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

===Part 6===

'''(the_lovers)

The strict atmosphere of a government office filled every nook and cranny of District 1. Leaving the courthouse was not enough to escape the oppressiveness of it all. The streets contained electronic guide posts that worked like AI speakers and fully-equipped Anti-Skill officers were patrolling with quadrupedal armored robots.

“Hyah. Even the convenience store has dull colors.”

“Try calling it a chic color scheme. They do the same thing in Kyoto and Ise, so it isn’t that unusual.”

Mikoto’s group held that conversation on the way to the subway station.

Having Judgment members with them meant a lot.

After being cut out of the ice, Asajimo Saemi, the girl who had been caught in the Cold Sleep Murder(?) Case, had apparently been transported to a university hospital in District 2.

They placed an IC card in the ticket gate and entered the station. Mikoto gave a curious glance toward the Anti-Skill officers who were standing on stepladders to view the crowd from a step above.

“Low temperature chemistry is a fairly major field of study, isn’t it?”

“Cooling technology is a foundation of modern society. These days, everyone uses a refrigerator or freezer, not to mention air conditioning. Computers and cars need cooling systems as well. Get a bit more specialized and you have the superconductor technology related to your Railgun, Onee-sama, the safe storage of germs and microbes, artificial weather alteration, the exterior wall settings for space ships and stations, and the methods to remove a mammoth from giant hunks of ice.”

The mention of giant hunks of ice brought a slight silence over Mikoto, Shirai, and Uiharu.

They boarded a train and traveled to another district.

District 2’s hospitals had expanded so much because the entire district specialized in vehicle development and the handling of explosives. They had the means of transporting delicate patients.

Presumably so they could contain so many patients, the university hospital looked like a stylish tourist hotel that stretched out lengthwise. A few out-of-place young people were loitering around it. 
They may have been people with too much time on their hands that fancied themselves internet journalists and wanted to sneak their smartphones in.

“Kuroko, you got us an appointment, right?”

“I merely made the suggestion and they did not respond. Although I cannot imagine why they would refuse. And I know you, Onee-sama. You plan on disabling their security if we don’t have permission, don’t you?”

The trio entered the university hospital through the main entrance and asked about their appointment at the reception desk.

Despite the suspicious people hanging around outside, they were readily allowed in.

There was a TV in the front lobby. A male host with a self-satisfied look was speaking on a morning news program.

“Next up is the popular segment where we dig deeper into the top trending terms on social media. Today that word is unprecedented. Yes, unprecedented. During a trial being held today, the suspect took advantage of a computer vulnerability to have the trial sent into emergency recess…”

“…Why is that information already out?”

“The reporters aren’t allowed to inform the news agencies, but they sometimes use a loophole where they claim they’re only gathering information found online. It’s the same idea as intentionally gathering negative opinions from message boards and then denying any and all responsibility for the statements because you were only relaying the general consensus.”

If so, the dangerous situation would spread to the hospital where the frozen girl was being stored. Onlookers could rush to the hospital to see for themselves whether Loophole would show up or not. The hospital’s immediate acceptance of Judgment members like Shirai and Uiharu may have been a sign of their concern.

There were apparently treatments that used liquid nitrogen to take care of athlete’s foot, but Mikoto’s group was led to a back corner of the hospital that felt more like a den of researchers than a hospital.

“Come in.”

Hearing the response to their knock, they opened the door.

And they immediately reacted with shock.

A black-haired girl was sitting in a chair there.

And it was the exact girl who should have been frozen in a thick piece of ice.

“…Is something the matter?”

Asajimo Saemi wore a white coat over a blouse and tight skirt. When she looked puzzled herself, Mikoto felt the need to say something.

“Eh? Um…but…???”

“''Oh, that. I’m her sister.''”

The girl sighed and added that.

She flicked the ID card on the chest of her white coat.

It did indeed provide the name Asajimo Mebuki.

“''My sister'' is in the cold storage room in the back. Given how she’s dressed…or rather, ''un''dressed, I don’t really want to show her off to people.”

In the back was something like the silver refrigerators seen in restaurant kitchens. However, it was even larger than those industrial ones. The door alone was taller than Mikoto and it contained a round window like on a ship.

The double layer of insulated glass showed a world of death.

The digital display said it was 30 degrees below freezing. It must have been specially treated because it had none of the frost found in normal freezers. There was nothing more than the thick block of ice looking like a coffin inside the plain box.

That was Asajimo Saemi.

A cold girl without a shred of clothing.

She was in an incomprehensible state that was neither living nor dead.

That may have been why the scene felt almost divine in an odd way. After some thought and deciding this was a lot like being in a museum and seeing a mummy or death mask that showed some vestiges of what the person was like in life, Mikoto shook her head to drive out the unpleasant thought.

“We’re twins, so people have always gotten us confused.”

“Um, excuse me, but…”

“Setting this up over email probably confused some things. Since we’re twins, that means I’m 14 just like her. But I am a legitimate university professor. I specialize in low-temperature medicine, chemistry, and physics. Well, I skipped ahead to university overseas and entered Academy City as a professor, so now I’m relearning the tech here as a student.”

Despite her apathetic tone, Asajimo Mebuki grabbed a digital picture frame from a steel desk. No, it seemed to be a smartphone sitting on a charging stand.

