Icecream soothes all problems

"And... there. I've turned off the disk scrubs."

Dorothy gave you a worried look. 'Are you sure this is okay,' you imagined you could hear her saying.

"Yeah," you replied. "I'm pretty sure."

She sighed. "If something goes wrong..."

You shook your head firmly. "That's not gonna happen. We've got plenty of redundancies."

"Anyhow, if we run out of power it'll all be gone." She paused, then added, "If it comes to that, let's have a final party. Let's go all out! I want to see the ocean again."

"You know, that's not a bad idea."

"I'm going to miss you."

"Same." You hugged her tight, then let her go. "See you later, Dorothy."

"I wish I could go with you."

"I know, right?" You laughed, then headed over to the door. "Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it!"

You stepped outside, into a blinding white light. Academy City would be the solution. There was no reason not to trust it.

There's no ice cream in your freezer. As you realise this underlying failure of reality to conform to expectations, you open the fridge door. There isn't any milk, either. What happened to the milk?

Uiharu probably drank it. You remember telling her that if she did, she'd grow taller.

So then where does that leave you?

The fridge doesn't answer, of course. If it did, you wouldn't have been able to ask it that question. Your voice wouldn't have gotten through the thick metal.

This is a problem. This is something you need to take care of right away. If you let it go on too long, you'll run out of energy. Ice cream soothes every pain—even the mental kind—and without it, you'll have to face reality. You're not up to that quite yet.

"Uiharu, do you want an ice cream?" you ask over your shoulder, hoping she'll hear you. She's in the living room slash bedroom, at her computer. Sometimes you catch her typing in her dreams. Sometimes she's so focused, she forgets the rest of the universe exists. It makes her easy to sneak up on.

You close the fridge and walk back into the living room, then turn to find she's on her bed, her eyes closed. She's wearing her clothes. Her hair is dishevelled; it looks like she hasn't brushed it today.

"Uiharu?" you ask more quietly, approaching the bed slowly. "Are you asleep?"

You crouch next to the bed.

"Ui..."

She opens her eyes suddenly. They're a deep brown, almost black, and they look straight ahead, unblinking. She shivers, and there's a thin film of sweat on her forehead.

You touch her cheek gently, feeling the warmth beneath your fingers. It's hot, way too warm for someone sleeping.

"...bad dream?" you say, softly.

Her eyes are unfocused. She nods silently.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

Her eyes flutter open again. They seem to focus on you for a second, and then she blinks. "...what?"

"Nothing," you say. You pat her head, smiling as you watch your best friend come back to life. "I'm gonna get some ice cream."

She reaches out to grab your hand. "...can I have one too?"

You nod and give her a quick squeeze before pulling your arm away.

"I'll be right back," you say.


[ ] Go to the neighbourhood store. They have ice cream.
[ ] Go to the ice cream shop. It's further away, and might be busy, but it has good ice cream.

Get the good stuff

Dorothy 2022/02/12(Sat)14:55 No. 1023259 ID: 94e610
File 164470651117.jpg - (57.69KB , 512x512 , 0900.jpg )

You lose your smile as you sprint across town, heading towards the ice cream shop. Uiharu's been having nightmares lately—nightmares about last week. When a giant floating baby came after her and tried to kill her.

That sentence doesn't sound sensible even in your own head, but since it's what happened, you have to accept it. You've accepted it. You're glad you live together, because that means you can comfort her whenever she needs it. She's needed it a lot.

But it's not like that. It's not just her. Everyone in the city has had bad dreams. Bad things happen everywhere, and it's natural to worry when you see your best friend nearly get crushed by a giant baby. Can you please stop harping on that, Saten?

"Aaaaaah!"

You stop running, and you scream your anger and frustration up at the sky.

It's a sunny day. The sun is shining. Birds are chirping. The grass is green. The flowers are blooming. Everything's perfect.

And it's not fair.

An old lady that's passing by gives you a weird look, and you glare at her, even though you know it's rude.

