dollmaxing | Inbox & In-person meetups

"I suppose it'd make sense there's a less dramatic group of people," she hummed in a bit of a sigh. "...I wasn't even going to avoid the Hasegawas indefinitely. I did fully intend to speak to them at some point."

Ichinose's gaze drifted off. Thoughtful. She'd hesitated because she didn't know the best way to maybe approach - and then she'd gotten a little distracted just with the sheer immensity of what this place is, and blabbed about it publicly.

She really had to stop enjoying herself openly - people always hated that. It always got her in trouble.

"That's what I get for hesitating, I suppose."

Maruki watched her. The feeling of frustration was so clearly obvious.

"I was going to speak to a certain Akechi-san and Amamiya-san as well, two of that pair actually, who are ultimately suffering because of me in their worlds," he answers after a bit of a pause. He could follow her line of thought with the way Ichinose acted. Contemplating. "And I hesitated because this place was...immense. My powers as well. there was so much to comprehend."

"Later in the day, I ran into one of the Rens and...that's when I learned my first lesson."

"My point is," he gets back on track before they could mull over that entire topic. "If you didn't hurt them outright, hesitating is the only way you could have gone about it. It's good that you explored. That you are aware of your craft since you sorted out a deal for your parole, didn't you?"

"With people's irrational behaviour, it's important to know when you should be able to draw the line and when you are ready to cross it."

He winces as he scrolls through the post anyway. "It's a shame we are being labelled as two mad scientists across these comments however. I feel like I am rather mentally sound."

For whatever 'mentally sound' means. Non-violent? Not hallucinating? Well, the latter sure would be difficult to definitively prove in a setting like this.

"Hazard of the occupation, I suppose. If any other cognitive psience enthusiasts arrive I'll be quick to message them privately in precaution," Ichinose chuckled. It really wasn't out of humor, sounding entirely hollow. Oh well. "I suppose if they don't want anything to do with us, then we don't need them, either."

"I am sorry I didn't pick up on the hazard sooner," he adds, setting aside the phone as a few certain comments run through his mind. "But in all honesty- the Hasegawas didn't mention your name attached to your work." And whether he could even trust her in the first place.

"I suppose if they don't want anything to do with us, then we don't need them, either."

Maruki's expression only sank, a stark contrast to Ichinose's cold. "We do know enough, or maybe in a more intricate detail than they ever would."

"Considering Akane-san can still track the fact that you are living under my protection, she might arrange for a meeting with you to audit the code so technically...the Hasegawas have a lot to do with you."
Maybe a controlled environment would do her and Wolf some good.

"Oh, I imagine it will be much easier to deal with Akane. She seems much more reasonable than her father," Ichinose shrugged, swinging her coat a bit. "She could more easily snoop, but that will be fine. I'm interested in finding out more about her anyway."

Just... how does she tick, how has coding changed in the decades that have passed for them, what can she learn...? She'll just have to be patient - she'll learn in the process of building the program for them to take down their EMMA.

Sorry again, other world EMMA and Ichinose... though they would probably understand.

"She also seems far less likely to relish inflicting pain on someone."

Maruki hummed, not entirely convinced by Ichinose’s words. Akane is, at the end of the day, Zenkichi’s daughter and it doesn't help that their relationship is strained. He didn’t stick around since he was busy with others and also just tending to his own injuries that didn't seem to improve one bit.

If anything it felt more one-sided.

"For the sake of you both you shouldn't be interacting with each other," he concludes with a methodical tone. "I am just worried about the collaboration because Hasegawa-san is Akane’s first line of defense. He's going to have to be there...no offense but I doubt he would trust the safety of his AI daughter in the phone of the AI researcher who whether directly or indirectly has not been in his best image for 20 years."

"If you wouldn’t mind, I would like to speak with him seperately."

"Oh, I have no doubt that he'll be lurking in the background of the call. But I fully intend to not acknowledge him outside of discussion of the project," Ichinose chuckled a bit.

Her eyes glanced Maruki up and down when he mentioned he wanted to speak to Zenkichi privately. There was a worry - if Maruki got hurt, then she wouldn't be safe, but... well, there wasn't much point in trusting him to protect her if she just assumed he couldn't handle himself.

