And here's my entry. A apologize for the formatting issues (this is the last time I try copying from a Word document to a post here). Also, no direct character paralells with Inception were intended. And also also, I didn't try to follow the movie exactly (I did a couple things about how the dream works in my own way, for instance), so don't complain if something doesn't match up (I think I got all the mandatory lines in, though). Anyways, here we go:
"Ready,? Eirin said. ?She?ll be asleep for several hours.?
"Which is more than enough. Are you sure she?s deeply enough asleep??
"Yes, already,? Eirin said. ?For the millionth time, I know what I?m doing.?
?Just double-checking. Okay, then. Koishi??
?Ready when you are,? the satori said.
?Good. Alice?? Alice nodded. ?Nazrin??
?All set,? the mouse youkai replied.
?Nitori??
?Let?s do it,? the kappa said.
?Good. Okay, let?s-?
?You?re forgetting me, Nue.?
?No, I?m not, Kanako,? Nue said. ?There?s no room for tourists. Besides, you need to help Eirin make sure nobody comes in.?
?She doesn?t need me,? Kanako said. ?There isn?t anyone on the ship who?ll disturb us.?
?The Sanzu River Cruise has been very popular ever since it started,? Nitori mentioned. ?Trust me on this one; it?s us kappa who make the damn ships. I?m just wondering how they got the Yama to agree to it.?
?Extraction,? Alice said. ?I?m pretty sure it was Kirisame?s team that did the job.?
?What secret could the Yama have that could be used as blackmail?? Nazrin wondered.
?Not her. Saigyouji. She?s the one who convinced the Yama to allow it. She?s the one who was blackmailed.?
?Okay, people,? Nue said, ?back on topic. Nitori?s right, Kanako. These are popular.?
?Clearly,? Kanako replied. ?The number of cruise lines is evidence enough of that. But there is nobody on this ship that will disturb us.?
?Yeah? And how can you be sure? What, did you buy every single room in this wing of the ship or something??
?Actually, I bought the cruise line.?
Everyone stared at Kanako, who just shrugged. ?It seemed neater.?
?Hold it,? Nitori said. ?Where?d you get that kind of money??
?Even small donations add up over thousands of years. Anyways, everybody who?s in this area of the ship is one of my people, even the ?guests?. We won?t be disturbed.?
?Whatever,? Nue said. ?You?re still not coming.?
?I?m the client, and I want to verify the job?s success firsthand. I?m coming. That?s part of the deal.?
?Fine, then. But you will do what I or any of the team tells you without question, and you will not question anything we do. We?re the experts here.?
?That?s fine.?
?Also, your power over sky won?t work within the dream. You?re a god; your power controls the natural world, which we will not be in. Your danmaku should still work, though.?
?Noted.?
?Right, then,? Nue said. ?Eirin, looks like we?ll need an extra dose.?
?Not a problem,? Eirin said. ?Get comfortable, people. Koishi??
?Mental connection active,? Koishi said, lying down on the sofa. ?We?re ready. Give us the stuff.?
Once everyone was lying down, Eirin walked around the room, injecting each of them in turn with a strange-looking fluid. Once finished, she sat down at the table, pulled out a notebook and a lot of reference texts, and went back to her research. No point in wasting all this time she had to herself, after all.
------------------------------------------- ?Rain,? Nue said. ?Why is it always raining? Can?t you give us a sunny day for once, Koishi?? ?Hey, I?m just the dreamer. I just design the place. Mokou?s the subject; it?s her mind that populates it.?
?I would not have thought rain to be part of this ?population,? Kanako remarked.
?Population doesn?t refer to people,? Nue explained. ?The dreamer-Koishi-uses the subject?s mind as a basis to construct the dream. It?s the subject who determines what?s in it, and that includes weather.?
?I see.?
?Good. All right, then, let?s get moving. Nazrin??
?I already have her location,? Nazrin said. ?Follow me.?
?Hey, guys! Over here!?
The group turned to see Nitori sitting within a large object. ?Ah,? Kanako said, ?an SUV. How convenient.?
?Not really. Koishi put it there. I just had to hotwire it. Nazrin, you take the passenger seat up front. Everyone else, pile in. Let?s do this.?
----------------------------------------------------
?I?m not objecting to modern conveniences,? Kanako said, ?but why are we in an outside-world city??
They were indeed in a city that looked as though it was from the outside world. Nitori was driving the vehicle through the streets, following Nazrin?s directions. It was far from the first time they?d been in such a dream, but it was unusual. When they were, though, they often used vehicles such as this one; their size allowed everyone to fit in quite easily (although Kanako?d had to remove her shimeniwa and put it in the back).
?This was all in Mokou?s head,? Koishi said, ?so I used it. Oh, and I did give us all cell phones; usual numbers. Not sure how Mokou knows what the outside world is like, though.?
?Well, things do come through from outside. I?m proof of that. Perhaps Mokou learned of life outside from things that fell through.?
?Possible,? Nue said. ?Doesn?t matter, though. Nazrin, we close enough??
?Yeah. Koishi??
?One sec,? Koishi said. ?Linking? okay, riding along.?
?She?s riding along with Nazrin?s locating ability,? Alice explained to Kanako. ?It lets her get a visual on the target?s location before we actually get there. She can?t do it if we?re too far away, though.?
?I see,? Kanako said. ?Sounds handy.?
?If you think that?s handy,? Nue said, ?just wait until you see what I?m going to do.?
?It?s a school,? Koishi said. ?Only a few people are there.?
?As one would expect,? Nue said, ?given the time of day we landed in in this dream. I imagine it?s just cleaning staff and maybe a couple teachers there this late. That?s good. Makes it easier. Bait-and-Snatch is a go, just as expected.?
?Okay,? Nazrin said, ?we?re approaching the target. Nitori, find a spot to let us out, and let?s do this.?
------------------------------------------- ?So,? Kanako said, ?what exactly are they doing??
