9

Atsuko had fallen asleep while operating her PT equipment, and no manner of shaking could wake her. There was definitely something wrong with her. Hearing this news from Inspector Ube, Konakawa hurried to Atsuko’s apartment, accompanied by Superintendent Morita. On arrival, he found Tokita already awake and sitting at the dining table, where he was enjoying some toast and coffee. Ube must have made it for him. Tokita seemed a lot better now, but still barely responded when spoken to.

In the bedroom, Atsuko was slumped facedown on the keyboard of her console. In front of her, a monitor glowed hazily in the dimly lit room. Atsuko was moaning, murmuring as if in delirium, speaking in a quiet tearful voice, sometimes shifting in her seat. Her condition was quite clearly abnormal; Konakawa had certainly never seen anything like this.

“If this is the dream she’s having right now,” Ube said as he pointed to the screen, “she must be having a pretty horrendous time. It’s been like this for a while now.”

On the screen, a rope suspension bridge was swaying wildly over a deep ravine. Up ahead, some of the stepping boards were falling into the ravine, and the hand rope was beginning to fray. The river flowing below was the color of blood.

“It’s like an image of hell,” said Konakawa, distressed to think of Atsuko’s suffering. “We must wake her quickly.”

“I tried splashing cold water on her face, but it didn’t work.”

“No, that’s far too mild.”

“A good way of waking someone is to hold their nose and interrupt their breathing,” said Morita.

“Idiot. She would just dream she was suffocating. It might not kill her, but what if it did lasting damage?” Konakawa shook his head firmly. “No. The only way she’ll wake up is by doing it herself.”

Morita opened his eyes wide. “What? You mean there’s no other way? So what are we supposed to do, then?”

Konakawa parted Atsuko’s hair. The DC Mini wasn’t there. “Did you take the device from her head?” he asked Ube.

“I did, sir. It was about seven o’clock this morning. I thought it might have been why she couldn’t wake up.” Ube put his hand in his pocket and produced the DC Mini he’d removed from Atsuko’s head.

“What made you think that?” Konakawa mused as Ube passed him the small, gray conical object.

“Last night, Miss Chiba was telling me how dangerous it would be if she fell into a deep sleep while inside a patient’s dream. Especially when she mentioned the DC Mini, she looked very worried and went quiet. She seemed to suspect that it could make the wearer sleep more deeply. Anaphylaxis, I think she called it.”

“That would seem the correct conclusion,” Konakawa said, impressed by the memory and sharp insight of the young inspector. “And even if that weren’t the case, as long as she’s wearing the DC Mini, the enemy can access her dreams and project offensive images into them.”

Of course, neither Konakawa nor Ube knew the real truth – that Osanai had been prevented from taking Paprika’s DC Mini when they were fighting because Ube had already removed it.

“By the way,” said Ube, taking another DC Mini from his pocket. “Miss Chiba was holding another device in her hand. I took it from her, as I thought she could be affected by this one as well.”

“That’s funny.” Konakawa took the device from Ube’s palm and scrutinized it. “Was she holding another DC Mini when she started Tokita’s treatment?”

“She had it in her drawer as a spare.” Ube opened the drawer beneath Atsuko’s console and exclaimed loudly. “It’s still there! Chief Superintendent! She didn’t have the third DC Mini before! She must have taken it from someone in her dream!”