destinystrings | the emperor's omen

Entry tags:

the emperor's omen

Who: Ideo Hazama and open!
Where: Sagittarius, generally
Summary: Ideo's a little frustrated after a certain network post went up. So, he's off to work off stress!
Warnings: Ideo being broody as usual...???

It had taken him a good ten minutes to literally pry himself from his computer in R&D. He'd left Ceu in charge of the lab, made his way through the building's fluorescent lights, and braced himself for the strong winds. The weather was predicting clouds tomorrow, and with how blustery it'd been, he could easily believe it.

He hadn't bothered to bundle himself up however, just stepped out on to the street with his lab coat flapping. If he got a cold, it'd sort of be a welcome relief- he hadn't realized how tense he'd been lately until that post. Maybe he was working too hard?

Or maybe he was just overly worried...it was sort of the season for him.

Ideo didn't really have a destination in mind; he just walked the streets with his shoulders hunched, waiting for his nerves to calm down enough that he could return to work. But he didn't realize how far he'd walked from the building...

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All of that sounds like small potatoes to Yamato. He had juggled just as much for most of his life, but he just makes a small, non-committal noise in the back of his throat in response. Not everyone was trained to handle so much pressure for a long period of time.

At the mention of employment however - ah, his interest is clearly snagged.

"Certainly. I have time."

Right. Coffee shop. It was the industrial district but surely there's one for the workers or something nearby.

"There's a shortcut down the side-street, here..."

Luckily, it did seem to be nearby- but the walk was oddly silent. It was only after a right turn and some more trekking that Ideo finally unhunched himself, pushing in to the small coffee shop. Most of the staff, oddly, seemed to be demonic- though Ideo wouldn't have come here if he hadn't figured his company would be okay with that.

He almost immediately slid in to a specific booth by the window, 'burrr'ing off the cold for a second before picking up a pad of paper off the table, writing something down.

"Do you want anything while we're here? I can cover you, in exchange for the wait on your employment."

Yamato didn't mind the silence of the walk, he preferred it, actually, and he looked mildly interested at the mostly demonic staff. He didn't go to cafés much (he lived off of nothing but take out), so this was just an all-round interesting experience.

He carefully tucked his coat under him as he sat down at the booth opposite Ideo, and tilted his head in thought at the question. He wasn't hungry, but perhaps...

"A coffee will be fine."

Ideo nodded, scribbling something down and then hooking it to a thin piece of string on a pulley, sliding it down the line and to the barista. Weird place, but whatever floated the customer's respective boats.

Only when the coffees had been handed to either man did Ideo finally get on with it.

"...to be blunt, there's a waiting period for Guests to obtain government jobs. It's nothing to worry about, really- they just don't want to hand out positions in R&D to people with a history of megalomania or mass-murder." Ideo gave a derisive laugh, but didn't explain why. "I shouldn't tell you this, but your paperwork's gone through- it just needs approval from the higher-ups. They don't work as fast as we do."

Yamato peered down into his coffee as Ideo spoke, looking for any strange discolourations or abnormalities in it before deeming it acceptable. He reclined back into his seat, clasping his gloved hands together atop of the table as he finally lifted his gaze to the other man.

Well, that was a relief then. Yamato understood the pain of bureaucracy, and it wasn't as if he was doing much with his time. He could wait a bit longer for it.

"I see. Well, that puts me at slight ease," he admitted, smiling a little. "The silence was a bit daunting after a while."

...Although Yamato didn't exactly part from his world on good terms, but hopefully they won't take his attempt to create a meritocracy as megalomania...or the sacrifice of the citizens of Sapporo as mass-murder...

Hm.

"You're only one of very few I know about in this city who can summon demons naturally, and I'm...not able to anymore. So part of it is a matter of need." Ideo sighed, grasping his cup and sipping his coffee almost daintily, heat be damned. "You've no doubt seen that many people are quick to react negatively to that which they don't understand- many of the fellow Guests are...well. They're not focusing on the most important enemy we have. If we can finish the DDS system, it may help remove the stigma surrounding demons as a whole, and redirect them back to the Anoli."

