After assigning the task of developing a Reality Anchor to the real Herta and Grey, another two months passed inside Pocket Universe No. 15.
Everyone watched the ever-changing conditions within the pocket universe.
At first, Himeko, Gudako, and the other members of the Express crew were extremely curious about Setsuna teaching Haruhi Suzumiya how to use her superpowers.
Every day, they brought snacks and arrived on time to watch from the sidelines. Their greatest source of entertainment was seeing just how many disasters Haruhi would cause that day and how many times the Commander would knock her on the head.
Setsuna was keeping watch anyway, so Haruhi could cause as much trouble as she wanted inside the pocket universe.
"I'll bet a meal voucher for a Totsuki chef that Haruhi blows up the sun at least three times today. Maybe she'll even trigger a supernova."
The little gray-haired girl was the first to start taking bets.
"No way. Last week, Haruhi already managed to shrink the range of her unconscious reality distortions down to the planetary level. At worst, she'll probably just destroy the planet we're standing on."
Gudako smacked her lips.
"Oh, and don't rush to set up your barbecue stall yet. Don't blame me for not warning you when Haruhi flips the whole thing over later."
Boom, crack—
The space shattered as the planet beneath their feet transformed endlessly. All kinds of plants, animals, and monsters appeared and vanished before their eyes like images in a slideshow.
Occasionally, enormous disasters such as volcanic eruptions and super-tsunamis would also emerge.
Scenes from movies and manga were unconsciously projected onto the planet by Haruhi, causing heaven and earth to change color.
"Whoa—"
For the first month or so, everyone still watched with great interest, gathering together to guess what bizarre thing Haruhi had gotten distracted thinking about this time.
"2012! That giant tsunami has to be from 2012! Oh, and this morning's volcanic eruption was probably the destruction of Pompeii..."
"A solar helium flash! Ah, I know what movie you watched last night..."
"..."
Haruhi didn't care much and continued practicing in her usual self-directed way.
She did her best to use conscious thought to restrain the uncontrollable effects of her reality distortion, dissolving those stray ideas before they could cause damage.
Once she caused a problem, she learned from it and wouldn't make the exact same mistake a second time.
After watching her practice enough times, everyone other than Herta and Nagato, who were conducting research and observations, began to get bored and simply went on vacation.
They stayed inside a small shuttle protected by a barrier, playing card games all day while teasing Yoshino, Mako, and the other native girls for entertainment.
The sun rose and set, day after day.
The scale of the destruction caused by Haruhi losing control of her abilities gradually became smaller and smaller.
At first, she had casually triggered universe-level crises such as the destruction of superclusters and the descent of evil gods. Then it fell to star-system-scale disasters like supernovae, stellar collapse, and expanding black holes.
After accidentally destroying the planet beneath their feet dozens of times, even planetary-scale destruction became extremely rare.
Later, the Express crew members lazing around inside the shuttle could barely see any major disturbances at all. Apart from the occasional bout of extreme weather or a few strange animals appearing, the scenery across the planet sometimes remained unchanged for weeks.
"Ciallo~"
"Ah, this world has stayed stable for twenty days already, right? I'm actually starting to feel weird when Haruhi doesn't cause something."
One day, Gudako woke up, yawned out a greeting, and looked down at the landscape below.
"The sun is still there, the moon is still there, the continental plates haven't changed, and there hasn't been a mass extinction or a Zero-Homer invasion. It's so peaceful it barely even feels like Haruhi Suzumiya anymore."
"Mm. I actually kind of miss how Haruhi could change the structure of the universe with a single thought when she first started. It looked incredibly impressive."
Murasamemaru floated in the air with her arms crossed and nodded.
"But in anime, when people train their skills, don't the effects usually get bigger and bigger? Why is Haruhi's getting smaller?"
"Because Haruhi Suzumiya's information manipulation ability is evolving."
Yuki Nagato answered calmly. She had been observing Haruhi Suzumiya the entire time, recording her condition every single day.
"She has suppressed her unconscious manipulation of environmental information and is transitioning toward consciously rewriting information in her surroundings."
"Haruhi Suzumiya does not need training to obtain power. She is learning how to restrain herself."
"Evolving?"
Himeko found that strange. She felt as though she had heard that term from Nagato before.
"Yes. The Data Integration Thought Entity believes Haruhi Suzumiya contains the potential for autonomous evolution. She may evolve by herself to the point where she can freely rewrite information."
Nagato nodded.
"However, Haruhi Suzumiya is currently undergoing active evolution under external stimulation. The method and outcome of this evolution differ from what the Thought Entity originally predicted."
"Her rate of evolution has been accelerated several thousandfold by the Commander and the Starsea Empire. We should see the result very soon."
"...Additionally, the possibility cannot be ruled out that other humanoid contact interfaces for organic life-forms may come here to observe."
...
Under the distortion of spacetime, stars shifted and ages passed.
Haruhi Suzumiya had long since lost count of how many times she had reset the world after losing control of her abilities, how many indescribable monsters she had released, and how many problems Setsuna had helped her clean up.
After spending countless days and nights inside the pocket universe—
One morning, she finally stood confidently before Setsuna.
"Commander, I can meet your requirements now. Can you take me out to play?"
Little Haruhi stood with her hands on her hips, looking immensely proud.
"Oh? Not bad."
Setsuna could sense that Haruhi's demeanor had subtly changed.
Compared to when she had first arrived, she was much calmer now. She was no longer the crazy little troublemaker who caused chaos at every opportunity.
Haruhi Suzumiya still possessed an intense sense of curiosity and competitiveness, and her personality remained as willful as ever, but she had learned not to let those emotions spill outward uncontrollably.
"Come on. Show everyone the results of your training."
Setsuna smiled and rubbed Haruhi's head.
The Express crew, who had grown bored from waiting, immediately gathered around.
"You're done? Uh, you're not going to watch a movie or hear a story and then randomly imagine a bunch of nonsense into existence again, right?"
Gudako looked doubtful.
"We really don't want to go back into the greater universe and fight Trisolarans or alien monsters again."
"I won't!"
Haruhi looked completely confident.
"I... I learned what the Commander taught me! Not only can I manipulate this world's information environment now, I won't trigger uncontrolled information incidents anymore either!"
"...Uh, I still lose control a little sometimes, but the Commander said small-scale interference is acceptable. Anyway, I shouldn't cause you guys any trouble anymore."
Her superpower did not have any definite name. This ability to distort the world through conscious thought greatly resembled the power of simply thinking something into being.
After turning it over in her mind, she decided to follow the conventions of this universe and Yuki Nagato's terminology, naming it "information manipulation."
As though eager to show off her newfound ability, Haruhi Suzumiya folded her arms and looked at everyone.
"If any of you have wishes, you can tell me. I'll do my best to make them come true."
"—Nothing too ridiculous, and nothing I can't imagine!"
It was partly showing off and partly an expression of gratitude. She liked these "aliens" who had accompanied her throughout her training.
Especially that older boy who had guided her and patiently stayed by her side every single day.
As she spoke, little Haruhi walked up to Setsuna, tilted her head back, and tugged at his clothes.
"Commander, you can make a wish too."
"Everyone else comes after you. The first wish is reserved for you!"