/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"Has it ever occurred to you that you have quite the aptitude for reverse-engineering?" Patchouli asked before she could stop herself. Marisa looked up at her, blinking from the different levels of magnification in both of her eyes. "It's a talent many magicians never develop. We are often too absorbed into our own schools of work." Marisa continued to stare at her blankly. "What?" Patchouli finally asked.

"It's just - You...You're complimenting me." Marisa said slowly, with wonder in her voice. "You never compliment me on anything. Oh, except that time you complimented me on my "Continued inability to develop higher brain functions." But I don't think that counts." That had been on a particularly frustrating theft Marisa had committed. Patchouli once more considered resurrecting her spectral self from deep within her psyche so she could beat her to death for daring to develop sentimentality. Even toward Marisa Kirisame? What was she thinking? "W-Well, er, thanks. Really, it, uh, means a lot." Marisa looked back at the book before either of them could really see what expression was on each other's face.

Patchouli wondered if things would be less awkward if she set Marisa on fire for old times' sake. "Just tell me what you've identified with the book, please." She finally forced out.

"Right. Sure. Um, okay, so..." Marisa looked back up at her, then flipped the third level of magnification onto her glasses. "I'm pretty sure I can see what I'm looking at now. The first sequence identifies the book and the next one defines what constitutes a touch. That's why it isn't burrowing through the floor right now - It doesn't consider it as, you know, something touching it unless the surface area is smaller than the book." That explained the stick and the chunk of wood. Had Sekai simply wished for the book to work like that? "After that, there's some bits I can't identify, but eventually it defines access permission. I think, uh...It's using some weird language for it."

"Like?" Patchouli asked. She had a reasonable suspicion of what it was.

"Well, you know how it's usually parent and child in stuff like this? Like, the parent is the original, and the child is the- Yeah, okay, I can see that you get it. My point is, it's the other way around here. The child is the original." While Marisa was looking down, Patchouli pressed a hand to her head. Sekai needed either a lecture or a slap. There was a sense of humour, and then there was just being silly. "I see." Patchouli finally said.

"Oh, and...The parent bit seems to, uh...Not list any names. I figured that you had special permission to touch the book and that was why I couldn't touch it, but...It's less defined than that." Marisa was very good at this. Possibly too good. Patchouli might need to take the book back at this rate. "It's like...Whoever set all of this up had some sort of criteria in mind for who can touch the book. Rather than just having clear-cut names, I mean. It's possible that I meet whatever criteria this is..."

Marisa let those words hang in the air just long enough for Patchouli to look down in alarm, and then she stood up straight. "Ah, but I'm not going to test that." She said, breathing out and pulling up the lenses on the glasses. "It's a great theory and all, but I'm not sticking my hand on anything that might vaporise me. I could probably figure out the criteria with enough time, but..." And here, Marisa eyed Patchouli. "You've been very serious about why you can't tell me, and...I want to prove that your trust in me wasn't misplaced, so...I'm not going to pry. Maybe whenever you say that I can look at it, I'll, uh, look at it." Marisa nodded. "Thanks for including me, though. Feels like no one else is because I'm so, uh..."

"Round?" Patchouli asked blandly.

"Pfft. Thanks. I needed a laugh today, and hearing Patchouli Knowledge make a joke really worked." Marisa did seem to be in fairly high spirits. "Yeah, I'd probably get in the way if I tried to join in on anything else that's going on nowadays. Still, I'm probably not far off..." Marisa patted her stomach gently. "Well, I'd best get going home. All this walking around, it's...Exhausting."

"Welcome to my world." Patchouli replied, spreading her arms. "Why walk when you don't need to?"

Marisa laughed again. "Excellent point." She stopped by the door. "I'll see you later."