Concepts Chapter 5 - The Convenience Theory

[Normandy SR-2, Outer Atmosphere of Earth above Chad, 8:44am 22nd December 2013]

"The Hand Canon worked? What-?" Konata instinctively looked around, "Wait, is EDI listening in?"

"No, I asked for some privacy, don't worry," waved away Haruhi, "But yeah," she nodded slowly, "I went home."

Konata would have been excited had it not have been for Haruhi's solemn expression, "Wh- How was it?"

"Different, in a nutshell. What I had left in this world was missing from mine. Our houses, our schools, our roads. And they were starting to rebuild."

"Have you told this to the rest of The SOS Brigade?" asked Kagami, leaning forward since Konata was in her view of Haruhi.

"Not yet, I decided to wait until after our meeting with Gensokyo and Yamaha. I need to put my thoughts together. Please don't tell anyone about it, okay? It could create a panic."

"Understood," saluted Konata, "Though to be fair, you propably shouldn't have told us, you know, just in case."

Haruhi waved away another of Konata's suggestions, "It'll be fine. But I guess we should talk about something else..." She also leaned forward to look past Konata, "Kagami." Kagami gazed downwards, away from Haruhi, unnerved. She had a pretty good idea of what Haruhi was going to ask. "Do you regret helping me on Doomsday?"

Kagami put her head in her hands and took a moment to think. "I have some regrets," she finally stated, "With hindsight, I should have waited a little longer before telling you about your powers or at least not have revealed it so quickly so you could get used to it more efficiently," Kagami sat up straight and looked Haruhi, "But do I regret helping you? No, I don't. Who else could keep tabs on the strongest and overpowered newcomers?"

"Wow! You're so cool, Kagamin!" admired Konata, nudging her side with a friendly elbow, too close for Kagami's comfort.

"Yeah, yeah," Kagami mumbled, pushing Konata's head away.

"Actually, strictly speaking, Haruhi," began Konata, suddenly adopting a serious face, "You're not a true goddess are you? The powers are split between you and Sasaki, aren't they?"

"Strictly speaking, yes," answered Haruhi, "Some people haven't yet realised Yuki once overwrote me and my powers without my consent. The balance of power isn't as lopsided as people think. Of course, being aware of my powers, puts me in a better position to resist if she ever tried it again. But, yes, I have my weaknesses."

"Like The Convenience Theory?"

"I guess. I have godlike powers but I'm not a god, per se. I can bend, skew, negate or even reverse the laws of physics but I can't create my own laws. This is where The Convenience Theory comes in," Haruhi cleared her throat, "The Convenience Theory says that newcomers have the exact same abilities as they had in their own world before they were affected by Doomsday."

"I've always had the feeling that's just another way of saying that Doomsday happened," commented Konata, "Surely no one expected newcomers to suddenly lose their powers on Doomsday."

"No one expected Doomsday," pointed out Kagami under her breath.

"It's just shorthand for what powers override what other powers," noted Haruhi, "Using The Subtle Knife for example," Haruhi summoned a gold coloured knife, an angel design decorating the handle. It was only a replica of the Knife, the original still in pieces. "By The Convenience Theory, The Subtle Knife can cut through anything, except for one thing."

"Adamantium," Konata blurted out.

"Love," Kagami answered at the same time. Konata grinned seductively at Kagami, who responded with a slap to the shorter girl's face, "I actually read books, you slouch," Kagami growled.

"We'll come back to Adamantium," continued Haruhi, "But Kagami is right. Bar that one exception, The Knife can cut through everything else. That is how it is defined. Stone, metal or even air, it's fair game, though we'll talk about the air thing again later. Now, ignoring its powers, physically, the Knife is really just a very, very sharp blade. Physically, it can cut through stone and metal, with a little difficulty. But physically, it can't cut through air. Air made of floating molecules with huge gaps between them. It is physically impossible to cut through air with a normal knife, like you can cut through butter with one. But The Subtle Knife can. I cannot self-replicate The Knife's disregard for the laws of physics."

