In a research lab emblematic of Academy City, a group of white-coated researchers bustled about.
"What's up with Accelerator? What happened? She went berserk and now we can't reach her. Hey, Kihara Amata, what's going on?"
"What? You ordering me around?"
A clash brewed between two researchers.
"N-No… I wouldn't dare…"
Faced with Kihara Amata's thuggish demeanor—hardly that of a researcher—the other's emotions were swiftly quelled by reason.
To this experiment, and to Academy City, he was just a disposable tool. But Kihara Amata belonged to the Kihara Family, a family of significant standing. Cross him, and you'd vanish without a question asked.
"Now, Amata, don't bully the poor guy. Haha… More importantly, what's with Accelerator?"
An older man stepped in to defuse the tension. Kihara Gensei, the project's lead.
"…Who knows? Probably ran into something unexpected."
Facing Kihara Gensei, Amata's aggression softened, his tone more even.
"Yo~ Greetings, folks!"
"Who are you? That's… Number One? What's she doing here? Wasn't she at the test site?"
"Oh~" Kihara Amata.
"Well, well!" Kihara Gensei.
"From now on, this place is called Samuel Plaza! You're all… under my command!"
Samuel appeared out of nowhere, carrying Misaka 10001, his gaze sweeping the room, lingering on Kihara Amata and Gensei before settling on a slim girl with short dark hair and fierce eyes.
"I remember you… Nunotaba Shinobu, right? A genius in biology and psychiatry. Interesting…"
Samuel set Misaka 10001 on a chair.
"Hey! Don't get cocky. Even if you're Number One!"
Kihara Amata barked, his thuggish attitude unrestrained.
Zzt~
A green beam pierced Amata's thigh.
"Kihara Amata… who do you think you're talking to? Your lab rats?"
Smoke curled from Samuel's fingertip, having just used Atom Collapse to teach Amata a lesson.
"You bastard… Wings grown too big, huh? Do you know where you are? You—"
"Yes, yes… Understood, Chairman…"
Suddenly, Kihara Gensei nodded repeatedly, as if receiving instructions through an earpiece.
"Impressive, Samuel. Congratulations, you're now in charge. We worked so hard… and you snatched the prize. Farewell!"
Gensei's expression didn't flicker, showing no anger at having his victory stolen.
The Kihara Family were genius scientists. Emotions were a researcher's worst baggage. Orders came from above, and he'd follow. Otherwise, a few more bodies in the river would be the only outcome.
"Amata, let's go!"
"What? This punk dares treat me like this, and we just leave?"
"Chairman's orders!"
"Tch, you little brat, just wait! You'll be useless one day, and then… Hmph, the legendary Super Gemstone… I've always wanted—"
Bang~
A bullet from Gensei's pistol pierced Amata's skull, blood splattering the pristine tiles, his expression frozen in that moment.
" Told you to leave. Why so many words? Now you don't have to go anywhere!"
Gensei had received new orders through his earpiece.
Kihara Amata talked too much!
The Kihara Family was Academy City's backbone against the magic side, but one or two members were as expendable as their lab rats. The city was vast—losing a few was nothing.
Samuel, for now, was a partner of sorts to Aleister Crowley.
Amata wasn't leaving alive anyway, so why not do Samuel a favor? Being proactive looked better, didn't it?
"Clean this guy up! Don't tell me you're unprepared!"
This was a lab—corpses were plentiful, and disposal methods were routine.
Gensei left with Amata's body.
Samuel, the sudden new boss, was left with a group of trembling researchers.
His forceful entrance made them instinctively bow their heads, fear gripping them under his gaze.
"Everyone, I'm taking over. Do your jobs. You, Nunotaba Shinobu, you're the lab's head now. You answer only to me—not even the Board of Directors."
"…Understood!"
Nunotaba stepped forward, glancing at the still-wet blood on the floor, and nodded.
"Now… halt the Absolute Ability Evolution Plan!"
Samuel's words sparked a uproar. Researchers exchanged glances but stayed silent.
"Um… that's the Chairman's—"
"I said this lab answers to me alone!"
Samuel cut off Nunotaba with a smile.
"…"
Nunotaba lowered her head, but inside, she was elated.
She felt ashamed as a researcher for growing attached to a test subject. She'd always opposed the Absolute Ability plan, but against Academy City's darkness, she was powerless.
Now, someone had fulfilled her heart's desire, and she was overjoyed.
"I'm drafting a new plan: the Artificial Heaven Plan. Have them study—study this book! Your job is to monitor their conditions. Clear?"
"Clear!"
The researchers dared not defy Samuel. Whatever the plan's changes, they were just researchers—on the same level as the espers here, mere pawns in Academy City's underbelly. This was a fight among the higher-ups.
"Hm… familiar ceiling, Misaka Misaka thinks."
Misaka 10001 woke up, healed by Samuel en route.
"Yo~ Misaka Kyoko, you're awake!"
"Misaka Kyoko?"
"That's your name now. I saved you myself, so I gave you a name!"
Turning to Nunotaba, Samuel ordered, "All the Misaka Sisters—every single one—get names. I don't care how you do it! Name them after lampposts or airports—Misaka Lamppost, Misaka Airport, whatever. But they get names, and no duplicates! Got it?"
"Got it!"
Nunotaba beamed. She was thrilled because a name was a person's first gift in this world. Ugly or not, it meant they were recognized as people.
It meant their new boss saw the Misaka Sisters as human.
***
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