Epilogue

"Mister Mercer?"

"Yo!" The overweight man approached the checkpoint into Academy City, his face pale under the lights, and his cheeks sagging – a sign that he had lost a lot of weight recently, and still hadn't recovered. "That's me! Alex Mercer, Electrical Engineer extrordinare!" If he was affected by the January weather under his long sleeved shirt and battered vest, he didn't show it.

"Your Visa, Mister Mercer?"

"That ole' thing?" Mercer put the battered papers on the counter between him and the immigration official. "Got it right here."

The Academy City official examined the necessary paper-work, noting that he had marked the purpose of his visit as both 'Personal'. "Tourist?" He asked, noting that it wasn't unusual. At least he hadn't checked 'immigration'. That would require a lot of papers that the American obviously didn't have.

"A bit o'that. I'm here to deliver a message to a friend of my brother. Maybe stick around after to enjoy the sights." He grinned like a fool behind his massive sunglasses.

"Why could your brother not come?" The question was prying, but given everything that had happened these past months, one couldn't be to careful.

"Dead," Mercer replied with all the seriousness of one who would never consider lying about that. "He was in Empire City."

"My condolences." The man's paper-work was all in order, and he bowed to the American, who awkwardly returned the gesture. "Welcome to Academy City."

Misaka shouldered her bag as she left the school grounds. It was a nice winter day, and she intended to enjoy every moment of it.

"Excuse me? Misaka Mikoto?" The strange voice came from a man who stood to one side of the gates. He was a foreigner, and was, for lack of a better word, ugly, like he had been eaten from the inside out. Seeing that he had her attention, he straightened himself out and picked up two bags at his side. "My name is Zeke Dunbar, I'm Cole's brother. Can we talk?"

She knew Zeke, from her borrowed memories. But she didn't act on them, on the faint sense of betrayal that she felt. It wasn't hers. "Why?"

"He's dead."

They walked to the Judgement office, where Misaka asked for some privacy. Konori wasn't in, and Kuroko was on patrol, so Uiharu simply put on some headphones, and asked them to keep it down. She sat on the couch and motioned for Zeke to take a chair. "Thanks for dropping what you're doing, kiddo." Zeke set down a large duffel, which he had explained on the way here was his luggage.

"Don't call me kiddo. I'm Misaka-san to you." She said coldly, crossing her legs to show some maturity. "How did he die?"

The door to the office opened, causing Misaka to stare at whomever had interrupted her interrogation start when she stopped. She recognized the work uniform of Anti-Skill instantly, and stood up. "Sit, Misaka-chan. Zeke Dunabr? I'm Lieutenant Yomikawa Aiho, and this is my co-worker, Tessou Tsuzuri. We're with Anti-Skill."

"Cops, huh? That's a record." Zeke looked ambivalent at the presence of the two women. "I ain't been here long enough to cause a ruckus."

"You did enter under a false name," Aiho replied with a grin. "That does mean something to us."

"Can you blame me?" Zeke took to humor with his own. "I suppose this means I get to spend a night in a cell, right?"

"Maybe," Aiho took a spot on the couch next to Misaka, who shuffled away from her to keep her own distance. "We can forgive paperwork errors."

Zeke leaned over the table, no fool. "What's it gonna cost me?"

"You're the only source of information we have regarding the events in Empire City and New Marais. The Board of Directors would like to have a non-censored account of those events."

"And if, hypothetically speaking, I decline?"

Tsuzuri spoke up from the chair she had claimed beside Zeke, and across from Misaka. "The extradition treaty between the United States and Academy City is still in effect. Terrorists can be repatriated quickly in the interests of justice."

Zeke was stunned. Then he looked Aiho in the eyes. "Man, your partner can't play the bad cop to save her life. You two should have switched."

Aiho shrugged. "She's still new. And I wanted to be the good cop. Well?"

He leaned back in his chair. "Eh, might as well. Gonna have to let Laroache know his guy isn't that good. Where do you want me to start?"

"At the beginning please. Officer Tessou will be recording your statement after she removed Uiharu from the room, and I will be asking clarifying questions as we go."

"Sure thing. Let's see, The Blast?"

"If you please."

"So, Cole was at the epicentre of the explosion?"

"Yeppers. That's partly why the Voice thought he gone done it, though as it turned out later, he was kinda on the payroll of the First Sons. They had reason to slander Cole now that he was up and about."

"And the explosive?"

"Well, it wasn't a bomb. Not really. Sure, it blew stuff up, but that was a secondary effect."

