[catch all for phoenix]

[survivaltricks]

Comments

[survivaltricks]

[Akira seems to consider his response carefully as he toys with the painkillers in his palm, rolling them around with his fingers in an idle movement]

[. . .]

I need to know what you saw.

[because obviously, Phoenix had to have seen something if he was asking Akira a question like that]

. . . so I know how much I can say. Akechi's secrets are not mine to divulge, after all.

[. . .]

But I do trust him.

[a. . . a little bit]

[slobjection]

[ take your painkillers you little shit. ]

[ he huffs out a laugh, though there's no mirth in it. fair enough. ]

Because he sacrificed himself?

[ oho. ]

[survivaltricks]

[ah]

[his mouth twitches, but the smile (if it could be called a smile) is. . . almost sad]

No.

[. . .]

Maybe. I don't know.

[god. what a complicated subject is Akechi Goro]

I have no reason to trust him. I have every reason not to. And maybe part of me still wonders. . . [if he wouldn't stab me in the back the first opportunity he had. here, he trails off]

Regardless, I do.

[maybe it's because, with Akechi, he 100% knows what he's getting]

[slobjection]

[ phoenix gets that. unfortunately. he's no stranger to murderers, even ones who act like detectives while perpetrating their own crimes. ]

[ none of them were kids, though. none of them were used by their own father for murder. the closest approximation.... is pearl, and that twists his heart a little. ]

[ it's complicated is right. he'd only had this knowledge for a few hours. ]

Do you think he's sincere in wanting to help? Here?

[survivaltricks]

Yeah. I do.

[????]

Now. . . do I think his reasons for wanting to help are the right ones? Absolutely not.

[because in the end, Akechi will always be himself: selfish and petty. that's something Akira knows deep down, no matter how much he may trust the detective to do his best to solve the mysteries of the mansion]

But so long as his goals are the same as everyone else's, he'll give his best efforts.

[slobjection]

I see.

[ this is more or less what he expected, but he gives akira a little nod ]

That being said, can you explain why you were all having a costume party in a ship and fighting off... cognitions?

[survivaltricks]

[. . . . . . . . . . . . . oh. right]

[there's that part of things, too]

[Akira opens his mouth, then closes it again]

If I say "cosplay" you're not going to believe me, are you?

[slobjection]

Nope.

Explain it for this old man, would you?

[survivaltricks]

[a breathless laugh]

[. . .]

My plaque says "professional thief" for a reason, you know? But I don't steal jewels or paintings.

I steal hearts.

[slobjection]

Oh, my.... but I'm a little too old for you, Akira.

[ shut up phoenix. ]

[ he's waiting for akira to go on ]

[survivaltricks]

Sorry, ojii-san. You aren't my type anyway.

[HE SAYS THAT SO BLANDLY I'M SORRY PHOENIX]

[slobjection]

I'm heartbroken.... I thought you were supposed to steal hearts, not stomp on them.

[ its fine ]

[survivaltricks]

[IT'S FINE]

I steal the hearts of criminals only, anyway.

[oh]

I make them confess their crimes to the public so they can be held accountable for what they've done.

[slobjection]

Does that have something to do with that cognition thing...?

[survivaltricks]

[smiles a little, but it's lopsided and slightly crooked]

It does.

You see, where I come from, there's a world parallel to our own called the Metaverse. It's a world made up entirely of human cognition.

Actions taken in the Metaverse can affect a person's cognition in the real world.

[slobjection]

And cognitive versions of people can exist alongside the actual people, I'm guessing?

(This sounds like something out of a video game...)

[survivaltricks]

That's right.

[phoenix that's super meta]

But only if the real person somehow travels into the cognitive world. The two worlds don't generally overlap.

Only certain people can travel to the Metaverse, and they need a certain phone app to do so.

[slobjection]

[ he's an ace attorney character it's his job to be meta. ]

How'd you get involved in a world like that?

[survivaltricks]

[hah]

Mostly I stumbled across it by accident.

One day an app appeared on my phone. My best friend and I somehow activated it, and it took us to the Metaverse. It was there that I awoke to my Persona.

[slobjection]

Persona....

[ it's pronounced "personauuuuuughsjdhjsdhjksdksjdks" ]

Is that your inner thief?

[survivaltricks]

Sort of.

[a bit amused]

More like. . . my inner self. My soul given physical form, which just so happens to be a thief.

And about one hundred other mythological, literary and historical figures.

[slobjection]

Kids these days with their personas and mythological thieves and their metaverses....

[ gosh. ]

So they do the thieving for you? Your personas?