2982/the Nightmare Nexus: Let's Talk About Plans

the Nightmare Nexus: Let's Talk About Plans
Date of Scene:	18 March 2026
Location:	The Shed
Synopsis:	A meeting at the shed occurs to discuss the problem of the All Subsuming One.
Cast of Characters:	Emi Hoshino, Ikiko Hisakata, Miho Inada, Hinoiri Kirara, Sugata Shindo, Amanda Faust, Rashmi Terios, Molly Skyline, Mamoru Chiba, Usagi Tsukino

---

Emi Hoshino has posed:
At one point or another, everyone received a text message from Emi ascertaining a time and date to discuss matters pertaining to the Nightmares. This is the time and day that was chosen and the location...

Well, the Shed is the safest place, says Emi. Her attempts to enter the Dreamscape from it have always failed and that means that neither can he. She's probably being overly paranoid.

Probably.

In any event, one hell of a tired looking Emi Hoshino is sitting on the top of one of the desks present, swinging her legs. Her feet naturally do not touch the floor -- perils of being a shortie. She's just letting everyone pile in before she gets started.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko walks in and takes a seat, dropping off a bag she was carrying -- she had just come back from tending to some of the strays around Tokyo, and the timing was such that she had gone directly to this meeting instead of dropping off the stuff at the Animal Care Club room first. She nods to Emi, then looks around as the others arrive.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho got a text. She is a bit curious about things. The girl takes a deep breath as she responds that she'll be there. As she arrives, the girl is quiet, and moves to hold up the back wall with her own back. It needs support! Miho support! For now, she's quiet as she waits for the others to arrive. She does nod to Ikiko and Emi. Miho bites her lip a little bit as she's been helping a lot more as of lately.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara couldn't help but agree with Emi on this one. If she never entered the dreamscape from it, why take the risk? Better he couldn't, than risking him being able to enter and causing them a whole heap of trouble. She walked in and... Leaned against the dek. "Hey, how you doing?" She didn't sit on it...

But even like this, it was pretty obvious if she had sat on it, it wouldn't be hard to make her feet touch the ground. The advantages of well, not really being 'tall', but being not short. Just not rubbing it in... shortie though she was.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Sugata enters casually, settling at the back of the room, prepared to live-text the entire thing to Takuto, Wako, and Chiyo to keep them up to date. When gatherings this large happen at the Shed, it feels worthwhile to have a representative. He nods politely if greeted, but is otherwise here to listen and learn.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy walks in in comfy, casual clothes. Her oversized jacket, a black T-shirt from Magic Karaoke (it has a chibi tiger singing 'nyo' in romaji into a microphone) and her favorite red jersey-knit skirt. It's very soft!

    "Heyyy." She offers a quick wave and a smile as she comes in. She walks over to hug Miho and then stands against the wall next to her and looks over to Emi. "So um... how're you holding up...?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The Shed is the safest place to confer about Nightmares? That makes sense, to Rashmi; the place has more than the average amount of extradimensional funkiness, enough that she has *yet* to experiment with Barriers from within. And probably never will.

But her recent run-ins with Bliss-chan and the Flickerman have taught her that if there is information about the Nightmare to be shared, it is *very much* best to be here to hear it firsthand.

The Flickerman still occupies the top of her Problems to Sort list, after all...

Since this isn't a punch-and-pie affair, when Rashmi enters, she passes by the desk Emi sits on with a cheery nod to both the goth and Hinoiri, then sets a lottle of water next to Emi. "Just in case," she murmurs, before heading to occupy a seat next to Sugata, notebook out and pencil ready. Time to be a Good Student, with stakes *much* higher than a trig exam.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly arrives, lugging a heavy knapsack full of school books -- the studying never stops, not for someone with as much catch-up as she's still got if she'd like to start University at the same time that Rashmi does. Which, naturally, she does. So the purplenette (now with prosthetic arm) finds the seat beside Rashmi on the opposite side to Sugata and lets the bag fall basically as dictated by gravity to the floor with a heavy thump, and plops down into the chair in a more or less similar fashion.