?Abducting Mokou,? Nitori said. The two of them were still in the SUV, which was parked a short distance away from the school. As soon as Nitori got the signal, she would move in and pick everyone up. Then they?d book it to a preselected location to prepare the next step of the operation.
?Abducting Mokou,? Kanako repeated. ?Is this normal??
Nitori laughed. ?Hon, none of this is normal. Most teams refuse to even try inception, and of those that are willing to try, we?re the only ones who?ve ever pulled it off. See, extraction is the norm; going in with the purpose of finding something, some little bit of information. That?s simple; you just have to get to the stuff you?re after and grab it.?
?How do you find it? Nazrin?s ability isn?t quite up to that, surely.?
?Don?t underestimate her. She could give you the location of a fly clear on the other side of this city. She indeed cannot locate target information, though, as she doesn?t know what it is. If she knew the information, she could find it, but then extraction wouldn?t be needed in the first place. She can usually locate the place where it is, though, if not right away then after we?ve figured out a few things about said location. And even that we can only do because of the naturally limited number of locations we need to worry about.?
?What do you mean??
?The subject?s mind populates the constructed dream,? Nitori explained. ?The resulting dreamworld thus reflects the contents of the subject?s mind. For information, this means that things she doesn?t care about being public will be, well, public. Things she intends to keep secret, however, are, well, kept secret. But this can be exploited.?
?Oh??
?Yeah. You just need a secure location-a safe within a bank vault, say. The mind associates such places with security, and naturally populates them with sensitive information. All it takes from there is to break in and steal it.?
?Like a heist? Who are you, Ocean?s Eleven??
A pause.
?I have no idea what you?re talking about,? Nitori said.
Kanako waved her hand dismissively. ?Something from the outside world. Don?t worry about it. So you just have to break in, then? This is basically a flashy bank robbery??
Nitori laughed. ?Not even close. First of all, the bank was just an example; the information could be anywhere the host?s mind identifies as secure. And there are often some interesting tricks to deal with. Sometimes we even find ourselves in need of some clue from the subject.?
?For some reason,? Kanako remarked, ?I don?t think they?d give you that willingly. Although now that I think about it, a satori could do it, right? I know the secrets you people go in looking for are buried too deeply for a satori to find the normal way, but if you need, like, a password or something, couldn?t you just get the subject to think about it and have a satori pick it out??
?No. Mind-reading gets kind of wonky when you?re effectively inside someone?s mind. But there are ways to get what?s needed. And we have some? advantages.?
?Like what??
?Our team is the best,? Nitori declared proudly. ?We can do things none of the others can. That?s one reason we?re the only ones to even pull off a successful inception; there?s no team like ours.?
?How is that??
?We,? Nitori said, ?have the ideal team. First, there?s Eirin. There?s nobody else who can make safe sedatives that would work for how deeply sedated we need to be in order to hit three levels in.
?Then there?s our dreamer, Koishi. When she closed her third eye, her mind-reading ability changed; other satori read the conscious mind, but Koishi reads and can affect the subconscious. And right now, we?re basically in Mokou?s subconscious. All teams need a satori for the mind-link-otherwise we?d all merely be asleep-but she doesn?t have to be the dreamer. Koishi?s ours because her whole subconciousness thing gives her greater control when building the dream. Not total, of course; far from total. But she can do a lot more than anyone else can.
?Nazrin? well, you?ve already seen how she?s useful. I?m basically gadget-girl, given that I was an engineer before I did this. I can be handy to have around. Alice is handy, too, especially when we need to keep lookouts posted. You know, ?cause she can use her dolls.?
?They?re not with her, though.?
?Not yet,? Nitori said. ?Anyone who?s aware they?re in a dream can make some? minor changes. Calling up a few dolls is fairly simple. Anyways, yeah, Alice is handy, and that?s everyone except the boss.
?Nue?s the reason we can pull off inception; her ability is quite handy when it comes to planting the idea. And it?s extremely useful for extraction, too. Shapeshifting is just generally useful like that. And Nue?s a good planner, too, by which I mean she?s excellent at improvising a plan on the fly-I?m better when it comes to planning something ahead of time. Improvising is important, though, since there?s no way to predict exactly what we?ll find in the dream, not even with Koishi.
?So yeah, we?ve pretty much got the ideal team. The thing is, extraction just requires finding the information and getting it out. Inception is, well, trickier.?
?How so??
?You can?t just put an idea down in someone?s mind,? Nitori said. ?The mind will sense that something?s off. It?ll recognize the idea as foreign. In order for the idea to take, the subject has to be led to coming up with it herself.?
?How do you do that??
?It?s complicated. You?re planning on riding into the next level, though, right?? Kanako nodded. ?Then you?ll see. The basic idea, though, is that??
------------------------------------------ Koishi and Nazrin were waiting outside the school. Alice was nearby, keeping watch over the area with her dolls, and would let the team know if anybody was coming. Nue was inside, and would be bringing Mokou out. Nitori was in the vehicle with Kanako, and would come in as soon as she was called. Koishi and Nazrin were similarly waiting, but for something else. Their job was to ambush Mokou when Nue led her out. But until Nue got to Mokou, they could only wait.
Eventually, the waiting came to an end. ?Nue?s found her,? Nazrin said. ?Get ready.?
-------------------------------------- ??and when the subject awakes, she?ll think she came up with the idea on her own,? Nitori was saying. ?That?s why we went through all that research effort; we needed something about Mokou to use. She?s been wrestling with this question for some time; she?ll just think she finally reached a conclusion-which she will have, of course, just not on her own.?
?Right,? Kanako said. ?I really don?t understand a lot of that.?
?Yeah, it can be confusing. It works, though, and that?s the important part.?
?True.?
?So what?s your deal?? Nitori asked. ?Why do you want Mokou to make up with Kaguya??
?I don?t,? Kanako said. ?I want to be the one who leads Mokou to making up with Kaguya, who leads them to ending their conflict.?
