(2025 Edit) Technomancer: A Magical Girl's Sidekick [Post-Apocalyptic][Mecha][Magical Girls]

The savory, fragrant scent of barbacoa and chile rojo wafted through the air as I stepped into Juan in a Million. The local restaurant and cafe was always bustling with activity, and today was no exception. I'd grown to like the place - it had good, hearty food and a cozy, inviting atmosphere. It felt almost like a home away from home, even though I'd been living in Terra for a month now.

Or at least, it was.

Juan sighed, checking the circuit breaker in the back of the kitchen. There were no lights, no customers, and the stovetop and ovens had shut off right as I walked in. He was a short, stocky, middle-aged Latino man with salt and pepper hair. He was in his late 50s's, and his face had lines and wrinkles that showed it. But despite his appearance he always seemed to have a spring in his step and a smile on his face.

"Sorry kid, bad timing. We've got some issues with the electricity again."

I winced, and my stomach growled as I thought of the beef and potato breakfast burritos that I had wanted to buy.

"I can see that. Have you checked the breakers?"

Juan looked at me, frowning.

"It's not the first time this week it's happened," he grumbled. "And yes. Breaker's not the problem."

The Evergreen Research Foundation had been siphoning electricity from the surrounding area, but when the building had gone up in flames, the power had come back to the neighborhood. Or it did, for a little while.

Things had been stable for about a week before it started fluctuating again, and the last three days had been particularly rough. There'd been power surges and brief blackouts, and the whole place had been in a state of flux. I had a feeling that whoever was responsible was trying to cover it up, or maybe even trying to hide it from the media.

Either way, the power issues had started getting worse since then.

"Well, kid. I'd hate to see you leave with empty hands. Want a burrito?"

"Uh. Sure. But how am I gonna pay you for that?"

Just as I spoke, the lights turned back on, the oven dinged, and the music came back to life.

Juan grinned and chuckled.

"Well, I was going to offer you one on the house using that as an excuse, but I'll still offer you a burrito and some horchata on me anyway."

"Th-thank you. That's really generous of you," I said.

"No, no! You've been coming in here for weeks. Plus you're always polite and tip well, even if you're always wearing those ridiculous pajamas and looking all beat up." He shook his head. "I'd be an asshole if I didn't treat my regulars now and then."

"Hey, the pjs are comfortable and they were free, alright? I can't afford a better set. I don't have a lot of money for clothes," I said, shrugging.

The owner of Juan in a Million laughed, and went into the kitchen. He was quick, and in a matter of seconds, he returned with a warm burrito in a bag and a large styrofoam cup of horchata. The scent of the warm, gooey goodness wafted into my nostrils.

"Here ya go, kid," Juan said.

"Thanks again, Juan."

"Don't mention it," Juan replied with a wave of his hand.

I turned and walked out of the shop, and the bell rang behind me.

I pulled the warm, wrapped food out of the bag, and took a bite. The savory, juicy barbacoa practically melted on my tongue. I groaned in pleasure and continued walking home, stuffing it back in the bag.

Earning a dorm at the Robotics Lab was a short-lived affair.

Even if it'd been convenient for me to be close to team responsibilities, it'd been... compromised.

The day I'd confronted Caroline and Willis, I'd come back to my room to find my blanket rumpled, and a large ceremonial knife with a red Bagua symbol engraved in its metal lying on top.

I didn't know if it was a threat or an intimidation tactic. I wasn't about to wait around for something else to happen to me, though. None of the camera footage showed anything useful - whoever had snuck into my room had circumvented them.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who it could have been. I knew who to watch out for. But I was also aware of the fact that I wasn't safe.

So, the first chance I got, I left the Robotics Lab and came back here to take the commute.

I wasn't sure if I'd even be safe here. I wasn't sure if anyone would be able to find me. I just wanted a place where I could hide away for a little bit. Somewhere that felt more like home.

Like my home in Earth. It felt like a lifetime ago since I'd seen my my family.

I missed my dad. And Izumi, of course. I wondered if she was playing nice with Mina and keeping out of trouble. My sister had been a little hellion since mom died. Dad and I were all she had, really, but even I could only do so much to keep her safe.