"...I'm glad you got a notebook," she murmurs. "I... I totally have one but my arms are sore. Or at least one of them is."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Meanwhile, why is Usagi's husband SO TALL.

Mamoru salutes the other CLAMP noodle in the room when he comes in after holding the door for Usagi, but he's still in the middle of saying something. "--in a Labyrinth was something that was neither on my bingo card nor my bucket list," he finishes, then lets the door close. He almost says something else, then presses his lips together and just... his hand slithers down to sneak into her hand again. "Hi," he says to everyone else.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I think I definitely won the random encounter wheel on that one," Usagi says in reply as they're entering, vastly preferring her random encounter - a bird flew at her! - to his: a Labyrinth with a very curious Entrapta. "Hi, everyone!"

It's a relatively upbeat greeting, despite the heavy mood, and it's mostly an affectation, pumping up the energy before what is sure to be a heavy talk: after all, the Dreamscape is not a place that they ever really get to have fun in.

(Is any magical place one they get to have fun in, though?)

Holding Mamoru's hand, Usagi pulls them to a seat in the middle of the room, not too upfront but not lurking behind either.

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"Hey, everyone," says Emi.

The turnout both intimidates and heartens her at the same time, no doubt.

"Thank you all for coming," begins Emi. Her voice is always a little low but in this case it's carrying some additional strain at its edges.

"First, I want to apologize to everyone for what you endured with Bliss-Chan's attack. That must have been awful and I'm sorry I wasn't in any position to help. As some of you know, I've been unable to really access the dreamscape since the events in Kyoto. A combination of factors have made my return to it much delayed and it cost all of you. And for that, I beg forgiveness."

Emi hops off the desk and bows, low. Not quite the full Dogeza that she did when Hinoiri was taken by the Salarymen, but a sincere apology in the Japanese tradition all the same.

She closes her eyes a moment and then opens them, taking in the crowd.

Apologies given, Emi continues.

"Fortunately, thanks to a visit with Sovereign Rune of Ki...Ki..."

She is struggling to say it. That name. The place.

"Thanks to Sovereign Runa, we may have a solve for my problem. She was able to diagnose me with what is effectively a kind of psychic...scar tissue from the ... events in Kyoto. Or blister, perhaps," she reframes. "It's in the way, regardless, and to deal with it I'm going to need to let people into my dreams and my subconscious. I've spoken to Mamoru," she nods towards him, "about how we're going to do this but it's likely going to take some trial and error before we can build a bridge into my subconscious." She makes a face. She does not like this idea. At all. But it has to be done, and she owes it to everyone to be honest about it all, so far as she's concerned.

"We'll get that done. As soon as I'm able to access the Dreamscape again, Hinoiri's learned a spell that can help us secure the Academy's dreamscape and that'll give us a safe harbor from which to attack the problems in Tokyo directly," she glances towards Hinoiri to see if she has anything she wants to share about it.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a small nod. "Yup, that about sums it up," Hinoiri said, giving her friend a thumbs up. Aftr all, she was mostly here as Emi's support. Supporting her and well....

NOT bullying her for once (so how would she know she was really her?) But, in this case? It was warranted. She only bullied Emi when she was doing things she needed to NOT be doing. In this case? She was doing what she needed to be doing... And Hinoiri knew how hard that could be. "I've got the spell ready to go, but considering that Emi is our expert, it'll likely be good to have her back in order before we start fiddling with it. This isn't the kind of thing I'm experienced with and if it goes poorly, the whole thing may come crashing down around our heads, so best to get our best foot forward with it and do it right the first time."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi chuckles at Molly. "Don't worry, I'll make copies," she promises, but her attention is soon stolen as Emi begins to speak.

For herself, Rashmi mentally waves off the apology. *Anything* Dark rising in Tokyo is something for mahou to deal with, and if Emi getting back on her magical feet can bring the *expert* back to fight these enemies, well, that's *always* worth helping in.

The only reason she doesn't voice these thoughts is... well, the depth of Emi's bow *proves* how much it means to her, and it would just be *rude* not to accept that in the spirit with which it was given. So instead, she just makes a pleased noise that a path forward *has* been determined, and bobs her head at the 'trial and error' while scribbling her notes down.

