Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item7 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 11===

They had killed her.

Revenge was meaningless. That standard line was found everywhere in children’s books and fairy tales, but those on the dark side knew revenge was far from the worst thing. The truly empty victories were the ones that ended in killing a genius criminal freak who was motivated by their own madness rather than personal interest or a grudge.

Kinuhata sighed.

“Super what do we do now? Now that the bomber isn’t a threat, I’d love to take some time to sit back and relax.”

“No, not yet. Just to be safe, let’s check what Morning Call has on her. To gather information. I doubt there’s anything, but she is a bomber. In the end, if she set up a bunch of time bombs somewhere, the city could start blowing up before long. And unlike the kitchen timer bombs seen in movies, real ones can count down for days. In an old war, there were bombs intentionally set to wait for 20 days before detonating. So once the people were confident the threat had passed, the recovering city would be bombed all over again, wearing at the people’s nerves.”

“Time bombs made with cup noodles super aren’t just a thing in the movies.”

Snipers and bombers were similar in that they killed while remaining hidden, but this was the annoying part of bombers. Frenda and Takitsubo argued over their methods as they investigated the gruesome corpse’s swimsuit.

Mugino picked up the simple VR goggles.

She removed the smartphone from the plastic case attached to the rubber bands.

Whether it used a fingerprint or facial recognition, that physical sort of security meant nothing here. They had the owner’s dead body right here, so aiming the stolen phone at her face and pressing her finger against it were enough to unlock it.

The plethora of unfamiliar icons were likely the bomber’s personal programs, not apps bought from the store. This was what happened when those Academy City intellectuals thoughtlessly suggested everyone learned to code. Maybe they were for detonation control and maybe they were for drone control, but carelessly messing with them without knowing how they worked could possibly blow something up in some district or another. The phone could even blow up in Mugino’s hands. Although that would be preferable to having an elementary school or hospital somewhere blow up.

Takitsubo peered at the screen from the side.

“It would be safest to start by checking the basic apps that are installed by default. Of those, I would check…her personal contact list and the calendar listing her plans.”

“If those are her own program given the super top-level icon of something else, couldn’t the phone blow up as soon as you touch them? Maybe it brings up a prompt for a long password and detonates the phone if you can’t enter it in ten seconds.”

“Oh, like a front door with home security installed?” offhandedly suggested Frenda.

Most people’s home security didn’t explode, but she didn’t seem to care.

“In the end, you can avoid that by checking the apps that are already running. Even if it isn’t displayed right now, the camera, the map, and other apps you use regularly will be running in the background. If she was using the app herself, we know it can’t be a trap. And since she left it open, it won’t ask for the password again☆”

“Mugino. Start by checking the bomber’s addresses and schedule.”

“I get the feeling a freak like her wouldn’t have any friends…”

But Mugino’s guess was wrong.

After selecting one of the app screens from the listed tabs and looking at the phone, the #4 frowned in confusion.

One app contained a list of addresses.

“''Quarterback''?”

A call arrived with perfect timing.

From that Quarterback number.

They were the one who had called the phone, but they started with a terrifyingly deep voice.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Oh, are those phone scams common outside the city now? If you’re trying to work out my identity from how I respond, it’s not going to work, so give up, grandfather. So what, were you fighting this Quarterback person outside the city?”

The “eh?” in response sounded terribly silly.

The elderly male voice was a familiar one.

Mugino had heard nothing about the Mugino Family head operating under the name Quarterback, so it was more likely he had stolen that Quarterback person’s phone.

“Wait, Shizuri? Why do you have this phone?”

Explaining would be a huge pain in the ass.

“Is this super why she didn’t use social media to communicate?”

“I think so, Kinuhata. Academy City social media isn’t compatible with the low-tech phones outside the city.”

This greatly changed the nature of the incident.

Quarterback was a biker gang from North America, which meant they were from outside Academy City. That was an entirely different category from the personally-motivated bombings with no focus on profit. It felt like building a jigsaw puzzle the size of a tatami mat and suddenly finding a pile of pieces from a different puzzle entirely.

Takitsubo expressionlessly gathered the disparate information together.

“So Morning Call, a bomber causing serial bombings in Academy City, was linked with Quarterback, a biker gang causing trouble outside the city.”

“Why would she bother?” asked Mugino.

Takitsubo shrugged.

Apparently there were things even Item’s tracker didn’t know.

“Wait…she super wasn’t spreading damage through Academy City for some job from outside the city, was she?”

“Morning Call herself was motivated by her obsession with Frenda, so I doubt the bombings had anything to do with Quarterback. Frenda and the biker gang wouldn’t know each other.”

Frenda had once been thrown outside of Academy City due to a mess related to the Mugino Family.