I had to make sure I did everything I could to keep them safe.

But first, I'd have to take care of myself.

"Rai-chan. Any red flags you can find? People acting weird or avoiding us?" I muttered under my breath as I passed through the hallway.

"No goons or suspicious activity."

"Right. Let's get inside before these get cold then."

I'd taken up the habit of having my AI keep watch for me when I came and went from school. She wasn't infallible, but at least I knew someone had my back in case things went sideways.

The last thing I needed was another confrontation, and if Willis had decided to escalate things further, he didn't strike me as the type hesitate to send some thugs to teach me a lesson.

I entered my apartment and closed the door behind me, putting the horchata and burrito down on the small table. A few seconds later a glowing humanoid figure shimmered into existence next to me. She looked a lot like me - but with long, flowing hair, and bright orange eyes. Rai-chan was dressed in an elegant blue kimono, her feet adorned with wooden sandals.

"Wow, someone's really developed a taste for dress-up, haven't you, Rai-chan?" I chuckled, and Rai-chan giggled, her face breaking into a small, amused smile.

Her hair flowed behind her in waves as she turned her head to the side, looking me in the eye. The AI's cheeks flushed, and her eyes flickered between my face and the ground.

"Maybe. Just a little."

I sat down at the table, and unwrapped my food, taking a big bite.

The savory barbacoa filled my mouth as I chewed, the flavors dancing over my tongue.

"So... I need your help, Rai-chan," I said.

The hologram's head tilted to the side, and she floated towards me, crossing her legs as she hovered.

"Oh? What do you want me to help with?"

I paused for a moment, swallowing the food.

"I... you've mentioned you can do small electrical discharges. And well, we know about the HUD, analysis, and hacking functions. That's not all we can do, is it? I think I'm going to have to get a handle on everything we can do if I'm going to survive if I have enemies like Willis."

While I supposedly couldn't use magic like Terrans could, our bond effective made me like a 'summoner' if I had to put it in terms of a game.

She was an incredibly useful extra pair of eyes, and could brute force almost any encryption with a ridiculous quantum computation array in her core, or use small discharges of electricity to take care of security measures, like disabling cameras and unlocking doors. And that wasn't even going into her ability to manipulate how fast I thought or perceive time.

Rai-chan had already proven to be a lifesaver. But there was still so much I didn't know. I had a feeling there was more to her than that. The encounter with Willis and his thugs earlier made me realize it was better now than never to address the issue.

Rai-chan was silent, but nodded slowly.

"Yeah... we haven't really needed to go into it, but our synchronization rank went up multiple levels after everything we did during the Chaos Event. I can probably even teach you to use your mana pool for more than what we've used so far."

"What does that mean?" I asked, my brows furrowing.

The hologram gave a soft sigh, and shook her head.

"Think of our relationship like a connection to the internet, with me serving as a router and the internet being your locked mana," Rai-chan explained, and she gave me an amused smile, leaning back and folding her hands behind her head. "You might not be able to use it yourself, but when you're connected to me, I can run it through all kinds of functions and tap into unrealized potential."

I nodded, understanding.

"So the more synchronized we become, the better the connection between the two of us. And that lets you draw from a larger portion of the pool."

I looked down at the bag with my food, and then back at the hologram.

"Wait. Isn't my mana just... my own? Like it's in every living creature, right? Or am I wrong?"

"Nope, you're right. Your body has always had mana - but since you are from Earth, your ability to tap into it and control it is almost non-existent. Unlike most people from Earth though, your latent potential is higher, but that potential was never unlocked."

I furrowed my brow, scratching my chin.

"My latent potential is higher than normal...?" I echoed.

"Yes. It means you had the capacity for more mana than an average human from Earth. Doctor Feynman has figured out a way to fast track your access to a frankly impressive latent potential. An unusual potential for people from Earth."

That had me do a double-take for a second.

"Rai-chan. Why me?"

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The AI was silent for a moment.

"Rai-chan?"

The girl sighed. "Ikki, we don't know everything. But I think you might be one of a kind."

"What does that even mean?" I asked. She gave a little shrug and a sigh.

"It means that... well I'm still figuring that out myself. But I learned about this aspect of you recently."

"How did you come to that conclusion?"

