The next day, after waking up, George continued to follow Mikasa Misaka in invisibility.
As it was summer vacation and there were no classes, Mikasa Misaka had nothing to do, and she spent her days casually wandering around in Shibuya.
During this time, I encountered a group of elementary school students who were just developing their superpowers. I joined them in playing soccer for a while and was then attracted to the yosakoi charm of a little girl. Then, I struggled in front of the vending machine that dispensed charms all day long.
"Indeed, children are still children."
Following Mikasa Misaka for a whole day without discovering any useful information, George began to consider whether he should give up on her and explore on his own first.
However, by dusk, things started to change.
Because Mikasa Misaka encountered Clone 9982, the clone that came after him.
Mikasa Misaka seems to be very concerned about the fact that she was cloned, and wants to find the laboratory that cloned her through the clone. She seems to treat the clone as a sister.
This caused some ideas to form in George's mind.
Originally, he had no interest in the surviving more than ten thousand clones and had no intention of saving them.
But now, since Mikasa Misaka seems to be very concerned about it, he thinks that maybe he can use Mikasa Misaka's help to make the clones live openly and fairly in Academy City.
If so, then he can also use the identity of the clones to live here openly and fairly, better developing his superpowers and searching for traces of magic.
On the surface, his identity is that of Mikasa Misaka's clone, 9981, but with a slight mutation that has greatly enhanced his abilities.
"Mikasa will be going to experiment next, she won't be returning to the laboratory. It's your choice whether you want to follow Mikasa, but you won't be able to see who created her."
On the bridge, Clone 9982 spoke to Mikasa Misaka.
Mikasa Misaka's plan fell through, and after a round of childish tussle, she reluctantly said goodbye to Clone 9982.
"These clones seem to have emotions as well, which is good. It won't make me seem too abnormal."
George, who was invisible and flying in the air, thought to himself.
He had originally thought that because the clones hadn't been input with an emotional program, they were pretty much like robots.
However, through today's observation, he found that it wasn't like that. The clones were like a blank slate, with knowledge force-fed to them without normal growth, which is why they felt like robots.
If they grew up normally, maybe they wouldn't have much of a difference from normal people.
During the few hours Clone 9982 spent with Mikasa Misaka, he clearly treated her as his own sister, developing some dependency. He even took the Gatcha that Mikasa had won after a day of playing the vending machine as a gift to himself.
"Do you want to know the truth about things?"
When Mikasa Misaka walked down from the bridge, George removed his invisibility.
Mikasa Misaka, upon seeing another clone that looked exactly like her, widened her eyes in shock.
"Who are you?"
"I am Clone 9981. The one who was just there is Clone 9982. The laboratory has cloned 20000 copies of Mikasa."
George spoke calmly.
Upon hearing George's words, Mikasa Misaka grabbed his arm tightly.
"What's going on with this?"
"Do you know about the "Absolute Ability Evolution Program"?
George didn't pay attention to Mikasa Misaka's grip on his arm. The slight force she applied on it was nothing to him.
He simply took his time to explain the detailed situation of the "Absolute Ability Evolution Program" to Mikasa Misaka.
"There have been 9980 Mikasa clones who have died before me. Last night, I was supposed to be killed by Tohka, but at the brink of death, for some reason, I awakened a survival instinct and self-awareness."
So I managed to escape.
"And the Clone 9982 you just saw, who was going to the experiment, was actually going to die."
"This is ridiculous! Just because you want to mess around, you can't kill me 128 times and use clones as substitutes!"
Upon hearing George's narration, Mikasa Misaka trembled in shock, her face filled with anger and disbelief.
She understood that the seemingly peaceful Academy City hid some darkness, but she couldn't believe that it could be so dark and devoid of humanity.
"If you don't believe me, we can follow Clone 9982 right now and verify the truth."
George didn't continue to explain but simply turned around and walked up towards the bridge.
"The start time for the experiments is at 9 PM every day, and it's ten minutes to 9 now."
Mikasa Misaka watched as George walked towards the bridge and remembered the information about the "Mass Produced Ability User Program" that she had seen in the laboratory. In her heart, she had already believed half of it.
So she turned around and caught up with George. She couldn't let clones like Clone 9982 be killed.
Due to the same brainwave induction, George and Mikasa Misaka quickly caught up with Clone 9982. However, George did not allow Mikasa Misaka to approach.
"Her body might be equipped with surveillance devices. We'll follow slowly behind her."
"What's your plan?"
Mikasa Misaka looked at Clone 9982, who had entered an empty alley and was waiting quietly there, armed with a submachine gun he had prepared in advance, and asked George who stood calmly beside her.
Mikasa Misaka always felt that this Clone 9981, whose thoughts seemed mature, might have a plan and had come to find her.
George nodded:
"There are two ways to stop the Absolute Ability Evolution Program."
"The first is to make Tohka abandon this experiment. Without a subject, there's no need for us clones to die."
The difficulty lies in the fact that Tohka won't give up if his strength is not a match for us.
The second is to find the research laboratory conducting this experiment and destroy all the research facilities and data, thereby halting the experiment.
However, the research facilities conducting this experiment are spread throughout the Academy City in various areas. Unless we can destroy them all at once without their noticing, they will be able to transfer in time, and the experiment will continue.
"Then we'll go with the first option. We only have a few more minutes until Tohka will appear, and I will try to persuade him to abandon the experiment!"
Mikasa Misaka was surging with electricity.
It's impossible to destroy twenty-odd laboratories at once, so we'll have to persuade Tohka to give up the plan. If he doesn't give up, then we'll have to fight him until he does.
Although Tohka is ranked ahead of her, she has confidence in her own strength.
"In that case, I'll tell you some relevant information about Tohka first."
George quickly recited the information he had about Tohka in his head.
The fight experiences of the Mikasa clones with Tohka had been transmitted through the Mikasa network to every clone's mind, including George.
