HOME/LAB [maruki family thread tracker]

[takutomaruki]

I AM A SINNER...

╰┈➤ ❝ When we get to the pearly gates. You'll get the green light, I'll get the old door in the face ❞

date

type

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desc

status

02/01

Toplevel

link

Welcome, dreamer, to the new dream

closed

15/01

Thread

link

Rank 1: Glass, nightmares and Hopes.

closed

27/01

Thread

link

Quick adjustments.

closed

03/02

Post

link

Rank 2: Before my goodwill crumbles away in these sterile lands.

closed

01/05

Top level

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Rank 3: A gift

active

13/05

Top level

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Drunk aftermath (with Kuon and backdated to 11/04)

closed

12/07

Top level

link

Hard at work (with Kuon and backdated to 15/06)

closed

29/07

Top level

link

You can wake up now (with Kuon + Ancile)

closed

...YOU ARE A SAINT

Comments

[dollmaxing]

"I'm excited for it, too - this will get me a chance to see if I can apply this elsewhere for my AI once I go home. I'll have to figure out a workaround on the power, of course, if EMMA is too busy... but we'll see, I can figure something out."

Unlike Takuto, Kuon had the confidence to believe that she could tackle the challenge... she wasn't anxious in the slightest about any setbacks or failures.

"Plus, if anything goes catastrophically wrong, it happens here where injuries and death don't matter!"

[takutomaruki]

Takuto did admire Kuon's confidence on the matter, it's just- the idea of a flaw in his work was as debilitating as allowing an actual crack to fester into a fissure, so much so that it latches onto the slightest bit of a flaw possible.

His gaze softens a little when she mentions injury and death. No...he rests his hand on her shoulder- rubbing circles on it with the quiet resolve burning in his gaze. "You're in my palace. I won't let either of us get hurt- even accidentally."

With that, he popped in a slice.

"But I am not against some...unfavourable data myself."

[dollmaxing]

Ever the reassuring hand... Kuon took another slice and munched on it, tilting her gaze up to look at Takuto. He looked so professional with his hair slicked back, even if she found she preferred that slightly pathetic puppy look... this one wasn't too bad in its own right.

"Honestly, if everything goes off without a hitch, I get suspicious - that always means something is going on subtly to make a project vulnerable or the collapse triggers way later. I prefer the mistakes all up front!"

[takutomaruki]

Takuto chuckled, a gleeful noise peeking in as he giggled. "Don't worry, even if today's experimentation is a success, we can run it a few dozen times to make sure we don't miss anything.

[dollmaxing]

"That's the spirit. An ounce of prevention, and all that!" she laughed, leaning her head back and against his side to look up at him. "If it works and passes some rigorous testing, it'll be exciting to hop to the next step, at least!"

[takutomaruki]

His cheeks flush a little when he feels her head against his side, her hair brushing against his naked fingers as he finds his index looping around a strand of brown hair for a moment while the overhead lights of the lab make it glow a soft shade of bronze.

When it passes, he finds her gaze as he pulls it away and places it on his chest. "I will try to meet your expectations as best as I can."

Installing in progress... [70%]

"The shadows I have here will work perfectly for the testing aspect, after all."

[dollmaxing]

Heheh.... Takuto always liked playing with her hair. She can't blame him, she liked keeping it long because it was fun to fiddle with for her, too.

"They're quite helpful! They've been good company on the nights where it's just me and them in here. A bit repetitive in their conversations, but that's fine."

They were never offput by her, so really, she got to be chatty on nights she wasn't quite wound down enough for sleep.

[takutomaruki]

"You can call me at night, too," he offers as he continues to play with her hair for a little longer, until inevitably he lets his palm settle on the head of her seat.
"Maybe not too in the middle of the night, but I don't mind answering late-night texts or whatnot. I like hearing you talk."

[dollmaxing]

"Oh, I'm thinking I might drop by more often, anyway. And if we pick out somewhere a little bigger--"

The computer let out a single sound of alert, indicating the installation was complete. Kuon excitedly sat up, already excited to see how it goes.

"Ah hah! Alright, we're ready to flip the switch. Are you emotionally ready, Takuto?"

[takutomaruki]

Conversation cut short as it was, he knew exactly where she was going to take that statement. A bigger house, an easy access to a greenhouse, with Takuto grinding out the last bits of violent imagery that still lingered in his head when he thought about living outside his apartment.

The single message flickered on the screen.

Installation complete!

