seriously.. why can't a simple "Jane Smith" suffice!? sheesh!
Spoiler for and now for some unnecessary dango:
never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and desert you Never gonna make you cry Never gonna say goodbye Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
WARNING: Kogetsu Shirogane cannot be held accountable for any actions taken by someone else. Potential side effects of communicating with this user include headaches, mild confusion, insanity, delirium, and jumping into fires. Do not expose this user to sunlight or water or feed this user after midnight.
Looks good so far... oh right, the story... darn my pathetic attention span
__________________
WARNING: Kogetsu Shirogane cannot be held accountable for any actions taken by someone else. Potential side effects of communicating with this user include headaches, mild confusion, insanity, delirium, and jumping into fires. Do not expose this user to sunlight or water or feed this user after midnight.
Spoiler for Chapter 7, Part 3: Trapped in Closed Space:
That night, after having dinner and a bath and finishing my homework for tomorrow's English lesson, I decided it was time to go sleep. I lay on my bed and opened the thick hardback book Nagato had stuffed into my arms. I thought a quick read wouldn't hurt, so I casually read the first few pages. The story was surprisingly interesting, so I continued page after page. You really have to read through one to understand how enjoyable a book can be. I guess reading's not so bad after all!
Of course, it's impossible to finish such a thick book in one night, so I put down the book after reading a very long monologue by one of the protagonists. I began to get sleepy, and after placing the bookmark with Nagato's handwriting into the book, I switched off the lights and crept underneath my blanket. In a few minutes, I was in dreamland.
------
Do you know why humans have dreams? Sleeping is divided into Rapid Eye Movement (REM) and Non Rapid Eye Movement (NREM), and they go in periodic cycles. NREM occurs for the first few hours after a person falls asleep, with the brain usually in a stasis-like state during this stage. The stage in which the body is unconscious, while the brain becomes slightly active is known as REM, and dreams will occur in this stage. By morning, REM will have increased in frequency, meaning almost everyone will dream until they wake up. I dream every night, but as I usually wake up late in the mornings, I'm in such a hurry to go to school that I usually forget what I've dreamed. Yet, sometimes, I'll suddenly remember a long forgotten dream I had years ago. It's really amazing how a human's memories are structured.
Alright, enough casual talk. I don’t actually give a damn anyway.
------
I felt someone shaking me. Go away! I'm tired! Don't disturb my dreams!
"…Kyon."
The alarm clock hadn't even rung yet. Even if it had, I would have turned it off at once, and it was still quite a while before dad would send my brother in to drag me out of bed.
"Wake up already."
No… I want to sleep some more… I don't have time for strange dreams.
"Oi! I said wake up! Can't you hear me?"
The hands on my shoulders now shook me ceaselessly. I finally opened my eyes when I felt the back of my head banging against the hard floor.
Hard floor?
I sat upright, looking confused. Haruki was looking down at me and backed off to avoid bumping our heads together.
"You finally awake?"
Kneeling beside me was Haruki in his school uniform. His white face displayed an expression of anxiety.
"Do you know where this is?"
Of course I do; we're at North High, the school we go to, and right now we're at the staircase ahead of the shoe lockers by the school entrance. There were no lights on, and the school at night appeared grey before us…
No, wait. Something's wrong.
There was no night sky above.
Just a wide grey horizon. A monotonous sky. There was no moon or stars, not even a single cloud. Only a sky as grey as the concrete walls.
The world is covered in silence and darkness.
This is Closed Space.
I slowly got up. To my amazement, I was not wearing my pyjamas, but my sailor uniform. To my further amazement, I was wearing the ponytail I had lost 2 days ago.
"When I woke up, I found myself here, and you at my side. What's going on here? Why are we at school?" Haruki asked, his voice abnormally quiet.
I didn't answer him at first, instead trying to determine whether this was a dream or not. From the pain of pinching the back of my hand, to the feel of my uniform on my body, it didn't feel like a dream. I pulled two of my hairs out. I found out that really hurts.
"Haruki, are we the only ones here?" I asked.
"Yeah… last I remember, I was asleep in my bed. Why are we here? The sky looks so strange..."
"Have you seen Itsuko?"
"Koizumi-san? No… why'd you mention her?"
"No reason, just curious."
