03x12 - Exterior

[bunniefuu]

Super...

...Amazing...

...Punch!

Awesome--

Now's your chance!

--No, no, no, no! Just a second,
just a second, just a--

--Off you go!
--No, no, no, no! Just a second,
just a second, just a--

Ah, what the hell...

Wait, how am I supposed to land?!

Um...

...th-thank you... Although it was also
because of you that I had that close call.

Well?

No good. It's like there's a power
I don't quite understand

that keeps coming in from the outside,
and I can't cancel it all.

It worked for a second where I did touch her

but went back again right after.

So, what do we do?

There's someone else who's trying
to turn her back to normal... apparently.

I don't know who it is, though.

But until she can shut down
this power at the source,

all we can do is slow her down.

From what this person was saying,

having me near her is supposed
to keep her transformation under control.

Hey, looks like things are still changing.

Well,

--I meant slow her down, not stop her--
--What is it she's trying to do--

S-Sogiita!

That was pathetic. I let my guard down.

Y-You're all right? If you're unhurt after that,
then just how strong are you...?

Looks like I'm gonna have
to put some more guts into this.

What Kihara Gensei is after--

what made that puppet try
to capture me, rather than k*ll me--

has to be some new information
that's come up that he wants from me.

And more than likely,

it's the limiter release code for Exterior.

"A Certain Scientific Railgun T"

Where is her camera?

There it is!

If the data in the Bank is correct,

Kozaku's puppets do not
have any kind of sight organs.

She senses her surroundings...

...using echolocation, the way a bat does.

Her sensitivity is sharp enough

to pick up even a heartbeat
within a few dozen meters.

The camera is ultimately
nothing more than an auxiliary.

Which calls for...

...the portable anti-eavesdropping
devices I have for security.

I have now deprived Kozaku of both
her eyes and ears, at least momentarily.

And during that time...

Good heavens,

Shokuho really is the cautious sort.

She hasn't left anything here on
how to unlock the limiter on Exterior.

What a wild goose chase this is.

Sure enough, it's just as I thought.

To be able to accurately control
Miss Misaka in that condition,

he must need more
than Exterior's current output.

That's why he has to unlock the limiter.

None of the major function codes
for Exterior remain on external memory;

they're all implanted in my brain alone.

And the key to its defense is covertness--

not letting anyone on
the outside know it even exists.

But I do have measures in place,
just in case something like this happens.

Wha--?

This building and the ones around it

have a security system unlike any normal kind,

including having multiple stand-alone
traps set that only I can activate.

Things would sure be easy
if he just goes to sleep.

Multiskill. I don't have 10,000 others
behind it, like Kiyama did, though.

But I do have a number of
interesting people that I've kidnapped--

I mean, secured--and borrowed their powers.

Don't tell me you didn't anticipate me doing so.

Rats.

That is one despicable old man.

But this isn't over yet.

If sleeping gas won't work, then...

No soap.

Mind if I ask you something?

What is it?

As I recall,

you concluded that the only esper
who had what it takes to reach Level 6

was the first-ranked, wasn't it?

Mm-hmm, at present, he is the only one
who can achieve a stable Level 6.

Stable?

Right now, the state Misaka is in

is making her power run out of control

to steamroll her into approaching Level 6.

If she keeps going like this,
then theoretically,

when she reaches 53 percent completion,

her mind will transform into
an other-dimensional entity.

And, after that,
we'll need the limiter unlock code

to keep her enmeshed in our world. And then...

...the moment she reaches


her mind and body will
both be strained to the limit,

and the way I see it,
she will come apart as an individual.

In other words,
Misaka cannot attain a stable Level 6.

At the cost of losing everything, for a moment--

even shorter than the blink of an eye,

she will be permitted a glimpse
of the realm of gods. As a result,

she will either wither away like
an ill-defined white dwarf star, or...

...she will burst like a supernova,

with enough force to open
a doorway to a new world.

And whatever the outcome,
what is certain is that something will happen

that will be big enough
to wipe this city off the map.

