Chapter 40: Gathering, and Then—

About an hour later, Kamijou and the others regrouped with Reicia.

As for Misaka Imouto, they had decided it would be too risky for her to be seen, so they parted ways along the way. According to the message she left: "Please do your best. We are cheering for you, says Misaka, warmly encouraging even unfamiliar personalities." That kind of overly verbose phrasing is standard for them.

"Could we use this 'Personality Arousal Makeup' program?"

Kamijou asked proudly, holding a USB stick containing the main program for Personality Arousal Makeup. Reicia wanted to yell at whoever let the walking disaster Kamijou carry something that important, but most likely it was Misaka who had handed it to him out of consideration, especially since Kamijou hadn’t had much to do up to that point. And with electromagnetic interference, there was always the chance the USB data could get corrupted.

"…But that program’s patterns were designed for the Sisters, right? Could I really repurpose it for myself? Not to mention there’s the matter of the facilities… Well, I suppose we still have time."

"Uhh… well… that is…"

Faced with such an obvious and reasonable question, Kamijou groaned awkwardly. At that exact moment—

"No worries there!"

Thud! With a loud stomp of her boots, a girl suddenly burst onto the scene.

"Yumetsuki-san, please wait! You're going too fast!"

"…Good grief. Would it kill you to be more considerate to this old body?"

It was none other than Yumetsuki Sashika, who was supposed to be gone.

And alongside her came Sonai Rinka—bringing with them Heaven Canceller.

Chapter 3: I Won’t Let You Get Away With a Win – (N)ever_Give_Up.
Episode 32: Gathering, and Then— Gather_Gather_Gather.

"Y-You’re!?"

"Ah, sorry about that. I meant to clear up the misunderstanding first, but I didn’t quite take your mental state into account, huh?"

The frog-faced doctor responded in his usual tone to Reicia, who was now wide-eyed in shock.

"Sensei! I mean, seriously, you know everyone, huh?"

"You're one to talk, aren't you? I never expected to run into you while handling another pa-tient’s case."

"More importantly! What’s going on here…?"

"Ah, you mean how you didn’t stick around to hear the rest?"

At that, Reicia finally realized: Maybe I screwed up somewhere.

No, she’d already been regretting that she hadn’t tried harder to get information, even if she couldn’t pry it out. But this was a more fundamental issue—

Like having the correct answer right in front of you and walking right past it.

"The thing is, the conversation we're about to have… a misunderstanding about split personalities could be fatal, so I was trying to clear that up beforehand. But you jumped to conclusions before that, didn’t you?"

"…What are you… saying…?"

"Ah, I mean this."

He stopped mid-sentence, and the tone of the frog-faced doctor shifted—his playful voice falling low, as though flipping a switch.

"Reviving them as a ‘Double Face’ personality type is impossible. But there’s a chance, if it’s as a ‘Square Face’ personality type."

"…Double? Square??"

Reicia’s eyes turned into dots.

"A split personality—or Double Face—is where two parts of the brain operate in parallel as networked systems. Each of those systems must be interfered with independently… meaning trying to restore a fading personality is as hard as bringing the dead back to life."

That much should be easy enough to understand, the doctor prefaced.

"But even if they operate independently, the two systems still reside within a single brain. Since they share the same brain, there must be some kind of ‘connection point’ somewhere. In certain types of split personalities, the secondary personality controls a specific part of the body."

He casually flipped through some documents and handed them to Reicia—who had no idea when he even prepared them.

"In other words, the two personalities are in a mutual interference relationship via those connection points. So if we can stimulate your personality to interfere with the secondary—Shiren’s—personality, it might be possible to reawaken their fading self through that connection."

Of course, that’s easier said than done.

Put bluntly, it’s like trying to create art on a water surface by blowing wind from afar at a washbasin. You could try it a billion times and still get nothing but failure.

However—

Making the impossible possible is this man’s specialty.

