[Game Opening, Part 3 - A Call To Action]

[stringmods]

Who: (Everyone OPEN LOG)
Where: (City Hall)
Summary: (After your Arrival and being Explained the Situation...things start to get a little...tense)
Warnings: (Action)
Style: (The text is in prose, but feel free to write back in action tags if you feel more comfortable.)

After questions were answered, a man finally appears into the room, after having talked with his daughter.

"I apologize for making you all wait."

After introducing himself, Takeharu begins to explain in more detail what they've learned from this world. He goes on about the life in the city, the hurdles they had to overcome...and the strange phenomenon of the 13th hour.

"...and once midnight hits, a 13th hour commences. We had a name for a similar phenomenon in my world; the Dark Hour. However, this one doesn't seem to be caused by rampaging Shadows. We are still investigating as to why it exists...and in due time you might aid us in this task. You will all be able to observe it for yourselves quickly enough, although I would strongly suggest doing so in your own apartments. Not only are you all new visitors, previous Persona users or otherwise, but the moon is full tonight, which means the demonic population will be at a dangerous, aggressive level."

"Now before we continue, we should talk about the--"

Aries Sector : SECURED.

Taurus Sector: WARNING! SECTOR F1 CURRENTLY COMPROMISED!

Gemini Sector: WARNING! SECTOR E8 & E9 CURRENTLY COMPROMISED!

Cancer Sector: SECURED.

Leo Sector: SECURED.

Virgo Sector: WARNING! SECTOR A7 CURRENTLY COMPROMISED!

Libra Sector: WARNING! SECTOR G5 CURRENTLY COMPROMISED!

Scorpio Sector: SECURED.

Sagittarius Sector: WARNING! SECTOR C4 & B4 CURRENTLY COMPROMISED!

Capricorn Sector: WARNING! SECTOR A3 CURRENTLY COMPROMISED!

Aquarius Sector: SECURED.

Pisces Sector: SECURED.

"I repeat..."

"Damn! Six out of Twelve," A gruff-looking man stepped into the room. Judging from his outfit, he was important.

"I only know one group who's able to pull this off...the Anoli."

Takeharu looks at Kiyoshi and both men nod silently.

"We were going to talk about this later, but we don't have much time to explain who they are..."

More men appear; members of the city's Special Assault Team. About half of the men have a small flame insignia on their uniform's elbow; this signifies they are Persona users.

While Takeharu explains to the new arrivals, Kiyoshi is busy on some screens, and is talking to others by holographic projection.

"Give me a status report!"

"Sir! I've got two men down here. The doors are holding but we'll need backup as soon as you can give it to me!"

"I've got a group in route, and soon a Persona team as well."

"Reiko and myself are holding, but I believe they've been sending the blunt of their force here and in the Gemini area. No doubt to steal the prototypes we've been working on..."

"We should be able to fight them back for now, but I can't tell how many they are."

"I've got team Beta heading over. I'll send a team of Users as well."

"Sir! Massive attack in the Virgo Sector! They've broken some of the fences holding back the demonic population. There's risk of civilian casualties at this rate..."

"DAMMIT! Send a team of Wands there to patch that up as soon as they are available. I'll send a team with them to protect while they do their work."


"Sir! The Gemini Power Plant is under attack! I think they're attempting a blackout so they can get into the Laboratory."

"This is a nightmare. And where is--"

"--he went off to fight them."

"DAMMIT! We can't let him get harmed. I'm sending a team after him."

"Libra's Coin Office Tower is under attack, Sir! They're trying to get to the upper levels where we have the monetary databanks."

"A heist as well...damn they really went all out for this one...trying to cripple us from all angles."

When he's finally done, he turns over to the entire crowd. His voice is as booming as his body language. Despite the crisis he is calm and collected, easy to see why he is the Commissioner General.

"Alright listen up, since I can't repeat myself twice! We have a major crisis our hands. Anoli have broken into six sectors and my men can't fight all of them at once. None of you know me and I only know your names. Most of you haven't used a Persona yet, but I bet you've all got a few tricks up your sleeves. Magic, Weapons, Technology, whatever it is, bring it with you and we'll form you into teams. We were going to do this much more quietly later, but it looks like the Anoli have a different idea."

"Priority number one is to protect all civilians and to keep deaths as low as possible, even against the Anoli. Disarm, disable, diswhatever, as long as it's not kill and destroy. I'd rather let them in jail and face justice than to spill even more blood from this conflict." He turns around and starts to leave,

"If any of you lack weapons, talk to Q. I'm sure he'll be happy to provide you with some."

Policemen swarm around him and they start to go off in work and prepare, leaving you a bit of time before you are all called out in groups.

[OOC - Groups will be rolled later tonight, and then each mission will get it's own log. Those who wish to join in the first mission must do so in the sign-up post [LINKED HERE], but signing up doesn't mean you'll get picked - only that you are okay with joining this mission.]

