[FFML] [Haruhi] [Dark] Error in Calculation: Chapter Five

[Brian Randall]

     Error in Calculation

     Chapter Five: The Last Morning

    	A 'Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi' fanfiction.

	Disclaimer: The novel 'Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu'/'The Melancholy of
Suzumiya Haruhi' is the creation of Nagaru Tanigawa.  No disrespect is
intended by the posting of this fanfiction, as I do not own the
characters or settings involved.  I'm merely dabbling with another set
of paints.  ;)

     Additionally, a character or two is borrowed from Higurashi,
which is the creation of Ryukishi07, but don't read too much into
that.
	---------------------------------
     Her world was supposed to be full of smiles and joy.  She wase an
heir to a vast family, with responsibilities to weigh on her at some
far future day.  But that was supposed to be years away; as long as
she kept her reputation reasonably clean, she should have had all the
time she needed to have fun!

     She was most certainly not having fun.

     Things started going wrong the day that her friend, Asahina
Mikuru came over in tears, sobbing endlessly about classified
information and death.

     Still, how could you spread joy and cheer if you just ignored
everyone who was unhappy, especially when they were supposed to be
your friends?  She'd tried her best to cheer Mikuru up, even though
she had no idea who this 'Kyon' person she was so broken up about was.
 A boyfriend Mikuru had just never mentioned?  A classmate that
Tsuruya just hadn't met?

     There was no real time to puzzle it out, unfortunately, before
perimeter security alarms and her household staff had begun to panic.
Despite the ... connections ... that her family had and the training
of her security staff, they weren't properly armed.

     Not for what had happened, anyway.

     In a matter of moments, she and Mikuru were the last ones left.
The phone lines had been cut, and by the time she had thought of her
cell phone, it was too late.

     That was when things had started getting worse.

     She knew her family had enemies, but she had no idea that Mikuru
did, too.  Certainly not enemies that would do what these men and
women had.

     So, when push came to shove -- which it had -- she'd fought tooth
and nail.  Then a sizzling, blinding charge from a stun-gun had
dropped her, and when she tried to keep on fighting after that,
another had sent her spiraling into darkness.  When she woke up, she
was bound not far from Mikuru.  The empty syringe next to her friend
could have meant anything, but she was confident it was nothing good.

     Twice a day, the door would open, a grim-faced man would walk
into her own room with a tray, ignoring her struggles and curses,
inject the still-sleeping Mikuru with ... something ... then point a
pistol at her and tell her that it was her job to take care of her
friend.  She had no desire to make _that_ man smile and laugh, but she
wouldn't turn her back on her friend.  With tiny motions, her wrists
bound together, she would carefully wipe Mikuru's face with a moist
towel, then struggle to spoon some broth into her mouth, which would
mean she needed to wipe her face again....

     Once a day, the man would return with a woman, who would lead her
in tiny, shuffling steps to the washroom, then lead her back, neither
of them caring if she tripped except to haul her to her feet again.

     After that, she was left alone.  Struggling chafed her wrists and
ankles until they bled, and she'd tried gnawing at the cords binding
her wrists, but they were rough and tore at her lips and gums.

     So she waited as patiently as she could.  She wasn't certain how,
but she was confident that some day, hopefully soon, she'd be able to
smile and laugh again.

     And until that day, she took care of her friend to the best of her ability.

     ***

     "I'm sorry," the girl who looked like Haruhi said, giving him a
somewhat puzzled, friendly smile before turning to examine the world
around them.  "Interesting.  A dimensional fault.  We had suspected
the existence of such places, but typically consider them to be little
more than junk data."

     Koizumi desperately tried to embrace his power, but all that
happened in response was a slight tightening of the grip on his hand.

     "I see," she added, nodding slightly.  "You possess a function
that allows you to shift between quantum states to this bubble of
non-concurrent reality.  And in this space, you also possess functions
to manipulate your attribute data."  Her expression turned a bit sad,
more serious.  "Please calm yourself.  Accelerated heart rate,
perspiration, and labored breathing as well as increased adrenaline
levels are noted.  I do not wish you any harm."

     "Is that so?" he managed, blinking.  "Then why are you holding me
in place?  Why don't you show me your true self?"

     "Very well," she said agreeably, and he felt her hand shift in
his, changing proportion slightly, fingers becoming longer, her height
increasing as her hair lengthened, changed color and style.  A
heartbeat later, a kindly looking face with pale green eyes gazed into
his.  "This is not really my true self, but this is my default organic
form.  Does this reassure you?"

     "TFEI," he said in surprise.  "You're....  You're with Nagato-san?"

     "That is correct," she said, nodding.  "Though it cannot be
assumed we are all aligned, Nagato-san and I have formed a partnership
to try and amend the damage caused by Asakura Ryouko."

     "Will you let me go?"

     "Momentarily," she allowed.  "I do not wish to be abandoned here.
 Except for relying on direct access to my superiors, I do not have
the capabilities to cross this dimensional fault on my own.  I
apologize again, but I am going to take a sample of your makeup now,
should such a crossing be required later."

     Itsuki's eyes widened in amazement as his hand was freed from
whatever force held it in place, though all of his strength couldn't
budge it from the girl's grip for a heartbeat.  She slowly, tenderly
raised his wrist to her face ... and bit him.  Her canines pierced his
flesh, but curiously, it didn't even sting.  Her soft lips wrapped
around the wounded area, and he felt a disconcerting tingle.