"So, I imagine The Death Note is similar in concept?" asked Kagami.

"Yep. The Death Note kills its target under the conditions stated no matter what. Though I'd bet it doesn't work outside the universe or multiverse. That'd be pretty depressing. But otherwise, nothing can block it, apparently, not even The Hakurei Barrier."

"And time travel? Like The DeLorean?" brought up Konata.

"Indeed. Across fiction, there are many types of time travels and Doomsday kept them all intact. The DeLorean is just asking for paradoxes, TPDDs are for fixing the future instead of the past, Timesplitters will create time loops with objects that were never physically created while Time-Turners will attempt to kill you to fix the time stream."

"Sounds cosy," groaned a disturbed Konata.

"It's not a simple subject matter," admitted Haruhi, "But I cannot emulate these objects' powers. Except for TPDDs as that was the form of time travel in my world. The rest were mathematical black boxes that should not be able to do what they do. Hence, I couldn't smash through The Hakurei Barrier or kill someone else in another kingdom. But there was one thing I could do."

"Copy-paste?" suggested Konata. Her involvement in both The Hand Canon and Super Driver projects gave her an advantage over Kagami in this guessing game.

"Correct. Courtesy of the Humanoid Interfaces from my world, I am capable of using their powers, including the ability to copy-paste reality. If I can get access, I can copy the item or ability, whether I understand it or not. This was the idea behind The Super Driver project, to project the information of those who follow The Convenience Theory so I can duplicate it, as with the HMS Thunder Child or, more specifically, The Subtle Knife tip. Though now with the Barriers down, there's not much use for The Super Driver now."

"Are you going to be analysing everyone's abilities then?" inquired Kagami, with concern, shifting nervously on the spot, "Like controlling The Hakurei Barrier, keeping a Death Note to yourself or copying The DeLorean's method of time travel?"

"Well, I've already learnt how to use The Hakurei Barrier," admitted Haruhi, stretching her neck, "And if I had a Death Note of my own, that's definitely something I'm going to keep quiet about. But, yes, I'm going to be copying a few abilities that I'd like," she tilted her head back, glancing at the ceiling in thought before looking back at Kagami, "Any powers you want?"

Kagami panicked under pressure from the sudden question, waving her hands wildly, "Ah! No! I- I don't need any powers."

"But don't you want superpowers, Kagamin?" asked a disappointed Konata, "Like to be able to instantly know what a person thinks about you or change your body shape or be able to eat all the sweets you want without getting fat?"

Kagami was unamused, "Aren't those powers you want?" she thinned her eyes, "Or are you suggesting something about me?"

"Well, I can already do those due to my powers," commented Haruhi, "They're all physically possible. But they do fall directly under The Theory for other people, the Jedi, Yami-chan and Reimu, respectively."

"But they're still cool powers though, right?" insisted Konata, her eyes sparkling.

"I guess," smiled Haruhi weakly, "I used to dream about having powers."

"What's wrong, Haruhi?" pouted Konata with a moan, "The old you would be head over heels over such paranormal or sci-fi stuff like this. What happened?"

"Doomsday happened," answered Haruhi almost instantly. She lifted her right hand as a cylindrical container flew from one of the bar shelves behind her. She caught the white object and threw it towards Kagami who caught it, glancing at the item and then back at Haruhi in confusion. "Apple squash," Haruhi stated.

"Oh, thanks," replied a grateful and thirsty Kagami. She examined the container before instinctively twisting the top like a bottle.

"Once I realised by powers, my interests changed," began Haruhi, "Powers are a lot less exciting once you actually have them. I'm still interested in things like time travel, fortune telling, basically things I am not capable of doing, or at least not properly," Haruhi crossed her legs and took another moment to think, "Surely you've fantasized about being an anime character. How is it?"

"Bleagh," complained a disgusted Konata, "I love my fans but a lot of people don't appreciate who I am. And there are those appreciate me a little too much..." Konata burrowed her face into hers hands in shame.

There was a period of silence. "Rule 34, huh," noted Haruhi, scratching her forehead in awkwardness.