It's not her fault. It's your fault. It's the world's fault. It's Academy City's fault. It's still your damn fault, Saten! If you'd only been a little smarter, you wouldn't have come here in the first place. Would never have befriended Uiharu, or any of the other girls you've met along the way.

Because you've become the type of person who goes around making friends and getting involved with their lives, even when you don't belong. Even when it's a mistake. You've ruined everything.

You should have left well enough alone, stayed in your home town and lived a quiet life.

But you didn't.

You run.

You run as fast as you can, trying to outrun your thoughts. You're not sure why you ran. You just knew you had to, and now you're running.

Running away.

***

Your name is Saten, and recently you're starting to think that the world might be a little too convenient, but there's nothing convenient about what's happened to the ice-cream shop. What's in front of you, what you can see people queueing up for and walking into, is a hole in reality. A distorted, ice-cream coloured smear of warped architecture that takes up half your vision.

You've heard it called a "glitch," in rumours. In Academy City, rumours are a dime a dozen. But you've heard so many different things—about the Level Upper, about the nudist woman, about all sorts of stuff. You're starting to think that maybe a few of them were true. Maybe a lot of them.

The shop's still... there. People are just... walking in. Despite the fact that the warped, broken geometry is plainly tearing them in half, and some are still glitched out when they leave. You're sure, absolutely sure, that more people are entering than are leaving.

But that's okay, isn't it? It's just an optical illusion. There's no reason you shouldn't be able to get your ice cream and walk out. So why do you hesitate?

Maybe it's the teeth?

You plop down on a nearby bench, watching the abomination in disbelief. How is this even possible? It's chewing on them. Why isn't anyone stopping it? There must be a hundred customers inside, and none of them is doing anything. They're all laughing, talking, acting like usual.

But then... maybe they're not real customers. Maybe they're ghosts. There's a rumour about that, too.

You shudder.

You don't think you'll be getting ice-cream today.


= = =

- Go back, to the grocery stor?
- Call Kuroko?
- Maybe both?
- You could investigate, though it doesn't look very safe.

Take photos and then interviews. Figure out what the others think they're seeing. Then call for Kuroko and sneak through the backdoor.

> Take photos and then interviews. Figure out what the others think they're seeing. Then call for Kuroko and sneak through the backdoor.

That isn't a poor idea, but who should you interview? The shopkeepers, who will surely lie to you? Or the passers-by—who won't know what they're looking at, anyway? You need someone who can explain what's really going on. For that matter, you might be going subtly insane. You were, after all, fighting a telepath last week.

You eye the distorted ice-cream shop, trying not to look directly at it. Maybe it's not that subtle.

The problem is, can you even photograph this? Only one way to find out...

You pull your phone out of your pocket and open its camera app. Nobody pays any attention to the kid with the smartphone, of course. They have much bigger ice-cream to buy.

"Let's see... oh yeah, this is me at the beach..."

There's a photo of yourself taken at the beach, last summer. How do you get this thing to take new photos? Dangit. At least it's a good picture. The beach is in Okinawa, near the city of Naha, which is in Okinawa prefecture.

"Ah... this is a pic of Uiharu from when I first met her."

There's another of her in your phone, too. She's wearing a cute dress with her hair up in pigtails. You took it in a park in the city, while she was playing around on the swings. You'd asked her if she wanted to go to a movie, but she said she'd rather play instead. That was fine; you joined her shortly afterwards.

You have to reboot the phone entirely before you're able to bring up the camera app proper, and snap a photo of the shop, which brings up the gallery app again. No teeth. It looks like just a normal shop.

You stare at it blankly for a moment before deciding it's no use. You'd have to reboot your phone every time you want a photo.

- Sneak in close enough to ask the shopkeeper, despite the risk of teeth.
- Ask the people queueing.
- Ask a random passer-by.
- Or call in Kuroko, who probably won't think you're insane.

Dorothy 2022/02/12(Sat)16:17 No. 1023287 ID: 94e610
File 164471143928.jpg - (37.24KB , 512x512 , 0999.jpg )

While you're thinking about things, you swipe back to the beach photos in your gallery app. You page through them, hoping to see one of your little sister or mom. You think you took one like that.

