———29 August 7:13p.m.————
The research facility Accelerator was entering was rather large. There were three giant warehouse-like buildings in front of him. Those buildings were meant to be used for the development of the Sisters, the twenty thousand clones who had been used in the experiment had all been nurtured there.
There were countless cylindrical plastic capsules that were stacked all the way to the ceiling. It was like a library stacked with books. Beside the three buildings, is a small,two-storey rectangular concrete and metal building. That was the core of the research center.
There was a visual scanning machine at the door, but he ignored it as he doubt that his ID would still work. He knocks on the door lightly to specifically break the lock so as to not scare the researchers inside. But when he went in...
"What the hell is this? It's like a damn ghost town here..." Accelerator thought as he continues walking in, completely surrounded by two rows of computers on both sides. Lights beamed down on him and all he could hear was his own footsteps and a fan blowing further up ahead.
Before he had stopped the experiment, the whole center was packed with more than 20,000 researchers.
But now, everyone had already disappeared. Except for a middle aged woman sitting on a table.
She was holding papers of information from the printer, and marking them with a red pen. She looks at Accelerator with a calm expression.
"Ah, you're back Accelerator. Your ID's still active for the next ninety days, so you didn't have to destroy the door."
Her name is Yoshikawa Kikyou. She was already over 25 years old, but she didn't have any makeup on. She was wearing a faded old pair of jeans and a T-shirt that was worn out after it had been washed too many times. Only the white lab coat that was draped over the T-shirt was as fresh and white as a new shirt.
He looks at the floor of scattered papers and the papers in her hand and comments,"Is it really that entertaining to see numbers?"
The experiment was on hold and not stopped but due to Accelerator's loss of interest in the experiment, the experiment was put on hold until he wants to continue it. When he looked at the floor, he saw the calculations the Tree Diagram did. They weren't very complicated, they were just big. A simple '1 x 10' was translated as '1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1=10'
Accelerator was never allowed to look at the plans of the level 6 experiment. He was supposed to just fight 20,000 times to gain experience from those battles. Since they learn through experience, he had to find other ways to kill them while they did the same. It was a battle of wits. A battle between a genius murderer and a growing child. If he had knew too much, the experiment would have possibly changed.
"Don't worry, I'm just looking at the data than the numbers."Yoshikawa replied.
The whole place was a mess, everything from books, papers and folders were scattered everywhere.
"So, what are you here for? I highly doubt you came here just to talk." Yoshikawa continues.
"I'm just here to take the instruction manual to the Sisters adjustments. I want to learn how to install the nurturing and learning mechanisms. Also lend me a working adjustment equipment."
"Huh? How do you know about this? Even I knew of this only three hours ago." she says as waves the printed papers in her hand.
The learning mechanism simulation script. The clones' personalities and knowledge were from a so-called brainwashing machine that introduced electrical flow into their brain, implementing their everything into them.
Basically what Yoshikawa was holding were their "Soul Diagram".
"What are you doing to it now?" Accelerator asks her.
"I'm just eliminating the errors. Since I knew of it just 3 hours ago, I haven't finished it yet. Right now, I'm picking out errors in their personality files. Well actually, it's more like a human command code, or maybe I should call it a virus."
"What?!" Accelerator shouts as his eyes opens wide.
"Fuck that... First it was that blondie's candy and now it's her?! No,this is worse... this time she doesn't have that candy bag around her..." Accelerator thought as he starts panicking.
"I don't know why you're panicking."Yoshikawa asks him,feeling confused.
He regains his thoughts and then he keeps a straight face,"Tch, I just don't want them to breakdown before I break them again."
"Oh, so you're going to continue?"Yoshikawa asks.
"Yeah...I'm going to continue..."
"Then let me finish correcting these errors. All of the researchers will be elated to learn of this. Geez, you had me worried. I thought I was about to lose my only way in life. I couldn't even contact a single one of the researchers involved in this experiment."
"What?" Accelerator thought as he found the situation to be weird and he asks her,"Tell me everything, Yoshikawa. About the clone #20,001, Last Order."
"Huh? Why do you—?...I see so you've met her. Okay, I'll tell you everything. No point leaving you in the dark anymore."
