The Search for the Newcomers, December 2012 Edition.

[stringmods]

Who: Open to Everyone, but only Newly Accepted Characters can start threads.
Where: All around the city! They appear where you want them to appear.
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.

Last month's initial testing of the HORUS system had worked really well. The device which allowed everyone to spot abnormalities; and now even more refined, they could hone in on newcomers at a much faster pace. The leftover energy from the travel (commonly called Magatama Residue) gave them a few minutes to find them before it would flicker out.

Combined with 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 own radar function, it was also nice enough to calculate for you the best transport and destination routes to take to get there. Speed was of the essence, after all.

[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

[von_schweetz]

She'll keep talking as she detrashes her car.

"This is a new game, right? Or 'war'." War makes things sound edgy, yeah. She gets it. Or does she? "Hee-no-toe-ree or Persona or something..."

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"Nope, definitely not a game." He cautiously sticks a hand out to pluck a piece of trash from her kart. "It's out in the real world."

[von_schweetz]

She snickers. That was a joke, right? "Gonna have to do better than that. You gotta be more convincing, like this."

She puts on her best serious face and speaks darkly. "This is the real world."

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

And so Pit does just that: puts on his legitimately serious face and says, "This is the real world."

[von_schweetz]

Annnnd Vanellope erupts into laughter.

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

Pit sighs.

"...I knew that wasn't gonna work. I dunno what else to tell you, though. I'd definitely know if we were in a game, and we're not."

[von_schweetz]

The people in the real world, and everything in it, are a lot bigger. At least, it looks that way on the other side of the screen.

"Well, real world or not, I gotta get back to Sugar Rush soon, so if you could tell me where the exit is, I would definitely appreciate it." She pauses for a moment. "And I guess you can ride on the back of my cart if you want while we head there..."

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"I'd like that a lot, but I know that's not gonna happen. 'cause I don't know how you can get back to your world on that thing."

[von_schweetz]

"Duh. This is just a speed boost. You're game jumping too, right?"

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"Game jumping? You mean going from game to game?"

He's never heard of the term, but that's just an educated guess.

"I only appear in games I've been programmed in to. And that dumb Saturday morning cartoon, but that doesn't count. Wasn't me. Anyway, that's why I know this all is real. 'cause I haven't been programmed to be here. I just showed up."

[von_schweetz]

"Yep. And time's a-wasting." She pulls the last of the garbage off of the car, and hops in, looking back at Pit expectantly. Well, at the start.

"If I don't get back soon, we'll be out of order. And that doesn't make the president look very good either! Late to the race, geez..."

Someone's starting to act in denial.

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

That doesn't make Pit feel awkward or anything.

"Um, I-- I'm serious about this not being a game, uh, Miss... A-anyway, if you really want to go back out there and race, don't do anything crazy, okay? You don't want the cops chasing after you again."

[von_schweetz]

Hey, roads are for racing on.

"Vanellope von Schweetz! And I'm g͚͐̿̔̓̚o͚̰̝̞͖̻̓͒͠i̴̢̠͍͇͕̼̘͖͕̿ͬ̎͒͗ͯn̸̙͒ͦͪ̾̓ͮ̐̚gͬͪ̚҉̷̰̮̖̬̘̻̰ ͨ̍́ͯ͋ͫ͏̰̟̙̺̩b̵̡͙̘̯͖̬͍̖̠̋͌͌͊ͦͧ̅aͦ͛ͮ͏̰͈̜̖̰̘̙͡c̸͓̦̹͐̊̈́ķ̘͖̝̲̖͍ͩ͛̕ ̱̱̌ͨͭ͂ͧ̒́͘̕w̢̤̙͙̱̝̝̰̞̿̅̆́ͩ͆͢ḭ̠̝̼́ͦ͌̂̿͘t͎͊̃͊ͯͧ͜h͚͓̦͓͎̱̳̠̚͢ ̨̛͕̦̼̗̮͈̙̤̒ͤo̵͙̘̊ͭ̐̂̅ŕ̰̼̰̩̞̒͒̔̌͒͗͛ ̧̞̼̝̗̫̺̱ͦw͎͔̗̰̲͍̺̜̆͊̀͗͒̚i̝̞̪ͥ̅̾̇ͦ͛̑̌̎͢t̠͍̦̩͎͈̰̐ͮ͑̅ͦ͢͜h͎͔͈͋̑̾ͩ͗́̇̈͆o̷ͥ̈͆̾̿̓ͨ̓҉̛͍̮͖̝u̇̑̎҉̵̟͚͔̰̗ṯ̢̰̬̝͖̣͛͆̈́ͫ help!"

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

uh

"...did you just glitch out on me?"

[von_schweetz]

Vanellope narrows her eyes and frowns, starting up the car.

"It's what I do!" She replies angrily. As she starts up, she glitches again, placing her further ahead on the road as she starts back off.