Chaos Theory: Chapter 14

The Story Thus Far 

Chapter 14: Night Out

With a groan, I kicked the door of my apartment shut behind me. The room was dark, a relief after staring at the screen for hours.

Running a club in Tokiwadai didn’t mean you could skimp in your ‘availability’.

I slouched forward, walking into the kitchenette. With a huff, I heaved two big canvas bags of groceries up on the counter, next to a pair of browning apples and a dirty mug. It was mine, of course. My Misaka was far too neat to leave her own dishes uncleared.

I rubbed my arm where it twinged right below my elbow. Merely phantom pain, as I was well past the stage where the cloned muscle fibers might disconnect from the rest of my body. Heaven Canceller had even removed the pins from the bones and injected some magic goop that caused the pieces to heal together like they’d been the same bone all alone.

That didn’t stop it from aching at times. A reminder that even if the scars on the outside were gone, the ones inside were harder to… expunge.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. I’d had a staff meeting at 6 am, cram classes at 7, my normal work day, Mikoto’s club, office hours, and grocery shopping. I felt tired, gross, and ready to collapse in my bed and sleep until Monday.

So, naturally, I folded down the canvas bags and started by putting away the lettuce.

“Computer.” There was a chime, the kitchen lighting up slightly. I bit back a hiss. “Lights to low. Play… my classical playlist.”

I laughed as my favorite songs from 2011 started to play over the integrated speakers. The music was the same, well, the same as Earth Aleph music. “All the other kids in the pumped up kicks…” I hummed along, and ignored how this world was so similar to my own, in ways that only made it more different.

There were some things, of course, that snuck up on me. Like the way the shelves in the fridge slid out on their own so I could put things away easier. Or how the speakers were so well hidden that even with bugs it would have been difficult to pick them out from the walls.

I’d read my fair share of Sci-Fi, but really, they never focused on the little things, so they still caught me by surprise.

Of course, there were things that simply couldn’t catch me by surprise. I smiled as a familiar mind entered my range. “Hello, Misaka.” I put away the last of the meat, leaving some to defrost for tonight, before turning towards Misaka Mikoto.

Well, aMisaka Mikoto.

I’d gotten better at controlling my ability recently; being around a level 4 all the time would do that. I tended to let my range shrink when I was at home so it wouldn’t brush up against the other apartments.

From the hallway, Misaka nodded. “‘Hello, Mama,’ says Misaka as she greets the Professor.”

I huffed, before raising my voice. “You didn’t tell me you were having your sister over.”

There was a pause, before the Misaka in front of me glanced to the side, the lightestdusting of red crossing her cheeks. “‘Misaka does not know what Mama is talking about,’ says Misaka as Misaka acts nonchalantly as possible.”

“Mmhm.”

A second later, My Misaka came out of her room. “‘How did Mama tell?’ Misaka asks Mama, disappointed but also gleeful.”

I rolled my eyes, ‘how indeed’. I walked over, patting both girls on the head. “That was an interesting trick you pulled there, routing your thoughts through the other Misaka’s head. I’m sure it would fool most telepaths.”

I, of course, couldn’t let her know that it had almost fooled me too.

Both girls preened slightly at my praise. They both straightened slightly, tucking a strand of hair behind their left ear and glancing off to the side.

In unison.

It was enough to make me chuckle again.

“‘I do not think we should keep trying to fool the professor,’ says Misaka. ‘It is clear that she will always know 10032.’”

“‘I enjoy it,’ says Misaka as she rubs her head against Mama’s hand for more pats, ‘and it… improves Network function.’”

I blinked. My girl had gotten practically shameless. Not only begging for more attention, but also blatantly lying to accomplish her own ends? It was clear that I was a bad influence.

With a sigh, I continued to gently comb my fingers through her hair. Then the other Misaka nudged her head forward as well, and I guess I wasn’t getting started on dinner just quite yet, was I?

