Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Railgun Cold Game (section)

===Part 8===

'''(strength)

If the case itself was dismissed, it was all over.

Loophole, aka Innai Chigiri, would be freed and he would almost certainly target Saten Ruiko.

To prevent that, they had to do something about the both the Cold Sleep Case and the commotion on the internet.

They were definitely approaching the end of this.

Mikoto’s group left the District 2 university hospital and returned to District 1.

On the way, they passed a police van that looked like a large bus covered with armor panels and wire mesh. They mixed into a group of people carrying smartphones to broadcast a report on a video site and they entered the courthouse.

“Ugh.”

“Misaka-san, that’s the far infrared beam grid coming from the gate. It’s to locate suspicious people, so try to get used to it!”

“…Does this mean Onee-sama is a powder keg waiting to go off?”

It seemed more than one trial was being held that day.

There were a surprising number of people moving every which way.

“This is Nakamura from the prosecution. I have the evidence needed for the phone scam trial. It’s about 30 cellphones in all.”

“Thank you. It’s the same place as always, but I’m obligated to explain it to you: the temporary storage room is around the corner in the hallway to the left.”

“Thanks. And thanks for signing the form.”

Mikoto’s group cut across the main lobby while giving a sidelong glance at the adults casually discussing a topic that would determine someone’s future.

Tsujinaka Kyouka, the female glasses attorney working for the defendant, was sitting on a sofa in the break area lobby. She was nonchalantly viewing her smartphone and smoking a cigarette. Or perhaps moving away from strictly-monitored Innai Chigiri gave her the chance she needed to use her phone freely and send out some instructions.

“You…!!”

“Oh, and who might you be?”

Hearing that, Mikoto immediately shut her mouth. With that shady group’s information network, they might be able to determine the witness’s identity, but telling the enemy she was “Saten Ruiko’s friend” would still count as offering up a sacrifice.

Shirai Kuroko stepped forward instead.

“Excuse me. I am from Judgment.”

“The defendant has been placed in the prosecution’s custody, so there is nothing for you to do here.”

“Concerning the charges he was indicted for, yes. But that changes if he is currently spreading false information to obstruct the trial’s progress. We must gather the necessary information, take appropriate countermeasures, and bring an end to this confusion.”

Then Uiharu spoke up as another Judgment member.

And this field was her specialty.

“Tsujinaka-san, you have turned off your cellphone three times since the recess began, haven’t you? And for about 10 minutes each time.”

“I must express my shock that you would abuse your investigative abilities to research that, but I have a habit of shutting off my phone when I take a bath or use the restroom. Or do you need me to tell you which floor’s bathroom I used and which stall I was in? I have a right to privacy.”

“During the time your phone was off, suspicious phone calls were held at the payphone at the convenience store in front of the courthouse. And instead of calling someone else from the payphone, someone called to the payphone. The times match up perfectly, so do you have any idea why that might be?”

“I see…”

The female glasses attorney laughed and showed her smartphone’s screen to Mikoto’s group.

It showed a social media app with various messages popping up in real time.

“Are you trying to say this was the defendant’s doing? You can make whatever accusations you like, but I seriously doubt he could trigger a social phenomenon while trapped in a small room and monitored at all times.”

“That’s why he gave you his instructions and you relayed them to his followers outside! And you used the payphone so there wouldn’t be a record!!”

Mikoto shouted at the woman and Tsujinaka raised both hands.

She showed no sign of fear.

“Now, now, sheriff. Act all courageous if you like, but to be honest, I don’t really care.”

“What…?”

“I remember now. I saw you in the gallery.” Tsujinaka Kyouka laughed. “You know someone involved in this case, don’t you? These days, it isn’t unusual for people to monitor the lay judges and show up in the courtroom to intimidate them. It would seem you wish to ensure a guilty verdict no matter what it takes. Perhaps by intimidating me and having me back out as his attorney?”

“I don’t want you of all people treating me like a criminal…!!”

“You can’t, Misaka-san. Grab her and you really will be breaking the law!!”

When Uiharu stopped her, the female glasses attorney shrugged with a triumphant look on her face. But Uiharu was from Judgment and she did not want to protect the woman.

“All unnatural social phenomena fall apart eventually. Overseas, supporters of a bill banning UFO research used bots to make more than a million posts that pushed support for the bill into the trending topics, but once the method was discovered, public support fell away. Your confidence will not last forever.”

