Driven berserk by the memory virus implanted through Mental Out, the entire Misaka Network had even lost the sisters' individual autonomy, reduced to mere components necessary for maintaining the network's existence.
However, the Misaka Network was ultimately just a brainwave platform for communication and memory sharing, lacking any true consciousness of its own—equivalent to a primitive version of a collective consciousness.
So after the Level 6 Shift Project was forcibly terminated, leaving it without a fixed purpose, the Misaka Network fell into a dormant state, becoming an empty, unmanaged network no one used.
But this also resulted in reduced output power from the network, instantly halving the pressure on the sisters' brains.
"Yoshikawa, if we can't find another way, we'll do as you said."
"Prepare that brat's previous personality data in advance, replace the parts altered by Mental Out, and then try to overwrite all the relevant data within the entire Misaka Network."
Having borrowed a cell phone from a random passerby, Accelerator stared gloomily at Last Order nestled in his arms, his eyes filled with murderous intent and madness.
Seemingly bursting with pent-up rage with no outlet, he nearly crushed the phone in his hand into pieces.
Beside Accelerator stood a middle school girl who'd been dragged into the situation after lending her phone, cautiously eyeing the white-haired villain before her.
The situation was dire. Even though the evolution had been halted, Accelerator still couldn't handle Last Order's problem for the time being.
However, one of his friends, the researcher Miss Yoshikawa Kikyou, had thought of a seemingly feasible solution.
Without access to the specific details of the memory virus, they would use the backup data of Last Order she had to replace the clearly abnormal memory sections.
Most of this data was the original data from her creation. Implanting it would revert Last Order to her state at birth.
Moreover, unlike the previous incident with Amai Ao, this required replacing the data across the entire Misaka Network to free Last Order from the influence of that memory virus.
Similarly, all the sisters' memories would be reset to zero.
Simply put, it was a format operation on the sisters. All memories—from the experiments involving previous deaths to their lives after the project ended—would be completely wiped clean.
"Um, excuse me... could I have that back now?"
The girl, her hair adorned with glass bead accessories, fidgeted nervously as she spoke to Accelerator, a palpable fear in her voice towards the white-haired boy.
How to describe it? It was a feeling utterly different from an ordinary student. The undisguised malice wasn't directed at her, yet she felt prickles on her back, as if being stared down.
A proper resident of Academy City, she'd heard something big was happening nearby and came curiously to see.
She hadn't run into the Judgment officers blocking the perimeter, but instead met this strange person who suddenly demanded her phone.
The girl wore Sekisho Junior High School's summer uniform—seemingly a former schoolmate of Juufuku-san.
"I'm buying the phone. You can go now."
His train of thought interrupted, Accelerator actually calmed down a bit, though the impatience in his tone was obvious to anyone.
He rummaged through his pockets and casually pulled out 100,000 yen, handing it to the girl.
The strong-arming villainous style was on full display, yet it didn't seem entirely evil.
"So I'm not the only one whose phone broke," a shadowy figure with a bun hairstyle standing further away in the shadows couldn't help but think.
Though 100,000 yen for a phone was far too expensive.
After fully expanding her thermal perception, Natsume Sonoko quickly located Accelerator nearby.
Following her earlier idea, she also recorded the pattern of Accelerator's AIM diffusion field in advance, so she could actively avoid this guy when possible—out of sight, out of mind. Natsume-san's stubbornness in certain matters was surprising.
Come to think of it, she should have recorded Misaka-senpai's and the others' AIM field information earlier too. But since they all lived together, there would be plenty of chances for that.
"That light and shadow? It's that Tokiwadai ojousan."
Yoshikawa Kikyou's voice still echoed in his ear, but Accelerator lost the will to listen further.
His arm holding the phone paused, then he decisively walked towards the suddenly appearing illusory figure of light. It seemed he had found a new possibility.
Looking down at Last Order sleeping in his arms, her face flushed red from the intense brain usage, a strange sense of urgency welled up in Accelerator's heart—strong enough to make him accept limited goodwill (mutual utilization) even from those who held aversion towards him.
