Inbox & In-person meetups

[dollmaxing]

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Hiiii! You've reached Ichinose Kuon, head of AI research and development. Leave a message and I'll get back to you!

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[takutomaruki]

He lowers it and suddenly, he looks so much more miserable then before. "I hated every second of having to listen through all of that."

[dollmaxing]

The urge to argue back died as she watched Maruki sink in miserably on himself. She has no idea why a crude insult like that bothered the man so much, but then again, her feeling frustrated about her own fears being invalidated probably didn't make much sense either.

...They ought to, though - she thought they were imminently obvious. Maybe men just didn't quite have the same experience.

"It wasn't debating morality or cognitive psience," she protested, affectation completely flat as she shoved her phone in her pocket.

[takutomaruki]

"I know," he sighed as he brought up his phone again but only looked at his face reflecting off the screen- catching the flat affectation just the same. "At some point, it's not even about that anymore. It's all just a very ugly misconstrued misunderstanding that only bellows in waves."

He hunches forward and goes over Flutter again.

"You care to hear one constructive criticism?" He says as he scrolls over the entire conversation she's just had with Zenkichi before raising a brow at her, expression nearly melting into amusement.

[dollmaxing]

"Something tells me it's coming anyway," she rolled her eyes, very deliberately, and the playful affectation slowly returned to her tone. No point in being supposedly abrasive.

[takutomaruki]

"The fact that you two...messaged each other after blocking each other through a series of top comments that every one will see guaranteed-" he raises a hand in a stop gesture. "I am just saying that you could have handled that in a much more constructive manner- preferably in a far more private setting where words could go through.

"This mostly resembles the fights that I have had to mediate between some students of Shujin Academy. And they initiated that over far less trivial matters." The worst part? Ichinose made good points while Zenkichi-san's doubts were valid. To some degree. He would like to not promote judging people based on their identity.

He scrolls up just to refresh the page and finds a quick edit at the bottom of the post.

"Annnnd looks like Akane-chan just locked you and Hasegawa-san out of the post."

[dollmaxing]

"HAH! As if I'm crazy enough to ever be anywhere near that maniac in a private setting," Ichinose laughed like Maruki had told the funniest joke she'd ever heard. "If people find me immature about it then I suppose that's fine. Better that than the assumption that I wasn't scared out of my mind."

[takutomaruki]

Perhaps that is the right way to think about it. Distancing yourself from someone else who does intend to harm you is precisely why Maruki, despite wanting to help the sparrows, hasn't stepped forward beyond that. He knows how to protect himself, however, which is a good thing.

Ichinose doesn't.

"Why shouldn't they? You don't have any means of protecting yourself."

[dollmaxing]

"This place has violent people in it, including people who have directly attacked you with lethal intent, right? I don't want it publicly uncontested that I am possibly some dangerous villain that needs to be vanquished. It doesn't seem like benefit of the doubt is the default assumption for anyone here, I want at least a reason to hesitate before someone decides to assault me."

She says it all very, very dryly and casually. Even if it still made her chest feel tight with anxiety. Survival instinct was strong even for the heartless, huh?

"Perhaps if I have more people willing to 'give me a shot' before pulling a trigger then I can explore the area with a little more ease."

[takutomaruki]

Maruki's gaze drifts at her easy admission. The way she casually says it makes concern flash in his eyes in a way like he's seeing a kitten stuck in a tree but refusing any help. A heartless doll...he didn't for a second believe that. She just needed to be given the key to understand herself a little more.
But he didn't blame her for thinking in such a manner given he had the same impression of this place before he met some people who did wish to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Trauma tends to cloud one's judgment, and it's clear that my presence makes them drawn to an emotion or an action to feel some sort of closure because otherwise they are left suffering from the pain in their hearts." Maruki sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "But there are some others who will give you a chance. I try not to keep contact considering my schedule in general, but at best, you will have a difference of opinion that you will have to concede to."

"Or at least they will tolerate your presence," he nods. Most of the adults here were forgiving (he doesn't know how to feel about Wolf) the other Rens, Phoenix...

Hamuko Arisato.

"...they might drag you to Karaoke too." An easy grin follows on his face.

[dollmaxing]

"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."

[takutomaruki]

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."

[dollmaxing]

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."

[takutomaruki]

"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.

[dollmaxing]

"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."

[takutomaruki]

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."

[dollmaxing]

"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."

[takutomaruki]

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."

[dollmaxing]

"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."

[takutomaruki]

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."

[takutomaruki]

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

[dollmaxing]

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

[takutomaruki]

"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. "

[dollmaxing]

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

[takutomaruki]

"...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.

[dollmaxing]

"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..."