Episode 09 - AIM Stalker
Earlier that evening, Shinobu Nunotaba receives a call from the supervisor of the S-Processor Neuroscience Institute, one of the Level 6 Shift Project facilities, asking her to come by. After acknowledging the request, she checks her computer and confirms that all but two of the project's facilities have been destroyed. She pauses thoughtfully for a moment, then opens her desk drawer and takes a data drive from inside before departing.
In the present, Nunotaba is making her way covertly through the facility's lower levels. Since everyone is busy with moving, and security is on the lookout for outside attackers, she figures this is the best opportunity to carry out her plan.
At the other facility, Mugino enters through the hole she's just blasted in the wall, followed by fellow ITEM member Takitsubo. She walks up to Frenda and scolds her for being reckless and letting Misaka gain the upper hand. Takitsubo cheers Frenda up and tells her she likes her the way she is. Their reunion is interrupted when Mikoto hurls several pieces of machinery at them, but Mugino casually disintegrates them with blasts of energy. Then she fires more of her destructive beams at Mikoto, who is forced to dodge by clinging to the wall. Mugino laughs and compares her to a spider, then passes Takitsubo a small case of ability crystals and orders her to "use them".
Takitsubo takes several small objects out of the case and swallows them, which causes her eyes to go wide. She turns to stare at Mikoto, who instantly gets a bad feeling. She hastily blasts some heating pipes, filling the room with steam, then uses the brief cover to escape.
Rather than leave the building, however, Mikoto continues on towards her destination. While using magnetism to speed herself along, she stumbles and realizes she's nearly exhausted her powers. Just then, several of Mugino's energy beams slice through the walls, narrowly missing her. Mikoto hurries on, but more attacks follow, leading Mikoto to conclude that her pursuers are tracking her somehow.
Indeed, Takitsubo is sensing Mikoto's movements and telling Mugino where to aim her beams. Watching in admiration, Frenda reflect that with Takitsubo's AIM Stalker ability to support her, Mugino — the fourth-ranked Level 5, Meltdowner — is unbeatable. As Mikoto continues to dodge her attacks, Mugino realizes it's not just blind luck — she's actually sensing the energy beams somehow.
Meanwhile, the scientists at the S-Processor institute have been searching in vain for Nunotaba. Worried, they decide to ask the "cleanup" people to look for her. Still undetected, Nunotaba has found her way to a control center overlooking a room wherein a single Misaka Sister is hooked up to a Testament. She takes the data drive from her pocket, plugs it into a computer, and starts typing commands. The drive contains all the data she's collected on emotional development — probably not enough give the Sisters fully-developed emotions, but maybe enough to kick-start their emotional growth. She hopes that some of them will start to have second thoughts about going to their deaths — and that someone in the experiment will have enough of a conscience left to take pity on them if that happens.
Suddenly, her head is slammed into the console by Kinuhata, the fourth member of ITEM, who has come up behind her. Nunotaba manages to finish transmitting the data before she's pulled away. Kinuhata quickly smashes the data drive, but Nunotaba says the program has already been transferred to the Sister in the next room. From there, the Misaka Network will automatically upload it to every single Sister, and nothing can stop it... or so she thinks. But, to her dismay, the console suddenly fills with error messages: the upload has been cancelled by security code 20001.
Kinuhata calls in a pair of ITEM's underlings to deliver Nunotaba to their 'client'. Nunotaba manages to slip out of their grasp; grabbing one of their guns, she points it at Kinuhata and tells her to back away. When Kinuhata calmly refuses to do so, Nunotaba braces herself and tries to shoot the other girl in the shoulder — but the bullet simply bounces off her. After noting that her Offense Armor ability renders guns useless against her, Kinuhata casually punches Nunotaba, knocking her out instantly. As her underlings carry Nunotaba out, Kinuhata remarks that she'll probably be allowed to live... but her life from now on is unlikely to be pleasant.
Mikoto dodges more of Mugino's blasts, as well as some of Frenda's scattered explosives, but is quickly growing exhausted. When she senses another blast approaching which she can't avoid, she desperately uses her electricity to try and deflect the beam. It works — confirming what she'd already suspected: that Mugino's energy is electron-based like her own electricity.
From where she is, Mugino senses the deflection. For a moment, she is shocked that anyone could manipulate her beams, then suddenly puts two and two together. After laughing briefly, she turns to Frenda and Takitsubo and tells them to go and rejoin Kinuhata at the S-Processor facility.
Then Mugino turns and heads off into the dark corridors by herself. After all, she wouldn't want anyone to think it was simple numbers that allowed her to defeat the Railgun of Tokiwadai...
Tropes
- Chekhov's Gunman: Attentive viewers might notice that Misaka Sister inside the S-Processor facility has serial number 19090. This will not be the last we see of her.
- Continuity Nod: The code 20001 is shown when Nunotaba's emotion program is rejected by the Misaka Network. This is, of course, the serial number of Last Order, the Misaka Network's administrator. This is immediately followed by a brief glimpse of Last Order in her incubator.
- Cool Big Sis: Mugino kindly tells Frenda and Takitsubo, both of whom are worn out by the battle, to retreat and let her take care of things. She even compliments them on their hard work, which surprises Frenda. Subverted, however, in that this is just an act to get them out of the way so she can take credit for defeating Railgun by herself.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Mugino is alternately impressed and puzzled by Mikoto's ability to evade her. She deduces that Mikoto can somehow sense her electron beams, but can't figure out how. Then Mikoto actually deflects one of the beams with her own ability, and the penny drops: it would take a Level 5 to manipulate a direct blast from another Level 5. And there's only one Level 5 electromaster...
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Besides 20001 (see Continuity Nod, above), the upload error also shows the number 19090. As will be confirmed much later, this is the serial number of the Sister in the next room, through whom the program is being uploaded.
- Imagine Spot: As she prepares to transmit her emotion data, Nunotaba imagines Sisters crying, unwilling to take part in the experiments; scientists, seeing them and relenting; and Accelerator, faced with a weeping girl, hesitating and then turning away. It's quite poignant, especially coming from someone as outwardly cynical as Nunotaba.
- Power Incontinence: Takitsubo's ability is only useful if she uses ability crystals to let it run out of control. It clearly takes a toll on her body.
- Sensor Character: Takitsubo's role within ITEM. Her ability, AIM Stalker, allows her to track any esper she's met by their AIM field signature, at any distance.
- Slasher Smile: When Mugino heads out to hunt down Mikoto, having finally realized who she is, she is wearing a sadistic and very disturbing grin which seems to have far too many teeth...
- The Greatest Story Never Told: Nunotaba's actions appear to be this. Nobody knows what she tries to do for the Sisters, and (for the moment at least) it seems as though no-one ever will.
- You Are Not Alone: Nunotaba concedes that there's only a small chance her plan will work; and, even if it does, the Sisters will likely still be doomed to living shortened lives as outcasts. In the end, though, she resolves to go through with it because she can't bear to see Mikoto fight this battle all alone.