However, she had no recollection of opposing a criminal organization by the name of Quarterback while outside. They were a North American biker gang, so they wouldn’t have much connection to Japan anyway.

Mugino snorted and then sighed.

“It’s also unlikely Quarterback was causing trouble as a job from Morning Call. What would a bomber gain from an attack on a Tokyo motorcycle shop?”

“Then in the end…we should assume they were connected in some other way?”

Frenda sounded unconvinced even as she said it.

What other way was there?

The only thing they could think of was…

“Umm,” said the Mugino Family head. “One of them is inside Academy City and the other isn’t, right? How could the two sides collude on anything? Cash and electronic bank transfers between the inside and outside of the city are monitored, so they wouldn’t be able to exchange illicit money, would they?”

He had a point.

But that was assuming Academy City’s system was working as advertised.

“To be super blunt, there are loopholes.”

Kinuhata’s love of movies gave her a respect for the culture outside the city, which came in handy here.

“Academy City’s technology is twenty or thirty years ahead of the outside world, but there are some super exceptions. Like fashion. And when it comes to vintage clothing, the products on the market outside the city can be worth even more. That gives them property value.”

“You mean Quarterback couldn’t send their money directly without arousing suspicions, so they convert it into used leather jackets and boots and whatnot, load all that into a shipping container, and send it right in through the Academy City’s front gate? To pay Morning Call?”

That method wouldn’t arouse any suspicion from the agents of justice guarding the city’s wall and gate.

A container full of used clothing might seem conspicuous, but innocent people would do the same. Because travel in and out of the city was so difficult, Academy City’s used clothing stores would import as many products at once as possible when they had a valuable chance to do so.

Takitsubo tilted her head.

“So Morning Call received her reward. Probably enough money to take things so unusually far in this incident. But then what kind of product did that bomber send to Quarterback? They’re a biker gang. I wouldn’t think of them as using especially complicated bombs.”

“Oh, so that’s it… It was probably these.”

After a moment of sudden realization, Frenda waved something between her index and middle finger.

“An A-17 board?”

Mugino frowned.

Wasn’t that the toy they found in the unexploded bomb?

“Isn’t that a bomb’s detonator? Why would Quarterback want a bunch of that niche product? Why would they pay so much money for them?”

“The biker gang probably didn’t use the bombs themselves. They don’t seem like the type to set up a time bomb on a public building and send a ransom to the mayor. Then in the end, I expect they were reselling them to make even more profit.”

“Hm??? But how? We’re not talking about ordinary guns or drugs, so there wouldn’t be that many buyers. Wouldn’t they just end up with a bunch of unsold inventory if they bought up a bunch of them?”

“That depends on how they go about selling them.” Frenda shrugged. “A time limit, cutting the red wire or the blue cord detonates the bomb, tilting or shaking the bomb does the same, maybe even opening the cover and exposing it to light is enough. …Complex bomb traps aren’t the only place these things are useful. The A-17 board can be used for more.”

“Oh. ''You mean using them in the dial of their own safe?''” asked Takitsubo.

Frenda nodded.

In fact, Frenda herself protected the metal door of her container bomb-making lab that way.

“Criminals who can’t leave their money in legal banks for fear of having their account frozen or their assets seized have a tendency to develop a strong interest in delicately designed safes that can’t be forced.”

That criminal chose to use bombs based on her own personal aesthetics and had challenged a fellow bomber like Frenda.

It was after a period of inactivity that her focus had shifted from Anti-Skill to Frenda. Had that been when she made the jump from a hobby to a job?

Since they worked jobs for the Voice on the Phone, Item was also particular when it came to money. To the point that people could end up dead if they were deceived about a job or a rival stole a job from them. But those money issues were not something they would replace a core part of themselves to pursue.

This person had done that.

“Talk about pathetic,” spat Mugino. “So she was just after money?”

“I see.” The head must have been considering the matter for himself. “This isn’t just about Japan. Now that you mention it, there have been conflicts all over the world… It must have all been connected. A major commotion related to criminal organizations will naturally lead to governments cracking down on them, so even when using fake names or going through an unmarked agent, you won’t want to keep your money in a bank participating in an anti-crime campaign.”

And the greater the demand for personal safes, the greater the value of the A-17 board.

In every age, anxiety and impatience were the greatest sales pitch. No advertisement could stimulate the customer’s desire to buy as well.

That board was the ultimate form of physical security and it wasn’t available outside Academy City.

As long as it would protect their operating funds, people would be willing to pay massively inflated prices to get their hands on one.

“Well, we can’t cross the wall and leave Academy City, so can the Mugino Family clean up the mess happening out there? You won’t have to deal with high-level espers or next-gen weapons outside the city, so an ordinary fighting force should be enough.”

