Hanako's Constant

Her bedroom consisted of her bed, an air purifier and dark curtains completely blocking out the light. The only source of light was the slit under the door. She went straight to her living room, seated herself on her kotatsu and opened the notebook lying there. She started writing down what she remembered from her dream.

"Planck didn't like mud... Propo said there was a flood and property boundaries were gone... We replanted a tree... And we launched it with a ballista... What was it called, Steven? "

She started preparing a breakfast; an apple cut into pieces. She put the apple on a cutting board with a bang and said: "One."
She cut it in half: "Two"
"Four, eight..." she liked how with each slice the amount of chunks doubled. Alongside her apple she had oats, yogurt, a konbini sandwich and a cup of water. Not coffee. Never coffee. Coffee and even tea were nowhere to be found in this apartment because of their caffeine content. Caffeine to her is like garlic to vampires. Lack of those drinks could appear odd to visitors, but alas, she never had any.

Her current journal sat beside the others, a growing row of worn spines and dog-eared pages. While her dream-world is fictional, she's put a lot of work into characters, their backstories and such to make it immersive. It's hard to notice you're dreaming, but the moment you do, forgetting is impossible. At least she has yet to hear of such a feat. Her disinterest in the real world happened when she finished school. Stereotypical smart girl; great grades, no friends, a lot of not so fond memories of youth. A smart girl only gets a girl so far. While her parents were glad she was studying, they didn't think a "mathematician" was a real job, so she chose the next closest thing.

A quick shower later she's preparing herself for the office job. She's a data analyst, meaning she's counting things for people who can't or don't want to count and then presenting it with colorful graphs. For someone in love with math seemingly a perfect job, but frankly, they were never interested in the math behind her graphs. She tried explaining the math behind how she got her results. Once. She got cut off after the third sentence and scolded by her higher-ups for wasting their time. Most they were interested in math-wise were correlations, as they might actually help them make more money.

She very rarely changes her route to work. There is one place in this world she actually likes visiting. Five pedestrian crossings later she's finally at her least unhappy place - the dog park. She always wanted a cute puppy. She actually wanted to adopt one after her 15th birthday, but after she started limping, it was out of question. Seeing the same people everyday coming here with their pups made her smile without her noticing. Balls flying around, friendly dogs approaching her, wanting to play. It always hurt to say no to those puppy eyes.

"I'm sorry little one, I have to work... You've got it so easy..."

The dog woofed affirmingly, as if it understood what she said.  

***

Upon entering the office building she checks her watch and compares it with the clock in the hallway.

5 second difference as per usual. - she thought to herself.

"Good morning Ms. Tanaka."

"Morning Mr. Sato."

While she wasn't exactly friends with the receptionist, her walking speed would make for an awkward scene if they didn't acknowledge each other. And she is not risking laying in bed, cringing at her past self. He was an elderly man, rocking a beard, reminding her of those Greek busts of her favorite mathematicians. She modeled Propo after him. While it's rather advised against using real people in your dreams, the risk were mostly "you could have memories of events including that person that never happened" and in her case, there was no way she would mistake Propo for him.

Exiting the lift she makes her way into her cubical. Rows of cubicles, each with a body hunched over glowing screens. Some decorated with family photos, plants, mugs. Hers had none of that. The closest she came was the photo she took yesterday. She pulls out her phone and looked at said photo.

"No difference..." - she exhales a little disappointed.

She takes another photo puts her phone away. It's one of the ways she checks whether she's in a dream. Electronics, like clocks and phones, don't work in a dream. Same goes for reading and writing which she checks the moment she wakes up. She made it a habit at this point to check her watch ever so often, essential for her goals.