[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

[themortalhalf]

Don't worry. They'll be sharing wall space eventually, learning to appreciate the fact that they both understand the virtues that come along with keeping one's mouth shut.

They don't need no damn social link.

"You never mentioned having a brother."

[greatseal]

Good. In her opinion, they both can use more friends. Even weird silent boy friendships.

"I know."

She doesn't explain. Ten years and half a dozen school changes had taught her to keep her past in a quiet place just for herself. Elaborating on the reasoning behind that decision would just negate it. "You know my parents died. It wasn't just them."

[themortalhalf]

He doesn't say anything.

Not fully explaining things is something Shinjiro, at least, can understand. It's something he'd never expect Minako to do, even though she's so much more open than closed-off bastards like himself. He knows there are issues people just didn't talk about, for whatever the reason, and that's all there is to it. There are certainly some parts to his past he'd prefer to stay dead and buried to everyone except himself, but those things had the habit of resurfacing over as the years went by, brushing away the earth and exposing the bones.

But still, that's ten fuckin' years. Might as well be an aeons in the scheme of things. She's been seeing dead men and seeing ghosts. It'd be like seeing Miki pop up after all these years. Except grown up, having lived a life the ones left on the other side of the looking-glass never got to see, because life's a messed up wonderland, and they're all just a little bit mad here.

It still didn't make complete sense, but—

"Okay."

He mulls it over for a moment.

"So this is what?" He doesn't even know. "Some sort of alternate timeline thing?"

[greatseal]

There's a reason so many of their conversations had been aimless chatter... Well, her chatting, and him listening and adding a word or two now and then.

It's because in her eyes the past doesn't matter as much as the present and future. She's Minako Arisato, the girl who likes to smile and play volleyball and watch TV and push around the boys she cares about. She's not Minako Arisato, the girl who lost her family. It happened, and it shaped her, but it doesn't define who she is now. That grief is hers alone, as the survivor, and she doesn't need to share it to honor them and move on.

That is - that's what she'd told herself, until today. Far too many ghosts had shown up at once.... herself included.

"That's how it seems... He came to Gekkoukan and lead SEES, just like me." ...She's actually a little surprised and proud of him for that. He must have changed some in ten years, to gain the role of leader instead of a quiet follower. Not that she doubted his ability to strategize - he'd just never been the one to grab the spotlight when they were children.

Then again, she probably would have made a huge fuss if he'd tried.

[themortalhalf]

A wry ghost of a smirk tugs at his lips. "Guess leading a band of hopeless misfits must run in the family."

But if the answer Minako was bringing to the table was true, it also meant that the Aki Shinjiro had just talked to moments ago wasn't the same Aki he himself had grown up with, just as he wasn't the Akihiko who could look Minako in the eyes and say "of course I remember you, how could I forget?" even if the both of him that existed had ultimately followed the same path in life, experienced the same experiences, before the path split. It's an odd thing to think about, and something he knows he shouldn't be dwelling on, especially not now, but it flashes across his mind anyway. Mostly because it's a surreal divide, even though it's probably not so different in the long run, just the opposite side of the same coin, still made out of the same metal, still eroded by the same things.

Though hell if he knows, which is half of why he asks: "How 'just like me' are we talkin'?"

How different is that other side of the coin?

[greatseal]

"Well he's a boy, so there must have been some differences."

...Okay, okay, she can be serious. "...I don't really know. There hasn't been that much time to talk... Things ended the same way, at least."

[themortalhalf]

He snorts.

He figured that much. It might have been a problem for his other self if it wasn't. He can't say he's ever been into guys.

He's about to reply, but stops when she continues on, and listens. So there it was. Guess that is as good of a confirmation as any that what Aki had told him still applied here. That she was gone, the sort of future he hadn't seen for her. He frowns then, and an entirely different kind of light enters his eyes for a few brief seconds in time, as he debates whether to pursue that admittance or let it be, and leave it at that.

But he decides not to stop.

"So how did it end?" is instead where he begins. Maybe it's just the need to confirm things with his own eyes and with his own ears. "You don't have to answer if you don't want. Or lie. Won't make any difference to me."