"Hey," interjected Kagami, quite alarmed, and turning a little red, "We're not seriously talking about Rule 34, are we?"

"Well, just be glad Rule 34 is a real world concept, otherwise Doomsday would have brought in a fictional version that followed The Convenience Theory and actually be true," Haruhi shuddered, "But Rule 34 does have an interesting implication." It was obvious Konata was listening attentively, though she still had her head in her hands. "While Rule 34 is not strictly true it can be generalised into another rule, say Rule 34b, where everyone has an alternate canon."

"Wh-What?" stuttered Kagami, becoming more crimson, "You're saying that there are ecchi versions of our worlds?"

"Kagamin," Konata began, sitting up straight, speaking in a matter-of-fact fashion, "Rule 34 is not just ecchi, it's full on p-" Kagami forced her hand over Konata's mouth.

"Just don't talk. Please."

Haruhi was clearly enjoying the tussle, "Anyway, what Rule 34b is saying is if this thing-" she summoned a heavy pistol and placed it on Konata's lap, "-is used on you, then there is almost certainly another canon version of us that will replace us."

Konata picked up the gun, "The Hand Canon?"

"The Hand Canon," nodded Haruhi, gazed for a moment at the weapon with its horizontal blue band, "It replaces its target with a different canonical version of it, as Konata saw with Haruki and myself."

"Did you make it like that?" inquired a perplexed Kagami.

"No," laughed Haruhi, "As you know, I wanted something that could send you permanently to your world without forcing someone else to take your place. But as you also know, it doesn't quite work. It brings along the other version but also stops working once one of them gets particularly scared and that will then reset the effect, sending them home and bringing you back."

"Why doesn't it work correctly?"

"Because of The Convenience Theory." Both Kagami and Konata blinked, waiting for an explanation. "Like I said earlier, I need to copy-paste to take an object or person's ability that's covered by The Convenience Theory. In this case: Naluri Sihara."

"Because of her canon-swapping ability?" added Konata.

"Yep, Naluri has the ability to slip between canons, though it's not something she can control. That's exactly what I wanted. Except it didn't work for Naluri, so of course it wouldn't work for The Hand Canon with a single copy-paste."

"What exactly is Naluri's power?" asked Kagami, twisting the top of the cylinder shut.

"Back in her own universe, she is periodically sent to another world where she stays around for a bit until she is returned back to her true world," Haruhi clasped her hands, "Now, that's what she thinks happens. According to the people who know her, it plays out a little differently. She never disappears from her world when Naluri switches, as far as they can tell nothing happened but Naluri has proof of her excursions stored in her hammerspace so they can't deny she's telling the truth."

"So this is like..." Konata thought for a moment before continuing, "Like a character that falls asleep, has a mystical adventure somewhere in their dream and suddenly wakes up in the morning or when someone shakes them awake. But amazingly, they bring back a physical object from their dream?"

"Essentially," nodded Haruhi, "But without the sleep. Well, sometimes. For Naluri, it can happen whatever's she doing but yes it's apparently more likely to happen when she's in a daze."

"Isn't that fairly common?" commented Kagami, "Daydreaming Davey has that ability."

"Wow, Kagamin," spoke Konata, with some sarcasm, "Out of all the examples you could have chosen, you go for a kid from an old-school Nintendo game? The Angry Video Game Nerd even did a review of it." Kagami glared at Konata but did not grace her with a worded reply.

"It is common," clarified Haruhi, putting her elbows on her knees and leaning forward, "But Naluri's situation is a little different. For Davey, and most other such dreamwalkers, they are the same canon no matter what world they go to. Their worlds are all part of the same multiverse in one single canon. Naluri, however, can access information from other multiverses, changing canon whenever she's about to switch world. Her canon change kicks her out of the world she is in into the proper multiverse her canon corresponds to. It is until her canon switches back to her normal canon and then she is brought back to her normal world."

"So she consists of multiple version of herself?" guessed Konata with a shrug.

