If you aren’t, I’d like to show you the spectacle before my eyes. You’ll get to know it well, down to the details.
Because, this kamadouma had a length of about three meters.
“What is this thing?” I asked.
“It’s a kamadouma, isn’t it?” answered Koizumi.
“I know that. At kindergarten age, I was a famous insect expert. Though I haven’t seen the real thing, I knew how to differentiate between an uma-oi and a kutsuwamushi. That’s okay, but what is this?”
Nagato’s answer seeped out like a trickle.
“The creator of this space.”
“This thing?”
“Yes.”
“Is this also Haruhi’s doing?”
“The origin is different. But what started it was her.”
As I was going to ask what it was again, I noticed that Nagato was still naively following my command.
“…You can move now.”
“I see.”
Slipping her hand down, Nagato looked intently at the materializing giant kamadouma. The dark brown benjo ko-orogi was settling down on a spot several meters away from us.
“Well. While imperfect, it seems like I can use my power here.”
What Koizumi was holding in one hand was a red globe of light as big as a handball. Since the last time I saw it somewhere before, I had thought that I’d never see that ruby a second time. It seems like it had come out from his palm.
“My strength is at ten percent of what it would be in closed space, here. Moreover, it seems like I’m not able to transform myself.”
For some reason, Koizumi turned to Nagato with the refreshing smile that I’d gotten tired of seeing and asked,
“Was it determined that this much would suffice?”
“…………”
Nagato had no reaction. I went back to asking her.
“Anyway, Nagato. What is that bug’s true identity? And where is the president?”
“That is a sub-species of data life-form. It is using the brain tissue of a young male student to heighten the probability of its existence.”
Koizumi put his finger on the middle of his forehead. He looked like he was considering something, and then appeared to be somewhat concentrating on those thoughts. Raising his face, Koizumi asked,
“By any chance, is the president inside this giant kamadouma?”
“Correct.”
“This kamadouma…… I see, this is the president’s image of an object of fear, isn’t it? If we defeat it, this differing space will collapse. Am I wrong?”
“You are not mistaken.”
“It helps that it was an easily-understood metaphor. In that case, this’ll be simple.”
But it wouldn’t be simple if it wasn’t easy to understand. Then let’s just say that Asahina-san and I can understand it.
“It doesn’t seem to be the time for that, does it?”
Without raising his last word, he put the red globe somewhere with a suave smile, and then Asahina-san was hanging on to my waist, somehow. The way things are going, “somehow” is always how it’s going to be.
“Hyoeee~”
Asahina-san wasn’t just trembling, she was taking away my range of mobility. Under these circumstances, I won’t be able to escape, will I?
“That won’t be necessary, I hope. I’ll finish it in a moment. I have such confidence, for some reason. It should be easier than hunting ‘Avatars’.”
The kamadouma that had just finished materializing is not just going to be flying away any time soon, I suppose. How many meters can it jump, I wonder. I feel like estimating….. but let’s not.
I abruptly said.
“Get on with it.”
“Roger that.”
Koizumi tossed the ruby upwards and struck it like he was serving a volleyball. The red handball flew accurately, crashing right into the front of the monster kamadouma, and made a sound like an exploding paper balloon. It was a stupid attack, but the opponent was stupid as well. Even though I had prepared for some kind of counterattack, the kamadouma did not escape, jump, or roar a mysterious sound, rather it just stayed there peacefully.
“Is it over?”
At Koizumi’s question, Nagato gave her assent. It really did finish quickly. The giant kamadouma diffused to its original misty form, and then continued thinning steadily. The ocher haze that shimmered in all directions was disappearing as well. And so was the freezing sensation under my feet.
As for our supposed compensation, a man in a familiar uniform had appeared. Falling on his back and facing upwards was the Computer Club’s president.
In front of the PC rack, his eyes were closed, looking like he had slipped off his chair. He seemed to be alive. Koizumi leaned over him from the side and put his hand on his neck, and gave me a nod.
Nagato was standing before the bookshelves, gazing at Asahina-san, who was beside the bed looking dazed, and at me.
We were in a room of a studio condominium. I wondered where that vast space could’ve gone.
At any rate, it was all good. Whether it was gray or ocher, I’ve had enough of being trapped in wide spaces.
“Approximately two-hundred-and-eighty million years ago.”
So began Nagato’s explanation, a cosmic mystery of electro-magnetic waves, and if I were to break it up and boil it down, it would be as follows.
It was the Permian or the Triassic period when [that thing] descended to Earth, and at the time there was nothing in the world for it to possess. Losing its basis for existence, it settled into hibernation for its self-preservation. Until an information accumulation body with which it can exist on earth appears.
“It did not have the means to exist on the earth. Freezing all action, it settled into slumber.”
Before long, humans were born unto the world, and humans gave birth to computer networks. Though imperfect, utilizing that childish (according to Nagato) digital information network as a seedbed was feasible. But it was insufficient, and the thing remained at a half-awakened state. However, an incident occurred which prompted its awakening. Instead of an alarm clock, floating in the net was a single detonator. It carried information that could not be measured by normal numerical values. Data that does not exist in this planet. An alien world’s information data. For the thing, that was the physical medium it had been anxiously waiting for…….
