As you probably know, I'm a C-level student. Between my normal disinterest in most classes and the strain of keeping up with Haruhi's latest whim, I'm just barely able to absorb enough to pass. Suzumiya, of course, picks everything up without trying and can't understand why nobody else does it so easily. (Well, nobody else besides Nagato, but Nagato is an alien interface from the Integrated Data Entity. She quite literally IS learning.)
But even I could tell that Mr. Strame's lesson was an angle on Japanese history that none of our teachers had ever, ever taken. Far from the quiet disapproval or glossing over of some of the more shameful acts of the feudal lords, he seemed to celebrate each story of betrayal as absolutely necessary for the advancement of civilization and culture. The triumph of strength over weakness, even if the strength came from dishonorable or outright evil methods, got continuous praise throughout the lecture.
Once I glanced behind me, and saw Haruhi staring at the new teacher with a look of wonder. She was eating it up. Well, why not? She was, after all, the absolute tyrant of the SOS Brigade. "The ends justify the means" had been her motto since the Brigade's founding.
Through the rest of the day Suzumiya seemed to squirm in her chair, as if she was barely held back by an invisible chain from chasing after Mr. Strame. When the last boring, uneventful class ended she left the room like a blur, despite Otami-sensei's protest about running in the halls.
I thought about chasing after her, but decided against it. What chance did I have of pulling her away from her newest obsession? I estimated my odds at precisely zero. Instead I let my feet follow a pattern which by now was as normal as breathing, carrying me to the club room used by the SOS Brigade.
As usual Yuki was in the room when I arrived, reading a book. I looked at the title: Faust by Goethe. "How is the book?" I asked.
Yuki didn't look up. "Relevant," she said, and that was all. For Yuki that was a full and comprehensive review.
"Asahina won't be joining us today."
"I know," she said, closing the book and looking up. Her usual stare seemed slightly more serious, but in a way I didn't recognize. After a year around her I'd learned to recognize the extremely subtle hints that showed her emotions, but this was new to me. "She is hiding from the alien."
"Hiding from you? But she knows you. She might be a little shy of you, but-"
"She is hiding from the other alien," Yuki said.
What other alien?
“The alien who replaced the teacher of Class 1-5.”
So Mr. Strame is an alien? Like Yuki?
“No. He is not native to this universe. He has arrived through a charged vacuum corridor which links two fully formed universes. The Data Integration Thought Entity has never observed organic life of his type before. He is vastly more advanced than any human being. This includes Haruhi Suzumiya.”
I recalled Yuki mentioning, the day she first told me she was an alien, that though intelligence as such was common in the universe, the humans of Earth were the only species in the galaxy, and likely the universe, who created lore and wisdom. Only humans passed their thoughts on from generation to generation, building on the old and creating new all the time.
"I am currently cut off from the Data Integration Thought Entity," she continued.
I knew that. She'd been essentially cut off since the events of the Disappearance. Only my threat to- well, best not to even bring that up. John Smith was a one-shot weapon with unpredictable consequences, but if anyone truly threatened my friends…
“All organic interfaces have been cut off from communication with the Entity,” Yuki clarified.
Wait a minute… all of them? Did that include Eimi Kimidori, the student council secretary who had been the SOS Brigade’s first “case”?
“Yes. The other alien has an awareness of spacetime phenomena beyond human beings. The Entity believes that he can detect the Entity during periods of direct communication. He may also be able to detect data manipulation. If so, the Entity considers it possible that the other alien may be able to replicate data manipulation abilities once observed. This must not be permitted.” The thing I couldn’t quite identify in Yuki’s gaze grew a little bit more obvious, but her voice maintained its usual soft monotone. Why couldn’t your boss have given you the ability to raise your voice?
“The other alien must not be allowed to know that this interface is anything other than a normal human being," Yuki continued. "Yet continued observation of Suzumiya is mandatory. Thus all interfaces in this vicinity have been ordered to cease contact with the Entity and to refrain from any data manipulation. I will be unable to provide direct assistance until conditions change."
This was bad. Time and again Nagato had bailed out the members of the SOS Brigade when Haruhi's power had caused troubles. Nagato's own power had already been reduced by her alien bosses. If she couldn't use it at all now, then the Brigade had lost its single greatest protection.
And with Asahina gone into hiding, there would be no hints from the future or trips to the past to fix what went wrong. That left Koizumi, an esper whose powers only worked under unpredictable circumstances, and one perfectly ordinary, average, non-powered human being.
"But you don't have to obey an order from your boss, do you?" I asked. "If it’s already annoyed with you, what's one more thing?"
"I do not wish it," Yuki said, looking straight into my eyes. For a brief moment I saw the eyes of the other Yuki, the Nagato of the world of the disappearance, totally human, frightened out of her mind by a strange man with a gun confronting her on a dark street in the middle of the night.
So this was what fear looked like, on Nagato. I didn't like the look at all.
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(Posted Sun, 28 Apr 2013 06:02)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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