"Not quite, but her experiences are very much written by her fans, similar to Miku. However, the difference between the canons of Miku and Naluri is that for Miku they are all obviously different representations of the same person. The Love is War Miku is not the same 'character' as the World is Mine Miku. All the different canons of Naluri assume it's the same Naluri, just in a different world. This is why she changes canons and is yet the same person. Couple this with the world kicking her out to the world she's meant to be in when she changes canon. That's the very ability we're looking for."

Kagami looked down at the cylinder with another look of concern, "But there's a catch?"

Haruhi nodded again, "The Inconvenience Theory."

Konata tutted, shaking her head, "The constant thorn in our side... It's the only reason we're still in this world. It says that any ability to leave this universe is negated, even those that would have been covered by The Convenience Theory."

"Right," supported Haruhi, rubbing her hands with discomfort, "If we come back to The Subtle Knife. When it cuts through air, it's meant to be able to cut the barriers between worlds but it cannot now. All it would do is create a tiny, short-lived and useless vacuum."

"Why does The Inconvenience Theory get priority over The Convenience Theory?" complained Konata, holding her arms with a huff, "It's a massive coincidence."

"Like Doomsday wasn't," muttered Kagami.

"I have a suspicion about The Inconvenience Theory. I believe it's not so much that Inconvenience overrides Convenience but the limitations of Convenience across multiverses," Haruhi stood up and stretched her back for comfort, "Let's think about it, has any fictional world ever made contact with the real world?"

"Well," noted Kagami, "Some newcomers are Fourth-Wallers. They knew some part of the real world even before Doomsday."

"Fourth-Wallers are categorized as well," added Konata, counting them on her fingers, "In relative order, you have Well-Wallers, which know about the existence of the real world, like Porky. Glass-Wallers know the passage of time and events in the real world, like Naluri. Window-Wallers know about their creators and role, like Sora. And then Fifth-Wallers could interact with the real world, like Deadpool."

Haruhi nodded in approval, "So in how many cases did any of them interact with this world?" she repeated.

There was silence.

So Haruhi continued, "Our lives were dictated word by word by natives. Any 'real world'-," Haruhi used her fingers to airquote the term, "-any newcomer ever interacted with is also fictional. Our universes were created to pass on a native message to a native being. Before Doomsday, none of us have ever set foot in this world and no native has ever set foot in our worlds," Haruhi turned to Konata and Kagami, "This is The Inconvenience Theory."

"So why does The Inconvenience Theory affect everything expect Naluri and The Hand Canon?" asked Kagami, scratching her head trying to process the information.

"Most dimension travelling objects and people force their way into different worlds. And even then they never leave their multiverse. Naluri-," Haruhi decided not to mention Rokiahi, "-is the only being that I'm aware of that makes the universe itself kick her out. And it is capable of crossing into other multiverses."

"What is the consequence of that?"

"Well," smiled Haruhi, "It's a lot easier to leave a universe that throws you out than one that tries to keep you in."

"But..." Konata was thinking hard, "That would mean Naluri should still be travelling between different worlds now, right? But I'm pretty sure she said that wasn't happening anymore."

"My guess is whatever caused The Unique Clause of Doomsday is the issue here. It's forcing a version of Naluri back to this world. Due to her vast magnitude of canons that likely floods out any other proper canons she has, it'll attempt to bring her back. I should point out, this is very much a theory and I could be way off the mark."

"Then will the Hand Canon not work properly?" Kagami questioned, with a hint of disappointment, "Ever?"

"The Hand Canon just copies Naluri's abilities," pointed out Konata, leaning back in dismay, "If Naluri can't permanently leave this universe, The Hand Canon can't either."

Two more cylinders flew from the bar, one landing on Konata's lap, Haruhi catching the second one. Haruhi twisted the top and drank it like a sports bottle. She breathed out after quenching her thirst as Konata opened her own cylinder. "Actually," began Haruhi as Konata started taking gulps, "That might not be true."

