Previously, on A Certain Scientific Railgun T...
I am Shirai Kuroko. I am a member of Judgment,
which works to keep the peace in Academy City.
Currently, Academy City is in the middle of a huge event, the Daihasei Festival.
While it was going on, I was walking along with my friends Uiharu and Saten
when suddenly, we were stopped.
Standing there was Academy City's third-ranked Level 5,
Railgun, or Misaka Mikoto. Though we both attend Tokiwadai Middle School,
she casually called out to me when we are not even acquainted.
Who exactly does she think she is?!
However, later on, Saten started to say something peculiar.
She suggested that perhaps Misaka Mikoto and the rest of us
were actually friends going way back.
And that another Level 5 at Tokiwadai Middle School,
Mental Out, or Shokuho Misaki, was actually controlling us.
Honestly, could there be a more ridiculous hypothesis?
However, at that same moment, an incident arose
where Uiharu and Misaka Mikoto's mother were both taken hostage.
The sight of Misaka Mikoto's smile at that moment,
as though she had complete trust in me...
It is burned into my eyes, and I cannot shake it.
Just thinking about it makes my chest grow warmer--
But that does not matter!
Misaka Mikoto said she was going after Shokuho Misaki,
who apparently knows something about what is happening, and left.
Uiharu and I began an investigation into the hostage-taker, Kozaku Mitori.
Just then, Saten came bursting in with some new information.
She had gone off on her own and snuck into a factory,
and said she was assaulted by a metal puppet controlled by Kozaku Mitori.
That girl really does do the most reckless things!
Fortunately, one of Kozaku Mitori's associates, a girl named Xóchitl,
came to her rescue for some reason. From what that girl said,
the true target of the plan that Kozaku Mitori was moving forward
was Misaka Mikoto!
What was going on here?
But at that very moment, the skies clouded over,
and lighting struck a certain building.
The sight that greeted me when I dashed over there
was Kozaku Mitori's metal puppet attacking Shokuho Misaki.
I took the man who was there,
along with a girl who resembled Misaka Mikoto, to a safe place.
I also rescued Shokuho, but when I tried to ask her what was going on,
and why Misaka Mikoto and herself were involved in it,
she instead used her ability to transmit the information directly into my brain.
According to it, the ringleader behind the plan was a mad scientist named Kihara Gensei.
He had taken control of a giant facility that housed Exterior,
which allowed him to use the same ability that Shokuho has,
and was apparently using its power to propel Misaka Mikoto to Level 6.
From what Shokuho says, Kozaku Mitori was an inductor
that would lead Misaka Mikoto to reach Level 6.
An important element in stopping Misaka Mikoto would be to neutralize her.
Incidentally, Shokuho Misaki anticipated Kihara Gensei coming to her
to learn Exterior's limiter unlock code, which only she knew,
and set all kinds of traps to stop him. I hope that works out for her.
Beyond that, there are a couple of boys outside
who are doing something to cause all kinds of commotion.
Are they trying to stop the runaway Misaka Mikoto, or what are they doing?
Well, I am sure that they must be playing some important role, as well.
In any event, what I must do is locate Kozaku Mitori and take her into custody.
Even if peril is waiting for me,
as a member of Judgment, I will save Academy City!
Someone who is pretending to run away but still has some ploy
displays telltale signs of what they're after.
I don't let those hints that they're about to turn the tables go unnoticed.
Which is exactly why I can tell just by looking at you now...
...that you have nothing up your sleeve to reverse this situation.
The limiter unlock code...
...is mine.
Damn!
Whew, I can't wait to see this.
What exactly will happen to Academy City at that moment?
But then, I don't suppose you will be alive that long.
"A Certain Scientific Railgun T"
Not here.
Not here, either.
Where is Kozaku Mitori?
I destroyed her puppet's camera at the start
and rendered her echolocation unusable with my anti-listening devices.
I've covered her puppet's eyes and ears. And yet...
...her puppet knew my exact location and attacked me.
Judging from her actions, I guessed that Kozaku Mitori herself
was watching me from the upper floors.
But if I have looked this much and still have not found her...
There must be something that I have overlooked.
Do you think Shirai's injuries really aren't that bad?
Going by all of our cases up to now, no, she may not be all right.
No, huh? We can't tell what's going on without being able to see inside.
Is that a relay camera from the festival?
There's one here, too. But why? There aren't any competitions here.
They flew in a little while ago.
You were so focused on the building you didn't notice them.
Antiskill must have sent them in
to see if there was anyone who hasn't evacuated yet.
Looks like the EM waves at the heart of electrical phenomenon
are too strong for them to get near there.
I've got it, Uiharu! Let's borrow those cameras!
We'll be able to tell what's happening in the building,
and we'll be able to help out Shirai.
That's a great idea, coming from you!
I'll start hacking--I mean, accessing them right away
and transfer command over to me...
Miss Saten, when did these cameras go in there?!
Huh? Like I said, when Shirai entered the building.
Miss Shirai!
I'm just saying, this is only a possibility, but...
Not only did she dig up who I am in this short a time,
but she also had countermeasures to shut down my echolocation on hand.
I'm impressed.
On the other hand, luck is still on my side.
I've seized control of a festival relay camera being used
to direct the evacuation and succeeded in hacking it.
Using it, I've gained the means to control my Liquid Shadow.
Even without echolocation, I still have eyes on the tactical situation.
Oh, go ahead and search around all you like.
That is the last place.
Those were all of the places where she could hide herself.
