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

[beautifulmemory]

"Used" to be? I didn't realize they got phased out.

[virtualbirdwatching]

I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I heard there was a big fire that destroyed most of 'The World''s data. When they got it back up, it was like a completely different game, or at least that's what a lot of people think.

[You know, based on BBS postings, and things like that. Also having only one caster class was terrible for the PVP meta.]

[beautifulmemory]

[Well, doesn't that set off a few red flags! Mia's hesitant, for a moment, before she finally responds.]

This isn't The World?

[She had a suspicion, but she had no idea what else it could be.]

[virtualbirdwatching]

Well... no.

Welcome to Hinoto-Ri, I guess...

[beautifulmemory]

Hinoto-Ri... hmm. That must be why everything smells so different. I wonder if I've been transfered here.

[virtualbirdwatching]

Well, you're not in The World anymore. And as far as I know, the game never came out here, so...

[beautifulmemory]

...Where in the Net is this?

[virtualbirdwatching]

...well that's the thing, this isn't the Net, this is a real world.

[beautifulmemory]

[Mia shakes her head.]

I wouldn't be so sure about that. I suppose you might recognize the feeling of something else, but how do you know you aren't trapped online, unwittingly?

[Because obviously the reverse is just impossible, obviously...?]

[virtualbirdwatching]

I think the thing that has me convinced this is reality is the other people.

They don't look like PCs, and I don't think AIs are that advanced yet.

[...right?]

[beautifulmemory]

Oh? You'd be surprised. [Not that Atoli needs to know she's talking to such an AI!]

Besides, you're in your game avatar, aren't you?