Episode 21 - Darkness
Mikoto asks Heaven Canceller what he means when he says Febri is "artificially created". He explains that while she's anatomically identical to a human, her body is made entirely out of synthetic proteins. Unfortunately, her body's cells constantly generate a toxin which, if allowed to build up unchecked, will eventually kill her. Her lollipop candy contains a neutralizing agent that counters the toxin, but only as long as she keeps eating it. Mikoto wonders who could have created Febri, to which the doctor replies that there are dark organizations which work outside normal laws and ethics. Mikoto recalls her fights against Frenda and Mugino, both of whom alluded to the city's underworld. The doctor adds that saving Febri will probably require finding the ones who created her — and asks whether Mikoto is prepared to face the hidden darkness within Academy City.
Rejoining the others Mikoto simply tells them Febri's been cleared to go home. As they leave the hospital, Mikoto notices a familiar-looking black kitten nearby; she glances around to see Misaka 10032 watching from behind a tree. She excuses herself, telling the others to go ahead without her.
After they greet each other, Misaka 10032 tells Mikoto that she looked in on Febri during the night while the others were asleep. When she told Febri that Mikoto was her big sister, Febri responded that she has a big sister too. While Mikoto digests this, Misaka 10032 says Febri's thought patterns and mental development seem very similar to those of the Misaka Sisters. That implies her mind was trained by a Testament program — probably by the same person who developed the one used for the Sisters. Mikoto realizes she means Shinobu Nunotaba, and wonders if that means Nunotaba is one of Febri's creators. Misaka 10032 adds that she'd like to see Nunotaba again... to thank her for introducing the Sisters to milk tea.
Leaving the hospital, Mikoto wonders how to proceed. She reflects that if the city's underworld is involved, she can't risk involving Kuroko and the others. Just then, she gets a phone call from Kongou, who wants an update on Febri's condition. Mikoto replies that she's recovered and is fine now. Kongou is relieved, then confesses that she feels guilty about inadvertently leaving Wannai and Awatsuki out of the loop yesterday. She says it's awful to be unable to help your friend when they're in danger, and it was terrible of her to do that them, however unintentionally.
Back at the dorm later, Mikoto resolves to try and track down whatever dark organization created Febri. She starts to leave, telling Kuroko she just has to run some errands. Clearly not fooled, Kuroko tells her to take care, adding that she'll be there for her if she needs help. Mikoto hesitates, then thinks back to what Kongou said to her. She sighs and tells Kuroko she wants to talk to her about something.
Gathering at Uiharu's place, Mikoto tells the others about what Heaven Canceller told her. She warns them about the potential dangers of going up against the underworld, but without any hesitation the other girls immediately start strategizing. They identify several potential leads they can follow, including yesterday's attack by the powered suit, the rogue security robots, and the man Kongou saw at the Reach Assembly.
At the Judgement office, they enlist Konori's help as well. She and Uiharu investigate the security camera outages that occurred during the attack. Saten comes in after talking to Heaven Canceller about the possibility of creating more of Febri's lollipops, but the results are not promising. Meanwhile, Mikoto and Kuroko visit Anti-Skill and ask Yomikawa about the powered suit and security robots. She informs them that headquarters has taken over the investigation, and confiscated all the evidence. Just as they are leaving, however, she hands them the object she found inside the suit — a translucent capsule that appears to contain a strand or fibre of some kind.
Back at Judgement, Uiharu confirms that all security cameras in the area of yesterday's attack failed en masse at the same time their cellphones lost connectivity. What's more, traffic lights in the area also went haywire, suggesting some kind of large-scale interference. Mikoto says it seems like overkill just to retrieve a single child, and wonders if there's some larger plan under way. Kongou phones in to say she's had no luck tracking down the man from the Reach Assembly; however, she offers to use her father's company's connections to investigate the powered suit.
Trying to come up with more leads, Misaka thinks back to where they found Febri... then suddenly remembers that Febri mysteriously knew her name. Figuring that somebody must have given it to her, she is reminded of what Misaka 10032 said about Nunotaba.
At that moment, Aritomi and his group, including Nunotaba, are meeting in their now-familiar conference room. Aritomi tells them he's successfully blocked Anti-Skill's investigation. They also decide to stop trying to recover Febri — it seems she was only a backup to begin with, and in any case she'll be dead before the Academic Reach Assembly begins. They agree to focus their attention on the final tune-up of "Janie" instead. Nunotaba, when asked, simply says she'll do her best.
Mikoto has checked Nagatenjouki Academy's school records and discovered that Nunotaba was recently expelled. With no other leads for now, she goes to the hospital to show Heaven Canceller the mysterious capsule found in the powered suit. He tells her it contains a strand of hair made from the same proteins as Febri's — although it belongs to a different individual. Then he says that Febri's situation is more urgent than he realized. Based on the number of lollipops remaining, he's calculated that she only has three days left to live.
The doctor asks Mikoto what she plans to do. When she retorts that she has to track down Febri's creators, he repeats the question he asked her earlier: is she prepared to face the hidden darkness within Academy City? Mikoto responds that she will do whatever it takes to save Febri.
Heaven Canceller says the best way to get information about the underworld is to talk to someone who knows it. He tells Mikoto he will arrange for her to meet with such a person... someone she knows all too well: Therestina Kihara Lifeline.
Tropes
- Character Development: In contrast to her actions during the Sisters arc, Mikoto asks her friends for help rather than try to handle everything by herself.
- Internal Reveal: Kuroko, Uiharu and Saten learn about the existence of Academy City's dark side, albeit not in any great detail.
- Race Against the Clock: Heaven Canceller estimates Febri only has 72 hours to live if they don't either get her more lollipops, or find a way to stop her cells from generating their toxic byproduct.
- The Bus Came Back: Therestina returns.
- You Are Not Alone: Kuroko tells Mikoto this, for what seems like the umpteenth time this season. What makes this time different is that Mikoto finally gets the message.