Konata spurted out, the apple juice spraying onto her uniform. She coughed a few more times, wiping her face with her arm. A rather unamused Kagami took Konata's arm and used her handkerchief to clean up Konata's mess. "How do you mean?" Kagami inquired, Konata in no position to ask.

"Well, I've told you what Naluri's powers are. The fact is that, as Konata noticed, it actually doesn't work correctly. If Naluri's canon only changed, let's say, once a day, I could control her easy-peasy. I would just need to refresh my control every day. But let's go back to a typical daydreamer. Like Davey." Konata sniggered again as Haruhi leaned back on the railing by the spacecraft's window. "Kagami, when is the usual time a fictional daydreamer wakes up from dream?"

"When they've achieved something in their dream or when something really scary happens," answered Kagami, fully aware of this trope.

"Good answer," agreed Haruhi, "Emotions are key for dreamers. Konoko wakes up in surprise, Shepard wakes up in horror, Artyom wakes up in joy, House wakes up in confusion, Kagami wakes up in embarrassment." Kagami was expecting Konata to bellow out in laughter before realising Konata had not heard about that particular incident.

Konata blinked with a blank look, "When was th-?"

Kagami quickly got to her feet, red in the face again, "Y-Y-You're saying a change of emotion triggers a dreamer out of their dream?" she shouted, bringing more attention to herself. To her relief, this kept the topic on track.

"Right," agreed Haruhi, rotating the cylinder in her hand as Kagami sat back down, "It obviously has to be a big change of course, otherwise there's no point to the dream, and the longer the dream goes on, the more likely they will wake up. And another thing to note here is that the change of emotion can also come from the sleeping body of the dreamer. If someone slaps you while you're asleep, you'd have a pretty good chance of waking up. This can be applied to Naluri's ability."

"That would suggest the longer Naluri spends in the real world, the more likely she'll be sent back to her own world," pondered Konata, hand on her chin. She looked up at Haruhi, "But she's never left this world since Doomsday."

"Bingo," smiled Haruhi, clicking her fingers, "The Unique Clause prevents her from leaving so since she's been in this world for so long, any minute change in her emotion changes her canon, hence her canon changes quicker than humans could imagine."

"Is that why you can't control her?" suggested Kagami.

"That's my theory." Haruhi rubbed the back of her neck with unease. "I have my limits and she's one of them. I can only take snapshots of her image, so to speak."

This wording enlightened Konata, "The Hand Canon is a combination of Naluri's Convenience Theories," she realised.

"Exactly. In the brief instant after Naluri changes canon, in that tiny instance, Naluri's canon is 'stable'-," Haruhi reused the airquote motion with her fingers, "-immediately before her emotion changes and her canon changes again. The Hand Canon is made from a barely finite number of these instances, built to keep someone's canon stable no matter what their change in emotion is."

"That would explain why The Hand Canon Project took a long time," sighed Konata, folding her arms, "You had to wait for her emotions to change to what you wanted. I had wondered why you couldn't just force what you wanted out of her and leave it at that."

"Well, that is what I did," admitted Haruhi, "I forced her to change emotion to what I wanted."

Kagami was nervously fidgeting with her cylinder, compiling her own thoughts, "So is that why you were manipulating Naluri during The First Year?" She bowed her head down, "I don't envy her."

Haruhi turned her head to look out the window behind her, the glow of the rest of the Milky Way vibrant through the Normandy's shield pulses, "It was lucky her creator lived in North High. The information I got from him was invaluable in manipulating Naluri. What she liked, what she hated, who she loved, who she despised, he knew it all... including..." Haruhi looked back at Kagami and Konata, "What she feared."

"The Hand Canon's missing emotion..." murmured Konata, "Why did that one cause so much trouble?"

"Naluri is a soldier," explained Haruhi, "Like many newcomer men and women of war, Naluri is an example of the top qualities of the common soldier. She is brave, honourable and has stared death in the face. When she surrenders it's because it would benefit her more than fighting, not because she's given up. She is not an easy person to scare... at least," she tightened her hold of the railing, "Not without painful consequences." She paused. "But sadly, or perhaps even happily, Naluri is not suitable for completing The Hand Canon now."