If this Space was created by a ‘quake in the dimensional faultline’ or by Haruki himself, those glowing giants ought to show up and destroy everything, and Itsuko and the other espers are the only ones who can stop them. But if they’re not here…
"Anyway, let's escape from the school!” I said, walking forward. “Maybe we'll run into someone."
Haruki followed me. "Hey, how come you don't look worried at all?"
I am most certainly worried! I’m just not going to show it in front of you. What bothers me the most, though, is that you're here as well. Isn't this a playground for your giants? Or am I being oversensitive and just dreaming all of this? All alone with Haruki in an empty world… If Professor Freud were here, he could have told me what all this means!
I remained at a distance from Haruki as we walked towards the school entrance, when an invisible wall suddenly stopped us in our tracks. I still remember the elastic feel of this wall. It could be pushed inwards a bit, but soon after, another harder wall would block any attempts to penetrate further.
"…What’s this?" Haruki reached out his arms and tried to push the invisible wall with all his might. Predictably, it had no effect.
“Cold washed vegetables,” he muttered.
“Huh?”
“Nothing.”
I walked along the track field and traced the wall. It seems that we're trapped inside the school.
"It doesn’t look like to be a way out of the school." I couldn't feel any breeze. It was as though even the air had stopped flowing.
"Let's try the back entrance!" said Haruki, never one to back down from a challenge
"I have a better idea,” I said. “Let's look for a phone. I didn't bring my cell phone to bed with me tonight.”
I don’t know how long it will take for the giants to come out, but I don’t want to be here when they do. Although, if this was the Closed Space that Itsuko told me about, then finding a phone would be useless. Even so, we still decided to go inside the school to look around. There should be a phone in the staff room.
The school looked eerie in the dark with all the lights off. We passed by the shoe lockers and silently entered the school building. Along the way, we turned on the lights for the first floor, and the ceiling lamps lit up at once. Even though they were cold, artificial lights, they were enough to elicit a sigh of relief from both Haruki and me.
After making sure there was no one in the classrooms on the first floor, we headed to the staff room. Of course, the door was locked, so Haruki picked up a nearby fire extinguisher, smashed the window open, and entered through there.
"...Doesn't seem to work." Haruki held the phone up to his ear, but apparently couldn’t hear anything. He tried dialling some numbers, but nothing happened.
We left the staff room and went up the stairs, turning on all the lights along the way. Haruki had suggested we return to our classroom, since the Class 1-5’s room was located at the top floor. Maybe we could figure out something by looking down from above?
Once or twice, the sound of the building settling startled me, and I grabbed onto Haruki’s sleeve by unconscious reflex. I really should stop being so tense!
After I did this for the second time, Haruki glanced sideways at me.“If you're that scared, then grab onto my arm. It looks more natural that way.”
“Idiot." So I said, but I didn’t let go of his jacket.
There was no change in our classroom; it was exactly like we'd left it after school.
"Kyon, come look..."
Haruki went quiet after looking out the windows. I walked to his side and looked down at the situation.
All around was a deep grey world. Looking down from the fourth floor at the top of the hill, I could even see the horizon beyond the shore. It was all darkness within the panoramic view, without even a single light on. It was, in its own way, terrifying.
"What is this place…?” Haruki asked. “It’s like the end of the world…”
It wasn't everyone else that had disappeared, but rather, the two of us. It seemed that we had stumbled into Closed Space by accident.
"This is weird." Haruki crossed his arms and murmured.
Since we didn't know where else to go, we returned to the clubroom where we usually spent our afternoons. As I'd already stolen the keys from the staff room, we were able to unlock the door and enter.
Both of us breathed a sigh of relief at returning to the familiar, well-lit room.
We turned on the radio, but couldn't even hear any static. The clubroom was so quiet that only the sound of me pouring tea could be heard. I’m too lazy to take the time to change tea leaves, so I brewed the tea using thoroughly overused and tasteless tea leaves. Haruki stood beside me gazing vividly at the grey world outside.
"You want some tea?" I asked.
"No." Haruki didn’t even look at me, just continued to stare out the window.
I took my teacup, pulled out a chair, and sat down. I took a sip. Sigh… Asahina-senpai’s tea is so much better than mine. I wonder where he got such talent…
"Just what is going on here!? I don't get it! What is this place? Why am I here?" Haruki stood by the window and faced outside; he looked very troubled. "And why am I stuck here with you…?"
I scowled. "How the hell am I supposed to know?"