?Let me guess: faith??
Kanako nodded. ?Faith. Pulling off something like that would get me a lot of attention and a lot of praise.?
?So in the end, your motive is self-interest.?
?Is that a problem??
?No. As long as one isn?t actively seeking to cause harm, we don?t care why the client wants our servi-?
Nitori was cut off when her phone rang. She checked the display, then answered. ?Alice.?
?Nitori,? Alice said, ?get your ass moving. We?ve got trouble.?
-------------------------------------- ?Mokou!? Nue exclaimed as she ran into the room. ?Mokou!?
Mokou spun to face Nue, but it wasn?t Nue?s form she saw. Nue had put her shapeshifting ability to use, and was currently wearing the form of Keine Kamashirasawa. ?Keine? I thought you were sick; that?s why they called me in to substitute.?
?Later,? Nue said. ?We have to move. I don?t know why, but there are people after you.?
?People are after-?
?Yes, and they?re almost here! Come on!? Nue took Mokou?s arm and pulled her along.
?Fine,? Mokou said, running alongside Nue, ?but you owe me an explanation.?
Nue led Mokou through the school and out, where, unbeknownst to Mokou, Koishi and Nazrin were waiting. They ambushed her and knocked her out. Then Koishi turned to Nue. ?Alice called. We have a problem. Mokou?s been trained.?
?Shit.? Nue reassumed her normal form. ?Nitori??
?On her way,? Nazrin said. ?She?s got Alice and will be here right? about? now!?
-------------------------------------------- ?Okay,? Kanako said, ?would somebody please explain just what is going on here??
?We?re on the run from the cops.?
Kanako glared at Nazrin. ?Obviously. But why are there outside-world police officers in the dream??
?Because they fit the setting.?
Koishi smacked Nazrin, then turned to Kanako. ?Sorry. She gets sarcastic when she?s tense.?
?Right. Maybe you should explain.?
?Shit!? Nitori explained as a police car turned onto the road in front of her. ?Nue!?
?Coming right up!? Nue formed a green-colored UFO and sent it flying towards the car ahead. It moved down low and fired a laser that took out both left tires, sending the vehicle careening out of control into a collision with a building.
?We?re foreign presences here,? Koishi said. ?The subconscious recognizes this-that?s why inception is so difficult-and attempts to repel such presences. In the dream, this usually translates as people trying to kill you. It usually doesn?t happen as quickly as this, though-as long as you don?t draw attention to yourself, at least. Knocking out Mokou should?ve been the trigger, but they were already on the way when we did that. And most of the time it?s just random people. It?s disorganized, sloppy, and the people are generally poorly equipped.?
?Which is not the case here, I take it,? Kanako said.
?Right. It?s possible to train one?s subconscious to better fight off intrusion. For us, that means the people trying to kill us are organized, coordinated, well-equipped. Professional, basically. An untrained mind?s defense usually takes the form of armed citizens; a trained mind?s usually takes the form of the military or law-enforcement. In outside-world dream environments like this one, that is; in Gensokyo-based environments, it?s generally random fairies and other youkai as opposed to more ?incident-solver? types. We?ve had more than a few dicey encounters with dream-world versions of Reimu and Marisa.?
?Shit!? Alice swore. ?Helicopters incoming! Nue!?
?On it!? Nue leapt out through the open window and flew directly at the trio of approaching helicopters.
?Question,? Kanako said. ?We can all fly, so why are we bothering with this vehicle??
?Dream-Mokou thinks this is all normal, all real. We don?t want to tip her off, so we have to play by the rules. When she can see, at least; we can go nuts while she?s unconscious. Also, it?s easier to transport someone in a truck, and also also, there?s a high likelihood that we?ll end up using this thing for a kick. Oh, and with trained defenses after us, staying in one place while we?re in the next dream level isn?t the best of ideas, so we?ll be wanting this thing to put everyone in while we?re all asleep. Although we?ll likely leave two people here instead of one-Alice and Nitori, probably.?
?Okay, just how do you manage to keep all of this straight??
********
Charging straight at a trio of armed helicopters alone wasn?t a very smart idea. Nue, however, had a couple of advantages. First, these were outside-world types; they wouldn?t expect things such as magic or people being able to fly that were normal in Gensokyo. And second, Nue had backup.
The UFOs-blue ones-went in ahead of Nue, spraying lasers everywhere. The hits weren?t as strong as the big lasers from green UFOs, but there were more of them, and they fired more rapidly. But more importantly, the UFOs drew the helicopters? fire, allowing Nue to fly right up to one.
Nue?s weapon of choice, a trident, formed in her left hand. The weapon forming like that wasn?t related to the dream. Such a thing was quite common in Gensokyo; many people?s weapons appeared only when needed.
Nue flew up underneath the helicopter and thrust her weapon up through the bottom, using it to tear a hole in the vehicle. She threw a blue UFO inside and let it finish the helicopter off while she went for the next one, taking it out in the same way.
The third helicopter?s pilot had time to react before Nue reached his vehicle, but Nue had planned for that, and the pilot wasn?t aware that there were three green UFOs underneath him until they opened fire. As they did, Nue threw her trident, guiding it magically to its target. It penetrated into the helicopter and straight through the pilot?s neck.
With the helicopters taken care of, Nue moved quickly to catch up to the others, and saw that only one police car remained. She landed on its hood, broke through the windshield, and speared the driver?s heart with her trident. The passenger she simply grabbed by the neck and threw out of the car.
Nue leapt from the now-driverless car and returned to her team?s SUV, carefully slipping in through the same window she?d used to exit. ?Pursuers eliminated,? she said. ?Let get to the destination point before more show up.?
----------------------------------------- The destination was a run-down, abandoned building. Nitori had taken the SUV through a large-enough opening and parked it within the ground floor. The team had taken Mokou, exited the vehicle-Kanako once more donning her shimenewa-and gone up to a higher floor. Mokou was in one room, tied up and with Koishi watching her, while the others were elsewhere, far enough away that Mokou couldn?t have heard them even had she been awake.