Then she gets down from the table and continues,"Last Order was never supposed to be used in the experiment. She was supposed to be a failsafe. If one day, the clones turned on us, we would use her to control them. Simple as that."
"So what? She's your trump card?" Accelerator asks her.
"Somewhat. Have you heard of the Misaka Network?"
"Yeah, it's basically a brainwave linking all the clones together."
"Yes, so if we were to be betrayed by them, we would input a special code into her that tells them to stop."
Accelerator asks her,"So how the hell did she even escape from your "high security" base?"
"We had placed her in an incubator while we waited for the experiment to resume. However, on August 26, we realised that her brainwaves had became abnormal and when we went to check on her, she just disappeared. The incubator was damaged from the inside."
"..."
Accelerator just kept quiet while trying to assess the situation and how stupid it sounded and Yoshikawa continued,"At that moment, we didn't really know what was going on, so we treated it as if she had went berserk due to unknown reasons. The workers inside are in charge of looking for her."
"What? You haven't sought out Anti-Skill or Judgement yet?"
"We couldn't. Although we've gotten permission form the higher-ups, the experiment still isn't something we can openly declare."
"I can't tell if you guys are geniuses or just badasses. You let the brain of 10,000 clones, who have guns constantly around them free."
"Hey, it's because we were overconfident in our system that we were too careless. We didn't expect her to be smart enough to escape. Besides, that child shouldn't have been able to survive outside the incubator for a few days. We have really underestimated the seriousness of this situation..." Yoshikawa showed an expression of worry in her face and Accelerator smirked.
"A brain connecting 10,000 different eyes with each Sister doing different things and you expect them not to learn anything new? *sigh* Such stupidity."
"Why do you care so much about them anyway?"
"I don't care about them. For all I care,I just want them to make a better expression when I kill them, that's all."
"Thinking about it, what Last Order did should have been a self-defence mechanism implemented into her. Someone must have inserted some malicious process into Last Order's brain and caused her to leave the facility to protect herself. I suppose that child didn't know why she had to leave." Yoshikawa gives a suggestion.
"But that brat doesn't seem like she intended to escape. She even came to me for help and wanted me to contact the researchers."
"Wait...that's right, when did you last see her? How many hours ago? Also,why did she ask you?"
"Tch calm down, how am I supposed to answer you if you bombard me with questions.*sigh* I saw her around three hours ago and she asked me because I am at the centre of the experiment."
"...What's going on? It's weird for her to ask you for help and for her to run out..."
"That malicious process...Without even guessing and from how this whole conversation is going, it's something bad,isn't it?" Accelerator sighs after he had said that.
"It's something even worst... I printed her personality files out to try and find a few clues on where she would go. But those files are jumbled up with codes not originally found in her personality files and there are many of them which are fake,making it difficult to remove them." Yoshikawa facepalms herself from the exhaustion of having to work on it for the past three hours.
"And after analysing those codes, though I can't find a clear answer, I hypothesise that those codes will order the Sisters to attack anyone they see."Yoshikawa continued.
At this point,Accelerator saw how dangerous the situation had escalated. If those clones do start attacking people from all over the world, the powers from outside will find the terrorist attack strange due to all of them looking the same. The possibility of World War III starting was high except, it would be Academy City against the world.
"The virus activation timing is on the 30th August, 12 a.m. When it hits this timing,the virus will activate and then after 10 minutes,it will be completed. Though those children can't go up against you, they can easily wield the Metal Eater,their weapons."
"So you can't even contact Anti-Skill or Judgement now. What about cameras?" Accelerator asks her.
"Her movements are based on the experimental plan and as you know, all our experiment sites are located in places where the satellite cameras cannot detect the Sisters."
Then she continues telling him that she could use him to lure out Last Order since she had managed to find him. But Accelerator didn't want to become a pawn for them and instead changed the topic of the subject.
"Oh yeah, you said that it was a virus. Who was it done by?"
"Amai Ao. He was involved in the Radio Noise Project which was curbed, and later joined us and decided to use the Sisters as experimental substitutes. His specialty is the writing of the Testament's personality files. Basically,he understands their personalities best. No one can sneak new codes into those children's brains. Besides, before he left, someone witnessed him installing a Testament. But for some reason,he deleted the user history."
Accelerator was surprised when she had mentioned the name Amai Ao and he asks her,"How do we stop the virus?"
