24[edit]
(November 10th – Oahu – Green Café Iwamaki – From the camera in the tablet terminal installed on the table)
“There we go,” muttered Birdway as she looked at the papyrus.
It was the spiritual item she was using to automatically analyze the magician’s spell.
Kamijou, Hamazura, and Kuroyoru looked at the papyrus, but they could not understand what they were seeing.
Birdway ignored them.
“She is indeed from the Russian Orthodox Church. Mark, compress the analysis data from the papyrus and send it to our contact with the Russian Orthodox Church. Ask them—politely—if they have any idea who she could be.”
“…Do you really think they will answer honestly?”
“As the main battlefield of World War III, Russia is in the process of being restored by Academy City’s technology and America’s funds. Gremlin is currently damaging both of those. Tell them any delays on our part could have a major effect on their recovery.”
Kamijou made sure not to touch the spiritual item and asked, “Do you know how her magic works? What’s its weak point?”
“Ugh, someone explain it to him.”
“Ah, I have a response from the Russian Orthodox Church. That was incredibly fast. Especially for a bureaucratic job,” Mark cut in.
“That last comment must have done its job,” said Birdway as she snatched the tablet computer from him. “Her name is Saronia A. Irivika. 14 years old. Comes from Yekaterinburg. She proudly thinks of herself as European and hates having Russia be called part of Asia more than anything. Well, that last bit is about as stereotypically Russian as you can get.”
She used her index finger to scroll down.
“During World War III, she was deployed to Vladivostok to stop Academy City forces from landing, but had little to do since the invasion was primarily carried out by supersonic bombers. She disappeared in the confusion of the end of the war. Her whereabouts since then are unknown.”
“Them”.
Gremlin.
Those created by the war who did not wish for the war to end.
“So is this Saronia trying to overturn the result of the war as a Russian soldier…?” asked Hamazura
“It’s possible,” Birdway replied as she shoved the tablet computer back toward Mark.
“Then is Gremlin a group of those who lost the war and want a comeback? Do they just want to redo the war?”
“I thought I told you personal objectives had more of a priority than an overall ideology. The group and an individual will not necessarily align. It would best to have as few preconceptions about them as we can.”
Suddenly, Kamijou’s cell phone started to ring.
He answered it to find it was from Accelerator.
“I know what Gremlin is after. I don’t know what their ultimate objective is, but I know what one of the means to get there is.”
“One of the means to get there?”
Kamijou quickly switched over to speakerphone so everyone there could join in the conversation.
As soon as he did, Accelerator got to the core of the issue.
“Gremlin seems to be trying to obtain the Trigger.”
“The Trigger…? That’s rather vague. Is it from the science side or the magic side?”
“Technically, it’s called the Small Scale Induction-Style Active Volcano Controlling Device, but that’s a pain to say, so they call it the Trigger. The device is being developed by the American military.”
“…I don’t like the sound of that name.”
“As the name suggests, it’s a toy used to control the activities of an active volcano. It can’t stop a volcanic eruption, but by distributing the energy of the explosion, it can control the damage done. To keep it simple, you can think of it as a device that uses a special combination of explosives to apply stimuli to the underground magma which artificially causes small scale eruptions. By letting the pressure escape before a major eruption occurs, the worst case scenario can be avoided.”
In addition to the avalanches and pyroclastic flows that directly damaged the areas at the foot of the volcano, air lanes had been cut off by volcanic ash in recent years. Given how much economic damage from natural disasters such a device would avoid, it was certainly worth researching.
“You’re saying Gremlin is after that?”
“To be specific, the people being controlled by Gremlin all seem to have been searching for data on this Trigger,” spat out Accelerator. “But the Trigger really only applies the proper stimuli to the underground magma and that’s it. If it’s intentionally used incorrectly, it could be used to cause a major eruption.”
If Gremlin was after the Trigger, it was almost guaranteed that they were planning to cause a major eruption in some active volcano. In fact, that was about the only way the Trigger could be used.
But where?
Which active volcano was Gremlin going to detonate?
“Kilauea,” replied Accelerator. “That’s the largest active volcano in the Hawaiian islands, so that has to be it.”