Haruki scowled right back at my response. "I'm going to go look around." He said and proceeded to leave the room. Just as I was about to stand up as well…
"You stay here, it’s safer. I'll be right back." After saying that, he dashed from the room. It’s so like Haruki to do just that!
While hearing Haruki’s energetic footsteps disappearing and sipping my tasteless warm tea, that thing appeared.
It was a small glowing blue sphere. At first it was the size of a table tennis ball, then slowly the sphere grew larger, shining like a firefly before finally taking on a humanoid shape.
"Itsuko, is that you?"
Before me was a glowing humanoid, but I could not see Itsuko's appearance clearly, including her eyes, nose, and mouth.
"Hi!" A relaxed feminine voice came from within the glowing object.
"It took you long enough! I thought you’d appear in your human form…
"
"Things are getting a bit complicated on our side, so it'll take a bit time to explain. I'll be honest: this isn’t normal." The blue light flickered a bit. "If this were normal Closed Space, I could have gotten inside easily, but not this time. I had to appear in this incomplete form, and as I needed some help from my companions before I could finally enter here, I can't even remain in this state for too long. Our powers are disappearing slowly, even as we speak."
"Just what's going on? Is it just me and Haruki here?"
"Yes," Itsuko answered. "What we had feared would come to pass has finally happened. Suzumiya-san has grown tired of this world, and he has decided to create a new one."
"..." I remained silent.
"Our superiors are now in total panic. No one knows what the world will become when its god has disappeared. Though it's possible the world will survive as long as Suzumiya-san decides to have mercy upon it, it is also possible that it'll vanish in an instant."
"What are you trying to say…?" I don’t want to believe this.
"To put it simply," the blue light now flickered like a flame, "You and Suzumiya-san have now disappeared from our world. This world is not Closed Space but rather a brand new world created by Suzumiya-san. The Closed Space we've seen before was probably just practice before he decided to re-create the world for real."
You know, that’s a really funny joke, but I don't know how to laugh right now. Ha. Ha. Ha.
"It’s not a joke. This world is probably closest to the world that Suzumiya-san desires. We're still not sure what kind of world he desires, but we should have an answer to that soon."
"Look, let’s move on. The real problem is, why am I here?"
"…You really don’t get it? You are one chosen by Suzumiya-san. You are the only person that Suzumiya-san truly wants to be with. I thought you'd have figured that out by now." The light around Itsuko now glimmered like a torch running out of batteries, its brightness clearly diminishing. "I'm close to my limit now. At this rate, I'll never be able to see you again; on the other hand though, I'm kind of relieved since I no longer have to go hunting for those Celestials anymore."
"So I’m just supposed to live alone with Haruki in this grey world!?"
"Well, I guess you’re kind of like Adam and Eve. Just work hard on re-populating the world, and it'll be fine! Don’t worry, I hear childbirth gets easier after you’ve had your first one."
"… If I get out of this, I’m going to hurt you."
"Joking, joking! Right now this closed state is only temporary, but very soon it'll probably become similar to the world you know. Yet this world will be completely different from the world we're from. Right now, this world could be considered the real world, while the original world should be considered Closed Space. As for what differences there are between these two worlds, unfortunately, we don’t know. If I'm fortunate enough to be reborn in the new world, I’ll be counting on you to show me around."
At this moment, Itsuko the glowing humanoid object began to slowly disintegrate and then, like a star running out of fuel, now shrank to its original table tennis ball size.
"So there’s no way back to the original world?"
"If Suzumiya-san wishes it, it might be possible. I only knew you for a short while; it's a pity really, but I did enjoy my time with the SOS Brigade… Ah, right, I nearly forgot. I have to relay both Asahina Mitsuuru and Nagato Yuuki's messages to you."
Before Itsuko disappeared completely, she left this message: "Asahina Mitsuuru asked me to apologize in his place: he said, 'I'm sorry, it's all my fault.' Also, Nagato Yuuki tells you to 'Remember to turn on the computer.'"
After the message, she vanished like a candle flame blown out by the wind.
I don't know why Asahina-senpai had to apologize to me. Had Asahina-senpai done something wrong to me? But I decided not to think about that now.
Instead, I followed Nagato's request and switched on the computer. After the hard disk makes a beeping sound, the OS trademark should appear on the screen… That's strange, why is nothing showing up? The OS screen, which was supposed to appear after a few seconds, didn't appear; the screen was pitch black with only a white typing cursor flashing in the upper left corner of the screen. Then, the cursor started moving silently, and a line of cold words appeared.
