Toaru Majutsu no Index:Volume SP Chapter4

Uiharu Kazari

Uiharu Kazari was a first year middle school girl who was part of Judgment, a group that protected the peace of Academy City (although they primarily dealt with issues within the schools). Normally, she wore a short sleeved sailor uniform and had artificial flowers covering her head, but this day was a rare exception.

“Uuh… Is this kind of ability really needed for the periodic Judgment training…?” muttered Uiharu dejectedly.

She was wearing what could perhaps be called a jumpsuit. The upper clothing and the pants were completely combined into one piece of clothing and a zipper ran all the way from her neck down to her waist. It made her look something like an F1 racing driver. Since it was colored a bright orange, it also made her look like a member of a foreign rescue team.

This outfit gave her long sleeves and long pants despite the broiling hot weather of midsummer.

(It’s hot, it stinks, and it’s stuffy!! Eee!! This is the worst!!)

She was also wearing something similar to a backpack.

However, it had an excessive number of belts holding it on. It had the basic two over the shoulders, but belts made of synthetic fiber also stretched over the chest, stomach, and around the legs at the thighs.

It was a parachute.

If she pulled the string near her waist, it would open up like a giant umbrella, but it was currently contained within that bag.

(Wait, how am I supposed to get this thing off…? Huh? This…no, this switch isn’t enough…?)

The reason Uiharu was struggling with it was simple.

She spoke this reason aloud with a puzzled look on her face.

“Why was the free fall training suddenly cancelled?”

It was 6:10 PM on August 1st.

A single large vehicle travelled along a main road in the evening with several guard vehicles surrounding it.

It resembled the kind of towing vehicle used to transport bullet train cars.

Those extremely large carriers were used to take the bullet train from the factory it was created in to the track. Their large engines were similar to those of armored cars or snowplows and they were over 30 meters long including the back portion holding the bullet train car. The bullet train would be surrounded by a metal framework similar to those that make up buildings. Bolts and wires running horizontally and vertically held it all in place.

However, this vehicle was not towing a bullet train.

It was towing a satellite.

The giant vehicle was called the satellite guidance vehicle.

Surrounded by guard vehicles, it was taking the satellite from a lab in District 10 where it had been filled with fuel, through Districts 7 and 18, and finally to a rocket launch pad in District 23.

Or so it should have.

“Wait…What are you doing…?”

The change was first noticed around the time they passed from District 10 to District 7. The person who noticed it was the driver of the accompanying guard vehicle driving in front of the giant satellite guidance vehicle. He first saw it in the rearview mirror and then actually turned his head around to look.

The giant guidance vehicle that held the satellite was approaching from behind him.

It was destroying the proper balance of the convoy.

Or rather…

“Foot Soldier to General. You’re getting too close. Decelerate and keep your proper distance. I repeat, Foot Soldier to General…W-wahh!?”

The giant satellite guidance vehicle rapidly approached as if to collide with him, so the driver of the front guard vehicle frantically turned the wheel to the side at the last second. Due to the change of course, the giant vehicle with the satellite scraped across the guard vehicle’s back lights and continued on ahead.

“You idiot!! The front guard doesn’t give up his position no matter what. I don’t know what’s going on, but stop it even if you have to run it off the road!!” rebuked his colleague over the radio.

“I’d like to see you try that,” replied the driver as he wiped a cold sweat from his forehead.

Running the large vehicle off the road would have been doable. In fact, the driver was confident in his ability to do so even against such a large vehicle.

However…

“Do you know what kind of fuel is inside that satellite!? It has 1500 kilograms of hydrazine in it!! That stuff is toxic! Do you have any idea what would happen if it leaked out into the city!?”

As the two drivers yelled back and forth over the radio, the satellite guidance vehicle continued to accelerate. It shot ahead, plowing the guard vehicles meant to protect it out of the way, and then pulled away from the convoy.

They all noticed the abnormality and they all understood the danger.

However, none of them did anything.

As they watched it, the large vehicle carrying the satellite had become a large weapon in and of itself.

The 73rd branch office of Anti-Skill in District 7 was as busy as a beehive.

Anti-Skill also protected the peace of Academy City, but it was a different organization from Judgment. While Judgment was made up of students, Anti-Skill was made up of trained teachers.

Uiharu Kazari arrived inside that area that looked like a police station. They had gone beyond their own organization and called her in due to the emergency situation.

A female Anti-Skill member who just so happened to be near the entrance looked at Uiharu with a puzzled expression.

“…What’s with that look?”

“Oh, umm…sorry. I was suddenly called here while in the middle of my periodic training…” responded Uiharu as she shrunk down in her orange jumpsuit and parachute.

