Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS2 Chapter6 (section)

=== Part 3 ===
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The security guard named Enirya G. Algonskaya shouted into her radio.

“I already told you!! Bring down all the functioning shutters!! Cut off all the communication connections!! Don’t let those taking part in the riots gather beyond a certain level! They’re only civilians! We don’t need to be afraid of them if we can get them in a situation where we can attack and restrain them individually!!”

She instinctually ducked down when she heard some dry gunshots.

Sparks flew from the barricade made from a car dealer’s display model.

(…Dammit. They’re using handguns, but those aren’t normal bullets. If I hadn’t packed that stuff into the car, they would be piercing straight through.)

The normally spacious inside of the car was filled with iron scraps. They were square masses of packed together crushed cans that had been gathered for recycling. Even something usually weak like that could be effective if you gathered together enough of them.

And it was the same with the civilian rioters.

“The riots are even now cropping up in more areas!! They’re mostly around the north and east gates, but they’re heading inward. At this rate, it’s going to spread throughout the entire city!!”

“This is Unit C. It seems they have realized that we are using nonlethal rubber bullets! Their actions are clearly getting bolder!! We can’t deal with rapid fire handguns with this equipment!! Even if we’re wearing bulletproof vests, we’ll be unable to continue if we keep getting hit!!”

(So we’re at our limit…)

Enirya’s face turned bitter.

Protecting the peace was only effective in a situation where one chased after the minority that broke the rules while the majority followed the rules. If every single person in the city stopped listening to them, their effectiveness became paralyzed.

Once that happened, all that was left was to use weapons until one side was silenced.

And on top of that…

(We’re being pushed back more by the difference in numbers than in the quality of our equipment… They have more strength right now. If they realize that, the rioters will gain the sense of superiority that being in the majority brings. Then words and actions will not be able to get through to them!!)

“God damn it…” Enirya spat out. “What are we doing!? Following the manual as to what gets top priority? Escorting the VIPs to safety? How many civilians do you think will be killed while we’re protecting those old men that can only think of their own safety!?”

“I can’t contact those higher ups,” said a colleague of hers who was hiding behind the makeshift barricade. “They ordered us to secure escape route C and allow the priority members to escape to safety, but ever since then I haven’t heard a word from them. They’re supposed to have transmitters on them to tell where they are, but….”

“Do you think they were swallowed up by the rioters?”

“I don’t want to think they’re that stupid. If they were, I’d want to kill myself for following their orders for so long.”

“Same here,” Enirya said while checking on how many spare magazines she had. “Most likely, the higher ups are doing something in secret that they don’t feel the need to inform us of. They’re probably carrying out some master plan that does not involve stopping the rioters. In other words, they’re probably just leaving us here to die.”

“What do we do?” said her colleague while carefully choosing his words. “Do we just carry out the role of the dog that follows the order of ‘stay’ until it starves to death?”

“Our duty is to protect the peace of this city,” Enirya responded without a second’s delay. “I didn’t quit my job as a police inspector and come here just to curry the favor of some old men.”

If they could quit guarding the escape route for the higher ups who probably weren’t even coming, they had a lot more options. As she had said before, the rioters were civilians. Just by laying traps and falling back, they could neutralize and corner a group that size.

What should they do in order to rob the rioters of their fighting spirit without killing them while at the same time avoid having any of the security guards getting swallowed up by the rioters?

Enirya was envisioning the layout of the facility in her mind when she heard a new piece of information.

“I have a report from Unit G that is working to suppress the rioters near the gun shop area!!”

“Dammit, has that area fallen to them!? All the ground weapons for the weapons show are being stored there!!”

“No, the samples for Viner are safe.” Her colleague sounded as if he could not believe what he was saying. “I can’t confirm it on the surveillance cameras, but…it seems a single civilian is fighting to hold back the rioters attacking the gun shop area!!”

“A…civilian…?”

“It’s Misaka Mikoto.”

Enirya was completely dumbfounded and her colleague continued.

“It seems she’s working to prevent those deadly weapons from spreading through the very shopping mall that was chasing after her.”

“…”

Enirya had a few thoughts in that instant.

“…Is there a path to the gun shop area?”

“Are you planning to get her help? Despite what she’s doing, she’s still the primary suspect, you know!?”

“No, not that.” Enirya spat out. “These riots seemed to have been sparked by the urban legend of the uranium ornament. And their goal is the death of the girl who is supposedly trying to detonate a nuke.”

“You don’t mean…”

“All of these rioters have their eyes on that girl, so we need to restrain them before the worst happens.”

Most likely, the riots would not stop even if Misaka Mikoto were truly killed. Once that primitive violence gained momentum, it would continue for some time before their desires died down.

But at the same time, that girl was at the center of the riots.

That girl could greatly change the direction of the riot. She could lead to a method of controlling them. They could not lose that. They needed to use it.

“The target is continually moving around rather than staying in one place.”

“Of course she is. If she didn’t, she would be swallowed up by the waves of people,” Enirya said with a look of disinterest. “Use the surveillance equipment to determine where the rioting is at its strongest. That will be where we will find that girl.”

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