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[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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[dollmaxing]

"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."

[takutomaruki]

"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?"

[dollmaxing]

"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."

[takutomaruki]

Maruki hums at her mirthless chuckle. A touchy subject, huh? He tilts his head and focuses on her, slipping his phone into his pocket before crossing his arms and one leg over the other.

"Frequent miscommunications, huh?"

He leans back a little in his seat, relaxing his posture like he's settling in for something meaningful, maybe even a bit long-winded. But his tone is still soft, sincere.

"As someone who occasionally excelled with 'stellar grades-' many people already had their minds about me. Certain expectations for me to match up to. Always being read like a book, only that they skipped the pages and drew their own conclusions or what favoured them." A small pause. "That can get quite lonely."

[dollmaxing]

Ichinose didn't join him in sitting, instead just leaning back against the ledge of the desk. "Exactly that. I always tried my best to speak completely frankly, with no room for interpretation, but people are poetic in how much they can read between the lines. It's like they can make shapes out of the negative space."

Negative space, huh... trying to find something in the code that simply wasn't there. Some ulterior motive.

"I actually did have a rebellion, come to think of it - I had a spat of time where I simply didn't talk to people, since it was so annoying how much they wanted to read into what I was saying. Hah. That was short-lived, though, because it only made people even more suspicious of me."

[takutomaruki]

Can make shapes out of negative space.
Maruki tucks the phrase away in his memory.

His fingers brush the edge of his glasses, adjusting them absently as he considers her words. In a different setting, in a different role, he might’ve jotted something like that down for reflection later. But this wasn’t a session. Ichinose didn’t want to be “handled,” and Maruki respected that. Still... he can’t help the way certain patterns leap out at him.

She tried to communicate with clarity, and people misread her. They projected meaning where there was none. So she withdrew to protect herself—and that made it worse.

A tendency exhibited in neurodivergency.

Well- it was just an observation but it would make sense, wouldn't it? The doctor is rather painfully familiar with how Japanese society and norms riddled with double meaning might affect individuals who don't process things in a typical way.

"I see," he nods as he considers his next few words. A conscious decision or... "Did they actually tell you that? That you were being suspicious for not engaging?"

[dollmaxing]

"Not to my face, but people are so much worse at keeping their gossip to themselves than they think," Ichinose scoffed, gaze wandering elsewhere in the room. Her hands slid into her coat pockets, looking for something to fidget with.

"Whether it was classmates, my relatives, teachers, colleagues, partners... it's clear I've never passed for human."

[takutomaruki]

The doctor doesn't even realize that he's reached for his phone again- opening his notes app on instinct. He doesn't actually get down to typing however, just throws a swift glance at the additional note window popping up on his screen. Better to remember all this as he writes this down...or he could just refer to the CCTV footage this palace will capture either way.

His eyelids droop, concern so terribly evident in his eyes even as he offers a smile. "And that's where you drew the conclusion that you were heartless," he fiddles with his chin. "That's a terrible thing to go through- especially at such a young developing age."

He also notes the lack of mention of a parent. With the mentions of partners and almost about everyone else who may be relevant in your life one way or another, that was a key difference that needed to be noted down. Mentally.

He tilts his head in contemplation, carefully listening to her. "What is your definition of passing as a human?"

[dollmaxing]

"I don't know," Ichinose gave Maruki a wry smile, looking at the way his brows furrowed and his hands looked for... something. A distraction? Taking notes?

Whatever it was... Ichinose just shrugged. "If I did, maybe I wouldn't deeply unsettle people so often. If I smile and talk too much, I'm creepy for going on for so long. If I don't smile, keep to myself, people whisper to each other, call me a doll. I haven't ever once found that supposed sweet spot that everyone exists in."

[takutomaruki]

That seemed to follow up to just as he expected.

"I somehow doubt all of us have reached that sweet spot in communication. If we did most conflicts that plague our worlds wouldn't have occured."

"People are often known to misjudge once they have a certain impression of you but that doesn't take away your humanity." He shakes his head and leans forward- eyes sparkling almost as if taking in the case in its full glory. Wonderful. "I sense quite the passionate heart from you, Ichinose-san. Despite your experiences you have sought comfort with numbers and ever growing algorithms. You created an intelligence based from your fascination with the human heart or cognition as a whole...that doesn't come from someone who doesn't have a heart. That passion comes from deep within and I am sure you will find your meaning one day-!"

