Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume1 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 9===

With a heavy pop, Misaka Imouto managed to remove the round lid at the top of the drum-shaped cleaning robot she had captured. She must not have detected any of the traps she was concerned about. Kamijou was surprised to see they opened up like that. It looked like they would normally require a special screwdriver other than a Phillips or flathead, but she had apparently directly turned the screws using magnetism.

The inside was almost entirely hollow, providing enough space for a small child to fit while curled up. But since there was no garbage inside, this must have been one Maidono had prepared (i.e. stolen) to transport Last Order.

Anyway.

Last Order was unconscious, but she seemed unharmed when Misaka Imouto reached under her arms and pulled her out.

Her limbs and mouth were bound by a special controlled rope, but it did not appear to be a trap. And an electronic device like that was no match for Mikoto.

“Hm? But if a clone like her couldn’t get this electronically-controlled rope off of her, does that mean I really am superior when it comes to cyber-attacks???”

“Why must the higher unit’s failure cast doubt on the quality of the Misakas as a whole? wonders Misaka while trembling at this unwelcome speculation. The command tower had better learn her lesson.”

Fortunately, Last Order must have been a valuable hostage because she had no noticeable injuries. Even if that was to use her for malicious purposes, it was still a stroke of good luck considering the massive damage that Maidono Hoshimi had done to the Christmas Eve city around them.

Index asked a question with the calico cat still on her head.

She asked about the definitive crossroads they were approaching.

“Touma, what do we do now?”

“Good question.”

If he was being honest, a simple high school boy like him could not see the big picture here.

He imagined it had something to do with what the grownups wanted and the overall power balance within the city, but that did not mean he could see any of the specifics. You could not perform surgery or disarm a bomb based on a vague sense of “I think I kinda, sorta understand”. It was probably impossible for him to reach the right answer using pure logic at this point.

“First, I’d like to know what kind of person this Neoka is.”

Kamijou Touma was not the type to remember who ran the city or even who his own school’s principal was. This had nothing to do with his memory loss; he simply never interacted with them. He knew of those twelve ultra VIPs at the top of Academy City. They may have been something like a head of state’s cabinet, but that was exactly why he had no idea who they were. People tended not to remember much beyond the actual president or prime minister at the very top.

He never would have needed to know who they were if he lived a normal life.

“The officially released info says he’s a big name in the security industry,” explained Mikoto. “With bigshots like the Board of Directors, they’re mostly pretty old, but he’s actually quite young for the group. That said, he’s still not a child like us.”

“I see. Do important people like that have a list of achievements on the government website or something?”

“Hell, he’s got his own social media account.”

Kamijou was having trouble following along already. Weren’t these criminal masterminds supposed to be veiled in mystery in the depths of a subterranean secret base or something?

But when he took a look at Mikoto’s phone, he saw a very official looking page. It was all so neat, tidy, and squeaky clean that it had no real human warmth to it. Even the sign in front of a corporate headquarters building would feel a bit warmer than this.

The young man looked good in a suit, but he did not have the look of a businessman.

He was more like a high-profile entrepreneur or film actor. Maybe it was how he looked too young to be one of those executives in suits and maybe it was the muscle tone visible even through his suit. Then again, who could say how edited the photos on his social media page were. It was even possible the man in the photos was a body double.

“What do you mean by the security industry? Is that another way of saying he sells weapons? asks Misaka while cutely tilting her head.”

“Pipe down, you flirt,” snapped Mikoto. “And no, it isn’t that. It looks like his work is in the fields of firefighting and disaster prevention. He donates a lot of money to charity and volunteer programs. …Of course, that might all be camouflage to hide his true colors.”

This was not a case of good suppressing evil.

Nor was it a case of creating an evil more powerful than justice so they could rest easy.

The truly hopeless people would ally themselves with good and justice. They would manipulate those things to their own benefit and, when that was not enough, they would rewrite those systems altogether.

“Firefighting and disaster prevention don’t sound particularly dangerous at first glance, but you could do scary things by abusing those systems,” said Mikoto. “Disaster rescue robots could be converted into weapons, or you could even artificially create your own disaster.”

Whatever the case, he was one of the twelve VIPs who ran Academy City.

Maidono Hoshimi had only been the vanguard.

He had to have something of his own. He stood at the top of Academy City which ruled over all the world’s science and technology, so he was bound to have all sorts of bizarre tech all to himself.

He sat on ''the'' Board of Directors.

In truth, they were only pretending they knew what he was like based on rumors and online information. Because fighting against an unknown entity was too frightening. In the worst case, this could be a fight that ''never ended'' no matter how much they struggled.

They could not challenge him on a whim.

They should have tried to avoid making contact with him at all costs.

But…

“If he’s cheating the system, he must be in a position that makes that necessary.”

“Touma?”