Really, it was a sign of how far we’d come. At first, things had been awkward between us. I’d practically defaulted to acting how I could remember Mom behaving: constantly supportive, gentle, quick with a hug, and even quicker with her wit.

I… was a bit lacking on the wit part, but I was very good at wearing masks. Perhaps too good.

Now though, I could say that my feelings for My Misaka were unalloyed. We were close in a way I’d only ever allowed the Undersiders to be. Maybe it was cheating a little, to know that Misaka felt the same way.

I didn’t care.

“Will you be staying for dinner… 19090?” I tilted my head, picking the number from the stream of information that Sisters always had flowing through them. “I can make more.” You’d think being in a massive network would make that harder, but actually each sister wore their number pretty openly in the network, like a username or something.

At least when they weren’t hiding it to try and get one over on me.

19090 shook her head. “‘No,’ says Misaka, shaking her head. ‘I am here to provide what is called ‘moral support’ for Misaka 10032’s current plan of action.’”

I blinked, taking my hands back. Both girls looked up at me with matching big brown eyes and military spec night vision goggles. I placed my hands on my hips. “Plan of action?”

Misaka 10032 kicked her foot against the ground exactly once. “‘I want to… go shopping,’ says Misaka as if revealing a deep dark secret.”

I blinked, glancing back towards the kitchen. I’d planned to make burgers today, but I hadn’t even gotten the eggs out yet.

And yet, I’d asked Misaka if she wanted to maybe shop for new accessories… or clothes…nearly two weeks ago.

I sighed, but not quite unhappily. “Sure. We can do takeout.”

“Misaka perks up and asks, ‘Can we get Chinese?’”

I huffed. “Sure, we can get Chinese.”

“‘May I reconsider my decision not to stay for dinner?’ Misaka asks the professor.”

“Oh, I see how it is.” I crossed my arms. “When it’s my cooking no one is interested, but the moment I mention take out you all hop on board?” I threw up my hands. “I’m not thatbad.”

The two Sisters shared a look. “‘Sometimes, discretion is the better part of valor,’ says Misaka.”

“‘I agree,’ agrees Misaka.”

I rolled my eyes. “Everyone’s a critic.” I brushed it off. I knew how to cook, I’d done it for me and my dad, and even more when I’d been living on my own in Chicago. But I also know I tended towards bland, easy to prepare meals.

I also had a tendency to slip into my old workout meal prep routines, and apparently not even literal clones wanted steamed chicken, raw vegetables, and rice five days a week.

“Let me get my bag.” I’d tucked it into one of the shopping bags, or something.

As I walked back over to the counter I heard, “‘Weren’t you dieting?’ Misaka asks Misaka as—”

“‘Th-this and that are different!’ says Misaka as Misaka waves her hands furiously. ‘Besides, I am on a new, better diet!’”

There was a moment of silence. “‘Oh,’ says Misaka, expressing reluctant interest.”

I shook my head as 19090 launched into an explanation of her new, healthy daily step diet. Teenage girls, they never changed.

Though that did explain why My Misaka brought Misaka 19090 along as ‘moral support’. I wasn’t exactly up to date on Misaka politics, but from what I’d seen, most Misakas didn’t really like the thought of differentiating the network.

They were still new to the idea of being individuals. Not branches of a tree, to be snipped off when Tree Diagram ordained it to be so. I picked up my bag from the counter. “Ready, girls?”

Both of them nodded, finished with their own conversation.

Also, how was ‘healthy daily steps’ a diet?

I shook my head. There were times that I truly didn’t understand Academy City. We stepped into the elevator.

Or maybe it was a Japan thing.

“Where do you want to go first?” I asked as we got into my car. Really, though, I just took a moment to relax back into the seat. God, did my mom ever have back pain? Maybe it was the heels I had to wear. Stupid Tokiwadai and their bourgeois, gendered, dress code.

You know, this was actually probably why Mom joined a gang, wasn’t it? Well, and also more substantive reasons, but being forced to wear heels everywhere—even short ones—was enough to make me want to kill someone at the end of the week.

