The sky was gloomy, with clouds from who-knows-where blotting out the harsh sunlight.
The building's shadow stretched obliquely across the ground, enveloping the ant-like crowds below.
After staring down Accelerator for a good ten minutes, Natsume had grown accustomed to the white-haired boy's aggressive tone.
Instead of feeling threatened, a sense of listlessness welled up inside her.
The Sisters had all chosen to forgive him. Worst of all, Last Order had practically become his little follower. She didn't even know what that bun-girl was still holding onto.
Maybe it was the memory of Misaka-senpai's heart-wrenching despair back then. Or maybe it was just her own heart aching for the Sisters who had died.
She was a girl who preferred to cross the street to avoid unnecessary trouble.
But when confrontation was unavoidable, she possessed the courage to face the white-haired boy—or even greater dangers head-on.
Still, the atmosphere between the two opposing players wasn't completely frozen. With Last Order acting as a buffer, they could manage some semblance of normal communication.
To be honest, Natsume was fairly even-tempered. With a bit of patience, she could keep a conversation going.
If Misaka-senpai were face-to-face with this guy, it'd be a miracle if she didn't try to fry him with a lightning bolt.
After all, she would always stand on Misaka-senpai's side.
Of course, if a conflict ever broke out between Misaka-senpai and Shokuhou-senpai, it'd be better for her to remain neutral.
"So you're saying it's Kihara Gensei."
Accelerator's brow furrowed slightly, the image of a certain gaunt, elderly figure flashing through his mind.
"How interesting. If it's that man, then his true goal could never be just the Misaka Network. Unless Kihara Gensei plans to turn those brats into indiscriminate killing tools, but terrorism isn't exactly his specialty."
"And aside from being a communication tool for the brats, the only notable aspect of the Misaka Network is its immense computational power. But Kihara Gensei clearly hasn't fallen so far that he needs to rely on the Network's calculations for his experiments."
A slight smirk played on Accelerator's lips. His sensitivity was clearly a cut above certain slow-on-the-uptake girls, and a thread of anxiety instantly flashed within him.
Due to his involvement in the Level 6 Shift Project, he'd had dealings with that old man before. He knew that sort of person was either a madman or a scoundrel.
Those bearing the name 'Kihara,' with the exception of a few disgraces to the title, were far more aggressive and goal-oriented than one might imagine.
They would stop at nothing to achieve their aims—unless the Board Chairman himself forbade it.
"That's what I think too."
Natsume was slightly taken aback. She hadn't expected Accelerator to have thought it through so thoroughly.
She'd known Kihara Gensei had an ulterior motive for a while now and had even specifically asked Kiyama-sensei about it. But she still couldn't figure out what he was planning.
"For a venerable old-timer of Academy City, someone who can summon wind and rain, to scheme for so long, even willing to completely antagonize three Espers from Tokiwadai and the interest groups backing them… he must be convinced the gains outweigh the costs. And there aren't many things that could make a research scientist of his caliber feel the harvest is truly huge."
Only with a sufficient prize would such a person recklessly step into the spotlight.
As he reached this point, a cold sneer suddenly appeared on Accelerator's face.
The tenderness buried deep in his heart was only one side of Accelerator. The villain's guise he wore made him no different from some of the deep-sea leviathans.
"The Level 6 Shift Project? That's impossible."
Natsume found the idea absurd, but she couldn't pinpoint where the flaw in her reasoning was. A rare trace of confusion tinged her voice.
She had long since dismissed this possibility and had been comforting Misaka-senpai, telling her it was all in the past.
After all, all the conditions for that experiment no longer existed. Even the test subject, Accelerator, was now ostensibly on the Sisters' side.
After going around in such a huge circle and putting in so much effort, how could it be that nothing had changed?
"Exactly. Otherwise, I can't think of a reason for him to do all this. But I don't think he's simply restarting that old plan, which is blocked on all fronts. Most likely, Kihara Gensei has found some new method," Accelerator mused.
"And #8, I think you need to face reality properly. Don't adopt such a foolish posture."
"An experiment related to Academy City's future—how could they abandon it completely after just one failure? There's an arrogant bastard who's been pestering me non-stop, just for a chance to participate in these kinds of plans. Speaking of which, that guy seems to have quieted down lately."
Accelerator's gaze remained fixed on Natsume's holographic form. He frowned, then spoke word by word.
"I understand."
Natsume steadied her emotions and nodded, feeling somewhat subdued. She really had been thinking too simplistically.
As long as the researchers in Academy City weren't completely wiped out, they would attempt the Level 6 Shift experiment again and again until they succeeded. The only differences would be who the test subject was and what the specific experiment entailed.
If the world continued to operate in this orderly fashion, even Natsume herself might one day become the subject of some experiment.
Unless there was a heaven-shaking upheaval, unless the Esper community gained more power and a stronger voice, could the roles of hunter and prey possibly be reversed.
Unconsciously, a strange shift occurred in Natsume's thoughts.