"It is difficult to force civilians to shrug off old prejudice," Yamato said after a brief pause. "Demons have not been painted in a sympathetic light in most cultures, so it is not that they simply don't understand, but that the negative view of them was handed down for countless generations."

Yamato picked up his coffee then, sipping it cautiously. Tasted fine...he set it down after that one sip. "The only time people will willingly change is if it is forced upon them, sadly. Not to say that this 'DDS system' will not work in easing tensions, but... prejudice is just something very difficult to resolve."

Ideo nodded lightly, eyes half-lidded. "Sadly true. I was hoping that we could resolve some of the tension therein before all of the Guests showed up, but politics has never been my forte. I wasn't...really made to be a leader or anything." A sigh, that he puffed over his coffee to cool it down, before sipping again.

"The Anoli have been quiet lately, and that has me worried. They may be wary after the defense we managed thanks to all of you, but it won't last. They'll come back more determined than ever- and I don't know if we'll be able to continually defend so many points like that. Especially while trying to keep the civilians safe, as well as our research...we're spread thinner than most of the others would admit."

Yamato smiled thinly. Oh, this sounded so familiar...yes, limited resources, limited man power, hostile forces wishing harm while you're barely keeping things together...

"Seems I can't escape it," he muttered to himself. He shook his head slightly, and then glanced at Ideo with mild curiosity. "What exactly is the goal of the Anoli? From what I gather they seem to be some form of anarchists."

Ideo's lips pursed, and he held up a hand to gesture with. "They're simple terrorists- they claim to want to eradicate all non-Persona users, and feel those with the Potential are the next step in human evolution. Given that many of the Guests here are non-native, and those with the potential that are here naturally are in the minority...they're also fools."

Ideo took a moment to look out the window, then around the shop, before continuing. What was he so worried about? "But they have received "guests" themselves, and I cannot for a moment believe that Lord Philemon would bring us our own enemies. So, they may have a force of their own that they are working with."

Intriguing...

Yamato didn't say anything at first. He seemed to be mulling over the information given to him, picking up his coffee and drinking it. He had confirmed that it was safe for consumption, so despite the scalding heat, he drank it quite quickly.

He set the empty cup down and reclined back into his seat, appearing much more relaxed.

"That network post," he said suddenly, "brought up an interesting thought. It implied that the reason we were brought here was to act out a rather age old argument about Good and Evil, which is a load of tripe in my opinion, but it is an argument that many fools are interested in getting a clear cut answer for."

He tugged at the hem of his gloves, idly smoothing out the creases on the soft, white material. "Assuming that Philemon is the leader of 'Good', and thus, the government, then perhaps the Anoli have the leader of 'Evil'. It is a rather ridiculous assumption, I know, but it would explain as to why non-natives would be received into their fold without it being due to Philemon."

The exact moment Yamato brought up the network post, Ideo's entire attitude seemed to change. He found himself hunching once again, this time over his coffee, and didn't seem to be paying the same amount of attention. Apparently, he had been when he finally spoke-

"I wouldn't suspect this is 'good' and 'evil'- especially coming from him. He...knows better than that."

Ideo's head tilted towards the window again, purposefully keeping from eye contact as he continued. "I would not classify Philemon as 'good', either, of course...but that post specifically brings up something even I had not considered." He shook his head, looking back at Yamato. "You speak as if you found it pretty inane. Would it be odd if I told you the person who wrote it is seeking to eliminate everyone thinking in terms of 'good' and 'evil'?"

Yamato's interest was obviously peaked by Ideo strange behaviour, and even more so by his strange words. Who was this 'He'...? Truthfully Yamato wasn't even interested in the identity of the anonymous network person. He found their attempts to instigate discussion on such a topic painfully dull and irritating.