*Nothing* worthwhile is ever easy, after all.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho gives Amy a return hug. As soon the meeting starts, the girl's face changes. Her focus is solely on Emi as she listens in. Miho looks around at everyone whose here. So many people here. She feels semi bad that she wasn't helping as much as she should have earlier, but she's been working on a lot of stuff lately. She bites her lip, and wants to ask a few questions, but she's quiet on that front. Miho does have a question. "How are things back in Kyoto? Is everyone safe?", she asks a bit. The girl is a bit nervous to ask about that. "Also, should we practice a few things before going in, and are we working in separate teams or one big team?", she asks.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko gives Emi an encouraging smile, and nods as the plan is laid out. She makes a few notes, but mostly just listens to what's beind discussed. The others are making good points, especially about getting as ready as possible before putting things into motion.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy gives Usagi a curious look at 'random encounter wheel' in connection with a Labyrinth.

    She looks to Emi as their Oneiric Guardian begins to speak. "Bliss-chan--" she starts to comment, but Emi has more to say, and she listens. "Bliss-chan wasn't your fault. It's never your fault that someone else decides to be evil. Without you, we'd have no idea how to fight any of them and Subsy would've been loose longer."

    And she happily completes, "KiraKiraFantastica." She can't help smiling as she says what translates to 'Sparkle Sparkle Fantastica' out loud.

    She listens to the brief of what they're doing with interest.

    "So you're saying," She reaches up to adjust Raz's cap and goggles that appear on her head, "We need to go into your subconscious and defeat your psychic scars." No one gets your references, Amy.

    She realizes her grin might be taken wrong. "I'm sorry, it's just... our lives and magic are amazing, you know? It sucks this happened and we have to do it, and I get that, uh, maybe you don't wanna let us see your dreams, but also, like, in general how wild is helping a friend by defeating the manifestations of their problems in their dreams?"

    She looks to Miho and nods, looking back to Emi. "Yeah, are there any uh, dream techniques that can help us in there? And uh... how... does this work, like... do you have any idea what form those psychic scars take?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Not that it was necessary, but your apology is accepted, Emi-chan," Usagi says, her voice kind and warm - she, like Rashmi, sees the sincerity of the gesture, and understands that to dismiss the gesture might dismiss those feelings, too. As the other girl explains, she frowns a little, thinking through what has to be done. There's definitely a certain... intimacy, to it all, the idea of going into their friend's psyche and seeing her own fears and thoughts... and amazing is definitely one way to describe their lives, and that idea.

She's not nearly as enthusiastic as Amy is, but she says, nonetheless, "We'll do everything we can to help you get back to the Dreamscape. Do you have any - like, specifics, on what we can do to help you with that part?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Settled down next to Usagi, slouched way low so he's not in anyone's way, Mamoru laces his fingers through Usagi's. He's casually got his shield up for her, like he'd do for anybody, so he doesn't get his low-grade anxiety more on her than just holding her hand too much. That's why. Not for any other reason.

He listens to Emi and glances to Usagi at Emi's apology, indicating he's in her court (as it were)... and then one corner of his mouth turning up when she can't say KiraKiraFantastica because of what it is, though; he's not above a little schadenfreude.

The other corner of his mouth turns up when Amy finishes the word in that voice: he's not above a lot of schadenfreude. But, she and the others are asking good questions, and he hasn't got any, and the good note-takers are taking notes.

He should say something, though. "Let me know whenever you want to start," he offers. "If we should do proof of concept first."

Molly Skyline has posed:
"You don't need to apologize," Molly affirms for Emi, "None of that was your fault. And trust me, I'm very glad for you that you were only out for as long as you were... I... yeah."

The purplenette clasps her hands, interlacing real and artificial fingers, though it takes a moment to get it right. She tosses a grateful look in Rashmi's direction as well. "Bliss-chan really sucked, and isn't worthy of the -chan thing at the end of her name by any stretch 'cause like, she's obviously nobody's friend. But she's beaten now, right? She's not coming back?"