Even supposing we crossed paths,
the motion sensor sheets I placed in key locations would have picked her up.
Was it all for nothing?
Supposing what Shokuho said is true,
then if we are to return Miss Misaka to normal,
we must neutralize Kozaku as soon as possible.
And yet, I...
No...
Even assuming I have this completely wrong,
Kozaku would still not be so relentless in coming after me. In fact...
...she would be concealing the fact that she is not here.
It is time to calmly reassess the facts.
If she is not lying in wait here,
then where exactly is she?
The surveillance cameras caught Kozaku
going onto the street in front of the building.
Meanwhile, there has been no sight of Kozaku on the cameras since.
This is the only building in which she could be hiding.
The only... "building"...
That won't work! I can tell exactly where you are!
I'll drive her into a corner such that she'll have no choice but to teleport!
It's possible that she could jump to another floor,
but as long as she doesn't know exactly where I am,
she's going to want to jump into a safe space that she can see.
When she uses her ability consecutively like this,
I've identified that it creates a brief lag.
If I can predict where she's moving to and catch her at that instant...
There!
Did I get her?
Sorry about that,
but if you hadn't interfered, I wouldn't have killed you.
Then again, if Academy City is about to be destroyed,
you would have met the same fate later than sooner.
You're just going on ahead before the rest of us.
There it is!
Sogiita!
It's working!
I'm sure this will...
Ho, we're already at the unlock stage, are we?
It looks like I don't have a single moment to spare.
Inputting the limiter unlock code I got from Shokuho into Exterior...
Input complete.
The city may be wiped out once Mikoto reaches Level 6,
but I have to make sure that you, at least, get blown away!
You can apologize to her in the next life! Go ahead and pop!
"#13 SYSTEM (Those Who Arrive at Heaven's Will in an Only Human Body)"
I found you!
So...
...you were in the sewers after all.
Indeed, you were seen on the street in front of the building,
but you were not inside.
So I knew that you must have gone in here.
H-How are you alive? No, you're still here on the camera...!
A composite?
From that moment on?
Impossible! There are tens of thousands of relay cameras!
Are you saying you singled out the one under my control and took it over?!
I have the best partner, who can do just that.
Good work.
There is nowhere left for you to run.
My Liquid Shadow is still aboveground.
There's not enough time to call it back here! But...!
It is so dark. I have to get closer, or I cannot precisely judge the distance!
Hiding myself wasn't the only reason why I fled into the sewer.
It was to be ready, in the off-chance that you caught up with me!
Aboveground, you can jump around just about anywhere,
but down here, your movements are limited to one straight line!
When you teleport away to avoid my first knife,
my second knife will get you wherever you jump to!
Forward? To the side? Up? No matter where you run...
...I will take you down that instant!
She didn't teleport?!
Oh, no, I'm too slow--
Dolly...
I see... making me think... that you had no further plan remaining...
...was itself your plan, then...
I guess...
...you win this round...
Huh...?
Graviton panels... What if I used these to create a pitfall trap?
Or maybe use them to capture Gensei directly?
Hmm, would these really be enough to snare Gensei? No,
it could prove difficult to one-up that old coot with trickery.
Not when he's taken over Exterior.
You know, maybe I don't need it anymore.
I've thought this for a while,
but in return for the trouble of keeping this hidden, and the cost of its upkeep,
not to mention having it taken over, like right now, just for a boost in ability...
...has more going against it than for it, doesn't it? Besides,
with a disturbance as big as this one,
other organizations will find out about it.
But then, how am I supposed to decommission it?
It's designed to withstand five times the seismic force
of the greatest earthquake ever recorded.
More immediately, if I don't go about it just right,
any damage to the giant brain could bounce back onto the Mental Out user,
leaving them crippled.
To circumvent that damage, I would have to input the self-destruct code.
But Gensei currently has the access privileges to Exterior.
If I'm going to steal those privileges back,
I'll have to undo his Level Upper first.
But if I could do that, this would be all too easy.
What if, instead, I could manipulate Gensei
into entering the self-destruct code himself...
But I've got the cart before the horse again.
No...
I can do it!
Still... the risk is more than a little bit high.
If he sees through it, then naturally, it's game over.
And even if it does work,
once I'm no longer of any use to him, he might dispose of me first.
It doesn't matter to me what happens to Miss Misaka...
...but there's no guarantee that the virus that was injected into the Sisters
can be treated by the research facilities.
And in order to understand the virus's configuration,
I'd have to take a peek inside Gensei's head.
What's more, if I miss this chance to catch Gensei, I won't get another.
It's a gamble...
So even after pursuing victory to the very last second,
I have to wager that I'll lose, then?
After swapping my own recognition
of which is the limiter unlock code and which is the self-destruct code,
I have to erase all memory of doing so.
So, it looks like you up and entered the self-destruct code into Exterior, huh?
Leave it to me, I guess you might say...
I don't remember doing it, though.
Is she... changing?
Does that mean what's-her-name shut off the power at the source?
What was I...?
What... is that...?
What's going on?!
No! Stop! Please!
It won't stop!
What's happening?!
I can't...
...hold it back...!
This...
...isn't over yet, apparently.
"Next episode preview"
Zapper has gotten all screwy, but what exactly can I do to help her?
"Next episode preview" "#14 Dragon Strike (Jaw of the Dragon King)"
Next time, "Dragon Strike."
When science and magic cross paths, the story begins.
You've got some guts, doing that preview over on this show!
Huh? Was that out of line?