enteloki: antibiotical (pic#17033635)
goro "intrusive thoughts" akechi ([personal profile] enteloki) wrote2024-03-06 07:47 pm

LABY - IC INBOX



[ TEXT - AUDIO - VIDEO - ACTION ] 
placation: rosebursts (forget your past)

[personal profile] placation 2024-07-07 11:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Maruki stares at him for a moment before a corner of his lips ticks upward, a quiet breath of a laugh exhaled as he reaches over to lightly shove Akechi's shoulder. ]

Helpful as ever, Detective Prince. Thanks.

[ It's nothing but fond. Did he really expect Akechi to be the first to budge and give information up? Not really, no.

Maruki drums his fingers idly on the page as he speaks, looking only at Akechi. He doesn't need to read anything to refresh his memory on this. The whole strange interaction burned into his mind like the sun that set over the beach that day.
]

A man called Finnick approached me toward the end of my time off. What began as a standard friendly conversation with a new arrival quickly took a turn when he revealed that he came here from another reality aside from his own, whether others from their own realities also resided. Like Somnius, a bit, but stranger in some ways.

[ Most of the question marks on the page have to do with the specifics of that reality. Warlock? Summoning ghosts? Not quite himself? God, who knows.

Regardless, his eyes stay on Akechi as he goes on.
]

As you've likely been told, a version of myself was there with him. Not me, although you'd certainly be forgiven for assuming it was me, considering how easily he gave up every piece of information I requested and some I did not.

[ There's no tempering the judgment in his tone. He no longer feels the need to do so when it's just him and Akechi. ]

So, there's direct confirmation of the existence of multiple realities, although it's not as if either of us really needed it to know it's true. Several things about this bother me, but I want to hear your thoughts before I start down the list.
Edited 2024-07-07 23:47 (UTC)
placation: placation (art: pixiv 11317886) - dns (it's an old tale)

[personal profile] placation 2024-07-08 04:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ It is kind of funny. Maruki does genuinely laugh at that, the idea of a version of him who's famous. For what? Absurd. ]

You're right. It's entirely possible that there's a reality out there where you did get your greatest wish to have me as your assistant. We're incredibly wealthy, though it comes at the cost of having to promote a new brand of canned tea.

[ The joke goes a long way toward getting Maruki to loosen up a bit. The topic is as personally concerning as it is professionally intriguing, and it's weighed on him for days as he met more people, heard more stories, sorted through his thoughts.

It really is a relief to get to finally put them all out in the open with someone who understands.

And who thinks on a level similar to his, but different enough to spur his thoughts in fresh directions. Maruki takes a moment to enjoy his own spaghetti – he's going to start doubling up on mushrooms for Akechi next time – before he answers any of that seriously.
]

You know, I never even felt concern that I might or might not be the "real" Maruki. I guess I think of it in different terms than you do. Is any reality truly more or less real than another? Doesn't it all depend on perception and belief, in the end? But the way you're looking at it...

[ The gears are t u r n i n g. ]

Cognitive versions of others that cease to exist when the ruler of the reality dies, huh.

[ For the moment, set aside what Finnick told him.

Maruki flips several dozen pages in the notebook until he hits a stopping point – a small slip of paper stuck between two pages. He pulls it out, lays it between them as well.

Palace.

Actually, they're having this conversation now.
]

And what if the ruler doesn't die, but has their heart changed?
Edited 2024-07-08 04:17 (UTC)
placation: rosebursts (god gave us words)

[personal profile] placation 2024-07-09 07:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Maruki listens so, so intently to every word Akechi says – part diligent pupil in the professor's office hours, part inherently skeptical researcher. It all aligns with what he pieced together by closely watching the Phantom Thieves over the course of his tenure at Shujin.

Irreconcilably warped – that's something that has been a significant part of his own research. Could changing someone's cognition be undone? What risks are inherent to a person's new perception not aligning with the rest of the world around them?

The mental shutdowns and psychotic breaks are different, of course. There's no recovering from that. It stands to reason that if one direction of warped cognition is infallible, so is the other, but–

He wonders, sometimes. With the time and space that now separates him from Christmas Eve, he does have to wonder if it really would have been that simple.

But the explanation of the palace is new information. He ascertained that access to the cognitive world was both feasible and the method being employed by the Phantom Thieves; he hadn't considered that every cognitive world would be individually tailored based on the target's own distorted thoughts and feelings.

He thinks of Kamoshida, the horror stories told to him both by staff members and students in his office. Madarame, everything Kitagawa said to him in quiet confidence. A criminal as deeply corrupt as Kaneshiro – as Shido. How horrific their cognitive worlds must have been, how dangerous, even beyond the threat of shadows that Akechi has explained to him before.

And then–
]

Ah, you went exactly where my mind was going.

[ He's taken a pen out from his shirt pocket, jotted down a few notes as Akechi's spoken, and now he taps it idly against the half-filled page. ]

It's tempting to think of Somnius that way. Or Seven, the realm Finnick told me about. And it does tie back to my theories on the collective unconscious being used and manipulated by the powers that be here.

[ A consideration of the hand that's always held completely flush against his chest. If he were to tip it now, just slightly–

He looks from the page to Akechi again.
]

Within the palace, can only the ruler's cognition be changed? Or can those "real" people who enter have theirs affected as well? What about the cognitive versions of others that only exist there?