     Brushing the hair from her face, she pulled away, fingertips
tracing across the puncture wounds, brushing them away to nothing.  As
suddenly as it had come about, the force locking him in place
vanished, leaving him to wobble unsteadily as he recovered his
balance.  He snatched his wrist away from her and studied it closely,
but didn't find any traces of the wound, only the faintest smudges of
lipstick.  His face colored as he pulled a handkerchief from his
pocket and wiped them away fiercely.

     She blinked at him innocently, raising a fingertip to her lips.
"I'm sorry ... was that your first?"

     "No!" he snapped, before shaking his head.  "Well....  No, that
doesn't-  We're getting a bit off subject."

     She nodded.  "That is true.  What was your plan in abducting
Suzumiya Haruhi?"

     "Abducting?" he asked, trying to keep the indignation from his
voice.  "I was rescuing her!  That is...."

     "Ah," the girl said, frowning.

     "What's your name, anyway?"

     "Kimidori Emiri," she answered, bowing.

     "Koizumi Itsuki," he introduced himself, irritated that he could
still feel the heat in his face.  "A...anyway, I was trying to rescue
Suzumiya-san."

     "Suzumiya Haruhi is safe," Emiri replied.  "We are protecting her."

     "Well....  I feel a bit silly, then," Itsuki sighed, giving a weak shrug.

     "It was intended that I be mistaken for Suzumiya Haruhi," Emiri
reassured him.  "However, you have a vested interest in her.  May I
ask your long term goals?"

     "I don't want to fight you," he said, shaking his head.

     "I'm pleased to hear that; I don't enjoy confrontational roles."

     "That's reassuring.  Anyway, I want to try and find ... someone
who can take me back in time, to keep Kyon from being killed," he
finally said.  "That is my ultimate goal."

     The girl's smile brightened, and Itsuki was uncomfortably
reminded of the smile he practiced himself every day in the mirror
before going to school.  "That is very fortuitous!  This happens to be
our goal as well."  She held out one hand, palm up.  "May we return to
the other side of the dimensional fault?  The detectives in this room
in the baseline physical existence are my allies.  They do not
understand the significance of Asahina Mikuru explicitly, but they are
aware that she is important to us and this mission."

     "I never said her name," Itsuki said warily.

     "You did not have to," Emiri replied, her form wavering as she
shifted to look like Haruhi once more.  Her voice had changed by the
time she added, "Aren't our goals the same?"

     Itsuki closed his eyes.  Thought about the desperation of his
mission.  Considered how little progress he'd made, as hard as he
tried so far.  "Well, as it is said, 'any port in a storm'," he agreed
reluctantly, taking her hand and stepping back across the closed space
barrier despite his misgivings.

     ***

     Akasaka stared dumbly at the empty space where Koizumi Itsuki had
appeared, before he seized Haruhi -- who Oishi had claimed was
actually Kimidori Emiri -- and then shifted through the spectrum of
colors over the span of a heartbeat, and vanished once more.

     Falling heavily into an empty seat, he turned his troubled eyes
to Oishi, who had stood quickly, but not quickly enough to do
anything.  Grumbling, the heavyset man turned on the overhead fan and
opened his office window.  Rain from the continual storm splashed
across the windowsill and onto the floor, but the detective ignored
it, lighting a cigarette and taking a long pull.

     "It's like that," he said dourly, blowing out a stream of smoke.
"And I won't call you paranoid.  I believe that Koizumi Itsuki is part
of ... something now.  I just don't know what."

     Akasaka barked a laugh, then shook his head, closing his eyes and
taking a long minute to collect his thoughts.  "This is insane," he
finally groaned.  "Okay.  I'll believe you, Oishi-kun.  Asakura Ryouko
was ... something else ... and she was ... killed by Nagato Yuki and
Kimidori Emiri.  What ... exactly is it they want from us?"

     The same distortion of color and space appeared, Koizumi
reappearing only a step from where he had vanished, Haruhi -- Emiri,
Akasaka corrected himself -- holding his hand.  This time, he was
already lunging at the boy, stun-gun buzzing with an electrical charge
before the special effects had faded.

     Emiri's hand reached out and intercepted the weapon before it
reached Koizumi.  "Please do not do that," she said mildly, as the
crackle of discharge sounded and a scent of ozone filled the air.

     Akasaka felt his left eyebrow twitch in frustration, but dropped
the stun-gun to the floor.

     "Allies?" Koizumi asked, giving the girl a doubtful look.

     "Our manner of vanishing and reappearing is jarring to an
informed world-view," Emiri said, ducking her head.  "Apologies."

     "I'll say," Koizumi murmured, crossing his arms over his chest
and giving the NPA agent a mild smirk.  "So, Kimidori-san says we're
working together?"

     "Are we?" Oishi drawled, not moving from the window.  "It hardly
seems like we can do much compared to everything we've seen you do."

     "You've seen," Akasaka clarified.  "Koizumi Itsuki is still
suspected of being part of a large illegal financial scheme, aside
from which, he fled the country.  Or used a lookalike with his own
passport."

     "You've learned about the Organization?" the boy asked, raising
an eyebrow.  "That's somewhat complicated."

     The detective blew a stream of smoke out.  "Are you willing to
talk about it?" he asked.  "If we're involved, as police, we need
something solid to go on.  It's not like we can simply break into
whatever house we want to for you ... aside from which, couldn't you
just do it yourself?"

     "We may possess that ability, but it is both unsubtle and lacking
in direction," Emiri explained.  "We do not know where Asahina Mikuru
is."

     "Neither do we," Akasaka said sourly.  "Forensic examination of
her apartment didn't give us anything useful, and her parents may as
well not exist."

