Hair is part of the human body, ford from keratinized epithelial cells.
Generally speaking, these types of cells aren't suitable for cultivation, let alone experints at the cellular level. But sotis, things aren't so absolute.
Listening to Kiyama-sensei's words, Natsu Sonoko found herself getting confused again, her mind suddenly filled with doubts.
What Kiyama-sensei probably ant was for her cells to replace the #2's cells, thereby gaining control of the bio-computer… but was that really feasible?
The conversation circled back to her earlier discussion with Doctor Heaven Canceller.
Sonoko rembered him saying that no human cells in the entire Academy City could adapt to the teoroid.
It had taken a trendous effort just to synthesize one using the #2's cells combined with genetic fragnts from a regeneration-type esper.
Even soone as optimistic as Sonoko wouldn't flatter herself into thinking she was so unique, special existence.
If that were true, she'd have been a Level 5 from the start—why would she need to work so darn hard?
"Kiyama-sensei, are you serious?"
It took Sonoko a mont to find her voice, a trace of bewildernt in her eyes.
She wasn't really worried about Kiyama-sensei using her hair for anything bad. After all, she had plenty to spare—losing a few strands was nothing. Still, she couldn't help feeling curious.
"My apologies for acting without your consent. It was just an idea I had at the ti," Kiyama Kiyama replied, a hint of remorse in her tone.
"What idea?"
"Ever since we found a way to save Banri and the others, and with Doctor Heaven Canceller's help, the bio-computer beca less important to . That's when I started thinking… maybe I could give it to you."
"I could tell you desperately need computational power. Even the Doctor noticed it," Kiyama said, a faint smile gracing her lips as she spoke slowly.
Sonoko's cheeks flushed slightly. She couldn't deny that.
With massive computational power, she could delve deeper into deriving her long list of formulas, improve their precision and stability to reduce her own energy expenditure, and speed up progress on concepts she hadn't fully derived yet.
As for gaining computational power comparable to a Level 5 through external ans? That was just a nice bonus.
Even a genuine Level 5 couldn't push themselves like a machine, deriving formulas around the clock.
After all, a supercomputer could achieve the sa thing. A machine that could operate at high speed non-stop, without needing rest, was far more efficient than any human.
Even if she only gained indirect control via the Level Upper, and even if she couldn't use it for her Temperature Control, the sheer computational power alone would be more than enough for her needs.
So, in Academy City, computational power was a high-grade necessity, not just a asure of ability. The Tree Diagram was the pinnacle of Academy City's computational industry.
"I did want to use the supercomputer at the Doctor's place before… but supercomputers are so expensive, I couldn't bring myself to ask," Sonoko mumbled quietly.
"If you had just asked, the Doctor would have agreed. He's a good man," Kiyama said, shaking her head.
Sunlight stread through the window, bathing the hospital bed in a warm, cozy glow.
Sonoko sat in the visitor's chair, listening as Kiyama continued.
"The thod isn't actually difficult. In fact, it's quite simple. I plan to create a complete clone—or more accurately, a complete synthetic human, not the monstrous form it had before."
"Synthetic human?" Sonoko muttered. A fusion of rock and human? Sounded weird, but it was definitely better than 'monster.'
"As you know, this synthetic human's genes were artificially modified, resulting in the loss of most of its brain. What I'm doing is re-growing the brain on the genetic level. Once that's done, the synthetic human will have a normal body, and might even develop its own consciousness."
"As long as we cultivate suitable cells and their numbers surpass the original cell colony in the bio-computer, if they can survive, they can replace the original colony and form a completely new individual."
Kiyama spoke slowly, her gaze still calm, as if she were discussing so trivial matter.
"Kiyama-sensei, do you an using my gene fragnts to supplent the lost genes of the syn… synthetic human?" Sonoko asked, surprised.
