A bit earlier, Misaka Misuzu was in the database center.
The center had a 50 meter dome-shaped building at its center and a number of rectangular structures around that. At first, Misuzu was in the domed building looking something up on a computer, but she was currently in one of the adjoining buildings.
This was because something unusual had happened.
First, there was an explosion so loud she thought her eardrums were going to burst. Next, all of the lights in the facility went out. There was auxiliary power to preserve the data, but only the computers were still functioning.
(Wh-what? What's going on?)
Misuzu was keeping her breathing quiet in a space about the size of 3 school classrooms in one of the buildings next to the domed facility. She was not happy.
It felt like her good mood from the alcohol had been blown away.
There had been a rather large fire along with the explosion, but it seemed to have been put out right away. On the other side of the wall – that is, inside the main domed structure – people were coming and going and the situation seemed to be quite irregular even for the ones who had caused the explosion.
"Shit, who forgot to cut off the security!? God damn it. We were supposed to get out of here after the first blast!!"
"What time is it!? If the automatic report was sent in, we've only got 5 minutes!"
"No, it's just the independently deployed security to protect the computers that's up. The normal security was taken out."
"So it's just the fire alarm, huh? Well, we still don't have time. Okay, let's find that woman."
Voices like that were flying back and forth.
From the sound of the voices and the manner of speaking, they must have been boys in middle or high school. There were somewhere from 10 to 20 of them. She didn't know any details about what they had, but the clattering of metal was enough to make her cringe in fear. Since they had caused an explosion, they probably had guns and bombs.
(Woman. They're going to find a woman? W-was there anyone here but me?)
She had a feeling that she had been the only one using the facility at this time of day and that the guards had all been men. And from the way they were speaking, they weren't here to rob the place or to destroy it; they were here for "that woman".
(No. It has to be me. I'm the only woman here! What's going on!?)
Misuzu leaned back against the wall and slid to the floor.
The room seemed to store the substitute processors; it was lined with metal shelves almost like a library. But instead of thick books, the shelves had a large number of motherboards in clear cases on them. The CPU's were liquid-cooled instead of air-cooled, so there was no sound of fans. Instead, blood vessel-like tubes were running all over the room.
In the room darkened due to the fluorescent lights being out, the red and green access lights flickered.
(Th-the exit. Where's the emergency exit…?)
She looked around, but couldn't find a door that looked like an emergency exit.
She couldn't run away. Misuzu accepted the fact that it was all over if she was found and felt a bit excited. Perhaps her drunkenness had come back in an odd way, because it was a strange feeling. It was like the uplifting feeling one felt just before a marathon. She had thought her drunkenness had been knocked out of her, but there was some left. In this situation, it would be best if she was fully sober, but it wasn't so easy to switch over.
(What's going on…?)
Misuzu pulled her cell phone from her pocket.
There was a 3 digit number in the most recent entry of her call history. It was the emergency number for the city's keepers of the peace, Anti-Skill. She remembered having called even in her drunkenness. She had called just after the attack and a man with a polite manner of speaking had answered. The boys strutting about the main domed facility were afraid of an automatic report, but Misuzu had put in her own report. It had been a few minutes since then, so Anti-Skill should be showing up before long.
But for some reason there was no sign of them coming.
(…Why?)
Misuzu stared down at the call history.
The number there was correct. She was sure she had properly contacted the Anti-Skill station. But no one was coming. Anxiety crept into her heart. Was that really Anti-Skill? Who had that oddly polite man been?
(Why? Why won't they come!? I called. I did everything right! So why does this have to go badly for me!?)
The trembling in her fingertips increased.
Her fear had been diffused by her drunkenness, but it finally reached her core.
It was all over if she made the slightest noise and yet she wanted to forget it all and scream.
(I can't do this alone. I can't do this alone. I'm cornered all alone. A conversation. I don't care what about. I don't care who with. I just need to get this out before it explodes out on its own.)
She opened her phone's address book.
For someone reason her husband's face didn't come to mind at a time like this. She could call some third party outside of Academy City and get them to report this to the police, but for the most part Academy City had extraterritoriality, so the police couldn't intervene. (Technically, they had their own "regulations" not their own "laws", but most people viewed that as really nothing more than a method Japan used to keep its pride as a nation.) Because of this, she had to contact someone inside the city.
But she hesitated to call her own daughter. That was most likely due to the last of her pride as a mother. If she showed weakness to her daughter here, she would probably never be able to name herself as the parent again.
She needed someone within Academy City she could contact right away.
And it had to be someone other than her daughter.
Only one person fit those criteria.
(Ha ha…)
Misaka Misuzu operated her cell phone with her thumb.
In order to at least slightly relieve the great pressure in her heart that felt like it was crushing her, she called a certain boy.