Backdated to before the shadow event

[terminally_clever]

Who: Fumi Kanno, Minako Arisato, Even
Where: Von Braun mansion, Pisces District
Summary: Fumi gets her first readings on a Persona awakening
Warnings: SCIENCE. Also action tags because I'm lazy.

[Fumi hasn't been this openly excited in quite some time.  She's finally managed to find a willing participant for her research - research she'd started in another world and had been working on ever since coming to this one.  There would be much more to do and learn after this little experiment was over, and her head is already swirling with the possibilities of it all, but for now she's forced herself to focus completely on the current moment.  Her personal equipment is set up in the abandoned von Braun mansion, former home of one Doc Emmett Brown.  Fumi had recently moved in after the demon attacks, finding it rather suitable for her own purposes and a convenient place to move some of her work while the JP's headquarters and the MAGI building are under repair.

Leading her lab assistant Minako into the house along with their current test subject and future coworker Even, Fumi escorts the two of them down to the basement of the house, where she has her equipment set up and wired into the house's circuit breaker.  There's some additional power present in the form of standing backup generators as well, considering the sheer bulk of the machine she's assembled.  It looks for all the world like some sort of Frankenstein's monster of medical mechanica, the result of various parts of an EEG monitor, an fMRI tube, and a CT scanning device all cannibalized and fused together into one device intended to provide as complete a picture as possible of a subject's physical state of being.]

Well, then... here we are.

Comments

[empiricalpride]

[While being a test subject himself rubs a little the wrong way at Even's nerves, the logic behind the proposal was more than sound. A chance to analyse exactly what's happening on awakening a Persona? The very first data to be gathered from a newly manifested power? He wants to see it, very much.
The fact that he's going to have to be on the receiving end of the test... well. He's been through a lot worse in his life, that's for sure. So, hard as it is for him, he's swallowed his pride and come along.

Now, he starts peering around at the machinery, seeing just where everything came from and what he recognises.]

I see. How long has it taken you to construct this ... apparatus?

gonna reply again so it'll be Fumi -> Minako -> Even from this point on, it'll be easier later

[terminally_clever]

Quite a while, actually. It wasn't even half finished when it arrived here with me nine or so months ago. I was lucky to be able to obtain such high quality medical equipment via a very short-lived partnership I'd formed with another Visitor who happened to work at the hospital as a doctor. And with the help of a willing research subject to help me with the initial testing, I was able to get it up and running several months ago.

[She's clearly very proud of it.]

This is what we'll be using today. It's designed to provide a complete physiological profile of the subject - heart rate, blood pressure, brain activity... anything and everything that can be measured or quantified. I wrote the operating system from the ground up and programmed everything myself. It took a while to get everything working the way I wanted it to, but I've thoroughly validated my last few sets of results and I'm fully confident that it's in proper operating order.

[greatseal]

[Minako just smiles and nods through most of the details of the explanation... Fumi's clearly got this all under control, even if the lab looks like it belongs to a mad scientist.]

Just tell me where you need me, Fumi-san! [She has her Evoker with her as well, as requested. But until it's required, she's just another pair of hands to help with setup.]

[empiricalpride]

[Mad scientists' labs are the best sort of labs, of course.
Even nods along as he listens to the explanation himself, identifying the elements that she's referring to - he doesn't touch, not wishing to interfere with anything, but mentally working through the connections he's seeing.
At least he's not going to be the first person through the system, and that's a load off his mind. He knows that someone's always got to be - it's just he'd prefer it not to be him if it doesn't have to. Just caution, really.]

And for myself? What will I be needed to do?

sorry, had a frustrating past couple of days - getting back on this

[terminally_clever]

[Fumi gestures to the machine.]

Lie back in that chair there. I'll hook you up to the various probes that will monitor your vitals. We'll need to establish a baseline set of readings first, so for the moment you should simply relax and attempt to clear your mind.

[And then she glances back to Minako.]