Hearing that, the woman frowned even further.

“What kind of training uses a whole bunch of flowers…?”

“Eh? That!? The flowers on my head are stranger than the parachute!?”

Uiharu’s outburst drew the attention of a few more of the adults around her. She shrank down even further and snuck off further into the office.

The woman who had spoken to her before looked down at the student ID Uiharu held out.

“So you’re Uiharu Kazari from Judgment’s 177th branch office. We were hoping for Shirai Kuroko, the teleportation esper.”

“S-sorry. I could not get a hold of her.”

“If we had her, we would have a lot more options of how to deal with this… I guess I’ll go search through the Bank for any other Judgment members who might be of some use. Anyway, they’re having a meeting over there. You can get a grasp on the situation there.”

Hearing that, Uiharu obediently headed on into the office.

Even if it was the investigation headquarters, they must not have had much time to spend on appearances. They were not using some grand meeting room. Instead, the strategy meeting was taking place in a corner of the office around a whiteboard with seats gathered around it.

“The special vehicle with the satellite aboard is currently out of control. It has strayed from its scheduled route and is currently heading north on line #49,” said a man, his voice filling the office. “Technically, it is not a satellite in and of itself. It is only a module for Hikoboshi II to allow it to carry out additional experiments. However, it can separate and navigate on its own, so it is essentially the same as a satellite. It is only not classified as one to make things easier as far as international treaties are concerned.”

The bespectacled teacher would normally be teaching classes, but now he was explaining the gist of the incident. One of the other Anti-Skill members raised his hand and asked a question like a student taking a class.

“Can we contact the driver?”

“There is no issue with the vehicle’s radio, but what she has told us is the real issue.” The bespectacled Anti-Skill member gave a sigh. “It seems a message appeared on the internet-connected GPS system in the vehicle. It said the car would be crashed using the remote control system if she did not follow the path displayed by the GPS system. Thanks to this, the driver can do nothing but keep the cursor showing the vehicle’s location from exiting a moving red circle on the screen. She has no idea where she is going.”

“…So it’s a carjacking with an unknown criminal. This really is a convenient age we live in.”

Uiharu had taken a seat in an arbitrary empty seat in the office and she now asked a question.

“What did the message mean about crashing the vehicle using the remote control system?”

“Judgment, hm?”

The bespectacled Anti-Skill member who had given the explanation looked at Uiharu and her outfit with a puzzled looked, but they had been the one to request help from Judgment in the first place. The man seemed to think she was butting into their turf, but he still answered her question.

“That vehicle has an automatic evasion system in case of emergencies. If the driver were to lose consciousness due to a heart attack or brain hemorrhage, the system can safely stop the vehicle on the side of the road. It seems that has been taken advantage of,” he explained. “This evasion system can only take control of the vehicle for 100 seconds. However, that is more than enough time to cause some kind of accident. After all, it has complete control of the gas pedal and steering wheel.”

“But this has never been tested before. It might just be an empty threat.”

“We can’t take that risk,” said the man slightly angrily in response to the casual comment. “That satellite has 1500 kilograms of a toxic fuel known as hydrazine. If the vehicle does crash, the satellite could be destroyed and the fuel could catch fire. If that happens, that toxic substance will be sent in to the air, contaminating everywhere within a kilometer radius. And the seasonal winds could spread the effects even further. If you breathe it in, everything from your throat to your lungs will become inflamed. This is not a situation where we can rely on ‘mights’. The driver made the correct decision.”

The suit-wearing adults either sighed or clicked their tongues.

Of course, this was not directed at their colleague who had asked a strange question. It was due to their dislike of the situation.

“The criminal hacked into the GPS system to display this message and to continually display this red circle on the display in real time. This is clearly more than just a prank. …We should assume the criminal can actually carry out their threat if it comes to it.”

Uiharu’s breath caught in her throat at how bad the situation was.

“…Where is the criminal sending the vehicle?” she asked.

“That’s what we need to find out. We would like some help from your information analysis abilities.”

A special vehicle over 30 meters long and with a satellite loaded onboard roared down line #49 in District 7. It came dangerously close to running into the cars trying to head along normally and students crossing the crosswalks had to scatter out of the way. When it plowed through red lights, it stirred up a storm of horns. Luckily, the satellite guidance vehicle was swerving in an attempt to avoid the normal cars and people, causing its back to wave back and forth.

A single sports car accelerated in order to follow the satellite guidance vehicle.

A woman wearing a green track suit and a muscular man were inside.

Their names were Yomikawa Aiho and Saigou Ryouta respectively.