Shokuhou-senpai developing her faction was a method of self-preservation.
Misaka-senpai's relentless assaults on research institutions to display her power was also a method of self-preservation.
So what was her method of self-preservation? The Anti-Skill and Judgment? Or her own invisibility and escape abilities?
Natsume leaned towards the latter.
But at this moment, she found herself unusually desiring to accelerate the development of more offensive techniques. Not just for herself, but to better protect everyone around her.
For example, the plasma generation from before, or the Sonoko-version of Meltdowner—with some effort, she could probably push those to a barely combat-applicable level.
If she disregarded the stability and destructiveness of these techniques, she could use them right now. The only problem was she might end up obliterating herself first.
"It's Misaka-senpai."
While her mind was still wandering, Natsume seemed to catch a glimpse of a certain Railgun's figure in the distance.
Calculating the time since she'd called the two senpais, about ten minutes had passed. She just didn't know if Misaka-senpai had found anything.
But then her vision blurred violently, and the figure transformed into Shokuhou-senpai's likeness. Natsume's thoughts seemed to be in serious disarray.
While Natsume was still trying to figure out what was happening, her brain felt like it had been struck by a hammer. The majority of her thought processes ground to an immediate halt.
'Is this Mental Out?'
The thought flashed through Natsume's mind, leading her to suspect that something might have gone wrong on Shokuhou-senpai's end again. Then, her brain involuntarily crashed.
And logically, her main body was in an invisible state, its location un-pinpointable. She shouldn't be able to be targeted by Mental Out. Unless this attack was a massive, indiscriminate map-wide blast.
As long as you were human, you had weaknesses. Espers were no exception.
Weaknesses could be emotions, abilities, or naturally, specific people or things.
Shokuhou-senpai had many weaknesses: a frail body, an ability that only worked on humans, a lack of real-time detection methods… making her easy to counter in certain situations.
While Natsume was similarly physically weak, she possessed a few proud secret trump cards. But Natsume also had real weaknesses. One of them was her lack of defense against mental-type abilities.
What was it like to have your brain controlled by someone else? Even those who experienced it firsthand were often left in a daze.
Based on the relevant insights gained from casual chats with the golden-haired senpai, after having their brain controlled, most people couldn't even tell they'd been attacked by Mental Out, let alone describe the sensation.
The fact that Natsume could maintain a brief period of lucidity after the attack, enough to know she'd been assaulted, was only due to her highly developed brain, which Mental Out couldn't subdue instantly.
Under normal circumstances, the victim would at most feel like they'd taken a nap or spaced out for a moment, while their brain continued operating normally.
The connection between consciousness and the brain was temporarily severed by the mental control. For the duration of the control, the mental-type ability user could run amok as they pleased.
However, even though Natsume's brain was successfully controlled, it soon 'awoke' again in a peculiar way, preventing her consciousness from sinking completely into slumber.
Natsume could perceive the changes in her own brain like an onlooker, and she could also observe the outside world through her retinas.
These unexpected developments were completely different from what Shokuhou-senpai had described.
'Is it the Level Upper?'
The re-awakened Natsume struggled to think.
Her brain was perpetually linked with Reiko's. A part of her consciousness always resided within Reiko's mind, maintained by the Level Upper. Perhaps that was the reason she could observe from the sidelines.
Reiko's brainwaves were identical to her own. If Natsume Sonoko willed it, to some extent, it was like having a second brain.
But the perspective of an onlooker was just that—an onlooker.
Natsume couldn't even control a single finger. She could only be grateful she still retained a portion of her thoughts.
Issuing commands, performing precise operations, reading memories… various psychic phenomena manifested one after another.
Along with a shudder that ran through her brain, the mental-type ability user from an unknown location was attempting to exert influence on Natsume, but they were constantly meeting resistance from Natsume's own brain.
Due to the intense brainwave activity of an Esper's brain, with a metabolism far surpassing that of an ordinary person's brain, controlling it naturally couldn't be as simple and easy as with a normal human.
Just some ordinary brain activity could disrupt a whole series of the opponent's commands.
The water molecules in her head disobediently arranged and combined themselves. Neurons frenetically fired back and forth across the synapses.
It was quite the ruckus inside Natsume's head, a regular cacophony of clanging gongs and drums as if celebrating some happy occasion.
In contrast, the observing consciousness remained very quiet, busy contemplating a way out.
The scene returned to the outside world.
Accompanied by the inexplicable mental map-wide blast attack, Natsume's holographic projection vanished instantly, revealing her true body dozens of meters away.
Her eyes were vacant, a dazed expression on her face. The controlled Natsume didn't look much different from usual.
Last Order was similarly affected. The only one still standing there perfectly fine was a certain white-haired boy.
He didn't seem to have been affected by Mental Out at all.
Regardless of what the actual principle behind Mental Out was, it necessarily required some kind of medium.
If this medium could be blocked by Misaka-senpai's electromagnetic barrier, then naturally, it would also be reflected by Accelerator's reflection.
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T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.