“We can’t ‘see’ any of the political power, hierarchy, or power balance of the adults and there’s no way we can get a feel for it right away. But we do know that Neoka Norito has been living the good life by throwing that unseen power around. He’s sure to use that unseen power before clenching his fist. He used dirty tricks, threw money around, abused his authority, and set so many people in motion, but it wasn’t enough. ''That'' is why he finally resorted to violence.”

It was obvious.

It was the most basic of facts, but using violence came with risks. Director Neoka could use violence to protect his position, but that would be meaningless to him if his use of violence was exposed and he was placed under social pressure. That villain was clearly fighting for himself, so he would not want to bring peace to Academy City by sacrificing himself.

Which meant…

“We fight.” That was Kamijou Touma’s decision. “If we let things keep going like this, who knows when it’ll end. The enemy will try attacking over and over and we’re dead as soon as we let our guard down for even a moment. We can’t leave this in a situation where a single mistake spells our doom. So now is our only chance. We can’t see the power balance of the adults, so none of us can say if the conditions providing us this chance will still be around tomorrow or the day after that.”

They could not let this happen to Last Order. Or to Maidono Hoshimi for that matter. And the same could probably be said for the still-unseen enemy who would attack next, and the one after that.

Neoka Norito.

That piece of garbage had remade charity and volunteer work into his own bullets and allied himself with good and justice so he could create countless tragedies without dirtying his own hands. His twisted form of cleanliness had robbed so many people of their possibility and distorted their lives.

The dark side.

If he really wanted to protect that shadowy utopia, he should stand in the line of fire himself.

Maidono could not use chopsticks.

Kamijou pictured her face as she bit her lip and held back the tears over that pain no one else understood.

Just like Accelerator had Last Order, Maidono Hoshimi had her chopsticks complex.

That godawful adult had used those things as a shield to manipulate children to his will. He did not clench his fist, pit his will against his enemy’s, or join any kind of battle at all. He stole people’s lives and used them for his own purposes, but he considered that a sign of his own intelligence and did not see the need to bother interacting with them.

The tragedies would not end unless he was stopped.

No matter what.

“Let’s end this.”

The enemy was currently weakened.

The rules of the adults had failed here, so he had been forced to stoop to the juvenile and violent rules of the children. Meaning he had chosen to abduct young Last Order and use her as a hostage.

But if he had descended from his unreachable ivory tower and he was now within reach…

“We need to grab him by the collar before he can ascend out of reach once more.” That was Kamijou’s answer and conclusion. “This will probably only be an option today. He’s been weakened because ''someone else'' was fighting back out there, but we can’t say when he’ll recover from that. So we should use this chance and finish what ''someone else'' started. Otherwise, we’re right back to square one. Last Order will be captured, Accelerator’s plan will fail, and someone will have their life stolen from them so they’ll act as a new pawn in Maidono’s place. The only person laughing then will be that crazy clean freak Neoka!!”

“Misaka is fine with that, says Misaka to express her agreement.” The expressionless goggles girl had more to say. “Setting aside how you intend to locate and attack Neoka, it is frankly miraculous that this has been simplified to the point that it can be resolved through fighting. Forcibly settling things today would likely be a much more effective and optimal choice than letting this chance go and retrying it when the conditions are tangled with politics and economics, says Misaka to further explain her reasoning.”

“So is this the extent of the cavalry?” asked Mikoto. “Counting Last Order sleeping here, that’s only 5. Oh, I guess it’s 6 if we include the kitty on your head there. He’s sure to be a huge help.”

“Eh? I’m just glad to not be alone this time,” said Touma. “I’m not used to having so much help.”

“…”

“…”

For some reason, Index and Mikoto both glared at him. The pressure was intense.

Being alone was so sad.

And…

“About that.” Misaka Imouto raised her hand. “Since Neoka Norito was trying to capture the command tower, wouldn’t it be suicidal to bring her with us? Whatever form the fight takes, Misaka thinks we should keep Last Order away from it, suggests Misaka.”

“But wouldn’t it also be dangerous to leave her alone?” responded Mikoto. “We don’t know how many people Neoka has hidden out here, so she could always be abducted again while we’re fighting.”

“Which is why Misaka will list off what we need. First, we need fighters to defeat Director Neoka Norito. But if we let the command tower escape, we cannot leave her alone. That means we also need fighters to protect her, explains Misaka while raising two fingers. So wouldn’t it be best to split into two teams?”

She made it sound simple, but who would be on each team?

Kamijou could negate all forms of the supernatural and Index had an unbeatable interception ability when it came to magic, but they were both weak to normal firearms. Misaka Imouto was strong against guns and knives, but she could not deal with extreme supernatural powers. Mikoto had a seemingly almighty power, but removing her from the front line would reduce their odds of defeating Neoka Norito. They were a well-varied team when together, but their pros and cons stood out once they were separated.

However, Misaka Imouto had an idea about this.

“Misaka thinks it would be best to use her as the command tower’s bodyguard, says Misaka while pointing at her own face.”