She had appeared inexplicably, suddenly joining his life, bringing him an unprecedented sense of stirring emotion.
What exactly had Last Order changed about him? Accelerator couldn't put it into words. He just knew he couldn't accept a world without her in it.
He wasn't greedy like some ojousan who wanted everything. One precious thing was enough.
Accelerator wasn't someone good at opening his heart. Solitary and insane, he had no room for two emotions of similar weight.
The ghost girl of Tokiwadai, the newly appointed #8, certainly lived up to all those strange nicknames.
The process of guiding Accelerator had gone surprisingly smoothly, which left Natsume Sonoko somewhat taken aback. But it probably spoke volumes about his feelings for Last Order.
Is this the wolf falling for the lamb? That's what the bun-headed lady, lacking in romantic experience, had always thought.
"I found Kihara Gensei, but I need your help."
"If we deal with Kihara Gensei, the sisters and little Misaka will all be fine."
Natsume Sonoko spoke seriously, negotiating with Accelerator.
Brilliant light, flowing hair—Natsume-san's phantom form was no different from her real self, except it floated slightly above the ground, making her appear a bit taller.
"I get it."
"I'll kill him."
Accelerator didn't hide his malice in the slightest; he'd wanted to do this all along. Internally, however, he felt a wave of relief.
As for this Tokiwadai girl who remained in a phantom state with her real body who-knows-where, he didn't want to say anything more to her.
"Eh, that'll land you in juvenile detention," Natsume-san muttered, her face still wearing that blank expression, though she'd always thought Accelerator belonged there anyway.
Unlike demolishing buildings or damaging public property, intentional murder was an unforgivable act. Getting caught would mean a trial in juvenile court, and most likely, being sent to a reformatory.
Of course, legitimate self-defense in life-threatening situations probably didn't count.
Even though she'd already had a one-day tour of a juvenile detention center, that didn't mean Natsume-san had lost her healthy fear of the place.
As an ordinary middle school girl, who wouldn't be afraid of juvie?
--+--
An innocent building was struck mid-section, a huge crater blown open, followed immediately by an unseen figure crashing abruptly onto the ground.
Kihara Gensei, clad in the Vector Control calculation suit, felt a sharp pain in his head. For the first time, a look of weakness crossed his face as he stared ahead at Accelerator, who stood there with a wild, scornful smirk.
Having overused the ability-loading function, the backlash from the multiple abilities finally erupted. Kihara Gensei could no longer maintain his normal formula calculation speed.
Meanwhile, the reflection covering Accelerator's body basically rendered Mental Out useless.
Kihara Gensei felt all his power was useless here. After just one encounter, he was already completely defeated.
For dealing with Accelerator, Kihara Gensei's prepared countermeasure was actually the same as the one for a certain bun-head: use the calculation suit to block the esper's perception, allowing for a clean escape.
That way, no matter how strong Accelerator was, his actual threat would be limited.
But an unexpected change seemed to have occurred. The prepared calculation suit couldn't block the #8's line of sight, leading the situation to deteriorate to its current state.
The #8, capable of precise positioning, combined with Accelerator, who had almost no weaknesses, instantly suppressed the technology-reliant Kihara Gensei. It was a classic case of compatibility counter.
"Researcher, do you think this toy is useful against me?"
"Or do you think someone can change the current situation? Calling in more trash won't save you now."
Accelerator's face was a mask of cold sneers, his gaze filled only with madness.
One hand firmly pressed against the other's chest. Kihara Gensei had already reverted to his original form without realizing it.
The calculation speed of the Vector Control suit couldn't match Accelerator's own. Their opposing reflections fought and canceled each other out, quickly exceeding the suit's maximum processing capacity and pushing the prototype suit into overload.
In this state, the computational power originally used for maintaining invisibility and thermal control was diverted, all efforts focused on resisting the terrifying vectors controlled by that pressing hand.
But this balance lasted only a moment before Kihara Gensei completely lost his ability to resist. The defensive line formed by the calculation suit crumbled in the next second.
--+--
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.