Part 8[edit]
(November 10th – Oahu – New Honolulu International Airport 3rd Runway – From a wild bird surveillance camera for bird strike prevention.)
The gray runways spread out like packing tape placed over a lawn. A girl of about twelve walked along one of the countless asphalt lines cutting across. That was, of course, an area where normal people were not allowed.
She was speaking with someone over her cell phone.
“Right, right. Well, that won’t work. You just pretend you didn’t understand her French and try to stall for time. That was all those idiots were there for anyway. I never expected them to win. Just put on an act so it looks like you and that middle school girl who’s translating are too worked up for her to get her meaning across. …I am a bit disappointed that they were taken out in a single strike though.”
As she spoke, the girl headed for one end of the runway.
She was not headed for a large passenger plane.
“I already told you, it won’t work. …What? Hamazura and the others have started firing at her with a compressed gas gun they made from a fire extinguisher? That won’t work either. She’ll probably just avoid the shots with monstrous speed. She's transformed the story of Cinderella into an attack spell by overwriting religious motifs into it. In the fairy tale, an amateur girl was given the dancing skills required to win the admiration of a prince who was used to balls. She’d probably casually avoid a cluster bomb if you dropped it near her.”
It had looked like an easily walkable distance from within the terminal, but Birdway was realizing that the scale of the runway was much greater when you were actually walking across it.
She was getting sick of walking.
“It was probably originally created as a countermeasure for your Imagine Breaker. Foot crushing and high speed battling… it’s almost too obvious. They confirmed your survival the other day using Radiosonde Castle, so Gremlin now sees you as their natural enemy. Your right fist is a powerful trump card, but it’s pointless if you can’t hit them. Having enough speed to dodge a bullet is a so-so countermeasure.”
Birdway finally stopped walking.
“That’s right, so buy some time. Don’t think you can defeat her. If you charge in, she’ll counter you. She’ll either take your toes or shatter your cheekbone with a straight right that has all her weight behind it. I doubt you want to experience either one.”
Birdway looked up at what was stopped at one end of the airport.
What she saw was…
“I started this game, and I have an idea as to how I’m going to end it.”
Part 9[edit]