"I'm researching that now. However,you could also help." Yoshikawa suggests.
It took Accelerator a while to realise this but..."Hey...are you telling me that I should kill her?"
All they had to do was dispose of the infected unit to save the rest of the clones. Using this method would mean that they wouldn't have a control center anymore and if one goes berserk,it wouldn't affect the rest.
"...I'm trying not to let that happen. But in the worst case scenario, if there is no choice,then you'll have to do it. I'm not kind,Accelerator. I'm just naive."Yoshikawa tells him.
"Heh, you're talking to someone who killed over ten thousand of them. How can a piece of shit villain like me save others? I can only kill, I can't protect."
"It's true that you killed more than ten thousand Sisters. But if we could have found a way to upgrade you to Level 6 without having you to kill the Sisters, I believe you wouldn't have killed them."
"...So,what are you proposing?" Accelerator asks her,avoiding her statement.
"You can help me in two ways, the first is to get Amai Ao out from his hiding place in Academy City and force him to explain the workings of the virus. The other way is to protect Last Order while the virus is still dormant in her. You can choose one. But perhaps you're better at destroying than protecting."
She was too naive. She lacked the strength to take on responsibilities, so her naivety would never grow into kindness. That was who she was.
She took out two things,a disk and a super-light notepad-sized computer. There was a label that read "Serial #20,001 personality info" and in her other hand were photos of a highway speed camera with pictures showing Amai Ao driving in the same sports car he had been driving earlier. There was also a map with red markings all over it.
It seems like Yoshikawa had access to many security facilities but was still unable to catch Amai. Either it was because of the lack of manpower, or he just changes his hiding spots too quickly.
It was obvious which one suited Accelerator more. He had the power to destroy, not protect.
His wrong judgement, his arrogance of thinking that he was an all-mighty figure led him into despair.
His unluckiness brought others down as well. He had taken someone important from Kuroko and possibly other people, he had killed a "hero" and worst of all, he had killed over 10,000 humans just because he had lost faith in them.
He could not see himself in a world where he could protect others. His power couldn't save anyone, his power couldn't protect. The world in which he belonged in wouldn't allow him to. If he uses his power just this once to save a life, the common knowledge about him would collapse.
"Accelerator" would no longer exist. The "Accelerator" who saved others wouldn't be Accelerator anymore. It would be a reincarnation of him. There were many others who were more fitting for the role of a saviour and even though the seats were empty, he just couldn't bear to see himself become a hero.
"Tch, laugh at me now,you damn brats. Seems like at this point, I should hope for redemption. But I highly doubt I'd be given one." Accelerator thinks to himself as he smirks and he picks up his option with his right hand.
He opens the computer just for it to explode in his hands. Accelerator just stared blankly at the now blown-up device and Yoshikawa was surprised and she says,"Oh,I wonder what happened. Come here,the codes should be in the computer. I just downloaded it into the mini-computer to make carrying the codes convenient."
She accessed the computer and went into the files and opened up Last Order's personality files.
There,in front of him,a bunch of codes were put out. He analysed every single one of them and then closed his eyes for 48 seconds and memorised it. When he accidentally touched the mouse,the computer exploded.
"You're paying for that."Yoshikawa tells him with a blank expression.
"Tch,I haven't even been paid yet when I stopped the experiment. Just see this as "we're even"." Accelerator replies as he runs out only to stumble and fall a few times.
Yoshikawa smiles and she mutters,"Seems like it's worth celebrating that you still have such feelings remaining in you. Go ahead and prove that your power can be used to save those precious to you."
Yoshikawa then takes her red pen and cancels out the heading,'Level 6 Shift Experiment' and then she continues to correct the errors in Last Order's personality files.
"In the end,I'm just naive,not kind" she mutters to herself as she holds her smile. A kind person wouldn't have asked Accelerator for help. A kind person would have settled the problem by themselves.
If she was kind, she would've persuaded them to stop the experiment and stop Accelerator from killing them. But she didn't. She persuaded him to keep killing and brought him so much pain. He didn't express it, but she could tell and that's what she hated about herself. Just once, she hoped to do something she never did.
"I guess it's time to change as well."
