Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS2 Chapter2 (section)

=== Part 8 ===
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Setali headed underground in an elevator and then walked quickly down a long passageway.

She was not heading for a secret base or anything like that.

The giant shopping mall built on the plains of Russia was basically a flat facility spreading out horizontally. However, that did not give enough living space for the over 50,000 workers. That space had been developed underground. Setali was returning to her apartment.

Things had developed in an unexpected way.

It seemed that Misaka Mikoto girl had escaped from a security guard office and was even then wandering about the shopping mall.

It was best to escape.

In a way, Setali was Misaka Mikoto’s sole point of contact within the shopping mall.

The odds were not exactly low that the girl would come her way if she were wrapped up in some kind of trouble.

She did not need to be told by her fellow security guards that being found by that girl would be bad.

But the public transportation facilities were closed at that time and even if she tried to use a car, it would just make it more likely she would be noticed. Setali was going to gather up some things in her apartment and then head for a tourist hotel. The large number of hotels in the city could hold up to 200,000 people. If she used a fake name and mixed in with all those people, she would not be found.

She would gather together the bare minimum of necessities in her apartment and quickly head to the hotel.

Once dawn came and the public transportation facilities began moving again, she would get on a passenger plane and leave the city.

That would be the end of it.

The girl would no longer be able to track her and Setali would have successfully escaped to safety. In that time, the security guards could act and finish things. Misaka Mikoto’s escape scene would not last long. She would eventually be tracked down and captured.

Everything was going well.

In fact, Setali could see no factor that would fail.

However, the instant she opened her front door, a white hand reached out through the gap and pulled her inside the room. She was pulled into that room which should have been locked until Setali had unlocked it just then.

Her back was slammed up against the wall.

She thought her breathing was going to stop, but that was not just because of the impact.

“People never seem to realize…”

Grabbing Setali’s collar and whispering to her at close range was a Japanese middle school girl.

“…that I can freely move the pins in a keyhole using magnetism. If you would at least make them of brass or stainless steel, you wouldn’t be faced with this kind of problem.”

“Misaka Mikoto…!?”

“Since you’re so surprised to see me, I’m guessing you have an idea what I’m here for.”

With her back pressed up against the wall, Setali tried to shake off Mikoto’s arms, but Mikoto was faster. She lightly swept Setali’s legs out from under her causing her to collapse to the floor.

She had held back, but that was hard to tell from Setali’s point of view.

That time, the woman’s breathing really did stop for a few seconds.

“I know that some oranges were delivered through the east gate at about 17:00 yesterday,” Mikoto said in a low voice ignoring the woman’s coughing.

She threw her next questions at Setali violently.

“Twenty oranges were delivered together!! Only one of those has been recovered! Where are the remaining 19!? Have crimson long-legged army ant eggs been implanted into all of them!?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“Once those ‘detonate’, a huge number of ants will be scattered everywhere! They will eat up all human and animal flesh as they continue to breed and breed!! Once that happens, it’s too late! And with these crimson long-legged army ant living bombs, the colony is purposefully put in danger so the limit on the number of queens will likely be gone. Once the ants inside become active, they may breed so explosively that they will swallow up this entire city!!”

Setali shook her head back and forth as she was being pressed to the ground.

“I don’t know anything about these oranges!!”

There was a dull noise.

It was the sound of thrusting her knees onto the floor right next to Setali’s sides.

“I was suspected because the same rumor was spreading in Academy City and this shopping mall at the exact same time. The rumor was that of the very valuable orange. They claimed that I had to have purposefully spread the rumor and created an incident identical to it because I’m the only person who has gone between both cities.”

A high voltage current was coming dangerously close to shooting from Mikoto’s fingertips, but she desperately restrained herself.

“But there’s someone else who it could have been. After all, I had not heard the story of the very valuable orange until yesterday when I came to this city. That was when I first heard it from someone named Setali S. Skinikia.”

“…!?”

“Answer me. Why did you know the story of the very valuable orange that had only been spread within Academy City at that point? And how much did you have to do with the living orange bomb incident taking place in this shopping mall?”

“I really don’t know anything…”

Tears started spilling from Setali’s eyes.

Mikoto did not know if they were due to fear or if they were an attempt at deception.

“I first saw that urban legend a few days before on the internet. I was looking up local information on Academy City so I would have things to talk with you about. I don’t know why things turned out this way. What are these oranges you’re talking about? What do you mean by a living bomb?”

“…”

While still sitting atop Setali, Mikoto stared into her eyes.

