pleasant boy (
uragiru) wrote in
reverielogs2018-05-06 03:50 pm
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CLOSED » it makes no difference
» WHO? the phantom thieves (
hearttheft,
ryuji,
boazjachin,
mapsio) and akechi (
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.
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» 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.
no subject
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?
no subject
[ 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.
no subject
he's going to use them, and they're going to use him. there's no need for amiability here when they already know who he is; no need for honesty because when has honesty ever helped him. so he takes a seat and listens to Ren's speech, his expression and his body language utterly blank. ]
Yes, so I heard. [ he takes a wire out of his own pocket and adds it to the table — shorter than Ren's, about three inches in length. ] I found the same near the bullet wound I still had when I woke up here.
[ he stubbornly doesn't look at Makoto when he says this; the front of his jumpsuit still has a faded bloodstain on the stomach from where he was bleeding out, despite his efforts to clean it up. he's not sure if the bleeding was bad enough that he would have died (again) without her help, but at the very least, she saved him a lot of trouble. she probably shouldn't have. ]
I've been hearing about a lot of similar impossible-seeming incidents since we arrived.
no subject
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?]
no subject
[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.
no subject
I'm actually not sure if "hallucination" is the right word. [ it isn't condescending. he says it the same way he used to make deductions when he was with them, matter-of-fact; not semantics, but an important distinction: ] We both saw that video posted to the network — someone caught the earthquake on camera. Whatever it was you experienced, Okumura, it did happen.
[ he picks up both his own piece of wire and the one Ren put down, holding them up to his eye-level to inspect them side-by-side. even he thinks it's kind of gross to be touching something that was under anyone's skin, but he's dealt with dead bodies; he supposes he's beyond that point now. ]
However, it seems to have been... impermanent. [ he turns his gaze on Makoto, just long enough to make it clear that he's addressing her now, before he looks back at the wires. from how quickly his eyes flick back, it seems like he might be deliberately avoiding eye contact with all of them. ] I know there are a few people that went through the same thing as you, Niijima, but I haven't heard as much about it. Your arms went... into the door, correct? When you tried to push it open?
no subject
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.]
no subject
it doesn't bother him to do this any more than his Detective Prince act does. this is just the easiest way. ]
We know more than that. [ he's starting to wish that he had a notebook as usual so that he could have made a list — not because he can't remember everything, but just to make it more concise. he'll think of a replacement for it eventually; for now, he finds himself fidgeting a little, having a pen to tap against his leg such a familiar habit that it feels off to be without. ] Not a great deal, mind you, but there's been a few interesting things that have come up.
[ he crosses one leg over the other and places his hands together on his thigh, still holding the wires. a stiff, TV interview pose. and he's finally looking up at them, but he isn't quite making eye contact — his gaze is always just slightly off to the side of someone, as if it'll ruin the distance he's creating just by meeting their eye. ]
I'll go through everything I know, if the rest of you don't mind?
no subject
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.]
no subject
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.
no subject
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.
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right now, he grits his teeth so hard his jaw clicks, and then nods. ]
Of course.
[ he knows they can sit and absorb information before they discuss it, at least. Morgana always spoke for so long at those meetings before anyone else did. ]
First of all, the previous crew. From recordings that people have picked up, we know four things about them: they were trying to "save the world"; they made multiple attempts at whatever their solution was; there was a traitor on-board; and they failed catastrophically.
Then there's the station. Someone has already gone outside of it to confirm the situation, so we know for certain that we are stranded here. The lower decks are inaccessible, and no one has had any success with locked doors. However, despite the damage and the condition of this place as if it's long since been abandoned, everything was set up for us when we arrived.
Think about it — two jumpsuits to each person, a smartwatch, every room unassigned until we enter it. But at the same time, there's evidence of people having been here before us. [ he brought a book in with him that he hasn't called their attention to yet, but he places it on the table now, cover facing up so they can see the title: L'Arrestation d'Arsène Lupin. ] I found this in my room, just for example.
Lastly, the incidents on the station since we woke up. Other than what the four of you spoke of, there was that replicator malfunction earlier in the week that caused hallucinations and illness, and there have been screams and cries for help heard from inside the walls; any attempt to breach the walls has resulted in nausea and fatigue. Basically, whatever is going on here has proven itself capable of affecting us on all levels, physical and mental, with no avatar or direct involvement.
[ this is all delivered with a detached professionalism that the Thieves have never seen from Akechi, no change in his expression or tone of voice throughout. he barely even moves, with none of his usual flourishes and gestures that he used to make his deductions with as a fake detective. finally done, he sits back and spreads his hands. ]
I don't have a notebook on me to check my information, but I believe that's everything I've picked up so far.
no subject
[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?
no subject
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.
no subject
No, Sakamoto — that's not impossible. If someone is controlling what you feel and think, why wouldn't they be able to control what others see when they look at you? In a cognitive world, everything could be fake.
[ it hurts his head to think about the scope of what this could be. there isn't much he'd dismiss, given what he's experienced of the world. Yaldabaoth existed in a world that he had otherwise thought ordinary, and if that's the case, then nothing is really unrealistic. still— ]
But that's a very broad hypothetical to get into. [ if they go down that rabbit hole, they'll get absolutely nothing done in this conversation. ] For now, we should focus on something that we can at least try to find evidence for. [ and he turns to Makoto, now that Ryuji's point has been addressed: ] As for the mental effects — yes, it could be a physical cause. Everything could. The noises in the walls, the nausea, those could easily be hallucinogens or even speakers. There are too many possible answers, and the problem is that we don't have enough to work with.
When it comes to a theory about this place, the first fork in the road is whether someone is deliberately screwing with us, or whether it's something bigger than that.
[ he's put everything he has forward. there are no aces up his sleeve here, nothing he knows that they don't; firstly because there isn't anything to find in this godforsaken death trap of a space station, and also because what would be the point? and since that's everything he has, he shifts back in his chair, straight-backed, and waits for them to discuss. ]
Niijima already knows that I've been favouring the possibility that the catastrophe the previous crew caused has resulted in reality being distorted here, and the station having some amount of its own will as a part of that.
no subject
[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.
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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.
no subject
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.]
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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.
no subject
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?
no subject
he drums his fingers quietly on the table and watches the movement. ]
A little convoluted, but still not impossible. [ and he's surprised Ryuji put that theory forward without immediately accusing him of being the aforementioned traitor, which he won't point out because he is being someone empty and useful. ] We haven't seen any visuals of the previous crew, and it's unlikely that anyone would recognise the heavily processed voice of someone they consider a stranger.
[ it's another good idea to add to the pile, even if it doesn't quite click with Akechi's assessment of the situation. there's nothing inherently wrong with it; considering the time distortion they've already seen, both on the station and regarding their separation on the timeline back home, a time loop is something to keep in mind. but he can't shake the feeling that something malicious is happening here. and the time loop theory is a little open-ended, because— ]
However — in that case, something still has to have brought us here, deliberately or otherwise. Because I have a bullet wound to prove it.
[ for a brief moment, he looks at Ren and seems like he's going to say something. Yaldabaoth, on the tip of his tongue. not necessarily him, maybe, but they've been fucked by a god once before. they know it's a possibility now, and Akechi wouldn't expect not to get cosmically screwed over more than once, so something like that—? but he drops his gaze back to the table, where he's digging at it with one of his nails. ]
no subject
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.