Chaos Theory: Chapter 16 (Patreon)

You can catch up to the adventure so far HERE 

Chapter 16: Pro-Social Behavior

In the end, no one believed me about Gekota.

The Railgun was too cool to like some childish mascot, and Kuroko refused to back me up. She was a Misaka supporter to the hilt. Or maybe she just wanted to horde the secret knowledge to herself.

Then, to top it off, my Misaka had kicked me out of the jewelry store to look at earrings. Wanted it to be a surprise. Accelerator and I were stuck sitting on the bench outside.

On opposite ends of the bench outside.

“So who the fuck are you, anyway?”

I glanced over in his direction. The teen wasn’t even looking at me, red eyes locked straight ahead. I might have thought he was speaking to someone else, if not for his AIM field pointed towards me like a spiked cactus.

“I’m a teacher.” I leaned back on the chair, folding my hands in my lap. Even after a month, I still enjoyed simple things like that. “I teach English Literature at Tokiwadai, which is where I first met Misaka Mikoto.”

“English Lit?” He rolled his eyes. “What happened to normal English?”

“Tokiwadai has standards apparently.” I shrugged. “Most of the girls are fluent enough to read simple books in original form, but of course we go over translations as well.” We even had days where we talked about the difference between original and translation of various books, which I think convinced many of them to actually care about learning English in the first place. It was quite enjoyable.

But that was losing the thread of the conversation.

“I was moderately more involved than most adults in this city seem to be,” I continued. “And was summarily dragged into several of Ms. Mikoto’s problems. Including the Sisters.”

His gaze snapped to me at that, eyes narrowing. I continued to sit placidly acting as though this was a normal conversation, instead of one between two weapons of mass destruction.

Maybe that was being a bit self-aggrandizing on my part, but to be completely honest, I was at my most dangerous within the boundaries of Academy city.

After a moment, he realized I wasn’t going to attack him out of the blue, and slouched back into the bench. “Heard about this, then?” He waved his hand towards the crutch leaning on the bench next to him.

“I hadn’t, actually,” I admitted. “That wasn’t from the train yard, was it?” On closer inspection, he also had what looked like a walkman attached to his belt, but instead of earphones, they lead up into diodes just hidden behind a shock of this thick white hair.

“Nope.” He folded his arms. “Took a bullet to the head.” I blinked, and he turned a savage grin at me. “I got better.”

I laughed at that, so quickly and honestly that it took me by surprise. I held out a hand. “From one headshot survivor to another, congratulations.” I felt a melancholy smile drift over my face. “I think you probably had more to do with your survival than I did.”

It was more surprising than anything that a bullet had even gotten through his ability. It made me honestly curious. But then people were also gunning for him after his loss to Misaka; I didn’t imagine he’d be eager to share his weaknesses with another high level esper. Especially one that was in Misaka’s camp.

Though apparently he was on team Sister now as well.

After a moment, Accelerator did take my hand more firmly than the last time. “Front or back?”

“Back.” I reached up, touching two fingers to the back of my head.

He snorted, returning once more to slouched posture. “Couldn’t even look ‘em in the eye.”

I smirked. A younger me wouldn’t have taken that kind of talk lying down. I recognized some of the selfsame behavior in Accelerator, so maybe that helped me deal with it.

“Guess you’re not bad, for an overpaid teacher.”

I closed my eyes for a long moment, reminding myself that we did not strangle children.

And besides, he’d already been shot in the head.

“Oi.” Accelerator flicked a glance at me from the corner of his eye. “Why do I get the feeling you’re thinking something weird.”

“No idea,” I lied. “In any case, it was good to meet you. I suppose I don’t really understand why the Sisters seem to trust you so much, but I’m willing to leave it up to their judgement.”

He gave a sharp laugh. “Like you could do something about it otherwise.”

I met his gaze calmly. “What kind of parent would I be, if I didn’t try?”

“An alive one, maybe.” He shrugged.

“Maybe.”

