Audience: Mineo Enomoto

[probe]

Comments

[sengokus]

[aaaaAAAAA baby. mineo will just go and get a little chopped up bit of chicken and then offer it down to the puppy]

Haha, Aoi-chan wants to learn more - but I can't really teach her much? So I gotta learn first before I can share the knowledge!

But I figure I know enough that I can at least help try to feed you, Greed-san!

[probe]

[maus is very polite with his food which means he takes the chicken almost delicately before there's a yip and he trots off to go eat it out of the way.]

So what you're saying is I'm here to be a guinea pig. [he still doesn't seem to mind! it's mostly an observation and greed folds his arms over his chest.] But in a way it's a gesture that won't go unnoticed.

[...and then greed actually pays attention.] Is the implication that I can't feed myself?

[mineo's right because now greed's trying to remember the last time he actually ate.]

[sengokus]

[he's just laughing a bit at that even as the puppy goes off to eat.... what a cute and well-behaved doggo]

You just seem like the type to overwork - it's cool, I do too. [mineo forgets to eat every friday until endorsi throws food at him] So might as well knock out two birds with one stone, right?

Have you been resting? Sleeping?

[probe]

I believe that simply comes with our line of work. [because cops, ex-cops, attorneys and everything in between all fall in the same category.]

I've been resting fine. [mostly.] With the start of a new week there's still a lot to be done around the base to ensure things are running accordingly. You've seen the new floor that's opened up, I assume?

[sengokus]

[nodding.... sometimes you're a workaholic because people's livelihoods literally depend on you]

Yeah - Sloth-san's, right? It's definitely interesting. Pretty... fantastical?

[yeah that's a word]

White's been messing around up there so he just keeps telling me about how it's.... kinda hazardous...?

[probe]

Whimsical would be appropriate as well. But we don't pick the rooms that are on each floor. They only seem to have a faintly familiar feeling to us.

...hazardous in what way? [their tone is wary, as if afraid to ask what's been destroyed.]

[sengokus]

Oh yeah? I could guess why yours had the dog park - but why the airport terminal? And do you know why the research room was there...?

[he tilts his head]

Uh... Missing memories because of the water, apparently? Something about how you shouldn't throw stuff in the pool.... So it seems like if you're pretty careless in the new rooms, you can run into some trouble.

[probe]

...the research room is completely unfamiliar I'm afraid. I was just as surprised as you were when I realized it was there. I conducted an exploration of my own and came up with little results. The terminal makes sense, however. I've traveled quite frequently for work.

[he considers this.]

Why would you throw stuff into the pool? [white????????]

[sengokus]

[nodding.....]

Got it. That's what I've been thinking - that there are just some totally random rooms that show up that don't have anything to do with the Avatars. We'll probably have to focus on those for future investigations. Childe-san and I checked out the command bridge again last night but it was pretty confusing... No pink eyes though.

[still weird! but. oh well.]

I dunno. But I mean.... Even if I worry about him, I can appreciate the results we get from his... curiosity?

[probe]

You went back? ["back" because of course grace came to talk to him about what she and vira found at the bridge the first time.] What did you find?

[there's a lull of silence that says he's not sure he can appreciate white's curiosity because he threw something into a pool. he doesn't even know what it is yet.]

Hasn't White also been prone to nearly eating your evidence in trials.

[sengokus]

Hmm.... I went with Childe-san - and he ended up pushing some buttons? [diligence for mineo meant that on an investigation without takeru he tried better to behave after the MRI incident] But we saw a settlement and when he pressed a button it seemed to sort of like - fire a laser? I think? So sci-fi. Another button got pressed - a big one with eight sides - and then we got knocked out but it felt like we were.... licked?

[he shudders]

Ah - yeah.... but hopefully he's not doing that anymore!! I already scolded him about it a ton!

[probe]

...was the settlement destroyed with the laser? [hm. also he visibly straighten up as mineo mentions the second half of that.] What on earth...

[...whatever the case may be, he moves on.]

I'm sure Sloth appreciates your efforts in stopping White from making more mistakes.

[sengokus]

Yeah. We woke up kinda slimy, and we had black streaks on our face - so I do think that it might have something to do with the whole... consumption theory. But uh - we can put a pause on that until after food?

[he doesn't want to mess with their appetites, and the katsu is pretty much done!! he lays out some pieces of katsu over bowls of rice, then putting some of the sauce on top before he offers it out to greed. it's pretty good! not stunning or gourmet, but not bad for a beginning chef]

But yeah, of course - gotta look out for my friends. Especially on my Avatar's floor!

