deadendsmile | In Logic, the Symbolic Dream

In Logic, the Symbolic Dream

It's been a few months since the situation with Rust and Irezumi was settled. No dreams or unexpected trips to another person's mind happen. No monsters that don't obey the laws of physics and reality appearing. As far as everything was concerned the world went on without knowledge of who the Oni or Rust was. Almost as if those horrors never existed. But that isn't going to last.

It's any old day and any old situation when this begins. Hiroshi could have been in class and nodded off. He could have been going to sleep or just about to wake. As long as his eyes close for a period of time, he will feel a tug like a sudden thought in his mind before being pulled into that same void. The fall down the pitch black abyss is long and cold but the impact with the ground is surprisly soft this time.

The area he finds himself in is much like the one in Irezumi's mind, a black void that emits occasional static like a faulty TV set. Unlike his, however, is the color of the ground. Blue is scattered around like scribbles in a book or rather, as the image may invoke, scribbles drawn on the floor and ceiling from a place that's probably very familiar by this point. The door before him is the exact same as the one to the entrance of the mansion as well. But there's no shaking the feeling, regardless of the set up, of warmth in this place. It too was familiar in a way that Hiroshi has been here before. It's his own home, his own mind this time, without being connected to anyone else. But as always in this place, someone or something is watching.

Welcome back to the Nexus.

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A brief nodding off in the library, in this case. Heaven forfend he should ever fall asleep in class.

Not that it mattered either way. His initial reaction was simple enough: Not AGAIN. Pushing himself up and adjusting his glasses, he takes in the setting around him. Despite the fact that he should have every reason to fear the scribbling, somehow it's just sort of... there for him. Like a part of him. Other little bits and pieces reminded him of his own room, even as unsettling merged with elements of the mansion as they were. But then... why was he here?

...Dreaming?

Something was watching him in here. He could tell that much. He got up and walked around, trying to spot anything responsible for the feeling, without success. He crossed his arms, frowning.

Wasn't I in the library before? How could I get into this solid of a dreams state this quickly?

He looked towards the door, mulling. Should he check it? Well... it was just a dream, right? He reached out for the door to open it.

Behind the door, while thankfully not the mansion this time, is another library. This one is massive and maze-like, with shelves stretching high enough that they reach the ceiling. The books cover a number of different topics but all of them relate to whatever interests Hiroshi himself may have, no matter how small. There are also books on the Oni and the Rust disease but these ones are either blank, scribbled over with blue markers or leak that organic rust, which thankfully doesn't seem to have its acid properties from last time (but will stain clothing).

There are some comfy looking chairs and tables scattered around. On top of these tables are chemistry sets, but not ones that an adult would use. They're more for children, those ones that make fake slime and candy. They can be played with to no ill effect but it seems to be a bit of a comment on Hiroshi's age, what with the adult geared books around....

Finally there are a few doors that lead off into a few side rooms, but with is inside is not visible from the entrance to this area.

The library was amazing. He'd never seen so many books, and so many interesting ones, no less. But any temporary suspension of disbelief that he was dreaming was dashed with the failure of either the books on Rust or Oni to be of use -- not to mention the fact that both of them brought out rather uncomfortable flashbacks. Still, he scanned the shelves for anything of interest, vaguely wondering if they'd even be readable.

The chemistry sets made him raise an eyebrow. Really now. There couldn't even be real ones? And why were they there? The idea that they were there to taunt him specifically somehow didn't cross his mind. Dreams were just dreams after all. ...Usually. Rust had been an exception, right...?

He peered into one of the side rooms to see if anything of note lay behind the doors.

They are, if he tries later. Aside from the books on the Oni and Rust, they were completely safe.

If Hiroshi was expecting the doors to slam shut on him, he's wrong. It's wide open. Even if he wanted to shut it, it refuses to. Something is holding it open.

Inside it's rather...colorful. Bright, cheerful and cute colors adorn the walls and there are a number of toys scattered across the floor that are aimed a children way younger than Hiroshi. There's also books but they too are for little kids. Oddly enough books on the Oni and Rust are here too, detailing the events that passed. They've been watered down so a child could read it without being scared but at the same time it's probably insulting to those who actually experienced the event.

If Hiroshi keeps looking in these side rooms he'll eventually run across one that has a small tunnel that leads somewhere else. He'll have to crawl to get inside but the tunnel is well lit so he could see where he was going.

He resolved to read them later. Figuring things out came first.

The new room was... odd. Was it some sort of subconscious callback to his childhood? It certainly added insult to injury that there were books about Rust and the Oni here that could be read, but not back in the place that actually counted. Not to mention irritating that they fail to mention anything about the lives lost...

