[Game Opening, Part 2 - A Thousand Words or More]

[stringmods]

Who: (Everyone OPEN LOG)
Where: (City Hall)
Summary: (After arriving you got to mingle a bit but now it's time for explanations! Finally!)
Warnings: (Some guy LIKES TO TALK LIKE THIS!!)
Style: (The text is in prose, but feel free to write back in action tags if you feel more comfortable.)
Suitable Music: This.

When someone finally speaks up...he's rather hard to miss.

"WELCOME! To YOUR NEW LIIIIIFE!" If anything, this fellow demanded attention, what with the costume he was wearing. What a way to get introduced to this new world.



"My name...is DR. BYRON ORPHEUUUUS! But you can call me Orpheus...Dr. Orpheus if you're really insistent. REGARDLESS! It was BY THE FATES that you were all plucked from your lives and brought here to aid this city in its greatest time of need. Yes, all of you will become HEROES! With the power of your PERSONA you shall become the riotous fury of..."

"Is such enthusiasm really necessary, Orpheus?" The voice that interrupts Byron sounds slightly modulated, and comes from the large blue and grey metal man behind the others. His voice is loud enough that he doesn't require the microphone - one of the few perks that comes with being a giant robot in a world like this.

"I am Brainstorm, and I am responsible for a sizeable amount of the work that went into a lot of the tech you all have, or have experienced the beneficial effects of, unknowingly. Those of you with large objects from home have me to thank for that transport system. The Evokers used in the arena? Me again. As well as a fair amount of tweaking and perfecting your COMPs and watches you received. I do hope you manage some degree of appreciation, as crafting devices to fit such small beings was incredibly painstaking for someone like myself. Working on nanomachines at this size isn't easy. Now, I know you organics have short attention spans, but do try and keep up, because I hate to repeat myself..."

"I suppose it's an unfortunate eventuality that some number of you will somehow manage to break something. If that happens, you may contact me about repairs, but I am usually quite busy, and I'm not going to be happy about having to deal with the consequences of your carelessness. However, if it becomes necessary, my workshop is in the Cancer district."

"And with Brainstorm's explanation, I suppose it is my cue to go next. Permit me to introduce myself..."

"Now then, as it was explained, when the Seven of us arrived here, we found out we had been expected, just like you. Unlike you, however, while they knew we were coming...they had little to no where we'd come from. Let's just say it has been quite a learning experience for both sides and leave it at that." He gave them a small smile. Ahh the misunderstandings that had happened...even amongst themselves.

"We wandered around blindly during the first week. Not just to adjust from our worlds to this one, but, quite frankly, we had no idea what to do! Fortunately, a few weeks later, the Three Wise Men appeared and aided us to understand the nature of Persona. Each of them were knowledgeable in the subject. You'll be able to speak with one of them once he's done...with personal things involving family...but that isn't our concern, isn't it? Let's go on with what we've learned so far."

He moved his hand on his watch and a series of images flashed in front.

"Persona can be called forth in various ways. So far our knowledge extends into three methods; the first is a blast of energy from your soul that gives form to your inner Persona. That one will com naturally to you. The second, is made using this..."

His took something from the nearby podium and held it into the air.

"You might think this is a normal handgun, but it is actually an Evoker. It can also be used to bring out your Persona. By giving you a feeling of stress and danger, which can also bring out your Persona naturally, it jump starts your summoning. However, we tend to encourage using the normal summoning method. The device was perfected by Brainstorm, Hazama, the Wisemen and myself. We created it to aid the police force summon their Persona faster during riots but recently...it's even become popular during Persona Duels."



"...But I'm sure you'll find out about those in the city soon enough, what with their ridiculous popularity. We shalln't dwell on those." He put the gun down. "The final method uses arcana cards. You can summon more than your inner Persona, although I am sure this is completely new information to you. Do not worry, you'll learn it soon enough like we have. To do so...you'll need to gain more. I believe next week is when the Velvet room will appear again according to our calculations, Miss Mcgonagall?"

"That is correct."

"Well then!" The man continued on. "We can explain that in due time. Now let's go into something really interesting. Did you notice how you have items from your homeworld with you? Consider yourselves lucky, we didn't have that luxury. It was only through our preparations that we were able to do this. You see, when a soul enters this world, they are still tied to their old world by a special strand. Normal users can't see it, but ahh!...Those like myself who Intel more than fight, well, our Persona allow us to see them. By combining our technology and magic, we devised a system which grabs those things which are near and dear to your heart. Just how we did this would require a few days of explanation, ergo I will spare you the details for now. Those that wish to know more can come to my office later. In any case...you're welcome."

