3

Noda and Konakawa were still gazing at the DC Mini. It looked like nothing more than a little gray polka dot on the white tablecloth. They could hardly conceal their incredulity that something so small could house so much power.

The three had finished eating and were relaxing in a private dining room that resembled the parlor of some stately home. Oil paintings by Hitone Noma hung on walls covered with maroon wallpaper. The lighting was subdued. Atsuko had explained the whole story while eating a steak of finest Kobe beef, fresh, not frozen. The tension had lifted from her shoulders, her heart felt lighter, her stomach was full. Noda checked with Atsuko that it was all right to light a cigarette, an unusual act for him, and offered one to Konakawa. Atsuko knew the occasional cigarette would have a positive effect on their minds. The room gradually filled with an evocative masculine smell, until Atsuko couldn’t resist asking for one herself.

The waiter brought coffee. Atsuko slipped the DC Mini back into her pocket.

“Internal conflicts,” Noda said once the waiter had left the room, “are in themselves nothing unusual. Especially in a corporate environment.”

“That’s quite true,” Konakawa said, nodding at Atsuko to console her.

But that did nothing to help her deal with the problem. “Yes, but what do you think should be done?”

“Well, the normal thing would be to explain all the facts to the other directors and bring them over to your side,” Noda said as if it were nothing. “Don’t do it in writing. You should phone them. Or better still, go and meet them.”

Atsuko sighed deeply. Where was she going to find the time to do that?

“There seems to have been some collusion between your Secretary-General Katsuragi, the Vice President, and this company Tokyo Electronics Giken,” Konakawa commented. “And if the auditor Yamabe has been won over by Inui, I think it’ll all come clear when you inspect the books.”

“I’m sorry,” Atsuko said dolefully, “but you’re talking about things I can’t possibly do.”

“Of course, we’ll help you!” Noda countered with a smile. He seemed to positively relish the prospect; that gave Atsuko courage.

“By the way, Miss Chiba – I mean, Paprika …” Serious as ever, Konakawa pulled a photograph from his wallet and showed it to Atsuko. “Take a look at this building.”

“Hey! That’s the building we saw in your dream. An embassy or something …” The photo tugged at an important part of Atsuko’s memory. “So this building actually exists, as I thought?”

“Have you never seen it before?”

“I feel as if I have. But …” Atsuko was startled when she saw the sign in the photograph. “Inui Clinic! That’s right. I drove past it once. But I didn’t remember it clearly. Not as clearly as it appeared in your dream.”

“I drove past the clinic myself for the first time yesterday. It all seemed so odd that I just had to stop and photograph it.” Konakawa looked Atsuko in the eye and spoke slowly, trying to maintain the low-key atmosphere. “Well now. Paprika. If all this is true, what we saw was not in my dream. Nor was it your memory, nor the collector infiltrating my dream.”

“No. It was Inui and Osanai playing with the DC Mini,” Atsuko agreed. “But what would they have been doing at that hour? Why were they wearing DC Minis, when they should have been asleep? …”

“If images from their DC Minis can appear in your collector, the reverse could also be true. They could use their DC Minis to observe your treatment with the collector. Couldn’t they?”

“Hmm. When Inui appeared in your dream, I instinctively shouted out at him, didn’t I.”

“That’s right. And he looked very surprised.”

“They must already have known that the DC Mini wasn’t protected. Then they must have realized that, as well as accessing my collector and observing my patients’ dreams, they could actually enter them. But to access a dream properly they would have to be asleep themselves, or at least in a hypnotic state, just as with the collector.”

“That means they could interfere with your treatment in future,” Noda said with his customary concern. “After all, they must also be quite skilled at accessing dreams.”

“I’m sure of it. But that gives us the perfect opportunity for a counter-attack. Now I’ve got a DC Mini too. When it comes to accessing dreams in a hypnotic state, I’m the expert. But if I’m to attempt a counter-attack, I need to know what they’re doing when they use the DC Mini.”

“This Osanai character, does he live in the same apartment building as you? On the fifteenth floor?” Konakawa said, looking pensively at the ceiling.

“Yes …”

“In that case, I think I met him once. In the lift. A strikingly handsome young man.”

“What about it?” Noda said, his curiosity piqued by Konakawa’s interest in Osanai.

“During my first session, I was surprised to see Inui’s face in my dream. His face was huge, and yet I’d never met him before.”

“It surprised me too,” agreed Atsuko. “I thought perhaps you knew him.”

“He was smiling, wasn’t he,” Konakawa said with a meaningful look at Atsuko.

“Yes. I’d never seen that look on his face before. Kind of soft.”

“Soft?” Konakawa tilted his head quizzically. “I would have called it lecherous.”

