Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item2 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 3===

“Repurposed SDI.”

Frenda Seivelun spoke that term into her phone in the middle of an exceptionally large warehouse in District 11.

The relay mirror experiment used multiple mirrors to bend a strategic laser weapon.

Brilliant Pebbles used a heavy metal satellite for a ramming attack.

They had already seen an EM weapon, but at this rate, there could also be a linear gun that launched a metal shell with electromagnets or an IR weapon designed to destroy mechanical cameras and sensors

Or to sum it all up…

“You’ve at least heard of SDI, right? That was an American defense program during the Cold War, meant to use lasers and ramming satellites to intercept ballistic missiles in space. As their ally, Japan – and thus, Academy City as well – helped develop the technology. In the end, it was never actually implemented because the costs were too high. But they wanted something to show for the money they had spent, so there are a number of ‘legends’ about trying to use that space tech back here on Earth. That became known as Repurposed SDI.”

“That’s a satellite? But this isn’t outer space, so how the hell is it flying all over the place!?” demanded Mugino over the phone.

“That doesn’t really matter. In the end, the jetpack I created works similarly. It’s not hard to find experiments that keep a hunk of metal afloat by precisely switching between different jets. It’s just never mass-produced because the fuel costs are too high. My toy made up for that by supporting the buoyancy with an incombustible lighter-than-air gas.”

The strategic military technology designed to shoot down ultra-high-speed ballistic missiles in space with 100% accuracy had been secretly improved by multiple generations over the course of several decades. If any human or vehicle were to approach, it could be torn to shreds by the multiple layers of that defense network.

This violated anti-weapon and aviation laws, but what did that matter?

After all, this was the secret lab that specialized in one of Academy City’s seven Level 5s. Something like Repurposed SDI should be expected there.

“That building has the A/C units covered, unlike with ordinary skyscrapers where they’re exposed on the roof like they want someone to shove some poison gas in there. If the designer was that security conscious, a few secret weapons is hardly surprising. In the end, if this system is built to the same standards as the one protecting that Antarctic base run by a cooperative institute, then the interception rate should be around 99.99%, I think.”

“What are we supposed to do about that? Not one of those flying drones made it above the lab.”

“Dammit, Takitsubo. Don’t just waste those toys even if they are unmanned. In the end, do you have any idea how much each one costs!? Not to mention that each one of them is a handmade Frenda-chan masterpiece!!”

“Is there anything we can do?”

“In the end, yes.”

With a dull metallic clunk, Kinuhata Saiai pulled something in from the shadows.

It was a 7m piece of metal weighing more than 25 tons. Kinuhata didn’t even bother with the excavator-style treads – she forcibly dragged it using the physical boost provided by Offense Armor.

“Oh, god. This thing’s super heavy! This had better be what you wanted, Frenda-san!!”

“It’s perfect☆ In the end, load it into the support organization’s truck.”

Frenda nodded in satisfaction as she looked at a military vehicle with a humongous container on its back.

“So, Frenda-san, do you spend super all your time in here making bombs?”

“This is just where I store things. I do the mixing and construction in a proper container lab. Different types of bombs are created using different devices and follow different rules, so in the end, it’s easier for the lab to be a cheap space where I can ''swap out'' everything inside rather than have a giant space with everything I could ever need inside. I need to adapt quickly like that if I’m going to keep up with the latest trends.”

“Why can a bomber like you move around so super freely?”

“How do you propose they ban it? In the end, you can make jet fuel by purifying the algae you can find floating in the water just about everywhere. And if you abuse that, you can make a pretty nasty explosion.”

Frenda seemed unusually high energy, but that wasn’t just from the new flavor of energy drink. Frenda, the Academy City Bomber, was the kind of weirdo who got excited when she smelled explosives.

“Also, sorry about this. In the end, I had the item, but I can’t drive☆”

“Super what’s the point of collecting things you can’t use?”

“Hm. I normally use an AGV to move things in and out of storage, but I can’t do that thanks to the typhoon and the lightning. There’s too much electrical interference for the EM vehicle guidance markers on the floor to work right.”

Kinuhata had dragged out what was known as a multiple rocket launcher.

If the launch container was raised and its 12 giant rockets were fired, that strategic weapon could scatter 700 bomblets per rocket. That meant a single button was enough to obliterate an enemy ground force with more than 8000 bombs spread out over a wide area.

“No matter how accurately the Repurposed SDI can attack intruders before they arrive, it can only shoot down so many at once. So if we saturate the sky with dangerous targets, their precious interception weapon won’t be able to spare us any attention. Because if they miss even one of those bombs, their own lives are at risk.”

“You mean if we run along the ground during that time, we’ll be super safe?”

“Well, in the end, this tech is simple enough that it was supplied to external cooperative institutes. Its accuracy is 99.99%, remember? That means we can overload it as long as we launch at least 10,000 targets at once.”

That rocket launcher was the HsMLR-05, aka Meteor Shower.

And everything inside, from the solid fuel to the warheads, were Frenda originals.

Frenda Seivelun grinned as she viewed the device designed to launch a meteor shower of explosives and metal balls.

“In the end, you never want to underestimate the Academy City Bomber.”