uragiru: (and writes its thoughts in cursive)
pleasant boy ([personal profile] uragiru) wrote in [community profile] reverielogs2018-05-06 03:50 pm

CLOSED » it makes no difference

» WHO? the phantom thieves ([profile] hearttheft, [personal profile] ryuji, [personal profile] boazjachin, [personal profile] mapsio) and akechi ([personal profile] uragiru)
» WHEN? about a week after arrival
» WHERE? crew quarters 4.28, ren & ryuji's room
» WHAT? akechi stops avoiding everyone for 5 minutes so they can discuss what the fuck is going on around here and nothing else no matter how much ren wants to talk about feelings
» WARNINGS? occasional mild suicidal ideation on akechi's part. intense passive aggressiveness, probably.

[ he's already regretting that he agreed to this before he even makes it to Ren's door. this isn't going to be at all like November, when everyone had an unspoken agreement to grit their teeth and make it through — or... maybe it is, now that he knows they had him figured out all along. they won't be lying this time, and they'll know when he is. but he refuses to sit around with no plan at all; the Thieves don't need to like him to work with him, and he doesn't need to trust or believe in them to rely on them.

if there's one thing he can rely on, it's that those idiots will do whatever is necessary to look out for each other. so all Akechi has to do is make himself useful to them again, convince them that it's a mutual benefit, that they can use him and he'll use them. (because it's worked out so well for him, hasn't it, being useful. he's certainly never failed at that lofty goal.)

he sends Ren a text ahead of time, just a simple: I'll come by now, if you have the time. Get everyone together if you'd like. doesn't look at the messages they exchanged last. he's going to make it absolutely clear that this is a relationship of convenience, and that Ren should stop getting the wrong idea about him, and that he's— he died. whether or not he's walking around alive and well here, the fact is that Akechi's life is over. it was over the moment Shido went down. if he looks too closely at himself then it feels like a pit he might not be able to claw his way out of: what the point is of going on day-to-day, if he would bother going back home given the chance, whether he even wants to live—

he raps neatly on Ren's door with his knuckles. ]


It's Akechi.
ryuji: (085)

[personal profile] ryuji 2018-05-07 04:20 am (UTC)(link)
[There are a few reasons that Ryuji went along with this plan to begin with, and all of them were as transparent as he was in general. He trusted Ren to make the right decisions- at least, ever since the day he stopped Ryuji from hitting Kamoshida in the teacher's lounge, he realized that he's too impulsive to strategize anything more than the immediate, emotional response that wells up inside him at the first glance of things. But also more than just a level of trust that he has in him, and his fellow thieves, thick as they were, he also saw this concept, this group of outcasts, as something he always wanted to protect.

So Makoto's worries are somewhat shared over Haru, only he's far less hidden about it. He's their shield, after all. Take the blows for them if he has to. And honestly? No matter what Akechi says, it doesn't really matter.

Sitting then, on a chair that he's turned backwards, he acts as the middle ground between the girls and the detective who entered the room. In his hand, he's idly moving a coffee cup that they had found from the last crew members who lived here previously- partly out of anxiety, and partly because he couldn't really sit still.

Funny to think that this was a family sized dorm. That at some point, regular meetings in the kitchen for breakfast and coffee sharing was a common thing. And now, they have someone who, by all accounts ought to be dead, wandering into the lion's den. He watches on apprehensively.]


Really, we're gonna do this?
intrusivethot: (Akira (11) copy)

[personal profile] intrusivethot 2018-05-07 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
We're doing this.

[ He knows, guys. Rolling his neck, Ren comes away from the closed door to stand next to Ryuji, dropping what's hopefully a reassuring half smile. ]

For one, the fact that he's alive and kicking suggests that life and death aren't necessarily final where this space station is concerned. For another, if something happens to one of us as a result of his suggestions, from then on out there's no dark corner on this hunk of metal that he can hide from the rest us.

[ Should work out for now, at least. His gaze moves to each of them in turn, chin lifting at Haru both in silent question and support. Okay to do this? He can still call this all off if the discomfort climbs to unbearable levels, just say the word.

If there are no further objections...
]

This meeting of the Phantom Thieves and Akechi is now called to order. First I wanted to talk about the fact that all of us had some pretty weird stuff happen to us within the last week, give or take.

[ From his pocket, Ren produces a long wire that's curled in on itself in an imperfect spiral, the wire tossed out onto the table in the midst of all of them. ]

Bonus, I got a cool new scar, so.
mapsio: (HARU (77))

[personal profile] mapsio 2018-05-07 07:01 am (UTC)(link)
[Silently, Haru is assessing the situation in front of her. From what she gathers Ren, Akechi, and of course Ryuji all had the very same wire stuck somewhere in their body. But none of them have mentions of hallucinations. So it seemed that outside of those three, Haru and Makoto experienced things that were completely different.