     "I can tell you some about the Organization, but I was kept in
the dark on a lot of things," Koizumi said, shaking his head.  "Right
now, they're fractured and going through a power struggle.  My handler
and I split from them, and I'm trying to rally the others ... like
myself, to unify for our purpose regardless of what the Organization
is attempting."

     "What do you know, then?"

     "We believe another faction of the Organization has captured
Asahina Mikuru.  Her last known whereabouts involve the Tsuruya
family."

     "Tsuruya," Oishi murmured.  "Alright, let's see ... I should have
Tsuruya-san's interview here."  He tossed his cigarette out the window
and moved to his desk, tapping a few keys on the keyboard of his
computer.  "Right.  She didn't show up at Kitago for Student K's
memorial, but my assistant interviewed her a few days ago concerning
the investigation.  She had nothing to offer about Student K, at
least, according to Aida-chan."

     Koizumi looked thoughtful, turning to look at the detective.
Akasaka fell into his chair again, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Would that be Mizuno Aida?" the boy asked cautiously.

     Oishi looked up sharply.  "You know him?"

     "I know _of_ him," the boy said slowly.  "He worked for another
faction of the Organization."

     Oishi's face contorted, before he closed his eyes and took a
deep, shaky breath.  "I shouldn't be surprised," he muttered, rubbing
his forehead.  He tapped a few more keys on his keyboard, brow
furrowed as he focused.  "Well," he finally said, shaking his head,
"he submitted a report for the interview with Tsuruya-san, but it
looks legitimate from here."

     "Though ... if there's a shadowy 'Organization'," Akasaka mused,
"we could easily come up with a reason to investigate."

     The detective raised an eyebrow doubtfully.  "Such as?"

     "Koizumi-kun here just needs to be seen entering the estate,"
Akasaka explained.  "He's already wanted for questioning.  We can
release Suzumiya--  Ah, sorry, Kimidori-san, here, and he can 'abduct'
her, drag her into the Tsuruya estate, and then ... vanish.  At this
point, I'll mobilize the Special Assault Team -- we can probably
consider this on level with terrorism, given the passport violations,
abduction of Suzumiya Haruhi, and everything else in this case that's
gone wrong."

     The boy's smile slipped.  "I suppose that might work," he said,
somewhat doubtfully.  "I'm to be a terrorist now?"

     "Why not?" Akasaka asked, shrugging his shoulders.  "This world's
crazy enough.  You're confident that the Organization is at the
Tsuruya estate?"

     "I'm confident they _have_ been," Koizumi corrected.  "They could
be gone, now, for all I know."

     "It's still probably the best lead we have," Oishi murmured,
furrowing his brow.

     "The path is somewhat convoluted, but if that is where Asahina
Mikuru is, or leads to the revelation of her physical location, then I
will agree," Emiri said after a pause.  "However, Nagato-san and I
will switch places, so it would be convenient for our fiction if I
could be returned to her apartment, first."  She turned to Koizumi,
adding, "You will not be able to cross the dimensional fault directly
into Nagato-san's apartment, but if you wish to verify that we are
protecting Suzumiya-san, you may go there and see her."

     Koizumi raised his eyebrows, then nodded.  "I'd like that.  Where
is her apartment?"

     Oishi snorted, shaking his head, and scribbled the directions
down on a notepad.  "Here," he said.  "Instructions from the train
station.  I can't believe we're actually doing this...."

     Koizumi accepted the paper, studying it briefly before pocketing
it.  "Kimidori-san, why are you and Nagato-san going to be switching,
anyway?"

     "Nagato-san is more suited to emergency combat situations," Emiri
answered.  "Her functions are slightly more active than mine, even
though we are both assigned as observers."

     "You aren't all the same thing?" Akasaka asked, frowning.

     "It's probably not worth explaining," the boy said with a shrug.
"But, consider me an esper.  I can move to sealed realities that we
call 'closed space', and fight manifestations of ... well, I fight to
save the world.  As I said, it's somewhat complicated.  The
Organization calls Kimidori a 'TFEI', but I don't actually know what
that means."

     Emiri's eyes fixed on Koizumi in warning, but he either didn't
catch it, or pretended not to notice.  "Let's leave it at that," she
said gently.  "What we are is not relevant here."

     "Fair enough," the boy allowed, nodding.  "Anything else?
Otherwise, I'll be at Nagato-san's apartment, and then we'll perform
our little abduction play."

     "It would be convenient if you could perform the abduction while
we were in the parking lot," Oishi remarked, rubbing his chin
thoughtfully.  "But in order to keep this all consistent for the
agencies we report to, we have to have a plausible explanation for you
outrunning us with a hostage on foot while we have a patrol car.  And
I don't feel like giving you any weapons to say you threatened us or a
taxi driver with them, even if it would make it easier for Akasaka to
justify the SAT."

     Koizumi pursed his lips, then nodded.  "Okay," he said, finally.
"I should be able to arrange for a driver.  However, I want your word
that if you capture my handler, you'll go easy on," a momentary pause,
which both Oishi and Akasaka had been trained to catch, "him."

     "Fine," Oishi allowed, nodding, trading a knowing glance with his
NPA counterpart.  "As long as we don't see your handler actually
harming or trying to harm anyone, we'll go as easy on them as we can."

     "You're going to want to be very careful of the Special Assault
Team," Akasaka added.  "They're well trained, and even if I tell them
you're an undercover agent -- which they'd never believe with your age
-- they'd still try and capture you the same as anyone else.  That's
just procedure.  So if you plan on doing anything at the site, make
sure it doesn't look threatening to any hostages from the other side
of a scoped rifle."

