"Yo~ Chairman! Don't you get dizzy hanging around like that all day?"
"What do you want now?"
In a cultivation tank bathed in red light, Aleister Crowley opened his eyes, gazing at the man who stabilized Academy City yet destabilized the grand plan centered on it.
"Dolly's family—per your plan, they're all ready, right? I'm here to negotiate terms…"
"Negotiate? What's there to talk about? They're just mass-produced units, 180,000 yen each. What, planning to use them to feel out the fourth-ranked instead? With your skills, getting the fourth shouldn't be hard. Why bother with soulless dolls?"
Aleister's eyes glinted with a teasing edge as he looked at Samuel.
Samuel paused, considering.
Exactly. As they stood, they were just 180,000-yen dolls—empty vessels, high-end inflatable girlfriends, to put it bluntly.
They held no real value to him.
"…Chairman, well… maybe it's a case of caring for the house and its crows too? After all, humans do odd things sometimes. I know your plans… How about this? I guarantee I'll complete the original task. Deal?"
These empty shells shared nearly identical genetic structures with Misaka Mikoto.
As mentioned before, a soul's capacity is infinite, but its expressed "soul power" is limited by the body's physical state, not the soul itself.
Aleister's order to prepare 20,000 Misaka Sisters was to distribute and bear that "soul."
Their bodies, identical to Misaka Mikoto's, could partially deceive the "soul." By putting them in crisis, their instincts would activate, strengthening their connection to the faintly linked soul.
This amplified their Electromaster abilities.
Through their electromagnetic forces, a "virtual world" could be constructed.
Samuel knew Aleister's goal: the Artificial Heaven.
If Misaka Mikoto reached Level 6, the plan would be unnecessary, but she was almost certainly incapable of it.
Academy City's scientists never bet on the absolute "1%" probability. If 99% wasn't enough, it wasn't viable.
Aleister believed in that 1% but wouldn't gamble on it—not when there was a better way.
The Misaka Sisters were critical to this plan, and Aleister would never let Samuel interfere. Even if things were fine now, he'd push the plan forward, and if needed, he'd find a way to seal Samuel away.
Samuel didn't doubt Aleister's capability—the "20th century's greatest magician," a monster who could kill a Magic God.
Thus, negotiation was essential.
To get the Misaka Sisters to Aleister's desired state, bloodshed wasn't necessary. There were other methods.
Aleister didn't pursue them because they weren't needed.
Exactly. The end goal mattered.
Why take the hard path when an easier one existed?
To Aleister, the Misaka Sisters were mere tools.
Like a programmer who could delete a chunk of code to make a system run, why bother debugging to keep it?
"…Fine. You have six months. If you fail, don't blame me!"
Since Samuel was willing to take on the debugging, Aleister didn't mind. As long as the goal was met, the process was irrelevant.
He wasn't a math teacher grading steps—he cared only about results.
"By the way… that plan starts today. They've enlisted Accelerator, right? Losing one or two won't matter, will it?"
"No need to worry. I've already arranged it. You wouldn't miss that, would you?"
Samuel chuckled. The man before him had eyes covering 99% of Academy City. The remaining 1%? That was Samuel's domain.
…
"Hey! That's not how you use that!"
In a dark alley, a white figure stood tall, blocking Misaka 10001's attack with an arm and shoving her into the wall.
Accelerator, the second-ranked of Academy City's eight Level 5s.
His white hair fluttered faintly in the night breeze as his slender arm picked up a gun from the ground.
"An UZI? Ancient junk! You think this can take me down? Man… Is Kihara screwing with me? And you're really the fourth-ranked's clone? Where's your ability, huh?!"
Accelerator's kick landed beside Misaka 10001's head, the force cratering the ground and cracking it widely, his foot sinking in.
"…"
Misaka 10001 stared at Accelerator with blank eyes, like a puppet moving by program alone.
"Hey, you…"
Accelerator's expression darkened. He grabbed her collar, yanking her from the wall.
Their eyes locked, and then…
Smack~
He let go—
Misaka 10001's body hit the ground, kicking up dust.
"Just a doll, huh? Fine, let's wrap this up quick and head back… Hm?"
"Oi! Let that girl go!"
A figure appeared at the alley's entrance.
"Ugh, they can't even clear the area properly? Useless… Hey! Mind your own business and scram. You might keep your life that way!"
Killing was a serious crime in Academy City. Though it was a lab that didn't value life, surface order was necessary. Causing a commotion would draw suppression from above.
And… Accelerator didn't really want to kill.
"I refuse… Accelerator!"
"Oh~ You know me? Not a random bystander then. Name yourself!"
"Just a passing esper!"
"An esper? Heh~ Trying to climb the ranks by stepping on me? Bring it on!"
***
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