They too were members of Anti-Skill.

“There it is. The number matches. That has to be the one known as the General.”

“B-but should we really be doing this, Yomikawa-san? The branch chief ordered everyone to attend the meeting…”

“We can do our job without attending. There’s no point in us being there. I’m sure all they’re gonna end up doing is get into an argument over whether they should set up a barricade or not,” responded Yomikawa in a light tone. “Taking care of this is more important.”

Saigou sighed and pressed the accelerator further down.

He drove up next to the satellite guidance vehicle as if he were going to pass it, matched its speed, and then approached it as if he were going to ram it sideways.

A woman in her late thirties sat in the driver’s seat that was surrounded by thick sheets of metal and she looked over at them in shock.

Yomikawa set the frequency on the radio and used the signal to speak to the woman.

“Um, hi. Is this Sangaku Youko-san, the driver?”

“!? …Who are you…?”

“I am Yomikawa from Anti-Skill. My colleague Saigou is here with me. We’ve come here to deal with this situation, so it would be a huge help if you would just do what we tell you to.”

It seemed Sangaku said something, but it did not come out as words. Yomikawa gave a gentle smile through the window and spoke into the radio once more.

“First of all, I’m going to join you over there. Is that okay?”

“Join me? …!!”

The driver’s questioning tone suddenly changed to surprise.

This was because Yomikawa had opened the window of the sports car and leaned out.

Even Saigou, a true Anti-Skill member, opened his eyes wide in shock when he saw that.

Neither the satellite guidance vehicle nor the sports car was obeying the speed limit. The satellite guidance vehicle was currently flying through the city at 120 kph in order to remain within the red circle.

“W-wait! Yomikawa-san!?”

“Quiet. A professional can’t get so worried. Especially in front of the person we’re supposed to be protecting.”

Only Yomikawa herself remained calm as she stretched her arm out while sticking out the window. The rucksack on her back must have held various types of tools because they could be heard clanking around when the wind shook her body.

Just as Yomikawa’s fingertips were just about to reach the driver’s side door of the other vehicle…

The evening sunlight reflected off the glass on the side of a building suddenly shined directly in Saigou’s eyes as he drove the sports car. With his vision suddenly impaired, Saigou hit the brakes without thinking. This greatly shook Yomikawa’s body as she hung out the window and the next thing she knew, the sports car had fallen back alongside the satellite portion of the special vehicle.

Yomikawa did not try to climb onto the satellite guidance vehicle. Instead, she reflexively grabbed the metal framework surrounding the satellite in order to maintain her balance.

“You idiot!! Are you trying to get me killed!?” Yomikawa shouted, but she received no response from Saigou.

With no advance warning, the satellite guidance vehicle suddenly swerved, causing the metal framework on the back to slam into the sports car.

The strike from the 30 meter vehicle was like a dragon swiping at a human with its tail.

It seemed Saigou tried to avoid it, but he did not make it in time. With a great crash, the sports car was knocked away. Its breaks screeched, but he never regained control of the sports car. It ended up crashing into a nearby wind turbine.

It seemed unlikely that Sangaku Youko, the driver, would have done that.

Someone had abused the emergency automatic evasion system.

“Saigou!! Shit!!” shouted Yomikawa as she was left dangling down from the metal framework used to keep the satellite in place.

She realized he could not hear her and pulled out her radio.

“Y-Yomikawa-san. I’m…fine. I’m sorry. It looks the engine is too damaged…”

“That doesn’t matter. Instead, contact the rest of Anti-Skill and guide the people and other vehicles. At this rate, the damage really will spread!!”

Yomikawa somehow managed to get one foot on the bed of the vehicle that the satellite was resting on which restored her balance.

(God dammit. If the driver doesn’t keep following the instructions on the GPS, the criminal will crash this thing. And that sudden deceleration saved my life. Just joining the driver probably won’t help change anything…)

She gritted her teeth, but there was no fear on her face.

(In that case, I just have to stop this thing more forcibly.)

Blowing the tires would have been the quickest method, but that could easily lead to the vehicle crashing.

Another method was…

(I know! The exhaust.)

No matter how complex or elaborate it was, an engine was still a device that used fire. It used oxygen and emitted carbon monoxide. If she could cut off that flow, the fire that moved the engine would go out.

Yomikawa looked on the back of the driver’s compartment.

Unlike a normal car, the satellite guidance vehicle would have a smokestack-like exhaust pipe there.

But…

“It’s not there… There’s no exhaust!?”

The exhaust that should have been there was missing. She looked around while holding onto the metal framework, but she could not find it anywhere else either.