———29 August 7:38p.m.———
"Tch, I wonder where I've gone wrong." Accelerator thinks to himself as he remembers himself. A lonely boy who used to have a normal name. Two Japanese characters for his family name, and three Japanese characters for his own name. It was an ordinary name.
When he was 10, he didn't put himself under the spotlight of "strongest" nor did he ever think of himself as the strongest. He just wanted to be "normal" where he could live a normal life and attend school like a normal human being. However, his whole entire life changed in an instance.
Everyone thought that he was just stronger than those around him. However, to him, the greatest calamity was that his power was a lot stronger than what he had thought.
Children who were the same age as him wanted to take the ball, which they were playing with, back from him. But his uncontrollable subconscious fractured their bones. Soon, the adults got involved and they tried hitting him by using their esper abilities on him.
However, all of it were redirected back to them. Soon after, Anti-Skill and Judgement got involved. They surrounded him with tanks, helicopters, unmanned robots and weapons, and fired everything at him but he only redirected them.
Every single one of them were destroyed and all he could do was close his eyes and cower in fear. That was when his young heart realised it.
If he touched someone, they would get hurt. If he felt irritated, someone will die. That would all lead up to the destruction of the world and in order to prevent this from happening, he locked his feelings away from society. If he was angry or irritated, he could possibly kill someone. If he showed kindness, others would view it as "The strongest" being bias to those who he wanted to protect and they might possibly harm them.
Thus, he had went with the solution of hiding his true feelings. He had donned a metaphorical mask, appearing as a cold person. However, even that approach was a mistake by itself. By putting on that mask, he had lost interest in human life. A person who seemed uninterested in everything, a person who wouldn't grumble no matter how others treated him and he surrendered to his power.
Then he made the final decision to get stronger, even stronger than he was, so strong that there would be no more conflicts.
Invincibility.
If he was invincible, no one would get hurt from being around him, prevent him from being feared and he would be recognised by others. That was what he wanted. He wanted company, someone to talk to, and someone who could lend him a listening ear and treat him like a human again.
He never expected himself to hurt so many people in the coming days ahead before the experiment.
Accelerator clicks his tongue and then he falls down, and pierced his left hand into a bunch of rocks on the ground but he didn't let that get to his head. He endured the pain as he picked himself up and continued running at a speed faster than an ordinary car.
As he was running,he noticed the sounds all around him. For some reason,there were many Anti-Skill members around and listening to them closely,it seems like an intruder has infiltrated into Academy City.
"Is this person related to Amai? If so,is this person the one who implanted the virus? No,if they were related,they wouldn't have caused a ruckus."
While thinking about this,he had already reached the restaurant where he left Last Order.When he went in,he asked one of the waitress if she had seen a 10 year old girl who is not wearing any clothes and has only a light blue dirty towel over her.
"That girl looked as if she was feeling unwell and we wanted to send her to a hospital when a white-cloaked man appeared and said he was a relative of hers. He mentioned that her illness occurs periodically,so we handed her over to him. If you want to find her, why don't you contact that man? Do you know who he is?"
"I know him all too well." Accelerator replies with a pissed off look.
As he walks out,he felt a bit of regret as he should've taken Last Order with him but he had thought that if he had,they would just punish her. Then he contacts Yoshikawa to inform her of the current situation.
"What did you say? Last Order was taken by Amai?!"
"It's just a possibility." Accelerator tells her then he continues,"But why would he want to take her? To secure her so that we don't find a way to counteract?"
"On a technical scale,Amai's a really talented researcher. There should be many organisations willing to take him in. But right now, we're in luck."
"Why?" Accelerator asks her.
"Because Academy City is on high alert due to an intruder. The alert was set to orange this afternoon, but then it turned red."
"I should be thankful to the people who caused that red alert." Accelerator thought,then he asks her where Amai will be and she replies with,"It's not easy to find him,but I can expect him to be somewhere isolated,because a grown man carrying a naked girl around would be suspicious. He'll try to not become the center of attention."
"Can't you hack into the security robots or satellite image system?" Accelerator asks her.
"I've only managed to track him down due to the money flow. The paper notes all have IC chips."
"Ah,I've heard of it. It's said that there were too many coloured counterfeit notes,so they installed those chips to identify them right?"
