Niko plummets through the mists of the Dreamscape, bracing for impact as she is about to hit the surface below. Much to her surprise, however, she plunges straight into the ground; it ripples like water, and as the opaque, milky substance slows down her fall, it begins to fill up her nostrils like water as…

As the bullet train speeds into the late afternoon, the view outside slowly starts to shift from rural to suburban, Mount Fuji looming in the background being its only consistent fixture. Inside, the wagon’s gentle cadence has lulled Koharu asleep, and her head is on Yosuke’s shoulder as he is playing around with the setting…

In Mitakihara’s Minami district, a cushy middle-class suburb largely unaffected by the chaos affecting the inner city, the streets are lined with detached, Western style houses, boasting large front yards and verdant hedges to allow their occupants some privacy. Despite the lack of turmoil, however, the streets are still surprisingly empty. A slender girl, wearing…

The morning rush hour is in full swing when Hanako, Shinju, Koharu and Yosuke step into Yokoyama Station. The station is the major hub for bullet train services in the area, and it shows — travelers, commuters and tourists alike are scurrying back and forth in large crowds, hoping to track down a train that…

In the corner of the Dreamscape still untouched by nightmares, Velare overlooks the empty auditorium and barren, dim stage from a balcony seat. A wistful sigh escapes his lips as he pushes his glasses up along his nose. Velare: Someday, I will look upon my glory in this place once more. Even just once. I…

Fall is well and truly starting. The train station in Fuyukawa, a small, countryside town seemingly far away from anywhere else receives only two trains per day: one taking a handful of commuters to the nearest city in the morning, and another one dropping them off in the evening. For the rest of the day,…

A week had passed since the initial confrontation with the Balancers at The Bends. To the outside world, Paradise Hall was just another derelict pile of rubble, not unlike its neighbors and the surrounding businesses. Looters and rioters would occasionally patrol the streets, looking for any and all who could be considered a target for…

Yosuke slowly looks over his shoulder and, upon seeing nothing stirring in the darkness, quietly closes the door behind him. There’s nothing but silence in the hallway, safe for the faint echo of a man snoring coming from behind one of the rice paper sliding doors at the end of the hallway. He walks off…

Several days had passed in relative quiet. Or, what passed for relative quiet in Mitakihara’s new normal. 3:38 AM, right outside the only room rented in this roadside inn. Hanako Sasaki stood outside of it, hesitating for a moment. She knew what Kiwako (and by proxy, Cecilia, as Hanako eventually learned) had told her. Beyond…

Kohaku reaches the mouth of the river where it empties out into the ocean before she surfaces. She climbs out onto the beach, water flowing out from gaps and damage to her suit. She scans the area, ensuring that any pursuers have given up the chase, before dismissing her suit.  Kohaku takes off her army…