The man shuffled his hands, and grinned. Obviously he had been waiting to explain to them the next part. It was brief and short.

"As for the strands, considering they are your passport to your old homeworld, so to speak, your anchor to your life...we've named them..."

"Destiny Strings."

"Don't worry, you will not be able to see them right away. It took me a week before I could grasp the strings to become visible. Of course there were only ten of us, so therein the challenge....

Not that there's that much to see here currently..." he sighed, exasperated in a way that only a man of his caliber could do (and yet it was so delightfully British) "Is this really what we'll have to be working with? We already have Orpheus who--"

"I BEG YOU PARDON?!"

"Oh you know exactly what I mean. Talking about in that exaggerated manner of yours--"

"Really, if you two are going to continue blathering and arguing like true imbeciles," McGonagall spoke in the middle, coldly, "let someone else speak up. At this rate, we'll be here all night and it is a full moon..."

The two men glared at each other for a second before Q finished, adjusting his tie.

" Yes, well....I do not think of myself as a fool, thank you very much, but there is truth in your words. Ciel, if you please?"

"Okay! I guess it's my turn then!"

The petite girl gave the assembly a small bow. Despite the amount of people before her, she didn't seem the least bit phased. A natural leader, if there was one.

"There is much to discuss." Her fingers moved over her watch and a 3D map of the city appeared before them, glowing green shapes with markings over each district. You might notice a few areas are still in the dark. "This is what we have of the city...so far. Unfortunately, many places still allude us. Hinoto-Ri is vast, and there are a number of areas in each distinct that are currently too dangerous to enter. Those restricted areas are protected by the police force to keep the population out. We hope to finish mapping them out as soon as we can...carefully."

"Regardless, let us look at what we have about each district, one by one."

"Now, are there any questions?"

[OOC - You can start your own threads, speak amongst yourself with the new information or just ask questions to the assembled cast]

Comments

[linefacingforever]

Yu considered asking some questions, if however briefly, but he was still trying to absorb all the utter and complete awesome that had been dropped in on them at once. They were in a city where having a Persona was not only a-okay, but perfectly acceptable to use.

Did he like... die and go to heaven or something?

Okay, sure, he thought it had been weird at first, but once he got used to jumping into TVs and fighting Shadows, he just wanted to tell someone, like his uncle. Now he was surrounded by other Persona users.

THIS WAS PERFECT.

Don't mind him, but he really can't help but smile right now.

[otakuro]

"...Looks like we've got answers."

It was a lot to take in. Atsuro still wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but he'd heard two definitive things, at the very least. One: they needed heroes. Two: the streets were crawling with monsters.

Peaceful days are over. Let's survive.

New Objective: Peaceful days are over. Let's summon an incarnation of your soul and smash 'em good where the sun don't shine.

A similar smile comes across his face, though his is tempered somewhat by the knowledge that his friends were still potentially in danger.

"...This could be fun."

[linefacingforever]

Yu glanced over at Atsuro, trying to temper his smile a bit... though it came right back when he realized he was just as excited about this as he was. Still, he took a deep breath; really, just because there were so many Persona users, didn't mean he could relax. There were monsters out there, even if this place didn't feel the same as the TV world, and no one knew why.

He had another mystery on his hands.

With a very serious expression coming to his face, he slipped a hand into his pocket, pulling out a pair of glasses. He spun them around a finger, the legs flying out, before resting them on his nose in a smooth motion.

"...it will be," he finally replied, his tone completely serious.

[otakuro]

OK, well. That just wasn't fair. Atsuro awkwardly glances up for a moment or two, wondering if he could remove his hat and put it back on in a motion that would look suave and smooth before remembering that there was nothing you could do to the dorkiest hat in the world to make it any smoother except maybe coat it in oil or something.

...Oh, wait, no, he totally had something.

Atsuro flicks his wrist and the jack that he uses for his 1337 hacking comes unraveling out in a loop. He catches it with his hand, fumbling only a little bit.

"Yup."

OK, no, it was just the cord he used to connect his computer with the COMP.

[linefacingforever]

...nope, sorry Atsuro, still not nearly as cool as Yu as is. Though he can't help but find the attempt endearing.

[otakuro]

Atsuro coughs into a fist. Let's all pretend we didn't see that.

"S-So, anyway. How are we supposed to call the Personas, anyway? Wish really hard? Try and cast Megidolaon?"