"There's actually another reason. By recording the personal information of the notes, one can identify the monetary flow. In this age, if you use a credit card or cash to buy something more than a thousand yen, your personal particulars will get stolen. So that's how I've managed to track him down. He had to spend money on daily necessities to live on."
"Doesn't he have a housing facility or friends to stay with?"
"I don't suppose he has anyone he can consider a friend."Yoshikawa replies.
"Heh,what a loner...though I'm also not too different until recently."
Yoshikawa ignored his statement and told him about the Radio Noise Project which left Amai bankrupt and due to the amount of debt accumulated by him,his friends had all left him.
Accelerator took a while to think of the possibilities until Yoshikawa said,"Hold on,that's weird. Amai Ao hasn't returned back to the facility in a while.Normally speaking,he should be thinking about that place first—"
Then Accelerator cuts her off,"The first place he thinks of will be the most dangerous,so he definitely won't go there. But once humans are forced into a tight corner,their way of thinking will become even simpler." Accelerator then grins and hangs up on her as he walks towards a certain research center.
———29 August 7:53p.m.———
A sports car was parked at a certain research facility. The air conditioning in the cramped car was blasted to maximum, but Amai Ao's hands were still sweating. Amai intended to hide inside the facility but he couldn't undo the heavy lock and chain surrounding the entrance.
"Damn it!"
Amai had made the wrong move and was really regretting it. He should have escaped out of Academy City immediately after Last Order had the virus inserted into her brain. The force opposing Academy City was waiting for him outside, and all he had to do was listen to their instructions and flee overseas. With his expertise on esper development, any of those opposing forces would want him to work for them. Moreover...
"Heh...the moment Last Order gets infected with the virus, I'll flee with this!"
He looks at the 3rd ranking Level 5 in Academy City at the back of his car, tied up by ropes with a cloth stuck in her mouth as he starts laughing like a maniac.
"Using her, we could potentially start doing experiments on her body! Maybe she can replace that good for nothing 1st ranking, Accelerator! If only he had done what he needed to! If only he just followed our instructions!"
Misaka was crying as through her muffling,she was screaming,"Papa!" Amai looks at her and he takes his fist and slugs it into her left cheek and he told her,"Shut up! You'll be an excellent asset and an excellent source of money. Look at that face, who wouldn't like it? Hehehe...hahahahaha!"
Then, something flashed across the glass and Amai instinctively looked at the dashboard. It was just a crow unrelated to Anti-Skill or the researchers.
Amai heaves a sigh of relief but he was shocked when he looked in his rear-view mirror to find Accelerator slowly walking towards him with a massive grin on his face then he falls down and he clicks his tongue and curses,"damnit, why the hell is this happening to me of all times?!"
Amai started panicking as he wondered what the #1 wanted from him. He looks at Last Order and figures that he just wants to kill her.
"In any case, you're not allowed to kill her!" He couldn't figure out a way to fight him so he twists the car key hard to start up the engine. The engine roared loudly, but he couldn't start it up.
Accelerator uses this opportunity to jump 10 metres into the air and crashed onto the engines. The windows cracked and the front wheels dug several centimetres into the ground, forming an oval shape to the wheels.
Accelerator stuck his foot through the broken glass and kicked the hood off and he was shocked to see Misaka inside as well.
"What the hell?!"
Amai got out of the car and Accelerator took one of the glass shards and threw it at Amai, which pierced through his back and he fell down.
He was gripping on to the ground, trying to crawl away. Accelerator smirks and picks up more glass shards and then he sends them flying to his back, making them stick there and he laid down on the floor flat.
"Heh, serves you right, you loner."
Accelerator had no time to spare to try and get Misaka out of those ropes,so he just took out the cloth in her mouth and pats her head.
"Just shut up, you annoying brat!"
She stops crying and only faint sobbing could be heard afterwards. He faces Last Order again as he calls Yoshikawa.
"The brat is safe here.Another 4 more hours before the virus activates. I'm coming back to you."
"There's no need. I'm coming to you with the equipment prepared. I thought this would be faster than having you double back to the research facility."
"Is the analysis of the virus code complete?"
"It's about 80% done. Don't worry, I'll make it in time."