Kagami frowned, not in disappointment but in bewilderment, "Why's that?"

Konata answered for Haruhi, "Naluri found out about The Hand Canon, its purpose and its missing emotion yesterday. That means whenever Naluri starts feeling fear, she'll immediately think of The Hand Canon, contaminating any feeling of fear she'll have. It's hard to be scared when you know a god's looking over you."

"But there are ways to counteract that, aren't there?" deduced Kagami, "N-not that I support that notion..." she added in dejection.

"There are three... viable options I see," suggested Haruhi, "The first is Inconsistent Time Travel, that is, time travel that creates new objects that can be erased from time afterwards. The idea is that you make Naluri suffer, go back in time and stop the suffering but still have the data. The risks are enormous. We've already seen what damage Destructive Inconsistent time travel like The DeLorean can do. And then Soft Inconsistent like Timesplitters are very up to chance in what they want to create. The second option is erasing her memory. The issue here is that most methods are naturally reversible and the ones that aren't can have life changing consequences. The third option is to replicate Naluri, with impaired memory, and make her suffer instead. Think about the moral implications of that."

Kagami brushed her hands down her face, unnerved, "But... I guess the main issue is whether The Hand Canon would work even if it's completed?"

"Well, like we covered earlier, The Hand Canon attempts to stabilise a newcomer's single canon against a change in emotion. This is unlike Naluri's basic ability where her multiple canons cannot hold against an emotion change. The big consequence here is that when The Hand Canon kicks someone out, they keep their single canon, which means The Unique Clause is more likely to choose another canonical version of that person. This would explain why Haruki was brought in to take my place and vice versa when he left. Had The Hand Canon been finished, he would not have been able to leave. Unless he was shot by the Canon himself but then it wouldn't necessarily swap me back."

"But we don't want other people replacing us, do we?"

"Admittedly, The Hand Canon doesn't work to our specifications if it brings in other canons," confirmed Haruhi, "That'd be Doomsday all over again, just with different people. However, if we can get every newcomer, and their other canons, to be kicked out of this world with a complete Hand Canon, we would all end up back in our old worlds, without needing to worry about Doomsday ever again."

"Wouldn't that be rather difficult? We'd need something to stay behind in this world to use the Hand Canon on each newcomer as they're brought in to replace those being kicked out? Is The Hand Canon even an efficient enough to do that?"

"I don't think that is a big problem. I specifically built The Hand Canon in this shape so it can only be used by one person, hard to conceal but available at long range in an emergency. And usable by anyone... in case I'm not here." Konata gulped. Haruhi continued, "I will change it's shape and method once it is in a stable state. As for what to leave behind, we could probably find an Invisible object to trigger it at a regular basis."

"Invisible?" repeated Kagami, not understanding the word use.

"It's not a well circulated term," discussed Konata, "It's used mainly by high level administrations, and for good reason. An Invisible is someone or something whose Convenience Theory stops them from being detected by something that logically should. Obviously, that is more of a concern to those trying to control others."

"Who would be a well known example?" asked Kagami.

"Kamijou Touma," Haruhi stated rather firmly, "The first causality under Yamaha's iron fist."

"What happened to him?"

"Knocked out a third story window. The hospital he was taken to eventually ended up in Gensokyo's territory, luckily for him." Haruhi pouted, "And luckily for Gensokyo," she whispered quietly, folding her arms. "The cause of that incident was his special ability, which I call Imagine Cancel."

"I thought his ability was called Imagine Breaker," noted Konata.

"His right arm does the imagination breaking. The rest of his body does something more along the line of cancelling. He has no effect on normal human technology but among sci-fi and supernatural, he is a weapon of mass destruction. We can see him on security cameras, spy satellites, infra-red and ultrasound fine. But he won't appear on the Marauder's Map, can pass through an instant death Hyperion Competitor Deterrence Field with no problem and even Hades himself wouldn't know if Touma paid the Underworld a visit. I can personally tell what he's doing because his ability only affects his body and not his surroundings so I can see an human shaped vacuum. Well, give or take the aura his right arm gives off."