If Academy City gets blown away,

you'll be caught in the middle of it, too.
Do you even realize what you're saying?

Me, get caught in the middle of it?
What are you talking about?

The advancement of science requires sacrifice.

This is why I hate dealing
with people who are short on sanity.

Making use of this "clairvoyance"
business is surprisingly inconvenient.

I may be able to filter out the obstacles,

but if I can't narrow down
the range and direction just right,

I can't get a line on my target.

It's eaten up a whole
lot of my time as a result.

Now,

even if I were to use
Mental Out to read your memories,

you could just use the same ability
to block my intrusion into your brain.

However, if I drive you into a state
where you can't use your ability,

such as inflicting an intolerable
level of pain, or knocking you out,

it will be possible to get though.

My breath... the air...!

Shokuho, you're a delicate one,
so I'm hoping you'll give in quickly.

And Misaka must be coming along, as well.

Wh-Whoo! I had anticipated
some interference from Kamijo,

but I wouldn't have dreamed
that Sogiita would join in, as well!

In addition to the stimulus of Imagine Breaker,

I now have the extraordinary power
of the seventh-ranked!

It's a sight to behold as exceptional
as dividing the universe by zero!

If Misaka were to be multiplied by
the both of them, how great would that be?!

I can't stick around here! I have
to rally all of the analytical espers

and the equipment I have on hand to observe--

O-Oh, no!

What is he, an idiot?

Whatever, from what
I heard of the idiot's commentary,

as long as I can keep
the limiter unlock code safe,

then Academy City will be saved,
with Miss Misaka being the only casualty.

I won't forget you for at least a week.

Well, if that's what happens,
there's nothing I can do about it.

I doubt he's going to
let me off that easily, though.

Good grief, if Mental Out were
his only ability, I could deal with him.

What am I supposed to do with an
old coot who cheats by using Multiskill?

My own private system can
only buy me time at this point.

Graviton panels...?

"#12 Exterior"

It looks like I was wrong.

It really is taking too
much time to search blindly.

I need some kind of lead.

Found her!

This person is Kozaku, right?

Miss Saten located the suspect on video.

Forwarding you the information.
The timestamp is three minutes ago.

She hasn't shown up
on any other surveillance cameras,

so I can determine
which building she is hiding in!

On my way!

She's coming straight this way?
Ah, the surveillance cameras!

Are those guys only covering their own tracks?!

You are sure that she has not
shown up on any other cameras, right?

Mm-hmm. She hasn't shown up anywhere.

If she were trying
to move to a different building,

she would be sure to show up
on surveillance cameras.

In there...

Uiharu, fix all of the nearby movable
cameras on the target building!

Right!

At the rate she's going,
she's sure to catch her, huh?

P-Please focus.

The computer detects anything
that moves and lets us know, right?

What the...?

What is it? Did you find something?

Miss Saten, be quiet!

Oh, right.

Ah, there she is!

The sewer pipe?!

Miss Shirai, the puppet is
heading your way at incredible speed!

There is no question, then?

Is she having her puppet destroy
the surveillance cameras?

True, we cannot have
her knocking the cameras out

and getting away in a blind spot.

However, all of the directional cameras
in the area are trained on this building.

She would need a lot of time to take out
enough of them to secure a blind spot.

I have to end this before that happens.

Kozaku's objective is not the
camera network, but eliminating me?

I could not ask for more!

I will take advantage of her impatience...

...and run her down even farther!

Now that I know her ability
and how to counter it,

the thr*at her puppet poses is...

Ow!

What's the matter, Miss Shirai? Did something--

I messed up.

I caught a bit of her counteroffensive.

Huh? Are you all right?

It is not a big deal.

She only grazed my side,

but the one on my arm went a lot deeper.

And here my wounds from earlier
had finally started to heal, too!

I'm supposed to be saving
this body for when I get married!

Still,

now I am certain.
Kozaku really is here. Moreover...

...she is on the upper floors.

The att*ck I just took found me,

despite my anti-listening
devices still being operational.