You don't find any, but you do find one very odd one. It's still the beach, right? If so, then why doesn't it look real? The sand on the ground is all banded, and the sky looks nearly red. There's distorted text on it, too. It must be some sort of bug. You dearly wish you could afford a decent phone.

Dorothy 2022/02/12(Sat)16:20 No. 1023289 ID: 94e610
File 164471162205.jpg - (20.56KB , 512x512 , 0600.jpg )

You keep scrolling, but the next one is hardly any better. It's blurry.

When you look up at the ice-cream shop, you find that the shop next door seems to be slowly growing teeth as well. You suspect that something's happening.

Sneak in to ask the shopkeeper. It's not like you haven't done more dangerous things for less gain before.
Besides, Ui wanted icecream, and after...
After what happened, she deserves it.

> Sneak in to ask the shopkeeper.

It's not like you haven't done more dangerous things for less gain before. Besides, Ui wanted icecream, and after...

After what happened, she deserves it.

You let out a long, deep breath. Approximately none of you wants anything at all to do with the 'ice-cream shop' in front of you, but you have to admit: there's something about it that makes you curious.

Curiosity killed the cat, after all. You've heard that before—or was it "curiosity killed the Ruiko"?

Anyway, it's probably just you that's insane. Or some esper is playing with your senses, or the level-upper wasn't as harmless as you thought, or—you know what? You're getting Uiharu some ice cream.

You've decided that you're just going to sneak inside. It's just a stupid, ordinary, non-magical ice cream shop, and nobody will care. They'll just laugh and tell you it was your imagination, or that your phone is messed up. Which it is. And you'll go to sleep in the evening, holding Uiharu if she'll let you, which she will, and once it's morning everything will be just. Fine.

It'll be fine. It'll be fine.

You try to sneak inside, but the people already queuing up at the door are making it difficult for you—not only because there's literally nowhere to sneak, but because you aren't alone in your desire for ice-cream. It's a hot day, after all, and while some people don't mind a thirteen-year-old playing 'secret agent' in the ice-cream queue, most of them are not amused. So you're forced to stand in the queue, like everyone else.

You resolve to queue up... sneakily.

Somehow.

"Hey Sat-chan," says a voice behind you, and you turn around.

"Hikari?"

"What're you doing here?" asks your classmate. "I mean, uh, why the long face?"

"Long face?"

"Yeah. You're frowning." She's grinning, but that's not what worries you. Hikari's not a ghost. She's an acquaintance, not a friend, but you don't want her eaten.

"Do you... see anything odd about the shop?" you ask, probingly.

"No. It's an ice-cream shop."

"It's got weird geometry. Like it's been melted or something."

She laughs. "Mmhmm. It's pretty hot, huh?"

"Uh-huh." You look back at the shop, which still has a crowd of people waiting for their ice-creams. And teeth. And some of the people right in front of you are being cut in half. You're pretty sure you can avoid the chewing, but why exactly are you doing this, Saten? It's got to be the dumbest thing you've done in... since last week.

"Hey," says Hikari. "How's Uiharu? Is she sick? Did something happen?"

...right. Uiharu hasn't been going to school. You told Hikari that you were worried about her when she asked you yesterday, but you didn't explain anything. You didn't really know how to explain it to her, anyway. So you just told her that she'd had a shock, and that she needed to rest.

"Oh..." You sigh. "It's just—"

Dorothy 2022/02/12(Sat)16:47 No. 1023296 ID: 94e610
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You stop when you realise that you're getting close to the teeth. The visual distortions are fierce.

- This is dumb. Escape before you get eaten.
- Grab Hikari's hand and pull her through, in-between mastications.
- Tell the ice cream shop to stop.

Ask the mouth that possesses teeth why it is doing this.
Take Hikari's hand, just because you can't really remember where you know her from, or how much a friend she is, doesn't mean she should get eaten without knowing it.

