[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

Aoba Kuronuma | Durarara!!

[endears]

[If Aoba's memory serves, the last thing that happened to him before he arrived here was... he was stabbed. After going through what was without a doubt one of the most exhilarating moments of his life, his vision had suddenly gone cloudy and he'd been thrown into a meeting with a masked man, before being dumped in a city. And, while he'd initially brushed it off as some bizarre hallucination, the chances of that were decreasing by the second.

So, in short: The rug had been pulled from underneath him and he'd lost both his followers and his information network. To someone like Aoba, for whom power and control are two of life's key elements, this is pretty infuriating.

Not that he's showing any of this, of course; right now he's doing his best to act like the elementary schoolkid he appears to be, standing near the food tables with a vaguely-worried smile on his face. Hopefully the explanation he needs will come to him.]

[viditlibertas]

Are you not hungry?

[Whatever is...hovering in front of Aoba is clearly not humanoid, straight-off obvious by the reverberating voice. It looked like some sort of cube, but it pulled inside of itself at impossible angles, slowly rotating in place at ninety-degree angles along it's blue...wiring?

Long story short, whatever it was, it sure didn't seem to consider it's appearance to be as headache-inducing as it might have been. Even with the inhuman quality to it's speaking, it sounded almost...doting?]

There is plenty. If you have a preference, they may have it somewhere around here~

[endears]

... [He'd been busy focusing on the food when he heard the voice, so he'd initially raised his head to answer the question...

Before being completely shocked by who, or maybe what, was talking to him. For once, the surprise on his face is all-too genuine. His voice catches in his throat for a second, and he has to blink his eyes to actually make sense of the cube... cuboid(?) in front of him, before blurting out the first thing that came to mind.]

You can talk?

[viditlibertas]

If I could not talk, I imagine my life would be quite dull.

[Even if that seemed like a joke, the cube didn't laugh- it, probably couldn't. Despite...being able to speak. Somehow.]

You are one of the new arrivals, so you will become accustomed to such things in time. It is okay.

[...since most people tried to apologize for gawking.]

[endears]

[... Okay, he can accept the existence of a headless motorcycle-driving inhuman being, he can accept this.]

Ah, I'm sorry. [He should. Probably focus on not embarrassing himself further.]

Um, when you say I'm 'new', do you mean that you're... [Not? A native? Has he found a genuine source of information in this place?]

[viditlibertas]

[At the trailoff, the cube abruptly halted it's slow spin, staying completely still for a moment.

...the moment lasted for an uncomfortable length of time, before he finally began to rotate again.]

I'm not sure how long I have been here. I arrived before your group, however.

[A pause, and it almost tried to chuckle, but the sound just seemed skincrawly than anything.]

I am the Anguished One. However, I suppose I should call myself 'Al Saiduq' instead.

[endears]

[Whether it's the length of the pause, or the disturbing noise that follows it, Aoba can't help but shiver a little.]

'Anguished'...? [Well, he probably shouldn't ask, right? It could be a sensitive subject after all, and he could end up making things worse for himself by prodding it. For the same reason, he should probably introduce himself too before asking about his group or anything like that.]

It's nice to meet you... Saiduq-san. I'm Aoba Kuronuma.

[viditlibertas]

It was a title I once earned, though I have worked past it.

[Sensitive subjects didn't seem to register as well when you're a ridiculous looking...cube, thing.]

Ah. You are from Japan as well. I am glad to see people from other worlds and times here~ I was worried.

[endears]

[He's still trying to wrap his head around the cube thing, really. And trying to figure out if there's a polite way to ask 'So, what are you...?']

Ah? You know about Japan, Saiduq-san? [... He's going to assume AO isn't from his Japan for the time being.]

[viditlibertas]

Japan in my path was...

[Oh, this is going to sound troubling no matter what he says.]

The cosmos had been erased. Only Japan remained. I had feared that nothing outside of there had survived...

[endears]

Eh...? [Huh? What? Haaaah?

No, maybe he didn't hear that quite right? Or maybe this is just some sort of metaphor that... cube-people use?]

Ah, when you say 'erased'...

[viditlibertas]

The world ceased to exist. Such was the will of Polaris- he decreed humanity too stagnant to continue, and worked to erase the world to start anew. The attempt was thwarted thanks to a barrier surrounding Japan, and our subsequent defeat of Polaris.

[Matter of fact, and to the point.]

[endears]

[Considering how much that is to take in, he can't help but stare for a moment. In some other world... that really happened?]

That's... awful, Saiduq-san. Did you all get out alright...?

[hetried]

[Vaguely worried smiles? Well damn if that wasn't something Daichi could relate to!

And well, he was lingering around the food table because he was kind of hungry himself, so he takes notice of the kid eventually.]

Hey, you alright, kid? [OK that was probably a dumb question seeing as he had just been freaking out not that long ago. Laugh it off!] This whole thing is pretty crazy, huh?

[endears]

[Oh hey, company! That definitely seems to raise Aoba's spirits, and he returns Daichi's smile with a light one of his own.]

Definitely. It's still hard to believe I'm not dreaming, to be honest.

[hetried]

I know right? I wouldn't be surprised; I almost tried pinching myself a few times to see if I would wake up.

[Said with a nervous chuckle. He may or may not have actually tried it amidst his freaking out.]

[endears]

Looks like we're not that lucky... [All of the nervous chuckling up in here.

Wow man, wow.] Ah, since we're in the same boat here, maybe we could introduce ourselves? I'm Aoba Kuronuma, Raira High Class 1-C.

[Yes, the kid is a high schooler.]

[hetried]

You're in high school?! Yeesh, you look like you could be my younger brother!

[Tact. Flawless.]

I'm Daichi Shijima. Class A...? I was a third year last time I went to school, but I don't know if I've technically graduated yet or not...

[Alien lockdowns were...weird......]

[endears]

[Gee, thanks for that Daichi.

Now watch him as he hangs his head in shame at his unmanly body.]

Really...? Have you not been recently?

[hetried]

[Hey, he didn't mean it as a bad thing or anything!!]

No. My friends and I... kind of got wrapped up in something serious. I haven't gone for at least a week.

[endears]

[In what context would it ever be a good thing??]

Oh... It wasn't anything dangerous, right?

[hetried]

[What if someone wanted to look youthful!]

Uh... [Which is to say yes. Yes it was.] W-Well, the world almost got destroyed, but it wasn't dangerous when I left! We already took care of the problem!

[endears]

[Then they'd be a sad old fogey!

Oh okay, nothing of importance ha--] Ehhhh!? [WHY WOULD YOU JUST DROP A BOMB LIKE THAT.]

[hetried]

[EVERYONE ELSE HE'S TALKED TO ABOUT IT HANDLED IT FINE!!]

Like I said, we took care of the problem! And we fixed the world and everything, so there's nothing to worry about...!

[endears]

[WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE DOES HE TALK TO?!]

Eh... you're sure? It's kind of hard to calm down after hearing something like that so suddenly...