"It was an AIM weapon."

"Got no idea what AIM is, so sure, why not? You guys already know some stuff. I'm just filling in the gaps."

"So, increased durability, and electrokinesis. That's it?"

"That's all he needed."

"But you said his powers developed as time went on?"

"Ah, well, you see, the Reapers, they didn't like the idea of an Electric Man running around what they thought was their turf, so they put their brains together and came up with about the only smart thing they did the entire time. They blew up a substation real good, tripping the entire City into a blackout. Cole couldn't recharge."

"How did he cope?"

"Simple. He followed my advice, and went underground to re-start the substations. The City had some great redundancy there."

"So he restored power to the city?"

"Nah, it took him a week. The substations only served parts of the city, and it took time for the system to stabilize and let him get the next one. But here's the thing. You see, every time he did, he had to fix the breaker. And that meant physically holding on to both ends."

"That's not something I would expect would go over well."

"Oh no, it hurt like hell, truth be told. But every time he did that, he overcharged himself. Put so much juice into him that his powers expanded by leaps and bounds. Got himself new tricks each time."

"Abilities don't work like that."

"Yes, they do." Misaka interjected. "It's very dangerous, so Academy City doesn't do that method."

"Mind controlling tar?"

"Not Tar per-se, Officer. It was goo. Ooze. Puss. Hell, sweat for all I know. She – Sasha I mean – infected people through it. Cole was strong enough to fight it off for the most part, though she could still get into his head on occasion." Zeke switched his focus to Misaka. "My brother had a message for you, a warning he though of after he came home. He wanted you to know that if someone called 'Mental Out', and I quote him here, "If she ever did anything to your friends like that again, to fry that bitch. Anyone who acts like that stops to think of people as people and more like things to be used." I got no clue what he's talking about, but that part of the message is delivered. There's more, don't you worry."

Misaka frowned. She had made some sort of peace with Mental Out, but if Cole had drawn parallels between her and Sasha, then he knew what he was talking about. Which also explained her memory of his fight with her. "Understood." Maybe she shouldn't have implied that she agreed that she would 'fry' another Level Five in front of Anti-Skill, but there was nothing provable there.

"You strapped him to an electric chair? WHY?"

"Only way to keep him down. Fucker – sorry, language – Alden was an ornery old cuss. Anything less, and he would kill people on his way out. Which he did."

"What happened?"

"I screwed up. Real bad. That was where Cole and I had our first real falling out. I abandoned my post to help him drive off the Dust men, and the boys in blue didn't have the technical know-how to keep Alden down." He looked at the Anti-Skill with sorrow in his expression. "I'm sorry. I killed your brothers. Ain't nothing I can do to make up for that."

"So I held the damn thing in my hands. There is was, Cole was busy putting the hurt on Alden, and I didn't see Kessler's copter coming up. And it shone, like nothing else. It held the eye, you know? The promise of powers, enough to make a difference. And I was jealous. Cole got all the power, all the attention, all the glory. Why couldn't I share it? That was my other big mistake.

"I triggered the Ray Sphere."

"And nothing happened," Misaka remembered. "You're not an Esper, so it did nothing in your hands."

"And it's still freaky, knowing you and my brother shared thoughts like that, but yea. Kessler promised to 'fix' the problem, and I abandoned my brother. That was my third mistake, the last one I would make."

"So you're saying the damage to the bridge was caused by Alden Tate, not by Cole?"

"Yep. Saw the whole thing through the drones, well, what could be seen through the dust. Alden had his huge Golem, and Cole was just tiny. But he was just so pissed off that he tore that thing a new one in no time flat. Alden jumped soon after, couldn't take the heat."

"Cole chose," Zeke buried his face in his hands. "He went for Trish. I knew he would. And so did Kessler. He didn't force me to watch as Cole went to save the love of his life."

"That didn't happen." Aiho observed.

"No. Kessler, he... he knew what Cole would choose. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Cole would save Trish, even at the cost of six other lives. He got up there, and found that Kessler lied. Trish was in the six. She fell, and died in his arms. She's buried in the Cemetery, or was, before everything else. And I was in the room when Cole promised to kill Kessler. If he was angry with me, he was furious to the point of calm with Kessler."

"He blew it up. There, on the end of the pier, he slammed the Sphere with everything, it was as sight to behold, even from where I was being held. But it blew up, and killed John in the process. Poor sod died screaming."

