The Rampage of Haruhi Suzumiya (16 page)

Haruhi chose to commandeer the five rooms that were closest to the stairs so we would be prepared to jump out if anybody returned to the mansion. Koizumi and I were next to each other while Nagato, Haruhi, and Asahina were across the hallway. Haruhi’s room was directly across from mine.

As I had noticed when Haruhi and I were walking around the mansion, the bedrooms were literally just that, a bed and not much else in terms of furniture. Those super-cheap business hotels had more furnishings than these bedrooms. Aside from the antique dressing table, there was just a bed and some curtains. The windows were completely sealed shut and on closer inspection turned out to be double-paned. They must have provided some soundproofing effect, as the terrible weather continued outside but I couldn’t hear the howling wind or blowing snow. It was actually kind of creepy.

There was nothing to unpack, so once we finished assigning rooms we assembled in the red-carpeted hallway.

Haruhi’s smile was unnecessarily suggestive.

“Understand, Kyon?”

Understand what?

“That should be obvious. You aren’t allowed to do what the typical adolescent boy would do in this situation. I absolutely hate stereotypes!”

So what am I supposed to do?

“Like I’m saying…”

Haruhi tugged on the arms of the two female brigade members as she leaned into the hair framing Nagato’s tranquil face before yelling at me.

“No peeking!”

I watched as the three girls walked away, with Haruhi making all the noise, before slipping out of my own room. There was complete silence in the hallways of the mansion, in contrast to the howling of the blizzard outside. The air was warm. However, I felt anything but comfortable. It was hard to appreciate warmth that only served to chill my heart.

I tiptoed my way over to the room next door and knocked softly.

“What is it?”

Koizumi stuck out his head and greeted me with a warm smile as he opened his mouth to speak. I placed a finger on my lips and he closed his mouth with a knowing look as I quietly slid into his room. I would have preferred to sneak into Asahina’s room, but I didn’t have time to play around right now.

“I have something to tell you.”

“Oh?”

Koizumi sat down on the bed and motioned for me to join him.

“What might that be? I’m very curious. Is this something you don’t want the other three members to hear about?”

“I don’t care if Nagato hears about this.”

I shouldn’t need to explain what I’m about to say.

The entire course of events from the disappearance of Haruhi to the moment I woke up in a hospital bed. Ryoko Asakura’s return, my second trip through time to the Tanabata three years before, the SOS Brigade members with completely different backgrounds, the adult version of Asahina, and how I was supposed to restore the world in the near future—

“This will be a long story.”

I sat down next to Koizumi and began to talk.

Koizumi was an excellent listener, giving appropriate responses at intervals and paying close attention to the very end.

I only covered the major points, so it didn’t take as long as I’d expected. There were a few places where I wanted to go into further detail, but my focus was on making my explanation simple and sweeping.

Koizumi willingly listened until the very end.

“I see.”

He didn’t seem particularly excited as he brushed his fingers against his mouth.

“If what you say is true, I can only say that I find it fascinating.”

Is “fascinating” how you talk to people?

“No, I truly feel that way. In fact, I have my own suspicions. Your anecdote would serve to reinforce those suspicions.”

I probably didn’t have a very amused look on my face. What kind of suspicions are we talking about?

“There is a possibility of decay.”

What are you talking about?

“Suzumiya’s power. As well as Nagato’s ability to manipulate data.”

What are you trying to say? I looked at Koizumi. He still had that innocent smile on his face.

“I mentioned before Christmas that Suzumiya has been creating closed space at a less frequent pace. And accordingly, it feels that Nagato…how should I put this, her alien aura? That atmosphere about her. It has been weakening.”

“…Heh.”

“Suzumiya’s behavior is gradually approaching that of an ordinary young girl. On top of that, Nagato is seemingly distancing herself from her position as a terminal for the Data Overmind—at least, that is how it appears to me.”

Koizumi looked straight at me.