"Is that so? Huhn, that is something can agree with then. There is no Good and Evil, after all," Yamato said flatly, crossing his arms over his chest. "So I don't find it that odd - although considering they were attempting to draw out others' opinions on it is. They said they had been looking for 'information' on the non-natives by asking..."

"He's trying to see how people will react to the truth."

It's an odd statement among his already weird behavior, but Ideo didn't seem to notice. In fact, there was an odd sort of smile on his face now.

"How many are open-minded enough to discuss them? Who believes in these lofty concepts, and will they take those feelings to the grave? We can't know about all of you- so sometimes one must get their hands dirty to determine these things." Ideo tugged at his gloves, before resting his chin on his knuckles with a laugh. "And people think it's one of the Anoli- as if they could hack in to our secure channels. It's been enlightening."

Ideo was becoming increasingly fascinating the longer Yamato talked to him. He moved and spoke oddly, and his words and tone were at odds with his cringing body language. It was a mess of contradictory behaviour...and even Yamato, with his limited social understanding, could see that.

He leaned forwards slightly, resting his elbows on the table, and unconsciously mimicked Ideo in resting his chin on his knuckles.

"You know who the anon is." It was more of a statement than a question because, duh, pretty damn obvious. "Is there a reason he had to hide his identity to ask such a question? I feel that many of the non-natives would have given their opinion whether or not the person was anonymous."

"There is a reason he's hiding, similar to why I felt I needed to when I first arrived- I feared my past would catch up with me. Only he is less fearful, and more desiring it to not interfere with what we're doing here."

Ideo pushed at the rim of his cup with a finger as a sort of idle gesture.

"Though, it is also part psychology. Give someone a nameless, faceless person, and they will feel they are being judged, watched, the like. Some even go so far as to be outright rude just because they lack a name. In that way, people are fascinating- remove an identity, and so goes their need to treat someone humanly."

Yamato snorted softly. "Of course. Isn't that how humanity always is?"

He straightened up, drumming his fingers against the table with a faint frown. "Although many people declare compassion and empathy towards their fellow man, they can only do so when reminded, or when feeling pressurised by society to do so. When interacting with someone who has no face, no identity, they forget they are human behind that disguise."

A soft laugh. "Hm, even when there is a face and name, people won't treat each other humanly unless there is a benefit from doing so. That is simply how they are."

It is clear Yamato has a very low opinion of society as a whole. He knows people would turn on one another in an instant to get ahead, or for holding different beliefs, looking different, being born different, having a different station...it was all ridiculous in his opinion. At least in his Meritocratic world, the only ones who would be treated lower than human would be the filth who are unable to keep up. That was fair, wasn't it?

"Such compassion being mass-claimed is almost offensive to the true sight of it." Ideo snorted, dropping his fidgety arms entirely and looking at Yamato dead on again. "I knew so many people who claimed to be good people- as they kicked me to the ground in their supposed superiority. Girls who said they were sweet while mocking others, boys who claimed strength as they hid behind others."

Seems, Yamato, some of your opinion is reciprocated. But oddly, he didn't outright seem eager to agree.

"...my sister is different, as was her friend. They acted out of need at first, but acted on my behalf out of genuine concern."

"..."

Yamato's expression darkened into one of brief, deep thought, before it cleared abruptly. "Yes, there are those who take the belief of altruism genuinely, but they are few and far between. A minority."

And hopelessly naive. Yamato didn't doubt Ronaldo's genuine wish for all of humanity to join hands together in ridiculous world peace, but it was a dream born from naivety and ignorance of how humans truly worked. No competition? Society would stagnate within months. That wasn't getting into the fact that it was a direct violation of what made people people.

Selfishness wasn't a pretty trait, but it was what made humans so advanced. A desperate need to have everything, to be the best.

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the emperor's omen

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