After that, Arisato here will assist with the next phase of the experiment, which involves a forced awakening your Persona via the Evoker pistol. I'll allow her to explain that part herself while we get you hooked up properly.

[greatseal]

Right... This way, then!

[she'll just help Fumi with said hookups while she speaks.] The Evoker's a tool that helps you summon your Persona more quickly and easily. We used them back home all the time - it wasn't quite as simple to summon on your own there as it is here. All you have to do to use it is point it at your head, concentrate, and pull the trigger.

[but then she takes the Evoker out of her bag to show it to him.] It looks like a gun, though. That's usually people's first hurdle.

[empiricalpride]

[Even tries his best to settle back as the pair work at setting him up. This isn't so bad, is it? All fairly standard...

Then the Evoker comes out, and he almost dislodges their hard work from lunging forward, staring at it.]

Why in the worlds would they design it in that way?

[terminally_clever]

It's perfectly safe, despite the shape. City Hall will even provide loaners to new residents for the purposes of safely awakening their Personas.

[Fumi simply continues to dispassionately connect the various probes and things.]

Arisato, if you'd like to demonstrate?

[greatseal]

Of course.


[Minako backs up to a clearer area of the lab (this is kind of difficult to find...) then raises the Evoker to her temple without hesitation.]

Persona!

[There's a cracking sound, like shattering glass, and a blue light. A moment later Orpheus appears above and behind her. She lets the Persona hover for a short while, and then it fades away.]

The shape I can only guess at, but it's probably mostly because it's a simple design for combat. Anything else would look kind of clunky, don't you think?

[empiricalpride]

[Even simply stares as the shattering sound echoes through the laboratory and the figure materialises.
The first Persona he's ever seen. So this is the phenomenon in action...

He eventually drags himself back to his senses, throwing his smooth, professional front back into place.]

Y-yes. Practicality. I understand. It's simply an - unfortunate coincidence.

[That's what he's going to tell himself, anyway.]

[terminally_clever]

[Fumi, who has in the meantime finished hooking Even up and walked back over to the monitors, glances up from the screen.]

We'll wait a few minutes for the readings to return to baseline before it's your turn.

[Since some of them are jumping around like crazy after the whole Evoker thing.]

[greatseal]

A Persona naturally comes out most easily when you're afraid, so that could be part of it too.

[She's not so convinced on that point though. She doesn't fear her Evoker, and even people who are hesitant at first would get used to it after using it repeatedly.]

[empiricalpride]

A 'fight or flight' reaction. I see.

[If that's part of it, he's certainly in the right frame of mind... he's taking deep breaths, trying to prepare himself for the task ahead.]

[terminally_clever]

[Fumi waits silently for a few minutes for his breathing to even out, and then finally nods in Minako's direction.]

You may fire when ready, Arisato.

[She may be enjoying this a little too much.]

[greatseal]

[....maaaybe a little too much.

But Minako hands over the Evoker. It'll be better if he pulls the trigger himself.]

Here you are, Even-san. Fire when ready!

[Okay, Minako's enjoying it a little too much as well.]

[empiricalpride]

[Even nearly jumps again at the idea of having someone shoot him, even if it is with something that he's just seen demonstrated as perfectly safe - but he accepts the Evoker with a nod.]

...Very well.

[Shakily, he raises the Evoker to his head. Despite his best efforts, he's not the calmest here - he's breathing steadily, but his pulse is far less so. Still, he's not going to back down now. He's not going to lose face in front of these two. If that girl can do it, why can't he?

Glass shatters. Blue light flares.
After everything his heart's been through - it calls out the power that lies within.

Even's Persona awakens.

He looks at it in a state of shock.]

[terminally_clever]

[Fumi isn't even watching what's happening with Even on the other side of the room. She's far too interested in the readings she's getting right now. The smile on her face grows ever wider as she watches the various charts, graphs, and equations flicking by on her monitor, and her fingers fly across the keyboard as she takes down notations to study later.]

Fascinating. Elevated heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature... and brain activity in every cortex. Full activation of every nervous system cluster the body has.