Academy City Level 6 Experiments

Academy City Level 6 Experiments is a collective term used to refer to the various experiments being conducted by Academy City in an effort to achieve Level 6 or SYSTEM. Both in Toaru Majutsu no Index and Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, there are mentions of scientists in Academy City who work on the development of the first Level 6 esper, one whose abilities are supposedly equivalent to "Absolute Power".

All known attempts to achieve Level 6 have had a member of the Kihara Family involved somehow.

Principles
Several factions and organizations are after the title of being the first to create a Level 6 esper, and as such, more often than not they are rivals and this results in them sabotaging each others work. Though many experiments are kept secret, due to the highly sensitive and illegal nature of some of the experiments and the actions performed as part of them, others are allowed by the Academy City Board of Directors, regardless of any moral implications, the illegality of the experiments, or the breaking of international treaties.

The Level 6 Shift Project
With Kihara Gensei as the main proponent, the Level 6 Shift Project is an experiment designed for Accelerator - Academy City's strongest esper - to achieve Level 6. By killing Misaka Mikoto, the Railgun, 128 times in combat,  Accelerator would be able to achieve Level 6. However, since 128 Railguns could not be prepared, according to the Tree Diagram, 20,000 clones of Mikoto that are taken from the Sisters Project, can be used as a substitute and it would similarly lead to Accelerator becoming Level 6.

The experiment was apparently allowed by the Board of Directors, since Academy City is always under surveillance and the experiment were being conducted on the outside, though no security alerts were triggered during such experiments. Despite Misaka Mikoto attacking and destroying multiple production and research facility, the experiments continued without any interruption. Mikoto theorized that the value of the level Six was so much that the losses were acceptable.

Ability Body Crystal Experiments
Created by Kihara Gensei, the crystal in question was extracted from the essences of overloaded espers; Therestina Kihara Lifeline, Gensei's granddaughter, was used as the 'First Sample', extracting her essences to form the crystal. The exposure of the crystal to certain espers that display greater powers than their levels implies that under certain conditions it can create a Level 6.

Through the years, Gensei tried to refine the crystal and its effects; in one notable experiment, Gensei exposed the crystal to Kiyama Harumi's students to gather data, overloading the children and forcing them in a comatose state.

Therestina continued her grandfather's research on the crystal and nearly succeeded in the creation of a Level 6, even though she was in truth destinated to fail as the Tree Diagram had given hopeless response, and the apparent destruction of the city, if it not for the efforts of Misaka Mikoto and her comrades.

Level 6 Shift attempt on Misaka Mikoto
Kihara Gensei once again attempted to create a Level 6, this time setting his eyes on Misaka Mikoto and pouring the power of the Misaka Network into her as a vessel. The experiment failed after the destruction of Shokuhou Misaki's Exterior, through the combined efforts of her, Shirai Kuroko, Kamijou Touma, and Sogiita Gunha.