"I was under the impression there were some Invisibles you can't see, Haruhi?" brought up Kagami.

"There are hundreds I am aware of from their sources or their creators but I have only met two, both called The Nothing. One is content to stay in its ice-cream van. The other has kindly adopted a physical body but I fear her emotional state," Haruhi scratched her head in regretful indecision, "I would like to have her merge with The Nameless Card but I don't think I should be getting involved. I am aware of a few others that were definitely affected by Doomsday though I've not been able to find them myself. As for the vast majority, they were either not affected by Doomsday or they're extremely good at hide and seek."

Konata shuffled her legs, understanding Haruhi's pain, "It's difficult being a god."

"It wouldn't be so bad if nobody knew about my powers," Haruhi sighed, "Sasaki had it easy in our world," she complained in jest. She leant her head back to look out the window again as the distant Earth moved into view. "We probably ought to be getting ready for that meeting now."

Konata stood up, inadvertently spotting the juice stains on her clothes but shrugged it off, "I'll meet you there." She made her way round the bench to the door, followed by Kagami who looked back at Haruhi briefly before closing the door behind her.

Haruhi watched the view out the window rotate in silence. She had deliberately ended the conversation before Kagami could ask her last question. With another sigh, Haruhi fell back through the railing she was leaning on, phasing through the wall of the Normandy into space. Intense orange heat surrounded her as she entered the Earth's atmosphere head first but her mind was elsewhere. Kagami had wanted to know if The Hand Canon could ever be finished but Haruhi did not want to respond. Konata had realised this, since she too knew the answer, and had helpfully led Kagami away. Haruhi flipped round in the air and struck the paved ground feet first in a kneeling position, having spend a mere second in flight. There was no shockwave or loud noise to accompany her landing as she had no intention of destroying her surroundings. She stood up straight and began to follow the sandy path she had reached.

Izayoi Sakuya bowed as she held open one of two heavy wooden front doors for her, Haruhi nodding back in greeting. As she entered The Scarlet Devil Mansion into the expansive front hall, Haruhi frowned, still in thought. Kagami had noticed that Naluri was no longer an ideal option to complete The Hand Canon. But Haruhi, Konata and a few others were aware of another person capable of taking Naluri's place.

"Rokiahi!"

Rokiahi scrambled to her feet from the bench in a nervous panic, tripping over her own red suitcase with a loud crash, and jogged to the desk in front of her. Sora pulled the suitcase back onto its wheels before sitting back down next to Rokiahi's seat. She turned to all the people behind her in the same waiting area who had their attention grabbed by the sudden noise and mouthed an apology on Rokaihi's behalf. With a sigh of relief, Sora looked to her right, out the huge windows of the building at the Boeing 747 parked right outside. They had made their way from the superstore to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, a familiar native location for the both of them.

"Y-yes!" stammered Rokiahi when she reached the circular desk.

"Are you alright?" the female staff behind the counter asked in concern.

"Yes," nodded Rokiahi firmly, regaining her composure, "Sorry, I'm a bit tired."

"And excited," added Sora to herself, eavesdropping on the conversation.

The clerk smiled, "I can understand. I have good news for you. Your return ticket application was successful." She presented Rokiahi with two rectangular plane tickets with the Kuala Lumpur International Airport logo in the corner. The one on top was for a flight from District 9 to Abu Dhabi. The other one would be from Abu Dhabi back to Kuala Lumpur.

Rokiahi's face brightened, "Awesome, thanks very much!"

"With open borders, free flights are being offered to newcomers and natives displaced by Doomsday and The Three Kingdoms," explained the clerk, "Due to demand, we are only meant to distribute just one single trip ticket per being as these are meant to be relocations, not holidays. Thus your application had to go through processing, especially since you had already flown here from Chicago. However, your application was accepted at top level. Please accept our apologies for the wait." The clerk gave a polite bow.

"It's good, it's good," waved away Rokiahi with a grin, "To be honest, I wasn't expecting it myself."

