Again, writing before I lose whatever is making my hand move across the keyboard.
Chapter 9
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When the sun rose, it brought a small bit of hope.
Long shadows stretching along the ground reached Allen's feet, and when he looked up, he couldn't help but grin. He stood up to greet a small group of finders, and they returned the gesture with curt bows; one of them even gave him a smile bright enough to rival his. Allen liked him already.
Allen opened the door and welcomed them inside, and they exchanged brief introductions. One of them, briskly stepping forward lifted a bag with the Black Order Organization's symbol on to the table, and swiftly removed the locks. As the contents were courteously laid out on the table, the finder that had introduced himself as William had backed away from the rest to squat down in front of the girl that was now sitting in a chair in a corner of the room. The same smile that greeted Allen out front now shone brighter for the child, and something warm in his expression thawed out the tension and fear she had. Allen, whose attention had been taken up watching the two was abruptly brought back to the serious and business-like finders in front of him, with an assort of things laid out on the table: a new boot and coat for Ravi, assorted medical supplies, and then something he had never quite seen before. He was puzzled, and apparently, the finders were no more enlightened than he was about the mysterious object. When he gave them a questioning glance, they simply shrugged and brought forward a transmission golem. It buzzed like a radio trying to find the right frequency, and finally after a few buzzes it settled on a familiar voice repeating "hello, hello" between a few frustrated grunts.
"Komui-san?" Allen couldn't help but sound eager.
"Ah, Allen-kun. Good, good," he muttered, which was followed by a shout directed elsewhere on Komui's side, reporting that the wireless golem transmission was fine.
"Thank you for the supplies Komui-san," he said, but he couldn't keep the concern out of his voice for long. "But what in the world is-"
"Yes, yes, I wanted to explain this one to you myself," he said, then cleared his throat and proudly pronounced, "the Komui-sleeper 3000!" Komui's grand presentation of the name of his newest invention somehow only invoked worry and concern from Allen and the finders there with him in the room. Allen even spared a quick glance around the cottage to see how much damage the place could take before it would actually collapse and they would have to look for new shelter.
"Uh, what does this, this, Komui-sleeper thing do," he asked, trying very hard not to let the fear show in his voice.
"You see, it's very, very effective," he began.
This can't be good.
"It may be one of the most successful things I've invented so far," he continued.
Definitely not good.
"Riba-kun wasn't really keen on the idea though," he added.
Bad. Very bad. Allen glanced at the finders and the girl. It would take him at least two seconds with his hand to pull them out to safety, whatever the device held in place for them.
"And the testers had a few flaws, but I'm pretty sure they've been worked out…"
He could then alert Ravi and Linaly… Or would simply destroying the device be a faster way to reduce damage?
"What it pretty much is, is an e-"
"-lectromagnetic substance disintegrator?!" Allen finished, and reached for the device that lay on the table as the finders took very large steps backwards and away from it.
"Oh, psh, no Allen-kun," he reassured, "though that may make an interesting project to embark on…" From behind Komui's voice came a yell of "oh no you don't" from Riba. Komui cleared his throat again. "I was joking. Sort of. It's and eye-pillow Allen-kun."
"An… eye-pillow?" The finders let out a collective sigh of relief while Allen, now with less caution, picked up the object from the table. Now that he mentioned it, the object did resemble the shape eye-pillows had and it had an elastic band attached to secure it on his head. Examining it from every angle, he poked and prodded the so-called eye-pillow. "It's a little heavy though, isn't it?"
Komui chuckled. "What's inside is what makes the Komui-sleeper 3000 a magnificent piece of work," he said, and Allen immediately let the thing hang from his fingers by the elastic, at arms length. He wouldn't put it past Komui to have put something explosive inside. The finders held their breath.
"I-inside…?" Allen timidly asked, still holding the eye-pillow at arm's length and being careful not to make any sudden movements.
"Don't be so alarmed, Allen-kun, have I ever done anything to bring harm upon you?"
What sounded like the whole of the science department retorted with a resounding "yes".
"I've inserted a device that, through motion sensors, detects rapid eye movement and shines a blinking red light when you go in to REM sleep," he said, flat out ignoring the comments being made to him about the Komurin incident from behind. "The light is bright enough to make you conscious, but not bright enough to wake you up completely. So what I'm hypothesizing is one of two effects: one, is that you will fall back in to one of the more shallower levels of sleep, which would rid the akuma of the chance to take control of your body," he said, adding that this may lead to him not feeling completely rested because of not getting REM. "The other possible outcome is, is that you'll continue to dream in REM sleep, but be lucid in the dream."
"…What do you mean by that?"
Komui took a few moments, collecting his thoughts for a concise explanation. "Most people don't realize they are dreaming when they are. Some to the extent that they believe they don't even dream at all, but that's not possible. Everyone dreams." Allen nodded, and realizing Komui couldn't see this, responded with an "mmhm" of understanding. "But it's possible to know you're in a dream while it is happening; it's rare as a naturally occurring phenomenon, and it's called lucid dreaming. What I'm thinking is if the red light emitted from the Komui-sleeper 3000 doesn't pull you back in to a shallower stage of sleep, it will at the least make you lucid in the dream.
"I see, but how-"
"-will it help you? Well, you see, the thing is you mustn't forget- a dream is something you create. It's completely, 100 a product of your brain. That's why there have been reports of people being able to 'control' their dreams or intentionally make things do things that would normally be impossible in their dreams, like making yourself fly." He then let out a sigh. "It isn't the ideal option, but if we can make you lucid in your dream, I imagine it would be possible for you to seek out the akuma in whatever form it takes and battle it somehow."
The "I imagine", "would be possible" and "somehow" made Komui sound unsure about the last part. Like he said, it obviously wasn't the best option, but it was what Allen had for himself right now, and it was a lot better than going through another round of what happened last night. Allen wasn't one to care if the quality was iffy. He knew the eye-pillow he held in his hands was the product of a lot of work and effort on Komui's part, and it was him more than anyone that hated the uncertainty of the outcome of this plan.
"Thank you, Komui-san." He could almost see the sad and grim smile on Komui's face. He could almost hear him cursing himself for only being able to do so much for the exorcists.
"Get some rest, Allen-kun."
The golem buzzed, and the room fell silent. Allen gripped the Komui-sleeper 3000 firmly with his hand, and smiled. It was a little piece of home, warm and welcoming home, that lay in his hands.
To Be Continued…
Thank you for reading and sorry for another action-less chapter. Just need to lay some things down before more things happen.
NEXT CHAPTER I plan to get the exorcists started on the mission and exploring the city, which should make things a lot more interesting.
Just a note: the references about "lucid dreaming" are actually true. The Komui-sleeper 3000 is also a rip-off of an actual product I've heard about that's supposed to induce them. XD As a disclaimer, IT IS NOT MY IDEA. Anyway, if it sounds interesting, try searching "lucid dreaming" in wikipedia and you should get some information there.
Thanks again for reading. Reviews should make me play my brother's Mario game less and write faster :)