Like him? Ugh, fucking really? The look on Togusa's face briefly sours, and he has to cover it up with another drink. He's tried very hard not to think about why he gets so drawn to James and even Malik, what it says about him that he can empathize so much with- something he can't put words to.

He can't put his finger on it, but Mariko's words strike some kind of a chord somewhere deep in him. He nods, slowly, so slowly. "Something like that. Even when a person is connected, even the way we are connected, there is something held back."

"And can Retrospec truly quantify a person, the way that they are trying to? What is that last piece, the one they can't just put into data?" He puts a hand on his own chest. "Is that the piece that links us to them?"

The ghost. The soul. And if the ghost is the same, then are they.. the same? What happens to Togusa when the Other Togusa is complete, then? They are coming up to the precipice of that question, they can all feel it. A final showdown with Vanderweele also means a final showdown with Retrospec. A final decision on what is to be done with them.

"Can the old and the new just- beat in rhythm, then? Or does one have to eventually take over the other?"