In a recollection, a young Mikoto lives with her mother Misuzu . After reassuring Mikoto that her damaged Gekota plush toy will be "fixed by Santa in no time", Misuzu sends her daughter to bed. True enough, the next morning, Mikoto sees her favorite toy in good shape, and happily tells the news to her mother.
Mikoto has been used to seeing her mother fix things that she alone cannot. But how about now, where a very frightening nightmare became a reality? Ever since the reality that is the Level 6 Shift Project has been laid out to her, Mikoto's night have always been of uncertainty and insecurity.
Her friend Kuroko always gives her time to relax. But alas "reality is a harsh mistress".
Mikoto prepares to start her day and leaves ahead of Kuroko. Although she considers her certain task done, there's something else that she needs to end with her own hands.
Mikoto soon heads to a scenic spot in Academy City , where she seems to be waiting for something. As she glances to her phone which had the picture of her friends, Mikoto hopes that her friends wouldn't end up in trouble because of her. Then, as she looks at a blimp that shows the weather for the week, Mikoto remembers the term "Tree Diagram", Academy City's most powerful supercomputer, which is used to accurately predict the weather up to a month ahead. However, it is also used for many research projects in Academy City... of course, not excluding the Level 6 Shift Project.
Soon, the spiky-haired boy named Kamijou Touma accompanies Mikoto, calling her Biribiri, much to her chagrin, although Mikoto shows some uninterest in dealing with him. Touma takes the chance to ask Mikoto about her sister, and Mikoto is shocked at finding out that Touma met with her again. However, Mikoto is more focused in taking down the supercomputer that is responsible for giving the particulars for the Level 6 Shift Project, and soon leaves Touma behind, keeping her brimming rage inside her head.
Touma is left perplexed about Mikoto's behavior just a while ago, and soon finds himself with Mikoto's "younger sister", trying to feed some bread to a cat in a box, to no avail due to the nature of her ability. He soon discovers that she is unable to feed the cat due to the electromagnetic waves she emit, causing cats and other animals to feel unease when near her. Afterwards, Mikoto's "younger sister" urges Touma to take care of the cat in her behalf. Although Touma wasn't given enough time to explain himself, he decides to take the cat.
Later that afternoon, Mikoto's "younger sister", more specifically MISAKA #10031 , remembers reporting the experience of chest pains to her designated laboratory, causing Kanmi Eiga and Kusakabe Yumi , the two scientists in charge of her, to feel anxious about her upcoming experiment scheduled the day after. Although MISAKA #10031 assures that she is fine, her question about being given a chance to meet one's clone sends chills down Eiga's spine, while Yumi finds a clone of hers a useful thing to have, although she does not deny that such an encounter is creepy in itself.
MISAKA #10031 recalls about a memory of the Original shoving her away, and concludes that her existence was utterly unacceptable for her.
Mikoto soon heads to District 23, where she plans to shut down the nearby Information Processing Center, which acts as the terminal to the Tree Diagram.
Soon after getting off the bus to District 23, Mikoto quickly leaps into action, taking down every obstacle she can to reach the Information Processing Center. Mikoto's plan involves hacking into Tree Diagram and implanting a false prophecy that tells about the impossibility of developing a Level 6 in Accelerator , causing chaos not only in the facilities that work on the Level 6 Shift, but also in every single facility that depends on the infallibility of the supercomputer.
Back at District 7, Touma is accompanied by Mikoto's "younger sister", and he discovers that the cat is incessantly meowing. With the clone unable to read the cat's mood, Touma assumes that it is hungry and asks the clone to give it some food. Although reluctant to do so, the clone soon tries it out, and the cat receives the food she gave immediately. Touma then tells the clone that it is happy right now.
Soon, Touma tells the clone that she should name her cat, and the clone promptly gives unusual names to the cat, from "Dog" to "Tokugawa Ieyasu" to "Schrödinger", much to Touma's disappointment. The clone then decides to put the naming process on hold for the meantime.
The clone soon asks where Touma is going, remembering that it is a different route than the one leading to a certain vending machine. Touma explains that he is looking for a book at a nearby bookstore, and he is looking for an "old" book instead of the newer ones on sale. He adds that such a book is necessary, since his nun and shrine maiden friends has no idea about taking care of a cat. The clone seems disappointed that Touma is shifting the responsibility over the cat to his friends, but denies it despite Touma's suspicions that she is actually mad.
The two soon arrive at a branch of Book-On, and Touma heads inside while leaving the cat in her care. As she snows both nervousness and annoyance at how Touma has the guts to hurl a cat, the clone keeps the cat in her arms.
Nearby, Accelerator stumbles upon a group of thugs robbing a helpless boy in a dark alleyway. After swiftly taking care of one and frightening the other until he passes out, he sees a familiar sight of a clone in the other side of the street. Being reminded of his next experiment, he heads out to the sidewalk, only to be greeted by another clone, who reminds Accelerator that she is Clone #10031.
Upon seeing what looks like a harmless scene from the other side of the street, the clone who is with Touma a while ago, who is Clone #10032, heads out as well, leaving behind the cat with a slice of cake to eat.
In District 23, Mikoto finds it weird that most of the facility is not operational, from the lights to the cameras and elevators, and security is severely limited. She remained vigilant, although she still has a shaking feeling that how she is able to waltz in the facility is too absurd.
Soon, Mikoto heads to the main transmission room, which is empty and gathering dust, yet still functioning normally. She then finds out that there has been no data transmissions recently, something unusual for a supercomputer that should be accessed by facilities in a daily basis; upon further investigation, Mikoto discovers that there were requests, none of which being processed by Tree Diagram.
Then, as Mikoto stumbles upon reports dating July 8th, she discovers that the Tree Diagram suddenly disappeared from its orbital trajectory.
Subsequent reports reveal that the Tree Diagram has been destroyed.
Meanwhile, Touma is oblivious that there is no one waiting for him outside the bookstore as he continues his search for the perfect book for taking care of cats.
Rating: 8/10
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