She lets that hang in the air, as she leans over a bit to Rashmi. "Thanks," she murmurs. "I'll totally copy your notes later, on the sly like I forgot my homework or something and it's right before class, and I'll take you to that dessert place. My treat this time."

Emi Hoshino has posed:
A pained look crosses Emi's face at Amy's enthusiasm. It's not that she doesn't understand it, she does, and for what its worth she doesn't seem to hold it against her. What she can do -- what they all can do -- is amazing, but she's clearly more than a little uncomfortable with the idea of being exposed this way, or perhaps being 'seen' is a better description, and she doesn't love it.

"Yeah, no. I don't know what its going to be like. Accessing someone's dreams is one thing. Pushing deeper is fraught with potential danger. Even I don't like to travel too deep into someone's consciousness. Things start to get abstract, strange, and unpredictable. Dreams have a narrative, and as long as you travel within the rules of that narrative, you know what to expect. The subconscious is more fragmented and jagged than that, and mine probably more than most given that we're talking about damage here. So I'm asking my friends to endure danger on my behalf -- which I don't love, but I don't know how else to fix this."

Emi's cheeks puff out as she lets out a big sigh. Hinoiri's description makes her nod with a grave, sober expression on her face.

"Yeah, we probably only get one shot at this, given that he's going to be watching."

She turns to Miho and answers her question directly: "I don't know. We're not seeing reports of anything out of the ordinary from Kyoto, really, from the mundane news or anything. But we know that energy is leeching into the real world. Chances are the All Subsuming One is being subtle and building up his strength."

"Now, we don't know what's been happening in Tokyo's dreamscape in the short term but as we know, things are getting bad there too. The background nightmare energy is leeching into the real world, spreading along but not entirely along the leylines, and his 'lieutentants' that we -know- of have been active in harassing us, which means He is trying to -learn- about us. He doesn't like surprises so we're just going to have to keep surprising him. We can do that."

She addresses Mamoru next. "As soon as possible," she tells him, "we don't have a moment to spare. We also, again, are going to need to call on you to help us get others into the dreamscape. We've -got- to get a look at the dreamscape. Scout out the area around Radiant Heart's dreamscape. I don't really want us going in blind there either and there's not a moment to waste. I'm sorry, Mamoru. You're the only person I know who's managed it so far -- though I know Amy's been trying."

She gives the puella ghostly smile.

"...Bliss-Chan has been killed ... three times now. Once by me when she first appeared in Kyoto, once by everyone when she returned and targetted me probably at the All Subsuming One's behest, and then again just recently," she tells Molly, with sympathetic eyes. "I don't know how, exactly, he does it... but the All Subsuming One has already demonstrated the ability to bring Nightmares back into existence. I'd wager it has something to do with whatever he's doing in the first place... which we don't know enough about it. We need to learn more, which means some highly dangerous, sneaky investigations in the Dreamscape are on the agenda, even before I get into things."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Scribble scribble scribble goes Rashmi's pencil, and if the idea of making war plans in a mundane composition book strikes anyone as less than secure... well, Rashmi has apparently gotten equally good at Mid-Childan script as in shorthand, and the combination of the two is likely to cause headaches in at least one person who might try to purloin her stationery.

When Emi delivers the bad news about Bliss-chan and the All-Subsuming One, she can't help but feel a *little* disappointed, if relieved that military-grade exorcism isn't immediately lethal to someone who at least *appears* to be a sentient human being. "...Sounds like it's not just a name," she says into the quiet. "Like he's actually *subsumed* their minds, souls, whatever... So he can just project them again, and they're not really *purified.* Like... he's a film projector, and we're tearing down the *screen.*"

It is at least the best theory she can come up with, and one that doesn't say a lot of great things about what the ultimate battle's likely to be like... But best prepared than ignorant. "But I agree, we need to do this as quickly as we can manage... You've got my number, Emi-chan, and as important as this is I'm *prepared* to drop anything on no notice. Even math finals."

Which ought to be a good indicator of just how serious the redheaded Devicer is taking this problem...