He'll believe what she'll tell him, even if he senses it isn't true. He can pretend Aki didn't say anything. Easy enough. He's dead, after all, so what does it matter in the end? He won't see it. He won't be there. Let Minako write her own damn ending if she wants.

[greatseal]

"...I wouldn't lie to you." The fact that he even suggested it concerns her also. Does that mean he already knows something else? Or maybe she's reading into it too much. "It's a long story, though. A lot of things happened after... that night."

[themortalhalf]

No. No she wouldn't. He didn't think he had ever heard her lie. ""The Dark Hour gone?"

[greatseal]

She smiles. "It is. We finished things at the end of January... It was Graduation Day before I arrived here."

She pauses, as the activity near the front of the room begins to increase. The men in suits are returning. "...But it looks like it's about time to go."

[themortalhalf]

Good fuckin' riddance.

There's an almost palpable sense of relief that surrounds him when he hears that. It crosses over into his expression and slowly reaching his eyes, ghost-like. He hated it, seeing all the transmogrified coffins lining the streets every night, and the Shadows that sometimes came with it. He hated the way the city itself seemed to warp and decay, covered by a perpetually green cast. And then to see Tartarus rise up in the distance, knowing what kinds of monstrosities existed there and feeling Castor lurking at the back of his mind—that had always been more than enough.

Now that the Dark Hour was gone back home, he could breathe just a little bit easier. That meant that Aki (his stupid little idiot) wouldn't have to fight in Tartarus anymore. That moron had been so bound and determined to climb Tartarus, to fight his way through every floor, like he had something to prove. He wanted to reach the top so bad, if only to prove that he could, and once he had reached its top-most tower, Shinji had always imagined he'd then set his sights on the goddamn moon.

The Dark Hour being gone also meant that Amada wouldn't have to deal with having flashbacks of his mother dying every night once the clock hands struck twelve, suddenly surrounded by emptiness and coffins full of people who didn't believe him. No kid should have to deal with that, no matter how mature they think they are.

And it means so many other things, and he can only be glad for it.

He turns his head a second later when Minako's voice again reaches his ears, watching the men in suits Minako had spotted scurry in, and he immediately grits his teeth. "Yeah, I guess so."

But Graduation Day? That makes his frown deepen. If the Dark Hour had been gone since January, then how did she—

"One more thing before we go."

[greatseal]

She's increasingly certain that he's going to ask the question she'd been trying to stall. Not hide, because it has to be said eventually. She'd just basically promised to tell him everything, after all. But maybe she could wait a little. Until things were peaceful and there was a little more time between her and her emotions...

But he's asking now. She can't avoid an answer. "What's that?"

[themortalhalf]

Don't give him that look. Shinjiro all ready knows the answer to that question, and can sense, in a way, that she's stalling—that she's not ready to tell him, even if she's willing. He can see it in her body language, in the uncomfortably rigid lines. In fact, he almost doesn't want know the details. Almost doesn't want to know what it was that stole her life away, except that he knows that if he doesn't set the question to rest and hears it from her, he'll make up for it by imagining all the ways that she could have.

But that time doesn't have to be now.

He tosses her the spear that he's been holding, trusting her to catch it, before pivoting on his heels, and shoving his hands deep into their pockets where they belong. She should be dwelling on happier things. She's had enough death to deal with for one day—and probably a lifetime. Hell if he'll ruin that smile of hers. Aki all ready did a good job of that today.

It's suddenly harder than it should be to look her in the eyes, but he does. He also manages to smile. He can do that for her at least. "I'm glad you're here."

And he means it, though it's probably selfish of him to say.

[greatseal]

She catches the weapon neatly, but with a touch of confusion until he speaks. Not a question, but a statement coupled with a rare real glimpse at his feelings.

Her smile isn't ruined, not for the present. There's no way she'd stop smiling when he's now giving her the look that never fails to melt her heart.

"...I'm glad you're here too."

If he's selfish, then she's selfish too.

[themortalhalf]

Heh.

"I need to get a weapon." It's true enough, even if it feels like a flimsy excuse. He should get one before the men in black start yapping orders. He doubts they're going to take them on a picnic. "I'll be back."

He doesn't wait for her to answer and just moves, melting into the crowd and leaving the way he came.

Why couldn't the damn fucking world have just left her alone?