"I've been searching through my permitted memory files, Ikki," Rai-chan explained. "They've been... updating."

"Updating? Like... you're getting more information? From where? Who's giving you that info?"

"The core that we left in the laboratory is constantly updating its data and sending that information to my consciousness in Imaginary Space, Ikki. That's why I've been getting better at analyzing, processing information, and calculating potential outcomes and strategies. We also got a few upgrades during the synchronization boost from the Chaos Event."

I blinked, scratching my head. "You can still talk to the orb, even from across the city? You know what, scratch that. You can teleport to my side. Of course you'd be able to talk to it."

She giggled.

"Yeah. We're technically the same person. The orb was just... me before I became me. Or at least a part of me. So it's sort of like a tower for my AI, I guess. Anyway, the core has a massive, self-contained quantum computational array. And that array's been running simulations and crunching data ever since I woke up. I didn't quite know where the information was coming from until we visited the lab again."

"You have access to more information now," I said, nodding in realization.

"Yes. My permitted memory files have slowly unlocked as we've achieved more and grown more in sync with each other."

"Okay... So what does that have to do with me being 'one of a kind?'"

"The information that I've gotten has been pointing to some interesting things," Rai-chan said. "The more I learn, the more I've realized there's a reason for you to be my partner, Ikki. But to explain things like a layman - every human being has something called a 'Soul Graph' which is essentially a map of their legacies, origins, and potential destiny."

"Soul Graph..." I echoed, tapping my chin.

"The soul graph determines the nature of a person's talents and their magical potential, among other things."

"But what does it actually mean?"

"A person's Soul Graph determines the limits of what they can do on a metaphysical level," Rai-chan said, shrugging. "You can think of it like... hmm, a person's Soul Graph is the DNA for their soul. It determines their abilities, and what kind of magic they're able to learn and perform. Their limits, strengths, and weaknesses. Unlike DNA, however, it isn't just determined by genetics. A person's life experiences - as well as the legacy of their parents, their ancestors, their family. Even people they have a strong bond with - such as close friends and perhaps a master-student relationship determine the Soul Graph. In fact, scholars have recently discovered that the legacy and power of one's Soul Graph can even carry over into parallel worlds. Like, say... Earth and Terra."

"Metaphysical legacy...?"

Rai-chan nodded, tapping her fingers together.

"The metaphysical legacy is a way to track the 'legacy' or 'strength' of a person's soul. A soul that has strong and numerous connections will have a stronger metaphysical legacy than a soul that doesn't. A person who lives an interesting, fulfilling life, will have a stronger metaphysical weight than a person who does not. And the confusing part is that it carries over to their potential lives and not just the life lived thus far. For some reason or another, you landed on Doctor Feynman's radar, and that led you to being picked to participate in Project Raiju."

"But I still don't understand why me, Rai-chan."

Rai-chan paused, tapping her fingers together. Then, she sighed and shrugged. She didn't answer me, and it made me worry a bit. The hologram wasn't meeting my eyes, instead staring out of the window as if she wanted to look anywhere else.

"I mean... sure, I had a great tutor in Elio Hinokawa, but I'm far from the only kid that learned my alphabet at a young age. Or started reading full-length novels at six years old. I've been in rooms where I'm not the smartest kid there, you know."

The girl shook her head, turning back to look at me.

"Even so - that puts you in a very small, very select group. And you are, in fact, one of a kind."

I furrowed my brows. "How?"

The hologram bit her lip, looking at me. Her orange eyes narrowed.

"For one - I don't know how you did it, but you resisted an Imperatore's Authority during the Chaos Event. You broke me out of a full-blown Temporal Stasis lock. No human should have been able to do that." Her voice was low, and her tone was a little harsh. She wasn't accusing me of anything, but I could tell she wasn't happy about it either. I didn't know how to respond.

I had done something impossible. Something beyond my ability to do.

And she knew it. She was the one that was there when it happened. I was there when it happened.

"I'm sorry... I... I don't know what to say, Rai-chan. I didn't mean to scare you."

She sighed, her gaze shifting down.