     The boy's smile totally vanished and he looked ill, shaking his
head unhappily.  "We need Asahina Mikuru," he grumbled, frowning.

     "She's a person of interest in this case," Oishi said, shrugging.
 "I doubt we could _stop_ you, but all the same...."

     "If absolutely required, I will substitute myself for Asahina
Mikuru and submit to questioning," Emiri interrupted.  "However,
Nagato-san and myself are encountering ... limited resources to work
with, in preparation for more advanced plans.  It would be preferable
if this was not required.  Ideally, we will bring her into our own
protective custody."

     "How long until the world's destroyed?" the detective asked,
leaning back in his creaking leather chair.

     Emiri looked slightly to one side, then back.  "Destabilization
is expanding rapidly; less than thirty-six hours remain.  Basic
functionality of most lifeforms on this planet may be compromised
before then."

     Koizumi shuddered.  "What if we were to remove all the Shinjin?" he asked.

     "Shinjin?  I don't....  Ah, I understand.  It is not your closed
spaces or a failure on your part that will destroy the world, it is
Suzumiya Haruhi's emotional state as she refuses to be satisfied with
this world.  Within the next twenty-four hours or fewer, your own
abilities will undergo quantum breakdown and cease working as she
embraces the new reality over the current one.  We cannot know what
new world she will attempt to create yet, but the slow realization she
is enduring ensures that this world will be destroyed by her in the
process, not simply abandoned."

     "I was happier not hearing that," Akasaka said, rubbing at his
temples.  "Please tell me that we're not mobilizing the Special
Assault Team illegally because of a teenage girl's inability to cope."

     "I'm sorry."  The being that looked like Haruhi bowed
apologetically to Akasaka.  "In that case, I retract my statement.
Pretend I said nothing."

     Itsuki's expression betrayed a hint of dark amusement.  "It's
more complicated than that," he said quietly.

     Oishi snorted, shaking his head.

     "Okay," Akasaka said, glancing between the boy and girl standing
in the middle of the room, "one other thing.  We don't have any
confirmation that Asahina-san is actually in the Tsuruya estate,
unless I'm mistaken."

     The boy looked away, but nodded.  "That's right.  I just have
suspicions," he admitted.

     "That's not too bad," Oishi countered.  "As long as we find
something suitably illegal.  If there are 'Organization' people there
and we capture them, then we can try and find out where Asahina-san is
through them."

     "I suppose that's true," Akasaka allowed, shaking his head.  "But
I still don't really like this.  Fine; we're done plotting our
conspiracy, here?"

     "Yes," Itsuki allowed, frowning slightly.  "I guess ... you'll
see me later."  With that, he stepped into that shifting curtain of
draining color, and was gone.

     "Let's get you home, Kimidori-san," Akasaka grumbled.
"Oishi-kun, can you drive?  I need to make some phone calls."

     "Yeah," the detective agreed, closing the window.  "Let's get
this over with."

     'Haruhi' lowered her head slightly, her expression mimicking the
depression of the actual girl ... wherever she was.

     ***

     Back in closed space, Itsuki streaked across the sky towards the
train-station listed on Oishi's scrawled note, swiftly following the
directions the detective had written out.  He was about to land and
enter real space to walk into the apartment building before he spotted
a conspicuous broken window leading to an inner hallway on the seventh
floor.  He hovered nearby for a moment, frowning, then flew through
the police tape covering it and crossed back into real space.  Oddly
enough, space felt strangely _thick_ around the apartment, and pushing
through it took more effort than he was used to.

     When he finished, he glanced down the hallway to see Nagato
staring at him, standing in an open apartment doorway.

     "Enter," she instructed.

     Shaking his head, he did as he was told.  "It's good to see a
familiar face," he told her, wondering if she cared.

     She studied him for a moment, then closed the door behind him and
sat at the table.  "Suzumiya Haruhi is resting," she answered in her
eternally soft, quiet voice.

     "Are you keeping her unconscious?" he asked, frowning.

     Nagato's head nodded slightly.  "Her brain chemistry has been
augmented to lessen the impact of the negative emotions she is
experiencing," she explained.  "Actually altering her thought pattern
and process is not advisable.  She also experiences frequent surges of
inhibitors to encourage sleep.  The less time she is aware, the longer
it will take her to completely destroy our reality."

     Itsuki wanted to yell at the TFEI before him, scream that it was
unjust, that it was wrong....  Anything but admit that, all things
considered, the plan was sensible and infinitely more merciful than
trying to kill Suzumiya to stop her deconstruction of the world.

     "She's comfortable?" he asked.

     Nagato blinked.  "Physically.  Emotionally, she is in distress,
even with dampened chemical responses to the mental cues for
depression and anxiety.  Her consciousness is being subverted into a
dream-state where soothing images can be constructed by her mind, but
she is aware that it is a dream and does not fully embrace those
images."

     "Better than I could do," Itsuki finally admitted.  Dragging her
into closed space to drop her in an apartment with Mori and Arakawa to
... what ... wait out the end of the world?  He shook his head.  "Can
I talk to her?"

     The girl in front of him lowered her gaze to the table, then
finally said, "Yes.  It will take three minutes for her to awaken, and
the window should be brief."

     "That's fine," he agreed, searching his pockets for the phone
that Mori had confiscated when everything first went to hell.  "I have
to make a call.  Can I use your phone?"

     "Yes."