She gives Ren a glance in return, I can handle this.

She wonders if she should mention the hallucinations in this setting. It would be useful to share her experience in the long run having previously shared it with Ryuji and Makoto a couple of days before this meeting took place.

When she finally decides to speak up, it is after Ren and Akechi place their wires on the table. She doesn't have something physical to add to this pile, but what she does have to share she thinks may be a mildly alarming.
]

I don't suppose any of you had an extremely realistic hallucination of an earthquake happening on the station?

[She remembers it so vividly. Sparks flying, getting knocked into the wall behind her, debris. It was all so realistic. What does it mean that three out of five experienced something that actually caused them harm?]
boazjachin: koniiro ( tumblr ) (♛ they don't hear us)

[personal profile] boazjachin 2018-05-07 07:12 am (UTC)(link)
[Her mouth turns to a flat line as Ren speaks. She gets it, in a way. She knows how he is, that coping with humor is just--a habit. But she can't help bristling. They've been hit with so much in so little time, and she feels so goddamn helpless.]

[Cool scar.]

[She jerks her head in response to Haru's question, perfunctory; Haru would know if she had. When she speaks, it's flat and unaffected.]


One of the walls I touched held me there. [Then she pauses, discomfited at the implicit agency of that statement, and rephrases.] My arms got stuck. No wires, no earthquakes.
ryuji: (112)

[personal profile] ryuji 2018-05-07 12:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[As usual, he doesn't know what sense to make out of all of this. It's a messy situation for everyone to be in; weird, paranormal type activity seems to be going on and has occurred to every single member of the Phantom Thieves (and Akechi). Debating it for a second, he leans his free hand into the pocket of his jumpsuit and pulls out a 3-inch long chrome wire. He's cleaned it from all the blood that was on it before. Shit freaked him out to keep it on his body at all, but he figured someone would know what's going on with it. Or at least be able to examine it in a similar fashion.

He underarms a throw toward Akechi with it. It has a little bit of weight to it, considering its material composition, but doesn't connect all the way over to him. Ryuji also doesn't get up from the chair to move it closer to him. There's a line, after all. One that clearly states who's who and on what side he's on.

But of equal import, Ryuji isn't the type to see the minutia and details of a painting, rather, just the entirety of it at once. He doesn't believe anything happens without a reason, so he sits there, wondering why... Ren, Akechi, and him all experienced the exact same thing. Wires in their bodies. It seems so oddly specific. There has to be a connection, somehow.]


So what do we know?

There was a crew here before. They died. And the station has all sortsa weird shit happening in it. Isn't it a simple enough answer to just say the place is haunted?

[Occam's razor, at its finest.]
boazjachin: relares ( plurk ) dnt (♛ standardization of the masses)

[personal profile] boazjachin 2018-05-07 09:54 pm (UTC)(link)
[Makoto, who'd nodded carefully at Akechi's question, carefully noted his unwillingness to look at any of them directly, been mildly impressed at his lack of (or muted) disdain for Ryuji's suggestion, cannot in the end quite help herself.]

Would you like for us to find you a podium?

[It's not that she minds hearing his thoughts, it's just--she doesn't trust this. She doesn't like this. Whether he means to or not, even though he could be doing much worse, it still feels like he's talking down to all of them.]

[She smooths down the pants of her suit, an automatic, obsolete motion from days of uniform skirts.]


Be straightforward and concise, please. [No grandstanding. No speeches. He's muted, different from all the other sides of him she's seen. But still unpleasant, somehow. Maybe because she's seen behind this and is so wary, now, of what hides behind this mask.]
intrusivethot: ((official) wary)

[personal profile] intrusivethot 2018-05-07 10:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He wishes Morgana were here.

Taking on the mantle of leadership felt natural to Ren from the start but as the Metaverse expert on deck Morgana was the one who ran meetings. This had its own problems; hard truths or fair criticisms usually took a meaner edge when Morgana addressed, for example, Ryuji directly and things would often devolve from there until someone got them back on track. But Ren had the luxury of weighing in, remaining a voice of reason and clarity, or spitballing when he felt like it.

Maybe Makoto doesn't think he's taking this seriously if he's joking around, glancing in question at the clear tension in the set of her shoulders. In reality finding a five inch wire wriggling around in your cheek is a pretty bad time and Ren is coping as well he can in the nightmare hellscape they find themselves in, but it's not worth bringing up unless things get worse.

That said, her demands of Akechi are fair, though his theatricality has been nowhere to be seen as of yet. He wouldn't accuse anyone of being too harsh on the detective so much as Ren is... very likely too soft.