YUUKI.N > Can you read this?
I was stunned for a moment, and then I pulled the keyboard closer and started typing.
'Yes.'
YUUKI.N > Right now I have not completely lost contact with the world you are in. But that is only a matter of time, since the disconnection should occur very soon. If that is true, this will be our final conversation.
'What should I do?'
YUUKI.N > I do not know either. The abnormal data spurt has disappeared completely on this side. The Integrated Data Sentient Entity is very disappointed with this, because they will lose the possibility to evolve.
'What do you mean by the possibility to evolve? Just how is Haruhi evolving?'
YUUKI.N > Being highly sentient means being able to process data quickly and accurately. Sentient organic life forms are limited by the excessive inaccurate and mixed-up data streams caused by their physical bodies, and are unable to process data quickly and accurately. So after evolving to a certain stage, organic life forms will cease to evolve.
'Is it possible to evolve even without a physical body?'
YUUKI.N > The Integrated Data Sentient Entity is also created from data. They too had believed that their ability to process data would increase infinitely until the universe overheated itself. But they were wrong. As with the universe having an edge, their evolution also has a limit, at least for sentient entities relying on data to survive.
'What about Suzumiya?'
YUUKI.N > Suzumiya Haruki possesses the ability to create massive amounts of data out of nothing. That is the ability that the Integrated Data Sentient Entity does not have. He can release data that could never be processed by a human, a mere organic life form, in its lifetime. The Integrated Data Sentient Entity believes if this data-creating ability is analyzed, then they will be able to find clues to how to auto-evolve.
The cursor flashed momentarily. Perhaps Nagato was hesitating on what words to use. The next second, the words flowed like water.
YUUKI.N > I'm betting everything on you.
'Betting on me for what?'
YUUKI.N > I hope that you can both return to this world. Suzumiya Haruki is an important observation target, an important treasure that might only appear once in this universe. Besides that, I myself also wish for you to return.
The color of the words began to fade as the electricity supply got weaker. The cursor continued to type out words.
YUUKI.N > Let us go to the library again next time.
The screen grew darker; I tried adjusting the brightness of the display, to no avail. Just before everything disappeared, Nagato typed out three more words:
YUUKI.N> the snow queen
The sudden sound of the hard disk whirring loudly made me jump in my seat. The access lights on the CPU flickered, and the familiar OS logo appeared. The sound of the computer fan was the only thing that could be heard in this silent world.
I tried to make sense of that final message. What had Nagato meant? Maybe he was talking about Yuki-onna... but that didn't seem to be right. I don't know how Nagato knew about it, but when I was little, the fairy tale of the Snow Queen was one of my favourite stories. The tale of the brave little girl going out in search of her one true love, overcoming every trial the world sent at her, until she was finally reunited with him in the palace of the Snow Queen, all of it made me imagine that someday I could have an adventure like that. And when it was all over, I could live happily ever after, together with my true love.
Yeah, right.
Real life doesn't work that way. There was no way I could experience anything like that, and I didn't have any true loves to go after anyway. If anything, I was the one waiting to be rescued, waiting in this Snow Queen's palace of Closed Space. Then again, Haruki's also here, so who's the one supposed to be doing the rescuing?
How had the story ended? The girl found the boy, and then... what did she do to bring him back?
"What should I do? Nagato! Itsuko! Someone answer me!"
I sighed deeply and turned my head despondently towards the window.
------
A deep red light shone in from outside.
I used one of dkellis' rewrites here. Thanks, dkellis.
Once or twice, the sound of the building settling startled me, and I grabbed onto Haruki’s sleeve by unconscious reflex. I really should stop being so tense!
After I did this for the second time, Haruki glanced sideways at me.“If you're that scared, then grab onto my arm. It looks more natural that way.”
“Idiot." So I said, but I didn’t let go of his jacket.
Made a few changes in the first part of my little "side-project"... nothing major, however.
No, I'm not just stalling because I've got a minor case of writer's block.
__________________
WARNING: Kogetsu Shirogane cannot be held accountable for any actions taken by someone else. Potential side effects of communicating with this user include headaches, mild confusion, insanity, delirium, and jumping into fires. Do not expose this user to sunlight or water or feed this user after midnight.
This feels like the first time I've done any work in a while...
