Day 159

[from Haruhi: A Thousand Worlds]

Haruhi was the first to emerge on the other side of the portal. Her exit was less than graceful: she stumbled out of the shimmering vortex and fell flat on her face. Yuki emerged a few seconds later, calmly stepping out of the tear as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened whatsoever.

As Haruhi got to her feet, a quick glance at her surroundings confirmed that she was, indeed, in a completely different location. The realization sent her usual behaviour into overdrive. "Wow!" she exclaimed. "It really worked! We're really in another dimension! I wonder just how different it really is! Is it in the past? The future? Are we still in Japan? Hey, I wonder if I'll meet alternate versions of ourselves! Oh wait, you said we couldn't do that… but still, this is so exciting! We're the first people ever to visit another dimension! I wonder what it's like!"

The immediate answer was "foggy". A thin haze seemed to hang in the air around them, restricting their view to only a few hundred metres. The signs on the shops around them were still clearly legible, however, and the familiar symbols told them that they were still in Japan, or at least, some semblance of it. How different it really was remained to be seen. At any rate, they wouldn't have to worry about coming across any communication problems.

"So, where should we go look first, Yuki?" asked Haruhi, tugging impatiently at the girl's arm. "I wanna explore this other dimension!"

"I'm detecting data anomalies in this area, but their locations are unclear," said Yuki. "I suggest we explore the area, and try to gather more data in order to pinpoint their locations."

"And that'll lead us to people with supernatural abilities?" asked Haruhi.

"Potentially," said Yuki.

"Alright," said Haruhi, "then let's get looking! Should we split up to cover more ground, or stay together to keep safe?"

"We should stick together," said Yuki. "That way we will have strength in numbers in case one of us is attacked, and should we stray too far from each other, it may be difficult to find each other again in this fog."

"Alright then!" said Haruhi, nodding. "Let's get searching!"

Haruhi and Yuki headed off down the street, keeping an eye out for anything unusual. Thankfully, the fog didn't seem thick enough to restrict their vision too much, but if it intensified then even finding their way around could prove to be a struggle. "I don't remember our Japan having fog like this," Haruhi remarked. "Maybe it's some kind of supernatural phenomenon?"

"Unlikely," said Yuki.

"But it's possible?" prompted Haruhi, to which Yuki nodded. "Interesting. I wonder what secrets this fog could hold! Oh! Maybe it's some kind of-"

"Mayuri! Mayuri! Where are you?!"

Haruhi's ramblings were cut off as a man's voice pierced through the foggy night. Haruhi, immediately curious, began to follow the voice, with Yuki following along behind. Soon, she came across a young man rushing through the mostly-empty streets, calling out fruitlessly for someone. Curiously, he appeared to be wearing a white lab coat. Haruhi somehow got the impression that this man did not belong in this place.

"This could be interesting," remarked Haruhi, before rushing over to the man. "Excuse me, sir!" she called out. "Do you need any help?"

The man looked startled for a moment, then turned round to address Haruhi, a look of distress on his face. "You weren't, by any chance, sucked through one of those tears as well, were you?" he asked.

"Why, yes, I was!" said Haruhi, rather surprised. "Wow, so you came through a tear as well? That's so cool!"

"It is," said the man, smiling briefly, "but that's not really important right now! I have to find my friend, Mayuri!"

"Did she come through the tear with you?" asked Haruhi.

"Yeah, we were both sucked in without warning," said the man. "At first I thought it was some sinister plot by the Organization to get rid of me, but they couldn't possibly exist on this world line, the Divergence Number is too great. So it must be some other unknown phenomenon that I haven't encountered yet." Realizing the two girls had no idea what he was talking about, the man returned to the topic at hand. "Anyway, Mayuri must have been separated from me when we were transported. I have to find her and find a way back to our own dimension as soon as possible! Would you be willing to help me look for her?"

"Sure!" said Haruhi. Usually, she would ask what was in it for her, but this time she knew what was in it for her: the opportunity to talk to a person who was actually from another dimension. People didn't get much more interesting than that.

"Thank you," said the man. "I'll be sure to pay you back for this."

"Of course!" said Haruhi. "Oh, by the way, my name is Haruhi Suzumiya, and this is Yuki Nagato. What's your name?"

The man's demeanour changed somewhat, and with a flourish he swished his lab coat through the air, partially covering his face with one hand. "I am the mad scientist, Hououin Kyouma!" he declared, before laughing maniacally once more.

"There's something wrong with this guy," Haruhi whispered to Yuki.

Day 21

[from Haruhi: A Thousand Worlds]

Bringing Haruhi with her was a risk; Yuki knew this. Her mere presence, now that she was aware of the existence of the supernatural, could have untold repercussions for every universe they visited on their quest, and the more worlds they visited, the more her perception of reality would be altered. But there was no other choice. Yuki could wipe her memories of the whole incident, but until the beast was defeated, that would not work. For now, she had to be kept away from her own universe, to prevent her from completely destroying and rebuilding it. As for her warping other universes… Yuki's mission was to observe Suzumiya, to prevent her from learning about her powers, and to make sure she didn't alter her own world. Strictly speaking, altering other worlds was perfectly fine; and in any case, it was likely that any influence Haruhi might have over a universe would disappear the moment she left it.

As they walked through the swirling void, Haruhi looked around in wonderment at the innumerable portals surrounding them. "There's so many of them!" she exclaimed. "Are they all worlds like ours?"

"Not exactly," said Yuki. "They are all indeed parallel universes, but a significant proportion of them are highly divergent from our own universe."

Haruhi blinked, still not used to hearing Yuki speak so much, and so verbosely. "So… they're all parallel worlds? Wow, that's amazing! Are we gonna meet, like, parallel versions of ourselves?"

"No," said Yuki. "The potential ramifications of such a paradox might be disastrous. For that reason, we will be restricted solely to universes not inhabited by alternate versions of ourselves."

"And how many of those are there?" asked Haruhi.

"Potentially, an infinite number," said Yuki.

Haruhi's mind boggled at the possibilities. "Wow… so many worlds!" she gasped. "Where do we start? Which one do we visit first?"

Yuki closed her eyes and recited something far too fast for Haruhi to understand; it sounded like mere gibberish. Whatever it was she had uttered, however, seemed to have had some kind of effect, for within the next few moments a large number of the portals around them faded away into the nothingness. Looking around, the portals still stretched for as far as the eye could see, but they were significantly fewer and further between now. "What did you just do?" asked Haruhi.

"I filtered out any universes in which I could not detect any significant signs of superhuman activity," said Yuki, "as well as any universes inhabited by alternate versions of ourselves. The remaining universes are where we shall gather our allies from."

"A supernatural army!" exclaimed Haruhi excitedly. "That monster won't stand a chance! But there's still so many portals here! I can't decide which one should we go through first!"

Yuki suddenly stopped and pointed at a portal a short distance away. Haruhi almost expected her to say something, but it appeared she was back to silent mode.

"That one?" asked Haruhi as a prompt. Yuki nodded in reply. "Alright then," said Haruhi, "that one it is! Let's go!"

Unable to contain her excitement any longer, Haruhi ran towards the portal, seizing Yuki's hand and dragging her along with her. "Once more unto the breach!" she declared, and with that she dived head-first through the portal with a cry of enthusiasm, pulling Yuki through with her a moment later. Together, the two of the tumbled through the rip in space-time that the beast had created during its rampage, hurtling rapidly and irrevocably towards a whole new dimension. For Yuki Nagato, this was the beginning of the most important mission in the history of every universe in existence. For Haruhi Suzumiya, however, this was simply the beginning of the greatest adventure she would ever have.