[Game Opening, Part 4 : Mission 1 - Take Out the Bull by the Horns]

[stringmods]

Who: Yu, Akihiko, Kanji, Minako, Guybrush, Link (Ocarina of Time), Shinjiro, Margaret, Yosuke, Kotetsu, Barnaby, Daichi, Gentarou, Mitsuru
Where: Middle of the F1 in Taurus; Nyx's Night Club.
Summary: Taurus Sector Mission
Warnings: Drinking, Smoking, Swearing, Brothels, Naughty Persona, Implied Everything.


You might feel a little out of your league. After they took you into a room where a series of robots cleaned and dressed you up, you were all put inside a limousine together. There appears to be a lot of drinks inside, but go easy on the rum! You need to keep your wits about you soon. Your driver is one of the many men in black from the Government. You are all members of a rich family; it says so on your fake entrance cards. No need to wait in line like the other peons, oh no, you get to come in as guests of honor.

Your mission is Calculated Infiltration.

And not just anywhere, but Nyx's Night Club! The hottest nightclub, it also requires a strict dressing code. According to the Government's Task force, the source of the disturbance detected in the sector is in the lower levels. Unfortunately, it is heavily guarded and with a lot of civilians nearby, quite possibly drunk, you cannot just waltz in. First step will be locating your double agent and contact who will supply you with a password. Using your COMP system, you should be able to locate them in the large crowd that has gathered tonight. No name, and no clue or idea who they are. Simply that your audio function will register a match when you do find them.

Of course, this is Nyx's Nightclub! Like everything else here, it's got a rather shady side. The Brothel and Drug Cartel below are your true targets. Word is that one of the heads of Anoli is a honored guest, and that the bar's owner is a sympathizer.

As in every city, there is a fine line between tolerance and allowing your foes to go around as they please. Whatever they are conducting down there, it had the sirens going off. You need to find out why, exactly.


Lucky you.

As you enter the Club, music starts blaring into your ears, as lasers, lights, drinks, and people dancing in cages surround you in a visual and audio orgy. It's hard to see, but you need to stay in character, and find your contact. Once one of you does, you can proceed on.

[OOC : For now, you can start threads trying to find their contact, OR there reaction to being there. MINGLE AS A TEAM IF YOU WANT :3. As with every log like this, ONCE THEY GET TO THE LOWER LEVELS, you are free to start your own thread and have your characters stop swarm of monsters on your own. Don't forget to write your character's Persona awakening later on as well!]

Comments

[themortalhalf]

"Like I said, maybe it's because I know what kind of guy I'm not. I'm not"—elegant or refined or someone you'd want to be seen dancing with if you would just take two minutes to think about it— "like that."

He'd probably step on her feet and shit.

(Even though he wouldn't.)

It isn't his way. He's got calluses on his hands from working nightshifts sometimes at the Port's docks, unloading supplies that come in, sometimes until the first hints of sunrise, working with people who don't give a damn how old you are, only that you can work.

They're not hands that lead a girl gently along the dance room floor. That's reserved for people who are from a softer world than he is.

[greatseal]

"I wouldn't mind if you stepped on my feet."

It's not reading his mind, just reading his expression and going from there. In her view he's treading the line now between 'I'm just not interested' and 'I'm afraid to be.' As long as reality falls into the last category, she finds it her duty to keep pushing.

[themortalhalf]

He arches an eyebrow. That's good of an observation as any, stuck somewhere in the road in-between the dichotomy. In the middle of the answer he's always falled back on and refined and the perhaps more honest one that lies beneath.

"Yeah?"

Let's see how good you are at hearing the words spoken in silence then.

Because he would.

[greatseal]

"Mmhm... But I think you'd learn fast."

She knows he doesn't like hurting her even if she asks for it.

[themortalhalf]

"...It ain't that simple."

His eyes dart forward, scanning the crowd. The demons. People. Picking out faces, reading them. Checking every now and then if a voice registers on his device. After a moment, he chooses a direction, to cut through the thick of the crowd and weave.

"This way."

[greatseal]

Well, now she can't predict what he's planning anymore, so she does what he asks. Weaving through the crowd in his wake, also keeping an eye on his own device. This evening is definitely about business even if she's been having as much fun as she can. Being taller than her he's at least easy to spot, so she doesn't get lost even when they cross the thickest part of the room.

[themortalhalf]

Not so much planning as falling back on an old failsafe, leaning on it like a crutch. When he needed to clear his head, he moved; when he needed to escape Aki's worried, nagging eyes, he left the conversation. The impulse ran deep, almost like the electric undercurrent of noise pulsing through the nightclub. It also helped him concentrate and worry less. It was better when his mind wasn't left to wander and brood.

