I Thought What I'd Do Was... [Open]

[standalonehuman]

When: 2/10 and onwards, night time.
Where: Togusa's office or apartment.

Togusa has been, for lack of a better term, jumpy. Not only is he suffering from the dual-sided effects of whatever this new effect is? But now, he is trying to avoid people. Difficult when he is being driven to be as helpful as possible. But every time he looks up at someone, he will flinch, at first, looking at their face, before he can focus on them.

It's driving him to be even more reclusive at night time, picking his office most often to hole up with his notes. Or sometimes going home to spread out across his coffee table. The extra copy of Catcher In The Rye is always open, nearby, to a specific page.

Part 25: "Just so people didn't know me and I didn't know anybody. I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes."

He needs to talk to James. And to Mariko. But how does he bring this up to Mariko so late? She has her own problems to deal with right now.

Whenever he stops paying attention, a certain image keeps getting doodled onto whatever piece of paper is nearby.

Comments

[standalonehuman]

It doesn't take long. Tired as he is, Togusa does still work on a regular schedule. Eventually, one breath is deeper than the last, and Togusa's head rises up off the pillow. What a good sleep, but why is he on the couch? He blinks a few times, confused, before stretching.

Togusa's eyes widen when he sees Shuji. "Shuji. You- you stayed all night?" Concerned, but the smile on his face is very touched.

[thesettingsun]

"Of course I did. Had to make sure you didn't wake up in the middle of the night and try to go back to work. ...Plus your dog would've woken you up early if I didn't feed him."

Dogs truly are some of the most relatable animals.

"I took some notes on your notes, I hope that's okay?"

[standalonehuman]

"Shuji.." Togusa smiles more, and he feels like he can't emphasize this enough. "Thank you." He reaches out a hand towards him, to put on his hand or shoulder. "Anything's okay."

Not everybody would have done this. Another deep breath and Togusa rolls his shoulders out. "Can I at least treat you to breakfast? I feel. Really great. Better than weeks."

[thesettingsun]

Shuji takes Togusa's hand to give it a squeeze. "Breakfast sounds great. No talking about theories and memories until after breakfast, sound good?"

[standalonehuman]

Togusa nods firmly. "Mm. Breakfast first." He stands up to go to the refridgerator, because he is pretty insistent on making breakfast, if Shuji helped him out so much last night.

He grabs a few eggs and some rice, a quick stir fry for breakfast, then sets up the coffee maker. He is followed through the kitchen by a very hopeful Daisuke, staring up at him.

[thesettingsun]

Shuji will allow him to make breakfast by himself, just trailing behind rather than insisting on helping out. He doesn't think Togusa would let him anyway.

"Daisuke was very helpful last night getting you to stay on the couch."

Daisuke is now Shuji's second favorite after Isamu.

[standalonehuman]

Togusa peers down at Daisuke. "Was he now?" Boof! With a happy tail-wag.

"Somebody's going to need a treat, then, if he can wait until after I'm done here."

Daisuke sits down patiently, staying in one spot to watch Togsua putter around the kitchen.

"Coffee or tea? I've got.. a lot of tea." A lot a lot. The top shelf of his cabinet is filled with all different kinds of boxes.

[thesettingsun]

Daisuke is a lucky dog indeed.

"Tea sounds fine. Something green."

There are people who prefer other kinds of teas, and they are wrong.

[standalonehuman]

The same water getting set up for coffee can get repurposed for tea. Togusa grabs down one of the boxes and sets aside a bag for Shuji, before he starts to busy himself at the frying pan.

Cooking doesnt take long, Togusa keeps around a lot of already cooked rice for his breakfasts. He brings out a few mugs (Togusa's favorite, oddly, has a pair of craft googly eyes stuck to the side of it?)

"There we go."

[thesettingsun]

That's clearly the best mug and Togusa has good taste.

"Smells fantastic. I haven't prepared tea for myself for a while..."

Coffee is more convenient, cheaper, etc. etc.

[standalonehuman]

Koutarou’s fault

Togusa smiles gently. "When I have the time, it's a luxury I can enjoy. There's a lovely tea house in the city if you're in the mood for full service and have a lot of time to spend." The owner is no longer with the app, but Togusa still enjoys the place.

Breakfast doesn't take much more time to make, and Togusa sets it out for Shuji. "Go on, dig in."

[thesettingsun]

Even when business owners leave, their businesses are still available - sometimes. If Recolle doesn't merge businesses again.

"Thank you, I will!"

It's delicious, and Shuji ends up finishing off his plate before he knows it.

"...Kind of sad to be finished..."

Because now he actually does have to talk about theories and things that are less fun. But maybe he'll help Togusa calm down a little.

"It's hard to decide where to start, you know?"

[standalonehuman]

Togusa doesn't quite realize how hungry he really was until he has food in front of him, and the plate vanishes faster than he expected. He can wait to clear everything away, though, and when Shuji signals that he's ready to move into business, Togusa sits forwards, wrapping both hands around his coffee mug.