"Tch,I'm not worried."Then he notices Last Order head is plastered with 2 electrodes and he asks Yoshikawa,"There are some things that look like electrodes on the kid's head. Would it be bad if I took them off?"
"Oh, those are used for checking the conditions of the Sisters' conditions. It just shows the respiratory rate, pulse rate, blood pressure, body temperature, physical and mental conditions. It's okay to take them off."
Then he saw the notebook computer linked to those electrodes and he asked her,"What is this BC functioning value?"
"That's Last Order's brain functioning rate. Brain Cell is called BC for short."
Accelerator was shocked because it was not easy to monitor a person's brain functioning perfectly. He could not understand how it worked, but he didn't bother thinking about.
"Can I use the machine to stop the virus?"
"No, you'll need a Testament and an incubator."
Accelerator clicked his tongue as he waited and then he looked at Misaka.
"Tch..."
He untied the ropes on her legs and wrists, and then she hugs him and shouts "papa!"
"Tch, I'm not your papa..."
He facepalms himself and then he remembered that he could manipulate the bio-electricity in the human brain and then he tells Yoshikawa,"Hey, Yoshikawa if I can control the electrical flow in the brain, I should be able to correct that brat's personality file without a Testament,right?"
"What are you--"
Speaking halfway, Yoshikawa seemed to realise something. The Testament controlled the electrical flow in a human, forcing in personality and knowledge.
"...Are you intending to become a Testament yourself? Impossible, though your power is to redirect any vector, controlling a brain signal is unheard of!"
Then Last Order started to whisper something.
"Misa...ka..."
"Misaka...as,Misaka is--"
Her lips were the only things moving and then, a barrage of words(?!) and incomprehensible words came out from Last Order,"Misa...ka-as Misaka is Misa!Ka! Misaka as Misaka as Misaka as Misaka misamisamisamisamisamisamisa Then tears came out of her tightly shut eyes. This alone made Accelerator slightly hurt.
"Oi, Yoshikawa...what the hell is this?"
"...No way...I see...This is a virus code that was encrypted. That virus seems like it's about to be activated."
"What?! Don't tell me you lied to me?!"
"No, I didn't lie. It seems it was a fake signal. He deliberately installed a fake activation code. The information he provided was false."
"Tch, that fucking loner...but it was my fault for not suspecting that...why would he even tell others the activation timing of the virus..."
Then he looks at the computer and sees the amount of her brain cells increasing,70%,83%,95%,100% and it stopped.
Is what he'd like to think, but it kept increasing and then it hit...250%. Warning signals blocked the entire screen and Yoshikawa tried to communicate with Accelerator but she couldn't get to him.
"Fuck! Why? Doesn't matter, I'll play around with her bio-electricity."
He gives a sinister grin as he puts his right hand on her head and then he uses his left hand to push Misaka back and points to the seat. He flings his cellphone away as he sweats profusely.
"Heh, fuck my life...I'm a damn monster who the hell can I save. No one. I'm just a damn monster! I'll reset her. It doesn't matter, it's better for her to forget everything. All I want is to protect that smile, I'll drag her out of the darkness...I'll murder everything!"
Then he focuses.
"Default reflection...Cancel."
Then he managed to access Last Order's mind safely, he extracted the electrical flow of the human and continued to follow the direction of her bio-electricity. Through the direction of the electrical flow in the person, he managed to grasp it.
Now, he could see everything in her mind, her thought process that infused with his mind was warm, not because of the fact that she was burning up, but it felt comfortable, it was just like that time when Misaka bypassed his redirection barrier.
That same touch that evolved into a feeling entered him and he couldn't help but show a smile. A kind, gentle smile. His hands trembled but he didn't care.
"123m1le;1mlwqlda;lm1 process ';wada'sd'2;wq'd;1'2;1wd path A to W. Red wavelength of process 08 to process 72 is replaced by path C into A8 area D sealing process 5 through S wave blue changed to red..."
The meaningless language that Last Order was uttering just now gradually changed into Japanese. The insides of his head was like a furnace, and his vision was getting blurry because he was pouring all of his calculation ability into one point, so his redirection wouldn't work, and the uncomfortable sweat was sticking on to him.
"I have 52 seconds to finish this..."
All he could see were different codes, some of them were her memories with him but he erased them as well, because he couldn't tell the difference between the codes and the virus.
