Endymion

Endymion (エンデュミオン) or Space Elevator Endymion (宇宙エレベーター・エンデュミオン) is a space elevator located in School District 23 that neared its completion in Academy City and was set to open for public prior to the events of September 19. The space elevator is first seen in Toaru Majutsu no Index: Miracle of Endymion and is the film's primary setting. It later disappears at the conclusion of the film.

Etymology
In Greek mythology,, the Titan goddess of the Moon, fell in love with , a mortal. She asked Endymion's father,, to grant him eternal youth so he could stay with her forever. Zeus granted her wish, putting him into eternal sleep. Every night, Selene visited him where he slept.

Endymion's relationship with the Titan of the moon might be the reason for the naming.

Exterior
Endymion's design looks as if the tower spiral that alternates between a white material and some form of glass. It is thickest at the base and tower quickly tapers as it goes up, but its width remains consistent afterwards. This is to allow for a secure transportation of the lift as it traffics up and down the structure. There are many bridges connecting the base of Endymion to that of its "city," as well as several passageways leading to its underground.

As it reaches up into space the orbital station can be seen as it is ringed by its anti-debris defense system, then the observation deck, and in turn surrounded by several solar panels that revolve around it. Presumably, the spaceport where spaceships like that of the Ballistic Slider could be found there as well. Moreover, the "tower" extends pass the orbital station, though for what reason is unknown.

Orbital station
The Orbital Station (軌道ステーッョン) is a complex portion of the elevator that is found in space, and is seemingly where the space elevator ends. Inside the orbital station is a large white cylindrical room, where many bridges connect to a large central pillar, an access point to several other rooms. This was used by several guests to go to the relay station where Arisa's concert is held, as well as Touma and Index, where the latter uses it to find the Ladylee's core room. Breathable air is present in all the rooms in the orbital station, though not all of them has gravity, on how it is achieved is not known. The station consists of several rooms:
 * A docking access corridor apparently exists in the Endymion. This is where Touma and Index were upon hearing the explosion that rocked the Endymion. It is likely that it connects to the spaceship that docks on the elevator. There is no gravity there.
 * Relay Station (中継ステーション) or streaming station is a large room located in the Endymion and is the location of Meigo Arisa's stage for her performance on the space elavator. On that day, it contained tiers for where the audience is located surrounding the stage, several lighting and laser fixtures, transparent screens that show Arisa's peformance, and other complex glass work that's common in the space elevator.
 * The Observation Deck (展望室) or Observation Room are places where people take a look at the space scenery. One room is at the bottom of the orbital station, where a person can view the earth, though it lacks gravity. Finally, the observation deck is the structure that surrounds the orbital station before the revolving solar panels.
 * The Core Room (コアルーム) is a room found in the Endymion, where the room where the magic spell that surrounded Endymion is placed. The center of the room contains a large crystalline structure, and are surrounded by glasswork common throughout the Endymion. During the course of the film when Ladylee's spell is activated, the room's floor is filled with magic circles. The room is used by Ladylee, who has no magic power of her own to use it as an intermediary for her spell. It is here that Ladylee enters after activating the spell in order to oversee it and perform the last part of it unto its utmost effectiveness.

Underground
The underground is found in the base of the Endymion. Here, material loadings are carried out here to each facility entrance to the structure above. It is here that the emergency high-speed elevator is located, as well as the emergency termination system of the Endymion, the three Blasting Bolts, protected by several robotic sentries.

Endymion City
Endymion City (エンデュミオンシティ) refers to both the base of the elevator and the land surrounding it. As so does the elevator's base extends down to the earth, so to does the "city" surrounding it. The city forms one city block of Academy City. The buildings and establishments are constructed underground and jut out of the "roof" of the underground portion. This roof is made of transparent glass and is held by strong wires. It collects ultraviolet rays and generates electricity through solar power. A complex highway or railway system goes through the roof of Endymion City and encircles Endymion, connecting the city to the rest of the district.

Commercial and amusement facilities are found in this city.

Anti-debris Defense System
Appearing in one of the rings of the orbital station, the anti-debris defense system uses can automatically detect debris approaching the space elevator, and then fire missiles to containing several explosive warheads to defend the elevator against debris, though it can also be used to attack things of much larger size such as a spaceship, one example of which is the Ballistic Slider.

Emergency Purge System
In case of emergency, the Endymion has an Emergency Purge System (緊急用パージシステム) that uses three explosive bolts (爆砕ボルト) found at the base of the great space elevator. It can be detonated remotely to "terminate" Endymion, which most likely implies to free the space elevator from the pull of Earth's gravity allowing it to be carried away into space. The purge system was used by the Mikoto, Stiyl Magnus, and Accelerator, when Endymion was collapsing.