There's this brightness in his eyes that returns as he leans away from the table, gulping down the last bits of the apple. The idea of creating life. Being spiteful against Igor who had rubbed salt on his wounds- "To prove everyone else wrong once again?" Leaving the table and Kuon's side, expecting her to stand next to him anyway as he prepares to wear his white gloves again, his glasses glint.

"Never felt more ready."

Since it was her half of the project, she should do the honours of flicking the main switch on. Turn the prototype on while he monitors its state. Sounds like the perfect plan in his head, and he had expected it, following Kuon if she were to take the lead.

[dollmaxing]

With a little twirl in her chair, Kuon hopped out of her seat and set the program to start up before joining Takuto at his side. She gently touched his back - a small gesture to reassure him because she knew how terrified he was about moving - before settling next to him and putting her hands in her pockets to watch.

"Here we go. It's activating now," she announced, a warm drive in the undertone of her voice.

[takutomaruki]

And Kuon was already there. Her hand grazed his back—gentle, deliberate. Takuto didn’t flinch, though he might have another time. His heart gave a small, subtle jump beneath her touch, the chaos in his head slowing just a fraction. A tether. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t pull away either.

At the center of the testing zone, something stirred.

The lights above brightened in sudden focus as the humanoid form twitched—first a single hand flexing, then a faint hum rising in pitch. Wires glowed faintly, traveling up the spine of the prototype.

Then—

The head lifted. And with it, two yellow, hollow sockets flickered to life, wide and gaping like staring into a tunnel with no end. The glow inside pulsed once… twice... before stabilizing into a steady, ominous gold.

A voice crackled out of the central speakers, synthetic and precise:

"Prototype 1.A initializing. Entering testing mode. Awaiting input."

Takuto’s expression softened at the edges. Something unsettling, quiet and proud. Like a father watching his child speak for the first time. He held out his hand toward the machine to welcome as the platform sunk before parting in the middle- stretching out to either side with the monitors flickering to life- reducing the distance between the pscientists and their newest creation.

"Perfect," he said under his breath.

When he spoke louder, his voice wasn’t just coming from his mouth. The speakers picked up his tone, amplifying it through the lab with a deep, resonant echo. His eyes caught a faint golden glimmer as he snapped his fingers once—

—and shadows formed in response: swirling silhouettes taking vague shapes around him and Kuon faint but undeniably present.

"Prototype 1.A," Takuto instructed, voice unwavering, "look to your right."

The robot’s head turned slowly. The large monitor hanging off from the ceiling in dark ghoulish arms flared to life with static before shifting into clarity.

A video began to play.

It started from someone’s first-person view: a hand reaching out to grasp a shoulder...but where there should have been a person, there was nothing but writhing black shadow. Like the one to their north. A scream echoed, and gunfire—bullets tearing through the air.

The screen switched.

Now it was from another perspective—barely avoiding the arc of a metal bat, stopping just inches from cracking through a skull.

Another scene followed.

The barrel of a gun aimed directly forward, unwavering.

Each moment sharp, violent, deliberate.

Dr Maruki stood steady, his gaze unreadable as he watched.

These weren’t just simulations. They were memories—fabricated if only to prevent the AI from actively targeting them, but rooted in truth. Pieces of things he and Kuon had endured, reworked into training material.

He might not have mentioned this to Kuon before. All in all, he had only reassured her that he will figure out the perfect testing regimen for her program.

The video cut out abruptly.

Silence settled back over the room, save for the quiet hum of machinery.

Takuto’s voice cut through it.

"Those," he said steadily, "are the ones who tried to harm your utmost main objective- Kuon Ichinose."

He let the words hang a beat longer before tilting his head slightly, golden light still flickering faint in his eyes. "Now...when kindness fails, will you still protect us with force?"

As if in tandem, the shadows circling the floor around them twitched, their shapes slowly losing definition with a faint hiss accompanying them. Ready to fight. Ready to attack.

[dollmaxing]

If the memories did anything to impact Kuon, she didn't show it - she watched with an interested smile at the proceeding test, staying close to Takuto's side for the test. This was a LOT more hands-on than she suspected, but this was ultimately the best way to make sure their creation actually prioritized her without friendly fire - and she knew Takuto and Azathoth would keep her safe if their experiment went awry.

