Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS2 Chapter3 (section)

=== Part 8 ===
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Once she knew what to do, it was simple.

Mikoto picked the locks of several doors and ran down long passageways.

The giant facility took up more space than 650 domed stadiums, but the construction equipment was attacking inside the building. The controlling radio signal had to be fairly strong in order to make its way through all the walls. For someone who could freely control electricity like Mikoto, it was like having the GPS function of a child’s cell phone on.

She knew what path she had to take, so all that was left was to follow it.

“…Over there, hm?”

She had come to a different area within the giant facility. She stood before a tenant-owned shop with its shutter closed. The powerful radio signal was being sent from within.

Mikoto ignored the usual theory of opening the door.

Instead, she manipulated magnetism to blow the metal shutter forward.

With an explosive noise, the entire giant wall was knocked into the store. Mikoto stepped inside through that entrance she had forcibly opened.

There were no lights on.

In the center of the dim store, a few LEDs blinked and light came from a small screen that seemed to be a PDA.

But that was it.

There was no sign of anyone inside.

And there was some kind of unpleasant smell.

“…”

Mikoto approached the wall and hit the light switch.

With a dry click, the store was filled with dazzling light from fluorescent lights.

The full picture became clear.

A lot of what looked like fish tanks were lined up along the wall. However, there was no water filling them and there were no tropical fish swimming within them. The fish tanks were filled about halfway up with black soil and a large number of small black insects were on top of that.

On the opposite wall, more fish tanks were lined up, but they had lots of mice instead of ants. They may have been food for the ants.

As expected, the PDA in the center of the room was connected to radio devices. There was also a small but high output antenna. That was likely where the snowplows had been controlled from.

And…

It had all been thoroughly destroyed.

The glass of the fish tanks had been smashed and some of the black soil had spilled out. The store stank of insecticide. The black ants were not moving. Only the mice that had been raised to be food were still alive. They were huddled together and cautiously watching Mikoto.

The radio equipment was just barely in a usable condition, but the PDA’s screen was displaying an error. Most likely, the construction equipment was no longer moving.

“This is…?”

The walls, the floor, and even the ceiling were covered in an unpleasant smelling liquid. It was not a normal amount. It was enough that it would not have been surprising if multiple people had been killed.

There was no one there.

But the lack of anyone there actually made Mikoto even more uneasy. The situation did not look like one where whoever it was had voluntarily run off.

(Who did this…?)

Mikoto headed further into the room.

There was a wooden box there that had 19 oranges inside.

Each one had been carefully smashed and the flesh of the fruit was sticking out. It looked as if someone had been checking to see if there were ants inside.

Mikoto had the same thought once more.

(Who did this…?)

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