1/2

[dollmaxing]

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[dollmaxing]

The compliment had caught her off guard entirely - the way he gazed at her was so weird. No one looked at her with that intensity unless they were trying to scrutinize whether she was lying or not.

It just made her laugh. Weird! He was so weird. And all of that to insist she has a heart - ridiculous, but at least it was kind. If he was being honest, that is.

"You're odd. And that's coming from me!"

lovers rank 2 UNLOCKED BABY ♪♪

[takutomaruki]

Maruki was being completely honest—and that seemed to be the running theme between them, wasn’t it? He would root for everyone here if he could, every struggling soul in this strange cognitive world... but right now, his attention was wholly on Ichinose and the laughter she let out in response to his.

It caught him off guard—in a good way. Making her laugh wasn’t what he was aiming for, but it certainly wasn’t the worst thing he could’ve done.

His expression softened immediately, the faint blaze in his eyes from moments before dimming into something gentler. Earnest. Affectionate, even. He raised his hands sheepishly, waving them in a lighthearted flutter.

“Aha—! I didn’t mean to sound odd there, really! I was just being honest—though I guess I am a little odd.” He laughs under his breath while scratching his chin a little, as if still getting used to the label and kind of proud of it.

"But hey, I’ll take that as a compliment—especially coming from you."

He leans back a little, resting his elbows loosely on the arms of the chair again, the teasing smile still tugging at his mouth.

[dollmaxing]

Passion, huh? There was no fiery drive in her pursuit of coding - settling in and focusing on a task brought clarity, brought insight...

As usual, a person with a heart was seeing what they wanted to see in her.

(It was nice, though, that he wanted to see something so admirable.)

"Odd is good, if you ask me. Odd is interesting. And interesting comes in such short supply."

[takutomaruki]

She was a person with a heart.
That much was obvious. She had more of a drive and life to her than most who would proclaim that they love society- his professor who sold himself to the conspiracy, the corrupt congressmen Masayoshi Shido who didn't even blink as he committed atrocities.

"Interesting, it sure is. The human mind is built upon nuances- it's just that most of us end up falling into a certain mold, that's all-!"

"Hm, say you haven't been to any of the cognitive spaces yet, have you?" He tilts his head as he places one hand on the armrest and gets up eyes darting over to her as he pockets his phone. "There are all too many odd shadows you can hold deep conversations with-! Some of them will even give you their phone number! Maybe going into the literal depths would help you understand what I mean. Like field work!"

[dollmaxing]

"Oooh, that might be fun. I've heard from a few others about these places, including one where rumors become real? That also seemed fun to test the limits of," Ichinose fiddled with her hair, watching Maruki as he got back up.

[takutomaruki]

Maruki’s grin widened, his whole posture shifting with a burst of energy as he leaned back against the edge of the desk, his coat swaying lightly with the motion. There was a glint in his eye now—a spark that ignited when someone hit on a subject he’d clearly spent far too long obsessing over.

“Ohhh, I’ve had my eye on that place for a while now—!” he said, the excitement practically bubbling out of his voice. “The rumor one? It’s fascinating. Absolutely fascinating. The way mass belief warps perception and reconstructs cognition into reality? It’s like confirmation bias given its own dimension.”

He waved a hand through the air as if drawing out the threads of his own thoughts. “I’ve heard accounts—Katsuya-san mentioned it to me once, and I’ve even seen passing references back home. Apparently, there’s this persistent idea that Sumaru City was built on a spaceship.” He gave Ichinose a quick, bright look, as if to say can you believe that? “Ridiculous, right? But if everyone believes it, if they propagate that belief with enough conviction—then… doesn’t it become true, in a cognitive sense?”

He chuckled to himself, softly, in that self-amused way only someone elbow-deep in wild theorycrafting could. “It’s just like how ancient societies treated prophecy—self-fulfilling, because the mind wants meaning, and the world bends to meet it.”

He crossed one arm over his chest, tapping a finger to his chin, the other hand gesturing midair as if pacing through a mental chalkboard. “Just imagine it—a place where spoken ideas manifest. You could create healing through narrative. You could rescript trauma by confronting it in real time. Tell someone they were never abandoned, that the version of reality where they were loved is the real one—and the cognition might accept it.”

[dollmaxing]

"At least, theoretically - there may be limitations on what's believable, right? Then again... if we take the spaceship example..."

Fascinating. So fascinating...