Spoiler for Chapter 7-3 bb's edit:
That night, after having dinner and a bath and finishing my homework for tomorrow's English lesson, I decided it was time to go to sleep. I lay on my bed and opened the thick hardback book Nagato had stuffed into my arms. I thought a quick read wouldn't hurt, so I casually read the first few pages. The story was surprisingly interesting, so I kept reading page after page. You really have to read through one to understand how enjoyable a book can be. I guess reading's not so bad after all!
Of course, it's impossible to finish such a thick book in one night, so I put down the book after reading a very long monologue by one of the protagonists. I began to get sleepy, and after placing the bookmark with Nagato's handwriting into the book, I switched off the lights and crept underneath my blanket. In a few minutes, I was in dreamland.
[bb’s note: Hyperion isn’t that thick. And very vulgar monologue if it was Silenus. And isn’t most of the story monologue?]
------
Do you know why humans have dreams? Sleeping is divided into Rapid Eye Movement (REM) and Non Rapid Eye Movement (NREM), and they go in periodic cycles. NREM occurs for the first few hours after a person falls asleep, with the brain usually in a stasis-like state during this stage. The stage in which the body is unconscious, while the brain becomes slightly active is known as REM, and dreams will occur in this stage. By morning, REM will have increased in frequency, meaning almost everyone will dream until they wake up. I dream every night, but as I usually wake up late in the mornings, I'm in such a hurry to go to school that I usually forget what I've dreamed. Yet, sometimes, I'll suddenly remember a long forgotten dream I had years ago. It's really amazing how a human's memories are structured.
Alright, enough casual talk. I don’t actually give a damn anyway.
------
I felt someone shaking me. Go away! I'm tired! Don't disturb my dreams!
"…Kyon."
The alarm clock hadn't even rung yet. Even if it had, I would have turned it off at once, and it was still quite a while before dad would send my brother in to drag me out of bed.
"Wake up already."
No… I want to sleep some more… I don't have time for strange dreams.
"Oi! I said wake up! Can't you hear me?"
The hands on my shoulders now shook me ceaselessly. I finally opened my eyes when I felt the back of my head banging against the hard floor.
Hard floor?
I sat upright, looking confused. Haruki was looking down at me and backed off to avoid bumping our heads together.
"You finally awake?"
Kneeling beside me was Haruki in his school uniform. His white face displayed an expression of anxiety.
"Do you know where this is?"
Of course I do; we're at North High, the school we go to, and right now we're at the staircase in front of the shoe lockers by the school entrance. There were no lights on, and the school at night appeared grey before us…
No, wait. Something's wrong.
There was no night sky above.
Just a wide grey horizon. A monotonous sky. There was neither the moon nor stars, not even a single cloud. Only a sky as grey as the concrete walls.
[bb’s note: That phrase needs changing. My fix sucks.]
The world is covered in silence and darkness.
This is Closed Space.
I slowly got up. To my amazement, I was not wearing my pyjamas, but my sailor uniform. To my further amazement, I was wearing the ponytail I had lost 2 days ago.
"When I woke up, I found myself here, and you by my side. What's going on here? Why are we at school?" Haruki asked, his voice abnormally quiet.
I didn't answer him at first, instead trying to determine whether this was a dream or not. From the pain of pinching the back of my hand, to the feel of my uniform on my body, it didn't feel like a dream. I pulled two of my hairs out. I found out that that really hurts.
"Haruki, are we the only ones here?" I asked.
"Yeah… last I remember, I was asleep in my bed. Why are we here? The sky looks so strange..."
"Have you seen Itsuko?"
"Koizumi-san? No… why'd you mention her?"
"No reason, just curious."
If this Space was created by a ‘quake in the dimensional faultline’ or by Haruki himself, those glowing giants ought to show up and destroy everything, and Itsuko and the other espers are the only ones who can stop them. But if they’re not here…
"Anyway, let's escape from the school!” I said, walking forward. “Maybe we'll run into someone."
Haruki followed me. "Hey, how come you don't look worried at all?"
I am most certainly worried! I’m just not going to show it in front of you. What bothers me the most, though, is that you're here as well. Isn't this a playground for your giants? Or am I being oversensitive and just dreaming all of this? All alone with Haruki in an empty world… If Professor Freud were here, he could have told me what all this means!
