Part 5
(November 10 – Oahu – Honolulu International Airport – From the camera in a handheld game system forgotten on the lobby sofa)
Incidentally, Misaka Mikoto had forgotten one thing.
She finally remembered it when she felt something in her palm. However, she closed her hand to hide what was there.
They were two rings.
They were the Cupid Arrow tag rings.
They were made of titanium so the pair of rings could be colored using electrolysis which would create a unique pattern for the pair. Unscientific rumors said that technique worked as a charm to prevent cheating.
At a fundamental level, Mikoto did not believe in unscientific phenomena.
Due to strange things happening before her eyes during World War III and during the events in Hawaii, she understood that apparently some unexplainable things existed in the world. However, even when she saw them, she would not readily identify them as "the occult".
And that was why, as she put the rings back in her pocket, there were some questions the answers to which she did not even consider.
What did it mean that she had not given him the ring? Had something happened that had led to her being unable to do so?
Part 6
(November 10 – Oahu – Honolulu International Hotel – From the camera in a tablet on the table used for placing orders in the lounge)
Kamijou Touma ended up being dragged around the airport by Mikoto.
Kamijou was honestly thankful for what Mikoto had said.
However, he had the following thoughts.
I cannot allow someone who would go that far for me to get wrapped up in all this.
I really do need to settle this on my own.
A few dozen centimeters.
A small action not taken.
That was all it took for the future to change.
Part 7
(November 10 – Oahu – Diamond Beach – Cell Phone Store – From the camera in a cell phone on the store's counter)
America had simplified the cell phone business much further than Japan, so the stores were overflowing with prepaid models. A few sample phones were lined up in an open air stand type of store. A girl was using her index finger to fiddle with a sample smartphone.
Oftentimes sample phones were dummies, but being able to test out how using it felt was one of the major selling points for that smartphone. Perhaps some things were difficult to imagine just by hearing an explanation.
The girl had silver braids and brown skin.
She wore overalls directly over her bare skin and wore glasses.
"This thing is fun, but I'm not sure fun is enough to warrant buying a second phone…"
"It isn't just a phone. You can think of it as a small internet terminal. Carrying a computer around all the time is a pain, right?"
"Those have gotten pretty small themselves, though."
"It's the same thing as air conditioning, cell phones, and convenience stores. You didn't miss them when you had never used them, but once you start using them, you can't get by without. A smartphone is another one of those convenient goods."
"…You make it sound like I'd be better off never using one. That sounds like something out of a drug PSA."
The brown girl and the clerk went through the standard dialogue.
The girl then made the screen slide to the side and had her interest grabbed by the preset applications.
"Hehh. You can bring up a map."
"You can do anything. If you get lost with one of these, there has to be something wrong with your brain."
"It's amazing that such a small device can connect with the satellites up in space," said the girl as she repeatedly swiped her index finger across the map.
And then something odd happened.
The map screen suddenly blurred and when the clerk tried to fix it, screen after screen he did not recognize appeared. It was not a mere malfunction. Some kind of different code had been overwritten into the device.
"Okay, if it's this high level a device, maybe I can link it with my spiritual item. And it uses gold in the chips."
"What are you—?"
"Brace yourself," said the girl slowly just as a brilliant white light fell down from the heavens.
It struck a few kilometers away, but a shockwave assaulted them like from a lightning strike. The roof of the open air stand type of store was blown off and slammed into creaking palm trees. The clerk was knocked over, but instead of fear, his expression was that of someone faced with difficulty.
"I'll take it."
"Hah? …Hah?"
"I said I'll take it. Oh, and I don't need a contract. I've changed the settings so I can use it without one."
At that point, a high-pitched noise like crystal being struck rang out.
The brown girl looked over to see an unnatural object approaching. It looked like a drum made of black stone.
It was unlikely anyone else there realized it was the result of utterly remodeling a human being.
The brown girl spoke lightly as if speaking to a childhood friend.
"Hey, you really are spoiled, aren't you? If you keep following me around like this, a certain exhausted Dvergr might just have to sit down for a rest on you."
Without waiting for approval, the brown girl sat right down on top of the drum.
She immediately brought her finger to the smartphone's screen and started operating it with a gleeful expression. That aspect followed the stereotypical response of someone using that type of device almost exactly.
However, what she said after she made a call was clearly not normal.
"Hey. Saronia A. Irivika failed. As expected. Right now, they're probably breathing a sigh of relief over having saved the United States. None of them would ever imagine that we achieved our goal back when Kilauea erupted," whispered the brown girl with a smile. She seemed to be speaking to no one in particular rather than into the phone. "You would think they would find it odd. The Trigger was supposed to cause an artificial eruption in Kilauea, but the type of lava was changed as well. Normally, thick lava should have come spewing out, but for some reason smooth volcanic ash came out instead. Normally, you would think there was some other trick at play, don't you think?"
"What about the output?"
"It was within acceptable levels I guess. As far as natural reactors go, it's above Iceland. The necessary energy was extracted and solidified, so we're done here. I guess you could say stage 1 is complete."
"This is a long process."
"The fact that I had to be called in should have told you this wouldn't be easy. Anyway, how is the blueprint coming along?"
