Toaru Kagaku no Railgun SS - BestLightNovel.com
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Part 6[edit]
Enirya woke up to a stabbing pain.
It was different from the feeling before that could not be distinguished from heat.
She realized it was due to disinfectant and tried to get up from the floor.
“You should stay still,” said a fellow security guard.
“Where…am I?” Enirya said moving her lips that were covered in dried blood.
From the looks of things, she was not very far away from the place where she had been attacked by the rioters. There were a few security guards armed with guns stationed in the long, narrow pa.s.sageway.
(…What happened? Was I saved by the suppression strategy…?)
Suddenly, Enirya remembered what had actually happened.
Just before she had pa.s.sed out someone other than the security guards had shown up.
Enirya asked for an explanation of the situation while half-grabbing her colleague’s collar.
“What happened?”
“It was Misaka Mikoto.”
“What happened to that primary suspect!? She was here before, right!?”
But her colleague shook his head.
“I don’t know what happened to her…”
Just because the battle ended in one place did not meant that the rioting was completely over.
After all, the disturbance had spread throughout the entire shopping mall. Things had gone beyond the level where just a strong individual like Mikoto could do anything about it. It could not be stopped without the power of a group.
“Didn’t you go a little easy on that security guard?” said Lessar while she spread disinfectant on her wounds. “From how she was acting, I’m betting she’s still going to bare her fangs at you.”
“I don’t need to worry about that. If she truly is trying to find who is behind this incident, she is not my enemy even if she does get in my way.” After saying that, Mikoto changed the subject. “But what kind of people are the higher ups of the shopping mall?”
“I’m sure they didn’t want this much damage. It’s possible they don’t have many cards left to play. They may have started a wildfire with a cigarette b.u.t.t and now they aren’t able to put it out.”
“They have control of Code EIC and they can send out any information they want, right? …In that case, wouldn’t they be able to use the news and other things to control the scale and flow of the rioting?”
“The people don’t know about Code EIC. It does not send out orders that people are obligated to follow. Instead, it adjusts the direction they head in without them realizing it. If they tried to forcibly change the direction of the people, there’s a danger that the people would notice the inconsistency. If that happened, where do you think the people’s anger would turn? Humans are easily deceived, but a human that enjoys being deceived is a rare thing indeed.”
Lessar led Mikoto to an underground facility within the shopping mall.
Inside were many booths divided by transparent part.i.tions made of reinforced gla.s.s. In addition to the normal screens and monitors, the walls, ceiling, and other surfaces were all monitors for the Semipublic AR. The entire s.p.a.ce was filled with flowing numbers. The size of the area was around the size of small concert hall. The conspicuous facility was constructed out of straight lines and was colored mainly a pale blue.
“This is like the color scheme of a men’s bathroom,” Lessar commented letting her troubling impression leak out.
Mikoto ignored her.
“So this is it?”
“As I said before, this is the stock market center that centers on the tenant-owned stores within the shopping mall. The stocks for all of the companies in the city are handled here. It’s a market that is connected to the entire world through the network. It’s listed in the shopping mall’s pamphlet as one of the sightseeing spots. It suggests that one experiences its ‘real’ presence.”
When she looked closer, Mikoto noticed that here was a s.p.a.ce up high on the wall that circled around the entire area. It may have been similar to how foreigners loved seeing the fish markets in j.a.pan.
Mikoto hung her head down as she thought.
“So there’s a giant computer that can carry out ma.s.sive amounts of calculations and a large scale server that can exchange data on trading from all over the world with no lag…”
“If the higher ups wanted to extend Code EIC beyond the shopping mall, there’s no better facility for it, right?”
“I know that, but…”
Mikoto looked around.
On the floor, the walls, the ceiling, the part.i.tions, the monitors, the screens, and everything else, there were tons of dizzyingly tiny numbers scrolling across and curving graphs moving up and down ever so slightly. Investors from all over the world would either rejoice or worry based on the changes in those numbers. Depending on the situation, some would hang themselves and some would make baths of banknotes.
But…
Despite the intense changes in the numbers, Mikoto could not detect a single person inside that stock market center. The numbers continued to change, so the trading could not be over. And even if the trading for the day was over, there would have to have been at least one guard.
“What is going on? Why are there no businessmen or operators here?”
“I dunno. They may have left because the city lost functionality. Or they may have run off to find shelter because they knew we were coming.”
“But the shopping mall seems to need Code EIC. Wouldn’t they normally try to oppose us?”
“Maybe there’s some sub system. Or maybe they’re preparing some way to interfere remotely.”
“Well, just speculating isn’t going to solve anything.”
Mikoto looked up at the giant computer in the center of the facility.