Thankfully, I had a pair of flats I kept in the car, and I quickly slipped into those.

I couldn’t do it while shopping; the grocery was too close to Tokiwadai. I think one of the cashiers had a sister who worked as a maid at the café.

“‘I am unsure,’ says Misaka as Misaka fidgets in her seat.” She was actually sitting stock still, just rubbing a thumb against the other. “‘Maybe someone else has a suggestion?’”

“‘There is a…very nice clothing store in the mall,’ says Misaka hesitantly.” That would be 19090. “‘I wanted to go there before. But.’”

I shrugged. “Well, that’s good enough for me.” I punched the instructions into the car and let it drive itself off. Which was a good thing, because I’d never really gotten a driver’s license. Trying to drive on the opposite side of the street here would be near suicidal. “Were you thinking maybe a bracelet to start?” I smiled at the Sisters. “Something small can have a large impact on your outfit. Just think of how Mikoto looks when she’s wearing her Gekota charm.”

“Heh. Heh. Heh.” Misaka 19090 laughed, shoulders clicking up and down like a wind up toy. “‘Big sister is very childish, isn’t she?’ says Misaka as she thinks about Misaka’s Gekota collection.”

My Misaka, though, simply glanced down at her hands, giving a long slow blink. I could use my powers to get a sense of what she was feeling, but it was just a muddle. Unlike their names, Sisters buried all but the strongest emotions under a constant deluge of observational data that I couldn’t even begin to parse.

Though, that only meant their strongest emotions shone through like a star.

In any case, I was patient; I could wait for Misaka to come to a decision while Misaka continued to laugh.

It almost sounded like the start of a horror story, I thought. A woman in a car with two twins. One won’t say anything, the other laughs like a wooden doll. The car drives itself, to where? Who knows.

I gave my own small laugh at that. Academy City was a horror story enough all of its own. So far, I’d managed to avoid being dragged into any other altercations, but the fact that Meltdowner had tried to kill me wasn’t something I could just ignore. There were people in Academy City that wanted me very dead, and all I had was their names.

Names that didn’t exist, according to the records I had access to.

So I was left here, waiting for them to make another move.

I looked back as my Misaka straightened with a determined expression on her face. Well, waiting wasn’t all bad.

“Decided?”

“‘Yes,’ says Misaka. ‘I want to get my ears pierced.’“

Misaka 19090 looked over in surprise, eyes wide. I could actually hear the sounds of the network spooling up in the background.

I just shrugged. “Okay. I’m sure there will be a place we can do that at the mall.” Both sisters looked at me. “What?” I said. “Is that supposed to be a big deal? In my hometown, plenty of girls had their ears pierced when they were your age. Well.” I waved my hand back and forth. “When they were in their last year of high school. Same difference.” Emma certainly had. She had more earrings alone than all the jewelry I’d ever owned put together. And that was beforewe’d stopped being friends.

“‘Professor, but you don’t have your ears pierced,’ Says Misaka as Misaka wonders out loud.”

“Oh?” I leaned back, rubbing my ear self-consciously. “I guess, when I was your age...the person I would have gone with couldn’t come.” The last year of middle school in Japan was the same as the first year of American high school after all. And at that time, well.

“Later on, I had too much to focus on. I was so determined to be.” A Villain, a Hero, “a grown up, that I told myself I didn’t have time.” I let a small smile cross my face. Cuff, from the Chicago Wards wanted to get our ears pierced together. I’d always said I was too busy.

The only piercing I ever got was right through the center of my forehead.

“‘I might… change my mind.’ Says Misaka as she digests Mama’s words. ‘It is a big decision…’”

“Whatever you’re comfortable with, Misaka.” I smiled. “But I don’t think it’s a bad idea, and you shouldn’t feel the need to skip out on your childhood just because I did. Really, you could get your ears pierced as well, Misaka 19090. There are some really stylish ones now.”