?Okay, people,? Nue said, ?it looks like this is going to be nastier than we thought.?
?Yeah, about that.? Alice turned to Kanako. ?What the hell is up with this?!?
?Calm down, Alice,? Nue said. ?She didn?t know Mokou?s had training. We didn?t find any evidence either, remember? It was obviously done in secret, perhaps in the hope that Kaguya would try extraction-or inception-and fall into a trap. Very much in secret, too; not even Akyu?s records had a mention of-?
?Hold it,? Kanako cut in, ?you went to Akyu? What happened to ?covert???
?Akyu knows nothing about the job,? Nazrin assured Kanako. ?She doesn?t ask questions. She?s a very valuable resource; the works of the Child of Miare are the most complete records that exist, and are invaluable in learning what we need to know about the target. A lot of teams make use of the Chronicles, and Akyu doesn?t ask questions. Don?t worry; secrecy hasn?t been compromised.?
?More importantly,? Nue said, ?this job just got a lot tougher.?
?Can you still do it?? Kanako asked.
?Yes, I think we can. It?ll cost you an extra twenty-five percent for a trained mind, though.?
?Not a problem.?
?You are spending a lot of money on this,? Nitori remarked. ?Is getting faith from Eientei really that important to you??
?Money has no value to me,? Kanako replied. ?It is simply a tool. I have no need or want of it.?
?Yeah, but don?t you at least need to maintain your shrine and provide for your miko??
?Suwako handles that,? Kanako said. ?She is, after all, a goddess of nature. She will not allow the shrine to deteriorate or be damaged, and providing enough sustenance for Sanae-or any of the other mikos we?ve had-is also simple. There are some things that even we need to purchace, yes, but they are few and far-between, and we can usually find someone willing to donate what we need, anyways. We have little use for money.?
?And yet you encourage its donation,? Alice said.
?Donation is a symbolic act. People are materialistic, and thus often feel that faith is best expressed materially. I am not going to discourage such a thing; if it is how they express their faith, then I will actively encourage it.?
?Focus, people,? Nue said. ?Having to deal with a trained mind changes things. We won?t have the time for the original plan. Things are calm now, but as soon as we enter the next level, they?ll be on us again both here and there.?
?Inception can?t be played that fast, boss,? Nazrin said. ?It takes time to properly set up. If we try and speed it up, we?ll have a failed plant.?
?Not necessarily. We can make this work.?
?You have a plan??
?Yes,? Nue said. ?We?re going with Charlotte.?
------------------------------------ Nitori stood over Mokou as the latter regained awareness. ?Hi, there, Mokou,? she said.
?Who? are you??
?Somebody. It?s not important. You?re the important one here, Mokou. There?s something we need you to tell us.?
?Yeah? And just what would that be??
?The combination, of course,? Nitori said.
?The- what??
?Don?t play dumb. The combination.?
?What combination??
Nitori sighed. ?The combination to your father?s safe.?
?To- wait, what? He never had a-?
Nitori laughed. ?Oh, you didn?t know about it? Yes, he kept something precious within that safe.?
?And it?s still there after more than a thousand years? You?re full of shit.?
?Oh, not at all. You of all people, Mokou, should know that something can be made to last far longer than is natural. Your father?s safe and its contents are intact, and you?re going to give me the combination.?
?I didn?t even know about the safe. Why the hell do you think I know its combination? And that?s assuming you?re not just making all of this up.?
?You know the combination,? Nitori said. ?He passed it on to you before his death. Obviously, though, he didn?t tell you it was a combination. Some string of numbers, likely presented in conjunction with something else. A gift, perhaps.?
?There?s nothing like that,? Mokou said. ?Not that I?d tell you even if there was, though.?
Nitori gave an evil grin. ?Oh, you?ll talk. There?s something quite wonderful about torturing an immortal, you know. No matter what I do to you, you?ll survive.? She giggled. ?Oh, this is going to be so much fun!?
----------------------------------- ?Okay,? Kanako said, ?forgive me if I?m misunderstanding something. Are you saying we?re going to tell Mokou that she?s in a dream??
?Not yet,? Nue said. ?Not until the next level in. That?s where we?ll need her cooperation, and we won?t have enough time for most methods of getting that.?
?And you?re sure she won?t call your bluff??
?Subconscious defense training is, well, subconscious. She doesn?t actually know how her defenses work. We can use that to our advantage. We?ll convince her that someone?s after a secret in her mind, then let her find out just what that secret is.?
?And Nitori?s interrogation of her plays into this how??
?When we call her attention to the fact that she?s in a dream,? Koishi explained, ?she?ll be able to vaguely recall events in the next level up. This level. Although she won?t know that this level is also a dream. Anyways, this way, she?ll get memories of people-me and Nitori, specifically-trying to get information from her. And speaking of that, I think it?s about my turn in there.?
----------------------------------------- Nitori stepped to the side as she heard the door open, allowing her to keep Mokou in sight while she looked at the newcomer. ?Nothing yet?? Koishi asked.
?Nothing. She?s a tough one.?
?I thought you liked the tough ones.?
?Indeed I do, but we?re a little short on time. Maybe your? unique style would be of assistance.?
?Then stand aside and let me handle this. Man, it?s been a while since I?ve done this. Hope I?m not too rusty.?
?I wouldn?t worry about that,? Nitori remarked as she walked out of the room. ?You?re a natural.?
------------------------------------------- ?Okay,? Kanako said, ?I know I?ve been saying this a lot, but: question. This dream is based on the outside world, with no magic and all, but Mokou still has her feud with Kaguya, and both are still immortal? How exactly does that work??
?It?s a dream,? Nitori said. ?It doesn?t have to make perfect sense. You get little inconsistencies like this all the time.?
----------------------------------------------- Mokou spat out blood. ?I don?t know a goddamn thing.?