I remained at a distance from Haruki as we walked towards the school entrance, when an invisible wall suddenly stopped us in our tracks. I still remember the elastic feel of this wall. It could be pushed inwards a bit, but soon after, another harder wall would block any attempts to penetrate further.
"…What’s this?" Haruki reached out his arms and tried to push the invisible wall with all his might. Predictably, it had no effect.
“Cold washed vegetables,” he muttered.
“Huh?”
“Nothing.”
I walked along the track field and traced the wall. It seems that we're trapped inside the school.
"It doesn’t look like there’s a way out of the school." I couldn't feel any breeze. It was as though even the air had stopped flowing.
"Let's try the back entrance!" said Haruki, never one to back down from a challenge
"I have a better idea,” I said. “Let's look for a phone. I didn't bring my cell phone to bed with me tonight.”
I don’t know how long it’ll take for the giants to come out, but I don’t want to be here when they do. Although, if this was the Closed Space that Itsuko told me about, then finding a phone would be useless. Even so, we still decided to go inside the school to look around. There should be a phone in the staff room.
The school looked eerie in the dark with all the lights off. We passed by the shoe lockers and silently entered the school building. Along the way, we turned on the lights for the first floor, and the ceiling lamps lit up at once. Even though they were cold, artificial lights, they were enough to elicit a sigh of relief from both Haruki and me.
After making sure there was no one in the classrooms on the first floor, we headed to the staff room. Of course, the door was locked, so Haruki picked up a nearby fire extinguisher, smashed the window open, and entered through there.
"...Doesn't seem to work." Haruki held the phone up to his ear, but apparently couldn’t hear anything. He tried dialing some numbers, but nothing happened.
We left the staff room and went up the stairs, turning on all the lights along the way. Haruki had suggested we return to our classroom, since the Class 1-5’s room was located at the top floor. Maybe we could figure out something by looking down from above?
Once or twice, the sound of the building settling startled me, and I grabbed onto Haruki’s sleeve by unconscious reflex. I really should stop being so tense!
After I did this for the second time, Haruki glanced sideways at me. “If you're that scared, then grab onto my arm. It looks more natural that way.”
“Idiot." I said, but I didn’t let go of his jacket.
There was no change in our classroom; it was exactly like we'd left it after school.
"Kyon, come look..."
Haruki went quiet after looking out the windows. I walked to his side and looked down at the situation.
All around was a deep grey world. Looking down from the fourth floor at the top of the hill, I could even see the horizon beyond the shore. It was all darkness within the panoramic view, without even a single light on. It was, in its own way, terrifying.
"What is this place…?” Haruki asked. “It’s like the end of the world…”
It wasn't everyone else that had disappeared, but rather, the two of us were the only ones here. It seemed that we had stumbled into Closed Space by accident.
"This is weird." Haruki crossed his arms and murmured.
Since we didn't know where else to go, we returned to the clubroom where we usually spent our afternoons. As I'd already stolen the keys from the staff room, we were able to unlock the door and enter.
Both of us breathed a sigh of relief at returning to the familiar, well-lit room.
We turned on the radio, but couldn't even hear any static. The clubroom was so quiet that only the sound of me pouring tea could be heard. I’m too lazy to take the time to change tea leaves, so I brewed the tea using thoroughly overused and tasteless tea leaves. Haruki stood beside me gazing vividly at the grey world outside.
"You want some tea?" I asked.
"No." Haruki didn’t even look at me, just continued to stare out the window.
I took my teacup, pulled out a chair, and sat down. I took a sip. Sigh… Asahina-senpai’s tea is so much better than mine. I wonder where he got such talent…
"Just what is going on here!? I don't get it! What is this place? Why am I here?" Haruki stood by the window and faced outside; he looked very troubled. "And why am I stuck here with you…?"
I scowled. "How the hell am I supposed to know?"
Haruki scowled right back at my response. "I'm going to go look around." He said and proceeded to leave the room. Just as I was about to stand up as well…
"You stay here, it’s safer. I'll be right back." After saying that, he dashed from the room. It’s so like Haruki to do just that!
While hearing Haruki’s energetic footsteps disappearing and sipping my tasteless warm tea, that thing appeared.
It was a small glowing blue sphere. At first it was the size of a table tennis ball, then slowly the sphere grew larger, shining like a firefly before finally taking on a humanoid shape.
"Itsuko, is that you?"
Before me was a glowing humanoid, but I could not see Itsuko's appearance clearly, including her eyes, nose, and mouth.
