The synthetic heart pumped at a steady pace, unyielding and tireless.
Chance of Fujiwara Tomohito being killed within next 24 hours is 96,782%. Submitting data.
This was immediately sent to a cruel man named Tarano Jubei. Who, after recognising how significant this information was, then issued an order to get to the bottom of this to another man, Yakamino. Soon, he was making further inquiries.
"Who is going to kill Fujiwara Tomohito within next 24 hours?"
Chance of Ghost of Mt. Hiei killing Fujiwara Tomohito is 79,329%. Chance of Calamity of Inabayama killing Fujiwara Tomohito is 17,453%. Submitting data.
"Chances of Fujiwara Tomohito being killed while in transit"
Chance of Fujiwara Tomohito being killed while in transit is 7,212%. Submitting data.
"Chances of Fujiwara Tomohito being killed at Tedorigawa facility"
Chance of Fujiwara Tomohito being killed at Tedorigawa facility is 96,621%. Submitting data.
Mechanical lungs were quietly whirring, supplying all the necessary air. The heartbeat got faster.
"Chance of either Calamity or Ghost being killed or captured by our forces at Tedorigawa facility."
Chance of Calamity of Inabayama or Ghost of Mt. Hiei being killed or captured by League forces at Tedorigawa facility is 3,549%. Submitting data.
"How many losses can we expect from this confrontation?"
In case of the confrontation, 64% of people and 75% of Pokemon will die. Submitting data.
At this, the man compiled the answers and percentages, then sending them to Tarano Jubei. Who, then, made a very important call.
"KAGETORA SPEAKING," came an easygoing voice at the other end of the line. They were currently sitting in a room with many screens.
"This is Tarano, from Disaster Prediction," the man spoke, derision clear on his face, yet not in his voice. He obviously despised the League big shot, but knew better than to act on it, "We have just acquired information that the Ghost of Hiei and the Calamity of Inabayama are going to attack the Tedorigawa facility while Fujiwara Tomohito is there. "
"AH. YEAH, THIS IS BIG," Kagetora agreed, "GUESS HE'LL HAVE TO RESCHEDULE"
"Additionally, you don't have the necessary manpower to kill or capture either of them. It'll be a slaughter. Evacuation is advised"
"AH. THANKS, I'LL BE SURE TO BRING IT UP. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!"
With that, the line went dead, and the man looked at the phone one more time in disgust, before shoving it into his pocket.
Chance of his personal biases to be noticed while he spoke to his superiors in the following month: 68,2213%. Submitting data.
Tubes and electrodes connected to cerebral cortex made exhaustion impossible. The heartbeat got faster. The mechanical lungs whirred at a greater pace.
"Give me the location of Glamour of Okehazama," Yakamino then ordered.
Glamour of Okehazama is currently located at the second floor of Okehazama Contest Hall, Nagoya. Submitting data.
"What Pokemon should be used to capture him?"
Latios in order to detect Glamour of Okehazama, Heatran to run interference, and Darkrai to disable him. Submitting data.
What are the chances of this team capturing Glamour of Okehazama?
Chance of capture is 92,756%. Submitting data.
The man nodded, and went to send this information to Tarano Jubei.
The feeding tube poured another deluge of nutrition sludge into the gullet. The heartbeat was getting louder than all other sounds. The mechanical lung wheezed, strained.
Chance of Suzuki Hana in Kyoto of dying of hunger within next 24 hours is 78,549%. Submitting data.
Chance of Takanashi Taro in Tedorigawa facility dying of choking within next 24 hours is 82,952%. Submitting data.
Chance of Kato Keijun being killed by the Butcher of Anegawa within next 24 hours is 99,826%. Submitting data.
"Nail at six," came a familiar voice. Then, something broke.
Then, she finally managed to snap out of it.
THIS. RIGHT HERE. Was the reason dreamhopping could be so dangerous. By default, one's brain was used to being strung along on a dream sequence, not questioning anything that happened, and even coming up with explanation for anything implausible or even downright impossible. And that same thing was a pitfall of walking into someone else's inner Dreamspace - it did not care whose mind was in it, and could easily meld dream hopper's perspective with the one of the dream's owner.
This was bad enough with regular dreams, but nightmares? Nightmares gave her themselves. Hell, she could still feel her heart calming down. She was lucky that command did something that snapped her out of following the lead.
Brain finally catching up to what happened, she shifted her perspective to look at the dream owner.
"Honnoji, this is a dream! None of this is real! You are sleeping!" she exclaimed, trying her damnedest to look without looking. Just the state in which Absol's body was in this nightmare was traumatic enough.
Chance of this being a dream is 99,999%. Submitting data.
The world suddenly grew darker, narrower, colder. The synthetic heartbeat, that was slowing down, skyrocketed again, with mechanical lung working overtime. The lidless eyes turned around, not concentrating at anything in particular, as space shifted in front of them.
"Calm down! Please! Tarano and Yakamino are dead! You are nowhere close to that place!"
Chance of Tarano and Yakamino being dead is 100%. Submitting data.
The beat of the synthetic heart stuttered, waves of pure confusion washing over the entire world, as the mind behind this nightmare was catching up to what was happening.
Inhale…
One… Two… Three…
Exhale…
The wardrums of the heartbeat finally grew softer, quieter and slower, and she realised those eyes were finally looking directly at her.
"You… What?.." a voice, weak but finally coherent.
"We are under attack, everyone is stuck in their nightmares. Hiei said we need you to free everyone"
"Me?.. ... Hiei?.."
Chance of Hiei destroying the world is 99,999%. Submitting data.
Damn, was she about to slip back? Or-
"Finally calmed down?.." that commanding voice sounded again, as Hiei appeared next to them. Gardevoir looked simultaneously tired, and very, very angry, "Get it together, Honnoji. I don't have enough energy to free everyone"
"I… Yeah…" Absol nodded, voice still uncertain.
"Good. We'll talk about this-" Gardevoir made a gesture towards the surrounding inner Dreamspace, "-later."
"What do I have to do?"
"Uh…" judging by Hiei's pointed stare, it was her turn to explain, "The Pokemon attacking us, Darkrai, is isolating everyone's inner Dreamspaces with… I guess, their Dreamspace body, making some sort of a nightmare shell. Which both makes everyone unable to wake up, and causes them to have nightmares, potentially lethal ones. Pretty sure you in particular were THIS close to some sort of a heart attack"
She certainly felt THIS close to a heart attack when Hiei somehow snapped her out of the nightmare.
Honnoji shuddered, and then nodded.
"I can help us navigate the Dreamspace, but breaking through Darkrai's shells is a bit beyond me. I need someone else to break through them, so we could pull everyone out, one by one"
Inhale…
One… Two… Three…
Exhale…
The Absol finally looked close enough to how she appeared in real life.
"Yeah… I think I can do that"