“What, you’re not joining us out here, Shizuri? There is one sticky problem left, so I was really hoping to skip right on past it with some Academy City power.”

“I can’t. Do you still not get how unusual it was for Frenda to get thrown out into Shinjuku before? I’m Academy City’s #4 Level 5. If I cross the wall without permission, I’ll be charged with leaking classified information like my DNA map and Academy City will hunt me down. So those of you out there need to deal with the problems out there.”

And after all that, Mugino said one last thing.



“I’m counting on you, ''grampa''.”

[[Image:Item7_BW5.png|thumb]]


Time froze.

It really did seem to freeze.

It was highly unusual for Mugino Shizuri of all people to speak as the younger one in a conversation.

And eventually…

The voice that came from the phone sounded like he had a manju caught in his throat.

“Don’t do that…”

“Why not? As far back as I remember, that’s generally how we’ve spoken when alone together.”

“Have your memories gotten confused during your long time in Academy City? The one who smiles so gently when you call him that is Mujinayama, not me! Listen, Shizuri. There are words that cause incredible pain when spoken to you by the younger generations.”

“Ehh? But, grampa.”

“It hits me right where it hurts, so stop! …My family just so happened to give me grandchildren quickly. I look away for a second and, next thing I know, your father has knocked up my daughter Eika and married her, so it doesn’t mean I’m all that old myself. It hurts. Anyone who can swing a bouquet as they lead the charge into the enemy HQ isn’t some old grampa sitting in a sunbeam on the porch!”

“God, what a pain. Who cares what I call you?”

Also, don’t mention to your teenage granddaughter how her father “knocked up” her mother.

Hearing about her parents’ sex lives only made her feel blue.

“It hurts, does it? Then I’ll call you something else, Onii-chan.”

“…Sorry, Shizuri, but it hurts worse when you get that considerate. I don’t even hear that word when I visit one of the fancy clubs or bars full of rabbit ears we run. You need to study more. Flip through some of those extremely knowledgeable magazines that teach men how to cook or build a study and you’ll see plenty of ways to address a man who’s been around a while and is starting to gray! You know, like ‘mister’, ‘señor’, ‘ bad boss’, or ‘choi waru’!!”

“The Mugino Family’s grampa isn’t just ‘choi’ waru.”

Why was the God Caesar of a global criminal organization getting so hung up over something so trivial?

Mugino remembered him as someone who wouldn’t lose his cool even if he had his hands tied behind his back and a handgun against his forehead in a harbor at night.

Meanwhile, the rest of Item was tilting their heads a short distance away.

“Hm? Super what is Mugino whispering about? I can’t believe she of all people would turn her back and hide the phone from us.”

“Kinuhata. She might feel bad for us.”

“Super what for?”

“In the end, because she can so easily contact her parents, her grandparents, and just her older family members in general. That’s not something the rest of us can do.”

This was from Frenda whose little sister was in Academy City.

That too was family.

It was similar, but not at all the same thing. No matter how badly Frenda’s life was threatened in this city’s darkness, she could never let herself foolishly try and rely on her 7-year-old sister.

''She had family, but not in a way that placed a roof over her head.

The same was true of Takitsubo and Kinuhata. No one other than Mugino had come to rescue the former when she was wrongly accused and the latter had been frozen in a small room in the back of a lab. The three of them each had unique circumstances…but none of them had a roof to shield them from the winds and storms of the world.

Only Mugino had a roof, and an exceptionally strong one at that.

Even if spears fell like rain, she could rely on the older generation and take shelter below that roof.

She had insurance if anything happened.

That made a real difference.

“Huh. I wouldn’t have thought she could feel bad about something like that. I thought she was more the tactless type who would play whatever cards she had.”

“She really doesn’t need to worry about it,” said Takitsubo with her usual blank expression.

Yes, the same as always.

(But her family ties to the Mugino Family mean ''she can never escape the world’s darkness of her own free will'' the way we could. Not even if a great change comes to the world and remaining in the darkness becomes suicide. …She alone won’t be able to escape the island sinking below the waves as the sea level rises.)

They might be at an advantage or disadvantage in individual situations, but Takitsubo saw this as a compatibility issue and not an absolute ranking or hierarchy. Sometimes having a family was useful and sometimes it was easier to be alone. This just meant each member of Item held different cards. Mugino had no reason to feel bad just because her deck contained different cards from her teammates’ decks. Because they each had cards Mugino didn’t.

Whether she realize that or not, Mugino was still focused on her phone.

Because she knew she wasn’t allowed to refuse.

“Anyway, the A-17 board is the link connecting the Morning Call bomber inside Academy City and the Quarterback biker gang causing trouble outside the city. I mentioned one problem left to deal with, remember? Grampa, you deal with the problems on your end.”