And they did need to search. The sooner they were out of here, the happier he'd be.

But he notices, after a minute, almost guiltily—when he looks back to check on her after confirming negatives on his COMP, seeing that she's just behind but keeping up—that in a way he's almost left her. Maybe it's strange since he's the one leading the way, so used to following. That's how dancing works, too, doesn't it. One leads while the other follows? Tch.

He stops, and half turns. He then offers her his arm—almost his hand, but thinks better of it—as they still need to get through the other half. "C'mon." The less savory creatures here might get ideas if she's alone.

...Not that she can't handle herself, mind.

"Why dancing?"

[greatseal]

She takes the arm happily enough; it actually is a lot easier to follow this way, and to avoid unwanted attention.

"Why?" She pauses. There's nothing important behind the idea. Does she really need a reason? "I just thought it might be fun. I wanted to do something with you."

[themortalhalf]

No, she doesn't need a reason, and never did, but the "whys" of things are a part of Shinjiro's perennial question. It's his way of trying to stitch together reason, the grand motivations that are behind each individual's words and actions, as if everything in life was a twisted tangle of thread that had to be unwound in order to understand why things were how they were, rather than just accepting the fact that maybe there really wasn't a solid reason with roots that ran miles deep.

In his mind, underneath the slightest haze of grey there was always a hot burning fire. Nothing could ever really be all that simple, because his life had always been complicated, and he had long ago accepted that that was just how things were and how they were always going to be. People never approached you so they could befriend you just because they could, it was always because they wanted something, and everything after that was insubstantial. It could never be something so simple as "maybe I just wanted to be with you for a little while," because, in his mind, why would anyone outside of Aki (who he grew up with) want to be with him, especially when he had made no effort to foster relationships or make himself likable? He certainly didn't have an approachable aura about him, knew he didn't act like someone with a friendly sunshine-fueled disposition. So why would Fuuka still want him to teach her how to cook after all he did was scold her and tell her everything she was doing was wrong? Why would everyone in the dorm get up and bug him all of a sudden about things—approaching him with the most meaningless of conversations ("Heyyyy that food was good, man. You should do it again sometime! I was just thinking that maybe—") just because he had made food for them once?

Really? That was it?

What. The. Hell. Is. Wrong. With. All. Of. You.

How could the hell could things be that simple? Is that all he really had to do to make people happy? (Because if so, that was hilarious. Haha. Because what the fucking hell? What kind of life was he living?) There had to be something more to it, some complex equation he just wasn't getting, because he didn't know how people with normal lives acted and lived. Was this what being normal meant? That you could looking stop looking for the exposed bones in people's closets to tell you why things were?

He was starting to understand, but old habits died hard, and asking 'why,' even if only to himself, was something that was not going to fade away quietly, if it would ever completely disappear at all. Things like this still bewildered him to some degree or other. Why Minako even liked him (or had even bothered from that first day he arrived in September) was still a question he asked himself daily.

He sighs. Shit, he's bad at this. That question probably sounded like it was meant to be an interrogation. "I didn't mean it to sound—shit. Forget I asked." He wasn't sure how even to explain, really. Put things into words, or even if he wanted to explain or could. That's just how he was.

[greatseal]

He doesn't need to explain. Even if she doesn't understand it fully, she can sense enough of the feelings behind his words to answer.

"It's forgotten." She doesn't stop there, though. It wouldn't be Minako without giving him some kind of catch. "But in return... you need to pick out something you do want to do together later. Deal?"

This... is actually dangerous. The flirting, the teasing... She knows she's moving into territory she's likely going to regret. There's still things she hasn't told him about what happened after he went to the hospital, things he deserves to know before he gets himself involved with her again. Things that she's afraid might hurt him. But she still can't stay away.

She may have ignored it for four months but her heart still knows everything she'd told him before is true. Everything, including those three important words. The question was... when everything came out, would he still believe that? Would he still want to?

Maybe she really is still stalling for time.

[themortalhalf]

There's always a catch.

Hell if he knows if there's actually anything decent to do in this city. He doesn't have any of his old failsafes to fall back on. If the rest of Hinoto-ri is as seedy as this place, he'll be taking her to see movies about baby demon puppies.

He half laughs until series of coughs cuts it short. You would think that being dead would have rid him of that. He had been looking forward to not having to feel like something was ripping apart his lungs. "….Guess I don't have much of a choice when you put it like that." She'd probably force and nag and badger her way through his door again. In fact, she'd probably would just skip the pleasantries and break the damn thing down this time around. "I'll think of something."