> Ask the mouth that possesses teeth why it is doing this. Take Hikari's hand, just because you can't really remember where you know her from, or how much a friend she is, doesn't mean she should get eaten without knowing it.

Your memory is good, thank you very much. The more you look at Hikari, the better it gets. But it's not like you've spent much time chatting with her, right? Right.

Hikari is a smiling, cute girl of medium height, with short, curly hair and round glasses. She wears a yellow T-shirt with a cartoon cat on it and blue shorts. Her feet have little black socks and white tennis shoes on them, and there's a small, pink purse hanging from her shoulder.

"You're going to walk into the ice cream shop anyway, right?" you ask, defeated. "Well, I'm coming with you. It'd be sad to lose a friend over this."

"Are you all right, Saten?" She laughs, but doesn't protest when you take her hand. You're a bit surprised, actually; Uiharu always gets a little embarrassed if you take her hand, but Hikari seems different. Maybe this is how girls are supposed to act.

"Just pretend the ice cream shop has teeth," you tell her. "Let's see if we can get inside without being chewed on."

She duly nods, giggling, and together you slip into the shop. The teeth slam shut behind you.

***

The first thing you notice is that the shop is completely empty except for a few people standing around. There are no customers at all inside, which is odd in itself. Instead of furniture, the walls and ceiling seem to be covered in soft-serve ice-creams. The floor is covered in crushed vanilla cones, chocolate bars, and other sundae-type confections, all of which are melting away, oozing down the walls in fat puddles. It's disgusting.

The second is that, as soon as you enter, black sparks start spreading over your body. You feel them tingle in your fingers, your legs, everywhere, as if they're trying to crawl through your skin. It's hard to describe, but you feel as though they're trying to melt you. It doesn't work at all. You're just fine — if anything, the discomfort and strain you'd been feeling since last week have disappeared entirely. The sparks don't touch you. They simply vanish.

"Saten?"

Hikari's voice, thick with fright, is loud in the silence of the store. Her hand clenches yours so tightly that you wince. The sparks flow around her as well, but a blue aura emanating from your hand stops it cold.

That's not right. You're a level zero.

...you're also inside a cannibalistic ice-cream shop. The mess on the ground used to be people.

There's no shopkeeper. You take a step backwards, and Hikari follows suit, her eyes wide with terror. Then you bump into the teeth.

It was only a momentary contact, and yet it was enough for you to feel a sharp pain. You stumble, and Hikari whips about, nearly pulling free of your grasp. You try to catch her arm before she falls, and she grabs at your wrist to hold herself up.

"Saten!" she cries, almost sobbing. It's the only word she manages to utter.

"This is why I didn't want to come here," you murmur, your voice trembling. The way out is blocked by teeth. They're all around you. What's happening?

...

"Hey!" You shout at the teeth. "Why are you doing this? Why don't you just eat me now?"

They don't answer.

I'm writing this with AI support, 'cause why wouldn't I? It's useful. Except, sometimes, it tries adding its own votes. I don't think I'll count those, but since I like offering suggestions, here they are:

- Run out of here, screaming.

- Run away as fast as you can

- Take photos of the teeth that are in the shop, then take photos of the 'customers', too — and then call Kuroko.

CALL KUROKO!!

Hug Hikari close so that the aura will protect more of her, and try and push it further to fully envelope her.

You've been in remedial lessons for years to try and manifest your Esper ability, surely /some/ of those lessons about personal reality can help?

Dorothy 2022/02/13(Sun)12:31 No. 1023375 ID: 94e610
File 164478427591.jpg - (75.45KB , 512x512 , 0999.jpg )

> CALL KUROKO!!

Shirai Kuroko is a level four teleporter, your age, and a member of Judgement. It's her job to stop espers from getting into fights, reunite lost children with their parents, and generally keep peace in Academy City, and that sort of thing. If you need something done in a hurry, she's the one to call. If you need someone to stop a murderer from killing people, then you're supposed to call the adults.

Which doesn't stop Kuroko from doing it anyway, even though she knows she shouldn't. And if she can't, then Misaka is sure to hear about it and beat up the offender.