[ It's all asked with the same intellectual curiosity, but he does punctuate it with a somewhat self-conscious laugh. ]

Sorry, it's okay if you don't know, of course. My mind is running away with a new concept as usual.
Edited 2024-07-09 19:07 (UTC)
placation: placation (art: frkdlsch_draws) - dns (is it coming this way?)

[personal profile] placation 2024-07-10 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
[ Could anyone truly claim to completely and utterly understand a human heart?

It's funny. It's so genuinely funny that Maruki can't stop himself from smiling at it.

Well, that's his life's work, regardless of how he ends up going about it. One day he'll be able to prove Akechi wrong.

Until then–
]

I agree, it should be researched more thoroughly. I look forward to the work I'll be able to do after the New Year.

[ He's abandoned the spaghetti and turned toward Akechi almost fully on the stool. One elbow rests on the bar, arm hanging down to clasp his hands together as his thoughts take on a shape of their own.

They really ought to be talking about everything brought up by Finnick, but.
]

More importantly, though– Akechi, let's follow the line of thinking that we are inside of a palace. That Somnius is the cognitive world of whatever ultimate ruler there is.

[ A little shrug. ]

We don't know that to be true. Circumstantial evidence of cognitive manipulations and thoughts, dreams and wishes manifested consciously, subconsciously or unconsciously both provide a good basis. But in my mind, it's still only a hypothesis.

[ A thoughtful pause. This is all theoretical, of course, but– ]

Hypotheses ought to be tested. If we're in a cognitive world, which is the only place where – as far as everything you've told me and what I've observed back in Tokyo goes – cognitions can be changed... That wouldn't be possible in a "real" world, would it?

[ It would. He knows it would. He could do this no matter what reality they were in. ]

Seeking the ruler would be our ultimate goal. But it would be a shame if we did that and nothing changed because we were wrong about this being a cognitive world. If the same principles don't hold true, then it wouldn't matter what we did to a ruler – it wouldn't guarantee escape from this reality.

[ And he really does mean we. ]

Wouldn't it be wisest to test these principles first, before it gets to that point? I don't know specifically how, of course, but as you just posited through all of your hypotheticals, it really could be anything. Affirming the change in one person's perception, whether they're "real" or a cognitive being themselves–

[ A goblin, a gelfling. Dolls, as Akechi put it once. ]

Well, that would certainly be more concrete evidence than what we currently have to work with.

[ It's all stated calmly, with intellectual curiosity and interest, but his mind is already seven steps ahead and only picking up speed. ]
Edited 2024-07-10 03:00 (UTC)
placation: placation (art: promechan) - dns (calm down; it's alright)

[personal profile] placation 2024-07-11 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
[ There's no conscious hidden intent in Maruki's words. To his mind, Akechi is his ally, has proven enough times that they have the same goal and similar enough feelings on several critical topics. Their differences are stark, but haven't yet thrown up any obstacles that couldn't be handled. Akechi knows him well; he would never say it, but he feels he knows Akechi as well as anyone could. At this point, there's so little that could rattle Maruki's resolve in their bond that he can't even imagine a reality where it wouldn't come to exist if ever they met.

But perhaps it is a subconscious test after all. The most overt gesture either of them have made. It's all well and good to talk, to theorize, to dream – it is another thing entirely to act, and Maruki has never been one for inaction. He wouldn't presume that Akechi has ever been either.

Not a true test, and yet, it still solidifies something deep in his soul. Bedrock, unshaken, immovable.

He grins at Akechi, as wide and warm as ever, but perhaps a bit of something else at the edges as well.
]

Any time. We've been afforded relative peace at the moment... Comparatively speaking, anyway. I can't think of a better time to start than the present.
placation: rosebursts (because it's everything)

oh long johnson up to you how long we want to continue this CATEGORY 5 LEVEL DIRE

[personal profile] placation 2024-07-11 06:35 am (UTC)(link)
[ All at once, Maruki wishes he had the foresight to "request homework" from the Crystal as well.

What this mind of his comes up with– it's already come up with it. He wrote hundreds of pages, just as long as his doctoral thesis if not longer. Bound them into a book. Shared them over a final lunch, slammed them down on an uncaring man's desk. His life's work in pristine, provable black and white.

He can distill it down to its most basic principles. Write up a condensed version, offer it to Akechi under the guise of a newly developed theory. It means he'll have to take time – at least a few days – anything less would look suspicious, even for as hyper-fixated as Akechi knows he can become. It will be important to play this right or incur suspicion.

He can do it. He just wishes he didn't have to. To be able to tell Akechi–

Twists his stomach. That remains a bridge too far. Perhaps one day. Perhaps not. He genuinely doesn't know.

He stands as well, brings their plates back into the kitchen and leaves them near the sink, to be washed later. It'll be a good, mindless, meditative activity to do to wind down whenever they return.
]

I can confidently say that I won't let you down, Akechi. And I want to hear what you come up with, too.

[ He comes back around the bar, grabs the notebook and pen again. He's never without them. He wonders if Akechi is aware of that fact.

They're easily slid into his jacket pocket once he retrieves it, and then he's standing there by the door, looking expectantly at Akechi, eyebrows raised, his posture relaxed despite the blood buzzing beneath his skin.
]

Unless you already have experience in this area?

[ A beat, and then he grins again. ]

I'm kidding, of course. Come on. Let's take a walk.