"Naturally, that alone won’t be enough. Think of it as resonating two separate personal realities. Your body will become flooded with power beyond anything you've experienced before… and when that happens, your body likely won’t be able to withstand it. There are still many unknowns when it comes to AIM, but I’ve seen firsthand what happens to patients when their power overflows."

—For example, the one once called Kihara Nayuta.

—Or the student once known as Ellis.

The human body has a limit to how much power it can handle. Even using "different types" of power, if you exceed the total capacity, what awaits is a tragic end.

"Besides, the parameters for personality excitation have to be altered—even some constants—every time the subject changes. If we’re talking about reactivating Shiren’s personality, we’ll also need data on their personal computations and emotional patterns."

"…That would require cooperation from Semei-san and the others, but—"

"No need to worry."

Just then, a voice cut in—and with it, a figure stepped forward.

A woman in a white lab coat, whose words sounded confident, but whose voice lacked the commanding presence or composure her language might suggest.

And yet, this time, she wore a mischievous, assured smile.

"Semei-san!? Why are you here!?"

"Hehe, just felt like it."

Semi Kaira.

Earlier, they had taken Shiren’s disappearance as a "recovery from dissociative identity disorder," and thus, cooperation from them had been deemed hopeless—but…

"We’re developers—your professionals, remember?"

Semi said playfully, flashing a grin.

"…Though I did misinterpret things at first. But I noticed something strange about the way you left, so I figured something was up."

Since then, she’d been quietly observing Reicia’s actions, or so she explained.

"From experience, trying to talk to you in that state would’ve only made things worse. But this time, you’ve got a lot of allies around. So I waited for the right moment—once they’d helped stabilize your mental state."

"I-I see…"

"You want to talk to the secondary personality, don’t you? I figured it might help, so I brought data on their mental calculations, emotional metrics, and thought patterns from when the secondary personality was active. If you need anything else, I can contact the lab."

"Th-That’s more than enough… Truly, thank you."

Faced with someone who clearly had her behavior and thought patterns completely figured out, Reicia shrank back, visibly sheepish. She couldn’t say anything—especially since she had just been the perfect example of “making things worse.”

She hadn’t seen through Semei. She hadn’t seen through Heaven Canceller, either. In truth, Reicia had been completely swept up by her own emotions. Meanwhile, Shiren had been so composed, so considerate of others. Why is it that I always end up falling apart like this? she wondered, just for a moment.

"…No need to curl up like that. You’re still just a child, after all. And—didn’t your friends, the ones who know you best, step in to cover for you?"

Perhaps sensing her feelings, Semei pointed at Yumetsuki and Sonai as she spoke.

"Hmph. We are the older ones here. While Miss Reicia here was storming off after making the wrong assumptions, we stuck around and got the story from the doctor, you see."

"If anything comes up, supporting you is part of our role too, after all!"

"You two… Thank you… really."

"The stage is set. All the cast is finally here."

Beside Reicia, who was now smiling, Kamijou cracked a cocky grin and slapped his fist into his palm.

"Hold it right there. Even if we’ve solved the data problem, the durability of the vessel hasn’t improved. Don’t get all fired up and act like we can just begin immediately, okay?"

"……………………"

"…Kamijou, you reckless idiot."

"Cut it out!! Kamijou-san’s brain’s never been the sharpest! He’s trying really hard just to keep up with the conversation, okay!?"

"Hmph. How pitiful, Kamijou Touma."

Just as a shouting match was about to break out, a sarcastic voice chimed in, and a red-haired boy appeared on the scene with a smirk.

"Stiyl!"

"Ugh, don’t say my name so casually! I’ve been doing things I’m not used to—like peacefully apprehending some lunatic going after Index—and I’m exhausted!"

"Stiyl!!"

"It's not that! It's not that I got cold feet! It's just—it pissed me off that causing a scene right before the big moment would end up dragging everyone down!"