"That's right. But so additional processing is needed. I re-sequenced the original #2's gene sequence. While it can't completely sever the synthetic human's connection to him, it reduces it to a very low level. In fact, your access permissions might even be a bit higher than his. As for the regeneration-type esper's gene portion, it's already in a state of disorder."
"Eh, that sounds pretty strange."
As she listened, Sonoko's eyes widened involuntarily. A synthetic human made from three people's genes… did that make her the third wheel here?
But looking at it that way, it really wasn't a clone—just repairing the original synthetic human.
In a way, it was more like a treatnt. Sonoko didn't feel much resistance to the idea.
"Furthermore, to ensure the synthetic human awakens your ability instead of the regeneration power, we need to use so instrunts for induction after the rapid initial regeneration phase. We'll suppress the regeneration ability and allow your Temperature Control to fully form, limiting the regenerative cells to just balancing the teoroid's corrosive properties."
"Since your gene fragnts are used, if we then sync it with your brainwaves, you can gain over half ownership of the synthetic human. That would allow you to freely use the bio-computer inside its body."
Kiyama continued, slowly rising from the hospital bed and downing the liquid dicine on the bedside table in one go.
The bitter aftertaste lingered in her throat, making her cough slightly. She turned, found her white lab coat on the clothes rack.
The coat looked spotless—whoever had washed it had done a thorough job. Shedding the patient gown, she beca the familiar Kiyama-sensei once more.
"Let's talk about the rest in the car. I want to know what exactly happened too," Kiyama said, turning back to gaze deeply at Sonoko.
Sotis, Natsu-san really was so indirect, hiding and hesitating without knowing why. Such a complicated middle school girl.
"Kiyama-sensei, wait for !"
Nodding hurriedly, Sonoko followed.
After completing the discharge procedures, Kiyama led Sonoko towards the hospital parking lot.
Just as they stepped outside, they ran into Haruue Kiyama at the main entrance.
Haruue was holding a small cake, probably here to visit Banri and the others. After a quick distant greeting, Sonoko got into Kiyama-sensei's Lamborghini.
She'd lost count of how many tis she'd been in this car. The interior had beco much more furnished, feeling more lived-in now.
Climbing into the passenger seat, Sonoko dutifully fastened her seatbelt.
"Natsu-san, can you tell what exactly happened?"
As she drove, Kiyama glanced over at her. Both of them had dark circles under their eyes. They stared at each other for a mont, creating a slightly odd atmosphere in the car.
"Well, it's about Misaka-senpai. Soone is using her…"
The car wasn't moving very fast, stopped again by a red light. Sonoko looked out the window, her mind recalling the details as she explained everything she knew.
Things like the Level 6 Shift Project, the Radio Noise Project, the #1 Accelerator, and the Sisters.
"The Level 6 Shift Project… so it really did start," Kiyama murmured, a look of realization dawning on her face, as if rembering sothing.
In her mory, she'd heard about these experints nurous tis from her forr ntor, Kihara Gensei. Back then, it was still in its infancy—just rumors that the Tree Diagram had calculated a thod to create a Level 6.
As for the Radio Noise Project, that was hardly a secret anymore. It wasn't just Railgun; hadn't they tried replicating the other Level 5s as well? Academy City had long stopped at nothing in the na of research.
The fact that only Railgun's clones were mass-produced was simply due to that cruel word: cost-effectiveness.
"But the Radio Noise Project was terminated long ago. So, Natsu-san, you want to stop the Level 6 Shift Project, right?" Kiyama stated.
"But from what I know, the #1 is a true monster even among Level 5s. His brain is the best in Academy City."
Kiyama didn't ntion Accelerator's ability, instead emphasizing his intellect.
Among the upper echelons of Academy City's research community, his mind was far more valuable than his Vector Control.
'Best brain' wasn't just about computational power; it represented a superhuman genius.
To study Accelerator's thought processes, they'd even designed a series of experints specifically for that purpose. That was sothing even more astonishing than raw computational power.
