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[crouching_sin]

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text - un: akechi - mid february

[enteloki]

I hope you're faring well. It's been a difficult month for most.

If I may ask - how many times have you been reborn?

[crouching_sin]

I've been managing.

Hm... a difficult question. Over a hundred. Some lives were long, some were short. A few were too short to really have proper memories.

Why, do you want a bedtime story from one of them?

[enteloki]

[OH OKAY.]

Call it research and curiosity.

Who knows if one of your lives may take you to my world someday. The thought of reincarnation is a fascinating topic in and of itself.

[crouching_sin]

Of course.

Though I'm not certain it would - all of my lives so far have been in the same world. But perhaps it's a possibility - after all, if we can all be drawn here, maybe we'll go somewhere else.

[enteloki]

Are you certain of that?

Given the malleability of time itself, do you truly know that you were in the same world for all of your lives?

[crouching_sin]

At least some timeline of it, yes. Considering I've been able to pick up things I left for myself in one life in another life.

You're bored, aren't you? Stuck in bed?

[enteloki]

No, I'm not stuck in bed. I thought this would be a good time to chat is all.

[He is in bed. Right now, actually. Sweltering hot under the comforter.]

What sort of items?

[crouching_sin]

Of course.

[Sure. Just like he's not in bed.]

Old coins. Papers with 'lost works' on them. Pottery. Things that I could find again and sell.

Sometimes the archeologists get there before me or other events cause me to not be able to reach them, but I know how to hide things. It's helped set me up in later lives. Not every one, but some of them. It depends where I get reborn.

[enteloki]

[This is weird. He's intrigued.]

Have you found some of your belongings in museums?

And have you ever been born Japan prior to your current iteration?

cw: world war ii???

[crouching_sin]

I have, and it's also very annoying when the plaque in the museum is wrong.

Ah. Yes. The most recent before this one was in the mid 1940s.

[enteloki]

A shame you can't become a museum curator in your world.

How many more times will you be born? Given that Kazuya has succeeded - does that mean this is your final iteration?

[crouching_sin]

Generally they want other sources besides 'just trust me'.

Good question. The me in his world would probably say yes. My own timeline, I'm not certain.

[enteloki]

Fair enough, though you would have the skills and education to back up such 'educated guesses' so to speak.

Between your reality and his - what's the difference?

[crouching_sin]

I would. Some people just aren't worth convincing, though.

Ah. A single choice - whether to follow God or turn from Him.

[enteloki]

It's an unfortunate decision he was forced to make. Reality is often unjust and requires such things though. In the end, he made his choice to comply with the options given to him.

But I have to wonder-

If you weren't burdened to play the part of a puppet, what would you have done with your life instead?

[crouching_sin]

[Ah. They're doing this again.]

A puppet I might be, but one who seeks to cut the strings that bind me.

But you mean if I were a 'normal' person? Probably similar things without the addition of magic or demons - programming, puzzle-solving. I can't imagine myself in any life being, say, part of the government without something else going on behind the scenes.

I'd probably sleep better, as well.

[enteloki]

And yet, in all these lifetimes you've been unable to do so. I wonder how many more are required for you to finally carve out freedom.

In any case, programming is something you're well suited for - obvious reasons aside. It doesn't surprise me that even without your overarching purpose, you would continue to do so.

[crouching_sin]

We'll see. It shouldn't take all that much longer.

I enjoy seeing what people can come up with. Sometimes I try to push the envelope myself, but if someone else has a good idea that can advance things, I try to learn from it.

If you weren't a detective, what would you do?

[enteloki]

It's funny - that's a question I get often during interviews. My answer is always the same.

Being a detective is my calling. It's what I was meant to do. The pursuit of justice and truth is what matters to me.

But if I had to choose another-

Perhaps a career where I could see the world with my own eyes. I've lived in Tokyo most of my life and it's unlikely I'll be traversing outside of it anytime soon. I'm fascinated with the world around us - cities, cultures, landmarks, the natural beauty of it all. I want to experience it someday.

[And he won't. ♥]

[crouching_sin]

Ah, but justice according to whom? You, or society?

Hm... why are you not traveling outside of it? I would have thought being a detective would take you all over.

[enteloki]

Mine and mine alone.

Of course, I still follow and abide by the rules and laws society has deemed a requirement. However, my justice is its own path.

As for traveling-

Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. My job requires me to stay in Tokyo at all times - even school trips are off limits for the time being.

Perhaps in the future that door will open to me.

[crouching_sin]

Perhaps. Where's the place you would like to travel to most?

[enteloki]

Athens.

[There's no hesitation. No pause. No thought given because it's a question he's mulled over before.]

Among many places, of course. If I were given only one opportunity to travel - that would be my first choice.

As of this moment, at least.

[crouching_sin]

An interesting choice. Why?

Is it the history, the culture, or some secret third thing?

[Give him information, Akechi.]

[enteloki]

All of it. Everything.

I've had a fascination with the study of philosophy for some time. That is, essentially, the working area of many prominent figures in it.

To stand where they did - I can think of nothing better.