Mobile Weapons
When great seals are placed upon the elevators entrances so that people cannot enter it. And those who would dare do so would have to contend against many mobile weapons of different kinds. Normally only the security robots are seen to have been used for the patrolling of the entrances to the elevator, though when it is sealed by the Black Crow Unit's hacking the others are already prepared, which implies that they are the elevator's natural defenses. Mass produced automated mobile weapons appear in the underground passageways of the elevator. The ones that appear small disc-like quadrupeds that gather en masse to compensate for its small firepower, small tank-like mobile weapons that transform into quadrupeds when confronting the enemy, and flying circular saws similar or most likely an Edge Bee.

Vulnerabilities
The Endymion began to fall due to the improper distribution of stress it received after Shutaura Sequenzia caused an explosion in the ring where the observation deck was surrounding the orbital station. The mobile weapons are capable of delaying and preventing the advance and invasion of assailants with conventional arms put are easily bypassed by espers and magicians with sufficient strength, a glaring fault since it is established in the city of espers. Moreover, as it was shown in the movie, the security system of the Endymion can be hacked, though it can be forgiven for the Black Crow Unit were in league with Ladylee Tangleroad and that they maybe privy to the details of the elevator unknown to other people.

Politics
The politics of the Endymion is delicate, both in the science and magic sides. This is the reason for Academy City's participation of the Venus Probe Contest, as so they can construct the space parts of the elevator in secrecy. As the elevator grew, the higher-ups simply made the excuse that the large tower is simply large-scale air traffic control tower. Since the nations of the world spend massive amounts of money on rocket technology and send them out in limited amounts, a space elevator that can transport any number of items into space at a press of a button would overturn the accepted methods of the world.

Moreover, the elevator can also be used for military purposes. Explosives and bombs can be easily transported into space, and can be set upon any location on Earth. An elevator that could easily transport massive amounts of explosives into orbit would allow a high-density barrage or minefield to be set up in order to intercept an enemy nation’s missiles. The very existence of Endymion could potentially change the balance of power if it is used for military purposes.

As for the magic side and science side, the space elevator can potentially affect the balance between the two sides. There is a bit of fighting between the sides already, regarding who has the rights to space, like a modern day gold rush. The magic side is dependent on the arrangement and power of the stars. Stiyl Magnus states that space debris and satellites are like pollutants in the night sky, a space elevator would be like a smokestack spewing out a new form of pollution into space. According to him, if they knew of its existence, they would have tried to crush it diplomatically. Moreover, according to Sozty Exica, a structure as large as Endymion will greatly change the flow of power in the ley lines.

Magical Significance
As stated in the politics section, the Endymion has great magical significance, and even before to its opening was highly contested by the magic side and was already used by Ureapaddy Exica for her Brahma Astra. Both Index and Stiyl Magnus compares the Endymion to the mythological, the great tower that was cast down by God and forever sundered Men with different tongues. For indeed, structures of great immensity gain magical significance for simply existing even they are made through scientific means: things such as the aforementioned Tower of Babel, the, the , and the. And the meaning of Endymion implies that it needs to be connected to the ground for that meaning to be established, as shown by the great worry Ladylee had when she discovers that some people below have severed the explosive bolts, though to what Endymion truly signifies be it the Tower of Babel or any other great towers of legend is not specifically stated though strongly implied by Index's words as the former.

According to Stiyl, Ladylee's goal was to use the Endymion as a magical device with a Saint, which in this case Arisa Meigo—a mysterious being born from the Miracle of 88 caused by a miracle and in turn cause miracles herself, whose power is similar to that of a Saint as a core. Ladylee is aware of Arisa's miraculous existence, and may have formed her plan with Endymion surrounding her. As if she made Endymion of public interest to gather people and use her knowledge of Arisa's like for singing as part of her plan. In the movie, she would use Arisa's song and the people's enthusiasm as the magic source for her spell, specifically, both their excitement and deaths. With Arisa, Ladylee expects her to use her miraculous powers to make her finally die.

The magic spell begins apparently at the same time as Arisa begins singing, forming several magic circles in space and incorporating part of the earth spell as well and in according to Index's hypothesis, may be After which Ladylee then activates the next phase of the spell using a bracelet as she cannot use magic on her own due to her immortality, making the magic circles glow. She can seemingly proceed with the next plan even if the Arisa's audience has already gone (though this maybe the reason why Index calls her magic spell deranged and her magic circles going haywire ) to which Ladylee goes to the Core Room and gesture for the large crystal found there towards the next part, apparently maximizing the spell's power, at which point it glows as well as the magic circles in the color of the crystal. Presumably, when the spell is come to its full fruition, the world is destroyed, or according to Tsuchimikado Motoharu the entire northern hemisphere wiped out. However, according to Index near the end of her spell when several factors have come to stop her such as the ending of Arisa's singing and the termination of Endymion's explosive bolts, Ladylee will still not die.