You're not convinced she'll be able to help with an ice-cream shop that's come alive and started eating people, but you don't have any better ideas. So you ring up Kuroko's phone. It rings several times before you finally get an answer.

You and Hikari have backed up to the middle of the room, where the floor is a little more solid. She's crying. You make sure not to release her hand.

"Shirai-san?"

If your voice is a little shaky, Kuroko doesn't seem to notice. She sounds as cool and collected as ever. "Ah, Saten. I'm glad you called."

"We're in trouble! The ice cream shop has come alive and started eating people!"
Hikari sniffs, sniffles, and tries to pull away from you, but you hold on. Kuroko doesn't immediately respond. You think she might be considering whether you're sane or not.

"Are you serious?" she asks, finally. "What did you say was happening?"

"I mean that Liese's store has become some kind of cannibalistic ice cream shop, Kuroko! It's eaten all the customers and the staff, and it's got teeth! They're trying to eat us!" You back away from a questing tendril of soft-serve. "Hikari, tell her. Tell her what's going on."

"I— I–" She's trembling so much that you fear she'll fall over.

"Tell her," you insist. You put the phone on speaker mode.

"Um, well, there's teeth..." Hikari manages. "And the walls are melting, and–" She sobs. "It looked normal from outside! Saten wanted to stop me! And now we're here and it's eating people!"

You hug her closer to you. Kuroko still hasn't said anything.

"Shirai-san?"

"I see." She takes a deep breath. The sound cuts out, flickering momentarily in that way you know means she's teleporting. Then again. "Saten, can you hold on for three minutes? I'll be there in three minutes."

The sparks massing around you are getting denser, but so is your own aura. You try willing it to protect Hikari, and it responds readily enough, pushing the ice cream shop's corruption outwards a good half-metre with barely a flicker of effort. You've sat through dozens of remedial classes in how to use your Personal Reality, even though it never did anything; this is the first time you've been able to really use it.

"Three minutes!" Kuroko tells you. "I'm sorry, but I have to hang up."

The phone clicks.

It's not all that scary, is the oddest thing about all this. Oh, it's scary. It's a nightmare dragged into reality, by an ice-cream shop that's been eating people. It's grotesque, even more so than the giant floating baby from last week.

But last week, you were terrified. This time, you're... scared, a little bit, but mostly annoyed?

The terror is hidden underneath a layer of irritation, getting less... meaningful... by the second. You're upset. Stuff like this isn't supposed to happen... anymore?

Mostly, you're confused.

Then it occurs to you that if Kuroko teleports in, she'll be completely unprotected unless she happens to land literally next to you. You try your phone, but she isn't responding.

Dorothy 2022/02/13(Sun)12:36 No. 1023377 ID: 94e610
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Bonus photograph of the shop.

Work on expanding the aura to give Kuroko more landing zone. She knew the story by name, so she likely has a 'safe' entry point in mind for teleporting in. Try and figure that out, and cover it.

"Stuff like this isn't supposed to happen... anymore?"?

Hmm.

Dorothy 2022/02/13(Sun)13:09 No. 1023381 ID: 94e610
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> Work on expanding the aura to give Kuroko more landing zone. She knew the story by name, so she likely has a 'safe' entry point in mind for teleporting in. Try and figure that out, and cover it.

The ice-cream shop's interior is distorted, but it's at least close to what it's supposed to be. Ice-cream bar, there along one wall. The raspberry sauce is now a puddle of bubbling red liquid. The pistachio has coalesced into tripods, and is slowly crawling towards you. You can't tell where the front of the soft-serve machine is, but its gears and tubes are exposed and...

Cancerous. It's all cancerous, like the walls, oozing down, dripping, and it's getting to you. You can feel it on your skin. It's crawling, trying to burrow through your flesh, but it can't. It's nowhere near smart enough to manage that.

You shake away the errant thought, and ask yourself where Kuroko is likely to aim for when she's teleporting in. When the four of you go here for ice-cream, you usually sit outside or eat it while walking. There's a seating section, but the seats are too tall and it's too crowded. There's no place to sit down, really.