“And what would that imply?” Atsuko hadn’t quite gathered Konakawa’s meaning.

“In the second session, I dreamt Inui was lying next to me in bed.”

“In other words …” Atsuko was beginning to catch on. “You were seeing images from a DC Mini worn by someone who was sleeping with Seijiro Inui?”

“Judging from the evidence, I’d say Osanai and Inui are having a homosexual relationship,” Konakawa replied calmly.

“What? No!” Noda opened his eyes wide in astonishment. He knew Konakawa was not the sort to joke about such things. “That’s disgusting!”

Atsuko laughed. “Ah, but you’ve never met Morio Osanai!” she said, starting to believe Konakawa’s premise. “That would make sense of a lot of things. You know Osanai has begun to resemble Inui recently? His facial expression, I mean.”

“They say that happens when people are in love. So you’re saying they put that, you know, DC Mini thing on when they sleep together?” Noda said with a pained expression.

Atsuko thought back over her experiences with Tokita while they were experimenting with the PT devices. She was sure that wearing the DC Mini could be enormously sensuous as an act shared by lovers. For Inui and Osanai, it would promote the inner affections of homosexual love and turn them into darker passions. It was clear from Noda’s pained expression that he was thinking back to the erotic sensations he’d felt when Paprika had accessed his own dreams – the sensuality of lovers sharing the same dream, making love to each other in that dream.

Atsuko explained the principle of anaphylaxis, or immune hypersensitivity. “And so you see, with repeated use they can enter each other’s dreams remotely, even when they’re not actually sleeping together. That’s what we call anaphylaxis.”

“I see! It’s a bit like my jellyfish allergy,” said Noda. “I was stung by a jellyfish when I was a boy. Now I can’t go anywhere near the things without coming up in a rash. I can’t even look at them in Chinese restaurants!”

“That’s it. Anaphylaxis.”

“You said there were originally six DC Minis,” Konakawa said to confirm his understanding of the facts. “You’ve got one of them. One was absorbed into Himuro’s scalp. So they must have the remaining four.”

“If only we had two more here,” said Noda. “We could put them on at night, then enter your dreams and help you fight those two.”

“I wouldn’t think of asking anything so dangerous,” Atsuko said in astonishment. “Though I do appreciate your offer.”

“You’re right – we’re just amateurs. We wouldn’t know where to begin,” Konakawa said dejectedly.

“But Inui and Osanai must already have observed Paprika investigating your dreams, through their DC Minis.”

“True …”

“So they must know you’re a high-ranking police officer. If you accessed their dreams in counter-attack, you might be able to contain them.”

“Momentary access wouldn’t be dangerous. It might be an effective way of exposing their crimes, and whatever they’re plotting next.” Noda’s idea had struck a chord with Atsuko. “You may be able to help me one day.”

“Anytime,” said Konakawa. “Normally, of course, I would just say it was a police matter and seize the DC Minis. But it’s not so simple in this case.”

“There would be a public outcry,” Noda said ruefully. “The impact on society would be devastating. I’d rather you kept this well clear of the police. Couldn’t we do something by ourselves?”

“I know what you mean. But” – Konakawa looked hard at Atsuko – “at least let me mobilize my second-in-command, if nothing else. I’ll get him to provide protection for Shima and Tokita.”

“Well, I suppose that can’t be avoided,” Noda said with a nod to Atsuko. “Would you permit that? You can’t keep them in your apartment forever. If they had police protection, you could leave the apartment without worrying about them.”

Atsuko knew Konakawa’s real intention – to provide protection not just for Shima and Tokita but for herself as well. Noda must also have sensed that.

“Thank you. I’ll be glad to accept your kindness.” Atsuko gave a little bow, then, thinking that overly formal, immediately returned to a more relaxed manner. “But I’d prefer you to leave them for the next two or three days. I need to treat them.”

“Wouldn’t you rather get a good night’s sleep first, Paprika?” said Noda. “You’ve got rings under your eyes.”

“They’re the least of my worries!” Atsuko laughed. “But I’ll take your advice anyway. I’ll treat them during the day tomorrow. Then there’ll be no risk of the enemy interfering.”

“Good.” Konakawa looked relieved.

“By the way, Paprika. Do you have a list of all the Institute’s trustees?” asked Noda. Konakawa nodded in agreement.

“Yes, in my apartment.”

“Let’s go back then,” Noda said, standing impatiently. “I know the director Ishinaka, together with six of the trustees. If I see the list, I may know more. Same goes for you, Toshimi.”

“Yes. There must be some,” agreed Konakawa, standing to leave.

“We’ll pick them out and start contacting them right away. Our work starts tonight!”