“You really shouldn’t criticize people with baseless speculation. If we were in court, I could accuse you of a crime for saying that.” Tsujinaka placed her cigarette back in her mouth. “No matter how much you struggle, this is a constitutional state ruled by the people and the results apply equally to everyone. This trial cannot continue. If the pieces cannot advance along the board, they cannot pass a verdict. And you cannot make someone guilty with mere assumptions and speculation. That is how the system works, thank you.”

Mikoto immediately snapped back at her.

“Did you really think you wouldn’t leave any trace at all if you turned off your phone and used a pay phone?”

“Oh? Are you going to use hacking this time? Falsified information or information gathered through illicit means has no power as evidence.”

“…This trial is gathering a lot of attention.”

Mikoto licked her lips.

It all came down to this, so she gathered her focus.

“The odds of being selected for the gallery were 1-in-208. The people who weren’t chosen still wanted to ride the wave of popularity, so they took the day off school and surrounded the courthouse. There are a lot of eyes out there. And a lot of phones and cameras too. No matter how sneaky you were, you would have left some trace.”

“What, do you think you can use facial recognition on every single social media photo to find me hunched over with the payphone’s receiver held to my mouth?”

The woman’s words were infuriatingly smooth.

She may have seen this as a possibility from the beginning.

“Yes, a picture could be difficult.” Mikoto grinned. “But what about your voice?”

“…?”

“Smartphones, car navigation systems, electronic guide posts, AI speakers – the streets are overflowing with internet-connected voice recognition services these days. We live in a crazy age, don’t we? You’re essentially surrounded by listening devices at home, in your car, and wherever you might go during the day. And just like a fingerprint, a voiceprint can be used for biometric identification. You sometimes see products to fool facial recognition since it’s so well known. Like how you see people wearing masks even though they don’t have a cold or allergies. But what about your voice? Even if you place a machine over the receiver to change the tone of your voice, any surrounding speakers will pick up your original voice. So the odds are pretty good that the unaltered conversation data can be found somewhere.”

The attorney’s words had been so smooth before, but now they ground to a halt.

It had the same awkward feeling as a record needle skipping, so this was probably the real deal.

“Changing your voice on the level of breathing in helium can be corrected for with a computer. And since we can speak with you normally now, you probably didn’t even do that. If you really were holding a suspicious conversation at the payphone by the convenience store, some of it would have been picked up by the devices flooding the streets. …But if you really believe that data doesn’t exist, then you can relax. Just like the story of the tortoise and the hare, we will slowly but surely catch up to you. Modern program analysis is incredible, you know? Software for use on criminal sites and message boards can sort through the hundreds of thousands of posts on a server in no time at all.”

With that said, Mikoto snapped her fingers.

After signaling to Uiharu who held a mobile device, she spoke a few terms with a pause between.

“You know what. The incident. The goods. Ice. Sugar. In the bag. Dispose of. Eliminate. A feeling. Extract. Take care of it. Reward. The usual place. Can I ask that of you? Adjustment.”

The Judgment device emitted an electronic warning noise before she had said even half of them.

But Mikoto finished the list regardless and winked.

“See? If you can do it with text, you can do it with voice. Even if you avoided the more incriminating terms and used code words, you shouldn’t think you can escape.”

“…Nothing you say will change the conclusion.”

The flame in the cigarette brightened and faded irregularly.

She was breathing erratically.

“The defendant was indicted on false charges and he has not participated in a single crime. I will follow my own ethics and beliefs by justly defending his dignity and right to a free life.”

“A single witness brought an end to Loophole’s legend. Once his identity was known, Anti-Skill narrowed their focus onto him, so they searched his home and found plenty of material evidence. There is simply no way he can be acquitted!!”

That was obvious enough from the fact that they were trying to prevent the trial from continuing instead of winning a not guilty verdict. This defense attorney was well aware that he could not be acquitted by any normal means. Even with all the dirty methods she was familiar with.

But she showed no sign of concern.

(?)

Mikoto’s group had supposedly played the perfect hand. The payphone conversation data had reached the point that she could not ignore it. And yet it felt like she was slipping from their grasp. It was not quite like they had been off base. They had to have done some damage. And yet she would recover from that.

She would make a comeback.

She still had something hidden up her sleeve.

The attorney breathed out some cloyingly sweet smoke and spoke with a smile.

Her words seemed more like a mantra to calm her heart than something directed at Mikoto’s group.

“…A pile of cardboard boxes may have been taken from his home, but how long will those last?”