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a small nod and... "Well, on the good side of things, even if he's pretending it doesn't, it probably does drain him to keep bringing his little peons back to the the forefront, so if we can keep knocking those pins down, he'll have to keep setting them back up."

"And once the barrier itself is up, it'll tie in directly to the crystal heart, and everyone's defenses will just make it stronger with every one of us adding to it. The initial setup will be rough. But after that? It'll just get tougher and tougher for it to get taken down. And then? There'll be someplace he can't go. And I really doubt he's gonna like that, at all. So I expect he'll keep trying to poke at it. We'll always have a place to fall back to, and a place to strike out from. And something like that can be invaluable."

"And... I mean, sure, Bliss-chan has been defeated, but well... it might just be another weird youma. We've seen all kind. Heck, *I've* made a few weird ones. Don't-mention-any," Hinoiri said VERY quickly. A few of her worst ones already came to mind."

She didn't mention anything about going into Emi's dreams herself, though... But those who paid attention might notice her hand reach out and be placed, gently, on Emi's back. A comforting, supporting reminder she was going to be there, and had her back all the way. Every step.

"And luckily, we have Mamoru here to help us with the getting started on all this already, cause I'll be honest. Getting there really would be our toughest hurdle without that."

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly opens her mouth, right about to bring up that one Youma that Hinoiri made which she defeated with a single, quarter-strength barret. ...In fairness though, Hinoiri was not at that time really in a position to be putting out her best work, so it'd be unfair to judge.

Maybe best just to keep her mouth shut. On that particular issue at least.

"Hinoiri-chan, let me know if you need any help, okay? I did spend a lot of time in the Radiant Heart dreamscape. Like... a lot a lot, while I was waiting to get my body back. Maybe if Emi-chan is willing we could scout it out later on? I can justify staying here overnight to my parents easily enough, I'll just say I'm studying, which will be... mmmmmmmostly true."

The purplenette sighs, and leans back a bit in her chair. "Alright, so I'll plan to see Bliss-chan again sometime," she says with an air of patient resignation. "So... Yeah whatever if she comes back we'll just nuke her again and hopefully incur another cost to her boss."

Actually, hearing Amy's enthusiasm is really great, so she just sits back to listen after that. Well, aside from glancing down at Rashmi's notes once, and ahems softly. "I'm uhh, gonna need you to translate that later," she murmurs, "I don't speak much of anything that isn't English or Japanese and even the latter is still tricky sometimes."

Amanda Faust has posed:
> Amy's been trying.
    Amy looks down at the floor, awkwardly. "Actually... After thinking about it a bit I took your warning to heart and decided I shouldn't try to break out into the dreamscape unless you think I'm ready... but honestly, I haven't made any progress in lucid dreaming in general, either, since finding those new reality tests I hadn't heard of. I haven't been able to get any of the purported techniques to cause them, or even to fall asleep faster, to work."

    "Admittedly, conventional wisdom among mundane oneironauts appears to be that the most reliable techniques involve waking up in the middle of the night and then doing them as you go back to sleep. But I don't want to disrupt my sleep. I have trouble with staying up too late sometimes as it is. And if I do wake up in the middle of the night, all this is the furthest from my mind and I just want to go back to sleep."

    Rashmi gives her theory about how Subsy brings back nightmares. "Or maybe it's that he uses his influence over all those people, to get them to dream the nightmare back into existence. ...Can it work that way?" She looks to Emi curiously.

    And then between her and Hinoiri. "Huh? Barrier? What? I think I missed something, everyone's defenses? We had, "She counts on her fingers, "Go into your psyche, recon the dreamscape... I missed where this part came in."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Beefing up our defenses," Usagi explains to Amy, at her confusion, "So we can actually be safe in our dreams, the way we're safe in the real world on campus. Remember, it's what Hinoiri-chan disappeared into KiraKiraFantastica for?"

There had been a while where they'd not seen hide or hair of their unicorn friend, and it had turned out to be for the sake of - well, this plan that will come into effect once Emi has access to the Dreamscape again.