?Yes, you do,? Koishi said. ?You may not know you know it, but you do know it.?
?And just what the hell is that supposed to mean??
?Give me the numbers. Say them, whatever comes to mind. Just give me a string of digits off the top of your head.?
?And this is supposed to be this ?combination? you?re after? You?re crazy!?
?Probably,? Koishi said. ?Now, the numbers, please. Or would you like to lose another head??
?You?re insane,? Mokou said. ?Um, 1, 0, 3, 9, 2, 0, 4, 6.?
Koishi entered the numbers into a text message and sent it. The reply came quickly, and she looked at it, frowned, and swore. Then she punched Mokou in the face. ?You weren?t honest. You didn?t list off the top of your head, did you??
?Of course I did. You didn?t really think it would work, did you??
?Plan b, then,? Koishi said. ?You just sit tight for now. Oh, and we?ve got you surrounded, so don?t try anything, okay, dear? You just be a good little girl until I get back.?
------------------------------------------ Mokou jerked up as Koishi and Nitori threw the bound form of Keine into the room and slammed the door. ?Keine! Are you okay??
?Do I look okay??
?You look like they beat you almost as badly as they did me.?
This, of course, was deliberate; Nue had modified her form appropriately. ?I feel like shit, I know that much.? She managed to crawl her way over to Mokou and sit up beside her. ?They didn?t really tell me what the hell they wanted, though. Just kept asking for some number.?
?They think my father put something in a safe and gave me the combination.?
?Shit, how the hell?d they find out about that??
?Um, Keine??
?What??
?What are you talking about??
Nue sighed. ?Your father did have something he kept in a safe. The safe is hidden and known only to myself and Akyu.?
?Akyu? That fellow history-nut friend of yours??
?Your father was friends with her direct ancestor, Miare. He asked Miare to hide the safe, and its location has been passed down in the Heida family ever since.?
?How do you know about it??
?I?ve told you of Akyu?s illness. She?ll be lucky to live to thirty, and there?s no way she?ll manage to bear a child with her condition. Her family can?t do the job any longer, so she passed the safe?s location on to me. You were to be told of this and given the combination to it upon your father?s death, but? well, apparently you weren?t. I don?t know why he didn?t tell you.?
Mokou gave a harsh laugh. ?I know why. Did I ever tell you what his last words were??
?You said you couldn?t make them out.?
?I made out enough. He always did things for himself, didn?t ask anyone for help. He succeeded or failed only by his own hand. I was never able to be so independent, no matter how hard I tried, and at the end, he made it clear that I had failed him. He said he was disappointed. That?s all I could make out, but it was enough.?
?I? don?t know about that,? Keine said. ?From what you?ve told me about him, I always got the idea that he wanted you to be your own person.?
?Yeah, independent. Someone who doesn?t need help.?
?That?s? not what I meant. Wouldn?t he have wanted you to choose for yourself what kind of person you wanted to be??
?I know what he wanted.?
?Surely you?ve wondered about that. Did he ever seem like the type of person who?d want you to be exactly like him??
?Of course he was.? Mokou tried unsuccessfully to fight back tears. ?That?s why he never told me about this safe of his, Keine. He wanted me to be strong enough to carry on the family?s honor, and I wasn?t. I failed him. And I?m still failing him. No matter how hard I try, I can?t do it. I can?t avenge him, can?t clear his honor. He was right not to tell me about it.?
Mokou broke down and cried.
---------------------------
?Keine? was removed from the room by Koishi as Nitori went in for another session with Mokou. ?I think we?re on track,? Nue said as she reassumed her true form. ?We can head to the next level whenever we?re ready.?
----------------------------------------- The entire team was gathered in the room; Mokou had been left alone after Nitori?s second interrogation session, with some of Alice?s dolls guarding her. ?We?re ready to move on,? Nue said, ?so let?s go over the plan-and pay attention, Kanako, since this is primarily for your benefit.?
?I am aware.?
?Good. Okay, so we?ve needed to adjust to Charlotte on the fly. This causes problems. We?re at an advantage in an outside-world dream environment, since the ?people? don?t know about and can?s use any sort of magic or other powers. If we could, we?d have gone for that kind of environment for all three levels. However, Charlotte works better if the level we go for it in is as different as possible from the level above; the contrast helps the subject realize it?s a dream. So we?ll have to go with a Gensokyo-style dream environment, and that?ll make dealing with the defenses harder. In addition, we?ll need to leave at least one person at this level-and I think we?ll need two, given the whole defense training factor. Nitori and Alice, I think. Alice will be responsible for providing Nitori with cover. The rest of us will head into the next dream level.
?We?re going to have manpower issues, so Kanako, I?m actually glad you insisted on coming along, because we?ll need you. Once Mokou?s told that she?s in a dream, her defenses will go nuts and home in on Koishi, the dreamer. She could probably manage on her own, but I say we don?t take chances. Kanako, you?ll be staying in the second level with Koishi.?
Kanako thought for a moment. ?It seems this is because I?ll be more useful fending off Mokou?s defenses in that level, correct? Not because you want me out of the way??
?You?re going to be in harm?s way,? Nue said. ?You?ll be in more danger than the rest of us, but I have to go in to the third level and you?re much more powerful than Nazrin is, so you?re the best choice to stay with Koishi.?
?That is acceptable, then. But don?t you need Koishi for the mind-link??
?She can establish it even if she?s not part of it,? Nue said. ?We?ll have to use someone else as the dreamer for the third level, though, probably me. That takes away one of our advantages, but Koishi?s going to be too busy fighting off the defenses to go to sleep. You?ll be aiding her in that fight, Kanako, and when the time comes, you?ll need to make sure the kick goes off properly. While you?re doing that, Nazrin and I will perform the inception. And be careful; if you lose a danmaku battle here, the defenses will proceed to kill you.?
?That just kicks you up a level, though, right??