“Dammit. Don’t tell me something this big is electric!!”

(If only it were a hydrogen engine or a kind of electric car that had an exhaust…)

At any rate, she could not use that method.

That was when Yomikawa received a transmission over her radio.

She assumed it was from Saigou, but it was not.

“Ksshh…This is Uiharu Kazari from Judgment’s 177th branch office.”

“Judgment… Damn that branch chief. Now he’s gotten the children wrapped up in this…”

“What?”

“Nothing. This is Yomikawa Aiho from branch office 73. I’m currently hanging down from the metal framework holding the satellite onto the back of the General vehicle. Is there anything I can do?”

At first, Uiharu was shocked that Yomikawa had climbed directly onto the vehicle, but she quickly realized it was no time to just sit in shock. She must not have been used to genuine incidents because Yomikawa could hear the sound of paper documents being shuffled around.

“W-well…First, move to the driver’s compartment.”

“The driver’s compartment? I doubt this problem can be solved just by slamming on the brakes.”

“Um…If you could follow my directions, I would like for you to send me the data from the GPS system in real time.”

“Understood,” Yomikawa replied lightly before beginning to casually move across the vehicle that was travelling at 120 kph.

She climbed up a part of the framework running diagonally, planted her feet on the side of the cylindrical satellite, and moved along like a monkey.

When Yomikawa arrived on the thick roof of the driver’s compartment, she leaned down as if peering into a well and stuck her head in the passenger side window.

This surprised the driver, Sangaku Youko.

“Wah wah!?”

“Oh, don’t be frightened!! Don’t move the wheel!! I’m Yomikawa. Nice to meet you!!”

After that incredibly halfhearted greeting, Yomikawa climbed in through the window.

The GPS system was displaying a red circle just as reported. Sangaku was driving in order to keep the cursor indicating the vehicle’s position from leaving that constantly moving circle. Besides the red circle, there was also a triangle indicator that gave a general direction to drive in, but it was not enough to figure out what the final destination was.

The red circle moved about within the screen as it wished. This made following it quite difficult for Sangaku.

“Shortly after the original message arrived on the GPS, the steering wheel stopped working for 5 seconds.”

“So the criminal gave you a threat,” said Yomikawa bitterly.

Given how Saigou’s car had been repelled with such good timing, the criminal must have been watching the satellite guidance vehicle somehow. Yomikawa had been able to get aboard despite that because…

(I guess either he is afraid of causing an accident before reaching the destination if he gives too many “threats” or he doesn’t view me as a real problem.)

The unconcerned automatic voice of the GPS’s instructions seemed somehow unnerving.

Yomikawa clicked her tongue, looked away from the GPS screen, and spoke into her radio.

“I’ve made it to the passenger seat. So what do I need to do?”

“According to the spec sheet, there should be a Standard-C communications cable in the dashboard. Use that to connect the GPS system to your cell phone. The system is a model that connects to the internet, so the internal modem should also function as an external modem.”

Yomikawa did as she was instructed and her cell phone started transmitting a large amount of data.

“This way, the instructions the criminal is sending in real time will also be sent to me. If I analyze the data, I may be able to figure out where he is leading you.”

“Is there no way to solve this situation a little more directly? Finding the criminal is important, but stopping this vehicle takes precedence right now.”

“True…” Uiharu said while looking through various documents. “The criminal is abusing the emergency automatic evasion system. The system is meant to have a program safely stop the vehicle in case the driver suddenly loses consciousness.”

“And?”

“The system can only interfere when a moving vehicle needs to be stopped. It cannot cause a vehicle to start again if it is already stopped. If the electric motor running the vehicle is completely stopped, the criminal will no longer be able to do anything.”

The simplest method would be to slam on the brakes.

However, the giant vehicle was 30 meters long and weighed over 10 tons. It could not be stopped instantaneously. The instant they left the red circle displayed on the GPS system, the criminal would take over and cause it to crash.

Sangaku Youko, the driver, gritted her teeth.

She looked over at the vehicle’s key located near the steering wheel.

“Just turning the ignition key would be simple enough, but it’s locked in place when the vehicle is in motion. It’s impossible to stop the engine without stopping first.”

“Hmm…” Uiharu thought for a bit. “Then we just have to do something about that lock. The vehicle should have a box with the electrical related things collected inside it. If we mess with it, we should be able to turn the key and shut off the motor.”

“Where is this box!?” asked Yomikawa.

“…Below,” responded Uiharu awkwardly.

“Hah?”

“I’m sorry, but…it’s located directly below the driver’s compartment, just above the road.”