Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Endymion Chapter1 (section)

===Part 5===

Eventually, Kamijou and Index were released from the minor hell of the supermarket.

“We’re having mizutaki tonight.”

“I-I know what all the ingredients are, but I still feel the thrill of a yaminabe…”

The white nun seemed oddly disheartened despite the topic being food. This was an exceedingly rare situation, but Kamijou did not particularly mind.

And then…

“Huh? What are you doing here?” asked a middle school girl.

It was the girl Kamijou had met that morning.

She wore the uniform of the prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School and was one of the only seven Level 5s in Academy City. She was the #3.

She was Misaka Mikoto.

“The two of you are walking together carrying supermarket bags…? What exactly are you two doing!?”

“You can’t tell!?”

“So you’re saying this is exactly what it looks like!? That’s what you’re saying!? And you were together this morning too!!”

“We were discussing whether carrots grown in space and lettuce that no insects will get anywhere near are actually safe to eat! Leave us alone, little girl!!”

“Eh? …What? So is this like a research project???” Mikoto was rather confused, so she simply gave her own opinion on the matter. “When they say insects won’t get near it, that isn’t because it is emitting insecticide from the leaves. It just tricks the insects by emitting a material similar to the pheromones that increase and decrease the insect’s hunger. The researchers only strengthened the defense mechanism the lettuce already had.”

“O-ohh…” groaned Index with a troubled look on her face.

Mikoto continued, “And even food not created in a test tube has its genetics altered in the form of selective breeding. Think of brand-name beef and rice. In fact, it would be hard to find food that hasn’t undergone cross breeding at some point. If you ignore all that and simply think of all genetic alterations as bad, you’ve left the realm of science. That would be more an issue of philosophy or religion.”

“Sh-short hair, I get the feeling you have completely fallen for the ideologies and dogma of science.”

But then Mikoto’s cell phone rang.

“Eh? Kuroko? …What? Wait, that’s actually really bad!”

She quickly hung up and looked over to Kamijou.

“The curfew is coming up soon, so you need to get back to your dorm right away!!”

“What?”

“Listen, ''get back right now and do not leave your room!'' Understand!?”

Having said that, Mikoto ran off somewhere.

(What was that all about?)

Kamijou tilted his head in confusion.

“Well, it’s nothing new for her to be acting oddly. Hey, Index. Let’s get home.”

“Hm…?”

Index looked in a different direction as if she had just noticed something.

Kamijou looked over in the same direction, but he didn’t see anything of interest. He simply saw the usual scenery of Academy City.

“What is it, Index?”

“Huh? I think I saw that same thing earlier.”

“Well, yeah. Those wind turbines are located all over the city.”

“No, not that. Hmm…Huh? That’s odd. It’s true that it’s one of those ‘turbine’ things, but…huh? It should be outside my area of expertise, but for some reason I feel like it’s connected to my knowledge…”

“Your knowledge?”

That meant it would be related to magic rather than science, but Kamijou doubted the turbines that supported Academy City’s power would use any knowledge or techniques related to that.

“I might be able to figure something out if I check the ‘turbine’ I saw before. T-Touma, you go home ahead of me!”

“Eh? Wait a second, Index!”

“And I won’t be mad if you eat all of that suspicious dinner on your own!!”

“Ah, wait! Don’t tell me you’re planning to get a burger on your way! You don’t have any money!!”

Kamijou doubted he could chase after her with the shopping bags that weighed several kilograms in both hands. He looked around and spotted a coin locker with a refrigeration function he could leave them in. In order to avoid any unnecessary expenses or trouble for society, he prepared to chase after Index. But then…

“?”

He saw something glint in the sun.

It was at the base of the wind turbine’s pillar.

“This is…?”

Only once he approached did he realize what it was. Some kind of thin, clear film had been attached to the surface of the round pillar. It was a rectangular optical filter about the size of a magazine. When he stared at it up close, he was able to see a strange pattern drawn on it with a slight color difference.

It was unclear what it meant, but it was unlike the sorts of diagrams and plans that Kamijou was familiar with.

And yet the pattern led him to suspect it had some sort of meaning even if he could not determine the specifics.

Ideology, religion, dogma.

It reminded him of those terms he had heard recently.

(But…)

Kamijou looked suspiciously at the wind turbine and examined the clear film attached to it.

(I get the feeling this filter isn’t all there is to this. I feel like there is something else here.)

Had it been the filter that had stimulated Index’s knowledge? Or was it the “other thing” that Kamijou was vaguely sensing?

(Either way, this filter is definitely something magical!)

Kamijou focused his thoughts on the small goal in front of him.

He stretched out his right hand.

He stretched out Imagine Breaker.

It was limited to his right wrist and beyond, but he possessed the power to destroy any supernatural power of either magical or psychic nature.

His index finger touched the clear film.

In the next moment, the plastic-looking filter was smashed to countless tiny pieces with a dry bursting noise.

Something had been destroyed.

That meant the clear film had indeed used some sort of magic.

And just as that thought entered Kamijou’s mind…

Several pillars of fire suddenly roared up around Kamijou.

“…Eh?” 

Kamijou let out that confused voice, but the situation was not going to wait for his understanding to catch up. The flames that had shot up began raining down from above.

(Shit… That filter was a switch!?)

It may have looked like a giant maw if viewed from the side.

And that boy’s body disappeared into the flames as if he was being devoured by that maw.