?Normally,? Nue said, ?and if you die there, yes, you?ll end up here, although that?ll leave Koishi on her own. But we?re too deeply sedated for death to kick us up from here back to reality, so here, extra care is needed. Nobody knows what happens to someone then, but the person?s mind does not return.?
?Oh.?
?This level?s not your responsibility, though. You worry about your level, and make sure that Koishi survives, because timing the kick is tricky, and you probably won?t get it right.?
?Timing the kick??
?A kick knocks you out of the dream,? Koishi explained. ?Death is the easiest kick to do. Thing is, we?re sedated deeply, so just dying on this level won?t wake us up, and we do not want to wait here until the sedative wears off, since the time dilation would make it several days we?d be here for. So we?ll want to wake ourselves up.?
?And how does one do that??
?Stacked kicks. We?re going to die simultaneously in all three levels. The combined kick will knock us all the way out of the dream. We won?t actually wake up-we?ll still be sedated-but we?ll be out of the dream. It?ll be just regular sleep.?
?And what about those of us who aren?t three levels in??
?We?ll be riding the kick along with everyone else. It?ll get us out, don?t worry. And yes, we have done it before.?
?Well, that?s comforting, I suppose.?
?Okay, movement time,? Alice said. ?Police are gathering here in force. Break?s over, people. It?s back to the fight now.?
?Right,? Nue said. ?Nitori, go get Mokou.?
?Shit,? Alice said. ?They?ve got men in the building over there. We?ve got snipers to worry about now.?
?I?ll take ?em,? Nazrin said, drawing a handgun from seemingly nowhere as she headed over to a window-broken-that she could fire from.
Koishi sighed. ?She always thinks small.? She walked up beside Nazrin and pointed a rocket launcher out the window. ?You mustn?t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.?
?Right,? Nue said, shifting into Keine?s form, ?hold them off. Nitori, get Mokou. Alice, you have me. Let?s move!?
------------------------------------------------- Mokou and ?Keine? were thrown, completely bound, into the truck (Kanako bonked Mokou in the heal when putting her shimenewa in). Nitori injected Mokou with a sedative, then gave Nue the same injection. Then she and everyone else piled in, with Nitori driving and Alice in the passenger seat.
Koishi handed Kanako a pair of headphones. ?Wear these.?
?What are these for?? Kanako asked.
?We use music as a signal,? Nitori explained. ?I?ll turn the music on when I?m a few seconds from this level?s kick. With the headphones on, you?ll hear it even in deeper levels. That?s the signal to get your own kick ready.?
?Ah.? Kanako put hers on as Koishi slipped a pair over Nue?s ears.
?Okay,? Nazrin said as she and Koishi donned their own sets, ?we?re ready. Koishi??
?Mind-link up. Alice, put us out.?
Alice injected each of them with a sedative, and soon they were asleep. ?Right. Okay, Nitori, let?s do this. You drive, I?ll shoot.?
------------------------------- ?The Human Village,? Nazrin said.
?Looks pretty normal,? Kanako remarked.
?It should be,? Koishi said.
?Nazrin,? Nue said, ?do you have her??
?Yep. Koishi, we should be close enough.?
?Hold on? got it. Looks like the same as the last level; Mokou?s in the building after school, probably subbing for Keine just like in the last level.?
?Right,? Nue said. ?Get over there, Nazrin. I?ll take my own position. Koishi, Kanako, get ready, because soon, you?re in for a fight. Let?s move.?
--------------------------------------------------
Nazrin walked into the classroom just in time to be flung to the left, along with everything else in the room. You like your hard turns, don?t you, Nitori?
Mokou was on the ground, and Nazrin helped her up. ?Are you okay??
?I- I?m fine.?
?Look at me, Mokou.? Mokou did so. ?Okay, listen carefully. My name is Charlotte. Do you know who I am??
?Um, no.?
?Then remember quickly, because we may not have a lot of time.?
?What are you talking about??
?You?re under attack,? Nazrin said. ?Mental attack. This is a dream.?
?Wait, what??
?You?re dreaming, Mokou. Someone?s invading your mind.?
?Yeah? And who are you??
?I?m you,? Nazrin said. ?Specifically, I?m a subconscious construction of yours based on your mental defense training. You should be remembering this, Mokou.?
?This is a dream.?
Everything was thrown to the right. Nazrin grabbed Mokou and kept her standing. ?Yes. Things like that don?t just happen.?
?Well, they are.?
?But not here. They?re happening to your body outside the dream. Think, Mokou. You should be able to remember reality.?
?I??
----------------------------------------
?Question,? Kanako said. ?Why is everyone looking at us??
?Not ?us?,? Koishi said. ?Me. Nazrin is calling Mokou?s attention to the fact that she?s dreaming, causing her subconscious to begin searching for the dreamer. Me.? She paused, then spun to face Kanako. ?Kiss me.?
?What??
?No questions. Just do it.?
And they did, holding their embrace for a good while. When they separated, Kanako looked around, and yes, people were still looking at them. ?Um, I don?t think it worked.?
?Eh, worth it.?
------------------------------------ ?There was? a room,? Mokou said. ?A run-down building. They were? beating me. Interrogating me. They wanted a numerical password to some safe my father had that I didn?t even know about.?
?Possibly a fabrication to mask their true intent.?
?No, it?s real. Keine was captured, too, although she was questioned separately. Anyways, she filled me in on the safe thing.?
?Any idea who these people are??
?No, but it?s obvious who they?re working for, right??
?Miss Houraisan. A good assumption. Did they not accept that you do not know the combination??
?That?s right.?
?Hmm? okay, we need to act. They?re here somewhere, and they?ll be after you. What happened next??
?After a while, they took Keine and me and threw us into a truck and then??
?That?s when you fell asleep. And in a truck. That explains the gravity shifts.?
?Yeah, but not how they know about the safe.?
?Someone told them. But who??
?I don?t know,? Nazrin said, ?but odds are at least one of them does. So let?s go find them.