[greatseal]

The sudden coughing fit concerns her more than any future plans, so she tugs his sleeve slightly. "It sounds like you need some water. The restrooms are over there..." She doesn't think going to the bar to ask for just water would work well for their cover story.

[themortalhalf]

No, it wouldn't. But that won't matter too far into the future once Kanji and Yu fight their way into idiocy. And there are others he's been keeping an eye on.

"Don't need it." What was he going to do, anyway, stick his head under the tap? Wasn't going to chance trying anything the bar offered either. Didn't trust it, and it wasn't going to help. What they needed to do was find the contact, but all his COMP was doing was bring up bold, red-colored negatives.

[greatseal]

Wow, Shinji, way to totally disregard your health! "Well if you choke, I'm not going to perform CPR."

Except she would. Especially when he's not actually choking.

[themortalhalf]

And no one was surprised.gif.

"Good. Because you're not supposed to worry about it."

He also hopes you'd try the heimlich first before trying to break his ribs and coerce him into breathing.

Hugging is, after all, the first step of foreplay. And he'd actually be conscious for it.

[greatseal]

"I don't think you can stop me."

She makes no promises.

[themortalhalf]

If he's learned one thing during his month's stay at the dorm, it's that stopping Minako from doing anything is pretty much an exercise in futility.

He sighs, starting to walk. "Do what you want. It's still nothing you should concern yourself with. Like I said, it ain't anything contagious."

Worry about something else. Like whether or not your brother is a narcoleptic.

[greatseal]

"Hmm...." But, she leaves it at that, for the present. She's no doctor, but she doubts there wouldn't be some side effects from being pulled out of a coma into another world. But, he's not falling over at least, and she doesn't actually know about his little pill problem. Akihiko never saw fit to explain it in her presence...

But she still has room to deal with Minato's issues and yours too.

[themortalhalf]

And she's not going to find out about his little pill problem because he's never going to tell her about it. It's just one of the many things he hopes stays buried this time around. It's something that isn't going to change, because he can't let it change.

He has half a mind to just let some well-deserved silence take the helm, watching her out of the corner of of his eye. He's sure he's seen that look before. One of those prying things, like it was a bullet that had every intention of piercing through steel.

"Look," he says, "they want us to fight for them, don't they? I doubt they'd bring in a defective product that couldn't do its job."

[greatseal]

"That's not what I meant. I know you're strong." But strength doesn't really mean anything against a bullet. Against an accident. If he's reckless again...

Pushing things now over what's probably just a cold isn't going to help. She squeezes his arm to forcibly change the subject. "Come on, let's keep looking."

[themortalhalf]

I know that's not what you meant, is what his grey eyes say as he drops the topic without another word.

He leads her through the demon-infused crowd that’s mingling beneath the harsh, strobing streaks of light. He weaves past some, circling behind others, while carefully avoiding a handful altogether. He scans their faces for anything that might be a hint of unpredatory interest, eyes flickering to the COMP to see if the voices register.

Nothing.

In the silence he thinks that this is why he had tried so hard to keep things as they were back home—platonic and uninvolved. The more attached you became to someone, the harder it was to accept the less desirable things life had in store. The more difficult it was to accept that one future you had seen coming a long time ago, wondering, perhaps for the first time, if maybe there was something you could do to change it.

He looks up at the multi-colored lights that threaten to blind him, all of it suddenly as surreal as the racing undercurrent of music that seems to pulse beneath the floor like a heartbeat. At the demons that aren’t quite Shadows, at the cages, and the humans that co-exist in the space between. And then it hits him, harder than in the moments after he first opened his eyes, that he’s alive, for whatever reason. It’s September again (didn't he hear someone say that it was the first? Or is it the second by now?), and October 4th is still more than a month away. It’s almost like he’s been sent back to live that one month over again, except the world's a little more screwed up this time around.

“...I’ll think about it," he says. "The dancing thing.”

[greatseal]

She looks up, genuine surprise in her face. That wasn't what she was expecting him to come up with next. But then she smiles, brightly and without any trace of the earlier concern.

"I'll look forward to it, if you decide to. ...But we can find a better place for it."

[themortalhalf]

"Anywhere would be better than this."

He's not offering to put on a show in front of a hundred demon spectators. That idea can go to hell.

[greatseal]

She's not going to laugh. She's not going to laugh.

....Sorry, Shinji, she's laughing. His expression is just too much.

[themortalhalf]

"What?"