Nagato ended her talk without flourish.
Nagato, who was doing something with the president’s home computer, displayed the SOS Brigade online site, and projected the damaged SOS Brigade emblem on the monitor as she was speaking.
“The invocation sign drawn by Suzumiya Haruhi is the catalyst. It became the door.”
“…It was this SOS Brigade emblem, from before, this thing, this summoning magic circle or something?”
“Yes.” Nagato said with a nod of her head. “Converting this SOS Brigade crest into Earth standard, it holds approximately four-hundred-thirty-six terabytes of information.”
It can’t be. That image data wasn’t even ten kilobytes. But Nagato calmly said,
“It does not correspond to any unit on Earth.”
“Amazing odds, aren’t they? Because, even though it was a symbol that she had just happened to draw, it was a perfect fit. She truly is Suzumiya-san. Astronomical figures are as nothing.”
Looks like Koizumi is seriously impressed. However, I was seriously afraid. What was I afraid of?
Most of the things Haruhi does come from mere ideas. Forming the SOS Brigade and assembling the members were like that. Asahina-san, who was perfectly suited to being a mascot character, Koizumi, who had transferred schools, and Nagato, who was there from the beginning. And as it turns out, Asahina-san was a time-traveler, Koizumi an esper, and Nagato a pseudo-alien. She’s already accomplished too much. Actually, Koizumi would say it wasn’t by chance, spouting some nonsense like it was because Haruhi had desired it. Even though I’m starting to believe just a little, I still won’t go for it. Bec
ause I, myself, am a simple, ordinary person. That alone should be enough counter-proof. By Koizumi’s theory, it would be strange if there were no electro-magnetic wave profile hidden in me. Though there was supposed to be…
If there was another side to Haruhi’s actions that I had thought meaningless, what then? She, herself, does not know the consequence. Like her own original letters, which she had casually pictured in her head, becoming some kind of message for aliens somewhere. Like a cat hitting a keyboard and producing meaningful sentences. What kinds of odds were there on such things?
That troublesome girl named Suzumiya Haruhi, who easily breaks through the walls of probability and statistics, and unconsciously arrives at the correct solutions; I’d be better off if she had made me join the SOS Brigade because she considered me some kind of an errand boy. Yep, that’s the thing. That’s totally better than thinking that I, myself, have such an idiotic and enigmatic alter-ego. So, do I? Perhaps my background is that there is some kind of unpredictable and unusual ability within me that I do not know about.
Is that why I was chosen? A secret me that I do not know about, frankly, does not exist.
What scares me is the next point.
Who am I?
I shrugged, in an imitation of Koizumi. Ah well, as he says it. I, myself, am the one who understands my own part the most. The long and short of it is, I am the SOS Brigade’s only conscience. There is no mistaking that one. My nature differs from that of the other three brigade members. I am in the SOS Brigade for the sake of persuading Haruhi to live a normal high school life. Aside from stopping her unlawful club activities, it is my duty to make her freely disband the brigade. If you think about it deeply, that is the fast-track to arriving at a peaceful world. No, it is the only straight track.
Rather than changing how Haruhi thinks of the world, changing Haruhi’s inner world would be simpler and would bother nobody else.
Then again, if I hadn’t given her that strange inspiration, there might not have been an SOS Brigade. So let’s see, umm, it’s a case-by-case thing. Show it somehow, huh. But I don’t know what day that will be, and why I’d have to do such a thing.
Let’s put that aside for now.
“So in the end, what was that kamadouma, really?”
If I didn’t ask this right now, the story will never end. In a tone that seemed to be saying that she was really exhaling carbon dioxide, Nagato answered,
“Information life-form.”
“A relative of your patron?”
“It branched off in the distant past. Though their origin is identical, these evolved differently, and went extinct.”
Or so they thought, but here was a survivor. It didn’t have to hibernate on Earth, of all places. I wish it could’ve gone to bed somewhere around Neptune. It could’ve frozen itself so it could’ve fallen asleep.
To think that the development of the internet would become a pseudo-demon’s breeding grounds. I suddenly thought of something. Going near the bed, I asked the petite upper classman,
“Asahina-san, up to what extent have the computers of the future progressed?”
“Eh…”
Asahina-san opened her lips and froze. At any rate, it was probably prohibited, so I wasn’t expecting anything, but someone else answered.
“Such primitive information networks will no longer be in use.”
Nagato said, not sensing the atmosphere. Pointing at the PC, she said,
“For organic life-forms at the level of earthlings, inventing a system that does not depend on storage media is simple.”
Nagato’s gaze moved horizontally. When it got to her, Asahina-san paled.
Is that so?
“That is… Umm…”
Faltering, Asahina-san looked down.
“I can’t say…”
In a whimpering voice, she said,
“I can’t affirm or deny it; I was not given the authority. I’m sorry.”
No, that’s okay. No need to apologize, seriously. I don’t particularly feel that I want to know???Hey, Koizumi, why are you making such a disappointed face, is there something you don’t like?