Its area alone was greater than 8 school cla.s.srooms and its height was on par with a three story building. Because it was installed in the center, the entire facility was built in a donut shape.
“Then I’m going to get all the information I can. We can think this through once we have all the materials.”
Lessar moved away from Mikoto and started to investigate the area.
Mikoto reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a PDA.
As she was in one of Academy City’s cooperative inst.i.tutions, they used the same type of connector. She connected the PDA to the giant computer with a cable and started “peeking” inside.
(…Chehh. The calculation area used for the stock trading only takes up a third of it. I guess the rest is related to Code EIC. It reads people’s actions through all the security cameras and estimates what their feelings are. Then it automatically creates a news source that uses the best timing to spread the rumor in waves. It controls people as a ma.s.s rather than as individuals…)
She had found the program related to Code EIC, but she did not touch it because she had no manual to tell her if simply shutting it down would be fine or if it would bring even more chaos.
She focused on finding the details of whatever the shopping mall’s higher ups were planning.
After all, they may have brought a nuclear weapon into Academy City.
(They used Code EIC to spread the urban legend of the uranium ornament, so what they are planning to do in Academy City and the details of the incident using the urban legend as its motif may be inside this computer.)
Mikoto used the PDA to search through the ma.s.sive storage areas of the computer, but her fingers finally stopped moving.
She had found it.
“Concerning the Fluctuation in the Value of Scientific Information once Academy City is Destroyed”
It was generally what Mikoto and Lessar had predicted.
If Academy City was destroyed and it could no longer function as the headquarters of the scientific world, the quality of the world’s “cutting edge science” would drop drastically. If that happened, companies and organizations throughout the world would see great value in the fragmentary knowledge the shopping mall had.
If psychic power development could be successfully created from that information, that was fine. And even if that did not happen and technology branching off from what supported psychic powers was developed instead, it was still fine as long as it made a profit.
The loss of Academy City would of course be a major blow to the world, but it was not as if all of humanity would be immediately destroyed.
After all, Academy City had been hiding its cutting edge technology that entire time. Even if that unreleased technology that no one else knew about was lost, the rest of the world would still be able to live their lives.
Of course, there would be obvious damage when it came to the financial and economic worlds, but the shopping mall was an expert in those fields. They could keep their damages to a minimum and rearrange the network of the market in the confusion in a way advantageous for themselves.
They would create a business model.
That was what the shopping mall was trying to do.
The problem was how they were planning to destroy Academy City…
(…Means of using a Solntse hydrogen bomb?)
Mikoto read those words and then started to feel dizzy.
What was all that about a uranium ornament?
Things had gone beyond the level of mere nuclear fission.
“…The primary plan is to deploy a Solntse within Academy City and then activate a timed detonator. It will detonate after the spies escape.”
That must have been the true ident.i.ty those attackers armed with ultra high frequency electromagnetic rifles that s.h.i.+rai had run into.
“If the primary plan runs into problems, we will immediately switch to the secondary plan. That decision does not need to be discussed with the spies carrying out the primary plan. If we decide it is necessary, we will switch over.”
A chill ran down her spine.
The lack of people in the stock market center meaningfully pressed on Mikoto’s chest.
“The secondary plan is…”
After reading that far, Mikoto frowned.
She could not find any text on the secondary plan. It just said that it would only be shown to those with the authority to view it.
(Is there any more text? Or is the rest only told by mouth in order to leave no records?)
She could not make a judgment based on only the information she had.
Mikoto gave up on that report and looked through the giant computer for another file.
As expected, she could not find anything explaining the secondary plan, but she found a few pieces of reference data that supplemented that unseen center. She looked through quite a few encrypted files and a common item began to show itself.
(A modified MIG-21…?)
It seemed to be the designation of a Russian aircraft.
Mikoto looked through one of the reference files.
The file had photos and videos in it.
(It’s a fighter that was originally developed during the cold war. Its defining characteristic is how oddly low the cost for one is. Its functionality can be summed up in the term “old model”.)
Mikoto scanned through the data being displayed on the PDA.
(At the end of the cold war, most of the Soviet weapons were sold at very low prices and the MIG-21 was no exception. One of them has a value of 30,000 dollars. When compared to the American fighters that cost 100,000,000 dollars each, it is an extremely cheap fighter that can be obtained by almost anyone.)
All of that had been the specs of the normal MIG-21.
The higher ups of the shopping mall had purchased one due to its low price and how easy it was to obtain one. They had then independently modified it.
They had modified it to fill a role in their current plan.
Mikoto opened the diagram for the modified fighter and scanned through the desired specs.
That time, she truly thought she had become anemic.
It said the following:
Added suspension for a nuclear weapon.
Modifications to hold a Solntse.