“As far as I am concerned, these changes are more than I could ever have hoped for. If Suzumiya can accept her current reality and abandon her desire to change the world, my job will more or less be done. And it would be a big help if Nagato were to become an ordinary girl in high school. As for Asahina…well, I suppose we can cope with her being a time traveler.”

Koizumi continued with his monologue as if I weren’t there.

“You must travel back to the past in order to restore yourself and the world. Because you already witnessed the future versions of you, Nagato, and Asahina at that point in the past—I believe?”

Got that right.

“However, we are currently stranded in the middle of a blizzard on this mountain inside this dubious mansion that someone prepared for us. Circumstances beyond Nagato’s comprehension. You could say that we have been trapped inside an alternate space. If the current situation doesn’t change, you won’t be able to return to the past, so it would be safe to assume that you, Nagato, and Asahina will need to return to our original space at the very least. No, your return is inevitable at this point…”

Wouldn’t make sense otherwise. That was probably why I wasn’t as nervous as I should have been. I definitely heard my own voice back then. I had yet to return to the past, which meant that I would be making a journey in the near future. In that case, it wouldn’t be possible for me to stay in this mansion forever, as it had already been determined that I would have to leave eventually. As Asahina (Big) once said, “Or you wouldn’t be here right now, would you?”

“I see.”

Koizumi repeated himself as he smiled at me.

“However, I have a different theory to offer. A rather pessimistic theory, if you will. Put simply, this hypothesis assumes that it won’t matter if none of us ever return to our original space.”

Stop trying to act smart and just spit it out.

“Well then,” Koizumi began as he lowered his voice cautiously.

“It is possible that we are not the originals but mere copies in an alternate world.”

He paused to let me absorb his words, but they made no sense at all.

“Let me try to make this easier to understand. For instance, if our minds were scanned and copied into a digital space, what would happen? Our minds and nothing else were transported to a virtual space.”

“Copies?”

“Yes. This isn’t limited to our minds. Anything is possible if we’re dealing with power on the level of the Data Overmind. In other words, we who have wandered into this alternate space are not the originals but faithful copies that were created at a certain point. The originals are…well, they may be partying at Tsuruya’s vacation home as we speak.”

Hold on. Am I having trouble understanding your reasoning because I’m unlearned?

“That shouldn’t be the case, but I will try to use a more relevant example. Let us pretend that you are playing a computer game. A fantasy RPG. When you’re about to venture into a cave with no idea what may be inside, you save first to be safe, naturally. Even if your entire party is wiped out, you can reload from that save point. As long as the copied data exists, the originals may be kept in a safe place while all risk is delegated to the copies. If anything goes wrong, you simply reset. What would happen if that applied to our current situation?”

Koizumi had a resigned look on his face, but his smile was still intact.

“In other words, we are copies, mere guinea pigs, that have been placed in this simulated space constructed by some unknown character. A place created for the sole purpose of observing our reaction to these circumstances.”

“Koizumi…”

As I spoke, I was suddenly hit by a violent sense of déjà vu. The same incoherent intrusion by a fragment of memory I had experienced last summer during that endless August. What is this? A memory I have no recollection of is screaming in a corner of my mind. To remember.

I spoke hesitantly.

“Has anything like this happened before?”

“Do I recall being stranded on a snowy mountain before? No, I do not.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

It had nothing to do with being on a snowy mountain. I could vaguely recall being trapped in a different dimension…for some odd reason. In a very surreal place…

“You mean during the cave cricket extermination? We were certainly in an alternate space at the time.”

“Not that either.”

I racked my brain for an answer. All I could come up with was an image of Koizumi dressed in odd clothing along with Haruhi, Nagato, Asahina, and me.

Yeah, Koizumi. For some reason, I have this feeling that you were holding a harp. All of us were in archaic dress and focused on some task…

“You couldn’t be referring to memories from a past life? I would expect you to be the last person to suggest such an idea.”

If humans could actually remember past lives, we would all get along a lot better. Except that’s just an excuse used by the people who have a problem with the present.

