Chapter 2:
A few days had passed since Rick Sanchez’s abrupt visit to Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, and Ayanokōji Kiyotaka found his mind returning to the peculiar encounter more often than he expected. While he seldom permitted himself curiosity that had no immediate benefit, something about interdimensional travel—and Rick’s flippant attitude toward entire realities—nagged at him.
He hadn’t shared a word about the incident with anyone. It was far too strange to be believed—plus, he wasn’t inclined to open himself up to suspicion or ridicule. Instead, he quietly carried on as usual: attending classes in Class D, maintaining middling test scores, and deflecting scrutiny from teachers and classmates alike.
Yet the memory of Rick’s portal gun persisted. It was an intrusion into Ayanokōji’s carefully ordered worldview.
---
Unexpected Aftermath
On an unremarkable afternoon, Ayanokōji lingered in the same classroom where Rick had appeared. He told himself it was merely coincidence, but in truth, he sensed something off. The air seemed faintly charged, as though the portal’s residual energy were still dancing along the walls.
He walked to the spot where Rick had stood. The floor looked the same, the chalkboard unremarkable. But beneath a desk—one positioned at an awkward angle—he noticed a flicker of green.
> *[Strange. A leftover component?]*
Kneeling, Ayanokōji picked up a small, metallic disc about the size of a coin. It glowed faintly around the edges. Intricate lines of circuitry traced across its surface, forming an alien pattern.
> “This must’ve fallen from his coat,” he murmured. *[Given Rick’s state, it wouldn’t surprise me if he overlooked a piece of vital tech.]*
Carefully, he placed the device in his pocket, casting a quick glance around to confirm he was still alone. If it truly belonged to Rick, it could hold the key to interdimensional travel—or at least the coordinates of Rick’s dimension.
---
The Decision
That evening in his dorm room, Ayanokōji set the disc on his desk. Hooking it up to a small electronics kit—one of the few personal items he had—he began testing it. Voltage, electromagnetic output… everything spiked beyond normal parameters. After a few minutes, the disc beeped softly, then blinked with rhythmic pulses of green light.
> *[Incredible. This is no mere tracking chip. It seems capable of generating a localized rift if paired with the proper power source.]*
He drew his curtains and locked the door. Then, carefully, he supplied the disc with a minimal current, using a makeshift power supply from leftover wires and a portable battery.
The disc vibrated. A faint shimmer appeared in the air—a circular ripple, not quite a portal, but a distortion. A tiny flicker of green energy crackled, then the shimmer vanished.
> *[So it can open a portal, but I lack the correct settings. Perhaps it’s keyed to Rick’s technology…]*
A part of him wanted to discard it. Interdimensional meddling held too many unknowns. But the calm, logical side of his mind saw an opportunity. Rick had labeled him a “stealth-brainiac,” someone who intentionally lived below his potential. Could exploring the multiverse show him bigger horizons—and potential threats—that he might eventually need to handle?
> *[I want more information.]*
---
The Activation
It took him a few days of surreptitious tinkering between classes, but Ayanokōji slowly deciphered the mechanism’s interface. One night, as he adjusted the final parameters, the disc began to hum at a higher pitch. A swirl of neon-green light materialized in front of his dorm room wall, rippling like liquid glass.
He stared at the vortex. It was barely half his height, fluttering with unstable edges.
> *[If I don’t do this carefully, I could end up anywhere—or nowhere. But if I shut it down now, this chance may never come again.]*
Steeling himself, he stepped forward and allowed the energy to swallow him whole.
A few days had passed since Rick Sanchez’s abrupt visit to Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, and Ayanokōji Kiyotaka found his mind returning to the peculiar encounter more often than he expected. While he seldom permitted himself curiosity that had no immediate benefit, something about interdimensional travel—and Rick’s flippant attitude toward entire realities—nagged at him.
He hadn’t shared a word about the incident with anyone. It was far too strange to be believed—plus, he wasn’t inclined to open himself up to suspicion or ridicule. Instead, he quietly carried on as usual: attending classes in Class D, maintaining middling test scores, and deflecting scrutiny from teachers and classmates alike.
Yet the memory of Rick’s portal gun persisted. It was an intrusion into Ayanokōji’s carefully ordered worldview.
---
Unexpected Aftermath
On an unremarkable afternoon, Ayanokōji lingered in the same classroom where Rick had appeared. He told himself it was merely coincidence, but in truth, he sensed something off. The air seemed faintly charged, as though the portal’s residual energy were still dancing along the walls.
He walked to the spot where Rick had stood. The floor looked the same, the chalkboard unremarkable. But beneath a desk—one positioned at an awkward angle—he noticed a flicker of green.
> *[Strange. A leftover component?]*
Kneeling, Ayanokōji picked up a small, metallic disc about the size of a coin. It glowed faintly around the edges. Intricate lines of circuitry traced across its surface, forming an alien pattern.
> “This must’ve fallen from his coat,” he murmured. *[Given Rick’s state, it wouldn’t surprise me if he overlooked a piece of vital tech.]*
Carefully, he placed the device in his pocket, casting a quick glance around to confirm he was still alone. If it truly belonged to Rick, it could hold the key to interdimensional travel—or at least the coordinates of Rick’s dimension.
---
The Decision
That evening in his dorm room, Ayanokōji set the disc on his desk. Hooking it up to a small electronics kit—one of the few personal items he had—he began testing it. Voltage, electromagnetic output… everything spiked beyond normal parameters. After a few minutes, the disc beeped softly, then blinked with rhythmic pulses of green light.
> *[Incredible. This is no mere tracking chip. It seems capable of generating a localized rift if paired with the proper power source.]*
He drew his curtains and locked the door. Then, carefully, he supplied the disc with a minimal current, using a makeshift power supply from leftover wires and a portable battery.
The disc vibrated. A faint shimmer appeared in the air—a circular ripple, not quite a portal, but a distortion. A tiny flicker of green energy crackled, then the shimmer vanished.
> *[So it can open a portal, but I lack the correct settings. Perhaps it’s keyed to Rick’s technology…]*
A part of him wanted to discard it. Interdimensional meddling held too many unknowns. But the calm, logical side of his mind saw an opportunity. Rick had labeled him a “stealth-brainiac,” someone who intentionally lived below his potential. Could exploring the multiverse show him bigger horizons—and potential threats—that he might eventually need to handle?
> *[I want more information.]*
---
The Activation
It took him a few days of surreptitious tinkering between classes, but Ayanokōji slowly deciphered the mechanism’s interface. One night, as he adjusted the final parameters, the disc began to hum at a higher pitch. A swirl of neon-green light materialized in front of his dorm room wall, rippling like liquid glass.
He stared at the vortex. It was barely half his height, fluttering with unstable edges.
> *[If I don’t do this carefully, I could end up anywhere—or nowhere. But if I shut it down now, this chance may never come again.]*
Steeling himself, he stepped forward and allowed the energy to swallow him whole.