Mikoto concluded that it would be used to force a detonation if the primary plan were to fail.
Enirya woke up to a stabbing pain.
It was different from the feeling before that could not be distinguished from heat.
She realized it was due to disinfectant and tried to get up from the floor.
“You should stay still,” said a fellow security guard.
“Where…am I?” Enirya said moving her lips that were covered in dried blood.
From the looks of things, she was not very far away from the place where she had been attacked by the rioters. There were a few security guards armed with guns stationed in the long, narrow pa.s.sageway.
(…What happened? Was I saved by the suppression strategy…?)
Suddenly, Enirya remembered what had actually happened.
Just before she had pa.s.sed out someone other than the security guards had shown up.
Enirya asked for an explanation of the situation while half-grabbing her colleague’s collar.
“What happened?”
“It was Misaka Mikoto.”
“What happened to that primary suspect!? She was here before, right!?”
But her colleague shook his head.
“I don’t know what happened to her…”
Just because the battle ended in one place did not meant that the rioting was completely over.
After all, the disturbance had spread throughout the entire shopping mall. Things had gone beyond the level where just a strong individual like Mikoto could do anything about it. It could not be stopped without the power of a group.
“Didn’t you go a little easy on that security guard?” said Lessar while she spread disinfectant on her wounds. “From how she was acting, I’m betting she’s still going to bare her fangs at you.”
“I don’t need to worry about that. If she truly is trying to find who is behind this incident, she is not my enemy even if she does get in my way.” After saying that, Mikoto changed the subject. “But what kind of people are the higher ups of the shopping mall?”
“I’m sure they didn’t want this much damage. It’s possible they don’t have many cards left to play. They may have started a wildfire with a cigarette b.u.t.t and now they aren’t able to put it out.”
“They have control of Code EIC and they can send out any information they want, right? …In that case, wouldn’t they be able to use the news and other things to control the scale and flow of the rioting?”
“The people don’t know about Code EIC. It does not send out orders that people are obligated to follow. Instead, it adjusts the direction they head in without them realizing it. If they tried to forcibly change the direction of the people, there’s a danger that the people would notice the inconsistency. If that happened, where do you think the people’s anger would turn? Humans are easily deceived, but a human that enjoys being deceived is a rare thing indeed.”
Lessar led Mikoto to an underground facility within the shopping mall.
Inside were many booths divided by transparent part.i.tions made of reinforced gla.s.s. In addition to the normal screens and monitors, the walls, ceiling, and other surfaces were all monitors for the Semipublic AR. The entire s.p.a.ce was filled with flowing numbers. The size of the area was around the size of small concert hall. The conspicuous facility was constructed out of straight lines and was colored mainly a pale blue.
“This is like the color scheme of a men’s bathroom,” Lessar commented letting her troubling impression leak out.
Mikoto ignored her.
“So this is it?”
“As I said before, this is the stock market center that centers on the tenant-owned stores within the shopping mall. The stocks for all of the companies in the city are handled here. It’s a market that is connected to the entire world through the network. It’s listed in the shopping mall’s pamphlet as one of the sightseeing spots. It suggests that one experiences its ‘real’ presence.”
When she looked closer, Mikoto noticed that here was a s.p.a.ce up high on the wall that circled around the entire area. It may have been similar to how foreigners loved seeing the fish markets in j.a.pan.
Mikoto hung her head down as she thought.
“So there’s a giant computer that can carry out ma.s.sive amounts of calculations and a large scale server that can exchange data on trading from all over the world with no lag…”
“If the higher ups wanted to extend Code EIC beyond the shopping mall, there’s no better facility for it, right?”
“I know that, but…”
Mikoto looked around.
On the floor, the walls, the ceiling, the part.i.tions, the monitors, the screens, and everything else, there were tons of dizzyingly tiny numbers scrolling across and curving graphs moving up and down ever so slightly. Investors from all over the world would either rejoice or worry based on the changes in those numbers. Depending on the situation, some would hang themselves and some would make baths of banknotes.
But…
Despite the intense changes in the numbers, Mikoto could not detect a single person inside that stock market center. The numbers continued to change, so the trading could not be over. And even if the trading for the day was over, there would have to have been at least one guard.
“What is going on? Why are there no businessmen or operators here?”
“I dunno. They may have left because the city lost functionality. Or they may have run off to find shelter because they knew we were coming.”
“But the shopping mall seems to need Code EIC. Wouldn’t they normally try to oppose us?”
“Maybe there’s some sub system. Or maybe they’re preparing some way to interfere remotely.”
“Well, just speculating isn’t going to solve anything.”
Mikoto looked up at the giant computer in the center of the facility.
Its area alone was greater than 8 school cla.s.srooms and its height was on par with a three story building. Because it was installed in the center, the entire facility was built in a donut shape.
