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

[the_usual_stuff]

[ When he feels another new presence emerge in this dimension, Pharos stops dead wherever he is wandering in the city, and doesn't move for a good several minutes, vivid blue eyes widening straight ahead in bemused confusion. The closest recollection he can compare this sudden odd sensation to is... that of the Arcana Shadows that had appeared every moon, like the scattered fragments of death when they had clustered together, drawn by the pull of death's strongest piece. The slight tug in his gut was not utterly dissimilar.

It felt just like himself, but complete. But he's... here right now. Pharos hadn't had a chance to... No, he needed to see this for himself immediately. So, he vanishes and for once since his arrival into this universe, his teleportation abilities don't fail him and misfire in reaching his destination. The impression of black and white stripes solidified a few feet to the side of and behind the older personification of Death. The noise of sandals tapping on pavement was heard. Pharos said, undoubtedly taking Ryoji off guard; ]

You're... [ There's no mistaking it, but how... ] You're me.

[ He doesn't bother to make that slow, steady (vaguely confused) statement into a question. It isn't a question. It was an undeniable fact. His senses weren't lying.

... How could this even work? ]

[nyxterious]

[And of course, it was yet another familiar being that was here. This one was a bit different than Minato. Of course, like Pharos said, Ryoji is... him. Albeit, yes, a completed version, but...

This was still very strange. It wasn't really a situation that was planned to happen, obviously. Pharos was another form of him, changing just like the phases of the moon. So of course, when he heard that voice, and turned to see it, he was definitely not ready for it. If anyone managed to catch him off guard, it was definitely Pharos.]

This place is strange, isn't it... [But. Huh. It's weird to say, almost... but it's natural all at the same time.] I am you. Hello, Pharos.

[the_usual_stuff]

[ The need for "Pharos" was over; he had been resigned to that. He had closed his eyes, his role in things done, and accepted this personality would depart from existence upon the union of his completed shadow form, and give raise to the next personality; another him, another phrase, not utterly identical but at the same person at the base of it all. The child grows up to be replaced by the adult. It happens to everyone, you could even say.

No, this wasn't what he had expected at all, but he would have to adapt, wouldn't he? Death foreshadowed change among many, many other things. He must adapt to unexpected change. The small boy with faded black hair nodded. ]

... Extremely so. [ He agreed quietly. Pharos managed a funny half-smile. It was odd to speak to himself, but... natural in a seamless way. ] Hello. What name did you pick?

[ Pharos had picked his own name, thus it was natural to assume this other being would do the same. ]

[nyxterious]

[The name he picked? ... That's right. It was one that he picked, just like what he picked when he was Pharos. Of course, with this form, he needed a full name. To attend school, to be a teenager.]

I picked Ryoji. Ryoji Mochizuki.

[A name he enjoyed. A name that made him feel human. It was much nicer than just "Death" of course. He couldn't go to school with that.]

[the_usual_stuff]

[There is no envy that Ryoji exists in his place, nor unhappiness or resentment at his fate. Growing up and giving up an unstable form was inevitable. It was the way of things, that was all. But there was curiosity and a lit of uncertainty; he wondered what he had done once he had taken this older form, cleanly separate from his container(s), and how he had fulfilled his duties, how he had lived, and how he had interacted with people whence he could. Pharos blinked and laced his fingers together behind his back.]

That's a good name.

[He had selected his own on a spur of the moment. It was a name that suited that him. A name he felt associated with himself and what he had done and his containers. It was a good name.]

[nyxterious]

It is, isn't it?

[He thought so too. It's funny, in a way, too. He didn't even realize until after how relevant his last name was to everything, too. It caused him to laugh lightly when he recalled it.]

It was a name that made me happy. A name of my own.

[the_usual_stuff]

The name itself makes you happy?

[ Pharos noticed the relevance of his last name because, huh, you named yourself after mother's true body, that's sorta amusing. But that last remark prompted a small puzzled reaction from him, pale face tilting to the side and hip cocked. Maybe gaining a teenage form affected him a bit more than he had expected. Happiness from something as simply humane as a name? ??? ]

Really?

[nyxterious]

Yes. Names feel more human, don't they? Or well, maybe human isn't the word for it. They make you feel alive, make you feel like you exist.

It's something that people remember you by. It leaves an impression on others, and the world.