This Capacity Down originated from a now-defunct armed Skill-Out group that had been completely rounded up by Anti-Skill.
In Natsume Sonoko's eyes, this thing could be turned into a pretty handy AOE skill. Not only was its range vast, but its effect on espers was particularly potent.
She sometimes even used it for her own ability training.
After pulling out the audio file, Natsume Sonoko sat quietly on the institute's cold, hard bench, watching idly as Kiyama Harumi began her busy work.
"What you brought is useful. This audio file contains some interesting data," said Heaven Canceller, his hands in his pockets as he stood beside Natsume Sonoko.
In the eyes of a professional researcher, especially one like Kiyama Harumi who had delved deep into brain synesthesia, a great deal could be reverse-engineered from this single audio file.
'Useful is good,' Sonoko thought, feeling a spark of satisfaction.
If out-of-control espers couldn't manage their abilities, then the simplest solution was to make it so they couldn't use them at all. One way or another, this thing ought to help.
"I'm not very familiar with the software side of things. I can only wait here for news from Kiyama," Dr. Heaven Canceller said. He checked the life support pods' status before turning to Sonoko with a smile.
Pulling out her phone to check the time, Sonoko found it was later than she thought. 'If I could teleport, I might still catch dinner at the Tokiwadai dorm.'
In reality, Natsume Sonoko was definitely going to miss Tokiwadai's dinner.
Luckily, a certain someone and Index had spent half the day scrounging for free samples at the supermarket, leaving her stomach at least half-full.
Thinking of Index, an image of the little nun at a sampling booth sprang unbidden to Sonoko's mind—using her pitiful, pleading eyes on the clerk, circling back repeatedly to exploit the free samples, and even tugging on the poor woman's sleeve to keep her from clocking out.
"If you're hungry, there's hot water in the institute."
Heaven Canceller seemed to notice her train of thought and offered a faint smile, pointing to the pile of instant noodles Kiyama had just bought.
"Really? But only instant noodles?"
Natsume Sonoko hesitated. Eating noodles without a fried egg felt like something was missing. It'd be much better with some pickled vegetables.
Three minutes later, Natsume Sonoko casually drew some cold water and brought it to a rolling boil.
She held the cup noodle container, thick steam rising from the noodles within.
There was no need for a lid. The water's temperature remained at its peak, cooking the noodles through in moments.
Sonoko's ability was unexpectedly convenient. If she was too lazy to move, she could just distill water from the surroundings and enjoy a hot bowl of noodles without even getting up.
Just as the noodles began to boil, the ground suddenly gave a violent shudder, spilling some of the broth onto the floor.
Startled, Sonoko whipped her head around to look at the silent life support pods.
No programs had been activated.
It couldn't be a stray development phenomenon. Yet she had felt that distinct, intense tremor, as if something had slammed into the building, only for the shaking to stop instantly.
Again?!
The floor began to quake once more. Sonoko nervously clutched her cup noodles, managing to protect them this time without a spill.
'Forget the noodles. Better to find out what's happening.'
Setting the noodles down on the institute's computer desk, Sonoko now clearly felt the vibrations coming from the second floor.
"What's going on?"
A puzzled look on her face, Sonoko glanced toward Heaven Canceller. Dr. Kiyama, meanwhile, seemed utterly unaffected by the tremors and continued her research as if nothing was amiss.
"That thing on the second floor is having some issues."
Heaven Canceller's expression turned grave as he pressed the elevator button for the second floor. Without a second thought, Sonoko followed him.
The elevator doors opened, and the two passed through several security systems until a massive cylindrical glass container loomed before Sonoko.
The container was filled with a green liquid, and submerged within it was a strange, humanoid figure, its height far exceeding that of a normal person.
Sonoko stared in shock at the figure suspended in the liquid. Its head was misshapen, and its chest bulged grotesquely, as if something was buried inside.
'Isn't that that thing?'
Sonoko immediately recalled a humanoid monster she'd encountered before—not the giant tentacle monster, but an earlier one.
After wreaking massive destruction, its existence had been covered up by the authorities as a gas explosion. But shouldn't Misaka-san have taken care of it?
And its chest should have had a stone, but now it was completely covered by flesh and tissue. This must be its most complete form.
It moved.
Sonoko watched, alarmed, as the monster's body slammed violently against the glass container.
The floor shuddered again, making one doubt the glass could withstand such impacts.
Heaven Canceller operated a machine near the glass container. The green solution inside was swiftly drained and replaced with a new, colorless liquid.
As this colorless liquid filled the container, the monster began to dissolve and vanish at an incredible speed, as if its entire structure was decomposing at once. Soon, only an irregularly shaped stone remained.
The observant Sonoko noticed that along the stone's edges, some cellular tissue stubbornly persisted, struggling against the corrosive colorless liquid.
"What is it?" Sonoko asked, stunned.
"A special bio-computer. I call it 02, but it's developed some problems." A familiar woman's voice sounded from behind.
"You're here. Is the research finished?"
The elevator doors opened and a woman in a white lab coat walked in. Heaven Canceller spoke up.
"It seems to be growing increasingly unstable. Even with your control over it, Kiyama, it doesn't seem to help," Heaven Canceller continued, a note of concern in his voice.
"It's unavoidable. I only have control, not ownership. Even the will that previously emerged from this body only had control, not ownership."
"The only one who holds ownership of this computer is the original owner of these cells." Kiyama Harumi stated expressionlessly.
"That would be the student, Kakine Teitoku, correct?" Heaven Canceller said after a moment's thought.
"Regarding these meteorites, I know a bit. Users can gain massive computational power through them, but the cost is rapid cell death, even for cells from regenerators." Heaven Canceller sighed, as if recalling something.
"The only compatible user is Kakine Teitoku. His body seems to have been influenced by Dark Matter, developing a certain resistance to the meteorite."
"So that means this monster's ability should also be Dark Matter, right?"
Finally catching on a little, Sonoko asked the question on her mind. She remembered this monster never used Dark Matter, only regeneration.
"That's because this resistance still couldn't counter the meteorite's side effects. In the end, Academy City had to use some methods to incorporate genetic segments from regenerators into the cells. After many failures, they finally produced the ultimately compatible cells." Heaven Canceller shook his head.
Sonoko nodded. 'I see. So the #2's cells weren't quite up to it either.'
"So now, it should be that Dark Matter user controlling this monster," Sonoko said, somewhat uncertainly.
"Actually, no. While Kakine Teitoku could have tampered with the cells, this seems more like the monster's spontaneous behavior, likely because it sensed Kakine Teitoku was nearby," Heaven Canceller explained.
They seemed to have digressed onto many unrelated topics. Finally, the conversation returned to the Capacity Down audio device.
According to Kiyama Harumi, the Capacity Down didn't contain much information on the original sample, but it provided a new direction. Combined with parts of the existing program, it might be possible to develop a temporary version of a program to suppress ability rampages.
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.