"I don't know why Kessler brought me to there. I think he wanted me to watch. But I just couldn't stand by. I grabbed my gun from one of my guards, shot them both, reloaded, and put six rounds into Kessler, just as he was gaining the advantage. He blasted me away, over a block. Landed hard, broke a couple ribs, but it was enough. Cole was able to turn the tide. I got back in time to watch him bring the thunder on Kessler. Then he got back up – Kessler that is, and attacked Cole. Or tried to. He did the same thing that happened between the girl and Cole. Shared his thoughts."

"What did he share?"

"The future."

"Cole came back from his trip here. I got to say, he was a lot more relaxed. Vacation did him good. First thing he did was he called me over to the Prison and talked with me and the Warden, explained some of the details about his trip, and about New Marais. He said that he had some reference for what I had done, and thanks to you, was willing to forgive me. Said something about someone named 'Satan'?"

"Saten-san," Misaka corrected him.

"I know that name," Aiho wondered aloud.

"Level Upper Victim," Misaka explained.

"Ah, that's it. Thank you."

"Kuo commented that she didn't speak Japanese, that she was Chinese-American and spoke both dialects of Chinese. Mandarin and whatever the other one was. Poor Cole was so sad that his new language was of no use."

Misaka giggled, though she shouldn't have. "Sorry, it's just my English proficiency went up to 'Native Speaker', and I'm tutoring some people now because of it."

"Good for you, Girly!"

"My name is Misaka, Zeke Jedidiah Dunbar!"

"Hey! Only my momma gets to call me Jedidiah. You get one free pass, but no more."

"The Beast, he was too strong. No, that's not right. Cole was stuck at the end of a pier. No ability to manoeuvre. I think he could have won if he had room to move, but he was trapped from the start, and the Beast won."

"Cole was weaker, sure, in terms of raw power, but what he had? He refined. He started to figure out how to do his glide using his feet, to free up his hands. Said he got the idea from you, how you could move over sea water through hydrostatic forces. I think. He didn't have a head for math. That was my thing. But he burned on the boat ride. He told me that he had failed, but that New Marais was going to be round two. With the help of Wolfe, he would come back stronger." Zeke sighed. "Eight million people already dead, and Cole knew what would happen if he failed for good. I had to do something to help him. So I made the Amp."

"He asked Wolfe something weird. Asked him if he knew about someone named 'Kihare'. Wolfe replied that Bertrand had them all killed after the Blast and he formed the Militia. Said they were 'untrustworthy'. Poor Wolfe got so much added to his plate for that. He was just burned out by the time Bertrand decided to put him down too."

"So he picks up the damned truck! Gotta weigh a good three quarters of a ton if an ounce, and he throws the thing at the Helicopter! I ain't ever seen anything like that. Though I think he was talking about you when he said that he "ain't gonna throw around no pissant coin". Though I crunched some numbers afterwards, and well, based on what he told me about your Railgun, it could go either way."

"A whole TRUCK?" Misaka was flabbergasted. And Cole was competing against her for it? "Fine, maybe he can do it with a heavier object. I'm still better." He had figured out her 'Levitate' ability, then added in the Blast. It wouldn't work for precision work, but for mass destruction? She could do the same. She knew it.

Zeke raised his hands in surrender. "Not gonna get into that pissing contest. But I will tell you that if it came down to it, I know where my loyalties lay."

"Kuo was in rough shape. Even Miss Burning Britches helped out once she saw the fighting was good. Nix was a tiger, that's for sure. Made their differences all the more huge. But she wasn't about to let Bertrand have his way with anyone. Vermark 88 be damned."

"Vermaak, not Vermark." Tessou corrected. "Based in South Africa."

"Add it to the report," Aiho commanded, getting back to the story.

"Well, Kuo, she wasn't in such good shape, so we headed back to the safehouse. When she woke up, she told us what happened. Bertrand had activated her latent powers with some sort of 'Transfer Device' and bled her dry, putting them into the Mercs. Drove them nuts with power. Nix... well, she didn't take the news too well. Anyone who got messed up by Bertrand, well, they were worth helping in her book, even if she hated their guts."

"Human sacrifices. Well, Cole put a stop to that. Stared down that Behemoth, and tore it a new one. The Rebels, well, according to Rosco, after that stunt, figured he could walk on water. Didn't help any that he could, to a limited extent. He wouldn't go too far from town with that power, but I suppose that's when people started calling him the Saint."

"It was Bertrand?"

