A Certain Magical Index, Vol. 8 (13 page)

If a human wasn’t absolutely required for it…

…then, then that, would…

Kuroko Shirai stared at the luggage Awaki Musujime was leaning against. “You…can’t be serious. Are you saying abilities like ours have manifested deep down in that titan? Do you
seriously
think that? That’s nonsense—you’re claiming machines have
minds
.”

But still.

But still, Shirai began to wonder. Was the efficient system called the “human mind” really necessary just to observe and analyze reality in the first place?

Musujime still didn’t get angry. “Well, yes. That might be going too far. Machines are just machines, after all. Even if we took an AI that could adjust for camera shake and light exposure for a digital camera, for example, and presented it with some phenomenon, all the processing chip would be able to do is arrange the pixels of optical information on a screen. Data processing goes in an entirely different direction than the measurement of phenomenon in the first place.” Her face actually looked relaxed. “In addition, it’s true that no forms of animal or plant life capable of using abilities have been discovered, either. We don’t actually know whether such a thing exists, but…” She brushed the luggage again. “If we have this, we can predict it. Using the ultimate simulation machine, capable of perfectly reproducing any phenomenon, would show anything and everything: the possibility of such creatures existing in our world and the progress of evolution of creatures ten thousand years from now. That is why I will assemble this remnant and acquire the Tree Diagram. Then I will ask it for every possibility under the sun—about whether any individual thing could ever use abilities in place of a human.”

There was a strange light in her eyes.
That light is called delusion
, thought Shirai. “So that’s why…you contacted an outside organization…?”

“Yes. The remnant may be valuable on its own, but I can’t repair it by myself. I needed a group with the technical skills, the knowledge, and this particular objective.” Awaki Musujime smiled.

Shirai found it difficult to believe that organization was wallowing in Musujime’s ideas. They probably had an objective of their own. Plenty of people would want the Tree Diagram if they saw its specs.

“Shirai, what did it feel like when you first gained that ability?”

Shirai couldn’t move, but she could sure as hell talk. From underneath the tables, she replied as if the answer were obvious. “Wh-who cares? The adults in the room got pretty excited about it, but as the person who got the ability, it wasn’t surprising. It was just normal to me.”

“That’s right.” Musujime paused. “I was honestly pretty scared,” she said as though recalling events in her childhood. “I was afraid of what I could do with this ability. And when my fears were confirmed, it got even more frightening. You have to know something, Shirai. I was more scared of what I had gained than anything else in the world. I could
kill
someone with so much as a silly thought.” At the moment, the girl no longer trembled over the past. “But I didn’t have a choice in the matter. Only we have these powers. They’ll be researched and analyzed in some lab we’ll never see and go on to be useful to the world. That’s why I
had
to keep this power. Somehow I managed to endure it, and yet…”

Musujime smiled—her grin slowly cutting across her face like melted ice cream.

“If I’m not the only one with this power, then I wouldn’t have ever needed to have it in the first place. Hypothetically, if the user didn’t need to be human, then why do they give powers to humans? If it didn’t need to be me, then why did they give it to me? Shirai, you stopped thinking about it, believing it was natural. Leaving those adults aside, the other esper children with me before thought the same way, you know. They used the unfinished building as a shield, but they were the ones who first proposed this. Before they lost consciousness, I smiled and just told them to leave it to me.”

“…” Shirai frequently heard stories about Level Zero children who couldn’t get a power no matter how hard they tried turning into delinquents and gangsters. But this was the same thing. Even for those who happened to gain powerful abilities, some wouldn’t be able to get used to it. Supernatural abilities were like the giant monsters in movies. If you wanted to live with others, you had to always be walking on your tiptoes, always meticulously careful. If you took a big, free step, buildings would be destroyed. In fact, being able to go all-out with powers on the level of Railgun was more unusual. They lived a life demanding constant self-control against outside pressure. In a way, they were essentially bound in handcuffs and shackles.

“Don’t you want to know? Did we really have to gain these powers? Don’t you want to know for sure if there was a good reason or not?”

Musujime spread her hands gently—as though she were beckoning to Shirai.

“You’re no exception, are you? You’ve hurt someone with your own ability before. And you must have wondered why you had to come into such powers.”

As if to embrace her—as if to suck her in.

As if she hadn’t finished Shirai off yet because she wanted to say this.

“But I understand. You’re like me. When you close your eyes, you think about how you’ve hurt others. And that’s why…”

As if she were singing. As if she were whispering into the ear of a loved one.

As if Musujime had no real intention of killing Kuroko Shirai in the first place.

“I understand your pain. More than anyone. And because of that, I know how to acquire a method to take it away. How about it, Shirai? I invite you to learn the truth with me.”

Her expression betrayed how she’d wanted to go on such a long-winded tirade, despite running the risk of Mikoto Misaka arriving.

Maybe what Musujime said was something every esper would have to question.

As someone who had fought in this city with supernatural abilities, there was something she would have had to consider.

How skillfully could she hurt an opponent with her power?

How much damage could she do with it?

Would it hurt? Would they suffer? Could it break them? Could it stop them? Could it mow them down? Could it send them flying?

And after all of that was over, she would feel a sudden chill.

Why
did
she have something like this?

So she spoke out.

Did that chill back then really have to happen to her?

Why don’t I contact an outside organization and rebuild the Tree Diagram to find the answers?

Shirai gritted her teeth.

The reason she was given her power.

The reason it may have been fine for her
not
to have been given it.

She felt some kind of foundation she’d created to support her mind waver, and said:

“I’m going to have to refuse that proposition.”

Crushed under a pile of tables though she was, she cast a sharp glare at Musujime and spoke with a low, intimidating voice.

