Doctor Gekota, Heaven Canceller

The scene changes to a doctor's office, where a slightly chubby middle-aged man with a "frog face" is diligently working. As Selene prepares to knock on the door and enter, Misaka Mikoto suddenly presses herself against the door, her eyes turning into narrow lines as she stares intently inside, mumbling to herself, "It's the real-life Gekota!"

"Hmm?" Hearing the commotion outside, Heaven Canceller is puzzled, but when he hears the name the chestnut-brown shoulder-length-haired girl calls him, he rubs his sparse hair with a headache.

"Sigh, what brings you here?" Heaven Canceller sighs helplessly, ignoring Misaka Mikoto, who keeps muttering "real-life Gekota," and turning his attention to Selene, who seems to be the leader, he asks softly.

"Yes, we do have something we'd like to ask for Dr. Heaven Canceller's help with," Selene replies with a smile. "I've heard that your medical skills are the best in Academy City, so we came to you."

"It's not that exaggerated; I'm just an ordinary doctor," Heaven Canceller says with a calm smile, then asks, "Specifically, what do you plan to ask?"

After listening to Shirai Kuroko's description, Heaven Canceller thinks for a moment, then stands up and leads the group to the brainwave monitoring room, explaining as he walks, "Regarding the [Level Upper] incident that's been causing a stir lately, our hospital has received quite a few patients..."

"Alright, we're here, take a look..." Reaching the control platform of the brainwave monitoring room, Heaven Canceller takes out numerous brainwave charts of [Level Upper] patients from a file. "...These are the full brainwave charts of [Level Upper] users."

Gazing at the brainwaves of these [Level Upper] users, a look of seriousness flashes across Shirai Kuroko's face, as the similarity is too high!

"Normally, brainwave patterns vary from person to person, and it's impossible to have completely identical ones, but I've found that all [Level Upper] users have a similar brainwave pattern."

"What's going on?" With new clues, Shirai Kuroko is unwilling to give up and asks eagerly.

"Simply put, if you force the brain to operate according to someone else's brainwaves, it will have a significant impact on the body's functions."

Having finally broken away from the allure of the "human Gekota," Misaka Mikoto gets down to business, "So, because their brains are controlled by [Level Upper], their brainwaves are forcibly changed, leading to the coma symptom?"

"Who did this? What's their goal?" Understanding the cause of the coma, Shirai Kuroko narrows her eyes in thought.

"That's beyond my scope; I'm just a doctor." Turning his head slowly, Heaven Canceller looks at Shirai Kuroko, who is wearing a Judgment armband, "Revealing the truth is your job."

As he says this, Heaven Canceller's gaze lingers on Selene, who remains silent.

Heaven Canceller is not an ordinary doctor. As an old friend of Aleister, the founder of Academy City, he can easily find out anything within the city. Therefore, he is aware of Selene's identity. As Aleister's highest-ranked operative, he doesn't believe that Selene knows nothing.

However, he doesn't bother to intervene. It has nothing to do with him as long as Selene doesn't want to blow up Academy City. Even if she targets Aleister's position, it's fine.

...

"Since we have identified the specific brainwave pattern, we just need to check [Library] to see whose brainwave it is..."

"For this kind of investigation, do you have authorization for [Library]?" Misaka Mikoto fired off a series of questions. "And what if the Library doesn't have it?"

"Onee-sama underestimates us Judgments; we certainly have authorization for [Library]," Shirai Kuroko replied with a chuckle. "Besides..."

"...The [Library] contains not only the information of Academy City students but also data on all 2.3 million residents, including adults who have received medical treatment or taken occupational aptitude tests in the city, so there's no need to worry about such issues, as long as Uiharu..."

"Wait, Uiharu! Ah! She's not here now." After receiving the breakthrough news, Shirai Kuroko and Misaka Mikoto hurried back to Judgment Branch 177, only to suddenly realize that the key person isn't present, causing their spirits to plummet.

"Why don't you ask me? Do you think I'm incapable?" Seeing the two of them complaining about Uiharu not being here, Selene was speechless.

"Huh? Selene, you can do this?" Misaka Mikoto was astonished, as she only knew Selene as someone who solved problems by force.

Shoving Shirai Kuroko aside, Selene took the seat decisively, "Enough chatter, time to get to work."

Selene then began operating the system skillfully, causing the two onlookers to be both shocked and surprised.

"How... does Selene-senpai have such high access?" Shirai Kuroko was astonished by Selene's far superior access compared to Uiharu's, prompting her to turn to her sister. "Does a Level 5 have such high access?"

"How should I know?"

At this moment, a familiar female voice rang out, and a girl with dark medium-length hair, blue eyes, wearing glasses, and a notable figure walked in, "What's all the noise about? Are you treating the Judgment branch as your lounge?"

"Konori-senpai..." Seeing the newcomer, Shirai Kuroko was puzzled, "Weren't you at a meeting, senpai?"

"Isn't it obvious? The meeting is over! But, what are you doing?"

"Well..."

After hearing Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko's explanation, Konori Mii became excited too, as the incident had been troubling her, leaving her constantly on the go from meetings to transporting patients, "So you've found a lead on [Level Upper]!"

"That's right! Once we find the person with the brainwave matching this pattern, we can wrap up the case." Shirai Kuroko confidently stated.

"But why does using [Level Upper] sync the brainwaves with the same person's brain pattern? And how does it raise ability levels? It's baffling..." Misaka Mikoto pondered aloud.

"Indeed, even computers with software for enhanced performance don't see such drastic improvements. However, if we consider the network aspect, conclusions can't be easily drawn. If the goal is simply to enhance computational power, networking brains might work."

"Exactly, it's unclear what the developer's goal is... Wait, what if [Level Upper] serves as a medium to network brains together?" Misaka Mikoto speculated.

Hearing this theory, Konori Mii hesitated, a trace of doubt in her expression. The more she reasoned, the more confused she became, "But what's the purpose? What in Academy City requires human brainpower when computers would suffice?"

"Why do [Level Upper] users fall unconscious? This doesn't quite add up."

"This is giving me a headache..." Shirai Kuroko muttered through gritted teeth, her frustration evident, "The priority is finding the person who developed [Level Upper]!"

"True, just find the developer and it's done." Selene said as she spotted a highly matching brainwave record and hit the enter key decisively, "Look, found it."

"Where is it!" ×3 The three surrounding the console exclaimed, crowding closer upon hearing Selene had located the target.

"Brainwave match of ninety-nine percent!?" Seeing the prominently displayed 99% match, Shirai Kuroko slammed the desk, declaring loudly, "This must be the one!"

"This... is!?" As the information unfolded, Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko were stunned, their eyes wide with disbelief.

Dressed in a white lab coat over a shirt, with wavy brown hair and a weary face marked by dark circles...

The owner of this brainwave was none other than the brain physiology scholar Misaka Mikoto and the others had consulted earlier, "Kiyama Harumi!"

Seeing this, Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko exchanged a shocked glance.

"Uiharu!!" ×2