[Game Opening, Part 1 - What Souls Here May Bring]

[stringmods]

The drawstrings cut,
my hollow ebony stained wood plomps to the floor—
THUD

Eyes open, souls recollect.
The new me, erect.

I make my own decisions, have my own priorities,
have my own thoughts.

No external force taps into me—
Freedom.
- Jana Bielecki
Who: (Everyone OPEN LOG)
Where: (City Hall)
Summary: (You've just arrived in the city. Welcome.)
Warnings: (Intro logs are pretty warnable.)
Style: (The text is in prose, but feel free to write back in action tags if you feel more comfortable.)

They always say the first day on a new job is always the hardest.

But tell me...did those tasks include being taken from your own homeworld, dumped into a city you didn't recognize, meeting a man dressed in the purest of whites with a butterfly mask, to be bestowed the power of Persona, and then having some Men in Black lead you to the city hall saying you were expected?

...

...at least your things are apparently safe in your new apartments?

...

...looks like you might be here for a while.


What a way to start the first of September...

As they usher the last of you in, you realize that they've been preparing this for quite a while. There is a small table with food on the right, mixed cuisine (although the main theme seems to be Japanese dishes). Some strange computer program appears next to you and seems to be translating what you are saying so those before you understand. Language barriers? Don't be silly!

Most of the men ignore you after that. You are expected to mingle amongst yourselves a bit before the main 'show' starts, it seems....

Comments

Yu Narukami | Persona 4

[linefacingforever]

Not so surprisingly, Yu was taking everything all in stride. Go to bed in Inaba, wake up talking to a butterfly masked guy? Man, that's tame compared to jumping into TVs and fighting the shadows of your friends real selves. Being picked up by Men in Black was a little creepy -- who wouldn't be a bit freaked by that with movies today? -- but his expression never changed as he was escorted to the city hall.

The only thing that was really bothering him, was... well... No, he wasn't going to dwell on it right now. There was food, and there were other people that was just as confused as he was. Maybe he could be a little helpful if anyone asked him questions.

[otakuro]

Atsuro had recovered somewhat from his initial shock. He'd barely heard anything Philemon or the mysterious men had said, opting for the time-honored route of nodding and smiling instead, and if he had heard it, he certainly hadn't understood it. Wandering awkwardly around the room now, he supposes he ought to try and get a better handle on what was going on.

Talking to someone who seemed calm seemed to be a good idea.

"...Hey. You're looking pretty unruffled by all this."

[linefacingforever]

"I've been through worse," Yu admitted, almost automatically, as it was still a thought lingering in his head.

There was another thought creeping in, though; one that he had been hoping would wait before making itself known:

What if it got worse?

[otakuro]

Well, that made him feel kinda useless. Atsuro laughs nervously as he glances off to the side.

"Same here, but... just because it's not as bad doesn't mean it's not completely weird, either. I don't think I really understood anything that guy was trying to say..."

[linefacingforever]

"The man in the butterfly mask?" Yu asked, before shrugging. "I never met him before..."

But... as soon as he met him, he couldn't help but think he felt familiar. He had the same air about him as the people of the Velvet Room: there to help, but no to directly interfere.

[otakuro]

"Yeah. I think I'd remember if I met a guy who handed out superpowers before." Atsuro shrugs. He hadn't felt any sense of familiarity around Philemon, but with all the time he'd spent around angels and demons, he could say with certainty that the guy hadn't been human. Something more like Remiel.

"What do you think he really wants from us, then?"

[linefacingforever]

Yu glanced to the side. He hadn't been there that long, but it seemed strange that this Philemon was handing out Persona to so many people. The city looked normal... it didn't even have that strange feeling to it like the TV world did. What was so bad in this place that having this many people with the ability to summon Persona was necessary?

"There might be Shadows here," he finally said after a long pause. "It doesn't seem that way right now, however."

[otakuro]

"...You said that with a capital S. I could feel it." He deadpans with a sudden expression of intensity. "What're Shadows? You know what's going on?"

[linefacingforever]

...he could hear capital S's? Wow, that was a great talent; he had to ask how he learned to do that.

"No, I don't," he replied. "Just that anyone with a Persona from my world has one because they fell into a TV, where Shadows live."

...no, he doesn't expect you to follow that, but he doesn't move to elaborate either.

[otakuro]

More that no one would ever speak that sentence if they hadn't meant something else by 'shadow', given how ubiquitous the normal type were. Atsuro's brow furrows in confusion as Yu's explanation only perplexes him further.