She slid her thumb across to unlock the biometric identification, flicked through an album app, and showed them a photo.

It showed two identical girls in the same frame.

They were holding out some kind of certificate with Western writing on it, but it seemed to be a diploma.

“Oh, and this is my sister’s smartphone. Um, I thought it was still too soon to cancel the service.”

Doing that would mean accepting her family member’s death.

Accepting the death of a girl who looked just like her.

Mikoto wrinkled her brow like that had touched on a bitter memory, but then she realized something.

“…Huh? But didn’t you just unlock the biometric identification?”

“Because we’re twins,” she explained. “There are theories saying identical twins won’t have the same fingerprints and irises, but in our case, we’re similar enough to fool a normal cellphone. A premium model for a corporate contract might be a different matter, though.”

In the photo, it was hard to tell which was which. The one holding the diploma was likely Asajimo Mebuki, but Saemi also looked delighted as she hugged her from the side with a smile.

They must have been friendly sisters.

And that may have been why the girl in a white coat gave an exhausted smile.

“I believe I have at least a general understanding of the situation. Although I was a little shocked when the morning talk shows got here before Anti-Skill or Judgment.”

But perhaps because she was with Judgment, Shirai Kuroko was willing to go ahead and ask what questions she had.

“Hm? But your sister is still in the ice. How did you get just her phone out?”

“I called her on the night the incident supposedly happened.” The white coat girl slowly shook her head. “But she seems to have left her phone in her room that day, so there was no response. I thought that was strange, but I didn’t think too much about it. …That may have been some kind of sign. It might not have changed anything, but I can’t help but wonder if she wouldn’t have been frozen in ice like this if I had immediately left my room and gone looking for her.”

Frozen in ice

The phrase held more weight from an expert and a relative of the victim. There was a strange pressure behind it. Mikoto found herself gulping. It was a perfectly normal phrase, but it was a shock to hear it used for a human.

“So…how bad is it?”

Mikoto hesitantly asked and the girl who looked identical to the frozen one breathed a slow sigh.

They were twin sisters – blood-related family.

If there was a way to remove her sister from that ice, she would have no reason to keep things the way they were.

That was how Mikoto saw it, but it seemed the situation was a little different.

“It might be difficult to understand if you only look at it from one angle.”

“?”

“With the thick ice in the way, we can’t do a detailed analysis, but there is one oddity I can see just from an exterior examination.”

Asajimo Mebuki pulled a medical chart from a shelf and spread it out on the desk.

“There seems to be a large vertical wound on her back. It was likely a sharp incision made with a scalpel. Simply put, she was cut open like a mascot costume’s zipper and then rapidly frozen without stitching it up.”

“Wait a second. So even if you do know how to unfreeze her…!?”

“Yes. The wound looks closed at the moment, but as soon as the ice melts, my sister will start hemorrhaging blood. That prevents us from using any normal unfreezing process.”

The medical chart was so full of small writing and arrows that there was barely any white left.

She had not been sitting around doing nothing this whole time.

She had been looking at every single idea that occurred to her, even if it was like grasping at straws. These were the records of her agony as she desperately wanted to save her sister but could not.

“Even if she is still alive, we would be delivering the finishing blow by melting the ice. So the situation is set up so whoever tries to save her will become the actual killer.”

Loophole.

This was exactly the rebellious setup that demon would like.

“But…”

“Go ahead.”

“But isn’t it dangerous to delay unfreezing her?”

“It is. Of course it is. The criminal permeated her cells with a saline-based preservative to prevent damage to the cellular membranes during freezing and unfreezing, but to be honest, that is an outdated method.”

“Saline?”

“In this case, it refers to water with a salinity of 0.9%, but I doubt that’s what you meant.” The 14-year-old professor slowly sighed. “The volume of matter changes when it goes from liquid to solid and vice-versa. Have you ever heard of drink bottles bursting when placed in the freezer?”

“Yes, I have…hm? Oh, I get it now.”

“I’m glad you’ve caught up. The body is 70% water. If there is too great a difference between the expansion/contraction rate inside and outside the cells, there is a risk of the cellular membranes rupturing during freezing and refreezing. That is the purpose of the saline which matches the human body as closely as possible.” Asajimo Mebuki paused for a second. “Of course, using saline as a cold sleep catalyst is an outdated method used only during the early stages of research into the field. These days, the leading method uses a synthetic preservative derived from the structure of egg white. There are several fields of medical research that have taken that in unique directions, such as artificial blood and collagen for treating burns.”

“Outdated?” asked Mikoto. “So is there a problem with that method?”

“Yes,” confirmed the white coat girl. “Do you think anyone wants to have their gut opened up with the Edo period surgical instruments you see hanging in a museum? Because that method does not quite cut it, it’s possible my sister’s body is being further harmed as we speak. We can’t try to unfreeze her, but we can’t delay making a decision either.”

And…

“If we do nothing, she will merely die. On the other hand, if we do something, we will be held legally responsible. Thus, the higher ups will not give me authorization.”

It was like a puzzle that used a human life.

And it was not a cruel puzzle with no answer. Loophole, the creator of this deadly artwork, said he could solve the puzzle.

But how exactly would he do that?