With her face wrinkled up in tears, Setali shook her head.

“Even if some incident has occurred following that urban legend…”

Mikoto listened to Setali’s words trying to determine whether they were the truth or a lie.

The woman continued speaking in a voice mixed with tears and sobs.

“…what are you saying I did? If the spread of a rumor is deeply related to this incident, then the criminal would have to be able to control the very flow of that rumor. Do you really think I could do something like that? It’s true that I could spread a rumor, but only a small handful of people would be able to ensure that it spread and became a major story that anyone would have heard of. Even a professional in the television business has to rely on luck for that kind of thing.”

“Yes,” Mikoto muttered.

She had come to her conclusion.

No matter how many tears flowed from Setali’s eyes, no matter how much her face wrinkled up in fear, and no matter how much she desperately insisted that she had only been wrapped up in it all, she was lying.

Even if Mikoto wanted to avert her gaze, she had to continue.

“Project Code EIC.”

“….!?”

That time, Setali S Skinikia’s entire body convulsed as if an electric current had passed through it.

“That project purposefully controls rumors in order to add or remove value to chosen products and to completely control which stores succeed. This city already had a system in place to control rumors and urban legends. You had to have known about it. After all, your name was given as the author of the report.”

“That’s…!?”

Mikoto did not wait for a response.

No, she could not wait for a response.

The next thing she knew, bluish-white sparks were flying from her fingertips. The current was at around 500,000 volts. That level of high voltage current was in bad taste even for a self defense stun gun.

A zapping noise exploded out.

Mikoto was ensuring that it did not head in Setali’s direction as she held the woman’s collar, but the woman did not know that. She was feeling only pure fear.

“Gy-gy-gy-gyaaaahhh!?”

It was perhaps commendable that Setali did not avert the focus of her gaze.

But Mikoto ignored that.

“I don’t know why you spread those oranges around and I do not intend to ask.” Mikoto would no longer be fooled by tears. “Where are the living bombs!? Where are the remaining 19 oranges!? That’s all you need to tell me. I won’t call the security guards on you, so just answer me!!”

“I…don’t know…” Even then, that was all Setali said. “I really don’t know anything about that urban legend becoming an actual incident.”

“I see.”

Mikoto sighed.

She was conflicted about what she should do.

(Is there…)

Should she pass beyond a certain line and use her powers violently?

(Is there some other way…?)

Mikoto poured strength into her hands and dragged Setali up from the floor.

“Then I’ll check to see whether what you’re saying is true or not.”

She headed further into the apartment dragging Setali along with her. She found the bathroom, opened the door, and threw Setali inside.

“What are you—?”

Setali’s words trailed off and her face stiffened.

Misaka Mikoto pulled a single large orange from her skirt’s pocket. It was an odd orange that seemed almost squishy because it was overripe.

Setali did not even have time to yell or stand up from the tiled floor.

Mikoto chucked the orange into the bathroom and mercilessly closed the door. She then dragged the washing machine over and pushed it up against the bathroom door.

Inside the small bathroom, Setali pressed her back up against the wall to get as far away from the orange as she could. She slowly approached the door, but it would not open. She pounded on the door with her fists and slammed into it with her shoulder, but it would not budge.

“Wait!! Wait!! What is this!?”

“…Oh? I see no reason for you to panic. If you truly think what I’m saying is a bunch of crap and you truly know nothing about the oranges, then you wouldn’t know how dangerous that orange is.”

“You have to be kidding… You have to be kidding!! You just told me!! You mentioned oranges with eggs implanted inside them!! You said the ants inside would become active!! If that’s true…!!”

“You don’t need to worry.”

Mikoto’s voice was kind.

For an instant, Setali’s heart tried to find escape in the idea that the orange was a harmless bluff, but…

“It’s true that there are larva inside that squishy orange and about half of them have grown to adulthood already, but the bathroom is a sealed area. Even if it does ‘explode’, the ants cannot escape so easily. …The ventilation ducts and drains are a bit worrying, but when you know what the dangers are at the beginning, you can set up traps. By sending a high voltage current through those areas, the ants that enter will be fried.”

“N-no, no!! What are you thinking!? This is not normal!! Do you know what kind of ants crimson long-legged army ants are!?”

“Not really, but that is a creepy name, isn’t it? I wonder if they could eat a cow or a pig down to its bones.”

“…!!”

Setali pounded her fists on the door. Her breathing was erratic. Red blood was leaking from her hands. But it was no good. The door would not open even a single millimeter. She was completely trapped.

