‹Could you be a messenger from the beyond?› Shizuka trembled like a frightened animal.
“I dunno. That may just be some weird special effect or something.” Kurumi still looked skeptical. “Mmm, may… May queen potatoes!”
Even in these dire circumstances, Kurumi’s mind still jumped to food, causing her stomach to rumble conspicuously. Shizuka passed the scowling Kurumi her leftover potato chips from lunch to tide her over.
Meanwhile, Karane turned her sharp glare in Rentaro’s direction. “Wait, what about you, Rentaro?! Why aren’t you saying anything?! Are you just gonna stand there and watch as an alien takes over Nano’s body?!”
Rentaro was silent for a moment. “I’m not sensing any hostility at this point,” he said. “If we antagonize it, we risk putting Nano in danger.”
“Urk!” Karane groaned. No doubt she saw the sense in what Rentaro said.
“But if it shows even the slightest intention of harming Nano…” Rentaro turned to Kusuri, who gave a single nod as she pulled a test tube from her pocket. Rentaro took it and opened the lid. “I’ll sic this Exclusively Melts Extraterrestrial Beings Medicine on its behind!”
A cute “meep!” escaped Nano’s mouth. Evidently, Rentaro had succeeded in intimidating the alien, especially when his eyes took on a manic gleam. He made as if to throw the tube.
“How the hell do you have such a specific drug for this exact situation?” Kurumi pointed out bitingly.
It turned out that Rentaro loved his girlfriends so much that he’d asked Kusuri to prepare a drug just in case any nasty aliens ever showed up. What a considerate boyfriend!
“L-let’s all just calm down here, Earthlings.” The “main body” scurried back inside Nano’s ear, though this would do nothing to protect it from the Exclusively Melts Extraterrestrial Beings Medicine. “I have absolutely no intention of harming this individual.”
Despite Nano (the alien)’s plea, Rentaro kept the test tube ready, not easing up an inch.
“Furthermore, I did not take it by force. I received her permission to borrow it in advance.”
At this sudden plot twist, everyone tilted their heads in tandem. “Huh?”
“I will briefly switch my consciousness with that of the individual known as Eiai Nano,” said Nano (the alien). She closed her eyes, only to reopen them a moment later. “The switch is done.”
“Aye, is that you, Nano?” Kusuri asked Nano(?).
Hesitant glances were exchanged. Had the switch really taken place as she claimed?
Rentaro spoke first. “Thank goodness! It’s you, Nano!”
‹Nano-san.› ‹You have returned!›
When the two people who were capable of differentiating between the Nanos spoke up, the others breathed sighs of relief.
“You’ve been recording the differences between the before-and-after, haven’t you, Mei?” Hahari was astute at times like this. “I’d like you to prepare an identification algorithm, just to be thorough.”
“Yes, my lady. I will proceed with utmost haste.”
Hakari, for her part, looked strained. “I don’t know whether to be grateful or mad that you’ve been secretly filming.”
“Inda Karane.” Having now been recognized for who she was, the real Nano turned her gaze to Karane. “I am glad that you were angry on my behalf. Thank you.”
Karane stiffened at these frank words of gratitude, and a blush bloomed on her face. “Ugh, I just wanted to know how it feels to beat up an alien, okay?!”
Everyone gazed at her fondly as she turned away in a huff.
“So, Nano, why did you allow an alien to borrow your body?” asked Rentaro, concerned.
‹Was it unavoidable, mayhaps?›
Nano nodded briskly. “By allowing an alien to use my body as a host, I could delegate my movement capabilities, increasing my personal efficiency.”
“You actually saw the upside in being possessed by an alien?!” Karane said incredulously.
Standing next to Karane, Rentaro recalled how Nano had said on their first date (before they were officially dating) that she had wanted automatic movement capabilities. He lowered the test tube, finally coming to terms with the situation.
“Furthermore…” Nano turned to Rentaro, her cheeks pink. “Aijo Rentaro said that he would still love me, even if an alien possessed my body.”
“But of course! I’ll love you from the deepest depths of my heart no matter what happens!” Rentaro shouted at the top of his lungs.
Karane gave Nano a side-eye. “So when it was controlling you, you weren’t trying to call out, ‘That’s not me,’ or anything like that?”
“I was still conscious while the alien was in control. We shared senses and stimuli as well. Under this arrangement, the only logical conclusion was that I was still in possession of my personhood, regardless of any alien interference.”
“Ooookay…”
Karane shrugged, defeated.
“But the alien must have had some goal in mind when it borrowed your body, right?” Rentaro asked.
“It would be more efficient for it to answer your question directly.” Nano closed her eyes once more. “The switch is done.”
“Mei, can you confirm?” Hahari asked.
Nano’s physical appearance was utterly unchanged, leaving those unable to distinguish between the two filled with uncertainty.
“I believe that there is a fifty-one percent chance that the alien is now in control.”
Hakari groaned. “That’s only slightly better odds than a coin flip.”
“Aye,” said Kusuri. “Schrödinger’s Nano…”
“One of them’s bound to be the real Nano-senpai,” Kurumi remarked.
Nano (the alien) looked from Rentaro to Hakari to Karane. “Before I speak of my objective, I would like to thank you,” she said.
“What are you thanking us for?” Rentaro tilted his head, puzzled.
“It’s not like an alien’s got any reason to thank us!” Karane pointed out.
Hakari grimaced. “Just this once, I agree with Karane-san.”
“I was called by you to visit this planet,” said the alien.
The three exchanged confused looks.
An instant later, however, their faces were struck with a look of understanding as they recalled their first kiss as a trio. They’d aligned themselves on the roof back then as if they had been performing a UFO-summoning ritual.
“We actually summoned one?!” they yelled in unison.
Indeed, they had.
“Where the hell was this foreshadowed?!”
In volume one of the manga, published by Young Jump Comics.
“That was in a throwaway panel at the end of the chapter! How does that even count as foreshadowing?!”
They were quite right, of course, but it was foreshadowing nonetheless, at least in this humble author’s opinion.
“But Nano-san—I mean, Alien-san—why is that something you need to thank us for?” asked Hakari.
“What, you’re calling it Alien-san? You’ve got your own name, don’t you?” said Karane.
“The name of my mother planet is pronounced @¥⥊X###$%.”
All three groaned. “Why’s it gotta be gibberish?!”
“Then I invite you to make up a name.” The alien paused. “Hm? I see… The individual known as Eiai Nano has suggested the name Nano Two.”
“There’s half-assing something, and then there’s this!”
It was a very efficient, Nano-like suggestion, but since nobody had any other ideas, it passed by default.
Nano Two proceeded to explain its circumstances. “Our home planet is running out of energy, so I set out to find a new source. Then, after I was summoned to this planet, I happened upon a bountiful resource.”
“Aye, do you mean wood, petrol, or drugs?” asked Kusuri.
“One of those things is not like the others,” Kurumi said.