Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS3 Chapter5 (section)

===Part 3===

“I want speed, so a long straightaway would probably be better. I’ll need to have the driverless truck go down it the wrong way, though.”

Inoue spoke his plan out loud, but that may have been because he thought no one was left to resist him. Or maybe he was feeling the pressure himself as he drove the ambulance toward a head-on collision with a large truck.

“Why?”

A curse-like voice arrived from the treatment space.

But this complaint did not come from leotard-wearing Riot who had some idea what was happening. Funnily enough, it was the ignorant Anti-Skill officer named Maeda.

“Why did you side with these criminals? Academy City is surrounded by walls and full of security cameras. You must have known this was risky.”

“Did you know net shooters can actually kill people pretty easily?”

He spoke casually.

It was almost like he was asking what Maeda had eaten for dinner the night before.

“Even though they’re supposed to be tools to safely capture a suspect just by pulling the trigger and launching a net. But when I did it, the compressed gas cylinder ruptured and the fragments shot out like a shotgun blast. That kid kicked the bucket so easily. But when they advertise them as nonlethal suppression weapons, why wouldn’t we believe them? A company made that product, so I really think I’m allowed to be mad about it.”

“You…”

“I warned him like I was supposed to and I responded appropriately when he tried to resist arrest.”

The ambulance must have appeared normal enough from the outside.

They passed by quite a few cars, but there was no sign of anything happening in the outside world.

“That was all it was. It wasn’t my fault, but who’s going to believe me? That’s when it happened. Just when I was trying to figure out what to do, someone showed up to dispose of the body for me. When one door closes, another opens. There really were people who understood my situation.”

“…”

Maeda was at a loss for words, so Inoue continued while driving.

His tone remained unchanged.

There was no emotion in his voice.

“I want to stay in Anti-Skill. I honestly do want to crack down on crime and save people in need. I swear it. That’s why I’ve been working so hard, Maeda. I’ve been getting information on criminals you don’t even know about so I can keep Academy City safe. I’ve taken down brutal criminals who never would have shown up on our radar in a hundred years using the normal methods. To be clear, I did everything by the book and acted appropriately back then. So wouldn’t it be wrong to let that one punk take it all away? I can save so many more people this way. So what happens to those people if this path is taken form me? This is no longer my problem alone. If I’m arrested here, who’s going to protect this city?”

He was not doing it for money or because he was fed up with his job.

Inoue Kasha was a proper Anti-Skill officer.

…Except some gear had worked loose at the very core.

Unable to get up and simply lying on top of the suspect girl to protect her, Maeda spoke up with a groan.

“You’re insane.”

“I don’t really expect you to understand. But if you ask me, Maeda, you aren’t saving anyone. Everything you do is no better than the way you’re lying on top of that girl. It might look visually similar to protecting someone and you might be satisfied with that, but you aren’t solving any of the actual problems affecting the victims. You aren’t worthy of respect because you don’t understand what it means to truly protect the peace.”

A roaring sound could be heard from outside the ambulance.

Everything was dyed in the distinctive orange color of the lights.

This was a bypass added later to relieve traffic. A tunnel of about 3km cut right past the area that got congested in the morning and evening.

If Inoue was to be believed, a large driverless truck had entered from the other side.

Even though it was driving the wrong way.

The Zero-Day Link AI server collected and tagged a massive number of vulnerabilities and viruses every day, but it was no use here. In fact, its mechanical way of working was the very problem there.

“I promise you I’ll work even harder once I get out of this. Maeda, I’ll work enough for your share too. I’ll take care of the perpetrators of those horrific crimes and bring peace back to the city. So it’ll be okay. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Our job…is to arrest criminals…and bring them back…to the straight and narrow. So they never need to resort to crime again…”

“Idealistic hogwash. How can you say that after seeing true crime? And I mean the indescribably vivid crimes lurking on the underside of this city.”

“If you can’t say it…then quit your job this instant, Inoue. You aren’t worthy…of the Anti-Skill name.”

Inoue only scoffed.

Maeda did not bother arguing further. He gathered his last strength to hold the girl protectively below him just a little tighter.

And so Inoue would not notice, he used his trembling fingers to undo the stretcher’s belts and slip the oxygen mask from her mouth.

The leotard girl looked shocked.

“(You…?)”

“(Hold your breath and use the carbon dioxide produced by your own body. You should gradually be able to move your limbs again. …I’ll do what I can to cushion the impact of the crash with my body, but it’s still unlikely you’ll survive. The entire ambulance is going to be crushed after all.)”

“…”

“(But if you do survive, do whatever you can to escae from Inoue and survive. Then please turn yourself in at the nearest Anti-Skill station. You need to be punished for your crimes, but you still deserve to live. I’m sorry, but this is all I can do for you.)”