Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM2 Depth1 (section)

===Part 5===

Dawn arrived.

The time limit was down to 5 days.

“…”

Mikoto could tell she hadn’t slept.

Facing such a massive problem with no solution available was bad for one’s mental health. But she was too afraid of the dorm manager to not get up.

Without washing her face, she drowsily switched on the TV. She felt pathetic trying to find the world-destroying Ruler’s whereabouts from such a cheap electronic device, but she was worried about this.

The continent was roughly shaped like a Y.

The Izanami’s fleet was in the southwest sea, so if that thing moved deep into the United States – that is, if she went too far northeast – the land would be in the Izanami and Izanagi’s way. If they were too far away, a fighter wouldn’t be able to reach her before running out of fuel, much less actually battle her.

But reality far surpassed her imagination.

She had been careless.

The TV showed her something entirely unexpected.



“Here at Lake Flarkbelt, everyone is talking about the giant girl.”



Yes, there was indeed a giant naked girl there. On a national broadcast first thing in the morning. This global crisis was right out in the open. It was there for everyone to see.

The Ruler.

1800 meters and 750 thousand tons.

She was lying face down across the entire large lake, propping her self up with her elbows to arch her back. She looked something like a seal, or like she was doing a sexy photo shoot. The long, long hair clinging to her wet body reflected the morning sunlight in glittering light pinks and purples. She kicked her legs as they stuck out from the lake. Her eyes still looked unfocused. She gave no clue what she was thinking about.

The corners of Mikoto’s mouth stiffened.

What were they supposed to do about this?

(Is no one…is no one at all going to use some government conspiracy of illegal information manipulation to hide the existence of the Ruler!? Can someone please make this a national secret? Isn’t the United States of Narmeli a military superpower? Then don’t you have some kind of ultra-surveillance of the global internet that you can use to convince everyone that black is white, or some kind of social media comment blocker!?)

Apparently not.

Or if they did, it wasn’t working at the moment.

Not anymore.

One of the United States’ largest lakes was no more than a kiddie pool for this threat to all life. It was too small, so her legs stuck out.

Most likely, they didn’t realize the gravity of the situation.

Not the Ruler and not the people reporting on the situation.

“A group of experts has suggested we call her Flarkie after Lake Flarkbelt, and- oh? She’s getting up. I think she’s starting to leave. Oh, no. The waves are coming this way. W-w-w-we’re shaking! Run away, cameraman!!”

The shaky footage suddenly cut out.

It didn’t seem like they had been stepped on, but the influx of water must have damaged the camera or broadcast equipment.

“We do apologize for the loss of footage there. …Let’s see, you want me to read this? We have just received word that Flarkie is moving south from Lake Flarkbelt. If you live in that area…”

In the corner of the screen, posts that viewers had sent the station’s official account on a short form social media site were scrolling by.



“Flarkie? Lmao (Kitty Kat)” “So we’re all gonna die being stepped on by a monster with a silly name? (Natalee)” “I think they’re just enjoying themselves. The station has completely given up. (Miracle Man)” “I can’t believe no one’s stopping this ridiculous broadcast. Maybe the rumors the government is as good as dead are true. (Cute Wife)”



That was an unpleasant way to get a feel for things.

Mikoto was reminded that this was well beyond just the struggle between the world powers.

This was about more than just human intentions and plans.

But…

“They said she’s moving…um, south from Lake Flarkbelt.”

She had never been inside the United States, so the location names didn’t mean much to her. She opened a paper map to check and found it looked like the Ruler was moving from the big lake in the center of the United States and back toward the center of the Y-shaped continent. No large cities were shown in between, but there could be smaller towns there that the map just wasn’t showing.

She pulled a travel magazine from the magazine rack installed in the large cabin. Research was a challenge while out at sea where her phone couldn’t get a civilian mobile signal. The cruise ship area was only meant as camouflage, so it wasn’t equipped with a civilian band satellite communication base like a large passenger plane would have to allow the passengers use of free wireless LAN.

(Let’s see. There it is. The lake is known for being the location where they discovered the petroleum lake ball which they can make fuel from. Water temperature, sunlight, water quality, nutrition, oxygen density… The cause is still unknown and being researched, but the petroleum lake ball is only found in that lake and the round algae doesn’t grow once it exits into the rivers.)

Had the Ruler been getting a meal?

She was traveling south from the United States of Narmeli in the northwest.

That meant she was approaching the range of Izanami’s fighters.

Unless someone was stupid enough to mess with her again.

“Now there’s a worry.”