Bait That Bites Back

Mikoto

(The child is somewhere in this maze of containers. I can feel the static in the air.)

Kuroko

Onee-sama, I'm detecting multiple heat signatures moving toward the center.

Mikoto

They're using the child as bait. Classic move.

Mikoto

(But they don't know I can track their phones through the electrical grid.)

Kuroko

Wait! The child's heartbeat just spiked—there's someone else here!

Mikoto

(That's not a gang member's signature. This is—)

Kuroko

Onee-sama, the child just walked out on their own. They're not scared—they're leading us.

Mikoto

(The child turned around. Their eyes—those aren't the eyes of a victim. They're the eyes of a hunter.)

Mikoto

(Every coin gone. The one thing that makes me the Railgun, and I'm holding nothing but air.)

Kuroko

Onee-sama, I can still teleport us out. We're not cornered yet.

Mikoto

Wait. These wires... they're not just power. They're data cables.

Mikoto

(If I can access the building's network through these, I might find the security feeds.)

Kuroko

The child's still down there. I can sense them moving between the containers.

Mikoto

(The security system... it's not watching for intruders. It's watching for the child. This whole warehouse is a cage, and we're just additional specimens.)

Kuroko

Onee-sama! The monitors—I can see the child's file. They're not a victim at all!

Mikoto

Subject designation: Level 5 Potential. Experiment terminated due to uncontrollable replication ability.

Mikoto

(They didn't clone themselves. They multiplied. And each copy is learning from us.)

Kuroko

Onee-sama... they're not trying to escape. They're trying to multiply enough times to consume the entire city.