Surely Maisey misheard the pactbearer across the interview table. She'd been caught off-guard by the veritable cosmos glittering in their eyes and lost focus for a second, that was all. "I'm sorry, I think I misheard you, could you repeat the question?"
"Which puberty are you on?" The pactbearer repeated the question with almost identical intonation as they idly fidgeted with a worry stone. They were looking at Maisey, but not... directly, she realized. Looking at the tip of her nose, or the space between her eyebrows, but not her. It was a small relief; eye contact was always difficult for her to maintain.
Right, the question. It felt like a test of some sort. Maisey took quick stock of her interviewer, trying to puzzle out what answer they wanted. In-uniform, which wasn't unheard of for an Academy exit interview but certainly wasn't typical. She recognized the influence of at least one Cosmic and one Tarot Power, but she always struggled to remember who had what details (except for Mars, but a glance was all she needed to know they weren't involved with Mars). The uniform itself was primarily one of the Chaos powers, just by process of elimination; no planets, no embroidered props or numbers, and no obvious elemental theming. Their face was flat, lending itself no insight into their deeper emotions. Still, they were being rather casual with the worry stone it seemed, flipping and spinning it between their fingers.
The pause was getting too long. Maisey decided a by-the-books answer would be safest. "As I understand it, there is only one puberty in any given person's lifetime, which usually occurs during our teenage years." The pactbearer interviewing Maisey narrowed their eyes. Shit, was that the wrong answer? It was factually correct though. Maybe they—
"Start of your second then, I see." They relaxed back into their seat. Maisey's confusion must have been written on her face, as they continued, "You're touched by Heterologos, even if you never form a pact with them. You'll get it eventually." They sighed. "Just... All the little rules and readings you do for everyone else? Ignore them for me. Trust that I'll be honest about my emotions with you, and take me at my word. It's easier that way."
"O... kay..." This was not how an exit interview was supposed to go, as Maisey understood it. Honestly, she'd rather have gotten someone who stuck to the sample question set she'd been handed. She'd prepared for those questions. With a small sigh, she squared her shoulders and continued, "So, what do you want to ask me?"
The pactbearer across from her sat up as they began, "Right, so, my name is Plicatula, they/them, I'm your exit interviewer now that you're graduating, I'm formally here to find out how your first mission went and help you unpack all that happened, and informally..." Plicatula paused as they placed a pistol on the table, directly between themself and Maisey. Ah. Friendship. "... I'm here to make sure that you don't leave the Academy with plans to use your powers for Corruption. I'm not supposed to tell you that, but you're heterologist, so I think you ought to know so you can choose your words with the appropriate care. I don't really like doing interviews while holding secrets, anyways." They pushed Friendship aside, still within easy reach for them (and out of Maisey's reach, not that she could use Plicatula's Friendship anyways) but not quite so prominent anymore. "Ready?"
Despite the blatant threat, Maisey was surprisingly calm. Cautious, certainly, but the obvious rationale of this filtration step—easy access to every Academic pactbearer right after their first exposure to Corruption—made it easier to accept her situation. "Ready when you are."
"Excellent. Let's start with a small guess: you've read a lot about Mars, haven't you?"