"...What? ...Do you mean something else by TV, too?"

[linefacingforever]

"There's a world inside of TVs."

He paused for a moment, before shaking his head.

"I don't think that's the case here."

Though, of course, he wouldn't know for sure until it rained around midnight.

[get_bent]

OH THANK THE GODS, SOMEONE HE ACTUALLY KNEW. At least his dreams weren't all messed up if Yu was there.

"SENPAI!" the ground almost shook from his running over and in no time (which was surprising for Kanji, really) at all he was right next to Yu, shaking the poor guy like a ragdoll.

"SENPAI! D'you know what's going on?"

[linefacingforever]

Ground shaking? Check.

Massively loud yelling? Check.

Looked like Kanji was present too.

Yu picked up a sandwich before he turned to his friend, still looking as calm as ever. Though on the inside he deflated a little, grateful that he wasn't entirely alone in this place.

"No," he answered his question, calmly taking a bite of the sandwich.

[get_bent]

"Y-you don't?" He looked at his Senpei before scratching the back of his neck, attempting to think.

"...yeah I guess you wouldn't. It is my dream, after all."

[linefacingforever]

"...hunh?"

Yu was pretty sure this wasn't a dream, but...

"Don't dream so loud."

[get_bent]

"L-look I'm sorry!" No, really he did! "I was so glad you were comin' back to the city so I'd been working extra hard on makin' you a present. IT was gonna be so cute you'd--" wait it wouldn't be a surprise if he told him!

...even if it was his dream self!

...something like that?

Oh gods, he was confusing himself...

"W-well anyway, I think I fell asleep and ended up in the TV world. There was this Grand Prix going on, they even had a video! You were the Sister Complex Kingpin of Steel, and I was The Bloodcurdling Beefcake Emperor which uh...didn't quite get. I don't make that many cakes, but beef? Who'd seriously make a cake out of beef?"

...oh Kanji.

[linefacingforever]

...oh Kanji.

"Kanji, I never left," Yu replied, confused by most of what came out of his mouth. Very little of it made sense. Him coming back when he hadn't left yet? Grand Prix?

...the titles were pretty accurate, though he wasn't so sure about the Kingpin part.

[get_bent]

"What?" Uhhh? "Senpai? Of course you did! You were coming back for Golden Week. You know...after we defeated that old weird lady and everything happened?"

...Was he hit by some sort of forgetful ray?

[linefacingforever]

Dude, Kanji, spoilers.

Yu tilted his head, looking the younger teen up and down. Did he hit himself in the head with his chair or something...?

"What weird old lady?"

[get_bent]

"Well yeah? You know...the Gas Station Attendant Guy and how he turned out to be a she and some god of the dead?"

...he kinda felt bad. He had to make sure not to tell Yu that he was imagining him as this dumb guy when he woke up.

[linefacingforever]

...and this is why you're the Beefcake Emperor, Kanji. Seriously, Yu's pretty sure that gas station attendant is just what he looks like and nothing more than that.

Because, really? The attendant? Why would the attendant be some god of the dead? And Yu was pretty sure that person wasn't pulling a Naoto. And c'mon, he doesn't even have a character portrait or anything.

Still, Yu wasn't about to call Kanji out on it... so instead he gave him a thumbs up.

"Right. Of course."

...of course anyone that knew him could tell he was being sarcastic.

[disconinjafrog]

Well, he had been just swimming through the crowd, not recognizing a single person here...

Until he spotted Yu's silver head in the sea of swarming people. Whoa, holy crap, if there was one person he had not been expecting to see, it was Yu!!

Pushing past people, not all too mindful that he was being more than a little rude to those he shoved, Yosuke approaches Yu with a beaming smile. "Hey, partner, I had no idea you were here! Man, it's felt like forever since I've seen you!!"

[linefacingforever]

Yu, naturally, looked confused.

"I just saw you yesterday..." he muttered. Remember, big floating eyeball? Adachi? Right?

Well, whatever. His bro is here, and nothing hurts; Yu just had to grin.

[disconinjafrog]

... Blink. What??

Yosuke looks at Yu funny, like he'd hit his head or something. He shakes his head slowly. "Dude, it's been like a month since you left Inaba and moved back in with your parents... What are you talking about?"

Don't expect him to understand time shenanigans, especially not right off the bat.

[linefacingforever]

He doesn't really get it either... not to mention he doesn't like it. It was like his friends knew more about his life than he did and that... really sucked.

"I think people can come from different worlds and different times," Yu attempted to explain.