"Yep. Don't ask me where he got the mass, but that huge mother, the momma Corrupted was Bertrand. That made him responsible for everyone trying to kill Cole. Militia was his. He created the Ice Soldiers, and made the Freaks. Oh, Cole was so gleeful when he found out. The irony! The biggest Human Supremacist was the freakiest freak that ever freaked!"

"I don't see what's so funny."

"Eh, you weren't there."

"The Dunbar Beam? Worked by igniting methane sacs in the Corrupted. As swamp critters, they were full of the stuff, so I just whipped up a little something to make them go up like the gasbags they were!"

"Some of our people may want to see a model of that."

"We'll see. It's pretty specific in purpose though."

"It ain't no plague, you see. That's why the CDC was baffled. It was radiation. The Ray Sphere pumped a whole lot of it out when it fired off, to empower Conduits. They would survive. Everyone else wouldn't. And the Beast was coming our way. The entire Eastern Seaboard was affected."

"And the Government said nothing?"

"Oh, they said it alright. Blamed it on Cole, and the Beast. Sorry, the quote – Empire Event – unquote. But that wasn't the point. Ray Field technology? It was fatal to anyone without powers, short and long term. And the RFI was our ticket out of hell."

Tessou dropped her notepad. Misaka felt sick to her stomach, while Aiho went stone faced. "Yep. Nuclear. I know you guys got a bad history with the things, but Bertand had it laying around! So I stole it, refitted it to fire at the Beast, and let her rip."

He looked ashen himself. "Colonel Paul W. Tibbets Jr. Major Charles W. Sweeny. Zeke J. Dunbar. The three men who let loose the fires of the apocalypse in anger. May there never be a fourth."

"It was John. He was the Beast."

"How?"

"The Ray Sphere. It killed him, yes, but he was a Conduit. It changed him. Made him into a living, walking, talking Ray Sphere. And he wanted Cole's help."

"What did he say?"

"He said 'Help me, Cole. Help me save as many as I can!' That the Ray Field couldn't be stopped, that it would only spread, from Conduit to Conduit. The Beast – John – he wanted to activate as many Conduits as he could, to save their lives at the cost of everyone without powers."

"Yea, I had the 'plague'. I was hanging around the most powerful Conduit in North America! Damn straight I got it."

"What did you do?"

"Like a fool, I tried to hide it from him. But he could see it, Cole could. Saw I was sick. And he knew he had to make it right."

"Nix died, wounding the Beast. Just like her. But as she lay there, something changed in Cole. He said he could see her brain firing, that he could see what happened when she used her powers. He knew how it was done. He could do it. Facing the Beast, while the RFI charged, he became a storm. Of Ice. Of Lighting. Of Fire. He figured out how to copy another Conduits powers at the last. He said he was past his Karma now, that he was free, and he used his freedom to save everyone."

Zeke wept. "The Beast was down, dammit! The Milita and the Rebels, hell, even the last of the Mercs got into it! It was down! Defeated! But Cole knew that John would just come back. That the RFI was the only way."

"Even if it killed him," Misaka knew.

"That ain't the worst of it. This last part? This is for you."

"Hey, Zeke?" Cole held the RFI in one hand, John's monstrous form between him and Saint Ignatius.

"Hang on brother! I'm a'comin!"

"Zeke, do something for me, will ya?" Cole held the Ray Sphere with both hands now. He didn't need a hand to use the radio any more. He could just think it.

"Wait for me!" Zeke almost tripped as he ran down the stairs. But he recovered and kept falling to earth.

"Promise me, Zeke!"

"Come on, brother! Give me a minute!"

"PROMISE ME!"

Zeke stopped running. No haste could fix things now. Out a window, he saw Kuo fall down at Cole's feet, her agony at her mortal wounds apparent, even at this range. He clicked the radio. "You're my brother. I ain't gonna promise you nothing, cause you know I'll do it anyways."

"Go to Academy City, Zeke. There's that girl, Misaka. If she's still alive after this..."

Zeke reached down into one of his bags and fumbled for a moment. Then he pulled out the Amp, rippling with beauty in the light. Setting it on the table between everyone, he finished his story through unlimited tears.

"Give them to her. The bag and the Amp. She may need them. And tell her what happened, so she knows." Cole dumped everything he had into the RFI, hoping past hope that it's effects would reach out across the world, to undo everyone's mistakes.

Then he let go.

"It's yours now. Cole's last will and testament. He was at peace at the end. And he wanted you to know, that he was sorry he left you like that."