“I was wondering what kind of bombastic remarks you’d make after causing this much trouble. I am pretty disappointed. Big Sister
does
always claim how petty villains are.”

“What…was that…?”

“Oh, please, don’t get so surprised over something so obvious. Did you think your drunken logic would win Kuroko Shirai over to your side? You’ve seemed so relaxed this whole time. You weren’t under the impression I would sympathize with you, then convince Big Sister on top of that, were you? Oh, or could it be that you just wanted to feel my cold eyes on you and shudder?

“Besides,” she added, “animals? Evolution? Possibilities? Hah! You think they are important? Let’s say you did some selective breeding on little tiny ants and got one to have an esper ability. How would that change
anything
for us?”

“Don’t you understand? If other things were able to be given supernatural abilities, we wouldn’t have had to turn into teleporting esper monsters! And if we didn’t have to have such dangerous abilities, then—”

“Utter nonsense, if I may be so bold. I was asking you, regardless of what the possibilities are
now
, how it would change those of us who are
already espers.
”

“…”

“If you had been pursuing the possibility for future generations, then I may have been simply moved to tears. But what will come of presenting a different possibility to those of us who have already become espers?

“And besides,” she prefaced, firmly grabbing the floor with the hand poking out of the tables, “saying that espers hurt people is already evidence of a sore loser. If I had your power, I would help fix bridges or something, not stopping until the broken bridge was fully repaired. I would escort people trapped in the underground mall up to the surface. If you want to exert your powers to your heart’s content, then go right ahead. Just so long as you do not misuse them.”

With a creak, the pile of tables shook slightly. Kuroko Shirai gritted her teeth, trying to rally all the strength left in her wound-covered body, and said, “From my point of view, gibberish and sophistry are too good to call what you’re saying. You’re scared of power? You don’t want it because you’ll hurt someone? That’s what your mouth is saying, but which one of us is the idiot injuring people like this?! If you want to know whether what you’re doing is right or not, then look at my wounds! They’re your answer!!”

The many tables crushing the girl swayed and lolled. Her feet dug into the floor. She strained every muscle in her body for strength, despite the blood flowing from her wounds.

“Do you honestly believe that having a dangerous power will make people think you’re dangerous? Have you ever thought seriously about how great power comes with great responsibility? You, madam, are an idiot! Don’t you dare think Big Sister or I got where we are today with such ease!! We all put a lot of time and effort into thinking as hard as we can about what we can do with our powers before acting! Only after we acknowledged that did we create a place for ourselves today!!”

The mountain of tables wobbled and shook violently. Kuroko Shirai turned up the power, trying to fling away the heavy pressure coming down on her.

“Take a look at how Big Sister is running around outside if you like! If she felt like going all-out with her Railgun, she could settle this paltry problem in a minute! The only reason she discarded the simplest option is because she doesn’t want it to end with a bloody tragedy!! She’s putting herself in danger because of it!! I want to help her because I’m her ally, but even you, her enemy, are stupid enough to seriously feel like you want to save her, too! That is exactly why I call her my big sister!!”

The wobbling and creaking changed into a deafening clatter.

It started to fall.

All that weight holding her down started to fall.

“All you’re really saying is that you’re an esper with a special talent and everyone else is just part of the mediocre masses—running away with your dirty, high-and-mighty mind-set exposed! I will now proceed to beat some sense into those rotten guts of yours. Once someone so mediocre beats you, you’ll be forced to admit how mediocre you are! And I will send you straight back to the mediocre masses you came from!!”

Kuroko Shirai stood up.

Her clothes and body were sticky with the flowing blood from her opened wounds. She offhandedly grabbed a tall floor lamp nearby and held it at her side. Her hands dangling down couldn’t use teleportation anymore.

But…

So what?
said she.

I will beat you regardless of our abilities
, said her expression.

Silently, she declared that she wouldn’t be defeating her enemy because she had an amazing skill…

…but that she was standing up to her with a more powerful reason.

Kuroko Shirai inched along.

Forward.

One step, two steps, three.

All she did was wobble along, unable to maintain her balance, unable to even bring the lamp up in front of her, dragging it behind her instead.

And yet her vigor forced Musujime to move back.

A tiny yelp escaped her lips.

Shirai was strong.

Fundamentally strong in a completely different way, regardless of whether she had an ability or not.

Awaki Musujime’s body, the blazer with one torn sleeve held to her chest, fell backward and tried to retreat. She could have moved more efficiently by using her Move Point, but she had
forgotten
about it. She couldn’t set up the calculations amid all her panic and fear. Her eyes were no longer looking at reality—only the slowly walking image of Kuroko Shirai.

—
I will lose.

Awaki Musujime had no grounds for thinking that.

—
I will lose. It’s not logic. It’s absolute. I will lose.

Kuroko Shirai had already arrived in front of her. Musujime looked up, still sitting on the floor, and saw Shirai looking down at
her
instead with a glare.

Shirai’s hand slowly rose.

She held the lamp like a baseball bat, lifting it unsteadily above her twin tails.

It was a great weapon.

Musujime may have been a Move Point user, but she only had the body of a high school student.

There was a faint
clunk.

Before she realized it, the flashlight in her hands had dropped to the ground.

I will lose
, she thought.

Awaki Musujime, the Move Point esper, could never win against Kuroko Shirai the teleport esper.

However.

However.

However.

Upon further thought, there might have been one thing Kuroko Shirai should have been cautious about from the beginning.

Just because Musujime was an esper didn’t mean her power was her only weapon.

She might have caught on to this as soon as Shirai knew Musujime had contacted those men from the outside organization.

Cooperating with them meant it was possible they’d given her a weapon.

A deafening
thud
rang out.

Kuroko Shirai, the floor lamp raised high above her head—in other words, with her whole body exposed—slowly looked down at her waist.