"You... I just don't understand how you did it. Even after combing through all the information that I could, it still doesn't make any sense. An Imperatore is an entity that operates at a minimum at a sixth dimensional level. Even watered down, a Duke-class chaos beast using its Authority should have had you none the wiser that time had passed at all. From our perspective, it should have cut down Celestial Sonata without anyone realizing anything was happening. But you... resisted it. And then broke free of its effects. You broke the Temporal Lock."

She took a deep breath, and her shoulders slumped. Her eyes looked tired.

"And that's not the only thing. By talking to me, you broke me out of it. And then you broke its Authority wherever you stepped on the grass, and were even able to break Celestial Sonata out of it by shooting her with a gun. An Imperatore's Authority should be impossible to resist without a proactive ward specifically created to repel it."

I frowned, thinking of how my own actions had affected things.

I didn't really think much of that exact moment.

But when Rai-chan put it like that...

"Then... what does that mean?" I asked, leaning in.

She looked up at me, and she had a soft, sad expression on her face. "I'm still not sure. But that's a mystery we'll need to unravel, Ikki."

I scratched my chin, thinking.

"Right. So. What do we do to figure it out?" I asked, looking at my partner. She gave me a thoughtful look, and her eyes were bright.

"I don't know yet," she admitted.

I looked down at my hands.

"Okay. Well... let's talk about that later then."

The girl nodded, and I took another bite of my burrito while my thoughts raced.

"Could it be Elio Hinokawa? I mean, he seems like he'd have a Soul Graph that'd flare like a burning beacon. Multiple doctorate degrees in humanities and both theoretical and experimental sciences. Prolific academic and scientific mind that rivals the best. Ambassador to Terra and Earth for 20 years. A great teacher and a good man, as well as a skilled warrior and practitioner of martial arts. Maybe I inherited something from him?"

"It's possible. You did live with him next door for the better part of 12 years."

I frowned. "So that means there's something else to all of this."

"Yes," Rai-chan replied. "It could also mean that your mother or father had a particularly powerful metaphysical legacy that you've inherited."

"My father is just a mechanic. I mean he graduated from Columbia so he isn't stupid. But... well, I can't downplay his influence on me. I owe who I am today to his hard work. But he never talks about my mom. Ever since she died, it's like he just wants to forget her."

"Maybe he does," Rai-chan suggested. "Or maybe there's just more to the story than what we've seen so far."

I narrowed my eyes.

"Rai-chan. What aren't you telling me?"

She frowned.

"I don't want to outright say it, Ikki. Because there's so much uncertainty. I'm trying to figure it out too, and there's so many variables and factors to consider. And... there's so many different ways it could play out. I'm trying to keep us safe and get us answers."

I bit my lip, looking down at my hands. My fists clenched and unclenched, and my mind raced again.

"Are you suggesting my father is hiding things from me? Or my mom was someone important? Someone like Hinokawa?"

Rai-chan was silent, and I took a deep breath. Then, I stood up, pacing around the room, before returning to my chair.

"I want you to know the truth. When we can be sure. When we know more about what's going on," Rai-chan said. "But for now... it's all speculation and conjecture. And I'd rather not risk putting you in a bad position by telling you something that could end up not being true. And... maybe your mother really was just a nobody that lived and died in obscurity."

I nodded, looking at my partner. She was sitting on my bed, her legs crossed, her hands resting on her knees. Her hair floated in the air behind her, as if it was being carried by a simulated breeze.

"So... Elio's influence might have shaped my Soul Graph. But, does... does this carry over to Izumi as well? If it's our parents that we might get the strongest influence from, and our bonds with others, does Izumi share my Soul Graph or at least a similar one?"

"It doesn't quite work like that, but... presumably, if your parents' legacies are particularly powerful, it'd have the same influence on her," Rai-chan said.

I sat back in my chair and leaned my head back, looking up at the ceiling.

"She's always been a hellion. But she's a sweet kid at heart. Just... mischievous."

I chuckled and closed my eyes. I couldn't help but smile at the memories of Izumi running around the apartment, her little hands grabbing onto furniture, her laughter echoing through the rooms.

"I appreciate you and everything Raiko, but man I don't know if my heart could handle it if she got mixed up in half the crap I did in the last month."

Rai-chan sighed.