After all, he was capable of on-the-spot breakthroughs, designing world-shaking formulas in an incredibly short ti.
That kind of talent was sothing a certain self-proclaid smart 'atball head' couldn't compare to—she hadn't even grasped the basics of her own thermodynamic conversion formulas yet and was still attempting to use brute-force algorithms on a supercomputer.
"If you want to stop this Level 6 Shift experint, based on my understanding of the researchers, the only way is to invalidate the simulation results derived from the Tree Diagram," Kiyama continued.
And the simulation result was that Accelerator would continuously grow through 20,000 experints, controlling the direction of his skill growth, ultimately reaching Level 6.
In the original story, the reason the plan was stopped was because Accelerator was defeated by a Level 0 from Academy City.
Not only did they fail to see growth, but he was beaten by the weakest possible opponent. This made the researchers lose all faith and question the project's feasibility.
For example, if a Level 4 like Natsu Sonoko or a Level 5 like Misaka-san defeated Accelerator, it might have so effect, but it wouldn't be as impactful as a Level 0 defeating him.
By the ti they finished talking, the car had finally reached its destination.
The destination was, of course, Heaven Canceller's research institute. The building was mostly repaired now, the traces of the previous battle long gone, save for so darkened bricks on the wall that recorded the fight.
Beep. Verification passed.
Kiyama swiped her card to enter, Sonoko following closely behind.
Kiyama was still a specially appointed researcher at this institute. Heaven Canceller hadn't revoked her access permissions after Banri and the others left; perhaps he genuinely wanted to welco her into the institute.
"Kiyama-sensei, is the synthetic human here?" Sonoko asked instinctively.
"Not here. Keeping it here would only cause trouble for the Doctor," Kiyama replied, shaking her head.
They went to the second floor. Kiyama opened the door to a rebuilt bio-lab.
The equipnt here had suffered heavy losses during the last battle, but it had now been almost fully replenished.
Inside a machine whose na Sonoko didn't know, there was a small petri dish containing a living colony of cells.
Sonoko, curious, blinked and peered closely as Kiyama put on protective gear, carefully retrieved the petri dish from the machine, and placed it on a nearby incubator.
Though Sonoko wanted to say she could handle the temperature control herself, she just watched Kiyama's movents quietly.
"Are these cells the finished product after the genetic repair?" Sonoko asked curiously.
The synthetic human's cells would die quickly after leaving the body, but if you quickly added a reagent that provided cellular nutrients, the rate of death would slow significantly.
"They're only semi-finished. We still need to select the cells with the highest activity for a second round of selection, then add reagents for rapid reproduction," Kiyama explained, her hands moving swiftly as she operated another instrunt.
It didn't take long—about half an hour—to complete these steps, with Sonoko providing significant assistance.
-- --
In a concealed building that seed to be Kiyama Harumi's own property.
A large cultivation tank stood before them. A figure bearing a seventy to eighty percent resemblance to Natsu Sonoko floated inside. Perhaps due to the implanted genes, this figure appeared to be a girl.
Because of the teoroid inside her and the genetic differences, she was noticeably taller than Sonoko, even taller than the average middle school girl, reaching about 160 cm.
"Is that the synthetic human?" Sonoko's voice held an indescribable emotion, trembling slightly as she spoke.
Even though Sonoko had witnessed this synthetic human's transformation from an ugly monster back into the teoroid, and then from the teoroid into this girl, no matter how she looked at it, she couldn't connect the two.
Just by altering a few gene fragnts, such a radical transformation had occurred. Plus, the girl looked so much like herself, making Sonoko montarily unsure how to process her feelings.
The cells' regenerative ability was still active, but the next step was to suppress that regeneration and re-induce the Temperature Control ability in the synthetic human.
After adding several liquids into the cultivation tank, the induction experint began quickly.
Even with only a fifty percent success rate, it worked on the first try. With the teoroid's supercomputing power, developing abilities was far simpler and faster compared to an ordinary student.
-- --
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.
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