"With any luck, I can actually start to pay attention now." He does look a lot more refreshed with a full night of sleep in him.

"Start at whatever makes sense to you," Togusa suggests. "I'm sure we'll be all over the map eventually." Conversations between the two of them do tend to wander.

[thesettingsun]

They can't keep on the same subject because they're nerds who want to talk about everything.

"So, android brains aren't that different from human brains - neurons firing and sending signals about what you see and hear, it's just transfer of data. Blockers already exist in this world, antagonists that keep your brain from receiving signals, so micromachines are just a more complicated version of that. It's definitely possible to screw with signals and make you see something that isn't there."

"So, if theoretically someone had hacked past Togusa to see that symbol everywhere, then you might see that symbol everywhere. Or, if past Togusa just stressed himself out enough over the case, he might see it everywhere without outside interference." Shuji considers whether to chide Togusa for working too hard, and decides against it.

"If the Laughing Man is the boy in the wheelchair - hiding from society with a disability and putting the hint to it in the Catcher in the Rye quote - then it's completely feasible that he might replace his own face in your perception with the logo - the Laughing Man story has a major theme of masks. Or, it's possible Togusa was hazy those details because he'd associated the Laughing Man with the logo for so long and obsessed over it hard enough that the logo was clearer to him and more important."

"If he kidnapped the micromachine company owner, he would have access to micromachines. He could have used those to monitor past Togusa's partner. If you're monitoring the person who's trying to solve your criminal case, you're much less likely to get caught."

"Salinger's work, especially Catcher in the Rye, has a pretty strong theme of going against society or authority. I don't know how correlated a micromachine company would have been with either of those...?"

Here Shuji pauses to let Togusa fill him in on the details.

[standalonehuman]

Togusa stays sitting with his hands clasped and watches Shuji attentively, every part the obedient student that he has been at many times in his life. He is, for once, quieting his own thoughts, and giving Shuji the same consideration he would Ardyn or any of his other teachers.

He nods along with Shuji's first point. They have already proven that normal things that impact a brain's neuronic functioning still seem to work on Togusa. Anasthesia and painkillers still did their jobs but good in the hospital, and the caffeine he is clinging to with both hands still has the desired effect. It's good of Shuji to point out that there could be an alternate explanation for the symbol's appearance, though, and he hadn't considered the residual stress effect. Something to put in his back pocket for later.

"I am pretty sure that it was an active manipulation. That the Laughing Man was using that logo as a mask, as you said, in line with the story he takes his namesake from, and the story he takes his quote from."

He puts one hand to his chin. "Something doesn't quite add up, though. I'm not saying it's impossible that the boy in the wheelchair is The Laughing Man. But I would like to know how he orchestrated a kidnapping from that state."

Pause. "Unless." Has he forgotten the quote already? "I thought what I'd do was.. pretend." That lights up a realization in his eyes. "It was him! The boy was the Laughing Man! And he was pretending a disability so he could hide! Maybe he'd been hiding there the whole time!"

[thesettingsun]

Shuji can't say for certain about any of this, so he's willing to give alternate explanations whenever he thinks of them.

"Exactly! It's a pretty good scheme that exploits people's prejudices - if you were looking for a competent criminal, you might dismiss someone disabled as a possibility without even realizing it."

He doesn't like to praise criminals, but it is a pretty solid plan.

"Besides, people's brains have internet in your past life. He wouldn't have had to do the kidnapping himself if he could organize other people to do the dirty work for him."

[standalonehuman]

Togusa sits back in his chair and ponders for a few more moments. "Holden's declaration of his pretense in the book was just a way for his exterior to match up with his perceived interior. A fantasy where he could be as unable to affect his surroundings as he perceived himself to be." A little chiding with Togusa's tone there, because he completely doesn't believe that Holden was as powerless as he believed himself to be.

"So does The Laughing Man feel powerless to act on his own? And can only act through intermediaries? It's a good idea." Togusa is slipping into that same trap, he almost wants to praise this guy. "And in a world like that, it would make it harder to physically find him."

[thesettingsun]

Shuji nods. They've put a lot of pieces together, he thinks, but most importantly...

"Are you feeling any better about the case now?"

[standalonehuman]

What does he feel about it? Togusa pauses to shift himself out of just an objective mindset and to take stock of himself mentally. Slowly, he nods. “Better.”

“This is- it’s something that can get worked through. I can figure this out.” A faint smile. “So long as I keep talking things out with other people. And dont get locked into my own head.” Gratitude is inherent in his tone.

[thesettingsun]

"Your friends are always here to help. You don't have to go through this alone."

If Shuji had been left to deal with his memories alone, he wouldn't have made it this far. Togusa shouldn't have to suffer through the same.

"-And it helps to get a good night's sleep."