----------------------------------- ?Okay,? Koishi said, ?the civilians are clearing out. We should expect to see Reimu and Marisa shortly.?
?And Nue thinks you could handle this fight solo??
?Yeah, because we?ve got two advantages. The first is that we don?t have to win; we just have to not lose. We just have to hold out long enough.?
?Just wait them out, then. And the second advantage??
?Pretty much everyone in Gensokyo knows how those two fight, largely because they?ve fought pretty much everyone in Gensokyo. So we shouldn?t see a lot that?s unfamiliar. We?ve fought them, so we know what to expect. But I?ve never fought Mokou. Have you?? Kanako shook her head. ?Then she doesn?t know how either of us fights, so neither does her subconscious. We?ll be going up against opponents we?re familiar with, but they won?t be familiar with us. So yeah, we?ve got some advantages.?
--------------------------------------------
Nazrin led Mokou to the village?s inn. As in the real Gensokyo, the inn was only a few stories tall. It was rarely extremely full, but there were usually some people there. Anyone who came to visit the village stayed there, whether it be humans who lived elsewhere or youkai who were visiting.
Nazrin led Keine inside. ?Okay, you?re living here while teaching in Keine?s place, right? What?s your room??
?First floor, room 039.?
?1039. Got it. Let?s- not go there. Come on!?
Nazrin led Mokou up to the second floor. ?Where are we going?? Mokou asked.
?I saw someone. Come on.?
Nazrin moved quickly down the hall with Mokou following her, eventually stopping in front of a room. Mokou read the number. ?Second floor, room 046.?
?2046,? Nazrin said. She went in here.?
-------------------------------- ?Hey, Alice,? Nitori said.
?Yes??
?Maybe you should, oh, I don?t know, get rid of these guys??
?I?m trying,? Alice said. ?You just focus on the shit!?
A police car pulled out of a side street in front of them, requiring a rather sudden turn on Nitori?s part that sent the vehicle into a brief skid. Immediately upon recovery, Nitori slammed on the gas and sped down that side street as Alice sent some dolls at the car to take it out before it could get turned around.
--------------------------------------- There was one person in the room Mokou and Nazrin broke into. ?What the hell?? Mokou said. ?Keine??
Nazrin didn?t waste any time. She charged ?Keine? and tackled the woman to the ground. Then she injected her with a sedative.
?Okay,? Mokou said, ?what the hell was that? Keine?s a friend. Why?d you attack her??
?She?s an intruder,? Nazrin said. ?A foreign presence. She?s one of the people invading your mind.?
?What? No, she?d never-?
?She is. Makes sense, really. Why else would she tell you about the very thing your captives are after? Letting you remain ignorant would?ve made it harder for them.?
?But why would she do this? She?s been my friend for a long time. Why would she work with Kaguya??
?I don?t know,? Nazrin said. ?Let?s find out.?
------------------------------------ Reimu and Marisa were visible when the blast of danmaku went sailing past Koishi and Kanako. ?That?s Nazrin?s signal,? Koishi said. ?You keep those two busy; I?ll get Nazrin and Nue into the next level, then I?ll be back.?
?Understood,? Kanako said.
----------------------------------------- Koishi flew in through the window, startling Mokou. ?Don?t worry,? Nazrin said. ?She?s with me. She?ll send us into Keine?s head.?
?All right, but? are you sure? I don?t want to do this to her.?
?She?s doing it to you.?
?I? I guess so. Okay, let?s do it.?
?Right,? Nazrin said. ?Okay, since we?re already in your dream, what we encounter in Keine?s will be affected by your mind. Essentially, both of you will populate the dream, and we?ll find things from both of your minds in there. We may even find the information Keine?s after.?
?I just want to know why she?s doing this.?
?We?ll focus on that, then. Lie down.? Mokou did so, and Nazrin did the same. ?Okay, send us in.?
Koishi established the mind link, then injected Nazrin and Mokou, sending them into the next level of the dream. Mokou?s dream; Nazrin had lied to Mokou about whose dream they were entering. Entering a different person?s dream would have had the effect Nazrin had described, though, which served as a nice and convenient explanation for why Mokou?d be seeing things from her own mind.
With that taken care of, Koishi went back outside to Kanako. Nue and Nazrin would perform the inception; Koishi and Kanako?s job was to hold off the defenses for long enough.
------------------------------------------ Alice used a doll to knock a motorcycle cop to the ground, and Nitori ran him over. ?I love doing that,? the kappa remarked.
?Have I ever told you that you can be a bit sadistic someti- heads up! They?re bringing in the choppers again!?
?Well, blow them up!?
?Already on it.? And she was. She had one doll heading for each helicopter, with several others gathered around the truck providing covering fire. The dolls reached their targets unharmed and exploded. ?Choppers down.?
----------------------------------------- Nazrin led Mokou through the facility. ?How do you know where you?re going?? Mokou asked.
She knew, of course, by sensing Nue?s location, but she didn?t say that. ?Instinct. I?m part of your mind; I know it well. Remember, some of the stuff here is from you. I?m not completely certain where to go, thanks to the stuff from Keine, but I can tell enough to at least get a pretty good idea. Now-? Nazrin shot a security guard who came running around a corner, ?-stop talking and move it!?
----------------------------------------- ?God?s Rice Porridge!?
Kanako?s spellcard pushed Reimu and Marisa back far enough that they had time to dodge. Which led them right into Koishi?s attack. ?Release of the Id!?
Reimu and Marisa couldn?t react in time and began taking hits from Koishi?s heart-shaped shots. Kanako took advantage of their distraction to slam them with another card. ?Expanded Onbashira!?
Both enemies performed some expert dodging, but with their movements restricted by Kanako?s lasers, they couldn?t keep it up forever. So Marisa didn?t even try. ?Master Spark!?
Marisa?s shot was aimed at Kanako, who canceled her card and got the hell out of the way. ?Nice try. Now try this! Miracle of Otensui!?
