Compared to the mass-production project, the next phase had crossed a line into something far darker.
The goal was no longer replication, but transcendence.
In Academy City's models, a true apex esper was something beyond human, a theoretical existence bordering on the divine. According to projections run by its central supercomputer, if the city's strongest esper could defeat Misaka Mikoto one hundred and twenty-eight times across one hundred and twenty-eight different combat scenarios, the resulting data would force an evolutionary leap.
There was only one problem. There was only one Misaka Mikoto.
So the city manufactured substitutes.
Twenty thousand of them.
Misaka 9981 had been one of those substitutes. In her final test, inside a sealed facility, she had died under the hands of the city's strongest esper.
Rowan opened his eyes.
He stared down at himself. A short skirt. A school uniform. Slender arms that clearly did not belong to a grown man.
He sighed.
"I said I didn't want to turn into animals anymore," he muttered. "I asked for a human body. I meant a male one."
Misaka Mikoto was fourteen. Her clones were the same. Young. Underdeveloped. Barely past childhood.
Looking back, his incarnations formed a grim joke. An eleven-year-old boy. A magical cat. A panda. Now this.
None of them normal.
Still, as he flexed his fingers, something sparked. Literally.
"This ability," Rowan murmured, "isn't bad at all."
Misaka Mikoto ranked among Academy City's elite, one of only seven espers at the highest tier, known for absolute control over electromagnetism. Electricity, magnetic fields, electromagnetic waves. Her skill set overlapped almost perfectly with Rowan's own inherited control over magnetism.
The difference was refinement.
Magnetism was one of the universe's fundamental forces. Given enough mastery, it could reshape planets. But raw possession meant nothing without technique. Rowan had learned alone, improvising, limited to crude manipulation of metal and simple ambush tactics.
Misaka's memories were different.
They were instruction manuals burned directly into the brain.
As her knowledge merged with his own power, something clicked. What had once been blunt force sharpened into precision. His control surged past its former limits, climbing into a realm that would be considered advanced even in this world.
Electric discharge. Electromagnetic conversion. Coin acceleration.
All of it was suddenly possible.
A voice cut through his thoughts.
"You're still alive?"
Rowan looked up.
A pale, thin boy with white hair stood among the ruins, eyes filled with manic curiosity and barely restrained violence.
Accelerator.
"So you're not a drone," Accelerator continued. "Interesting. Guess I'll finish the job properly."
He tapped a fractured pillar. It tore free from the floor and launched toward Rowan like a missile.
Rowan didn't raise a shield. He lifted a finger and forced his magnetic field to collapse inward, converting it into a violent electrical surge. The stone struck the current and rebounded.
The impact never landed.
An invisible barrier stopped it cold in front of Accelerator.
His smile faltered.
"No. You're not a clone. But you're not the original either." His eyes gleamed. "This is fun."
Accelerator slammed his foot down. The concrete floor shattered. Fragments screamed through the air faster than gunfire.
Rowan yanked a steel door from its hinges and snapped it into place, deflecting the storm. Then he moved. One breath later, he was gone, vanishing down a stairwell.
He didn't hesitate.
Accelerator's ability was absolute vector control. Every known force, redirected at will. Fighting him openly, under surveillance, was suicide.
Cameras tracked everything. Researchers watched from behind glass. Every secret revealed here would be dissected and weaponized.
Escape was the only rational move.
Rowan needed time. Information. Space to think.
Behind him, Accelerator stood still, stunned.
"They run now?" he whispered. "Since when do they run?"
Four spiraling air currents erupted behind him, twisting into violent funnels as he surged after the fleeing figure.
"No," Accelerator laughed. "You don't get away that easily. If this is a new tactic, I'll play along."
The hunt had begun.
...
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