“Then I’m going to get all the information I can. We can think this through once we have all the materials.”
Lessar moved away from Mikoto and started to investigate the area.
Mikoto reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a PDA.
As she was in one of Academy City’s cooperative inst.i.tutions, they used the same type of connector. She connected the PDA to the giant computer with a cable and started “peeking” inside.
(…Chehh. The calculation area used for the stock trading only takes up a third of it. I guess the rest is related to Code EIC. It reads people’s actions through all the security cameras and estimates what their feelings are. Then it automatically creates a news source that uses the best timing to spread the rumor in waves. It controls people as a ma.s.s rather than as individuals…)
She had found the program related to Code EIC, but she did not touch it because she had no manual to tell her if simply shutting it down would be fine or if it would bring even more chaos.
She focused on finding the details of whatever the shopping mall’s higher ups were planning.
After all, they may have brought a nuclear weapon into Academy City.
(They used Code EIC to spread the urban legend of the uranium ornament, so what they are planning to do in Academy City and the details of the incident using the urban legend as its motif may be inside this computer.)
Mikoto used the PDA to search through the ma.s.sive storage areas of the computer, but her fingers finally stopped moving.
She had found it.
“Concerning the Fluctuation in the Value of Scientific Information once Academy City is Destroyed”
It was generally what Mikoto and Lessar had predicted.
If Academy City was destroyed and it could no longer function as the headquarters of the scientific world, the quality of the world’s “cutting edge science” would drop drastically. If that happened, companies and organizations throughout the world would see great value in the fragmentary knowledge the shopping mall had.
If psychic power development could be successfully created from that information, that was fine. And even if that did not happen and technology branching off from what supported psychic powers was developed instead, it was still fine as long as it made a profit.
The loss of Academy City would of course be a major blow to the world, but it was not as if all of humanity would be immediately destroyed.
After all, Academy City had been hiding its cutting edge technology that entire time. Even if that unreleased technology that no one else knew about was lost, the rest of the world would still be able to live their lives.
Of course, there would be obvious damage when it came to the financial and economic worlds, but the shopping mall was an expert in those fields. They could keep their damages to a minimum and rearrange the network of the market in the confusion in a way advantageous for themselves.
They would create a business model.
That was what the shopping mall was trying to do.
The problem was how they were planning to destroy Academy City…
(…Means of using a Solntse hydrogen bomb?)
Mikoto read those words and then started to feel dizzy.
What was all that about a uranium ornament?
Things had gone beyond the level of mere nuclear fission.
“…The primary plan is to deploy a Solntse within Academy City and then activate a timed detonator. It will detonate after the spies escape.”
That must have been the true ident.i.ty those attackers armed with ultra high frequency electromagnetic rifles that s.h.i.+rai had run into.
“If the primary plan runs into problems, we will immediately switch to the secondary plan. That decision does not need to be discussed with the spies carrying out the primary plan. If we decide it is necessary, we will switch over.”
A chill ran down her spine.
The lack of people in the stock market center meaningfully pressed on Mikoto’s chest.
“The secondary plan is…”
After reading that far, Mikoto frowned.
She could not find any text on the secondary plan. It just said that it would only be shown to those with the authority to view it.
(Is there any more text? Or is the rest only told by mouth in order to leave no records?)
She could not make a judgment based on only the information she had.
Mikoto gave up on that report and looked through the giant computer for another file.
As expected, she could not find anything explaining the secondary plan, but she found a few pieces of reference data that supplemented that unseen center. She looked through quite a few encrypted files and a common item began to show itself.
(A modified MIG-21…?)
It seemed to be the designation of a Russian aircraft.
Mikoto looked through one of the reference files.
The file had photos and videos in it.
(It’s a fighter that was originally developed during the cold war. Its defining characteristic is how oddly low the cost for one is. Its functionality can be summed up in the term “old model”.)
Mikoto scanned through the data being displayed on the PDA.
(At the end of the cold war, most of the Soviet weapons were sold at very low prices and the MIG-21 was no exception. One of them has a value of 30,000 dollars. When compared to the American fighters that cost 100,000,000 dollars each, it is an extremely cheap fighter that can be obtained by almost anyone.)
All of that had been the specs of the normal MIG-21.
The higher ups of the shopping mall had purchased one due to its low price and how easy it was to obtain one. They had then independently modified it.
They had modified it to fill a role in their current plan.
Mikoto opened the diagram for the modified fighter and scanned through the desired specs.
That time, she truly thought she had become anemic.
It said the following:
Added suspension for a nuclear weapon.
Modifications to hold a Solntse.
Mikoto concluded that it would be used to force a detonation if the primary plan were to fail.
