Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume5 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 8===

Metal clangs and orange sparks burst through the city night. A woman in a red China dress and a cowboy hat lay collapsed face down on the roof of one of the many skyscrapers.

Her dominant hand was pulled behind her back and a knee was pressed against her back to pin her center of gravity. The culprit was an apron woman wearing thick brass knuckles resembling cat paws.

This wasn’t just an issue of range. The pinned woman was a skilled cameraman and sniper, but she wasn’t only effective at long range.

The housewife with her long chestnut hair tied back with a hair tie seemed like a complete monster by this point.

Rakuoka Nodoka’s ability to cause harm was extraordinary. The fact that she had still managed to maintain a normal life without falling to the dark side only made her seem more dangerous.

“Gah!?”

Once the paparazzo’s hands were tied behind her back with a cheap zip tie, a booted foot kicked her sniper rifle aside and a woman with glasses and a black military uniform crouched in front of her. Even kneeling, she was still looking down at the other woman.

Tessou Tsuzuri held a long, thin object between her thumb and forefinger.

“Hi there, Benizome-chan. I’ll need you to open your mouth indecently wide for me, okay?”

“Mghhh!?”

A metallic sensation suctioned to the underside of her tongue. It was about the size of the AAA batteries used in TV and air condition remotes. A rubbery flavor filled her mouth.

“That’s a Fishing Tongue. One remote signal from me and the motor rolls up your tongue until it tears that entire lying tongue right out of your mouth. Isn’t it cute? Now you and Nodoka-chan match☆”

Only when the timid housewife stuck out her tongue and slowly moved it around was Benizome able to see the device for herself. It was attached with a suction cup or an adhesive.

“…!?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t recommend trying to force it off. I mean, unless you like the idea of the lithium ion battery detonating and blowing off your lower jaw.”

The China dress woman froze when she heard that. There were times when the threat of a slower death would restrain people better than a quick death.

Tessou Tsuzuri had pulled all this off without a single run in her stockings. She started the discussion with a smile.

“''Let’s get negotiating, shall we''?”

“Don’t give me that. I don’t even get to choose if I side with the good guys or the bad guys?”

“You never did.”

(This gives me a short-range and a long-range fighter. A pretty standard setup. But it isn’t enough to control the entire board. If I want a complete victory, I need some more bizarre tech. I only need one more person and victory is mine.)

That was when the usual flashbacks hit the Anti-Skill Negotiator.

Not even she could figure out what triggered it.


Anti-Skill officers melting into black goo.

A slaughter carried out by the very children they were supposed to be protecting.

More experienced officers holding their handgun to their temple and sobbing as they pulled the trigger.


“…”

Tessou Tsuzuri bit her lip as the images filled her mind.

The nightmare of Handcuffs on December 25 would not leave her.

The word “acupuncture” grew ever so tempting, but she shook it from her mind. The adrenaline and noradrenaline strongly linked to tension were produced in the adrenal glands, so shutting off the signals from there could forcibly free her from this. But she could not afford to fill her mind with meaningless optimism.

Rakuoka Nodoka asked a nervous question.

“U-um, uh. Wh-what…next?”

“Good question.”

The Anti-Skill Negotiator pondered the question in amusement.

It was too soon to make her next demand. Rakuoka Nodoka was not normally the kind of person to place a deadly roller below a stranger’s tongue and drag them into the same hell she was experiencing. 
Perhaps people could counteract their guilt as long as they were able to view themselves as a victim.

Tessou Tsuzuri chuckled as she turned her gaze elsewhere.

“Hanatsuyu Youen the Carrier. Yes, negotiating with her would be the safest option.”