat Accelerator. So, this is the only option she has left.
There's also the option of using the Bureau's authority to bust the experiment sites.
"Besides, it's unnatural that an experiment to kill 20,000 people has gone completely unnoticed. There must be pressure from somewhere. I don't know if it's an organization or a country."
So, even an official organization would have a hard time solving it.
"Then at the very least, I want to cooperate with Misaka."
"It seems she hasn't been showing up at school lately. She's been so active at night, so she must be resting during the day."
"And where is she, by the way...?"
"For an electromaster of her caliber, it's easy to tamper with the records of electronic devices..."
"...Oh, come on...!"
So you're saying you don't know! I know it's important not to leave any traces, but then there's nothing we can do!
"Ha... for now, I'll also go around and crush the research facilities. I want you to continue gathering information, Claudia. I might run into Misaka eventually, and when I do, I'll re-establish our cooperative relationship."
"That's all we can do for now. I'll send you the schedule in an email later."
The tentative plan was decided.
It's late, so I should probably go home. Tomorrow is the last day of school before summer vacation.
"By the way, Shou?"
"What is it?"
"As a condition for my cooperation, or rather, as a reward, I'd like something."
"A reward...?"
This incident, while it has the pretense of a Bureau investigation, isn't something I was officially ordered to do. Claudia is going out of her way to tell me information that she should be giving to the Sixth Division first.
If she asks for a reward or two, I can't refuse. I've already received the information.
"If it's something I can do..."
"Thank you. Then, would you mind standing up for a moment?"
"Hmm, okay..."
I stood up from the chair and stood next to her.
"Then..."
Claudia suddenly hugged me.
Her soft mounds of flesh pressed against my chest. No matter how soft they were, they wouldn't be completely flattened. Instead, I could feel their elasticity even more.
When I instinctively tried to pull away, she put strength into her arms wrapped around my back, as if to not let me go.
"C-Claudia...?"
"Hehe, what's wrong? This is my reward. Shou, you can't resist, okay?"
"I get it, but..."
But it's tough to just stand still.
Why? Because this position is very bad.
With her so close, my little friend couldn't help but react. Little by little, blood started to rush to the area below my waist.
Our legs, as if we were in a judo match, moved restlessly. I was mainly trying to escape, and Claudia's legs were trying to get tangled with mine.
"Hey, don't squirm."
"But, I..."
She must have noticed me trying to escape. One of her arms that was wrapped around my back was placed on my waist, pulling me even closer.
I don't know what Claudia's intention is for doing this. Maybe this girl was also affected by my past actions.
But even so, I can't just accept it when I don't know anything...!
"Jeez, why are you squirming so much—oh?"
She noticed—!!
She stroked my now-firm member over my pants.
"Hehe, so that's what it is. What will you do? Do you want to take care of that too?"
"No, I'm good!"
I was barely able to stop myself.
---------
"That's a shame. You don't have to refuse so much."
"Things like this, you know? We're not in that kind of relationship."
I came to my senses and was about to go home, leaving the feast on the table.
"If you ever want to continue, you can come over anytime. I'm always available."
"No, that's a bit..."
I almost gave in, but I couldn't let Claudia, whose intentions weren't clear, get any more leverage over me.
Even so, my eyes were still drawn to her chest, which had been so close to me just a moment ago.
"You're right. This isn't good, is it? It's a betrayal of everyone else, isn't it?"
"..."
"But, don't you think a little stimulation like that is also nice?"
"I'm going home."
I somehow managed to shake off my desires and reached for the doorknob.
"Oh, that's right."
"Hmm?"
Claudia clapped her hands as if she had just remembered something.
"I'll also tell you the name of the person who came up with this experiment, just in case. I haven't been able to track their movements at all, so it might not be useful."
"Yeah. It can't hurt to know."
Ah, I remember... in the original story, the person who came up with the plan was "Kihara Gensei," right? It would be a pain to find that guy.
Besides, even if I did something to him now, it probably wouldn't stop a plan that's already in motion.
"Kihara Gensei. He's quite an old man. He's also the proponent of the Level 6 theory—'The one who reaches the will of heaven in an ungodly body SYSTEM.'"
"Okay."
Well, that's to be expected. There wouldn't be a change in that part.
"And one more person."
"Yes?"
What? One more person?
"This person is a biologist who was involved with the Radio Noise. Her name is—"
At that name, I held my breath.
"—Tearju Lunatique."
Because she was a person deeply connected to Yami.
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