The Search for the Newcomers, November 2012 Edition.

[stringmods]

Who: Open to Everyone, but only Newly Accepted Characters can start threads.
Where: All around the city, anywhere from the 5th to the 20th.
Summary: Newcomers arrive and by now the Government is more ready and sends everyone out to go people hunting.
Warnings: ARRIVALS. Also assume the first thread is the ones who tell you about the city, and the other tags for the character can be talking with others in the city and learning more about it.

[FOR THOSE IN THE CITY:]
They were getting much better at this, it was for certain.

The COMPS had been upgraded with a new program, HORUS which allowed them to spot abnormalities; if something or someone showed up suddenly in a city that was constantly scanned, then there was a high probability it was a newcomer. There was also a sort of left energy from the travel; the Wise Men called it leftover Magatama Residue, where the magical energy used to pull them to this world and keep the String intact was still faintly present around them. It wouldn't last more than a few minutes, however, and due to the fact they could appear in most parts of the city, it made finding the newcomers was both easy yet frustratingly difficult. As the blips appear on your radar function, they were nice enough to calculate for you the best transport and destination routes to take to get there.

Now it was just left up to chance and make sure you got there fast enough that you were still able to find them relatively easily. For the most part, the fact they stuck out would most certainly help...

[FOR THOSE WHO JUST ARRIVED:]
You're not in your homeworld anymore. That much is evident. So how do you feel? Happy? Sad? Troubled? A little of all three? No matter what, the memories of a butterfly man named Philemon are fading like a dream; you'll remember the details, but perhaps not everything he has said.

There is one word that stays with you, however.

Persona.

So...here to save the city, huh? First you'll need to find out more information. And who knows, maybe a familiar face or two...

[OOC: As stated above, only new characters can start a thread, but feel free to jump in any of them. characters arrive with their clothing and whatever items they had on them the moment they were taken; the remaining items will be later found in their apartments.]

Comments

[selfgodded]

Anant was well aware of their follower, but wasn't truly bothered by it. They were used to being followed - normally by a group of people, but still, this was somewhat familiar. When the person began to speed up to walk alongside them, however...

"Yes," Anant abruptly stopped, tilting their head to the side in a bird-like manner as they surveyed the strange woman intensely. Luca might even see an eerie glow of yellow in the narrow eye slits.

"Are you a welcomer? That is very polite, extremely so. Tell me what world I have been brought to, that commanded my assistance of help."

[trulyworthit]

Wow, yellow eyes, too? It's like a big bag of don't go there... but, she has to go there. Besides, they'll still not threatening. Luca's had weirder customers! She stops alongside him, politely folding her hands in front of her.

"Oh, well- I'm not, like, a professional welcomer..." She half-smiles, a bit apologetic. "But, I was in your situation. This is Hinoto-Ri!" She unfolds her hands and makes a gesture to the streets around them. "I don't know if it's 'commanding our assistance'... but, we're here now."

[selfgodded]

"Hinoto-Ri."

Anant repeated the name slowly, the word obviously foreign on their tongue, and they suddenly let out a cheerful noise, placing their hands against their mask in a show of exaggerated happiness.

"The name...I like it! I see, I see..." They lowered their hands, tilting their head again. "So who are you, if not a professional welcomer? Oh, is it empathy that drove you to welcome me? How fascinating..."

[trulyworthit]

Well, there was a bit of incentive... but Luca isn't prone to admit it. Since she's already mentally classified this newcomer as a bit of a weirdo. Still, it's good even a weirdo can acknowledge that's she's empathetic, sympathetic, any of those good -etics.

"Yeah! I mean, I've only been here a month. I still remember how scary it was..." She ducks her head, putting on a good show of how delicate and affected she must have been then. "Oh, but, my name!" She perks up and ducks her head again, this time in a formal bow. When she raises her head, she's smiling again.

"My name's Luca Trulyworth. The world I'm from is called Metafalss."

[selfgodded]

"Luca Trulyworth of Metafalss. I have never heard of that world," Anant commented, and they pressed a hand against their chest, tipping their upper body forwards in an exaggerated, friendly bow. Get used to that, Luca - every gesture of Anant is exaggerated.

"I shall give you my name, but first you must answer a question. Am I male or female to you?"

[trulyworthit]

"... Huh?" That question catches her off-guard. Is it a trick question? Can she guess wrong? She wasn't prepared for this! She glances side to side, considering the best answer.

"Um- well..." She blushes a bit. "You have sort of a- masculine angle to you?..." She can't quite meet Anant's eyes mask. Oh, no, she hopes she didn't mess it up. Better start planning excuses in advance. The light hid your figure? The mask makes it difficult? Ugh!

[selfgodded]

Anant straightened up and clapped their hands together. "Male?" There was a brief pause, one where the strange, masked individual stared intently at Luca before promptly settling their hands on their hips. "Very well! Then my name is Leo of the Wastelands. It is a pleasure to meet you, as manners dictate I say."

[trulyworthit]

Wow, 100% weird!!!

"Leo... That's a really cool-sounding name!" As manners dictated she smile and say. "It's nice to meet you, too! It sounds like you come from a tough place..." Not that Metafalss used to be any better. Anyways, some people are very happy in their worn down wastelands.

[selfgodded]

"Yes, it was very tough," Anant replied, their - or rather, his now - voice adopted a dreamy quality to it. "It truly was a battle of existence - only the most stubborn of species survived there. It was quite inspiring, actually!"

[trulyworthit]

"I- Inspiring?..." Luca bites her lip to keep from adding anything. The phrase 'battle of existence' didn't bring any inspiring images to her mind. Poor people, stepped-on people. Usually, only the people who had food could stop and talk about how inspiring that kind of survival was.