"Well, be cautious, I suppose. You may have more luck than someone with my face ever would."

Maruki's brow wrinkled at her chuckle. He could only hope that Zenkichi shares the same sentiment, given that he acted way differently when his rage got triggered on the battlefield. He wonders whether half of the misgivings come from that very trait itself, but then again, unlike last time, Hasegawa-san didn't seem to regret the turn that all the events took.

Or.

He needed to pose a front.

Maruki lets out a wry chuckle at the mention of their looks. Their faces. "The wonders of horn effect, huh? Ascribing negative attitudes or behaviours to almost now well- anyone wearing a labcoat now. It's a little amusing to think that the people who were affected by the other yous weren't affected by mes. Just the demographic is shifted heavily against my favour."

"But Hasegawa-san knows what I am capable of nonetheless, thanks to my reputable status," he shrugs casually. "Violence isn't really what I favour- I will just...put him in a controlled environment and speak to him."

"Hmmm...?"

Putting someone in a controlled environment... people certainly never liked being caged or cornered normally...

"Might be a bad strategy for an attempt at a calm conversation, don't you think? No one likes to be boxed in, thinking rationally tends to go out of the window. My first night here was perfect proof of that - all you can think about is getting out."

What would be a better way, then, hmm...

"Maybe meeting on neutral ground and just having a good escape strategy in case things go sour? He reeked of alcohol, you could probably invite him to a bar."

Maruki's gaze didn't even shift at the mention of the fact that someone else might be feeling boxed in. Why would they? A controlled environment is to make sure that they don't go out of line while he keeps them comfortable- ah, he's really turning into a hermit, isn't he? "It's hard to resist the fact that there's a world outside of this lab that I have to answer to sometimes. Maybe I am going a little mad-!" He laughs out loud, clearly a joke. "I am not- going mad. I figured I could invite him to my previous workplace in Shujin Academy. Back when I was still a counsellor."

It's controlled, but it's comfortable. Our minds by virtue can trick us when we are in a boxed up environment- like the frog in boiling water. Of course I wouldn't actually simulate such an awful experience but...

But that reminds him-!

"He approached me in a bar actually. I felt like I was cornered there until he and I just shared drinks and he told me how I was dealt with an awful hand back in his world."

"...which to be fair I am yet to hear something good coming from any of those alternate universes."

"How was your universe, then?" Ichinose hummed the question, tilting her head curiously.

"My universe?"

Maruki tilts his head, eyelids growing heavy as he looks down for a moment and just in that instance- one might even spot an eerie familiar golden hue overtaking his left pupil.

His mind strained against the cobwebs of the memories he desperately wished to remember. If they were even there.

"It doesn't really matter. The most I remember is one of those gods who the phantom thieves had eventually killed, taking over my world as I was wrapping up the last steps of my research. "

"...Excuse me? Did you say gods? And that the Phantom Thieves killed it?"

"...I thought you kept contact with the thieves? Didn't they give you intel about this?"
Considering she's from the following year and the general timeline was well...

Eefy.

"They most certainly did not. They described the cognitive world phenomenon as it was currently happening, gave me a rough outline of how to proceed through that world... but nothing whatsoever about any gods they may have faced. They described and compared the current situation to their past endeavors, but..."

Ichinose's brows furrowed in thought, and she touched her chin. Did they withhold that because it wasn't comparable to their investigation of the Jails? If they could supposedly kill a 'god', then... maybe she really should take their threat to EMMA seriously. Perhaps if she put her own body in the line of fire it could keep them from getting to her...

...Right. She's in the middle of a conversation.

"I wonder if that means that it hasn't appeared in my timeline. Or if it has, and they didn't find it relevant to the current situation...? Or if they are hiding it from me, perhaps - it would be the only thing they haven't divulged, though, they haven't been especially dodgy with me..."

"Huh," is all Maruki can say when she stops for the first time. He scratches his chin as his brows furrow, considering all the threads and pieces of information he's got over his time spent here. "The God of Control- Yaldaboath was called upon by the masses, and from what I have heard- tidbits across Flutter and passing conversations- he tried to drive the world into chaos. The skies were red, the clouds shed bloody rain, and I was..."