"Comparing to pre-infection data...Number of altered lines of code...357,081..."
Then he recalls his moments with Last Order in the restaurant, she had broken him out of his shell, she had taken the mask he was wearing and most importantly, she had showed him the feelings of a "fake" person.
Regrets engulfed his entire body, as he looks away from her,"That's right...I killed over 10,000 of you and now I'm saving you? Fuck that...I know I look like a damn fucking joke right now...but I don't care...laugh at me all you want, I don't care..."
Then he looks at her and smiles,"But let me apologise, I'm sorry for taking so long...to save you."
Then he breaks his smile and grits his teeth, and forces the words out,"Here I go! Execute command, delete!"
Delete:173,542 left
"What the fuck was I thinking..."
Delete:59,802 left
"I chose to walk down the path of a cold person so people would leave me alone..."
Then he hears the barrel of a gun being cocked back.
*Chik Ching*
"Don't you dare fucking stop me, Accelerator!"
It was Amai Ao and he was pointing a black pistol at him.
Delete:23,891left
"In the end...I had just dug a grave for myself..."
Since Accelerator had focused all of his calculation ability on Last Order's brain signal, he didn't have the ability to redirect. If he even moved a single muscle from that spot, he could potentially destroy Last Order's mind.
Delete:7,001 left
"Am I going to die here? Well, I couldn't care less..."
Misaka identifies the black object as something dangerous. She could tell from Amai's eyes that he was dangerous, and that her "papa" was being threatened so she took action. She lunged from the back of the car and onto Amai.
"Back away from me, you bitch!" He escapes from her grasp and he hits her on the side of the head with his pistol and she screams. But she does not let up and she grabs hold of his legs. He ignores her and quickly aims the gun at his head and fires down the sight.
Delete:102 left
"However...I don't want to die right now! I have to protect them!"
Deletion...Complete.
*BANG*
The bullet flew out and then it travelled slowly...
"I can't dodge..."
1 inch away...
"Tch..."
The bullet enters his head and pierces his frontal lobe as his hand drops away from Last Order's forehead. Amai Ao then looks at Misaka and then he kicks her away.
"You damn bitch!"
He kicks her as she starts crying "papa"
"Just shut up! What the fuck have gotten into you?! Why are you acting like a damn child?!"
He kicks her in the stomach continuously until he hears Last Order say,"Error. Break-code-No.000001-to-No.357081. Due to illegal process, the host command statement has been stopped. In accordance to standard descriptors, specimens number 20,001 will reawaken. Repeat code No. 000001 to..."
"...FUCK! God damnit! It's all because of you! You useless level 5's!"
He kicks Misaka in the stomach again and again until blood was spewing out from her mouth as she cried. He points the gun at Misaka but before he could pull the trigger, Accelerator manipulated the vectors in his body and moved to his barrel and redirected the bullet away.
"What the!? You're still alive?! S-Someone like you can't change, you'll always be a damn cold-hearted murderer!"
"Fuck you...I know it's ridiculous for me to think that I can save others. I'm too naive that even I think it's funny. However, this kid is innocent!"
Accelerator gave a maniacal smile as he stared at Amai dead in the eye.
"What the fuck has that brat done to deserve this? Nothing! What has the #3 done to be treated like a toy for an experiment? Nothing! That's all the more of a reason I want to save her! They were never intended to be in the darkness. People like us should just shut up and not involve others! It is true that I've killed over ten thousand Sisters, but this doesn't mean I should leave the rest of them to die! I know what I'm saying right now is hypocritical, but no matter how much of an asshole we are, no matter how of a fucking scum we are, that can't be the reason to harm these fucking brats!"
Blood seeps out through the wound, covering his entire face and he reaches his hand out to try and swipe at Amai but he trips over one of those glass shards.
"Fuck...my luck..."
Then he fell to the ground, dead, as blood spurts out from his wound in the forehead. Amai was surprised at first but then he smirks and then tells him as he steps on Accelerator's head,"Heh, how the mighty has fallen! 1st rank? You have to be kidding me. If you had only done as you were told, none of this would have happened. Well, guess I'll just install another virus. In the end, you are not a hero. Just a kid with mental issues. That's how we are." He points the gun at Accelerator's head and then...