Accelerator, like most espers in the city, had been left to fend for themselves, without any guidance and only the barest amount of oversight.

For what it was worth, these children with powers beyond mortal ken had done quite well for themselves. It wasn’t like I had room to talk.

I decided that it was in both our best interest to bring the topic back to more mundane grounds before we got into it and ripped the mall in half. “Are you going to by Last Order a ring?” I asked. “She seemed really excited about it.”

“Tch.” He slouched even lower. “That little gremlin gets excited about dead rats on the sidewalk. Maybe I’ll get her one of those.”

I rolled my eyes. “Where were you taking her that had so many dead rodents in Academy City?”

“Bet you’d like to know.” He looked away from me. I felt his AIM field start to relax. “You’re not her fucking case worker, old bag.”

I sighed. “Because you share everything with her ‘case worker’ I’m sure.” Never mind that any such person was just a paid spy for Academy City, willing or not. The amount of surveillance really did boggle the mind.

Whatever he was going to say was interrupted as Last Order poked her head out of the store, grinning madly at the both of us. “ ‘Come see, come see!’ says Misaka says Misaka! ‘We picked some really good ones!’”

She used three exclamation points in that sentence. I could hear it.

Accelerator shared a long suffering look.

“You have my sympathy,” I said.

“Whatever.” He stood. “Keep it to yourself.”

I shrugged, following him into the store. Really, it wouldn’t make sense for him to warm up to me in just one meeting.

The inside of the shop was a typical jewelry store, glass cases full of various items, and a curtained off area to the back, probably for piercings. 10032 and 19090 stood next to the lone attendant in the store, a small selection of stud earrings laid out on the counter in front of them.

I walked over to my Misaka, rubbing her back. “What did you pick?”

Misaka looked up at me, leaning into my touch. “‘I picked these earrings,’ says Misaka awkwardly. ‘Even though I think they are slightly childish.’” Sitting in her palm were a pair of emerald studs with a setting made of silver. I smiled at the simple shape they were cut into, the facets of the gems expertly angled to give an appearance of color.

“Gekota, huh?”

“‘Yes,’ says Misaka as she nods once. ‘Even if big sister is a bit of a child sometimes, she still saved this Misaka’s life. I would like to remember her.’”

To the side, Accelerator shifted, looking away. Part of me wanted to look at his AIM field to see if that was guilt, but I held back. “That’s sweet of you,” I said. “Anything else?”

19090 shook her head. “’I think I want to wait,’ says Misaka.”

“It really is a big decision.” The shop attendant nodded with a smile. She wasn’t phased by the girls’ odd speech patterns, but then, in Academy City it probably wasn’t even the weirdest thing she’d seen all week. “We can take care of piercing here as well, if you want.”

I nodded. “That would be great, and you, tiny?” I asked Last Order.

“‘I picked out a hematite pair ring’ says Misaka says Misaka as she holds up the two rings.” She did, one in each tiny palm. “‘They’re supposed to absorb negative energy and break when they fill up! So I bet Accelerator’s will snap in half the moment he puts it on.’”

“Stupid brat.” Accelerator glared. “I’m not wasting money on that garbage.”

“Add them to my tab as well.” I pretended not to notice how the woman stiffened at the mention of Accelerator. Leaning forward I added. “Also can you throw in a simple chain, just so he doesn’t feel so embarrassed wearing it?”

“‘Fufufu’,” laughs Misaka.”

“Oi, what’s the big idea?” Accelerator stomped forward, cane clicking heavily against the floor. “What are you talking about.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said as the attendant packed my purchases. “It’s not your money, after all, right?”

He grumbled, stuffing the ring and chain into his pocket when Last Order handed it to him. She wore her own proudly, waving her hand in the air.

Ten minutes and a ‘earring care and questions’ pamphlet later, and we were on our way out of the mall, my Misaka practically skipping with her shiny new earrings. She stopped suddenly, looking over at me.

“‘We didn’t buy anything for Mama,” says Misaka.”

