INTERLUDE FIVE

On the white snowfield, Mikoto Misaka looked overhead.

It seemed like the giant fortress with that spiky-haired boy on it was still floating, even now. She’d come all this way to Russia, but at this rate, no matter how long she waited, she’d never reach him.

…Come on!! I came all the way here to be left out in the cold?! That’s not possible!! I have to think of some way to get to him!!

No matter how she thought about it, that spiky-haired boy was at the dead center of this disturbance. Being positioned in the middle of World War III made her wonder how much bigger things were for that idiot, but she could lecture him on his foolishness after she’d dragged him somewhere safe.

And then the Sister next to her offered, “What in the world is that frog strap hanging out of your jacket pocket, asks Misaka, brimming with curiosity.”

“Eh? He’s called Croaker. I got it from the cell phone campaign when I dragged that idiot there on September 30.”

“…First, Misaka number 10032’s necklace, and now this strap…The girls in Academy City certainly seem to have the advantage, says Misaka, implying a rethinking of her strategy. Boy, being long-distance is tough.”

“Er, what strategy?”

Mikoto blinked in confusion, but the Sister, hugging her Russian assault rifle like a stuffed animal, didn’t provide any further answers.

She glanced above, toward the fortress. “I would like to somehow support him, says Misaka, presenting an impossible problem.”

“…Same, but the issue is how exactly we’ll get there. It’s probably gone up five thousand meters, yeah? Not even my magnetism can reach that far.”

“Would it be possible to increase your altitude in stages by preparing several relay points in midair? asks Misaka, haphazardly suggesting an idea.”

“How would we do that?” asked Mikoto.

The Sister took a look around, then pointed to a Russian short-range missile launcher mounted onto a vehicle. “First, we’ll fire one of those missiles—”

“I’ll die!” interrupted Mikoto, rejecting it. “But a regular military helicopter wouldn’t reach that high, either. It’s not airtight, and the fortress looks like it’s still rising. If we really want to go, I guess we’ll need a plane…”

“(…Appearing gallantly when it should be utterly impossible to do so might be my biggest chance to overturn my long-distance handicap, says Misaka, with a low laugh, beginning to discharge devious fantasies into the network.)”

“Hey, you’re leaking something, you know,” said Mikoto, appalled.

But then, the Sister’s face quickly rose.

Partially attentive to her wireless headset device, she said, “I’ve intercepted a Russian communication, reports Misaka. The encryption format is different from regular military correspondences. The name Nikolai Tolstoj appears multiple times; it must be from some sort of independent unit, estimates Misaka.”

“?”

“They seem to be on the verge of launching a large-scale attack from the ground against the fortress floating in the air, says Misaka, summarizing the essential details.”

“Hmm. That’s not good. That would mean that idiot up there would get caught in it.”

She didn’t honestly care what happened to that strange fortress, but even she’d have a bad aftertaste if an acquaintance of hers blew up along with it. It was important to find a way to get to the fortress overhead, but maybe she needed to stop the attack from the surface first.

“So—what weapons are they going to use? They’ve been firing short-range surface-to-air missiles for a while now, but it doesn’t seem like they’ll even dent it.”

“Nu-AD1967.”

“What’s that?”

“The American name for it, says Misaka, continuing her explanation. Apparently, it is referred to here as Opasnosti, says Misaka, listening to the communication.”

“What does that all mean?”

“A strategic nuclear warhead developed by the old Soviet Union, reports Misaka.”