[linefacingforever]

Yu kind of jumped at that, giving him a look; really, Atsuro? That's some serious overkill you've got going on.

"If I understand it... you just need to will it to appear."

[otakuro]

"Huh."

In movies, this tended to manifest physically as a sudden bout of constipation. Atsuro decides that perhaps he'd better try it out when he was alone in the bathroom later or something.

"That's how you get yours to appear back home?"

[linefacingforever]

"No. At home, an arcana card appears," Yu answered. "I guess that's why it did not work earlier."

[handshakegreeting]

Oh, they would know if a certain someone had passed on... so no. No, Yu did not. Instead the gas station attendant seems to be amused by these antics. However silent they may be.

"My, someone seems rather pleased." Were they at least attempting to feign surprise? ...Possibly.

[linefacingforever]

Yu jumped slightly at the familiar voice, turning to see... the gas station attendant.

...and oh, look at that, he really was a she.

"You're here too..." he began, not able to hide his surprise. "I was just talking about you."

[handshakegreeting]

"So it would seem..." She pauses though, tilting her head to the side as though surprised as well. "Really? And here I thought most in town had forgotten me aside from 'the kid who fills up the tank.'"

You may pick your jaw off the floor any day now, Narukami. She is most certainly capable of snark aside from the helpful "dork" side she so often portrayed.

[linefacingforever]

Sorry, he's just... more preoccupied with the fact that you actually have a chest. It actually take him a moment to actually move his eyes further up.

"You were one of the first people to welcome me, of course I didn't forget," he replied, lips twitching up into an almost smile, before he looked a bit concerned. "...my friend seems to think you're a death goddess."

[handshakegreeting]

The attendant notices this, almost crossing her arms in the process while she waited for him to actually look at her and not... you know. Though that response certainly made her pause. He hadn't, hm? Even before it was necessary for him to discover the truth behind the truth? How interesting... yet dangerous.

"...Really?" Cue a skeptical look. "Now what would give them that idea?"

[get_bent]

Oh you know, having beat your ass already before can help (well technically not him. Yu did most of the job.).

"IT'S YOU!" he said in a tone that dipped with anger and riotous fury. Without even thinking (not that he did...much of that when it came to that sort of thing), Kanji's right hand had formed into a fist and he was...running like a bad enraged bull, trying to punch the gas attendant guy.

...good job, bro.

[handshakegreeting]

She only has a moment to blink before moving to dodge a suddenly rowdy teenager. In all honesty? She could not say she was surprised as she expertly ducked down and spun gracefully out of the way. Yes, she could have very well teleported... but that would end the illusion of her 'humanity' far too quickly.

"Whoa, there! You could hurt someone with that kind of roughhousing, you know."

Bullshit. He couldn't lay a finger on her if he tried, even with a Persona to call forth, if she didn't wish for him to...

[linefacingforever]

Whoa, Kanji; seriously, what the hell? Kanji's initial attack came before he could really process it was happening, but Yu was able to react before he attempted any follow ups. He stood protectively before the gas station attendant, glaring the younger teenager down (or... up... whatever, you get the point, Kanji).

"Kanji!"

[endears]

[Well, someone seems to be enjoying this whole situation, and he can't help but be curious as to why. Not that he doesn't have experience with people who just find bizarre and potentially dangerous situations exciting, mind you. One of them stabbed him once, even.]

Did you get all that, mister?

[linefacingforever]

[Yeah, but... this isn't bizarre for him. Potentially dangerous, yes, but not bizarre at this point. Still, Yu is perfectly sane, and his expression goes back to something reflecting this before he speaks.]

Yes. It's not that much different from my world.

[endears]

[Man, everyone here seems to be from some fantastical world. He's kind of jealous.]

You mean you've heard of 'Personas' and 'COMPs' before? That's great! [Information!!]

[linefacingforever]

Not COMPs, no. But I already had a number of Persona before coming here.

[Now that he thinks about it, he can only feel Izanagi lurking in the back of his subconscious. He's grateful for that, but it feels a little empty...]

[endears]

[He hasn't really noticed the giant shark supposedly bleating about in his head, really. Throw in stereotypically adorable naive smile here.]

Wow... you must've come from somewhere really cool!

[linefacingforever]

[...aw, why do some guys have to be that cute?]

Oh yes. We entered TVs and fought Shadows there.

[endears]

[Because nature is cruel and they're stuck looking like elementary schoolers.]

. . . [Wait, he's heard this story before.

Pointing!] Narukami-san!

[linefacingforever]

[...what even.]

Eh?

[Because that's the only way he can respond to this.]