The room with the tunnel was in the last room he could possibly look in. He pondered it. Where could such a tunnel lead? Well... again, just a dream, right? It wouldn't hurt to take a look. He got down on his hands and knees and began to crawl through. This was certainly turning into an adventure.

Again, the room at the end of the tunnel is rather childish. It looks like a set up for a tea party, complete with a toy tea set and water for the 'tea'.

What's not so childish are the people enjoying the party. Seated in the chairs are life sized dolls of Hiroshi's friends. The dolls are very well made but haven't been posed, leaving them to slump against the back of their chairs. There's also a Oni size doll of the...Oni, with a chair large enough to fit it. It has been posed and even though its at the far end of the table, it's staring at the exact spot where Hiroshi would come out of the tunnel. Luckily enough it doesn't do anything beyond stare.

There's an empty chair at the table with a card that says it's reserved for Hiroshi himself and he should sit. Besides that, there doesn't seem to be much else in the room. Maybe taking a seat might help here?

Edited 2014-03-17 04:17 (UTC)

Okay, this was beginning to shift into "bad dream" territory. Or at least "surreal."

He started at the sight of the Oni, ready to bolt, before realizing what he was actually seeing. Dream or not, this all seemed sort of in bad taste. More concerning, however, was the fact that a place was apparently reserved for him. For... what reason?

Just a dream, right? He sat down hesitantly, although he was slowly beginning to process there was something more to this than just a simple act of subconscious. Sort of like... that time. But that didn't make sense, right?

When had anything in the dream world made sense?

When he sits down the Mika doll moves, her movements jerky, and curls both her hands around her cup. Then it speaks. The mouth of the doll doesn't move but it's not a recorded voice. It's Mika's voice for sure but...well it's flat. Almost as if whatever made Mika herself when it came to her speech was stripped clean from her.

"Who told you about the mansion?" All things considered, in comparison to everything else, it's a pretty easy answer.

Definitely ccreepy. Hiroshi eyed the facsimile of his deceased friend with suspicion. "Takeshi did. He seemed to listen to a lot of those stories," he replied, matter-of-factly. Was he being interrogated?

Does it seem like one?

Takeshi's doll moves next, looking over at Hiroshi. His voice is also stripped clean of his personality. It seems while whoever made this dolls was very good at making them look real, he or she sucked at the voices.

"Where did Takeshi hear those stories?"

...Where HAD he heard of them?

Hiroshi suddenly realized to his embarrassment that he didn't actually KNOW where Takeshi had learned about the mansion. He hadn't bothered to go much beyond "this is ridiculous" back in those days; where Takeshi would have found out about a "haunted" mansion would have been outside of his realm of knowing or caring. These days, of course, he definitely paid more attention to that sort of thing. But where HAD Takeshi heard of it?

"I... presume he heard about it from some of our classmates," he replied hesitantly.

Next up is Takuro's doll but he doesn't look at Hiroshi. Instead it stares at the Oni, who stares right back. It seems odd that the thing that had antagonized them all would be here, in a place that by all rights should be a happy place for Hiroshi.

Aside from the creepy dolls of his friends, of course.

"Why was the incident in the mansion never looked into?" It did seem strange, didn't it? Wouldn't someone have gone to look, even if they didn't believe the story of a man eating monster inside? It could be a killer or something. Why was it left alone?

He felt intensely uncomfortable. Between the dolls and the voicing of questions he felt unable to answer, he was beginning to fidget a bit in his seat. "Again, I don't know. I was positive they would at least try to arrest me in connection to the disappearance of the others, especially after I mentioned such an unbelievable story, but it was as if the matter quietly dropped. They let me go after the initial questioning and never followed up."

Why was that? Wouldn't the logical thing be to investigate? To detain the only survivor/suspect? What was going on?

The next question comes from the Oni, only there's no real voice. The question just pops into Hiroshi's head, unidentifiable as a male or a female voice. It does turn to stare at him though.

"What is the Oni? Where is it from?"

Now that is probably the question to end all questions. What was the thing that had murdered Hiroshi's friends and turned them into itself. Where was it from? The 'what' is a bit of an easy answer if he thinks about the first question. A rumor. That didn't explain the 'where'.

"I..."

He began to shake a bit. The question had haunted him for eons. A creature with no basis in any scientific law. Where DID it come from? Why was it there? Why couldn't he explain it? The answer MIGHT be easy if he thought about it, but he was still locked in his scientific methodology, and thus the simple answer doesn't come to him.

Instead, he stood up abruptly. "I have to go," he muttered.

Edited 2014-03-18 02:27 (UTC)

The minute those words leave Hiroshi's mouth there is a loud crash behind him. The tunnel's exit can still be seen but if he peeks inside it appears it collapsed somewhere in the middle. Someone didn't want him leaving just yet.