     "Also, before I forget, I assume that Kimidori-san has updated
you on the plan?"

     Nodding once, the TFEI rose from her place at the table and
slowly walked down the hall.

     After calling Arakawa and updating the man briefly on the
situation, he checked the clock and decided that close enough to three
minutes had passed.  He marched down the hall to the door he had seen
Nagato vanish through, and saw Suzumiya Haruhi curled beneath a
blanket, her eyes shadowed.

     Itsuki rubbed his eyes with the back of his shirt sleeve, unable
to keep tears from welling up.  He'd spent almost every moment he was
awake since Kyon's murder fighting desperately, or thinking as hard as
he could about everything and anything else.  But what he'd told the
other espers was the truth, even if he hadn't gotten to know Kyon as
well as he liked; Kyon _had_ been his friend.  It was just so much
easier to be _doing_ things to try and fix the situation rather than
think about it.  How must Haruhi, who believed she could do nothing,
feel?

     He wasn't sure what made him feel worse.  Time to think of Kyon
being dead, sympathy for Haruhi's feelings, or just the echo in the
back of his own skull reflecting her emotional state directly into
him.

     "Wake," Nagato whispered, prompting Haruhi's eyes to flutter
open.  The smaller girl helped Haruhi sit upright, then gave her a
glass of water.  Haruhi drank it, blinking away some of her fatigue to
peer at Itsuki.

     "Koizumi?" she asked with a tired sniffle.  "You're back?"

     "Yes," he said, unable to force a smile.  "I just wanted to see
how you were doing, Suzumiya-san."

     Her eyes lingered on him for a moment before turning to the empty
glass in her hands.  Nagato took it from her and returned to a
kneeling position, patiently waiting, her eyes on Haruhi.  "Lousy,"
she finally said, rubbing her eyes and turning her face away.  "Gonna
go back to sleep now."

     She curled back up, mumbling a belated, "Thanks for checking,"
before she stilled and her breathing slowed.

     Itsuki turned around and took a few steps down the hallway,
raising one arm and pressing the back of his wrist into his eyes.  He
doubted Nagato cared, and Haruhi should be asleep, but he had been
struggling to ignore the hurt too long, and it suddenly burst out of
his control.  Even when he heard the door shut behind him, he couldn't
stop.  He hated the idea of the TFEI's cold eyes studying him without
emotion, but the choked sobs escaped anyway.

     He started when he felt Nagato's tiny hand on the small of his
back, patting him gently.  Sniffling one last time, he dragged his
sleeve across his face again.  "Sorry," he mumbled.

     Nagato took a long moment to reply, finally saying, "I have
learned that we do not choose what we feel.  We simply feel.  To do
less is to refuse to participate in the reality we exist in."

     Itsuki blinked away the last moisture in his eyes and turned to
stare at the girl.  Her own head was slightly bowed.  "You have
feelings?" he blurted out, before he realized what an asinine question
it was.

     Nagato's gaze seemed unperturbed.  "It is not necessary to
display emotions to feel them," she said.  "I do not wish to discuss
my emotional state."  Some expression flickered, incredibly briefly
around her eyes, before she added, "This is not intended to be rude."

     He shook his head, heaving a shuddering sigh.  "I appreciate
that," he replied.  "May I use your washroom?"

     She pointed to another door without a word, and he went to it,
splashing his eyes before giving in and thoroughly washing his face.
Once he'd taken a few minutes to compose himself, he realized that he
actually preferred Nagato's cold honesty and concealed emotions to
Emiri's false seeming displays.  He shook his head again.  It wasn't
that different from his own dissembling mask....

     "Get a grip, Itsuki," he grumbled, staring at his reflection in
the mirror.  Other than some redness around his eyes, he looked much
the same as always ... if a little more wan, and less amused than he'd
prefer.  "Find Asahina-san, go back in time, save the day.  Then it
won't matter anymore."

     He nodded to his reflection.  "Right.  Now, go to it."

     ***

     Various subroutines embedded in the interdiction fields and
countermeasures corresponding to the physical space around the
apartment Nagato Yuki had been assigned continued monitoring the
observation subject's state.  The exponential decline of reality as it
slid to certain destruction was certain to occur before the Integrated
Data Entity reached consensus again.

     Kimidori Emiri and Nagato Yuki had both compared proposals to the
entire entity at large, outlining the current state and potential
courses of action, but neither could calculate with any certainty that
it would restore the consensus faster.  The only certain way to
influence the consensus at this point was to bring the technology of
time travel into the integration.

     Even then, such a massive recompilation of the entity, especially
with the potential to reach back into time, was likely to have
far-reaching consequences.

     While her sensors reported that Koizumi Itsuki was washing his
face, she gave focus to the data-structure of the primary.  After
disconnecting her accesses and severing the link with the lost
consensus, and then the link to her organic body, the primary was
recorded as a holistic wavefront, the same way an organic being might
be, but inherently more complex due to the enfolding of all
subordinate data within an interface.  Somewhere in that data was
_his_ wavefront, logged in the observations of the primary as she
overstepped her bounds and took independent action.

     Presumably independent action, though logic suggested that no
firm proof that the instructions were sent from the primary's faction
would ever be discovered.  As Suzumiya Haruhi's physical requirements
had been met for the moment, and the observation subject had devised
her own distractions in her dream-state, Nagato Yuki took a teacup
from her kitchen and then sat at her table, setting it before her and
modifying its attribute data.