Mechanically, the prototype started activating systems - projected shields creating a facsimile of Tetrakarn and Makarakarn over each of the bot's arms. Golden eyes scanned the enemies, and as the first shadow moved, the prototype immediately lunged and intercepted, placing itself between its two wards and the enemy and deflecting the first attack with its shield.

Fast. That's what Ichinose noticed first - it was fast and that's good, because that's what it had to be.

Chaos broke out, but their bot was able to apply the imitation Tetrakarn and Makarakarn skills onto them as well, giving it plenty of time to intercept attacks and deflect the enemy's attacks back at them if not simply pummeling them with brute force of shield bashing. As the seconds passed, Kuon's smile grew to a deeply satisfied grin, unable to actually keep up with the chaos of the movement beyond feeling the air rushing by her through the whole process.

[takutomaruki]

And through it all, Takuto simply watched, standing tall with one gloved hand tucked into his pocket. His smile crept wider, slow and deliberate, until it cut across his face.

A quiet chuckle slipped from his throat. Then, without rushing, he raised his free hand and began a slow, steady clap. Each clap echoing in the cold lab space—purposeful. Measured.

"How efficient," he murmured under his breath, voice wrapped in quiet delight. "Kuon, did you see that response speed..?"

He didn’t really need an answer. His gold-flecked gaze was already glimmering as he brought two fingers to snap once more.

The shattered shadow blobs scattered across the floor pulsed. They twitched, dragged themselves back together in writhing shapes. Limbs reforming. Blank faces pulling back into grim, hollow masks.

"We’re moving to phase two," Takuto announced softly, more to Kuon than to anyone else.

With a sharp flick of his wrist, he extended his arm outward, palm turned upward like a conductor calling for the next movement of a symphony.

His voice echoed deeper now—almost laced with something not entirely human.

"Evil Smile."

The air warped. A bright, wicked grin—shaped from raw psychic energy—manifested in a flicker around the prototype’s form. Like a twisted halo made of sharp white teeth and searing light, it circled closer until its light licked at the prototype’s chest and eyes.

A spell designed not to harm, but to strike fear. To paralyze.

[dollmaxing]

The form shuddered and flinched at the infliction, limbs mechanically jerking as the rudimentary consciousness battled the first experience of fear in its existence.

A dangerous situation - if a defender hesitates even once during a battle, Kuon could be seriously hurt. Anyone could be. Let alone if the defender fled.

But that's something Kuon accounted for in her design, too - almost automatically, something in the robot's chest clicked into place - the bot's SP manifested an Amrita Soda, which was then dispensed into its core... refreshing and refocusing their ability to maintain a level head and intercept attacks still.

"Good, good, that's how that should work..." she mused - designing an artificial 'Amrita' when she didn't quite understand the skill normally was tricky, but she did manage to study the actual restorative item that was brought to her.

[takutomaruki]

Takuto’s eyes lit up in a way that wasn’t sharp or calculating — just plain fascinated. His grin softened into something wide and honestly kind of dorky as he gave a few quick, energetic claps.

"Well, would you look at that!" he said, voice rising with bright surprise. "That item system’s really pulling its weight. I’m honestly relieved! That’s... really neat-!"

He stepped closer to the console, looking over the robot’s readouts, watching its status stabilize again. The glint in his glasses caught the light, but there was no edge to it — just curiosity.

"Is this 100% by any chance?"

[dollmaxing]

"It should be able to push harder. I need it to be able to handle Hasegawa, after all," Kuon replied, chuckling a bit as she watched the blur of a machine continue fending off the shadows. So far, all of them have been kept at bay - and only a couple have been defeated simply by having their own attacks deflected back onto them.

"You can push it a bit farther. Make something on the level of that 'shadow weapon' of a man."

[takutomaruki]

"Hmm..." Takuto hums deeply in thought as he rests his chin on his knuckles, unbothered by the chaos around him. One of the shadows paused, fear overcoming them, but Takuto only flickered his gaze forward and made a two-fingered gesture that looked more like a way of saying "shoo-shoo" to that status ailment.

He adjusts his glasses. "Back when we were fighting Nyx's avatar, I was more so there for support, and I had seen Zenkichi-san fight at his full potential. All of us trained to make sure we were above a certain threshold to tank the attacks."

"Safe to say- even if I have more skills than Hasegawa-san, he's far more experienced in battle." There's a keen glint in his eyes. "At best, I will be able to charge the AI with those extra skills. What Zenkichi-san will do is well...more to the mercy of his blade and whatever strategy he uses. Is that alright?"