Mika's doll speaks again, ever unemotional. "Just two more questions. You can answer them. 'I don't know' counts."

Answering just two more can't hurt, right?

There had been a lingering doubt up to that moment on whether or not this was a proper dream, or if there was something else going on. The crash eliminated any semblance of doubt, leaving only certainty: This isn't natural.

He narrowed his eyes slightly. "Who... are you?" he asked, suspicion lingering in his voice.

The Takeshi doll answers with a question as if Hiroshi hadn't asked one first.

"Who was watching you when you were destroying Rust with the computer?"

It may seem like a strange question but if he remembers, during the incident with Rust, Hiroshi had to destroy some items that would have strengthen the disease otherwise. After every one was destroyed, he had a vision of seeing himself lying on the basement floor with a final one of someone towering over him. That could have easily been chalked up to the dream world itself but what if someone had been watching him the whole time? After all...the door had been unlocked. Someone could easily just walk in while that happened.

But if that's the case, why didn't they help him? And why were the dolls asking about it?

"I... I don't know. WAS someone watching me? It wasn't just Irezumi? I..." He was beginning to sweat. All these unanswered questions. Why hadn't he pursued them closer? Why hadn't he thought about all of this? The thought of it was beginning to make his head swim.

And it's the Oni who asks the final question and it..smiles as its 'voice' pops into Hiroshi's head again.

"And if it's watching you...where is it now?"

That's a good question, isn't it? If someone was watching him, where did they go? Hiroshi might feel a prickle of dread in his mind and it's painful. There's something around that his mind is having a hard time processing.

But the answer crawls into his mind even without thinking. It's not in this dream world or the Nexus. Its standing right outside the front door to the school. Knock Knock....

Where is it now... where is it now...

The words echoed in his head, bouncing around like a bullet in a body. He grabed his head at the pain, and as the sudden answer poped into his mind, an abject terror he hadn't felt in a while suddenly coursed through his whole body.

The front door...?!

He had to wake up. He suddenly knew that in the core of his being. The action that came next came almost instinctively, something he wouldn't have time to ponder until later.

He pinched his cheek.

Hiroshi has a disjointed second or two to see the real world before he was yanked back down into the dream world, much like someone drowning, slamming into the ground of the dream library. Hopefully it doesn't hurt too badly because the landing isn't so nice this time.

The library has become even more maze like than before but all the side rooms have been shut tight. There's no getting into those even if Hiroshi wanted to. Blue scribbles are all over the floor but they seem to be leading somewhere.

It looks like pinching won't work. But if he recalls from his last adventure, Ochiki had opened up an invisible door in the Nexus that had led out through a copy of Hiroshi's own bedroom. Perhaps that would work.

Meanwhile, it begins to move, aiming towards the real library. Its like Smile. No one can see it. No one can hear it. No one could save Hiroshi if it caught him.

He swore at the impact, feeling it through his body even despite the fact that he was in a dream. He could tell that it SHOULD have worked, but whatever was targeting him right now had ensured that it didn't. This was bad. He was vulnerable like this, and he knew it. He needed to wake up. SOMEHOW.

The scribbles, as unsettling as they were, seemed like his best option. His home base had them all over the place. Perhaps in this case, they would save his life rather than signal something that would end it. Either way, he didn't have any other leads. So he followed, running. Something was coming; he didn't have much time left. He needed to get somewhere safe.

As he ran, books fall off the shelves that once held them and cracks begin to appear in the floor. The cracks luckily enough don't interfere with the scribbles but they begin to open up wider and wider to the point where tripping on them ran the risk of spraining his ankle. Oddly enough, for something that seems to be his own mind breaking apart, the crack don't bring any pain. None of this does unless he falls again.

Laughter rings out and it's the dolls laughing, the Oni's inside Hiroshi's head and the rest on the outside and they're laughing at him. They are close even though he left them far behind.

Eventually the scribbles lead to a door. It's hard to open but it will eventually.

There's a knock on a door outside of the dream. It's here. Knock knock knock...

Like he's got time to fall!

Hiroshi feels a horrible sense of deja vu at all of this. The running, the need for quick, careful movements. Just like that time in the facsimile of the mansion in Irezumi's head. It's difficult not to stumble a little, but he manages to avoid falling completely.

He stumbles a bit prior to the door, though, causing him to twist his ankle a bit. Shit. SHIT. But there's a door here, he's safe, he's... shit, why won't it open WHY WON'T IT OPEN...

He jimmies at it frantically, trying to work it open, the pain in his ankle ignored as best he can. He can hear it. Oh God, he can hear it. Wake up wake up wake UP...

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