     She was aware of Koizumi Itsuki returning to the room and
watching her, but ignored him for the moment; the next step of the
mission as relayed by Kimidori Emiri would require her physical
presence anyway.  First she changed the ductile values of the
material, causing the crystalline structure to become elastic.  A
further attribute change modified the physical shape to be
omni-dimensional, though constrained to a sphere in the physically
observable dimensions.  After that, she assigned the entire shape a
very high tensile strength, cleared all data regarding its contents,
and replaced its function with a sandboxed containment utility.
Further modification made the inner surface data-impermeable, and the
outer surface data-transparent.

     Done, she placed her fingertips on the sphere, and moved the
primary's waveform into the empty space.  Visually, she observed that
the structure was a four-dimensional symmetrical rotating lattice, not
remarkably unlike the atomic alignment of the crystals that the
altered teacup was actually composed of, except for the exponentially
more complex fractal curve.

     "Ugh," Koizumi grunted, rubbing at his eyes.  "What the hell is that?"

     Nagato Yuki turned her attention to Koizumi, blinking.  "This is
a visual representation of the wavefront of Asakura Ryouko," she
explained.  "It may be too complex for your mind to comprehend in this
space."

     "There's not much of a 'may' about that, Nagato-san.  Can you
cover it with a napkin, or something?"

     Wordlessly, she did as he suggested.  He opened his eyes slowly,
shivering.  "That is very disturbing.  I'm not sure what bothers me
more ... that you're keeping Kyon's killer in a jar, or that I can
_feel_ it trying to slide through the walls of this reality."

     "She is contained."

     "You're sure she can't get out?"

     "The probability of her escape is very low, barring direct
exposure to immense physical trauma.  You are merely sensing the
nature of a higher-order dimensional object attempting to realign
itself outside of the constraints of this dimension."

     "How much physical trauma are we talking about?"

     "On the multidimensional axis, several hundred million terajoules."

     Koizumi's expression shifted momentarily to bewilderment;
irritation; contemplation; subtle pride: "The force of ... several
atomic bombs?"

     'Several' seemed to be an adequate subset of the actual number,
but payloads could be variable.  She tried to clarify: "More than
twice what she could bring to bear."

     His expression shifted again; shock; disbelief; fear.

     "She is inactive.  She can exert no motive force or data
manipulation currently."

     "Why not just finish her off?  She killed Kyon, after all!"

     Her social monitor was unsure of how to proceed, so she ignored
it, conferring with her emotive process instead.  "I am tempted," she
said.  "But it would not be constructive.  Her waveform will most
likely provide a reference to the specific spacial and temporal
coordinates that we will intercede at to repair this reality."

     "Wow," he answered after a moment, his expression and bearing
showing mild awe and trepidation.  "Okay.  Maybe just give her a good
shake?"

     She spent a half-dozen cycles processing that before replying, "I
forcibly updated her emotive libraries to include negative emotions.
Before extracting her waveform, I caused her to endure the sensation
of lethal physical trauma and the inevitability of organic death."

     He displayed what her libraries noted was remarkable control over
himself.  Only the widening of his pupils and slight acceleration of
his heart rate betrayed his alarm.  "Impressive," he finally said.

     Proximity alarms alerted her, so she strode to the doorway;
Kimidori Emiri had not seen fit to waste the dwindling PPC bandwidth.
Despite his previous mastery of his outward emotive displays, Koizumi
Itsuki flinched when he saw her.  Nagato Yuki opened a private channel
once Kimidori Emiri was within the apartment.

     Emiri and Nagato exchanged wrists, injecting new streams of
nanites to restore the PPC pool.  Shared simultaneously across the
private channel, the two exchanged physical appearance data.  After
releasing the physical exchange, Kimidori nodded at Koizumi wordlessly
and went to the table to remove the napkin covering the primary's
containment unit.

     "Anyway," the dimensional fault traversing quantum shifter
mumbled.  "So ... I'm supposed to abduct you now?"

     "Yes," Nagato agreed, testing the voice modulation to ensure that
Suzumiya Haruhi's tones were emulated correctly.

     "If you don't mind me asking ... why is Kimidori-san ... um ...
Nagato-san, now?"

     "Suzumiya-san has become more comfortable with Nagato-san,"
Kimidori answered, not looking back.  "My persona's lack of obvious
flaws makes it difficult for her to empathize with me, so this is more
suitable for her emotional wellbeing."

     Koizumi shook his head, then pointed at Nagato.  "You forgot to
give Kimidori-san your glasses."

     Nagato blinked, one hand rising to her face to confirm what her
other senses and sensors reported.  Kimidori looked over her shoulder
as well.  Each ran an internal diagnostic, and then a diagnostic on
the other, but no cause could be found for overlooking the detail.
She removed the glasses from her face and handed them to Kimidori.

     Kimidori donned them, each sending confusion across the private
connection before Nagato broke it with some reluctance.  She turned to
face Koizumi.  "Are other details missing?" she asked.

     "You should pass for Haruhi.  Oh, I should ... probably hold your
wrist if I'm abducting you."

     She nodded, holding an arm out.

     Swallowing nervously, he took her wrist, then marched to the
door.  "Here goes nothing," he grumbled, glancing back at her as they
left the apartment.  He spent a moment outside the door searching for
something on the ground in the rain before relaxing, some of the
tension draining away.  Her own glance revealed nothing more than a
handful of vehicles, two with lights on.

     When they were in the elevator, he released her arm and rubbed
his hands together nervously.  He quickly took it again when the door
opened, and led her into the lobby.  The custodian's seat was empty
and the area was dark, except for the lighting track leading between
the elevator door and the front entrance.