*Bang*
Amai looks behind him as he whispers,"Yoshikawa Kikyou..." he then falls to the ground and passes out again.
"Geez, this is a mess...the #3 level 5 and Accelerator..."
-------29 August 8:53p.m.-------
"ughhh...what the..."
Amai woke up on the ground and sees Yoshikawa in front of him, putting Last Order into an incubator. He could barely move in the shape he was in and he lifted his black pistol up using his right hand.
At that moment,Yoshikawa turned around and closed her trunk and aimed her pistol at Amai while she smiles at him and tells him,"I'm sorry but I'm not kind, but naive. I didn't have the guts to shoot at your vitals, but I didn't dare to let you escape. I ended up increasing your pain. Perhaps this method was the cruelest choice."
"How did you...find me here?" Amai asks.
"It was simple, Accelerator helped me to deduce where your actions would lead you. I could barely hear what happened around here, but fortunately, there's no commotion outside."
Amai was trembling even more. The numbness was starting to spread to his fingers, and he shook the gun to the point the rattling inside the metal parts of the pistol could be heard.
"Ah, don't worry about those children. I know of a doctor who's really good. Though that doctor looks like a frog and doesn't look to be really amazing, but he has the nickname 'Heaven Canceller', and I believe that he can cure that child."
The sound of an ambulance from afar was becoming closer and the pistol that Amai was holding was turning to face her but she ignored it. She cared little about her own safety and only prioritised bringing the children back to the world in which they belonged in. A happy sunny place, where they could laugh like normal people, have fun like normal people and live like normal people. But was that called naive? Couldn't that be considered kindness?
"It's ironic, really..."
"Why? I don't understand, this isn't like you. You can't possibly do this. You always measure up the probability of chances and risks. Is the chance presented by this act enough to topple that balance in your heart?"
"If I have to answer, I'll say that I hate to use this method of thought. I don't want to see myself succeed like this. But ever since I was little, I've had a wish. Even if it's just once, I just wanted to do something really kind and not just naive." and she smiles as she continues,"Actually, I never wanted to be a researcher. Unbelievable, isn't it?"
Amai was extremely surprised to hear her say that, as she was a really talented researcher. Probably just a few years less experience than what he has.
"I wanted to be a school teacher. I wanted to remember every student's face, and for every student to come to me if they ever had any problems. To always smile and act strong, yet cry out loud during a graduation ceremony and get ridiculed by my students. I just wanted to become a kind teacher. But, it seems I've reached the end of my line."
She knelt down in front of Amai, who was sitting down now, making sure they shared eye contact and then they both pressed their pistols to each other's chest.
"However, I wanted to do something really kind, and not just naive. That boy...as much as he is unable to go back to how things were. I earnestly prayed everyday that he could return back to normal. That he would have his heart returned back to normal. And what he showed me, was that he was willing to bet everything to save that girl. In the end, he protected her instead of himself and I want to protect the kindness in his heart. The hidden kindness in his heart. I want him to be able to express it once more--No, I want him to be able to express it everyday, as long as he lives. I won't accept that the results of such a kind action should have a cruel ending. That is why I have entrusted someone to take care of him for me and in order to preserve that peace, I'll have to kill you, Amai Ao."
"You should be afraid of dying alone. If you want to drag someone down, bring me along. No matter what, I won't allow you to do anything to those children. This is my once in a lifetime request of kindness."
Amai chuckled at that and then he said,"My god, instead of naive, you guys are stubborn. Although it's true that kindness doesn't fit you, I can also say the same for myself. Tell me, Yoshikawa. Had I seen this side of you earlier, would I have been able to stop this project earlier?"
"Not really...the moment you step into the darkness, there's no turning back, Amai."
"Heh, until the very end huh...I hope one day we can meet each other again and one day, I hope to see ourselves change, Yoshikawa."
Yoshikawa just smiles and nods her head and the force of their fingers were exerted on the triggers. The two shots hit each other's chest. The two bullets that pierced through their bodies flew out from Amai and Yoshikawa's backs. But instead of looking on in despair, they only smiled at each other as they drop dead on the ground.
Yoshikawa's lifeless body was left on the ground as the blood flowed all the way to Accelerator's left hand, even as he laid there, his misfortune would still find a way to get him.