I did my best to contain a tired sigh. It really had been a long day, and while the almost fight that had erupted around Accelerator had given me some energy, I was crashing again. “It’s fine—” But then we were interrupted by a commotion by the mall entrance just as we stepped outside.

“Sir, you cannot sell here without a permit.” A police officer in a blue button down stood by the entrance, where an eccentric looking man in black circular glasses was hawking a blanket full of wares.

Naturally, they were right in front of us.

“No, no you don’t understand!” The man gestured to his blanket. “This is the future of entertainment! A device that stimulates the electricity of your brain.”

All three Misakas perked up, as they always did whenever anyone mentioned electricity.

“‘What are they?’ asks Misaka curiously as she walks up to the man.”

Said man spun on a heel, a big grin stretching across an exuberant face.

“Ah, little lady.” He spread his arms wide. “What you see here before you is the finest collection of Indian Poker cards!” He picked up one of them, it looked like a blank credit card, with a small circle on the front. “They let you record and share dreams when you sleep. Haven’t you ever wanted to know what your friends are dreaming about?”

“‘I’ve always known what my friends are dreaming about,’ says Misaka.”

In an instant the man spun, picking up another card of a slightly different color. “Then how about learning a new skill? This one here is for pen twirling.” Another card. “Or how to do a French braid.” Another card. “Or low-intermediate Go proficiency!”

We all stared at him with blank expressions, and believe me, no one is as good at a blank stare as a Misaka.

But the salesman just chuckled, dark glasses glinting. “I see you are a discerning customer, young lady! However, I have a secret weapon. Behold!” He pulled out a wooden case from seemingly thin air behind him. “For the low price of ten thousand yen, I present to you the Ultra-rare, potentially one of a kind Indian Poker card, with an ability unmatched even by the strongest level 5s in the city, the mythic BASUTO—”

“‘I will pay you one thousand yen for it,’ says Misaka.”

Somehow his sunglasses glinted again. “So we have a catch? Five thousand, and I guarantee you will be blown away.”

“Misaka,” I said. “You don’t need to buy me a gift, certainly not a—"

“What that, old lady?” Accelerator cut in. “You shouldn’t care if someone else is spending money on you, right?”

“‘I will pay you 4000 yen for it,’ says Misaka, making her final offer.”

“Deal!”

I sighed as Misaka pulled out her wallet and handed over the equivalent of 40 dollars for what amounted to a plastic trading card with a vaguely insensitive name. “How does this even work?” I didn’t protest as my adopted daughter pushed the card into my hand. “Do I have to buy something else to use it?”

“Nope! That’s the beauty of the technology.” The man cupped his chin with two fingers, giving me a friendly grin. “Just lay down and press the card against your forehead, and it will take care of the rest.” He gave me a thumbs up. “That’s an excellent card for you, Miss! I can tell it will change your life.”

For some reason I felt annoyed.

“Uh, sir, please.” The policeman stepped forward again, awkwardly. “You still cannot sell here without a permit, please, I don’t want to have to contact my superiors or issue a citation, but…”

“Ah, I understand, I understand.” The man nodded, packing up the rest of his cards now that he’d made a sale. “Just remember where you got that card from, miss!”

I looked down at the silvery white card in my hand. “I’m sure I will.”

I’d need to get it tested first before I put it anywhere near my head, of course, but there was no reason to say that publicly. He also could just be genuine. For every dark and twisted plot Academy City produced, it also made some new wonder toy like this one.

“Alright girls.” I slipped the card into my pants pocket. “Let’s get everyone back home.”

Then, more or less completely exhausted, I completely forgot about the card, went home, tucked in Misaka, and collapsed in bed.

I didn’t remember my dreams.

The next morning I woke up with a weight on my chest and Misaka standing in front of me with sparkling eyes. “‘Mama,’ says Misaka, ‘it worked!’”

I sat up, and the Indian Poker card fell from my forehead to land on–

On…

I looked down at my chest.

“Oh Jesus fucking Christ.”