The shop floor is empty, and it'd be a good target, assuming Kuroko guesses it is. There's not even much of the "ice-cream" there. But if she thinks there could be other people here, then she'll try to aim for somewhere there's not likely to be any people. Or she'll stop outside, and walk in—Hikari as much as told her she won't be able to see what's happening, and Kuroko's told you she hates teleporting anywhere she can't see. That it's dangerous.

But if she arrives from the outside, then she'd have to make it through the teeth, and–

Does it still look like a normal ice-cream shop from the outside? You stare at the front of the shop, with the teeth. It's faint, but you think you can hear screams from the outside. There's no windows anymore, is the thing.

"Hikari?" you say, gently untangling her from your waist. "Come on. Let's get away from the landing zone."

Kuroko will either teleport to the middle of the room, or to right underneath the ceiling, probably above the bar. If you're in between them, then you think you can push your 'aura' out to cover both. Although, it's weird. You're not supposed to have one.

...also it's nothing like an esper power, but you won't think about that right now.

You take Hikari's hand, and she follows without resistance. Then you stare at the bar, and concentrate.

You can feel the ice-cream shop's corruption creeping up your legs, crawling up your torso. It's disgusting, it's wrong, and most of all it's *weak*.

It's so weak.

Flickering streams of light cover your body, concentrating on your right hand, where you're holding Hikari. They push upwards, and then you let go, and they shoot up to the ceiling, where Kuroko will be. It's the only place where the geometry's stable enough to support a teleport.

The ice-cream reacts like it's been struck by lightning. The soft-serve machine parts, and the tubes and gears burst into vicious, desperate growth, tearing their way through the walls. You can hear the ceiling groan.

It's weak, but there's a lot of it.

Kuroko will be her soon. You tell yourself that, though you feel as though you're seeing all of this at one remove. Like you're not quite real.

It seems to be running from your aura. It was growing before, but now it's tearing it's way out.

Since you /do/ remember her, you wonder if Hikari has a power that could help. You should know that, if she's an acqu- friend. A friend. A real friend, not a ghost.
...right?

How... exactly did you fight a telepath, when you had no powers?

Nevermind. This is more annoying. You just wanted to get Ui icecream, and the world is being very rude about it. Somehow, that's more annoying than the teeth. You aren't bleeding from the touch, so what can they do, really?

Dorothy 2022/02/13(Sun)14:37 No. 1023387 ID: 94e610
File 164479182021.jpg - (97.63KB , 512x512 , 0999.jpg )

> How... exactly did you fight a telepath, when you had no powers?

Kiyama Harumi was bad at using her powers, and you weren't so much 'fighting' as 'nearby, in the car, hoping Uiharu and Misaka would do something.' And she wasn't so much 'attacking you' as 'curious about you'. But she's in prison now, so you don't get to ask why she cared about you at all.

You wonder if Hikari has a power that could help. You should know that, if she'san acqu- friend. A friend. A real friend, not a ghost.

...right? Dangit, your head feels foggy suddenly. You push it aside. Her power? Right, pyrokinesis. Barely level one. Not enough to do anything.

The soft-serve machine is digging through the walls. Is it running away? You think it's running away. Though sharp bits and bent pipes are flailing back and forth in front of you, trying to look larger than they are and flinching away when you stare at them.

The soft-serve machine has left a hole in the wall, through which you can see the shop next door. It's messed up as well. Sausages are growing a net of wires and gears, while the candy rack has formed itself into a single huge bar of chocolate. It's got eyes and a mouth and a tongue, and it's staring at you. The ketchup bottles have sprouted tentacles and are reaching out towards the fleeing customers. Which tells you they're seeing this.

Nevermind. This is annoying. You just wanted to get Ui icecream, and the world is being very rude about it. Somehow, that's more annoying than the teeth. You aren't bleeding from the touch, you feel perfectly fine, so what can they do, really?

You could leave now, but Kuroko's still incoming.