"Just a personal recommendation," added the clerk, "You forgot to put your surname on the form, which may have contributed to the delay."

Rokiahi looked at her ticket, which only had her forename printed on it, "Oh, whoops," she laughed weakly, "Sorry about that."

"Normally, we don't accept incomplete forms but again, it was accepted at top level. You must have some friends in high places," the clerk joked.

"Haha, I wish I did. Well, thanks again."

"Enjoy your flight," the clerk bowed.

Rokiahi made her way to Sora and sat back down, still looking at the ticket in awe. Sora took her own peek at the ticket, "Friends in high places, huh?"

"Yeah, Sasaki told me to book another flight to South Africa, so... here I am."

Sora found this surprising, "... Sasaki? She told you directly?"

"Yeah, I met her during Doomsday. Hadn't seen her since but it's good to know she's okay. You know-?"

Suddenly, an announcement jingle was played through the open lobby, "Flight KULDS9019 is ready for boarding. Please line up at the ticket desk and have your ticket ready for inspection." The same clerk that had been talking to Rokiahi waved her hand to the lobby to clarify her location.

As the announcement repeated itself, Rokiahi stood up, "Well, I'd better get going," she turned to Sora, "Are you on this flight too?"

Sora stood up, shaking her head, "I'm not going to my meeting via plane."

"Ohh?" noted Rokiahi in wonder, "You must have friends in high places too if they let through security without a ticket. Well, it was good meeting you. Naluri and I will be back soon so let's get back together some time." She offered Sora her hand.

Sora shook it, "Definitely. I'll see you later, Rokiahi."

"No doubt," nodded Rokiahi. She touched her suitcase, which vanished into her hammerspace, taking Sora off guard. It must have shown on her face as Rokiahi spoke up, "Hey, it doesn't feel like a holiday if you don't have a suitcase to unpack from." She grinned again with a cheeky wink as she made her way to the ticket desk, "See ya, Sora," she waved as she walked away.

Sora waved back with a bemused expression. "But it's not meant to be a holiday," she whispered under her breath.

Rokiahi walked down the aisle of the Boeing, holding her first ticket to Abu Dhabi, looking for her seat. After getting distracted by some newcomers with green hair and another with pink, Rokiahi found the seat number she was assigned printed on the overhead hand luggage compartment above the side seats by window. She was about to sit down when she noticed someone was already sat in the window seat, looking out through the glass. Her long hair was black and her dark clothes were loose, Asian in style. They did not cover her arms, her skin a bright white, or her elbows, which were clearly open jointed like a doll. A newcomer without question. As Rokiahi was lost in thought, someone forced their way past her down the corridor, bumping Rokiahi into her seat. She glared down the aisle behind her before turning back to the newcomer sitting next to her. Only to feel a cold shiver down her spine as she looked into the eyes right in front of her face, "... You... You're wearing it upside down..."

The doll leaned back into her seat, putting her hands to her face, her doll joints more obvious with her fingers. She felt the edge of the airline standard eye mask over her face. The mask had a simple and innocent childish drawing of eyes and eyelashes on it but looked mildly disturbing upside down. She pulled the mask forwards away from her eyes, stretching its elastic band that was round the back of her head. "Ah," she said as she realised the nose indent was on top, "You're right!" Pulling the mask up over her head, revealing her deep white eyes, she offered a hand to Rokiahi, "Hey, I'm Yomiko Reverie. Or Yomi, for short."

Rokiahi accepted the gesture, shaking Yomi's hand, "Rokiahi."

"No surname?" Yomi inquired. She did not give Rokiahi time to reply before speaking again, "You military?"

"Yes," Rokiahi expected a comment about her military uniform but Yomi did not follow it through.

"Ohh? So where're you heading to?"

"South Africa. You?"

"The Canary Islands. I'm so excited to be flying by plane," glowed Yomi, "I've never flown before. You know, we'll be going back in time!"

"Haha," laughed Rokiahi, "We haven't even taken off yet. And time travel's not that easy."

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