[probe]

That would be preferred. [gross. but he seems to take a mild interest in the food set before him before he takes it. there's an idle sort of "hm" as he examines it before deeming it acceptable. greed is apparently more picky and less polite than maus, though there's a nod that's probably like a thanks.]

You are...quite selfless in these situations, aren't you? [is it the effect this week or is this just mineo? who knows.]

[sengokus]

[mineo seems pleased that greed is eating at all!! he's going to chow down and look a little confused at the question]

... selfless....?

[he tilts his head]

You think?

[apparently it doesn't occur to him to be described that way?]

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[god i'm so hungry. anyway, greed...decides it doesn't matter much and this is pre-party so he removes his hood so he can also eat.]

Perhaps that isn't the most accurate word, but yes. Your current focus now is on others and ensuring the well-being of others, isn't it?

[and, of course, mineo's own wish but given that so many of their conversations circle around what mineo can do for other people it's the conclusion he's drawn.]

[sengokus]

[feeds mod katsudon

anyway mineo is just going to laugh a little bit at that even as he takes another bite]

Yeah.

But that's what an officer does, right? I mean.... I'm not on the force anymore, but I think some things just stay drilled into you. Even if I can't save everybody, I gotta take care of the people I can, however I can.

[probe]

Not always. There's always a bit of corruption in the law even if you don't see it right away. Not everyone who serves is actually a good person.

[it's why mineo being as sincere about it as he is is almost blinding.] Though I suppose I've met others who share your line of thinking as well.

[sengokus]

[there's a beat at that - because it's true. hadn't mineo learned that the hard way? he pauses before rephrasing - ]

... ideally, that's what an officer does. And even if I'm not working like that anymore... that's the sort of notion I'd want to stand by.

[justice is complicated for him - but helping people? that's easy.]

You're pretty familiar with the law, right, Greed-san? Can I ask what you did before you got here?

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[sometimes things happen. ideals are nice and greed can agree with that, but all the same so much has happened he can't really relax and think everyone wants to do what's right.

it's why people like mineo are both infuriating and refreshing. it's why people like that man are frustrating and necessary.

there's a moment's pause as he takes another bite.]

I was a prosecutor. [which is said with enough finality that he's pretty sure mineo will understand literally everything about why greed does what he does.]

[sengokus]

[ . . . . . he nods. yeah. it does make sense to him - and perhaps it's why it's so easy to believe. how mineo zeroed in on greed's use of the word justice so early on.

but that means that for all the struggles mineo's had - ]

.... it's probably been hard for you.

For us to not succeed at finding the truth you want.

[greed's burdens might be three times as much]

[probe]

In a word, it's been increasingly frustrating. Though most of the others thought the idea of a trial was entirely unnecessary and pointless to begin with. I disagree.

I believe if these things occur, there should be the option to find the truth. Even if you don't care for the victims, there's a bigger picture to try and understand why this has happened and what can be done to rectify it.

[sengokus]

[ . . . . he nods along. it's easy when so many of mineo's friends are of similar thoughts - that people die, it happens, don't get so twisted up over it.]

Harrow-san told me that - that you suggested that there might be a greater reasoning to everything happening than just indulgences. I think that it's important we find that, if it's true.

[but.

he uses his chopsticks to move some rice around thoughtfully in his bowl before he looks back up at greed]

.... but even if I don't know what justice is, I know these weekends tear me up pretty bad. You set this up to try to help us, but you can only do so much. I guess I was just wondering if you felt similarly to how I did and do -

Just... watching us all.

[on a more emotional level]

[probe]

...there are some things we can't do anymore because they're out of our hands. [considering how their cyoa ended.] And likewise there's some information that can't be given freely due to the nature of this place and our job as your Avatars. I think it's important to see this through to the end and learn what you can.

[but there's a pause as greed looks off to the side for a moment.]

Murder trials aren't a unique situation for me. Most of the cases I take on are for homicides. But I can't say I find much enjoyment in watching you fail repeatedly.

[which could sound like greed's calling them all stupid, but no. now that mineo can see his face it's clear that he just doesn't like the results because it's unfair and doesn't work out the way he expects it to.]

[sengokus]

[mineo nods at that, listening.]

.... 'anymore'? Did something change after you all went on your... experiment? [he thinks that's the word that sloth used]

It's different, right? [he frowns] I worked some pretty gruesome cases too, and - well, if you know about X-Day....

[then greed knows exactly the level of mystery that mineo and takeru are dealing with back home]

.... but it's more personal here. I wish... no one else ever had to be in a situation where they have to look at the bodies of their friends.