Episode 11 - Kiyama-sensei
As Kiyama's car speeds along the highway, she tells Uiharu the true purpose of Level Upper: to link thousands of human minds together in order to create a supercomputer. She had originally asked to use Academy City's Tree Diagram, but was refused — so she created the Level Upper network as an alternative. She needs its computational power for something important, although she doesn't say what. She adds that there will be no lasting damage to any of the users, and that she will release them all when she's finished. Then Kiyama hands Uiharu a small data drive, telling her it contains a treatment program that will undo Level Upper's effects.
At Kiyama's office, Anti-Skill officers arrive to seize her research. One of them tries to access the computer, but it immediately crashes. In her car, Kiyama receives a notification, and remarks that they've caught up to her faster than she thought — her computer was programmed to wipe itself clean if someone else tried to access it. Now the only way to cure the Level Upper victims is using the data drive in Uiharu's hands. Then Kiyama hits the brakes — Anti-Skill has set up a barricade across the highway. Aiho Yomikawa, who is in charge, orders Kiyama to get out of the car with her hands behind her head. As she does so, Kiyama smiles and tells Uiharu that Level Upper is capable of producing an interesting side effect.
As Kiyama gazes at Anti-Skill across the barricade, one of her eyes turns red. One of the Anti-Skill officers, unable to control himself, turns and fires at a teammate. The next instant, powerful blasts of wind begin crushing the barricade, and all hell breaks loose.
Near the highway, a taxi pulls up and Mikoto jumps out. Using her phone, she asks for an update as she runs to the scene. Kuroko, watching on video from the Judgement office, is shocked as Kiyama pulverizes Anti-Skill using multiple high-level esper abilities. She theorizes that controlling the Level Upper network has given Kiyama access to supercharged versions of all the comatose espers' abilities.
Mikoto reaches the scene and sees Uiharu lying motionless inside Kiyama's car. Kiyama, who is standing nearby amid the wreckage of the barricade, says that Uiharu is unharmed, simply knocked unconscious by a shockwave. Mikoto angrily confronts Kiyama and the two face off. Mikoto is able to hold her own, but finds that Kiyama's new abilities allow her to block almost any attack.
Kiyama tells Mikoto that she simply needs to investigate "one little matter", and will then release everyone from Level Upper. Then she says that the leaders of Academy City are concealing something very important about the Power Development Curriculum, even to the teachers, and that students are being subjected to a vast and dangerous experiment. Mikoto retorts that she might look into that later, but for now she needs to stop Kiyama. The battle continues until Mikoto manages to catch Kiyama off guard; she ends up physically grabbing the doctor and shocking her at point-blank range.
Kiyama screams and falls unconscious... and then Mikoto suddenly starts hearing children's voices in her head. She realizes her electricity has somehow linked her to the mental network at its source, and she is experiencing Kiyama's memories. Within moments, she is fully immersed in a Flashback of Kiyama as a young researcher...
Kiyama's research supervisor, an elderly scientist named Kihara, asks her to become a schoolteacher for a class of "Child Errors" — children who were abandoned in Academy City by their families. These children are the subject of an AIM field experiment that Kiyama will be managing. She is uncomfortable as a teacher, and repeatedly tells herself that she doesn't like children. Nonetheless, as time goes by she bonds with her students, especially a little girl named Edasaki. However, when it comes time to carry out the experiment, something goes horribly wrong — the children's AIM fields go into a runaway "burst" mode, causing all their brainwaves to flatline and leaving them comatose.
When Mikoto comes out of the flashback, Kiyama regains consciousness. She explains that Kihara deceived her about the purpose of the experiment, and that it was intended to catastrophically overload the children's abilities in order to study the results. Worse, the experiment was actually sponsored by the city's board of directors. She submitted twenty-three requests to use Tree Diagram to try and find a way to revive the children, and twenty-three times she was refused. Mikoto, horrified, tries to protest that there must be a better way; but Kiyama, getting more and more agitated, says that she will do anything to save those children, even if it means turning the whole city against her.
No sooner has Kiyama said this than she screams in pain, then realizes the Level Upper network is starting to run out of control. She collapses on the ground... and something emerges behind her, looking like nothing so much as a giant ghostly fetus with a halo-like ring above its head...
Tropes
- Call-Back: As in episode 4, Mikoto opts to bypass her opponent's defenses by grabbing her and shocking her point-blank. She even lampshades that it may not have worked on Touma, but she figures he was a unique case. It does indeed work on Kiyama.
- Call-Forward: The Level Upper network works on the same principles as the Misaka Network.
- Double-Meaning Title: The episode's title, Kiyama-sensei, can mean either "Dr. Kiyama" or "Kiyama the teacher". She is seen acting in both of these roles during the episode.
- Establishing Character Moment: Gensei Kihara, when he orders the experiment to continue even though it's potentially killing the children.
- Foreshadowing: Kiyama tells Mikoto that the city's leaders are concealing something very important about the esper development program. This statement will take on added significance given what A Certain Magical Index eventually reveals about the "Parameter List" and how the program really works.
- For Science!: Kihara invokes this after the disastrous experiment, saying this is how scientific progress is made.
- Gone Horribly Right: Kiyama doesn't learn until afterwards that the experiment was supposed to cause an out-of-control reaction that would hurt the children.
- Mama Bear: Kiyama flat out says that she will do anything to save her students, even if it involves making the entire city her enemy.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: In the flashback, Kiyama has one of these following the experiment.