"Hi!" A relaxed feminine voice came from within the glowing object.
"It took you long enough! I thought you’d appear in your human form…
"
"Things are getting a bit complicated on our side, so it'll take a bit time to explain. I'll be honest: this isn’t normal." The blue light flickered a bit. "If this were normal Closed Space, I could have gotten inside easily, but not this time. I had to appear in this incomplete form, and as I needed some help from my companions before I could finally enter here, I can't even remain in this state for too long. Our powers are disappearing slowly, even as we speak."
"Just what's going on? Is it just me and Haruki here?"
"Yes," Itsuko answered. "What we had feared would come to pass has finally happened. Suzumiya-san has grown tired of this world, and he has decided to create a new one."
"..." I remained silent.
"Our superiors are now in total panic. No one knows what the world will become when its god has disappeared. Though it's possible the world will survive as long as Suzumiya-san decides to have mercy upon it, it is also possible that it'll vanish in an instant."
"What are you trying to say…?" I don’t want to believe this.
"To put it simply," the blue light now flickered like a flame, "You and Suzumiya-san have now disappeared from our world. This world is not Closed Space but rather a brand new world created by Suzumiya-san. The Closed Space we've seen before was probably just practice for when he decided to re-create the world for real."
You know, that’s a really funny joke, but I don't know how to laugh right now. Ha. Ha. Ha.
"It’s not a joke. This world is probably closest to the world that Suzumiya-san desires. We're still not sure what kind of world he desires, but we should have an answer to that soon."
"Look, let’s move on. The real problem is, why am I here?"
"…You really don’t get it? You are one chosen by Suzumiya-san. You are the only person that Suzumiya-san truly wants to be with. I thought you'd have figured that out by now." The light around Itsuko now glimmered like a torch running out of batteries, its brightness clearly diminishing. "I'm close to my limit now. At this rate, I'll never be able to see you again; on the other hand though, I'm kind of relieved since I no longer have to go hunting for those Celestials anymore."
"So I’m just supposed to live alone with Haruki in this grey world!?"
"Well, I guess you’re kind of like Adam and Eve. Just work hard on re-populating the world, and it'll be fine! Don’t worry, I hear childbirth gets easier after you’ve had your first one."
[bb’s note: But it’s all incest after the first generation! And you don’t have the convenient “Your younger sister is actually adopted” solution like in eroge!]
"… If I get out of this, I’m going to hurt you."
"Joking, joking! Right now this closed state is only temporary, but very soon it'll probably become similar to the world you know. Yet this world will be completely different from the world we're from. Right now, this world could be considered the real world, while the original world should be considered Closed Space. As for what differences there are between these two worlds, unfortunately, we don’t know. If I'm fortunate enough to be reborn in the new world, I’ll be counting on you to show me around."
At this moment, Itsuko the glowing humanoid object began to slowly disintegrate and then, like a star running out of fuel, now shrank to its original table tennis ball size.
"So there’s no way back to the original world?"
"If Suzumiya-san wishes it, it might be possible. I only knew you for a short while; it's a pity really, but I did enjoy my time with the SOS Brigade… Ah, right, I nearly forgot. I have to relay both Asahina Mitsuuru and Nagato Yuuki's messages to you."
Before Itsuko disappeared completely, she left this message: "Asahina Mitsuuru asked me to apologize in his place: he said, 'I'm sorry, it's all my fault.' Also, Nagato Yuuki tells you to 'Remember to turn on the computer.'"
After the message, she vanished like a candle flame blown out by the wind.
I don't know why Asahina-senpai had to apologize to me. Had Asahina-senpai done something wrong to me? But I decided not to think about that now.
Instead, I followed Nagato's request and switched on the computer. After the hard disk makes a beeping sound, the OS trademark should appear on the screen… That's strange, why is nothing showing up? The OS screen, which was supposed to appear after a few seconds, didn't appear; the screen was pitch black with only a white typing cursor flashing in the upper left corner of the screen. Then, the cursor started moving silently, and a line of cold words appeared.
YUUKI.N > Can you read this?
I was stunned for a moment, and then I pulled the keyboard closer and started typing.
'Yes.'
YUUKI.N > Right now I have not completely lost contact with the world you are in. But that is only a matter of time, since the disconnection should occur very soon. If that is true, this will be our final conversation.
'What should I do?'