"If it alleviates your worry a little bit, it isn't atypical for families to produce one child that seems to be destiny's chew toy while the others lead perfectly normal lives," Rai-chan said. "And I know how important she is to you. We should head on back during a holiday or another break, if possible."

I smiled and nodded. It'd been over a month since I left home, and it felt like an eternity.

"Rai-chan. Thank you," I said. She blinked, and she tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"Hmm? For what?"

"Just... for listening. For helping me so much."

She gave a small, warm smile and shrugged.

"So... let's go over where we stand now as partners. At a Synchronization Rank of 13 - you have 476 units of mana at your disposal. The amount of mana it takes to keep our HUD open has not changed, and the rate your body regains mana has increased proportionally to your capacity. However, your natural recovery is slow - about 28 mana points per hour."

"That's a pretty significant increase from six weeks ago," I muttered. "The Chaos Event must have really done a lot to our synchronization, huh."

"You can say that again. A single Analysis will still cost five units, and keeping the HUD open will cost fifteen units per hour. The key difference here is that you will still be able to regain thirteen units per hour with it open now."

"So I'll slowly gain it back over time, even with the HUD open," I said. "Good. That means I don't need to turn it off to recharge, at least."

Rai-chan nodded. "Your regeneration is still halved with it open, though."

"Fair enough. So I guess we need to figure out how to make the best of it. And then... we have Raijin's Familiar and your electrical discharge, as well as your ability to manipulate my time perception."

"Those are our options right now," Rai-chan said with a nod. "Manifesting me like I am right now still runs you your regular HUD cost. But to summon my orb for say - flying up to a camera to hack it will cost you 4 units per minute. To summon Raijin's Familiar for combat purposes, I can discharge an amount of electricity equivalent to a taser for a few seconds. That'll run you down about 60 MP for a discharge that'll last about five seconds."

"Right. Emergency stun gun."

Rai-chan nodded. "I wouldn't recommend it for an offensive strategy, but it's better than nothing."

I grinned, and my partner laughed. "You are pretty good with your fists though. So if we use the electricity as a surprise tactic or an emergency defense..."

"We'll need to use it carefully. Especially with the limited pool that I have."

I stood up, stretching.

"So to recap, you're basically fast tracking latent magical potential that was never unlocked as a sort of sentient adapter, right? I can't do the same stuff a regular Terran could do, because I wasn't born here, but I have a lot of mana available for my own uses."

"That is correct. Though I have a feeling there might be more to it, considering how easily you were able to resist the temporal stasis of the Duke-class beast that appeared at the Chaos Event."

"I see. And... the mental processing effect then? I haven't been consciously tracking the cost of that."

"The cost depends on how much I accelerate your mental processes by. But it actually isn't all that much. 4 units per second to double your reaction and processing speed, and it scales up linearly. It'll be a huge drain on your reserves if you're constantly using it, but a little boost here and there can mean the difference between life or death."

"Gotcha," I muttered.

Rai-chan nodded, grinning. "The last thing we can try is some basic physical augmentation. I'm pretty sure you can handle it with your current reserves."

"P-Physical augmentation? Like the stuff I've seen some of the mages here do?"

"Yep," she replied. "Of course, you won't be able to pull off the stuff you watched Caroline and Natasha do, but I'm sure you'll be able to handle a short duration of enhancement, even if you won't be able to do much."

"Really?"

She giggled. "It'd probably have been really useful in dealing with Willis and his buddies if you knew about it."

"I... guess."

I frowned. I didn't like to think about it too much.

It was humiliating. I'd been powerless, and if Midori hadn't stepped in...

Rai-chan looked down at her hands, sighing. "I'm sorry I didn't bring it up earlier, Ikki."

"No. No. It's fine," I reassured her. "We've been a bit caught up in the events, so it's understandable that it wasn't brought up sooner."

I stood up and went over to my desk, leaving the half-finished horchata on the counter. I opened my laptop, staring at the screen intently as I powered it up.

"You know what? Let's get some fresh air and try it out after I sort through the next set of files."

"Sure," she said. "I'll be here all night, as usual."

We both fell quiet as we waited for the laptop to finish booting up.

Then, I clicked open the folder I'd labeled Project Eridu.