NETWORK: The HAVA group chat

[takutomaruki]

[If you are someone above the age of 20 (from your original timeline) there is a chance you may have been added to a mysterious group chat named "Hava" which might pose some funny questions.

Rest assured- its not a spam notification. No, you haven't haven't been added to a cult group (hopefully not considering the person who created the GC).

Everyone who is added has admin privilege rights but Takuto has decided he will take things further this time.

A single text appears at the top after he's added some of the numbers scrapped either from the network or through the velvet room- however much was allowed anyway.]

Good afternoon, everyone. 😊

I thought it might be helpful—and honestly, a little fun!—to set aside a dedicated space for the more... aged among us. Whether it be shadow weapons, demon birds or gods. No offense to the younger folks, of course. But sometimes, certain conversations require a not so thorough investigation from the general populace.

Please feel free to treat this as your own private lounge. Whether it’s research talk, life advice, or simply venting about back pain—welcome. That said- I would also like to mention that some of us who are humans would probably appreciate not being called a sandwich so please avail some caution there!

I understand some people might not want to get along with others but there are certain little things I think we are all missing out on-! I would love to speak with some of you in person too if you would allow me.

Ah well, we will see how this goes!

Comments

[takutomaruki]

[Maruki in the meantime, feels like his heart is going to melt at the question.]

English lit, huh? That's a solid path. It takes a lot of focus to keep at it all the way through PHD- its a very impressive aim.

My ex actually...she loved poetry and literature. Our shelves were stacked with our particular interests but I was hopeless at keeping up with all her books haha (though I have some picked favorites of my own through that)

Oh, how I would love to give you a practical example but we can save that for when we meet in person >:) I could probably explain it with snacks like I did with another Akira who showed up here before.

Have you heard of Carl Jung's theory of collective unconscious by any chance?

[goldstarburst]

["a practical example". He's abruptly reminded of Drake's warning: If you meet him, just remember, he seems all nice and compassionate, but...]

I've read a bit of Jung. [This is a massive understatement; Sam was responsible for researching all of that shit and feeding it back to the team.] I'm familiar with the collective unconscious. Archetypes, the persona, shadow, anima. Most of the basics, I hope.

You're saying your cognitive psience is to do with the physical reality of the collective unconscious?

[Like Sam's forest. But certainly Sam doesn't intend to go anywhere near that lab. No offence, possibly-cultist dude.]

[takutomaruki]

[Careful territory here. He could disclose some aspects of his research without actually causing an actual ruckus, surely!]

You know quite a lot actually :D

It's through decades of research that has suggested that our cognition operates parallel to an observable plane. Even if this place's rules are melted enough where the rest of the individuals here are cognitions. Or atleast the idea of it.

[goldstarburst]

[Now, that is interesting. Sam hasn't exactly raised the roof about his own Persona, but it's been easy enough to find that most people here have them. Or at least know what they are. Reluctantly, he bumps his suspicion of Dr Takuto Maruki up a notch.]

Thanks, I think. :-) What do you make of that, the fact that most people here are cognitions? Are they just here because we expect them to be here? Because someone else expects them?

Why are they so... like that? [Creepy. Zombies.]

[takutomaruki]

That’s a good question. I’ve thought about it myself more than a few times.

One theory is exactly what you said—perception maintenance. If this place was just... empty space, or a blank city, that would feel off, wouldn’t it? It’d make adjusting here harder. Like in a video game—if you wandered into a mall and there weren’t any NPCs, it’d feel uncanny. Our minds naturally want patterns, stories, faces, so the environment fills in the gaps with cognition-based entities.

Not to mention the general public in every location also power the cognitive spaces here i.e. through the MetaNav, the TVs in Inaba, Tartarus in Tatsumi Port Island and then the other two doors have their own story.

2/2

[takutomaruki]

Funny thing, though—most of them aren’t just window dressing. A lot of the cognitions here have their own stories, their own little lives. I talk to them now and then. Some even have consistent habits. Makes it feel a bit less clinical, you know?

[goldstarburst]

The ones I've observed were *very* consistent. Following the same path. Doing the same thing. If I talk to them, they have stories, but... they go in a loop? They repeat themselves. They're highly suggestible. Easily led.

But nobody *expects* passers-by to behave like that. It's like you walked into Night of the Living Dead. As if they were fabricated to be exactly that way -- to be disturbing. Or by somebody who doesn't understand how most people behave.

[takutomaruki]

My idea is that since Igor-san has to sit down and micromanage what we can access, what we can work with, where we can go- he will probably not care enough for others who don't matter in his eyes.

Which is a shame!

Most velvet attendants you must have met don't exactly mingle out of the velvet room so their perception of the populace would widely apply to the general subconscious that the masses share.