Still he tries to temper it a bit, gesturing with an open palm and eye contact that he's sure won't be returned.
]

Tell us what you've gathered, Akechi-kun.
mapsio: (HARU (1))

[personal profile] mapsio 2018-05-08 02:14 am (UTC)(link)
[Haru doesn't take Akechi's tone as condescending, and frankly she's more surprised that he wasn't. Haru takes a silent deep breath to herself as she feels the tension in the room rising. She can do this still, she can take part in this meeting just like everyone else.

Makoto says what she can't find the strength to right now, and Ren keeps a level head like always.
]

Go on, because I would like to hear what you have to say for myself.

[Her shoulders are set firm, and as much as Akechi doesn't want to make eye contact with her or the rest of the Thieves— she is maintaining her gaze on him.] I have the same requests as Makoto-chan. Be as concise and straightforward as you can, please. We don't really have the time to spare for theatrics right now.
boazjachin: byob ( dw ) (♛ & one goes to war)

[personal profile] boazjachin 2018-05-08 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
Can you elaborate on the mental part of your assertion?

[Not that she doubts it, exactly, so much as that she wants to eliminate any possibility of inconsistency. A building with a shoddy foundation will end up unstable. They've touched on it before, but even still, something about it just isn't clicking for her.]

I can't contest the physical effects this station has had, but the nausea and fatigue from attempting to breach the walls could also have a physical source. A chemical, for example. The replicator malfunction similarly was a case of something physical, in this case the food, causing psychological effects. Would you agree?
Edited 2018-05-08 04:07 (UTC)
ryuji: (023)

[personal profile] ryuji 2018-05-08 01:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[As the conversation veers in the direction of debate and discovery of the evidence at hand, Ryuji tries his best to follow along with the readout of events that Akechi's gathered. Some of it stuff that he already knows, intrinsically, just because of what he had seen and felt or observed himself. But it doesn't feel like this is going in the direction of a conclusion, and ever the results kind of guy, he finds himself leaning his chin against the edge of the back-turned chair.

It made sense, obviously, that people were here before- the coffee cup in his hand, his only link to the world that was left behind by the previous crew dangles freely, as the book Akechi had found sits plainly on the table.

And if none of this is clicking for Makoto, it's probably three football fields away for Ryuji. He doesn't jump in and ask for a repeat of the facts, just so that he can get his bearings straight- he's been through enough of the Metaverse himself to just go with the flow and let things unravel themselves until he kind-of, sort-of gets it.]


What if it's all mental? [He adds in, not sure if that suggestion is something even worth mentioning, but he's trying.] Like the cognitive world, or something. Someone could be controlling what we feel or think.

[Oh. Right. He touches the bandaid at his cheek. That doesn't... really make with the physical proof of the wires.]

Oh... uh... nevermind, that was stupid.
boazjachin: byob ( dw ) (♛ or too simplified)

[personal profile] boazjachin 2018-05-09 07:27 am (UTC)(link)
[The trouble with Akechi, at least for Makoto, is that even knowing what he's done, even given her own personal distaste for him in moments past before she knew what he'd done to Futaba's mother and Haru's father . . . there are still times when it's hard to remember to hate him. His innate curiosity is a point of frustration. It isn't faked, or at least a part of it is real. What does she do with that? She's a curious person herself. It's so difficult not to relate.]

[Her brows draw together in a faint frown. She looks down at her hands, then back up, and nods.]


Yes. And I'd be the first to admit that dismissing any theory as nonsense would be nonsense in turn, considering what we've all seen.

[If there's one thing that all of them can certainly agree on, it's that "impossible" may simply not be a relevant word, in their or any other reality. Rules were made to be broken and all of that.]

Still, this seems like an even bigger question mark to tackle than the cause of the effects we're seeing. It's all conjecture, isn't it? You say fork in the road. If we go the wrong way at this first fork, we could get very lost.
mapsio: (HARU (59))

[personal profile] mapsio 2018-05-09 07:49 am (UTC)(link)
[Sitting quietly in her place, Haru has been taking in all of the facts. Watching her teammates, watching Akechi. She glances over to Ren every so often, wondering what kind of theories that their leader had in mind.]

I don't disagree with your theory, Akechi-san. I am just having a little trouble wrapping my head around how large a catastrophe would have needed to be to cause such a severe distortion.

[She puzzles in her own head for a moment more before speaking up again, but this time her voice is a little softer. Almost like she isn't sure if she is speaking nonsense or not.]