To save Asahina-san, I decided to change the subject. Hmm, what could there be, ah yes.
“Something’s strange.”
After waiting until I had gathered everyone’s attention on myself, I continued,
“I was present when Haruhi was drawing that stupid portrait, but nothing was awakened. Why didn’t that thing appear around the time Haruhi finished the picture?”
The one who answered was Koizumi.
“As for the clubroom, it’s because it had already been transformed into differing space for some time. Varying types of elements and force fields are battling and negating each other, and in contrast, it becomes just about normal. I guess you could say it’s at the saturation point. Since various things have already met the fusion capacity, there is no room for further integration.”
What a theory. So what you’re saying is that, the Literature Club room has become some kind of terrible den of evil? I hadn’t noticed at all.
“That’s because ordinary people do not have such unnecessary sensors attached. That may be, but as it is, I think it’s harmless. Probably.”
Ah well. However, though it’s good if prevailing temperatures would just cool down, I wouldn’t want to be acting strangely or looking for a rope to hang myself with before I knew it.
“No need to worry, everything will be all right. Because Nagato-san, Asahina-san, and I are dutifully working hard so that would not happen.”
Are you sure this isn’t happening because the three of you are working hard?
Smiling, Koizumi said, “Ah well,” then inclined his head as he turned up both his palms.
I turned my eyes back to the computer screen. As I looked at the broken down symbol of the SOS Brigade, I felt uneasy for some reason. Manipulating the mouse to move the cursor, I scrolled to the bottom of the page.
“Geh?!”
The access counter was displayed. It had somehow returned to normal, and was banging out the number of visitors. The last time I had seen it, the number wasn’t three figures. Now, our SOS Brigade Site’s counter had… Ones-tens-hundreds-thousands…… Turned to almost three thousand. How could this be? Where did it get such exposure?
“It placed hyperlinks on various locations.”
Nagato quietly said.
“This information life-form did that in order to multiply. Exceedingly primitive. Its method was to copy its self-information into the brains of people who saw the sign, and create restricted space. It required as many humans as possible.”
“So then, the people who had seen it… The almost three thousand of them, will end up the same as the president?”
“Negative. The data of the summoning crest had been damaged. The number of people who had viewed the correct information source is not many.”
Though I had been thinking that the server was likely out-of-order, that might have actually helped.
“How many people? Those idiots that clicked such a dubious link and looked fully at that marking.”
“Eight people. Five of whom are North High students.”
So in that case, eight more people are trapped in ocher-colored space? In spaces governed, not just by kamadouma, but all sorts of metaphors? To help them??? well, we’ll probably need to go. Koizumi asked Nagato for the addresses of those people (I wasn’t surprised that Nagato knew those things somehow), and it seems like Asahina-san is also intending to follow the pair. If that’s the case, then I guess it wouldn’t do for me to not go as well. Though Haruhi did the worst of it, the one who had discharged this magic-circle-like thing on the net was me, so I’d better clean up my own mess.
And also for the sake of clearing up this guilty feeling.
Setting aside the victims from North High, it seems like we’ll have to catch a ride at the Shinkansen somehow for the three other people that had to be rescued.
So.
<
br /> It’s the beginning of the exam break. The remaining act became nothing but waiting for summer vacation in the clubroom.
As for Haruhi, when I had informed her that the club president had come to school,
“Hmm. Really.”
Was all she said before flying out of the room, and is probably eating her heart out at the cafeteria right about now. Koizumi and Asahina-san have yet to come.
By the way, in the case of the Haruhi-devised SOS Brigade symbol, I had fixed it by pasting on Nagato’s retake. I was able to skillfully upload it this time, well, why was that, I wonder? It should be okay for people who see this to stick their eyes onto it from now on. It almost doesn’t differ from Haruhi’s clumsy illustration, but if you compare them carefully, you’ll see that “ZOZ Brigade” is displayed. Having that as the only difference, it was at the brink of whether strange things would or would not appear.
An epigram for the moment: I want to impulsively click the link to an unknown address, but how?
Thinking about such things, I gazed absent-mindedly at Nagato, who had been reading a technical book lined with numbers at the table’s edge. Watching Nagato’s face, I happened to think of something.
Though I didn’t know when this person noticed Haruhi’s summoning image, could she be the one who destroyed the data?
One more thing; there was Kimidori Emiri-san, the one who brought this case to us. Just a while ago, when I went to inquire at the Computer Club’s room, I heard that the club president had no girlfriend. He said so himself, seeming healthy, though he was troubled about having no memory of the past several days. Not at all having the appearance of having lied, he was decidedly agape when I had mentioned Kimidori-san’s name. The president was not some versatile entertainer who could give such a real performance.
I was suspicious.
Was Kimidori-san’s coming to the SOS Brigade really, truly, for a request? If you think about it, the timing was too good. Haruhi did her prank drawing, and I pasted it onto the site. Then some people who had seen it were taken to some information life-form in some different dimension. After inquiring about the story from the visiting Kimidori-san, we turned towards the club president’s home. And then, somehow did some exterminating.
Volume 3 - The Boredom of Suzumiya Haruhi Page 11