"So we need to get you back to the Dreamscape, search around our own school's Dreamscape, figure out what we can give to this spell for the barrier... and survive our upcoming finals and graduation ceremonies. ...sounds like another Tuesday for us, huh?"

She definitely doesn't sound amused, but she doesn't sound upset, either, just a tone of 'well, this might as well be the case'.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru squeezes Usagi's hand and lets go. "I guess there's no time for a general lesson in basic psychic courtesy: minding your business and how to do it," he says wryly. "Sorry." He unfolds and sits up and stretches, instantly taking up like three times the airspace than he was before, then folds back down to take up less room in this classroom full of short people, him, and Sugata.

And well sort of Hinoiri but she's still pretty short compared to, well...

He turns a little red at Hinoiri, and says a little amusedly, "You're welcome?" But then he's more serious, if gentle. "Obviously I'll do everything I can."

He's being pretty quiet, volume-wise. And he edges a little closer to Usagi at her tone.

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"Yeah," says Emi, "I probably should have delved into that more. Sorry. Yeah, Hinoiri went and learned a magic spell to help expand the crystal heart's power better onto the Dreamscape. It already exists to some extent -- all those positive emotions and school spirit have an impact on the shape of the dreamscape and its why nightmares find it hard to take root here even if they're not completely absent, but this will protect us more in a more fullsome so something like what Bliss-chan did to all of you can't happen so easily again... not that I think it was easy for her to do that. It's the kind of thing the All Subsuming One will definitely notice, and once he knows we're snooping around the Dreamscape again, he's likely to want to figure out how and why and try to do something about it. So the faster we get this all up and running, the better."

A wan smile crosses her face at Usagi's description. She looks sympathetic, to say the least, and apologetic at the same time. That's our Emi. Always apologizing.

"She purses her lips a moment, then says to Rashmi, "Maybe? That's as good an explanation as I've heard. It might be something akin to that too. We'll need to find out. As long as he can keep bringing them back, he'll eventually be able to wear people down between that and sleep feeling 'dangerous'. I suspect that's a strategy he's using even now."

She bows her head.

"Any questions?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Don't worry," Rashmi chuckles to Molly. "I was gonna translate them before I handed them over."

Usagi's lack of active upset at the whole situation is, at least, heartening to hear, and she offers the couple a wry smile. "I mean... sounds like a Tuesday on Finals Week, at least..."

When Emi starts talking abain, however, notes are dutifully taken, and upon the ask for questions, Rashmi taps her lip with her eraser. "Actually... yeah, kinda. You said the leylines were *part* of how Subu-Subu -- Just trying to workshop silly names, don't ask -- spread his influence. I... don't suppose there's any way we could attack the problem on that end, too, once you're back in the saddle?"

Yes she referred to a possibly eldritch nightmare abomination as 'Subu-Subu,' and no she is expressly not taking questions at this time.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko stifles a small giggle at Rashmi's nickname for the All Subsuming One, but the concept does make sense: names can have a certain degree of power, and mockery reduces the fear the mocked one can create. Combine the two, and that should at least take the edge off of Subu-Subu's effect on the mahoujin.

Maybe.

    (at least it's good for mahoujin morale!)

Amanda Faust has posed:
> I guess there's no time for a general lesson in basic psychic courtesy: minding your business and how to do it
    Amy raises her hand. "I think that's a great idea, actually? Even besides aside the special concerns here that lead to things like psychologist-patient and doctor-patient confidentiality, which are also absolutely important, in any field there's basic important stuff to know! Using a computer? Save early, save often, don't trust everything you read on the internet. Helping a casualty in an emergency situation? First look around and make sure what got them doesn't get you too. Dealing with roads and cars, look both ways before crossing the street. Be careful mixing acids and bases. Acid to water, not water to acid, or was it the other way around? If you're working on electrical components, make sure they're unplugged from the wall first. Et cetera."

    "The basic precautions we need to keep in mind for this... psychic mind dive, and for not hurting you, Hoshino-san, our friend, while we're in there... That sounds like good information to have!"

