Robin never would have dreamed that she wouldn't be targeted by The Family, but by... the Astral Express.
She was supposed to be mingling in The Golden Hour with her brother, and for the moment, there was no good way to find her location.
But one person was different. As someone who had spoken with Robin at length, she knew where Robin's room was.
After Stelle had fallen asleep, March 7th had also entered the dreampool.
The place she was heading to was different from Stelle's; it was Penacony's shopping paradise, Dewlight Pavilion.
The most ridiculously absurd thing was how something as mundane as shopping could be packaged into something so wonderful in a dream.
In reality, the Corporation's network also had places for consciousness-diving shopping, similar to game-like architectures where people could wander around and experience things in a virtual space. They could then place orders online, completing a very simple hybrid of real and virtual shopping.
In other words, there was absolutely no need to do this kind of procurement specifically in the Penacony dreamscape.
March 7th, laden with shopping bags, had no idea that a job was about to find her. She was happily trying on a dress, hoping to enrich her wardrobe on the Express.
However...
[What's the point of changing clothes in a dream? Why isn't there a simple system like a one-click outfit change?]
?????
????
???
A series of question marks popped up over March 7th's head. She sensed that something was off.
"Who?! Who's talking to me?!"
[Who else could it be? I remember I told you all at the beginning, right? If I run into an emergency, I might have to use your body's perception to contact you. Have you forgotten something so important?]
[Under normal circumstances, I'll always be with Stelle. If a sudden situation arises, I'll need to contact you.]
'*Oh, I guess he did say something like that.*'
March 7th, holding the dress she was about to try on, finally remembered that Noldrei had indeed said he would do this. For safety reasons, she and the others had agreed at the time.
"Y-you didn't say you'd suddenly appear when I'm trying on clothes!"
March 7th's face turned beet red, her entire being filled with shame and anger.
Noldrei wished Stelle were still here. That way, he could have made March 7th think of something sad to ease the awkward atmosphere.
He felt he had used the wrong persona. He should have borrowed a female form when he appeared.
But it was too late now. His initial appearance had already cemented the idea of Noldrei being male in March 7th's mind.
In her eyes, Noldrei was not a representative of some non-binary gender, but a real, live man.
How terrifying. A girl like March 7th would definitely be attacked by those people back on Earth, right? Noldrei thought to himself.
[No, the main thing is, I didn't expect you to have to change clothes by hand in a dream. Why not just skip such tedious steps? Is it just to enhance the sense of reality in the dream? That's too stupid, isn't it?]
"Is this really the time to be discussing this?! Get out of my body right now!"
[Look at you, getting worked up again. I already told you, I wouldn't have come to you if it wasn't for a particularly urgent matter. Just tell me Robin's room number, and that's it.]
"How could I... forget it..."
March 7th felt like a fool for getting tangled up with Noldrei over something like this for so long.
Only after giving him Robin's room number did she remember she should have asked what kind of major incident Noldrei had encountered that would involve the so-called "safety issue."
"What on earth happened? Tell me!"
"Hello? Are you there? Say something!"
March 7th looked around, even pressing her face against the dressing room mirror to try and see what was happening to her.
But Noldrei had already left her side and returned to Stelle's, so of course, he wouldn't be in contact with March anymore.
Poor little March had run into such an unlucky situation, yet she had no idea what danger had occurred that required someone to possess her just to get a message out.
"What on earth happened?!"
Knock, knock, knock...
The sudden knocking on the door made March 7th jump. She almost thought she had been caught doing something bad.
Based on past adventures, the March 7th of this moment should be preparing to escape.
"N-nothing! I was just on the phone."
Only then did March 7th remember that she could communicate with Stelle and the others in the dream. Yet, Noldrei had chosen to contact her this way.
'*What kind of trouble happened...*'
March 7th could no longer be bothered with the strange treatment she had just received. All that remained was worry for her friends.
"Alright. If the guest has any trouble changing, you can call for our assistance."
"No need, no need!"
After perfunctorily dismissing them, March 7th heard the footsteps outside the door recede. Only then did she let out a sigh of relief.
'*What on earth happened? How am I supposed to continue shopping like this?*'
'*You were already inside me. Why did you just go offline without explaining anything?*'
March 7th was extremely worried, but with her abilities, she couldn't imagine what kind of trouble Noldrei might have encountered.
---||---
And what was Robin doing at this moment?
She was investigating the secrets behind The Family.
But...
With a few crisp slaps, Robin was jolted awake from The Golden Hour.
"Who are you?! I'm here to sing! What are you doing?!"
She was slapped awake by several people and shoved into the dreampool.
Robin's struggles were futile. At this point, Stelle and her sisters had already left The Golden Hour.
They swarmed her, knocked her to the ground, and pinned her down.
"Hey, is this really okay?"
Firefly felt this was going too far. Was it a bit much to treat a delicate girl with such methods?
"Don't worry. I already cleared the area before coming. We are indeed still in the dreamscape."
The blade in Acheron's hand was as bright as new, not a single drop of blood on it.
And Robin? She still had no idea what was going on.
She had been using her brother Sunday's status to investigate the inner workings of The Family, but who would have thought that someone would openly break into The Reverie Hotel and beat her awake?
Was there no law? No justice?
"Forget everyone else! Tie her up and take her away, now!"
Stelle knew they absolutely could not let anyone get their hands on Robin. This cosmic superstar was crucial to the completion of the Charmony Festival. They certainly couldn't let her fall into the hands of The Family.
With such an excellent piece of bait in hand, more people from The Family's side would surely take the hook.
"Are we going fishing again?!" Firefly had clearly caught on to Stelle's methods.
This girl had probably never done a job that required so much wisdom and patience in her life. Compared to slaughtering people, she was surprisingly more interested in the job of fishing.