"Katsuya, you said - do you think he'd entertain showing us around, sometime? Giving us a demonstration, maybe? It could be quite an eventful excursion!"

[takutomaruki]

Maruki hummed at her excitement. "He hasn't been as secretive about its application over the network, so I doubt he would deny a little tour..." He placed one hand behind him on the desk and tapped against it, fun little rhythms that stretched for a few seconds.

"He helped me around with shadow negotiations, and they can get quite dangerous. As long as we don't unsettle him with our questions I don't see why he should deny us."

Given that he doesn't have the best impression of cognitive presearchers and hoped no human experimentation was involved..."Just keep the word experiment out of your mouth around him and we should be fine. He doesn't seem too comfortable with the idea of it."

[dollmaxing]

"Got it. We'll call it studying, then - not at all wrong, after all," Ichinose chuckled. There really was a bad track record with their profession, wasn't there?

"Shadow negotiations... what are those like? What do you negotiate out of the shadows?"

[takutomaruki]

Isn't that a question?

Maruki hums as he places his hand in his pocket. "Could be anything. Money...items.Sometimes you don't even need to communicate- I sat with a jack frost in a makeshift therapy session as he talked about being too stuck in the storm instead of enjoying the little things in life-! It's a little ridiculous, but some of the demons and shadows really just wish to talk to someone."

His eyes widen as he remembers a certain detail. "Ah, right. speaking of- the demons in Mikage-cho and Sumaru city act different from the shadows in Tartarus, the TV world or Mementos. Depending on the demon's personality, you can start off negotiating with them rather than simply fighting them like shadows, and if you get their approval they give you their phone number."

[dollmaxing]

"Give you their phone number?" What!! And they're being referred to as demons... "Mikage-cho and Sumaru... those areas exist in an 'earlier' timeframe, don't they? I wonder why demons roamed about in the past but by the 2000s, most shadows are only ever in the cognitive spaces..."

[takutomaruki]

Even more baffling when you’ve seen those phenomena firsthand, really. Maruki wasn’t entirely sure if Ichinose knew of his ties to Mikage-cho—though, truth be told, it didn’t matter all that much in this context. He was more interested in watching her expression twist into that delightful mixture of curiosity and disbelief.

Her reaction to the “phone number” bit was exactly what he hoped for.

He laughed out loud, free and fond, slipping a hand back into his coat pocket. “Yeah, sounds bizarre, doesn’t it? But I promise you, it’s real. Demons who give you a chance hand out their numbers like candy if you’re polite enough—or interesting enough.”

He rummaged around in his pocket again—not entirely focused anymore, clearly enjoying the act of showing off—and produced...a chocolate bar. With a faint, sheepish chuckle, he set it on the table like it was the most normal thing in the world. “Ah—emergency blood sugar protocol,” he muttered, as though that explained everything.

But then, finally: success.

From the depths of his coat, he retrieved two carefully guarded tarot-style cards, one nestled protectively behind the other. He glanced at the front card without needing to really look—he already knew which one had come to hand.

“Nekomata,” he said, holding it out to her with a certain reverence, but also something more playful underneath it. The design was intricate, feline, layered with the stylized flair of the Hermit Arcana. “Came to me after a bit of an improv comedian session starring me and Katsuya-san."

His smile widened as he offered the card across the space between them. “I don’t think the cards activate if someone else calls them, though. But do go on. Just call her name and she could make it here. You two might even get along."

[dollmaxing]

Oh, interesting... Ichinose took the card and inspected it, holding it carefully by the edges. Not cheap card stock, this was a lovely card... the illustration was static, but felt evocative, like it was speaking to her.

"The only good jokes I can come up with impromptu are puns, so hopefully she doesn't mind," Ichinose hummed in amusement.

Holding the card with both hands, she focused - did that matter? Maybe, maybe not. "Nekomata?"

[takutomaruki]

"Oh you don't know the start of how we amused her. Maybe around Katsuya-san I will open up about it a little more," he chuckles wryly- even if there's a vague fluster obvious on his face.

That said, he let her have the card and inspect it. Practically it should work out, right? As long as they have the number- they should be able to make some contact.

He waits.

Nothing happens. Static.

His insides pulsate. Heart clenched as he feels a tug. A faint hiss follows in his mind.

"Huh."

He furrows a brow, lips pressed together. "I guess it wasn't going to be that easy. I sensed her presence but you can’t exactly predict cognition like this."