ic inbox.

[lucentia]

HELLO

"Greetings."

GOODBYE

TEXT | VIDEO | VOICE | ACTION

Comments

[lucentia]

[okay but what if he agrees with this weird eyeless creature.

...

but he watches in silence. his hand goes to reach out for tokinaga, before stopping, as though uncertain if it's okay.]

... Would you rather I pretend I saw nothing?

[even if he can't, really.]

[vacuous]

[ Should you though.

Man. Truly if he could he would die before anyone found out about that creature. ]

Forgetting's not that easy. I'd rather you don't walk off with some weird assumptions...

[lucentia]

[he agrees that tokinaga undervalues his own suffering...]

... Then, what was the truth that others wouldn't heed?

[he's starting to maybe see why tokinaga was so baffled that lucien simply believed zenn and anastasia.]

[vacuous]

The true origin and nature of IPOs.

...Everyone knew a lot less about them back then.

[lucentia]

Did they ever come to believe you...?

[vacuous]

My hypothesis wasn't considered until ten years after I joined the Institute.

[lucentia]

[...]

I'm sorry.

[that in the end, no one supported him when he needed it.]

[vacuous]

You don't need to be. In retrospect, I should've been smarter about it to begin with. Who would believe a brand-new recruit's far-fetched hypothesis in an entirely different field?

[lucentia]

Even if you were new, this was a matter of utmost importance, was it not? If they weren't making progress, then surely it would've been worth exploring any and all leads!

[vacuous]

It was the IPO Invasion Prediction Department. They had their hands full already trying to monitor the movement and activity of IPOs as it was. It was my mistake for choosing that department to begin with.

[lucentia]

If they were too busy to direct you to the proper department, when you had a hypothesis that could help, then that sounds like a failing of the organization.

[vacuous]

There was no guarantee the hypothesis would help.

It's like if somebody came up to you and told you they know exactly how to mend your family's relationships, starting by changing everyone's diets.

[ Sorry if that's a low blow, he doesn't mean it that way. ]

[lucentia]

[...........

he looks like he still wants to defend tokinaga, but.]

Apologies. I am being presumptuous about your circumstances.

[vacuous]

I appreciate you trying.

It's just that these are arguments I've already had with myself.

[lucentia]

... I suppose that when it's already happened, it no longer matters what could've or couldn't have been different.

[vacuous]

I'm more careful now, so I can avoid mistakes like that.

[lucentia]

I wish that you didn't have to be, though perhaps that's an empty sentiment.

[vacuous]

It's fine.

In the end, people will just assume things, like I'm crazy, or I'm degenerate, that I have ulterior motives...

If I can guide things along without them needing the full picture then they don't need to know anyway.

For a lot of people, the less they know, the better.

[lucentia]

[quietly,]

... You still deserve better than that, Tokinaga.

[vacuous]

I don't. But it's fine. It benefits me to figure out how to defeat the IPOs too.

[lucentia]

Why do you think that you don't deserve better?

[vacuous]

Why don't you?

[lucentia]

What?

[vacuous]

The way you answer things makes me think you wouldn't have a satisfying answer for that either.

[lucentia]

This isn't about me.

[don't turn this against him???]