Well, maybe I shouldn’t push so hard. Still, 19090 looked immediately interested. I guess that should make sense for the Misaka that did something like going on a diet.

I did have one more thing to add, though. “Really, little things like earrings or bracelets might be helpful for the Network. I know that mostly you’re all spread out, but there are a lot of Sisters still in Academy city, aren’t there? A way to differentiate could be nice.” I chuckled. “Maybe if you started spending more time together, people wouldn’t keep asking Mikoto why she was on this bridge or at that restaurant last night.”

“‘I do not… dislike that idea,” says Misaka as she reconsiders her choice yet again. ‘Still, maybe I would like to look at it first?’”

“Sure, we can do that.” I quickly checked if there was a place to get your ears pierced at the mall. Academy City being Academy City, there was, though it was a smaller shop than I would have thought. I guess that made sense. Tattoos and stuff like that still had a certain stigma in Japan. It made sense that the ultra-future, science-loving city would still have that kind of outlook.

No, really, I was starting to understand why my Mom ran with Lustrum’s gang. If the people gunning for me were part of the scientific establishment, maybe I’d even follow in her footsteps.

In any case, Misaka still hadn’t made a decision by the time we made it to the mall, not that I expected her to.

The mall itself was massive. It was a huge four story complex, covered in shiny glass and lights. A massive sign, like you used to see on movie theaters, was mounted on the corner of the building, just over the main entrance. Even at this time of night, there were whole groups of people going in and out.

Academy City really was Academy City.

I helped the girls out of the car, which went off to park itself. Or maybe it just did laps around the block or something. I’d never been charged for parking. Or gas.

Electric Cars. It was something that I really should have expected about the future, but somehow it still stuck out to me more than the holographic interface and the autopilot.

The Sisters caught a few glances as we headed in; Railgun was pretty well known, after all. But since there were two of them wearing matching uniforms, I think most people just thought they were cosplayers or something.

There was the scientifically unproven Elvis Impersonator Theory after all. In a city this populous, it stood to reason that there should be at least two girls who could pass for Railgun, if they wanted to. In reality, there were at least two scorewho could pass for her without even trying.

But we didn’t talk about that.

We didn’t talk much as we made our way to the jewelry store. In the U.S. you usually went to tattoo parlors to get your ears pierced, didn’t you? I guess things were different in Japan. Though, given the state of Academy City, I’d be a little surprised if they just did it manually like back in the ‘good old days’.

“How are you feeling?” I ushered the girls onto the escalator in front of me.

A spark jumped from my Misaka’s fingers as she braced her hand against the railing. “‘I am not sure,’ says Misaka nervously. ‘There are many factors that I did not take into account.’”

“‘I think I will get a piercing,’ says Misaka with a confident nod.’” Both of us looked at Misaka 19090 in surprise. “‘Do you think that… boys might like how it looks?’ Misaka asks, slightly more bashfully.”

I opened my mouth, before sighing. I’d kind of brought this upon myself, hadn’t I? “I think that what other people think is secondary. You should do something like piercings because you wantto, not because of what you think someone else will say.” I shrugged. “Otherwise, you’ll almost always be disappointed.”

19090 gave a sharp nod. “‘That is good advice,’ says Misaka, resolve firmed. ‘I will get oneear pierced, then.’”

How did that track again?

It was her decision though. The only question was did she have enough money for it? I assumed the girls all got stipends, but I hadn’t done much digging after ensuring that they’d all went to homes and received a chance to actually live their lives.

Perhaps… given that someone had tried to kill me for interfering with the Sisters Project, I should take another look at the particulars.

“‘I’—” my Misaka started to speak, before freezing. I blinked, before following her gaze as it snapped to the walkway right in front of the jewelry store.

I caught sight of a child-sized Misaka pointing eagerly at the bracelet displayed in the window. Beside her stood a boy with a familiar shock of bone-white hair. Accelerator.

I was just about to suggest that we come back later, but then the Mini-Misaka turned. She spotted us instantly, of course.

Then so did Accelerator.