     Koizumi Itsuki dithered for a moment, body language indicating
hesitation, then finally decided to take an umbrella from the stand
before going out.  The constant downpour was cut by a pair of
headlights from a waiting taxi-cab, and behind that, a patrol car.
"Here goes my first act of terrorism," he said aloud, resignation
clear in his voice.  "Well, my first real one.  Shouldn't you be
putting up some sort of token struggle?"

     Physically struggling would delay the plan, as she would be
easily able to physically overpower Koizumi Itsuki, even if she
restrained herself to the observation target's strength levels.  Vocal
resistance was judged as most likely to aid the plan.  "Help," she
said tonelessly.  "I am being abducted."

     He gave her a look her local library couldn't index properly,
then gave a small smile.  "Never mind," he said, opening the taxi
door.  "Wave at the patrol car."

     She did so, until he gently nudged her into the back seat.
Shortly, the two were seated behind an unfamiliar adult male.  Nagato
added his characteristics to her database and waited for an
introduction.

     The car quickly took to motion, the driver asking, "Do we even
know what we're doing anymore?"

     "Probably not," the boy said, more of that resignation in his
voice.  "But I made them promise to go easy on you if you don't get
away."

     A block from the apartment building, flashing warning lights from
an emergency service vehicle came on behind them.  The driver sighed,
and the vehicle increased in acceleration.

     ***

     Itsuki tried not to stare at Nagato.  While she looked physically
identical to Haruhi at the moment, she still behaved like herself ...
except that if he didn't know any better, he would say she was
developing a sense of humor.  It was difficult to contrast that with
what she had said she had done to Asakura Ryouko, however.

     Then again, if Asakura Ryouko had been a Shinjin, he'd probably
have used his powers to destroy her in an instant, and damn the
consequences.

     "How are we supposed to get into the compound, anyway?" Arakawa
asked, glancing in his rear-view mirror at the flashing lights.

     "Uh...."  Itsuki frowned.  "Nagato-san, buckle your seat belt,"
he told her, fighting the urge to call her 'Suzumiya-san' instead.

     She stopped waving to the police car and complied, turning to
look at him expectantly.

     "Arakawa-san, how strong do you think the front gate is?"

     "Right," Arakawa said, squaring his shoulders.  "The Organization
inside isn't going to be happy to see us."

     "No problem," Itsuki said confidently.  "We won't even need to
get out of the car; I'll take us straight into closed space."

     As they rounded the corner to the Tsuruya estate, he felt a
moment of panic; how could he just assume that closed space would
cover the property?  But his fears were unfounded -- all of
Nishinomiya was probably covered by closed spaces, and the Tsuruya
estate was no different.  There was a bigger problem, though....

     He didn't have enough time to warn anyone, Arakawa trusting him
and expertly whipping the car around a corner, then accelerating
straight up the short driveway to the steel gate, smashing it aside
with a horrific crunch and a spray of sparks.  The car jolted
violently as the front end folded up, accordion-like, against the
parked limo on the opposite side of the gate.  The second their
momentum was arrested, the esper shoved a hand at Nagato, and slapped
another on Arakawa's shoulder, spending a bit more effort than usual
to push them through the barriers without physically moving.

     "Get out!" he snapped at both, once they'd entered the monochrome
sealed reality.  The bulk of a Shinjin stood directly before them,
already smashing the Tsuruya estate into a pile of debris.  Nagato
reacted more quickly than he could, shoving the dented door free of
the closed-space version of the car, then tearing the jammed seatbelt
off him.

     After a desperate scramble, all three of them made it back
through the remains of the gate, running on foot down the street and
away from the massive giant.  "Okay," Itsuki gasped, once they were
far enough away to catch their breath.  "Sorry."

     "Better than being arrested," Arakawa opined, dabbing at a cut on
his forehead with a handkerchief.  Standing up, he fixed Nagato with a
curious stare.  "Are you really Nagato-san?"

     She blinked, face impassive.  "Yes," she answered, in Haruhi's voice.

     Itsuki shook his head quickly.  "Eh, Nagato-san, when I'm in
closed space, I can't tell what's in real space, except for when I'd
come out inside a solid object, like another person," he said.
"Usually it just wouldn't be an issue.  Emiri took a, um, sample of my
makeup.  Unless I'm mistaken, you both know how my powers work?"

     She nodded, and Arakawa's expression paled.

     "Can you see across to base reality?"

     Nagato stared at him and blinked, contemplating.  "Yes," she said
after a moment.

     "Okay," Itsuki said, turning to look at the Shinjin.  Even as he
watched, a pair of red orbs streaked towards it.  "I'm going to help
my colleagues out, then I'm going to need to ask you for a favor."

     She blinked at him, then nodded slightly again.

     ***

     Oishi slammed on the brakes at the end of the block outside of
the Tsuruya estate.  The car skidded to a halt on the wet road,
blocking the driveway entrance to the compound, and the detective
admitted, "Whoever that driver is, he's quite good."

     Akasaka grunted in response, disconnecting his current phone call.

     Both detectives got out of the vehicle and ran to the opposite
side of the street, taking cover behind another parked car.  The
flashing lights on the police vehicle they had abandoned would be hard
to miss, but given the damage that Koizumi Itsuki's driver had done to
the gate, not to mentioned the crumpled remains of the empty car he
had been in....  No one was driving out of the Tsuruya estate.

     "We should have about three minutes," he said, glancing up, at
the rainy sky.  There was no predawn glow yet, and as thick as the
clouds were, it would probably be hours at best before there was any
sign of daylight.  "A support vehicle will be arriving within a minute
or two of that."