He sighs and throws his hand up before gesturing down at the ground—like he was disposed of from his world to this place. Despite the infinite possibilities this place has presented him with, he also feels like he's aged half a decade in half a year.

"To be fair, the information you have received from this seems far more generous in comparison to me," he shook his head. "I had to fill in most of the blanks myself."

"And as for gods...I am not counting my world yet but in several others as you could see from the multiple network posts and the posts put up on the board- apparently I was one in some of the other worlds. Ah-! Don't even get me started with the god sealed in our moon-! There were frequent cases of other gods taking over in the past few years!"

That level of apocalyptic scenery... she definitely would have heard something like that, right? That was... hard to believe, even with everything she did grasp so far.

"You were a god? And there's a moon god - which mythology?" she asked, though with a bit of a breathlessness of someone still reeling from everything she was learning in this moment. Gods are real.

~~Her baby really could become a god and save everyone...~~

Maruki shrugs, half-heartedly almost like he doens't quite know how else to steer this conversation aside from the sheer absurdity around them. "Hey your creation became a god- er goddess..? Well in someone else's world so it shouldn't be so surprising." He has a hypothesis on the matter of how and he's still considering his steps to following through with his strategy once he's back in his world and begins implementing his research on willing subjects...he's going to keep that piece of information tucked in for now. He knows Ichinose believes in EMMA and as much as he wants to believe in Ichinose...

~~He doesn't. He is responsible for this knowledge. Ichinose is so obviously in pain herself...he can take it from her.~~

"Nyx...from what I know is an alien god-like being who answered humanity's call to complete destruction. Culturally she's known to be a Greek Goddess though if we consider cognition- its believed that every shadow that traverses this land is a piece of her. She has been sealed now...thanks to a few tragic souls who lost their lives at a really young age."

Edited 2025-04-06 15:17 (UTC)

He looks down at his hands and places his phone on his lap. "You could refer to a girl named Hamuko Arisato here. She's...one of the few who could welcome you in open arms and I wonder how much of that comes from the fact that she lost her life doing the same."

"Lost her life to stop a god... that's a rare kind of bravery indeed," Ichinose pondered aloud. Hmm... she'd have to look into whether Arisato was in close with Hasegawa or not...

"She's welcomed you with open arms?"

Maruki nods.

"I could discern that since I didn't affect her in anyway, she doesn't have any reason to be afraid- not like anyone should be I just wish to help- but I can see where they are coming from," he releases a huff and leans back in his chair.

Hamuko-san was...well in a lot of ways she reminded him of Akira-kun but there were obvious differences between them. Much of it being the fact that unlike Akira’s reserved nature, she had nothing to hide.

"It's rather cruel, isn’t it? To have the fate of the world rest on such young minds? Hamuko-san is a wonderful young woman but alas, she has to pay the price for humanity's call."

He just said that, didn't he?

He fumbles a little. "Well-! Sorry just needless rambling. I trust her anyway though I don't think she wants to visit my lab haha..."

"Teenagers are at a particularly important developmental moment, maybe - more likely to see for the first time and with great intensity the things that are wrong in the world around them, and to want to fight against it. Not yet beaten down by responsibilities yet, maybe."

It's a haphazard guess.

"That's not a trait most people have. They just want relief from their suffering."

"That is quite fascinating in itself, isn't it?"

He rebelled in little ways too by cutting off most communication with his family and doing multiple part-time jobs so he doesn't have to be too financially dependent on them.

"In a way them rebelling is also seeking relief from suffering," he argues- almost as if he isn't hearing himself. "A teenager's development stage equips them to question the status quo and hunger for change. It's one of the most powerful and, honestly, hopeful aspects of adolescence-!"

Still, what Ichinose says does stick with Maruki. For better or worse.

"...were you never a rebellious teenager, Ichinose-san?"

"Not intentionally," Ichinose chuckled, though it was completely mirthless. "Plenty of people assumed my intentions, unfortunately. I likely only 'got away' with any of it because of my stellar grades."

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