YUUKI.N > I do not know. The abnormal data spurt has disappeared completely on this side. The Integrated Data Sentient Entity is very disappointed with this, because they will lose the possibility to evolve.
'What do you mean by the possibility to evolve? Just how is Haruki evolving?'
YUUKI.N > Being highly sentient means being able to process data quickly and accurately. Sentient organic life forms are limited by the excessive inaccurate and mixed-up data streams caused by their physical bodies, and are unable to process data quickly and accurately. So after evolving to a certain stage, organic life forms will cease to evolve.
'Is it possible to evolve even without a physical body?'
YUUKI.N > The Integrated Data Sentient Entity is also created from data. They too had believed that their ability to process data would increase infinitely until the universe overheated itself. But they were wrong. As with the universe having an edge, their evolution also has a limit, at least for sentient entities relying on data to survive.
'What about Suzumiya?'
YUUKI.N > Suzumiya Haruki possesses the ability to create massive amounts of data out of nothing. That is the ability that the Integrated Data Sentient Entity does not have. He can release data that could never be processed by a human, a mere organic life form, in its lifetime. The Integrated Data Sentient Entity believes if this data-creating ability is analyzed, then they will be able to find clues to how to auto-evolve.
The cursor flashed momentarily. Perhaps Nagato was hesitating on what words to use. The next second, the words flowed like water.
YUUKI.N > I'm betting everything on you.
'Betting on me for what?'
YUUKI.N > I hope that you can both return to this world. Suzumiya Haruki is an important observation target, an important treasure that might only appear once in this universe. Besides that, I myself also wish for you to return.
The color of the words began to fade as the electricity supply got weaker. The cursor continued to type out words.
YUUKI.N > Let us go to the library again next time.
The screen grew darker; I tried adjusting the brightness of the display, to no avail. Just before everything disappeared, Nagato typed out three more words:
YUUKI.N> the snow queen
The sudden sound of the hard disk whirring loudly made me jump in my seat. The access lights on the CPU flickered, and the familiar OS logo appeared. The sound of the computer fan was the only thing that could be heard in this silent world.
I tried to make sense of that final message. What had Nagato meant? Maybe he was talking about Yuki-onna... but that didn't seem to be right. I don't know how Nagato knew about it, but when I was little, the fairy tale of the Snow Queen was one of my favourite stories. The tale of the brave little girl going out in search of her one true love, overcoming every trial the world sent at her, until she was finally reunited with him in the palace of the Snow Queen, all of it made me imagine that someday I could have an adventure like that. And when it was all over, I could live happily ever after, together with my true love.
Yeah, right.
Real life doesn't work that way. There was no way I could experience anything like that, and I didn't have any true loves to go after anyway. If anything, I was the one waiting to be rescued, waiting in this Snow Queen's palace of Closed Space. Then again, Haruki's also here, so who's the one supposed to be doing the rescuing?
How had the story ended? The girl found the boy, and then... what did she do to bring him back?
"What should I do? Nagato! Itsuko! Someone answer me!"
I sighed deeply and turned my head despondently towards the window.
Well, I can't read it without editing it along the way which will me take me at least forever, so I won't right now. But I will and you have my word that I'll comment the BALLS off of this chapter.
Well, I can't read it without editing it along the way which will me take me at least forever, so I won't right now. But I will and you have my word that I'll comment the BALLS off of this chapter.
I think people might have forgotten what the main project is.
And oh joy.
Oh well, at least your edits form a Devil's Advocate so I don't get too ahead of myself.
If you want something to consider, we have kept going round in circles. While talking about other things, we keep coming back to topics like "Headphones or Hairband" and "Kyon's Alias in the Past"...
Its almost like we are trapped in a stable time loop for some reason....
(isnt the next thing a declaration by beanbrew about DFC's being superior?)
If you want something to consider, we have kept going round in circles. While talking about other things, we keep coming back to topics like "Headphones or Hairband" and "Kyon's Alias in the Past"...
Its almost like we are trapped in a stable time loop for some reason....
(isnt the next thing a declaration by beanbrew about DFC's being superior?)
You, sir, have just blown my freaking mind.
__________________
WARNING: Kogetsu Shirogane cannot be held accountable for any actions taken by someone else. Potential side effects of communicating with this user include headaches, mild confusion, insanity, delirium, and jumping into fires. Do not expose this user to sunlight or water or feed this user after midnight.
2008-06-10, 14:49
