Looking back at Kiyama Harumi's experience, it's not hard to see that she was a law-abiding citizen who didn't do anything out of line. Instead, she devoted all her heart and soul to taking care of her students.
Shokuhou Misaki said, "Alright, instead of making wild guesses here, why don't I go visit that Haruue Erii student later? I should gain something from it."
"No, no need!" Someone at the door suddenly said, "Don't disturb Haruue for now, let her rest well."
The speaker was a girl in a sailor uniform. Her light brown long hair was held back by a headband, revealing a broad forehead, and she looked full of energy.
"Good day, seniors." The girl lifted her skirt, imitating a movement she had seen on television, and bowed to the young ladies of Tokiwadai Middle School.
Then, she turned her gaze to the Hospital bed. The girl smiled and said, "Long time no see, Unnamed Senior."
"You are..." Feeling the sudden convergence of gazes around him, Lin Wuming quickly raised his hands in surrender. "Sorry, I'm not very good at recognizing people."
"Well, it's understandable, after all, we haven't truly met yet," the girl said. "The rumors are true—Unnamed Senior rarely visits the people he saves."
"So..." The girl suddenly stood at attention and cleared her throat twice.
The next second, everyone in the room realized that the girl at the door had changed.
"Unnamed Senior." The girl spoke again, her voice sounding as if an effect had been added, like the voices of many people speaking simultaneously or like speaking through an untuned speaker, giving off a strange electronic quality.
"We meet again," the girl opened her eyes wide and looked over, but her pupils weren't focused. She simply took in everything in the room. "Now, you should remember us, right, Unnamed Senior?"
"Yes." Lin Wuming nodded with a strange expression. "I didn't expect... it really was 'you'."
During the "Imaginary Hand" incident, Lin Wuming's consciousness had once merged into the consciousness ocean of the "Imaginary Beast".
There, besides himself, there were two other independent consciousnesses: one was Wu Lin Yexiao, and the other was Kiyama Harumi's students.
As victims of the experiment back then, the consciousnesses of these students merged into one, intermingling and difficult to separate. However, they also benefited from the misfortune, increasing their survival rate as a whole.
"I remember you had already recovered, hadn't you?" Lin Wuming clicked his tongue.
At this moment, the one speaking was clearly not just the girl in front of him, but the collective consciousness of all the students.
"Aftermath." Beside the girl, Kiyama Harumi, who had come with her, explained, "My calculations were off... Relying solely on the reverse calculation and simulation of the 'Imaginary Hand' system cannot truly solve the problem."
Due to the experiment, the AIM Diffusion Fields of Kiyama Harumi's students ran wild and became intertwined.
The only way to wake them up was to re-sort each person's AIM Diffusion Field.
However, all data related to that experiment had been destroyed—at least, Kiyama Harumi couldn't find it no matter how hard she tried.
And the only result of the experiment—the "Ability Body Crystal"—was easily handed over to other research institutions by Kihara Gensei because it didn't meet the expected results, and its whereabouts eventually became unknown.
Therefore, the method Kiyama Harumi could think of was to simulate and calculate, reverse-engineering the experimental process at that time, attempting to reproduce the entire experimental process and the final result.
After obtaining the desired data, she would then use the ability database within the "Imaginary Hand" system to help the students reshape their AIM Diffusion Fields.
Through this method, taking a long detour, she would ultimately achieve the goal of saving the students.
For a period immediately after the "Imaginary Hand" incident ended, the subsequent developments went as Kiyama Harumi predicted. Everything met expectations, and all problems were perfectly resolved.
But gradually, things started to go wrong.
Her students would occasionally collectively space out, all looking in the same direction and staring blankly.
This was the case even when they were in different places.
Later, when everyone was spacing out and staring blankly together, a random person would exhibit the phenomenon of free movement.
It was as if they were sleepwalking. When interacting with others, their reactions were also much slower than in a normal state.
Even more bizarrely, when students in this state spoke, it would turn into a "choral effect" as if many people were speaking at once...
"As time passed, my students' condition worsened." Kiyama Harumi's expression was gloomy. "As a last resort, I had to bring them to the Hospital and ask the best doctor here. But..."
"I'm really sorry," Heaven Canceller also followed. "To be honest, this is the first time I've encountered such symptoms."
Then, according to Kiyama Harumi, about a week ago, her students' condition suddenly worsened drastically.
Like the girl at the door now, except for the slightly strange speaking effect and the somewhat empty expression, she was almost no different from a normal person.
—The students' consciousnesses, as a whole, were becoming increasingly lively.
This meant that their "individuality" was gradually fading, and they would likely truly merge into one, becoming the same consciousness!
In her desperation, Kiyama Harumi had no choice but to conduct experiments again...
Hearing this, Lin Wuming and Shokuhou Misaki exchanged glances, sharing their opinions.
—It was confirmed that it was indeed "Chaotic Open", and surprisingly, it was still related to Kiyama Harumi and her students.
"The special earthquake you mentioned earlier," Kiyama Harumi sighed, confessing quite frankly, "That shouldn't have been an earthquake, but an unconscious ability runaway triggered by the disturbance of the AIM Diffusion Field... I'm very sorry, that was probably indeed caused by my experiment."
With that, Kiyama Harumi looked at Lin Wuming as if resigned to her fate, seemingly waiting for the final judgment.
By now, she already knew that Lin Wuming was not the ordinary high school student he appeared to be on the surface, and even the Level 5 Esper was not the most dazzling label on him.
Lin Wuming's most important identity now was a "Board of Directors member," the "Unnamed Director," the de facto high-level figure in Academy City.
Kiyama Harumi was still unsure how much real power Lin Wuming, the "Unnamed Director," held, but she knew—at least these "small matters" she was involved in were completely within Lin Wuming's scope of authority.
Her and her students' future, at this moment, all depended on Lin Wuming's decision.
Therefore, even though she knew Lin Wuming was not a cold-hearted person, Kiyama Harumi couldn't help but feel nervous.
