A Certain Scientific Railgun: Darklight

Duty and Delegation

Judgement 177 Branch Office, School District 7

"Then, I'll be leaving now."

The voice was that of Konori Mii, the branch chief, as she slipped on her red leather jacket, heading for the front door. An ever-so-slight squeak could be heard as the swivel chair in front of the office's impressive bank of computer monitors turned to face her.

"Un, see you tomorrow." its occupant called out in her soft voice, swiftly turning back to the screens and keyboards following this courtesy.

Her name was Uiharu Kazari, and in situations like this she had a certain logic; if you concentrate hard enough, you'll forget how tired you are. Still, she stole a glance at the computer's clock.

22:01

Ordinarily she, and indeed Konori, would have left for their respective dormitories some time ago, to do homework or, failing that, studying in general. But it seemed life had no shortage of work for the diligent, not least thanks to the failed STUDY uprising about a week ago; now entering the Judgement records as the "Silent Party".

Apparently STUDY itself had named it, so doing likewise aided, albeit slightly, with the authorities' interrogations of its surviving members. Still, she found the naming sense a little strange. There had been nothing even remotely silent about it, and the only thing that resembled a party, she thought, was the celebrations that took place afterwards; after all, over twenty thousand Judgement members had stood against STUDY's machines, and the most severe injury sustained was a bloody elbow after one member had dived for cover from the renegades' two rotary cannon-equipped mobile weapon platforms.

She remembered those machines well, for she had also been caught in their line of fire during their brief, and rather inaccurate, rampage through the wider areas of the Academic Assembly venue.

Realising she was daydreaming, she shook her head, her short, straight black hair swaying to follow, before returning her attention to the numerous reports and documents she promised herself she would finish before the day was done. Her wide, golden-brown eyes swept from one monitor to the next, collecting and applying information and minutiae with practised precision and speed as her diminutive hands, whose size corresponded with the rest of her lean form, currently clad in her Sakugawa Middle School uniform, filled the room with the rapid tapping of a skilled typist at work.

In her reverie, she dimly realised, she had not heard Konori exit. However, the thought quickly slipped from her mind as she continued.

"... Uiharu ..."

A voice, heavy with fatigue, cut through her whirlwind typing, making her stop. She spun the chair round and stood up, taking a few steps to see into the branch's main area.

At its large central table was seated a single figure, flanked by two not-negligibly-sized piles of A4 sheets; those completed and those yet to be completed. Yet, she considered, perhaps "seated" was giving her too much credit; her curly auburn hair, tied into shoulder blade-length twintails with red bows, was splayed out across the table, concealing her face, which was unceremoniously planted firmly against an unfinished document.

She didn't life her head as she continued talking.

"... You're actually pretty merciless aren't you?"

Uiharu felt her eyebrows rise, more than a little.

"... Shirai-san?"

The auburn-haired girl in question was her friend and colleague Shirai Kuroko, a Level 4 Teleporter, whom she had known since her training days, back when they were elementary school students. She was dressed in the much more expensive (and resplendent, she thought) Tokiwadai Middle School uniform; warmer in colours, finer in materials, and greatly shorter-skirted. Both of them had been here since the small hours of the morning, and it seemed that Shirai's sense of duty could only stave off her fatigue for so long.