[selfgodded]

"Yes! Inspiring!" Anant gushed, pressing his hands against his mask as if cupping his cheeks. "No matter how hungry we got, no matter how many people we lost, no matter how cold the nights were...we survived and lived on! Quite contentedly. Happiness is fleeting, I believe, and yet they still managed to find ways to smile about the situation. I was envious of them, to be able to feel happiness. It is an emotion that still eludes me."

Despite Anant's words of being unable to feel happiness, he sounded quite cheery regardless. A very contradictory individual, wasn't he?

[trulyworthit]

So contradictory! And it seems like he's entirely serious about it all...

"It eludes you? So, wait- you've never been happy?" Luca seems surprised. Even during the darkest time of her life, she can still remember times she was happy. "Never in your whole life?"

[selfgodded]

"I can imitate it," Anant said, nodding slightly. "Like now. You pitch your voice half a note higher, use airy tones, exaggerated movements, and some humans jump about excitedly or gesture energetically! Of course, angry people do that as well, but their voices are deeper and louder, as they try to intimidate the party they are angry towards."

Anant slumped slightly. "Of course, it is trickier than I thought...humans are very complex creatures, and are not so obvious with their emotions. They are prone to displaying one emotion, where in fact they feel another? How can that be...? How do they manages to, separate..."

Anant tilted his head to the side like a curious bird, lifting a hand up to scratch his head. "Confusing..."

[trulyworthit]

"Um, well-" Luca's voice wavers a little. She doesn't want to admit all the reasons people fake it. To get stuff, to avoid fights, to be liked...

"I guess I never really thought about it." She slumps her shoulders a bit. "But, Leo- you said you could imitate it, right? It's like that. Like- if you were scared and you didn't want someone to notice that. Or..." her modest expression is a little less fake, "if the people around you are happy and you don't want them to feel sad for you." She folds her hands, idly rocking back and forth on her heels.

"It doesn't seem that complicated, when you're just doing it."

[selfgodded]

Anant was quiet for a long moment, but it was obvious he was frowning behind his mask.

"So, to be considerate of others' feelings or perceptions of them, they hide their emotions to appear something else?" he asked, lifting a hand to cup his chin in a thoughtful pose. "I see... that makes some sense. Humans are very sensitive to others' moods, so if one does not want to make the other upset, or reveal that they are angry..."

Anant suddenly clapped his hands together. "So! Humans imitate emotions as well! Ahh, I am closer then to fully understanding their complexity! If I imitate, and they imitate, surely we are even more similar! Ahh..."

The masked individual pressed their hands against their cheeks, making strange noises of what could be tentatively called fangirl happiness.

[trulyworthit]

"That's-" Close enough! "That's right!" Luca claps her hands along with him. "You're learning!" Clap, clap, clap!

[selfgodded]

Anant swiftly copied Luca's motions, clapping merrily along with her. "I love learning! It makes me happy to realise important aspects of humanity! Thank you very much, Luca!"

You could almost see the hearts floating above his head.

[trulyworthit]

"Eheh," Luca laughs lightly. "You're welcome? It doesn't seem like much, but... I do like helping!" Or at least looking helpful.

"Oh! Speaking of which, do you have your ID yet?" She removes the mysterious, invisible-when-it-feels-like-it card from her sleeve. A simple tap causes the card and information to appear. Luca's smiling face beams from the passport photo. "You'll need one of these to identify yourself."

[selfgodded]

"I do not know. I don't recall it being given to me upon arrival, unless that Philemon being gave it...?"

Anant tilted his head, his entire aura giving off that he was frowning. After a pause he reluctantly started patting his large coat down, and pulling out the pockets. Strange rocks, crumpled foil, cards and round pieces of metal tumbled onto the floor -

As well as a cracked, dirtied camera.

Anant quickly snatched it up with lightning fast movements before that fell onto the floor though, carefully cradling it with a small noise. "Ah! Amost broke this..."

[trulyworthit]

"Oh-" Luca will quickly kneel down to pick up the other fallen items. Yeah, they just looked like junk, but she had to be considerate! She does pay careful attention to the camera, though.

"It's safe, right? Don't worry about the card," she speaks quickly, "We can go to City Hall, I think? And get yours there. It's no big deal." She cradles the junk very carefully in her hands to offer it back.

[selfgodded]

"It's safe," Anant said, turning the camera over in his hands before his head tilted up slightly. He was gazing contemplatively at Luca, and without warning he lifted up the camera and snapped a picture of Luca when she held up his dropped possessions.

"There we are. Now I have a picture of the unofficial welcomer," he said, sounding absolutely thrilled as he stashed the camera away into his coat pocket.

[trulyworthit]

"Ah-" Luca was used to a lot of strange behavior. She was used to some people taking her picture. But still- so abruptly- what if her hair was out of place. Her face flushes red.

"H-hey, that's- um!" At least make it a good picture! "... h-here. The things you dropped!" Instead, she just thrusts her hands out. So embarrassed! Take your junk!

[selfgodded]

"Thank you."

Utterly oblivious to the embarrassment he caused, Anant took the offered junk - it really was just junk, he was prone to picking up random things and stashing them into his pocket - and stuffed them into his pockets.

"You are very red," he remarked after a pause, his hands still inside his coat pockets. "Are you overheated?"

[trulyworthit]

"Eh? Oh- no, no..." Luca shakes her head quickly. She fights the blush back down, replacing it with a smile. "I'm fine. Thanks for worrying." Even though you were the cause!!

[selfgodded]

"..."

Anant leaned in towards her - as if doubting Luca's words - and sadly invaded her personal space a little to stare intently at her face. "...if you say so," he finally said, pulling back and clasping his hands before him with a soft hum.

"So, what was it you said? We must go to a 'City Hall'? What is that?"