"I have a report for the natural Valkyrie…Brunhild Eiktobel was it? It seems to be only a portion of the spear, but if she can use it, then we are in the clear."
"I see. Then let's do this." The brown girl grinned. "We have a steady path to Gungnir, Odin."
"Yes we do, Dvergr."
The girl ended the call with a tap of her index finger and the black cylinder she was sitting on started rattling around.
"Stop that. How rude. I'm not heavy. Next we need to think about what to do about the Academy City cooperative institutions that have broken away. …Hm?"
The brown girl suddenly looked up because she saw a magician covered in wounds approaching.
"Umm, who are you?"
"…Cendrillon…"
"Hm…? Oh, right, right. I remember now! You're the French magician that was easily taken out at the airport. What happened to you after that? I thought your head was smashed in."
"I managed to escape during all the confusion of Kilauea erupting and Trident invading. But more importantly…" She spat out some blood. "What was all that about?"
"What was all what about?"
"All that about expecting the plan to fail, Kilauea as a reactor, and Gungnir!!"
"You don't know about any of that because we never told you."
"Weren't we trying to bring down America using Trident in order to twist the balance between the magic side and science side by turning the United States into a theocracy!?"
"Of course not," said the brown girl still sitting atop the cylinder. "In fact, Gremlin isn't even a collection of losers from that war."
For a bit, Cendrillon's mind went completely blank.
Meanwhile, the brown girl continued to speak.
"I won't deny that we were created by that war, but our objective lies elsewhere. Really, you all were only temporary workers. We didn't want to lose any of the actual members, but this couldn't have been completed without some sacrifices. The easiest way to get around that was to get some recruits by saying whatever would bring them aboard. It really worked well. That was how we got Trident, Saronia, and you. You did manage to contribute to the organization though, so you can pride yourself in that."
"Why you goddamn—!!"
Using her magic that gave her overwhelming speed, Cendrillon tried to grab at the brown girl.
The brown girl got down from the cylinder as if she had fallen off backwards at the same time as bluish-white sparks scattered from the front of the cylinder.
"Gyah!?"
They quickly pierced through Cendrillon's body, bringing her down.
The brown girl lifted just her upper body up from the ground and said, "C'mon now. If you're taking on someone with projectiles, you need to find cover first. You can't even get close to a method of defeating Mjölnir, my prized creation here. Our output is great enough to roast the snake that wraps around the world. I won't say brains are everything when it comes to magic, but if you have difficulty with calculations, you shouldn't be on the front lines."
While grinning, she stuck her hands into the open sides of her overalls and pulled out a few tools.
She had a hammer, a screwdriver, a saw, a hand drill, a file, a plane, and others.
Other than the fact that they were all made of gold, it would not have been surprising to find any of them in a hardware store.
"Now then, Marian Slingeneyer, one of the extremely rare Dvergr, has a question for Cendrillon, a former French elite who is not only a loser but is starting to complain and is becoming quite annoying," said the brown girl as she took those tools that certainly did not look like objects that could alter a human's form and lined them up atop the cylindrical "human". "You are about to lose your current form. Which would you rather be remodeled into while still alive, a table or a wardrobe?"
Part 8
(November 10 – Oahu – New Honolulu International Airport – From the entrance gate security camera)
Leivinia Birdway had come to the airport.
One of her many black-wearing subordinates, Mark Space, gently spoke to her.
"Was that really the best way to leave that?"
"Given what I did, it's only natural for him to criticize me."
"I think you should have told him your true intentions."
"How would that have helped?" Birdway gave a cynical smile. "You're saying I should have told him that we wouldn't be able to see the full extent of the organization just by defeating Saronia A. Irivika, that it was necessary to bring the magicians closer to the center of Gremlin to the surface, and that to do that we needed to split the science side in half leaving the cooperative institutions as bait?"
"It is an effective method. Gremlin went as far as to bring science side aspects into their magical constructions. It will not be easy for them to find an organization large enough to replace Trident and the America's media queen. And that collection of cooperative institutions has Academy City unmanned weapons. Gremlin's ultimate objective may be unclear, but if they require scientific power to accomplish it, no bait could be more tempting."
"But it isn't a sure thing. If they suspect it to be a trap, then it's all for nothing."
"Even if they do suspect a trap, they will take action based on that suspicion. Gremlin wishes for an anti-Academy City structure that is on their side. They do not want this collection of cooperative institutions to interfere and destroy the balance of influence. Whether they cooperate with them or make enemies of them, Gremlin's next action will be centered on that collection of cooperative institutions. That means they function as bait either way."
"And so you're saying our actions were just? Don't be foolish," Birdway said without hesitation. "Whatever our reasons, we still led those twenty-seven cooperative institutions to leave Academy City and diverge from the side that protects the world."
"…"
"They may have already had this desire deep down, but I am the one that purposefully drew it out. They will now be criticized by others as those who are destroying the world's peace and if they are directly attacked, there will be casualties. And it may not end there. I simply don't see how doing that can be called just."
Birdway paused for a second at that point.
It was as if she was reaffirming the position at which she stood.
"I don't recall ever saying I stood on the side of justice, boy."