Misaka 10000 (Toaru fanfiction)

Chapter 29: The Conflict

Inside a café at lunchtime.

Tables crammed with customers were covered with all sorts of food, but his table alone stood empty. Only a big hodgepodge of printer paper was stacked there; not a single coffee mug was in sight.

The man was staring at the papers spread out on the table, his hands stuck in the pockets of his white coat. Printed on the dozens of sheets in this bundle was AIM diffusion field data on espers from the Bank. A girl in a red sailor-style school uniform, sitting across from the man's seat, looked at him dubiously.

"What do you think you're going to find by looking at them?"

"All sorts of things," he answered without looking up. "You may not know this, given that you're a 'magician', but this has all kinds of information in it. It's not just a weak power that vents from espers—it's them unconsciously interfering with reality. By examining the infinite variety of types and strengths of powers, one can explore the minds of espers, too."

"Unconscious interference...?" repeated the girl, not understanding.

"If we advance our understanding of AIM diffusion fields, we can highlight the outline of an esper's Personal Reality and use them for data by investigating their personalities and behavioral patterns. Though, I think the resulting parameters would be much more utilitarian and easy to understand than psychological profiles."

A silvery beast was next to the chair where the man sat.

It was a quadrupedal animal made of titanium alloy and synthetic resin. It had the basic form of a carnivore in the Felidae family, but its nose was unnaturally long, like an elephant's.

The metallic creature had a seeing-eye dog walking program installed, so it blended into human society with surprising litheness. The beast opened its mouth.

"Professor." The voice didn't sound synthesized—it was the voice of a young man with rich enunciation. "It appears the clone is leaving District 15 toward District 9. She already took out several small groups from the dark side alongside the snipers the higher-ups hired."

(Not toward District 7? Interesting....)

The man called Professor looked over at the mechanical creature. Its speech functions weren't produced with a robotic AI; someone in another place was simply speaking through it via a wireless network. One could think of it as a slightly more complicated telephone.

"What happens to ITEM?"

"There is no sign of them inside District 15. It appears they gave up, or maybe it's just a part of their plan."

"Hmm." The professor sighed just once. "What about the other parties?"

"There's no apparent move from either of the big dogs. However, what we know is that 'School' is now somewhere inside District 9..waiting... It seems they somehow anticipated her movements. 'Block' seems to not have made any move yet, even though they are inside District 15. As for 'Group'... there is something weird about their movement."

"A small group that exists in the underworld, working to defend the mainstream society..." the professor said, his tone relaxed, "If they were after the clone too, it sure wouldn't be because of the money or research..."

"Then perhaps the time is ripe."

Suddenly, a voice appeared from directly behind the girl in the red uniform.

Nobody had been there a moment ago, but now someone was there. It was a boy covered in a big, baggy-down jacket.

It was like he'd appeared out of thin air.