Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume15 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 1===

Hamazura Shiage was trapped.

He was inside a small, cramped silver box.

According to his phone’s broken screen, it was ''just before'' 4 PM on January 9.

The space was a die-like cube with two or three meter sides. It was probably no more than a cargo container with a lock attached so it would function as a prisoner transfer cell. Transporting humans like cargo was in violation of aviation law and international law, but Hamazura had apparently been arrested by the British government(?). When treaties between nations were involved, apparently the rules could be easily bent.

''Justice was cheap.

From individuals to entire populations, interpretations of it were easily changed by circumstances and convenience. In light of that, Coronzon trying to destroy the world based on the vague ideas of good and evil didn’t seem all that bad.

…Or maybe that was why. Coronzon had taken the side of evil, which had allowed her to accurately sniff out the deception. Had she wanted to stabilize the world by focusing on an absolute value system that existed separate from good and evil?

But more people than she had expected had rejected that.

Maybe Coronzon really had been a great demon.

But the world was aflood with small evils, wasn’t it? When brought together, there may have been enough to kill and surpass a great demon.

“Kh.”



He held a cheap smartphone with a broken screen.

That small device contained the AI named Aneri.



He wasn’t just a Level 0.

So no longer could he use his lack of power and talent as an excuse to ignore the choice to fight.

He must have been angry.

He must have felt it was unforgivable.

…His feelings were directed at the entire world that hadn’t hesitated to kill Coronzon to reclaim balance.

A trump card had undeniably found its way into Hamazura’s hand. He knew that. How he made use of this one-time-only opportunity would greatly change what happened afterwards. He could sense that he stood at a crossroads.

He couldn’t bring himself to accept something here.

They had called Coronzon a great demon, ganged up on her to attack as a group, and celebrated a world without her. They had rejoiced the return of a peaceful age. Maybe no one getting hurt was a good thing, but that didn’t meant he could fully accept what had happened.

(But…)

He hung his head.

Aneri was waiting. Like a well-trained butler or maid. If he gave the word – if he relied on Aneri – it would likely do anything for him. It wouldn’t hesitate even if that meant breaking Japan’s laws or Academy City’s rules.

However.

That was the thing.

Going on a meaningless rampage to break everything around him wouldn’t satisfy him. This couldn’t be solved by indiscriminately attacking innocent people.

He hated this world.

But he had a feeling that method wouldn’t satisfy him.

Coronzon had tried to create a better world.

A new world filled with just, kind, and beautiful things.

Her methods may have been extreme, but ultimately she had loved this ridiculous and imperfect world. So taking the easy and indiscriminate path of evil felt wrong here.

(Then what exactly do I want to do with this world? I have a reason to change it and I’ve been given the power to do that…but what exactly should I do with Aneri? What the hell would be best to honor Coronzon’s memory!?)

So to make it very clear, Hamazura Shiage had not actually arrived at a decision. Without a goal in mind, he hadn’t had any intention of ordering AI Aneri to do anything.

And yet…



''Clatter clatter.



The delinquent boy heard a sound.

A weird sound that had no connection to his own will.

The tightly locked cell door suddenly opened. More specifically, the metal shutter for the die-shaped air cargo container opened straight up.

But no one was there.

All he saw outside the cell was what appeared to be an indoor space awash with artificial light.

Hamazura stared past the steel door he hadn’t asked to open into the visible slice of a bright world and asked a question.

“Aneri, did you do that?”

His phone buzzed twice. As if shaking its head no.

Apparently Aneri hadn’t done anything.

…Then why had this happened? This cubic container had been modified into a cell, so it would never open all on its own. Or had the Brits in charge of the cell opened it on purpose? Were they itching to shoot him dead as a fugitive once he took even one step outside?

“No, I must be overthinking this…” he told himself.

Yes. Going that far was overthinking it, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t afraid. Coincidence or not, he knew thoughtlessly leaving the cell would only exacerbate his situation.

The question wasn’t where he would go. It was why he would leave.

“…”

He needed a goal.

What could he do for Coronzon?

Even with Aneri, he shouldn’t make any kind of move without a goal in mind.

(Will they blame me for this too? Damn, what a pain. Well, I know those ‘righteous heroes’ are conspiring to get me found guilty, so what’s another charge or two?)

That offhand line of thought was interrupted.

“Wah!!”

He heard a dull whump.

In the container yard where ordinary travelers weren’t allowed.

Was she lost?

A small girl of around 13 had tripped and fallen just outside the open door. She must have been wearing an adult size because the sleeves fully hid her hands and it came down to her ankles, making it hard to balance. The chestnut-haired girl wore a fluffy oversized coat.

But she didn’t complain of the pain or start crying.

She didn’t even get back up as she stared at a certain point.

The girl’s terrified eyes weren’t directed inside the open cell. She was looking at something Hamazura couldn’t see from his position.

The clacking noises he heard clearly weren’t human footsteps.

“N-no… Help.”