     The detective shook his head, glancing to one side when he saw
the flashing lights of other patrol cars responding to the earlier
radio calls reporting the supposed abduction of Suzumiya Haruhi.  Or
maybe it was a legitimate abduction, and they were being played for
fools?  He couldn't think of a way to tell, anymore.  "What's the
Special Assault Team going to do, anyway?" he asked, trying to take
his mind off things that scratched at the edges of his comprehension.
"I've never worked with them before."

     "We're going to need to stay out of their way," Akasaka answered,
wiping some of the thickly falling rain from his face.  "They'll set
up a cordon, scan the interior of the estate, and then it's up to the
senior tactical officer.  I hope we find genuine criminals in there,
or I can kiss my pension goodbye."

     Oishi grimaced, shaking his head.  "I know what you mean," he
grumbled.  Shortly, they were surrounded by uniformed officers, who
set up a perimeter around the Tsuruya estate.  Both the detective and
NPA agent gave uncomfortable shrugs as the mayor arrived just behind
the SAT command vehicle -- a large van covered with obvious antenna,
dishes, and a matte black finish.

     "Perfect," Oishi sighed.  "I'll go talk to the mayor."

     "Roger that," Akasaka agreed, tugging at the collar of his shirt.
 "We should have brought umbrellas."

     Oishi tried several times to light a cigarette while walking
towards the mayor's dark car, shinier than the non-reflective SAT van
before it.  But the rain was too intense, so he finally gave up,
pocketing the cigarette for later use.  As he reached the side of the
car, the window rolled down automatically.  The mayor was a larger man
than Oishi, but younger.

     His face was clean-shaven, but dark circles beneath his eyes
suggested he hadn't gotten much sleep lately.  At least they had that
much in common, Oishi thought, before the mayor barked out, "Oishi,
what the _hell_ is going on here?"

     Ah, politics, he thought sourly.  "I'll have a report for you
later today or tomorrow," Oishi said, too casually.  "Normally I'd
have my aide do it, but he was murdered."

     If anything, the sharp eyes and sour grimace of the mayor
hardened.  "That is merely a sign of further incompetent handling of
the case," he snapped.  "I want answers, and I expect them now -- the
Tsuruya family is well respected, and the community is going to want
answers for...."  He trailed off, growling, as a helicopter emerged
from the hard rain almost silently, a quartet of commando-geared SAT
forces rappelling down to the street and hustling to the van.

     "I want a damn good explanation for this fiasco!"

     "Alright," Oishi allowed, running one hand across the hair
plastered to his head.  "After we took Asakura Ryouko -- Student A to
the press, now -- in for questioning, she assaulted and killed my aide
in interviewing.  At the time I was taking a statement from Suzumiya
Haruhi concerning her involvement in an incident at Kitago yesterday."
 Had it been so recently?  It felt so much longer ago....  "After
escaping, she returned to her home, incidentally in the same apartment
building that Suzumiya Haruhi was staying with a friend from school,
Nagato Yuki.  When Student A attempted to assault Suzumiya Haruhi...."
 He trailed off, pressing his lips into a flat line.  What was the
report he had shakily written up?  The lines he gave to his own
interviewers?  "We struggled for control over her weapon, and Student
A crashed through the window, falling seven stories."

     "I know that," the mayor said dourly, looking at something else
in the dark interior of his car briefly, then fixing his irate gaze on
Oishi again.  "How has that lead to _this_?"

     "Well, after taking her statement, it was no longer necessary to
keep Suzumiya Haruhi in protective custody, so we returned her to her
friend."

     "Nothing says compassion like returning a minor to the scene of a
classmate's death," the mayor sniped.

     Oishi turned his face upward, letting the rain pelt him and
closing his eyes.  "How long was Kitago closed before students were
told to return?"

     The mayor cleared his throat noisily.  "Detective, please
continue with the report."

     "Well, Akasaka-san and I were at Nagato Yuki's apartment
comparing notes before we returned to the station house, when he saw
Koizumi Itsuki, a person of interest from the investigation, abducting
Suzumiya Haruhi."

     "So, Suzumiya's in there?" the mayor asked, his eyes shifting to
something in the car.

     Oishi blinked rain from his eyes and tried to remain casual.  Why
would the mayor care about that?  A connection between the mayor and
one of the most powerful families in the city was sensible enough ...
they could have contributed to his campaign fund, or maybe even
rallied public support for him.  But why would he be interested in
Suzumiya Haruhi, unless....  The detective made himself stop thinking
about it; time for that later.

     "Presumably," he answered the mayor at length.  "At this point, I
have to admit that this is all out of my hands.  It's an NPA operation
now, so if you don't like how it's being handled, you can appeal to
the director of the Department of Safety."

     The mayor wore his furious mask still, but seemed more distracted
in behavior than anything else.  "I see," he said, rolling up the
window.  The detective took a step backward and watched the car,
wondering.

     "'Organization', huh?" Oishi mused quietly, as the mayor's car
backed away from the three-ring circus of special forces and regular
police surrounding the Tsuruya estate.
	---------------------------------
     Author's notes: Next chapter is the last chapter.

-- 
Brian Randall
--
I write fanfiction. Too much of it. You can read it here, thanks to a
kind grant from the Larry F foundation:
http://www.florestica.com/brandall/
--
Together. Allegiance or death. BIGFIRE!
--
Haiku of my lament:

Forgive my spelling,
my U.S. education,
is the source of blame.