“You are absolutely correct.”

Damn it. I can’t remember. My mind is telling me that I have no such memories of alternate space. However, deep down, my senses are saying otherwise.

What was it? I could only think of fragmented keywords such as “king,” “pirates,” “spaceships,” and “gunfights.” What did this mean? My memory was telling me that nothing like that ever happened. There was a piece of the puzzle deep down in my heart that just didn’t fit. But I wasn’t able to identify it.

Koizumi must have seen the frustrated look on my face as he continued in a composed voice.

“If we are in a space that cannot be deciphered by Nagato and causes her strain, we should be able to deduce the identity of the party or parties responsible for our mountain ordeal, the blizzard, and this mansion as well.”

I didn’t say a word.

“An entity with as much power as Nagato, or more.”

Who would that be?

“I don’t know. However, if I were the one responsible, I would have dealt with Nagato first. Unlike Asahina and me, who are virtually powerless alone, Nagato is directly connected to the Data Overmind.”

Since it seemed more godlike than Haruhi. Though I wasn’t entirely sure if the Data Overmind was one or many. But Nagato had already confessed that her link with her boss had been severed.

“It’s possible that we are dealing with a creature that wields more power than Nagato’s creator. Though that would effectively eliminate us from the picture…”

The handsome freak apparently thought of something, as he broke off in the middle of his sentence and crossed his arms.

“So you know Ryoko Asakura?”

I’d almost forgotten about her, but certain events this month have ensured that I will never forget her.

“What if the radical faction, a minority within the Data Overmind, succeeded in achieving a coup d’état? They may as well be gods from our perspective. It would be very simple to trap us in a different dimension once Nagato had been isolated.”

I remembered. The affable and cheerful class representative. The edge of the sharp knife. I had been attacked by Asakura twice and saved by Nagato both times.

“Whatever the case, there is no change in the outcome. We will spend all eternity in this mansion, unable to escape.”

Like the mythical Dragon Palace?

“A very apt metaphor. We have received a warm reception, one might say. Every possible need has been provided for. A warm and spacious mansion with a stocked refrigerator, a large bath with hot water, comfortable bedrooms…Everything besides a means of escape from the mansion itself.”

Pretty pointless then. I hadn’t given up on my life to the point where I would want to idle away in this unknown space forever. It was too early to end my high school experience, before a year had passed. And there were other people I wanted to see again who weren’t here with us. Taniguchi and Kunikida would be included among them, and it’d be pretty sad if I never saw my family or Shamisen again. Besides, I hated winter. No offense to the people who live in Iceland, but I could spend the rest of my life surrounded by snow and ice and never get used to it. You can call me the man who loves summer heat and cicada sounds.

“I am relieved to hear you say that.”

Koizumi sighed with an exaggerated gesture.

“If Suzumiya notices this abnormal situation and unleashes her power, nobody can guess what the outcome will be. That may actually be the goal of the person or persons who set this up. Since there have barely been any developments to speak of as of late, they are attempting to stimulate her into a reaction of some sort. A very common tactic. If we are mere copies that have been detached from the originals and placed in a simulated space, there is no need to hold back. You wouldn’t feel bad about making a game character suffer, would you?”

When you put it that way, I can’t deny that I’m guilty of committing a similar offense in the past. However, game characters are merely data, while we exist as flesh and blood.

“First, we must escape this place. We would be safer stranded in the real world than trapped in this alternate space. I’m sure that we’ll find a way. No, we absolutely have to find a way. Any existence that seeks to trap Suzumiya and the rest of us in here is clearly an enemy. And not an enemy of the “Agency” or Data Overmind, but an enemy of the SOS Brigade.”

Whatever. I’m willing to take anybody who agrees with me.

After that, I began to think long and hard, and I was joined by Koizumi, who placed his hand on his chin in a pose of contemplation.

Eventually—

A soft knock shattered the silence between Koizumi and me. I stood up stiffly as though my body had been glued to the bed and opened the door.