My own thoughts regarding the earthquake that I experienced was that perhaps myself and the others who saw the same event were being shown something that happened in the past to the previous crew. If you think about it, a good amount of this station is in disrepair. I wouldn't find it too far off of the mark if the station had been in danger of collapsing during that big catastrophe.
ryuji: (079)

[personal profile] ryuji 2018-05-09 01:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[Not being shot down for the kneejerk thought that he had is kind of weird- if Morgana were here, he'd find the holes in Ryuji's argument quickly and it probably would've been torn to shreds through the lens of a rational argument. Even if he was right, it was kind of expected, honestly... which, in a really, really weird and roundabout way, made him miss Morgana's presence at the table. It's weird holding a Phantom Thieves meeting without Yusuke, Futaba and the cat here.

Sheesh.

Letting go of his focus on the missing members, he turns his attention to Haru's conclusion.]


So you mean like... a giant hamster wheel of a time loop or something? So the earthquakes you were feelin' might've been strong feelings left behind of what happened to the crew... I mean, sounds kinda crazy but... shit, look at where we all came from back in our own times. My last memory is Christmas Eve.

[Is that even possible?]

So let's say that these are all giant distortions, yeah? If the corruption was that bad, why can't we summon our personas?

[Because to him, the Metaverse hasn't been closed off for good yet.]
intrusivethot: (Akira (8) copy)

[personal profile] intrusivethot 2018-05-10 04:41 am (UTC)(link)
[ There. With the flow of theories comes a reprieve in the atmosphere, something Ren had been hoping for but knew better than to expect. He allows himself a short, private inhale/exhale, a knot in his chest loosening after the better part of the newest exchange passes.

One problem at a time.

Absorbing most of the conversation passively, once he's relatively certain no one is going to bite another's head off Ren can then afford to put his energy into the situation at hand, the gears visibly turning as his finger is drawn underneath his bottom lip in thought.

They're out of their depth. Away from home, cut off from their Personas, their usual method of operation. This meeting could be all that they can salvage from How They Do Things, and if so they have to really put their heads together and make the best of it.
]

Because we can't access the Metanav. In theory the Metaverse should exist anywhere where there could be cognitive distortions, but that isn't to say that Palaces and Mementos can't be warped realities like what may have happened here.

The problem is we don't have an "in", so we can't confirm whether this distortion shares enough similarities with the Metaverse that allows us to move within it as Phantom Thieves.

[ So perhaps if there were a way to get the app back, that would be one thing. But they're making a lot of assumptions thinking this has anything to do with Palaces as well. If the answer is somewhere in between then really only time can tell.

The glare off his glasses blocks insight from enough angles, Ren's face tilting away.
]

My last memory of home is sometime after the end of my probation. And aside from the wire I spent a few hours chasing after voices screaming, ones that I swear I could recognize. It's not just cognitive distortions as we know it; time is also in flux, like Ryuji said.

[ Which reminds him... ]

Wait, what about the theory you floated to me over comms, Ryuji? The one about the usernames.
ryuji: (288)

[personal profile] ryuji 2018-05-10 04:48 am (UTC)(link)
[He didn't think it was really a revelation or a deeply impacting insight by any stretch of the means, but as Ren calls on him for it, he feels his cheeks get a little warmer. It was definitely one of the more out-there kind of what-ifs.

The metaverse question seems to be hinging on the inability for them to get their phones to navigate them into it, that much makes sense... but it did bother him that more than any weird displacements that seemed to occur... that it didn't seem like it was occurring in the right order. Shouldn't he have been taken out at the same time Ren was?]


Did you guys try to register a name on the network? My first instinct was to just take my name. But Ryuji turned back an already in use message. [The more he explains or tries to lay out his thoughts, the more flustered he feels, so he looks to Ren for a little bit of guidance here, or at least validation to continue and contribute this crack pot idea.]

So I guess what I'm gonna ask is like... how many Ryuji's are out there in the universe? Japan has a ton of em, but the only one I know of on this base is me. What if we were the ones who put our own names in 'em, but now we can't remember? Or it was some sorta time loop and we're back at the beginning again.

They said they messed up. What if we were the ones who messed up?
mapsio: (HARU (59))

[personal profile] mapsio 2018-05-17 06:35 am (UTC)(link)
[Haru continues to listen to these theories with intent, making sure to thoroughly go through them in her own mind to draw her own conclusions.

Ryuji's theory makes her think, "Haru" was taken. She ended up typing in "BeautyThief" in frustration, and then changed it once more to "Noir". But that thought sticks in her mind. How many people could be named "Haru" that would have been on this station.
]

That would imply that we have been here much longer than we remember. That wouldn't make sense, would it?

[Haru has to step out of the box for a moment, nothing here is normal.]

We would need evidence to support that theory, but I don't think it would be completely impossible.