(Volume 6: This Dream of Yours! Is It Real?)
The journey to Penacony was not so simple.
Although the adorable conductor had repeatedly stressed that it was a world suffused with Memoria, where people were easily influenced by it, this substance would still seep into one's consciousness without them ever noticing.
It was just like when you're utterly exhausted and keep telling yourself, Don't fall asleep, don't fall asleep, don't fall asleep.
But this kind of self-hypnosis is completely useless.
With a frequency like a constant, dripping clock, it lulls your mind, and before you know it, you've sunk into a dream.
[Astral Express Family]
What an unforgettable name. It even allowed people to stay in touch within the dreamscape. It was hard to say whether the Corporation's technology was superior, or if this dreamscape's fidelity was just that high.
After Conductor Pom-Pom confirmed that everyone had a basic understanding of Penacony, the Express's departure became inevitable.
Stelle: Where is everyone?! Where'd you all go?!
Message failed to send.
Stelle sighed, gaining a new understanding of the chaos currently swirling in her head.
A dreamer never knows at what point they entered the dream. This is a fundamental aspect of dreaming. The moment a person becomes aware of their own origin, the dream will begin to accelerate its own collapse.
The revival of subjectivity is the root of a dream's collapse.
The words, which had been lurking in her mind for some unknown time, suddenly surfaced.
It made her begin to question the reality of her own existence.
'I should be on the Express with everyone else, but the whole middle part is gone. That means…'
'Am I in a dream? But that's not right. Where is everyone? Weren't they supposed to wake me up in the real world?'
'And also…'
Stelle pinched her own cheek. The sharp sensation of pain seeped clearly into her consciousness.
"Ow! So that doesn't work?!"
"Pain can't wake you. A dream steeped in Memoria will blur and confuse the lines with reality."
The sudden voice in the room made Stelle jump. Standing before her was none other than…!
A woman dressed in some rather revealing, avant-garde clothes!
Her face was hazy, as if she hadn't fully woken up, like a wage slave heading to her post half-asleep. She gave off an aura that said, "Sis, I'm totally lost right now, but I gotta keep on keeping on anyway." A sense of worldly bewilderment.
"And you are…?"
"Come with me." The purple-haired woman was holding a longsword, looking as if she were ready to cut someone down at a moment's notice.
Still in a daze, Stelle asked, "Do you know where this is?"
"A dreamscape. The boundary where reality and the Memoriascape meet. You and I are merely two souls who happened to appear in the same stream of thought. Don't worry, you will soon awaken from this dream and forget everything that happened here."
Stelle asked curiously, "Who are you?"
The purple-haired woman fell silent for a moment before answering, "Acheron. A Galaxy Ranger."
Stelle committed the name to memory. She wanted to ask Acheron for more information, but the woman paid her no mind and walked out of the room.
Left with no choice, Stelle could only follow her, step for step, her mind racing.
As she moved, she vaguely sensed that something was off.
'No, something's not right…'
Stelle contemplated her state.
When you don't know why you've appeared somewhere, you should question whether you are still lucid. It's not that there's something wrong with your head; it's that you've already entered a dream. Losing the ability to trace your origins is a fundamental sign of dreaming.
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
Acheron glanced back at Stelle, who was scratching her head in frustration. She couldn't quite understand why this person was engaging in such strange antics, as if she wanted to speak but had forgotten what she was going to say.
Stelle was certain she was in a dream, but she had no idea how to get out of it.
She was aware of all sorts of inexplicable information, yet she couldn't pinpoint its source.
"That's it!"
Stelle stopped in her tracks. She wasn't going to follow Acheron any longer.
Acheron also paused, as if she were waiting for her.
"No, no! This is all wrong! I remember clearly, there's definitely something wrong here!"
Stelle suddenly realized what was off. If she remembered correctly, she was supposed to have a personal mentor spirit giving her hints!
"That's it! This isn't my dream at all!"
"This only happens when you're not in your own dream! It's the Memoria! The power of the Memoria!"
Stelle finally understood where she was. This power didn't just pull people into a dream; it created a dream within a dream, a secondary connection built from piled-up Memoria!
"Where's my Personal Mentor Spirit?!"
Acheron's eyes widened slightly. She saw Stelle's body begin to dissolve and collapse.
She was using her own power to wake herself from this Memoriascape!
"Sorry, but I can't leave with you just yet!"
Stelle apologized to Acheron, an apologetic smile on her face as she woke up from the Memoria-dream.
Acheron closed her eyes, ignoring the woman's final, parting smile.
As the first person awoke, the dreamscape constructed from Memoria began to collapse.
She didn't even have time to ask the questions she needed before she was gone from that place.
Stelle stared blankly at the Parlor Car.
The familiar scenery once again filled her vision. This time, Stelle was certain she had returned to her own dream.
[You're awake? Your consciousness was structured somewhere else just now. All I could do in this state was wait for you to wake up.]
Noldrei's voice seemed to reverberate inside her skull.
Stelle finally remembered her current state. She was in the so-called dreamscape.
And this dream had been constructed to begin at the very moment the Express warped into Penacony!
"How insidious!"
Stelle wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. "They actually used the chaotic moment of a warp jump to pull us into this state. If it weren't for the fact that you never sleep, I'd probably still have no idea I was in a dream right now."
"Even if I'd noticed something was off, I probably would have just dismissed it as some kind of déjà vu, like what's happened before."
[We are already in Penacony. However, the dreamscape they've constructed uses your own re-experienced memories as its foundation. This is the only way to prevent outsiders from noticing the strangeness of already being in a dream.]
[By inverting truth and falsehood, they make it impossible to distinguish reality from the Memoriascape.]
[Congratulations. It looks like this won't be a simple vacation.]
Stelle flashed a confident grin, standing up and planting her hands on her hips. "No problem! We've got a secret weapon like you!"