-------------------------------------------- Nazrin carefully peeked through the door, then quickly ducked back behind the wall. Without saying anything, she produced a pair of grenades and threw them in. As they exploded, she ran into the room wielding dual pistols and took out the survivors. ?Clear!?
Mokou came into the room. ?This the place??
?Yes.? Nazrin indicated what appeared to be the entrance to some kind of vault. ?It?s something from your head that?s in there, I think. Go. Whatever secret is locked away in your mind is in there.?
Mokou approached the vault slowly, as though unsure if she wanted to enter. ?What if? what if I wanted to forget whatever?s in there??
?It?s your choice,? Nazrin said, ?but if you ask me, I?d say it?s better to know.?
?Which is me asking myself, isn?t it??
?Hey, that can help.?
?Right,? Mokou said. ?Okay, I?ll do it. What?s the passco- actually, never mind.? Mokou approached the keypad and entered a string of eight digits: 10392046. And the vault opened.
********
Mokou entered the vault to find her father, badly injured, lying on a table. She ran over to his side. ?Father!?
Nue, in the form of Mokou?s mortally wounded father, turned her head to look at her. ?M-Mokou.?
?Father.? A pause. ?You?re dying.?
?Yes.? Nue coughed. ?I? Mokou, I have to? tell? you? I?m??
?Disappointed,? Mokou said. ?I know. I couldn?t be the kind of person you wanted. I tried, Father, but I couldn?t live the way you did.?
?I?m not? disappointed? that you failed. I?m disappointed? that you tried.?
?Huh??
?I? never said? I wanted you to be like me. I wanted? you? to be your? own? person. I never said? you should be? the same kind of? person? I was. I want you to? choose? the kind of person you want to be. I? never sought help from others, but you? don?t have to? be that way. If you? want to? ask for help, then? do so. Ask people. Ask your friends. Ask the gods. It?s? your choice.?
Mokou failed to fight back tears as Nue continued. ?Don?t? live your life? bound to me. Live? your own life. Don?t? let me? tie you down.?
?Tie me- you want me to forgive her??
?I? want you? not to hate her? because of me. I want you? to make that? decision? for yourself. You don?t? have to? avenge? m?e?? And Nue fell silent.
-------------------------------------------
?It?s time,? Nitori said. ?Play the music.?
Alice turned the music on. ?Signal given.?
?Good.?
Nitori pointed the vehicle towards a building and hit the gas.
------------------------------------------ ?Music!? Koishi called out. ?That?s the signal! Let?s go!?
Kanako and Koishi sped off, pursued by Reimu and Marisa. They found the unconscious forms of Nue, Nazrin, and Mokou, grabbed them, and took off into the sky.
---------------------------------------------- Mokou didn?t notice Nazrin enter the vault. The mouse youkai shot both Mokou and Nue, then turned her gun on herself and pulled the trigger.
------------------------------------------------- ?Wait for it,? Koishi said as they reached a sufficient height. ?Wait for it. Wait for it? now!?
Koishi was holding Nazrin, and she let go of the mouse youkai. Kanako was holding Nue and Mokou, and released the both of them. At the same time, Koishi and Kanako ceased their flight, allowing themselves to plummet to the ground alongside the others.
------------------------------------------ Nitori drove straight into the side of a building at maximum speed.
---------------------------------------------------------
Kanako was the first to awaken. Eirin got out of the chair and faced her. ?Kanako. Did it work??
?Hopefully. I didn?t go all the way in.?
?It worked,? Nue said, picking herself up. ?We got it done. How much extra time does Mokou have asleep??
?A couple hours,? Eirin said. ?I gave her the usual extra dose.?
?Good. Okay, let?s get everyone up and get out of Mokou?s room before she even knows anybody was here.?
------------------------------------------ The cruise lasted for a week. The inception operation had taken place on the second day, leaving the team free to enjoy themselves. Kanako had paid for the team?s cruise, since they were doing her job during it, and aside from the job, they had that time free. Kanako herself, however, had not remained on the ship, electing to return to her shrine once the job was done, but Nue and her team took advantage of the opportunity to enjoy themselves. But at the end of the week, the cruise was over, and the passengers disembarked.
The passengers all went their separate ways. Nue?s team started away from the ship in the direction of the Human Village, where the team would split. Nue and Nazrin would be returning to the Myouren Temple nearby, Koishi would be heading back underground, Eirin would return to Eientei, Alice would go back to her own home, and Nitori would return to the mountain.
?That went well, I think,? Nue said once the team was by itself. ?Nitori??
?Kanako didn?t seem to have any idea.?
?Good.?
?I don?t know if we should?ve taken this job,? Alice said. ?Kaguya just wanted Kanako to prompt Mokou into action. She specifically said she didn?t want inception done on Mokou, remember? She wanted Kanako to come up with the idea of acting as mediator and had us ensure that this happened, but she wanted Mokou?s decisions to be unaffected by anyone else. But now we?ve planted the idea of getting help from Kanako in regards to the conflict with Kaguya. It just? well, it kind of feels like we betrayed a client.?
?We couldn?t have known that Kanako would decide having Mokou come to her would work better.?
?Yeah, but we should?ve turned down Kanako?s job.?
?Alice,? Koishi said, ?after what we learned about Mokou?s father, do you really think we did the wrong thing? We did the research; you know as well as I do that he wouldn?t have wanted Mokou to live the way she is. Do you honestly think that what Nue told Mokou is anything but what he?d have said? If you ask me, this job was less inception and more therapy. I don?t think we planted anything in regards to her father; we just helped her realize what was already there. The only idea we planted was that of having Kanako assist.?
??Perhaps.?
?Koishi?s right, Alice,? Nitori said. ?I can understand your concerns, but really? We did the right thing.?
?Well,? Alice said after some thought, ?maybe you?re right.?
Yes, the cruse bit was included just so I could include the 'It seemed neater' line.
