The Search for the Newcomers, January 2012 Edition.

[stringmods]

New Arrivals

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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.
Music: This

[FOR THOSE IN THE CITY:]
It was Grand Prix frenzy by this time. The streets were filled with people watching every available television screen, crowds in the bigger areas of Scorpio district with the larger screen.

Now the HORUS detection system was working again. The device allowed everyone to spot abnormalities; and while it was being re-tuned to work with the appearing buildings, 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...

But why are everyone huddle around large televisions screens for some reason?

[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.]

View the FIRST THREAD POST COMMENTS ONLY

Comments

[tacticals]

[She's instantly thankful when it seemed like she finally got someone's attention, letting a relieved sigh escape past her lips before she turns to thank the person-- and she sees Shinjiro standing there.

Standing, breathing, talking to her (although she'd be lying if she said his words hadn't instantly become a big jumbled mess swimming inside her head). This was a dream, wasn't it? A cruel, all too realistic dream.]

Shinjiro-senpai...? [Soft, just barely above a whisper. Maybe if she said his name out loud he'd disappear or she would wake up or... or maybe she wasn't dreaming.

One of her hands goes up to cover her mouth before she continues; there was only so much of her impersonating a goldfish that Shinjiro needed to see, especially when she was now trying to make sense of this more than any of the other questions she'd previously had.]

Is it really you?

[themortalhalf]

[ Well, that's certainly a look Shinjiro's seen before. You get used to being a dead man walking to some people. Just another ghost. You almost get used to the surprise. Probably should have a script written down. He could have had it memorized by now. Fuuka looks fine, otherwise, though he vaguely wonders how much food she's burned in the months since he saw her last.

He takes her surprise in stride—he'd be a moron if he didn't expect it (or understand, in a way he'll never care to show)—and nods, face impassive.]

Yeah. [He withholds a wry smile.] Know this place doesn't exactly make a whole lot of sense.

[Still doesn't. But you get used to it. You start to not ask so many questions and just accept what is. Seeing old team members pop up out of the dust is just another one of those things. And as far as unexpected surprises go, there are worse things that happen here than that—things that are far less welcome.]

[tacticals]

[It takes a few moments, but the surprise does give way to a smile-- bright, relieved, happy. The place might not make a lot of sense, but if it did things like this... how bad could it be? Fuuka certainly wasn't about to complain, not when someone she'd cared about and had missed terribly was now standing right in front of her.

As such, she shakes her head softly, as if to tell him that it was okay in her book that it didn't.]

I'm glad... Really glad. It's good to see you again.

[themortalhalf]

[He almost smiles in return—almost, but doesn't quite manage, though most of the rigid hardness in his face softens and his posture relaxes.

At the very least, Hinoto-ri knew how to bribe. There were many things about the city that Shinjiro didn't particularly like, but it had made itself impossible to hate.

You can't really put a price tag on time.

And... it's good to see her, too.]

It's been awhile, yeah? [A little more than four months from his standing. Long enough for him to realize that he missed her, just as he missed a lot of things he'd never care to admit to. He still wakes up sometimes, expecting to smell something burning. Though maybe she didn't burn things so much anymore.] Never thought you'd show up. Guess this place enjoys proving me wrong.

[tacticals]

Too long. A lot has happened since then.

[Since his death, but she didn't want to dwell too much on that when Shinjiro was standing here in the flesh, so she's quick about redirecting to the latter of what he'd said.]

Mm! It was very sudden, yes. I'm still a little disoriented, but... it doesn't look too bad? [Or rather, it looked populated enough where she was fairly sure she could find a restaurant if she needed to in order to survive (and ask directions).]

[themortalhalf]

I've heard.

[Minako had filled him in on that months ago. And he's not about to make Fuuka tell her side of the story. But that should also tell her a few things without him having to be a walking piece of exposition more than he has to—that there are others from home here. He ain't about to leave her in the dark, but he doesn't want to force feed her everything either.

Still, he follows her redirection without much fuss.]

But no, it ain't bad—it ain't Iwatodai, but it's close to it.

[Too close, in some respects. Makes it pretty damn disconcerting at times.

His eyes drift towards the television screen, narrowing as they catch a flash of moment—one of the prix competitors running and bringing an Evoker to her temple.]

We have a Dark Hour here, and most people have Personas.

[tacticals]

That part is certainly different.

[She lowers her gaze for a moment, thinking. It was probably a good thing-- considering if people were aware of the Dark Hour, things that happened during it, and they had their own Personas, it could help keep people safe. They wouldn't have to worry about Apathy Syndrome as much as before.

Then again, she thinks back of how dangerous it could be and how quickly things could turn sour in the wrong person's hands.]

Is Tartarus here as well?

[As well. Huh. Not something that Fuuka would have pictured herself asking anymore.]

[themortalhalf]

No.

[And he sure as hell hopes it never shows up. It's one of those things he could live without seeing again. It's something he'll never miss.]

But there's something like it, I guess, but nothin' you need to worry about.

[She shouldn't have to.

He pauses then, grey eyes wandering past the crowd down to the rows of shops and other buildings.]

There's a café down the street. We can talk there, if you want.

[It's goddamn loud here. And crowded.]

[tacticals]

[She'd worry about it regardless, especially if it was something her friends decided to get involved with. But Fuuka wasn't about to start an argument or tell him differently, so she nods instead when he mentions a cafe.]

I'd like that.

[She moves to stand closer next to him so that she could keep close after he lead the way, since she didn't really trust navigating the crowds by herself just yet.

When she speaks again, her tone is thoughtful with just the slightest hint of determination if he happened to be paying attention enough to pick up on it--]

Maybe they'll have something so delicious I'll want to try making it.

[themortalhalf]

[Oh, they'll get involved. It's only a matter of time. Minako's been trying to squeeze her way in there since she first arrived; she's not about to stop trying to reform SEES. Her level of dedication to it is ridiculous, still. But that's why she's the leader.

But he's not about to tell Fuuka that. This place is as confusing enough as it is without telling her that her support work hadn't died along with Tartarus as it probably should have, though that is probably apparent—or will be, soon enough. Fighting with personas and climbing endless staircases isn't all there is to life. Shouldn't be. Shouldn't have to be. Personas are a tool, nothing more. A tool he thinks most people would be better without. It made Aki more reckless, got Mitsuru into countless problems that should have never been hers to solve, and Castor damn sure hadn't done him any favors. But the normality he had wanted had died a long time ago. Things won't ever be normal, though he'd like it to be.

When she speaks again, he glances down at her, eyebrows lifting ever-so-slightly from their place. She sounds more confident than he remembers—though that confidence had probably always been there, waiting for her to find it. A small half-smile breaks across his face, but disappears as another second passes by. He's glad she's never stopped trying, even though some of the things he can recall her doing made him wince internally sometimes—because, shit, some things weren't meant to be cooked that way and goddamn why would you even try?]

You still remember how to make tonkatsu?

[The café knew how to make some good tonkatsu, at least, that would be easy enough for her to try, though it's more advanced than what he remembers teaching her. He begins to walk towards the café, picking the easiest way through the crowd, keeping his pace slow and even.]