“Eh? You?” said Kamijou.

“Your skepticism bothers Misaka, so she will remind you of her skill with all firearms and her ability to use the city’s security with her electrical power.”

“But can you beat someone on Maidono’s level like that?” asked Mikoto. “You can’t, can you?”

“Wake that scum up right this instant. This Misaka will kick her ass in short order, says Misaka while rolling up her sleeves to show how eager she is.”

She was being a little too motivated here, so Kamijou quickly restrained her. Fists that would not protect anyone’s smile were entirely meaningless.

The mass-produced girl expressionlessly struggled (while still being hugged from behind), but she also continued speaking.

“More importantly, Neoka Norito does not want the new Board Chairman’s crimes – that is, the past project that the Misakas were a part of – to come to light, correct? ''Misaka can fight by using herself as a hostage.'' We are both clones, the command tower and an ordinary serial number, so if Misaka fights while drawing attention using her gunfire and Radio Noise power, it should give them some trouble, says Misaka to list off the expected conditions of the battle.”

She had a point.

Kamijou certainly agreed that they could not bring Last Order with them to the front line. Dangling that treat in front of the kidnapper’s eyes would be foolish in the extreme.

But it still was not enough.

Misaka Imouto’s logic only worked on the assumption that Neoka Norito’s side was trying to resolve this in secret and thus their attacker would withdraw rather than risk revealing their actions to society at large. For example, they would end their attack if they saw a live broadcast of the scene from a TV station’s camera or a livestream from a phone.

However.

(He gave so much freedom to Maidono Hoshimi.)

Yes, they could not trust in that assumption.

No matter how big this got, you could still cover it all up if you had enough power. So if Neoka decided he only had to get through today, no matter what it took, Misaka Imouto’s plan would not work. Even in front of a TV camera or a livestreaming phone, he or his troops would move in to kill or abduct the fleeing girls.

So they needed something more.

They had to play some other powerful card to deter their enemy.

“This might be a complete rejection of his work and efforts, but we’re under no obligation to play along.”

“Touma?”

“Misaka Imouto, we’ll leave Last Order with you, but can I suggest a destination to escape to?”

“Misaka may not use it, but you are free to make suggestions.”

Kamijou Touma breathed in and out.

And he ruined someone’s plans with a smile.

“''Accelerator is holed up in an Anti-Skill station, right?'' Take Last Order there and fortify yourselves there too. Then Academy City’s strongest will fight off Neoka’s troops for you.”

The #1 could not leave himself.

He would trust in Academy City’s ability to purify itself.

That was all well and good, but it only meant they had to set up a situation where Accelerator could protect Last Order while still behind bars. He could remain there in the same building and fight to protect himself from the attackers. And if he happened to save some civilian who happened to be here? Well, that was just a coincidence.

Kamijou Touma did not understand all the tricky grownup politics and whatnot.

He thought the Board Chairman was incredible for leaving the world of pure violence and fighting in that more complex world.

But.

Even so.

''Accelerator was the one who should be protecting that kid.'' Not even counting issues of efficiency and logic, that was just how it was meant to be. Kamijou Touma was temporarily looking after Last Order, but there was another world in which she was meant to spread her arms and run free. He had to make sure that rule was followed. No matter what.

“Uh,” groaned Last Order with her eyes still shut.

Thinking back, this had been strange from the beginning.

Had she left her usual place and searched out her original, Misaka Mikoto, because she had realized what was happening and come for help? Had there been something only she could see using the sharp eyes of a young child that Kamijou, Mikoto, and the others had already lost? Maybe so and maybe not. It was also possible she had sensed some vague fear and just ran around with no destination in mind. Just like a child pacing around with their pillow after having a nightmare.

But so what?

What did it matter if this came from cruel reality or a baseless dream?

Kamijou did not want to abandon people who were afraid and suffering. He and the others had found her, so they had to notice what was going on with her and they had to act on that knowledge. They might not be able to save the entire world right away, but they could save the people they saw right in front of them, one by one.

A human out there had bet on the fact that the scales of the entire world would be tilted just a little if everyone attempted to do the things even they could accomplish. When all the good parts and the bad parts of the world were weighed against each other, he had bet it would tilt ever so slightly toward the bright side.

So they would show him that the world he hoped for did indeed exist.

In the world Academy City’s #1 dreamed of, perhaps no one would ever again be led astray for someone else’s purposes like Maidono Hoshimi had. And even if they were, perhaps they could create a kind enough society to give them a second chance. They could not just hope someone else would do it. Kamijou and the others had to become some of the small gears within Academy City who would help make it happen.

They had to believe.

They had to make their own bets, just like he had.

Kamijou Touma looked to each of their faces in turn: Index, Misaka Mikoto, Misaka Imouto, and Last Order. And then he made a blunt declaration of war.

“Let’s give ‘em hell.”