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Sophia pulled down the tiny car mirror to give herself a final look. She wasn't going to change anything, but it was nice to know how you were looking at least. So if you looked like complete trash, at least you'd know. But in this redhead's case, she looked decent at least, good at best.

Her relaxed hands reached for her black professional bag, big enough to fit a padfolio of her resumes and her two pokeballs. With all her belongings gathered she stepped out of her car and placed her bag on her shoulder.

Her light brown eyes noticed a figure near the front doors, she didn't think too much of it. It was a research facility, there was bound to be people around. Though when the doors opened for her the man before her introduced himself. "So this is the director. I guess he's too good for a handshake." Sophia's internal thoughts were her most honest. Luckily she had enough common sense not to speak them out loud.

"Sophia Harford. Call me, Phia." Her tone was equally formal, there was a slight smile on her youthful face. Very slight, unless one really looked for it, her face would read pretty expressionless.

"The pleasures all mine, evaluator." Her sly comment came as she followed along with Zenji. If he wanted to make cheeky comments, he'd learn pretty quickly that Sophia would keep up. She'd match any energy he put out. Well, almost any. If he suddenly got really nice, nah she wouldn't match it.

"Well, that's the goal of college. Struggle for four years, attain a degree then get a job to pay the bills." Her tone was very nonchalant as she talked about the typical career path people like herself chose. But at least for Sophia what she studied and planned to go into actually interested her.

"I'm here at this institution specifically because there's not much else you can do with a theology degree than going into research." There was a slight jest in her tone. Perhaps that was a joke?

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Sophia's observant eyes took notice of her surroundings. The building was nice, perhaps newly renovated. Beyond just the remodeling the structure itself was large, but that's what's to be expected of a research institution right? It needed plenty of rooms for different experiments and things of the like. Made sense.

The pair came to a casual stop in front of a staircase divided into many flights. "Oh lord. Does this place not have an elevator? I didn't wear the right shoes for this." Along with her internal thoughts she glanced down at her black, professional-styled heels.

"Ha." A little chuckle slipped past Sophia's nude lips at the statement that came out of the director's mouth. Whether or not it was a joke comparing prime ministers to cult leaders, that's how this red-haired beauty took it.

"Yah know, I was seriously considering becoming a religious cult leader. But I'm just not all that into politics." Okay this time her voice definitely held a jestful ring as she made a blatant joke. And an actual smile was on her face.

But not for long. The walk up the stairs had begun. She followed along, only a step or two behind the man known as Zenji. She listened attentively to each word he spoke. "Well, he really doesn't have much pride in his institution does he? That's...probably a bad sign. I should run while I can."

Even though on the surface Sophia Harford seemed confident and composed. She was known to be jumpy, especially when shit happened without her expecting it to. So when the whole fucking building started to shake the woman's heart rate quickened and her light brown eyes widened. She gave quick looks all around, though when she noticed the director not seemed phased by it, she began to collect herself. "Engineer's are always up to no good." She attempted a joke to settle herself.

She wanted to gloss over her previous frightened state and go right back to their previous conversation. Although the director had said one could do research anywhere, that didn't mean they'd make a livable wage doing it just anywhere. "I'd prefer the stability that comes with an institution like this one over all else." Eh, that statement was sort of true. She'd prefer stability as long as enjoying the job was a given.

note: zenji jabami

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"Mm, thanks for the encouragement." The statement started with a semi-sarcastic hum sound and finished with a more genuine-sarcastic tone. Luckily for Sophia, the two didn't walk up that many stairs and it honestly wasn't long before they were at the director's office. As he held open the door she gave a murmur of thanks as she walked by.

The room was comfortably furnished. Not too cluttered, but also not completely bare. The red-haired woman took a seat across from the handsome director and followed his lead by taking a sip from the tea. Side note, she burnt her tongue.

But back to business. Zenji started back up their whole interview-ish conversation. "Am I alive to live up to others' expectations or for self-serving reasons?" Sophia repeated the question in a pensive tone as she thought about her answer. The first thought to pop into her head was, "What type of question is that?" The inquiry seemed more down the road of philosophy, so she'd give a philosophy type answer.

"First and foremost I'm alive because of self-serving reasons not for self-serving reasons. You can only best serve others by giving yourself what you need first." There was a short pause before she threw in a finishing statement.

"Also when you think about it, expectations are just premeditated resentments."

note: zenji jabami

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As the conversation went on, Sophia made herself more comfortable. She allowed herself to lean back into her seat, finding a nice and cozy position to continue answering all the questions being thrown her way.

"I wasn't forced to study theology, no." There was a little shake of her head as she began to answer his multipart question. Before she would continue she allowed her right leg to cross over the left, again settling into a more relaxed posture.

"I chose to study theology because I was raised in a very religious household. Though I always thought it was a whole lot of bullshit as a child, and never accepted any religion. Much to my mother's dismay." Her tone was calm and casual as she started up a little backstory.

"But I guess I just wanted to learn more about how some people put so much faith into their religions. And also why there were so many different religions. For a long time, I searched for which one was the 'right' religion." She did little finger quotes around the word right.

"But obviously I know now there aren't any religions that are better than the other. They all are just words people hold onto for dear life to explain things that are simply unexplainable." There was a short pause before she finished with.

"What type do I strike you as, if not a theologian?" Her question was probably unprofessional and inappropriate for the interview setting. But that didn't stop her from asking it anyway.

note: zenji jabami

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A satisfied smile that complimented the director's smile found its way onto Sophia's face as she heard him say he took it back. It was almost sort of smug as if she had proven herself.

With the next question sent her way, there was a relatively long pause. She thought about how to answer the question she'd already spent many years attempting to figure out. "What...is my goal in life? Pft as if I know." Of course she didn't say her thoughts out loud, but once she got closer to the director she'd soon let out her real thoughts.

But for now, she settled with this response. "If I could explain the unexplainable, that'd be one hell of an achievement. But a more tangible goal I'm working towards is exploring the eschatology branch of theology. Specifically the survival of consciousness both in people and pokemon."

This was something the youthful woman tussled with quite often. She worked on many possible hypotheses regarding the topic, though she hasn't been able to settle on anything just yet.

note: zenji jabami

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Oh, so what Sophia had said intrigued Zenji. She could tell simply from his tone of voice, choice of words, and body language.

"Ah yes. Well, this kind of goes back to the whole 'I was searching for the right religion' thing. I'm very curious about what happens to one's consciousness after death, which religion has it right? Do we go to some type of predetermined heaven? Does the whole reincarnation thing come into play? But I've sort of settled on none of these religions are right, there either has to be more than just a place for souls to go, or it's complete nothingness."

Sophia had so many interesting thoughts, but the hard part was bringing science into things. It's easy to write a thesis on gods only existing in the minds of the believers because one can go out and gather data on religious folk. But..gathering data on what happens to someone when they die...now that's tricky.

note: zenji jabami