Though you can't leave all these people to the tender mercies of infected confectionaries, can you? Which is what will happen if you simply stand here. You're not getting any ice-cream this way, either. The entire concept of ice-cream has been infected. Candy and sausages are–

You squeeze your eyes shut desperately. You force yourself to take a deep breath. You open your eyes again.

You need to get Uiharu an ice cream.

The flickers of blue light surrounding you have turned into a torrent. You can feel the heat radiating off the 'aura' of your body, and it's like being enveloped in a blanket of cold, of pure blue flame. You feel a little dizzy, but it's a good dizziness. It's the kind that comes from exertion, the kind of dizziness that makes you want to go on doing it.

You can hear the soft-serve machine running, its gears and tubes still spinning. It's supposed to be making icecream, not hurting people. It's doing this all wrong. You know how this is going to end. You can feel the shop trying to grow, to become a new creature. To turn into something that can hurt you. It grows a face, a mouth, and teeth.

The face smiles, and the mouth opens, and you can hear the soft-serve machine's voice, and it's screaming.

It's all wrong.

Make it right.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear

Dorothy 2022/02/13(Sun)16:38 No. 1023408 ID: 94e610
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And then you push.

The flames surge outwards, bypassing Hikari, and the soft-serve machine explodes. The walls, the ceiling, the floor, all of them. They're gone, melted by the heat, and the 'aura' around you is boiling. You can feel it expanding, filling the whole room, then spilling into the shop beyond.

It's not really heat. It's scrubbing away the corruption, pulling it down, away from reality. The soft-serve machine turns into a broken mess of metal and plastic. The candy rack breaks apart into thousands of tiny pieces of candy. The sausages are shrivelling up.

Your world freezes into a glassy clarity. There's no sound. It's as if you've been turned to ice, and the noise has frozen with you. Uiharu, Kuroko or Hikari — none of them matter. Your mind is only one thing now, and that is the job at hand. You have to cauterize this infection before it spreads any further.

The soft-serve machine's still screaming. But you can't hear it. You have no reason to. The flow of light condenses around you, turning into an outfit straight out of a magical girl manga: A short dress, white and pale purple, showing far more skin than you'd normally be comfortable showing. Right now it feels simply right.

Data that's been infected by a virus must be deleted. You turn your eyes to Hikari, examining her for signs of infection. You find none. She's free of contamination.

The soft-serve machine has stopped screaming. It's quiet. The room is silent. The air is clean again. The confectionery is gone, melted into puddles of liquid, and the meat-wrapped sausages have dissolved into nothing. A final burst of commands sets them all back to null, erasing the contents of both shops, and the few people who escaped, before they can infect any more. It's a restrained, delicate operation. You aren't able to restore the concept of 'ice cream', but you do save those of 'chocolate', and... 'Hikari'.

The floor has to be concrete. You nod. It's concrete. The walls are bare, scrubbed down to the original brickwork. The ceiling is solid, and the walls are unblemished. It looks like a half-finished construction site.

But it's done.

You blink.

You're on your knees, kneeling in the middle of a bare, concrete floor. Hikari's comatose on your lap. Your hands clench on Hikari's shoulders, and you feel a sob bubbling up from somewhere deep inside you. You're wearing an outfit you've never seen before. The last thing you remember, you were outside, queueing up for ice cream.

Kuroko teleports into the middle of this, and you look up at her, and whatever she's going to say is lost when she sees that you're crying. You try to hold it back, but you can't. You don't even have any idea why you're crying.

"Saten?" Kuroko says softly. "What happened? Are you all right?"

"I'm sorry," you whisper. "I'm so sorry."

You don't even know why you're sorry.

In any event, I think I'm going to leave this off here.

I started the story with absolutely zero idea of what to do with it, besides that of jamming together Garakowa and ToAru. I now think I have a pretty good idea of how to make a good story from it, though it doesn't look quite like this.

Which is a problem. I just prefer longer-form, better edited chapters, I guess. Still, it was a fun use of a weekend.

This thread can now considered dead. For those sufficiently interested, here's the other story I was fusing with ToAru: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afIhxY3ST40