"Stiyl!!!!"

"That's not what I meant just now either! It’s not like I care about that woman or anything!!"

...In the end, the comedy routine still plays out, as always.

"Miss Reicia, who is that person? Also, what about the man nearby with his eyes closed, or the one wearing jeans with one leg ridiculously short...? I heard the woman in the white sister outfit is a freeloader."

"………Ah, he’s a suggestion-type! A suggestion-type ability user! From another school district, enrolled in a seminary! I believe he met Kamijou-san through some connection! I saw it in Shiren’s journal! He’s apparently so talented that he's often flown overseas, so it’s rare to see him around!"

Making sure her voice was loud enough for Stiyl and the others to hear, Reicia offered a panicked excuse while internally clutching her head in despair.

This is exactly why she didn’t want to let them come face-to-face with the people of GMDW. If it had been just before World War III—when magic was still recognized as merely a "different form of esper power"—she wouldn’t have had to dance around the issue so much.

At least, since she was deliberately speaking loudly, Kamijou and Stiyl probably understood the “official story.” That alone was her only saving grace.

"So what, you're saying you can do something about this, Stiyl!? You don’t have anything up your sleeve either!"

"Hmph. Don’t underestimate me, Kamijou Touma. I’ve come prepared too!"

With that, Stiyl boldly produced a talisman inscribed with rune characters.

"Using Index’s knowledge, I replicated the mechanism of the Angel’s Tears—"

"A protective charm, yes?"

"…What? Reicia…"

"You made a charm for me, didn’t you? Thank you ever so much."

"…………Y-Yeah…"

Without giving him a chance to object, Reicia accepted the charm (probably something that enhances her “vessel”) and flashed Stiyl a smile filled with the unspoken message: ‘If you dare spout any magic knowledge in front of these people, I’ll kill you where you stand.’

That said, Reicia wasn’t without her own thoughts on the problem of her vessel.

"High-Speed Stabilization Line."

Reicia opened her mouth, offering a prepared response to the concern raised by Heaven Canceller—the frog-faced doctor.

"Simply exciting the power may indeed lead to losing control and going berserk. But what if I push through that point entirely? Like how an airplane becomes stable once it’s flying fast enough—wouldn’t the same apply to controlling power?"

If this were just a spontaneous thought, it might’ve been brushed off as sheer recklessness. But this world had precedent: Acqua had already demonstrated this concept. And as far as Shiren’s memories showed, there were many similarities between AIM and the powers used on the magic side.

At the very least, it was a concept worth proposing to an authority on the science side.

"…Are you saying… you’d do that on your own?"

The frog-faced doctor’s eyes widened in surprise. His reaction clearly showed he recognized the value in Reicia’s idea.

Of course, this wasn’t something Reicia had invented herself. It was a cheat-level trick born from the memories of Acqua’s secret, uncovered through the life-risking efforts of Kanzaki and the Amakusa-style.

And precisely because of that—Reicia offered silent thanks. To the Kanzaki and others from another timeline who had passed on this knowledge.

"But… that’s an extreme option. Think about how hard it is to pilot a plane—you’ll need extraordinary control skills. I can’t guarantee your safety."

"Heh. Do you know who you're giving that warning to?"

Heaven Canceller’s warning was as serious as they come.

But Reicia wore an audacious smile.

If something were technically impossible, there was no fixing it.

If something were capability-wise impossible, there was no solving it.

In the end, some things are just flat-out beyond human limits—no matter how much bravado you throw at it, you can’t fool reality.

Such efforts would amount to nothing but mindless self-destruction.

But if—even just faintly—there’s still a possibility there…

Then it can be seized.

Even if she alone couldn’t reach it—if it were her, and that young man—then surely.

Besides, she wasn’t alone. So many comrades were here.

"If there's even the slightest chance—we’ll never give up. Allow me to show you—the new essence of Reicia Blackguard!"