Comments

[meaningdies]

Naoya just chuckles a bit. It seems Atsuro doesn't remember.

... Wait. Babel? Strange. It's almost as if Atsuro thinks he was there...

"Mm. Shouldn't you be asking the priestess that? You guys moved on without me, remember?"

[otakuro]

"...The priestess?"

Atsuro will blink in confusion for a moment or two.

"No, we -- Of course you were there. I know I'm pretty good, but there's no way we could have cracked into Babel without you."

Atsuro's a pretty smart guy. Alternate worlds. One where the demons had been sent by aliens, one where the demons were called Shadows but shared the exact same abilities...

Why not one where Naoya had never agreed to help them? A look of dawning realization begins to spread across his face.

[meaningdies]

He's realized it too.

"What did he decide to do in your world?"

There were so many paths, after all. Of course he could have chosen to taken a different one...

[otakuro]

"He... He agreed with me, in the end. We weren't going to let angels or demons take control of humanity. ...You understood, too."

Atsuro pauses for a moment, a plea expressed in his serious features. Try to understand that humanity had to forge their own path, Naoya.

"In yours, he... sided with Amane and the angels?"

[meaningdies]

... Interesting. It's an option he can work with, though not the ideal one.

The corner of his mouth twitches a bit. "He did. I tried to persuade him, but he would not be stopped."

[otakuro]

"Yeah."

Atsuro lowers his gaze thoughtfully.

"It was always his choice in the end, no matter what anyone else had to say. Probably... His personality wasn't exactly the same. Different things might have happened during the lockdown. ...So, a different result. But I... I would have stuck with him no matter what he chose."

[meaningdies]

He's grateful for that, though he wouldn't ever say that to him directly.

"You stuck with him then, too. I have to say, though - you in particular improved even more than I expected you to."

Naoya makes a bit of a show rubbing his jaw. "Your strength is rather impressive."

[otakuro]

"...I'm guessing you're not talking about my stats."

Atsuro manages a smile.

"Hah, thanks. ...You said so yourself, right? The only choice I had was to get better or to die. And it'd be too bad to deprive the world of Naoya's #1 Apprentice."

A flash of feeling, a memory of old times, runs through him briefly. (Old times...? Just seven days!) His relationship with this person, he knew now, had been almost entirely a farce, his only role to act as a pawn in this game between Cain and Abel. He couldn't help but wish it were otherwise.

He couldn't help but think, perhaps, that it could still be otherwise.

[meaningdies]

"That too. And that it would be." He chuckles a little bit.

Yes, he had been a pawn... but an important one. A pawn helps to protect the king, after all - and Atsuro had done so, as he had expected. After all, Atsuro had been the one to crack open all of the functions and figure out how to use them quickly, hadn't he?

He didn't expect the boy to really trust him again... but Atsuro had latched onto things even faster than he had hoped, initially. Perhaps the boy would surprise him again.

[otakuro]

If Atsuro had any major personality flaw, it was clinging on too hard to people he considered friends, no matter what paths they ended up choosing. Naoya, Keisuke, even the potential King of the Bels if he had gone that route. He could forgive nearly anything for the sake of loyalty.

Still. It was too soon to say more than that he believed there was still good in Naoya. The calamity and horror of the lockdown would stay fresh in his mind for some time...

"Ah - I guess we should reminisce some other time. What do you think about all this, Naoya? You... know things that I couldn't even guess at."

[meaningdies]

"About all of this? It's too soon to draw any real conclusions - other than the fact that they need people to fight, and they're obviously in need of them quickly. They appear to be prepared, but if they really are then why do they need us? They've shown that they have residents with this power already. There must be something different about us to validate the massive energy cost in bringing us here - but as for what that quality is... I haven't met a large enough sample size of those brought here to be able to determine."

He shook his head. It was all too little information. And that 'terrorist' group... there had to be some reason behind their actions, even if it was flimsy.

"For now I'd suggest going along with their requests, at least on the surface. Keep your eyes open, though."

[otakuro]

Atsuro nods slightly.

"I mean, the first thing I thought was... why me -- why us? But not..." The person he's thinking of who would be much better qualified for the situation is obvious. "They were either desperately choosing at random, or there's some part of the picture we're missing. ...Well, there's a lot of parts missing, but where is it that we fit in?"

He shakes his head slightly. "I'm not so sure about the energy, either. It doesn't seem like that guy - the one in the mask - had any trouble bringing us here at all."

[meaningdies]

Of course he is. But there must be some reason... as for the last statement, though -

"Nothing is free. Even if it's not energy, there was some significant effort made. Even for a powerful being, there's nothing that doesn't come without some kind of cost."

If nothing else, there was opportunity cost.

[otakuro]

"Heh... Well. Whatever it is, we've just got to make the best of us. This isn't anywhere near as bad as things were at home, anyway."

He will discreetly neglect to mention whose fault that was.

[meaningdies]

"It seems so, at least."

Shh. We're not talking about that.