It's a Process

Back at her apartment, Hanako found herself in a rather troublesome situation. She was drained after today, so expanding her dream world's lore is off the table. Plans for her next lucid dream have already been prepared. It's raining outside, so dog gazing isn't possible either.

"Reading it is."

Not having a social life actually had its benefits. Hanako managed to learn German well enough to read Kafka in original. She had all of his books and whenever she had a day like this she would just reread one or two.

"Metamorphosis? No, he dies at the end. The Judgment? No, he dies at the end. The Trial? Now that I think about it, his only works where main character doesn't die are those he didn't finish. The Process it is."

Process was actually Hanako's favorite. It told the story of 'K.' who was been accused of a crime, but is never told what he has been accused of. In the beginning she found the absurdity 'K.' went through a bit funny, at moments frustrating. And then she started working. She was a sucker for a happy ending, but something about Kafka's writing lured her in.

Next day at work Hanako learnt Yamada has been fired, it would be his last month there.

***

It's Friday again. Hanako prepared, she bought a lot of microwavable food, sandwiches and apples. Being forced to use MirAI at work made her work even more unfulfilling than before. She didn't think that was possible, but there are things in this world most people haven't dreamed of. She actually took next Monday off, the plan is to get two long sessions this weekend.

Hanako reached for her jar of gummies and ate one alongside some microwaved chicken and rice meal. She hopped to her room in her dalmatian onesie and laid herself comfortably in her bed.

***

Hanako stood in front of the altar, wearing a wedding dress so big she could barely see the huge gummy bear she was about to marry. She loved him wholeheartedly, but knew society would never accept them. Benches were empty, except for her mom and a few gummy bears. Priest asked the question.

-Do you, Hanako, want to marry Elton the gummy bear?

-I do.

-And do you, Elton, want to marry her?

Elton looked at Hanako. He then slowly turned his head to the priest. He didn't answer. Happiest day in her life was about to turn into the worst one. It was obvious he was never going to say "I do", he can't speak. Guests started to look sorry for her.

-You've ruined everything! I don't wanna see you ever again!

Hanako run out of church screaming at her ex-fiancé.

***

As Hanako strolled through the streets of New York, she noticed there are no people around. Only human-sized apples with teeth, eating hot dogs.

-So that's why they call it "Big Apple".

She checked her watch out of habit. She couldn't make out the time, there were 4 arms and no numbers.

-I hate it when I run out of numbers... I'll have to buy a new one.

She entered a watch store to solve this issue immediately.

***

Winter is coming, so Hanako was buying a new coat. It was red with bananas printed all over it.

-I wonder if I look fat in it.

She looked into store's mirror and froze. It wasn't her in the mirror. She saw a blonde man wearing a white coat and a black face mask. He reached out of the mirror and grabbed her hand. Hanako tried to fight back, but he was stronger, so she got pulled into the mirror.

***

Where am I? Red carpet, throne, King Charles—I'm in Arithmia, so this is a dream... It's weird. Weirder than usual. How did I get here?

-Lucy have you finished your report?

-Huh? Uh, yes Your Majesty.

Scene looked almost one to one like the dream before, except on the faces of people present were showing signs of distrust mixed with fear. Another difference: Thales was missing.

-As I foretold Your Highness, rebels are behind this, and one of them wields a magic item! Advisor Lucy must have met their leader.

Gottfried must have heard only the part he wanted to hear. It was clear there was an enemy in hiding, but it was hard to tell who they were and what their goals are.

-My king, what should we do? Continuing the works is too dangerous for our workers, and they don't even want to work!

-Stopping the works and closing the border is not an option. Too many have invested. If what my advisor told us is true, we risk the wealthy joining the enemy. We need to stop the enemy right now.

-Your Majesty, if I may. Finding the enemy will be hard, he can seemingly go unnoticed by dogs. We also don't know the extent of his powers. There is a way to win time for preparations and to keep the wealthy at least somewhat less unhappy.

-And that would be?

-We should build a trading guild, a safe distance away from the border. Whoever wants to trade in d'Algebria will need to go through there first and receive royal badge of quality. With enough bureaucracy we will buy enough time to solve the issue.

King Charles closed his eyes in contemplation. Hiding the issue behind paperwork was a good idea. It would give current workers something to do in the mean time. It would make people who invested angry though. Not as angry as making it public there is an enemy spreading chaos. It would make the king seem weak, and that's the last thing a king wants. Being seen as pedantic or overly controlling wasn't great either, but it was the lesser of two evils.

-It is decided then. Euclid, have your workers retreat to Kaufen for the time being. Build something big, and be quick about it. Gottfried, send scouts with bloodhounds to Grenze and find this self-proclaimed prince. Make sure they bring him alive, we'll have him publicly executed. And let us pray for Thales' safe return.

Now that she thought about it, Lucy noticed something else. She looked behind her to confirm her worries. Where was Plank?