Background
Following the emergency landing of Spaceplane Orion, which was referred to as Miracle 88, Academy City began construction of the space elevator, seemingly to dedicate it to the incident. This was only after winning the Academy City Next-Generation Space Travel Competition, beating out the Ballistic Slider. This is backed up by the fact that the large plot of land where the Orion landed is used for the construction, with the actual location of the crash site being far away facing the Endymion. Its construction was undertaken by the Orbit Portal Company, under the supervised of its president, Ladylee Tangleroad. Of the three years of its construction, the city hid its purpose from the public, due to the delicate politics involved with its construction.

It's space port was being constructed around the time of the Venus Probe Contest, which Academy City used to send out materials into space for the elevator's construction. Upon its completion, it is the first Space Elevator in the world.

Construction
Three months prior to Endymion's completion, the construction period has become very brief, and that most of it was spent on stabilizing the first cable. Its grand form did not appear before the public eye until very recently. By mid-August, the elevator has become clearly visible in the sky, as depicted in Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S.

By September 12, the construction of the space elevator had reached its seventh stage. Due to the use of the Venus Probe Contest, Academy City was able to set up the wire made up of carbon nanotubes from space to connect the space port to the earth port. Due to the Academy City's technique of giving each individual block of the tower the ability to function as an unmanned mobile robot, in which millions or billions of those tower blocks would move along the elevator wire from both space and earth to quickly create the exterior of the tower, instead of construction taking several decades, the City managed to finish the construction in only a couple of years and in near-total secrecy. That method allowed a durable building to be constructed with overwhelming speed even in an Antarctic environment where room temperature water would freeze almost instantly. And while the tower was given durability, the method also provided joints in the connections between each block so that it could bend if needed.

According to Uiharu Kazari, there were difficulties in constructing the elevator in Japan instead of the prescribed constructing of it in the equator. Near the end of its construction, Endymion towered at least 35,000 kilometers above the earth.

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun
A portion of the Endymion is briefly shown in the first episode when Mikoto tries to take an arcade coin from her skirt while falling in the sky.

Sisters Arc
The space elevator can be seen, along with Misawa Cram School, from the distance in the bridge scene where Misaka 9982 says farewell to Mikoto.

Silent Party Arc
The group STUDY somehow managed to put their AIM bomb on top of the orbital station of the Endymion, launched only when their initial attack at the Academy City Research Exhibition Assembly using 20,000 Powered Suits failed. At the climax of the anime-original story arc, the bomb is launched from the orbital station towards Academy City.

Endymion is never referred to by its name as well as what it does, only being referred to as "a structure in space."

Toaru Majutsu no Index: Road to Endymion
At this point in time, Endymion is already clear in the cityscape, though Academy City made an excuse that the tower is simply a large-scale traffic control tower. The magic cabal, Gate of the Gods Come from the Heavens', however, have somehow gained information regarding the existence of the space elevator (possibly from Pantagruel), and intended to destroy it. They kept their goals of destroying the elevator from the lower echelons in their cabal, and made up a reason that they were punishing Academy City for using unnatural methods to modify their body in contrast to their own methods, in order for them to attack the city using Agni's Festival Fire as a distraction for them to enter School District 23 unnoticed, where the elevator is located.

After the cabal's destruction in the hands of Ureapaddy Exica, she uses the elevator as a conductor for her magic power to take control of the Debris Storm that she intends to use in order for her Brahma Astra to work.

Toaru Majutsu to Kagaku no Ensemble
Event in the game transpire similarly to that in Toaru Majutsu no Index: Road to Endymion, though expands with another battle in the presence of Endymion as Pantagruel appears as the primary antagonist of the game. In the game's epilogue, Academy City announces the space elevator to the world, christening it Endymion.

Toaru Majutsu no Index: Miracle of Endymion
Endymion is the center of Ladylee's plot and the movie's. Here, Index compares it to the, a tower that was supposed to reach God's domain. Stiyl Magnus is also aware of this fact when he tells Touma about it, and that Arisa could bring about some catastrophe.

Part of the orbital station is destroyed as a result of Shutaura and one of Ladylee's automatons battle, creating stress in the structure and making it collapse. It is later revealed that Ladylee plans to use Endymion with Meigo Arisa and her miraculous powers as a core for her world destruction spell with the purpose of killing herself after a millennium of existing. However, various heroes gather to stop her, the explosive bolts of Endymion are released, Meigo Arisa stops singing, and Index herself try to manipulate the spell. In the end it utterly fails as Meigo Arisa and Shutaura Sequenzia merge back together and begin singing, and along with Index singing a song against her spell, causes the Miracle of Endymion, and the space elevator no longer is in danger of collapsing.

In the end, the space elevator disappears from the Academy City skyline, having been carried off into space by centrifugal force after the explosive bolts were destroyed.

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Endymion