Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item6 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 1===

Sirens were blaring all around.

Kinuhata Saiai and Takitsubo Rikou peeked out at the main street from the alley and sighed. At about the same time.

“Really, super really!? Why wouldn’t you turn off your phone’s GPS when robbing a bank!? Are you legit suicidal!?”

“I-I-I-I did switch it off in the options! I know I did!!”

“The option it shows you isn’t enough. Have you never noticed how the weather forecast app still shows the correct district even with the GPS switched off? That means your location is still being tracked even with the option off.”

“Why do you two know so much more about this stuff than a bank robber?”

Kinuhata and Takitsubo coughed in sync with each other.

…Hiding in the narrow alley was no guarantee of safety. There were security cameras everywhere and there were plenty of non-fixed cameras such as cleaning robots and security robots.

The city’s safe blind spots were something only people from the city’s true dark side knew how to identify.

After all, this was a bank robbery.

Those were actually rare in the modern day, so Anti-Skill wasn’t going to just let it slide. Just as Kinuhata was wondering if every news source from personal social media accounts to the major newspapers were having a field day with it, Takitsubo Rikou whispered to her.

“Looks like they’ve gone.”

“Super so what? We’re talking about a bank robbery here. Anti-Skill and Judgment are going to be super gung ho about such a fun surprise event.”

“But remember, they’re still human.”

The track suit girl was not daunted. She was as expressionless as ever.

“People’s focus waxes and wanes. Thirty minutes out from the start, their hope of catching the criminal red-handed will be fading and their excitement will fade with it. The ordinary Anti-Skill officers will be discussing their next plan, so they’ll let the security robots handle the search for the time being. So this is our best chance.”

“And if we super miss this chance?”

“The pros will regain their cool and begin a thorough search. Once they make up their minds tonight, it won’t matter how late it is.”

An immediate response was a form of magic.

Hearing Takitsubo’s voice just about got Kinuhata to go along with it.

However…

“No, wait. Doesn’t this city super have a satellite?”

“That’s why we traveled through a few underground malls and underground parking garages on the way. Besides, they’re busy practicing for the Board’s parade right now, so I doubt they can dedicate many resources to a sudden case like this. Screw that up and, not only will they lose their job, but it will be a disciplinary firing which makes it hard for them to find another job.”

The bikini girl gave them a look that seemed to ask why they knew so much about this, but they were under no obligation to respond.

Simply put, if they didn’t slip past the cordon to safety soon, this would get a lot more annoying. They needed to leave the district.

Kinuhata Saiai roughly scratched at her hair and turned to look at the third person here. She had had enough of calling her “(attempted) robber girl”.

It had to begin here.

“How did you get into this mess!? Super what’s your name!?”

“S-Sudori. Sudori Sayu…”

Then it was time to enjoy a daring getaway with the attractive alto-voice Miss Sudori (who was equipped with a bikini and a thick hot dog).

“It sounded like you were unwillingly following someone’s orders during that bank robbery. Just to be sure, was it one of those blackmailers?”

“Y-yes…that’s right…”

Kinuhata was pretty sure a blackmailer was one of those people who gave instructions over the phone get people to do bad things. …The term had been all over the TV and internet news in Academy City, but maybe it would be safest if she double-checked the definition.

“They don’t ask you to do crimes at first,” politely began track suit girl Takitsubo.

Kinuhata decided to listen in.

“They send a message via an online message board or social media site offering a good-paying day labor job or something like that. Usually weaving in some fictional concepts like saying it’s a job targeted toward students or to test some new Academy City system. Most people won’t go for it, but some will respond to the sketchy address.”

“Ugh,” groaned Sudori Whatever-san.

“Then they explain that it’s an easy job, but it requires registering with them to receive your payment and they ask for a lot of difficult-to-change personal information. Your Bank ID for example. Even fewer people will fall for that, but not none.”

“Ughh.”

“Academy City is an enclosed city thanks to the wall. With your personal information taken, there is no more safe zone for you. So unscrupulous people will use that as a shield. They start controlling people by making threats like ‘we’ll burn down your dorm’ or ‘we’ll hurt your loved ones’. Then they order the victims to attack a jewelry store, a rich person’s home, or whatever else and have them steal anything of value.”

It was like a super powered up version of a group of delinquents threatening a timid classmate into shoplifting for them.

And the person who carried out the actual crime was actually paid for it. Just a bit. Of course this wasn’t about the villains being particular about promises. No, they simply wanted to make the victim feel like an accomplice, trapping them further. By making the victim feel like a criminal who couldn’t go to Anti-Skill for help, they became a lot easier to control.

The enemy was probably a group.

With an unseen group like that, a true solution to the problem wasn’t going to be easy.

But they couldn’t let Mugino Shizuri know.

That meant they also couldn’t use the delinquents of the support team.

Kinuhata Saiai and Takitsubo Rikou would have to manage it on their own.

“Kinuhata, where should we start?”

“~ ~ ~! With Sudori-san’s super home!!”