''It'' slowly approached the trembling and frozen girl.

Hamazura could finally see it.

Was it a police dog, or a more specialized drug-sniffing dog? Either way, one of the large Dobermanns used for airport security was wandering around off its leash. And it wasn’t alone. There were five of them. At that point, they were a pack of wild animals.

To make matters worse, the girl’s baggy sleeves were shaking.

Fear wasn’t something you could suppress through sheer force of will. But when those trained dogs saw the “threat” of her moving arms, they would react by biting at them and dragging her to the floor. A thoroughly trained Dobermann’s jaws could cause critical damage to that small girl’s thin arms.

Hamazura was certain of it after being chased by Anti-Skill dogs through Academy City’s back alleys.

He knew all too well what would happen if no one intervened.

And he had encountered the situation a second before it happened.

…It was time to decide what was good and what was evil.

The question wasn’t whether or not the metal shutter was open.

If he was going to obey the rules, then staying in the cell was unquestionably the correct choice.

No additional circumstances changed the fact that Hamazura Shiage was a criminal and the rules said he couldn’t leave this cell without permission from Academy City or the United Kingdom who had custody of him.

Even if a Dobermann’s sharp fangs sank into the 13-year-old girl’s arm and dragged her to the floor and even if the pack of dogs tore her to pieces like she was an old rag. Even then, the correct choice was to stay put and wait until whoever was in charge showed up.

That would prove he was a rule follower, the world managed by justice would gradually accept him once more, his crimes would be forgiven to an extent, and he would be able to return to society sooner.

He would be able to live as one more harmless and heartless “good person”.



“''To hell with that.''”



A dull “thunk!!” sounded.

The source came from within the open cell. Hamazura Shiage had thrown his phone, scoring a direct hit on the Dobermann’s face. It probably goes without saying at this point, but if you weren’t afraid of bricking it, a smartphone made for a decently heavy and solid weapon. They weren’t compared to bricks for no reason.

For a brief moment, they flinched.

Not just the muscular Dobermanns, but the scared and trembling girl as well.

Hamazura slowly emerged from the cubic cell.

After being rejected by society and living in the filthy back alleys, he knew flinching like this would freeze an opponent in place like they were paralyzed, but it wouldn’t last forever. If you actually wanted to save someone and not just put on a tear-jerking performance, a single blow wasn’t enough.

So…

“Go.”

He kept it short.

And he moved to stand between the Dobermanns and the girl whose name he didn’t know.

“Hurry.”

He heard an “au” sound that could have been a word or a breath.

Her staggering escape was unsteady. He could have caught up to her at a brisk walk. For that matter, what was she even running from? The pack of large dogs, or the dangerous criminal who had emerged from the cell?

(As if it matters.)

She wouldn’t be mistaken if she thought of him as a villainous criminal.

He had lost all interest in what was “right”.

He didn’t want to amass good deeds so he could be known as a good person.

For that matter, these Dobermanns wandering the airport off their leashes weren’t even an absolute evil in his mind. This was all needless pain and violence. If the airport workers ''who managed the justice of this place'' had actually done their jobs, these dogs wouldn’t need to be disparaged as evil in the first place.

“…”

There was something there.

Hamazura felt a small but unpleasant stimulus deep in his mind.

Because this reminded him of Coronzon who had lamented that the world couldn’t function without someone like her to tear people’s bonds apart.

An electronic alarm sounded from a short distance away. From his phone lying on the floor.

Aneri was sending him a warning.

Just as his attention focused there, the Dobermanns made their move.

Maybe they weren’t even looking at him at all. It looked to him like their legs were trying to carry them toward the fleeing girl’s back.

He shouted to the cracked phone lying on the floor.

“Aneri!!”



→PK→→PGP←→KKPKT



The industrial LCD screens on the walls and pillars were all hacked at once.

(P and K I get, but G? And what is T? Throw maybe!?)

Whatever the case, he had the optimal answer.

He only had to memorize it and follow it.

It was less like gritting his teeth and duking it out with an enemy and more like playing an arcade dancing game. He moved his hands and feet as the instructions told him and found the powerful Dobermanns had already been brought to the floor.

It was refreshing how the dull impacts seemed to reach him only after the fact.

“Oh, sorry…”

The five Dobermanns had all been knocked out in just three seconds. That was less than a second per dog.

If only Coronzon had been stopped like this. If only someone had done that.

He knew it was a silly hypothetical, but still.

“…”

And he couldn’t forget that this was AI Aneri’s power, not his own.

“I get the feeling you’ll be overclocking my brain one of these days.”

He was answered by a short buzz.

He wasn’t sure how to react to a response of “Yes, shall I do so now?”

The immediate threat of the Dobermanns had been neutralized and the girl who had been unfortunately targeted had escaped. There was nothing else for him to do.

Returning to the die-like cell would be the right thing to do…probably.

He collected his phone from the floor and hid behind a different container.

Not even he was sure why he had done so.

The next change had already begun.