“You probably shouldn’t get too worked up.”

Mikoto’s voice from the other side of the door was one of someone enjoying herself.

That irritated Setali’s nerves even further.

“My prediction is that the living bombs have a time limit set by intentionally manipulating the timing of the hatching and activation of the ants. When stored, they are likely kept cold and they are put in a very hot and humid place when they are to be used. …If you breathe too erratically, you’ll bring up the temperature of the bathroom with your body temperature.”

“Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!”

If the orange exploded there, over 100 army ants would come overflowing into that small area.

Setali had nowhere to run.

Even if she clung to the ceiling, she would be overrun by army ants.

“How much did you have to do with this incident?” Mikoto asked as if dangling down a final lifeline.

She gave that terrible announcement that would send Setali down into an instant hell if she missed even a word.

“Where are the remaining oranges?”

Setali’s black eyes moved around unnaturally.

It looked like the orange in the center of the bathroom was sweating like human skin.

And then she saw the thick skin of the orange squirming from the inside.

That was her limit.

“I don’t know!! I really don’t know!! It’s true I was involved with Code EIC!! The research is continuing even now and we have intentionally spread rumors!! But I had nothing to do with that urban legend!! Code EIC was only intended to spread information that would raise the value of a given product. I never even thought about using it to spread creepy urban legends like that!!”

Setali felt like she was a human IC recorder. Unrelated to what she wished herself, she would tell any secret as long as someone pressed the button. It was quite pathetic. A woman of over 20 in tears and being talked down to by a middle school girl was simply pathetic.

“Why did you tell me the story of the very valuable orange?”

“I don’t know!! I just all of a sudden found myself telling the story!! I don’t even remember where exactly I heard about it!! But I must have heard it somewhere. You can check on your own where I found the information by checking my internet history or the digitally broadcasted television shows I watched!! But I don’t know!!”

“If Code EIC was used in this incident, then the higher ups in the shopping mall are the most suspicious. Do you have any idea who it could be?”

“Of course not!! It’s true that we are a cooperative institution of Academy City that carries out economic experiments and research such as Code EIC, so we do have a few unofficial groups. But none of them are anything like a terrorist group that wants to harm people!! This isn’t a city with movie-like villains such as obviously evil organizations or fixers that control everything from the shadows!!”

“…”

“Wait… I’m telling the truth!! I don’t know anything else!! So please let me out of here!! The orange…that orange is moving oddly!! Please…please save me…!!”

Setali heard a slight noise from the other side of the door.

Setali thought it was the sound of Mikoto leaving.

She thought she was being left behind in that nightmarish bathroom.

“W-waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

She screamed.

She could not help herself.

She felt that small bathroom had become her coffin.

But that was not what was happening.

Mikoto was moving the washing machine from in front of the door.

The door opened and Mikoto stepped into the bathroom.

“…Sorry about that.”

“Ah…uuh?”

Mikoto lightly picked up the orange from the center of the bathroom and Setali stared at her unable to believe her eyes.

Mikoto tore off the skin of the orange and showed Setali that nothing dangerous was inside.

“I cut the skin slightly with a knife and put margarine inside. The heat melted it and made it look like the skin was moving.”

“…”

Setali stared blankly for a bit.

Finally, she yelled like a beast and punched Mikoto in the face as hard as she could.

Mikoto did not even try to avoid it.

With her back slammed against the wall, Mikoto wiped the blood dripping from her split lip.

“If everything you said is true, then there really is someone out there who has set up oranges with crimson long-legged army ant eggs implanted inside.”

“…I thought I told you this city does not have any obviously evil organizations.”

“Yes.” Mikoto nodded. “So someone must be acting as if they are some dark group of “higher ups”. I don’t know if it’s someone from within the city or someone who has come in from outside, but I do know that these people actually exists and that they are causing dangerous incidents in the city.”

The city’s security guards still did not know that those people existed. Mikoto did not know if they would listen if Mikoto or Setali tried to tell them. It would be a problem if she was asked how she found out about Code EIC and a large scale incident could occur while she wasted time on that.

Having the living bombs full of ant eggs explode would be the worst possible situation.

“What are you going to do?” asked Setali. “How are you going to stop them?”

“I have no choice but to follow each hint I’ve been given.”

That said, all Mikoto had to work with were the security camera records, the reference to oranges by Lessar, and Setali who had told her about the urban legend. Two of those three had led to nothing.

That left only one.

“That Lessar seemed to know something, so I have to directly ask her about this.”

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