    School spirit adds to the school's ward? Amy shudders at the thought of a pep rally ever being necessary.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a small shrug. "I mean, if you want to practice going in and out of the dreamscape, I'd say yes. But I don't want to do anything with the spell itself over here until we actually do it. I don't want there being any chance of Rub-a-dub catching wind of it before we're ready. Basically, just making sure we're stable and able to access the dreamscape properly, without interruptions, is good. Past that? I'd like to keep it hush hush in the dream realm proper."

Paranoid? Maybe a bit. But then again... This guy had all kinds of weirdos messing with them, and they only had a handful of magical people who could affect the dreams at the moment. And the less he knew, the better, in her mind... Also, it seems she forgot the old nickname... And, like Rashmi, she enjoyed making up silly nicknames for big jerks.

She then glanced towards Usagi, looking a little concerned herself. Something... seemed... definitely off there. "Yeah, the spell itself will be simple, though, once we're in. It's really just a matter of getting Emi back in working order and making sure the people there can protect it from whatever he chucks at us when it goes off. Cause if he's smart, he's going to realize it's game over for attacking the school once it goes up."

"And... I wouldn't feel too bad, Amy, I've been kind of spotty as of late, I've been bouncing between here and Kirakirafantastica and studying things about the fade and mermaid stuff that I haven't been keeping up at all," she admitted. "Sorry."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Shabon-Shabon," Mamoru says after Hinoiri says 'Rub-a-Dub', and she gets a crooked smile too. His head rolls to one side to look at Amy, and he says, "Don't push unless you have explicit instructions to. Be incurious about everything that's not your goal there. Keep your thoughts and any negative feelings to yourself. Don't consider anything you see to be an invitation to bring it up later. It's respecting boundaries and privacy, and try to match the vibe so you're not too disruptive. Do work on something to use as an instant self-earworm if you come under psychic attack and something's trying to access your thoughts. Like Golden or whatever. I don't know how much of this will be helpful in this, but 'don't touch and don't even look unless you have permission' is the most basic."

Then he stretches again and shifts uncomfortably, then leans down to murmur something to Usagi.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods to Hinoiri, "It's OK. Thank you for reminding me."

    She blinks at Mamoru, but listens attentively. She winces at 'be incurious', and then gets a pad of paper and a pen out of her pockets and starts writing, "OK, I'm gonna have to write these down because yeah, most of this does not come naturally... F---! I can't bring a list to check into dreams! What do I do, come up with a way to represent each rule and put it in the mind palace?!"

    She taps her chin thoughtfully. "Huh, that might work..."

    "Self... earworm..." she writes down for notes. "Is it just about being catchy, or is it also a reminder of values and principles and feelings or something?"

    She nods to Mamoru. "I'll try to remember. My instinct on seeing an open door that shouldn't be open is to look in and go 'hey you left your door open' because obviously something is wrong, but... yeah, this is different."

    She mutters, "I guess that rule could be represented as... a door?" She doodles a little picture of a door next to it, then writes the others and taps her pen next to them. "Hmm... I haven't actually thought to check that I can access a mind palace in dreams... shit, there's so many basic tests and things we should have thought of..." she jots down notes frantically.

Emi Hoshino has posed:
As the conversation revolves around privacy and confidentiality for a moment, Emi cringes and looks uncomfortable. This is probably not terribly surprising.

She rubs her eyes, yawns, giving a wan smile at the various names being offered for 'him' before points at Mamoru. "Listen to him," she agrees. Things between Usagi and Mamoru don't exactly go unnoticed by her either, but she doesn't comment. Instead, she tips back slightly towards Hioiri and says, "Oh, he'll definitely chuck a -lot- at us. Whatever he's got available, I suspect." She puffs her cheeks out in another sigh before addressing Rashmi. "Yeah, cleansing the leylines from whatever he's doing, identifying spots where Nightmare energy is stronger and stuff. There's things to do. We've got to do them. Attacking the problem from this side will help but it's just going to keep coming until we can deal with the real problem: Kyoto. But that's -after- we secure Tokyo." She looks mildly frustrated she can't just go attack the problem head on, honestly.

"All right. I think that covers everything. I want some tea."