Misaka reached out and picked up the Amp. She could see the myriad dings and scratches. Some were buffed into obscurity, others repaired. There was platinum in it, she could tell through the resistance it gave. And gold too. The metal in it was worth more than the block of buildings they were in, she was sure of it.

And it was hers. An heirloom weapon, passed down to her from someone she could call equal. "Why? Why didn't he call? Why? I could have helped." Her voice was soft as a weight started to set down on her shoulders, but she refused to give in.

"And then you'd be dead too. Don't think he didn't think about it. But you were still a kid in his eyes. He wasn't about to drag you into this if he could help it. Hell, we were gambling that the RFI would only cover North America, to heal those irradiated by the Beast, and the Ray Sphere."

"You were wrong," Tessou replied. "On that day, there were 18 unexplained fatalities. They all died in agony, but quickly. There was no hope to save them."

Zeke slouched. "I'm sorry. Musta been really sensitive. I don't know. Only thing I can do is put flowers on their graves now."

"It wasn't your fault." Aiho reached out and patted Zeke's shoulder. "You did all you could."

"I COULD HAVE DONE MORE!" Zeke yelled in anger, throwing off the arm. "I let my BROTHER FADE AWAY! I should have tried harder! Should have thought of something! He could still be alive!"

"And then you'd be dead," Misaka said quietly, taking the bag, and putting it over her shoulder. As Zeke watched, she adjusted the straps, sizing it for her smaller body. "Don't cry. He knew, that's why he asked you to come here. To get away." She awkwardly tried to slip the Amp into the back of the bag, but failed.

"Come here, let me show you." Zeke gestured for Misaka to approach, and she did, turning her back to him in the process. "You sure about this? You take it as more than a trophy to put on your mantle, a memory, there ain't no turning back on it."

"Put it on. I want to feel it's weight."

"Sure. It's a bit big for you though. I could work on it, make it smaller. Need a shop though." He glanced at the Anti-Skill officers. "Assuming I don't spend the rest of my life in a pit."

"No. You won't." Aiho stood up as Zeke finished attaching the Amp. "I cannot approve of her carrying a weapon like that, but I don't think I can stop her either. But you kept your end of the deal, and we'll keep ours. You'll be free once we fix the paperwork."

"Thanks." Zeke whispered as he looked down at the girl who would grow up in a better world. "What next?"

"What happened to the RFI?"

"Busted, broken, burned out. Cole did a number on that thing. Tossed it in his grave to keep him company."

"You realize you're the only person left who knows about this technology, don't you? The Sphere and the Inhibitor?"

"Thought crossed my mind, yes. Figured I would find somewhere remote and just hide for a couple decades."

Aiho had a sad smile on her face. "I have a better offer."

"What? Live here in Academy City? Don't be a fool."

"Foolish enough to join Anti-Skill?"

"Aiho-san!" Tessou voiced her surprise as her senior raised a hand to make her case.

"We fix the paper work, say that you were recruited into Anti-Skill as a mechanical specialist. You built that thing," she indicated the Amp, "you fixed the RFI. You refitted a nuclear weapon. Those are accomplishments that show that you are a valuable person. No matter what, someone will find you. Anti-Skill can use a person of your ability. Not to make weapons, but to understand them. And we will not sacrifice our own for political necessity either. Academy City will stand against nations. We have before, and will again. Join us. Please."

"Do I have a choice?"

"Yes."

Zeke looked beside him at Misaka, and wondered where she would be in ten years. Would she understand what happened, and why? Would she? "Will you do my brother proud?"

"Yes." Misaka replied, "I will. I can do no less."

Zeke looked Aiho in the eye. "You fuck with me, you won't last long enough to regret it." He offered his hand.

"Agreed. Welcome to Anti-Skill, Zeke Dunbar."

In his other bag, the RFI lay still. Uncharged, it was intact, ready to be unleashed once more, the final line of defence to save humanity.

It had taken weeks of study. Finally she hit upon a solution through space travel, and the Ion engines used by deep space probes. Kuroko had obliged her as they teleported to a roof somewhere.

"Must you carry that thing?" The teleporter asked, indicating the large device on Misaka's back.

"Hey, it makes the Railgun safer, so why not?"

"And more powerful! That last test indicated you could reach orbit with it!"

"Trust me, Kuroko."

"I do."

"Really?"

"Always."

Misaka Mikoto, the third ranked Level Five in Academy City ran for the edge of the building and jumped off. For a moment, nothing.

And then she flew.