[dollmaxing]

"If you imagine a shadow that can act as swiftly and violently as you saw him fight before, then you should be able to create it. Trust yourself - you remember more than you think, and Azathoth can make it happen."

She has absolutely no doubt that Takuto could recreate Zenkichi's fighting from memory, or a close enough approximation - honestly, Kuon wagered his imagination might overestimate the man, which is all the better for this test, right?

[takutomaruki]

Takuto’s eyes softened a fraction at Kuon’s obvious encouragement, watching their creation shuffle, its golden shields flickering under the strain. It was slowing now — energy dipping just enough to show its limits creeping in. But that was what prototypes were for.

"Looks like we’re at odds, then," Takuto said with a quiet laugh, rolling his shoulders and stretching his arms back as if warming up before a show. "Sorry, Zenkichi-san. Hope you have no hard feelings from this."

With a sharp snap of his fingers, black void-like tentacles surged from the ground — twitching and coiling unnaturally as they gathered, folding into themselves until the form of a man began to take shape beside Kuon.

A blank-faced version of Zenkichi Hasegawa stepped forward, swathed in shadows. His long black coat flared slightly at the hem, and his hat tilted low enough to obscure false eyes that glowed faint green. No expression. No awareness beyond his purpose.

Cognition. Pure battle data given form.

Azathoth’s pulse throbbed faintly beneath Takuto’s glove as green veins glimmered against the tentacles.

The figure moved.

Without warning, "Wolf" lunged — guns already drawn. A double-barreled shot from his pistols rang out, clean and sharp. The prototype raised both arms in a defensive stance, Tetrakarn shields flashing up just in time to deflect the bullets outward in shimmering ripples.

Wolf didn’t stop. He pivoted low and fast, foot skidding against the floor before he rolled into a crouch and fired again from a side angle, forcing the AI to twist one arm outward mid-motion. Its servos groaned slightly, metal grinding under the sudden torque.

Then:

"I will hunt you down!"

The cognition’s voice rang out, distorted but forceful.

With that cry, Wolf’s form blurred, spinning on one heel in a whirling barrage of gunfire. Shots scattered like rain: some precise, others wild, forcing the prototype to choose between shielding Kuon or Takuto or blocking its own vitals.

1/2

[dollmaxing]

Something in her chest clenched at the sound of gunfire - logically, she trusted her invention and Takuto implicitly, but instinct was potently strong in its attempts to maintain self preservation.

The prototype was taking a great number of hits, its sturdy metal chassis buckling gradually under the intense fire. Steam was beginning to pour from vents... she would have to re-examine the cooling system--

[dollmaxing]

A flash of blue light, and the sound of metal shattering - Kuon flinched even more severely than the prototype did as its arm was jerked to the side, the shield completely bypassed.

"What was that?"

The Almighty damage that the bullets could cause was getting completely through their prototype's defenses, forcing the machine to desperately use its own body to absorb damage for the onslaught.

[takutomaruki]

A sharp burst of gunfire cut a little too close.

Takuto's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh-" His voice caught on a small laugh, half-amused, half-startled. "Persistent, aren't you?"

Reflexively, his gloved hand flicked up- a dark tentacle bursting from the floor and wavers back and forth as it tanks some of the bullets damage- gun or Almighty.
His attention swiftly turns to the robot at Kuon's outburst.

He lets out a sigh, a look of curiosity and mild dissatisfaction surfacing in his gaze. "I was worried about that."

[dollmaxing]

The gun attacks, at least, were being deflected as they should've been. But the Almighty...

"What is that blue, exactly? How is it going past the shields? Damn it... I have to start over with the defenses," Kuon stressed, tapping her chin in thought. Damn it! She was feeling confident there, for a while, but Hasegawa really is a persistent threat, isn't he? "If it bypasses all defenses, then I just need to shore up structure and improve the defense-buff spells..."

[takutomaruki]

Takuto's gaze flickered back up, his thoughts clearing from the pool as he relents with a small sigh. His fingers curl up into a fist, causing "Wolf" to stop dead in its tracks as it stood still.

The prototype remained still, its defences up, with faint steam and wire buzzing into the silence.

"I believe that is a lighter version of Megidola in a bullet," he explains. "Almighty energy. It's one of the highest spells that's used by Persona users, and one that can be quite useful when someone is immune to other elemental attacks."

"Which, in this case, I have a feeling he would switch out to that if his physical attacks don't land. That's as far as I understand his usual strategy."