Which means that Kozaku herself saw me.

Further, the att*ck came all in one line.
She was trying to catch me linearly.

It is likely that since
she was watching from above,

she could not determine my precise location

and had no choice but to split her att*cks.

If I come at her from below,
she has nowhere to run.

It is only a matter of time
before I catch her in person.

Still, something has felt slightly out of place.

Like there is something
that I have overlooked...

Ah, Shokuho!

Hey...

...forgive me for getting so excited earlier.
I should act my age.

One of my shortcomings is that
when I see something I'm not expecting,

I tend to become blinded to
everything else around me, you see.

I've nearly d*ed because of it, many times.

Then why couldn't you have
just d*ed and be done with it?

But this is unexpected.

Having you standing there, waiting for me?

I was certain you'd be running away.

I doubt I could get away from you,
with your clairvoyance.

If you catch me outside the building,

I'd be completely exposed,
without any of my security.

So I came to make a deal.

What kind of deal?

I'll tell you what the limiter unlock code is,

and you'll let me go.

Ho...?

After thinking about it, it doesn't matter
to me what happens to Miss Misaka.

And if Academy City is
getting blown off the map,

I'm going to get out of here first.

I was waiting here because
I didn't want to run around for nothing,

and use up all the time I have to get away.

Hmm, that makes sense.

Good, almost there...

But there's nothing in
that deal for me, is there?

My Mental Out doesn't work on you.

And if it weren't for my ability,

I'd just be an ordinary adorable
knockout beauty with a smoking figure.

Or do you have a thing
for hurting delicate girls like me?

--Four more steps...
--Not a shriveled-up old man like yourself, right?

--Three more steps...
--Not a shriveled-up old man like yourself, right?

Two more steps...

My ultra-high-power-oscillator-embedded
trap, the "Hag's Hug."

Once you step on it, you're finished.

The vibrations that sh**t up through the foot

reverberate and become amplified
as they move throughout the body,

converging up at your head!

Not only does it destroy
your ears' semicircular canals,

it gives your brain a good shake!

One more st--

To be sure, if I get my hands
on the limiter unlock code,

I won't have any need for you anymore.

But there is one thing that concerns me.

You've been staring
pretty intensely at this spot.

Is there something here?

You knew...!

Yeah, as if.

That was a decoy!

The real trap was
under your feet the whole time!

Graviton panels.

Normally, they are here
to create my own private shortcut,

but today, I had them impersonating
the floor from the get-go.

Now you'll be stuck in between there...

Are his feet exploding?

No, he's compressing the air
under his feet into footholds.

Earlier, when he tried to choke me
and turned aside those flames...

He has the Aero sh**t ability, all right!

I can't possibly spend any more time on you.

You won't get away from me.

Right now, I'm going to...

How do you like that?

I've set many layers of traps.
This is the one I've been saving.

They compress slowly,
so I had to catch you off your guard,

but graviton panels also have this application.

The technology was developed
as scaffolding for construction work,

but they can also be deployed to crush
the spindly arms of old men, too.

With all that intense pain,

will you be able to defend
against my Mental Out?

Huh?

Wow, you're so mean.

Imagine, picking on a frail,
little old man like this!

Although, I'd have to have
a wrist for you to crush it.

A p-prosthetic...?

Didn't I tell you?

My experiments have nearly k*lled me many times.

My whole body is like a trade fair
for replacement technology.

Though, I more or less predicted
what you were after even before this.

Someone who is pretending
to run away but still has some ploy

displays telltale signs of what they're after.

I don't let those hints that they're
about to turn the tables go unnoticed.

Which is exactly why I can tell
just by looking at you now...

...that you have nothing up
your sleeve to reverse this situation.

The limiter unlock code...

...is mine.

"Next episode preview"

"Next episode preview"
"#13 SYSTEM"

Sure, I should already be on top of
Kozaku Mitori, but I cannot reach her.

What feels so out of place, here?

No matter, I will still find her,
whatever it takes.

Huh? Shokuho is not
speaking in this one, is she?