The Search for the Newcomers, January 2012 Edition.

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New Arrivals

☯

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

[bladedskies]

That's my line, asshole. What are you, a doppelganger?

[Oh, she's got one of her hands on a gun already, never fear.]

[not_that_scary]

A doppleganger? [Coming from some young punk imitating him, that's irritating to say the least.] I've had this Player Character from the start, who the hell are you calling a doppleganger, you faker? [He couldn't feel Skeith in this place, wherever they were. If a battle broke out here, though...]

[bladedskies]

You're talking nonsense. [Player character, wat? To make things even weirder, the other her's voice seems kinda low. A cold, maybe? Spell gone awry? Still, they do look identical; same armor, same tattoos. So aside from the voice, how the hell-

...

Wait. If this is really her, then...]

Prove it.

[They must have the same scars - scars that only she'd know about. Even the others never saw the true extent of the damage from the Rebirth, and it's the only thing she can think of that would prove to her that this person is also her. That, or some other personal fact she'd never told anyone - but physically, a doppelganger probably wouldn't know to mimic those.

And if this isn't her, then, well, that's what the guns are for.]

[not_that_scary]

[Prove it? Hell of a tall order, ain't it? Damnit, if only I could call Skeith... The request got his gears moving, too. Now that he was forced to think, he was beginning to observe this other Haseo very carefully.]

[Something was off here. The doppleganger's weapons were visible. The voice was off, somewhat lighter.]

Look, a confrontation here in the middle of a crowded street is not in either of our best interests. [He needed to know more. If the entire ordeal with Ovan taught Haseo anything, it was that coincidence is rarely just that, and this was more than just mere coincidence. The last time something like this occured was when he met Atoli for the first time, and that preceeded said ordeal.] There's clearly more to this than what either of us know. [He puts his hands up in a sign of surrender.] So let's compare our stories regarding the "Rebirth". Will that satisfy you? [The Ordeal that ended with the complete destruction of Cubia, shadow to the Twilight Bracelet. That tale... if it matched up to his, then...]

[bladedskies]

Fair enough. Hinoto-Ri's messed up anyway, might explain this. [She lets go of the guns instead of drawing them. Yeah, even if this one's a doppelganger, fighting in the middle of the street is still stupid and dangerous to passers-by. Too close. Guess I'd better look into fighting at that arena more often. That, or a hobby.]

The Rebirth, huh...All right, fine, let's compare notes.

[And so a quick summary is given. While the basics are the same, some of the details are off. The most glaring ones are probably:
1) She never once uses game terminology. Not once.
2) It sounds like it was an actual, in-real-life thing, not an incident in an MMO. Nearly bleeding out from the Rebirth is mentioned.
And three...] When I woke up after that, I was in the damn hospital. Got stuck there for some time, and with Atoli and Endrance around, breaking out early was not an option.

[She shakes her head and grumbles - but it's well-meant.]

So. That sound about right to you, so far?

Time to blow your mind away

[not_that_scary]

... I'm going to give you my take on the Rebirth. I'm starting to notice where things are starting to differ between us.]

[Haseo then proceeds to give his account of the Rebirth, the key points that his clone should note being:
1) Instead of actual deaths, there was a condition known as Doll syndrome that was the result of people being killed by AIDA-infected PCs.
2) The World as he knew it was an MMO, and happened in a reality separate from the physical world.
and finally...] We weren't finished, even after the Rebirth, though. Another threat existed: the Shadow of the Epitaph Users...

But I think you're starting to see what I'm seeing here, right?

[The two of them might be the same, but they were also irrevocably different.]

This can only end in broken brains.

[bladedskies]

You mean Cubia, right? The thing that wrecked half of Mac Anu?

[She also looks thoughtful, contemplating the differences. Doll Syndrome - would that have been better or worse than Shino and Alkaid disappearing in her arms? To know that they were still alive, even if their souls were gone?]

Yeah, I think I'm getting the picture here. The course of events was mostly the same, but the details are different - and if we're the same person, then there's no way in hell either of us are lying. There's too much detail for it to be a lie, either...damn. [She taps one foot on the ground, one hand pressed against her forehead - thoughtfully, not in exasperation, of course. Facepalms are how Haseos roll.]

The first person I met here said something about there being "multiple worlds" involved in this mess. Might have something to do with this, I dunno. I'll have to contact him about this.

Broken Brains is nothing. LET'S AIM FOR THE TOP

[not_that_scary]

[Facepalms are the ONLY way for Haseos to roll, which is why he's doing it now.] Ugh, this must be why Atoli was confused earlier. Damnit, if the others start showing up we'll never hear the end of this. [If fucking Piros decides to come around he will stomp his golden ass into the snow before he even begins ranting.] We should probably meet your contact together so we can sort this out quickly. Do you know where he is right now?

[bladedskies]

I don't. Hang on, lemme contact 'im.

[She uses the watch to basically tell Naoya "COME OVER HERE AND EXPLAIN THIS CRAP." ... Not in all caps, of course.]

[meaningdies]

[After getting the location from the (female) tsundere one, Naoya tells her to bring her 'friend' to a nearby cafe. No sense in freezing. He'll be there soon.]

[He'll be able to find her easily anyway when he uses Coyote, especially since he doesn't care about strange looks for using him in broad daylight.]

[not_that_scary]

[Foot-tapping is go] So who is this guy, anyway? A friend of yours?

[bladedskies]

Naoya. He's the first person I met here, seemed to know what's going on. [She nods to him in acknowledgment and then gestures from him to the other Haseo.]

So. Think you can explain this one?

[meaningdies]

[... Huh. Fascinating. He stares at both of them for a moment, and then grins.]

I did say that there were many paths things could take. It seems Philemon or whatever other force it is that drags us here decided that two of you were needed.

[not_that_scary]

[Well then.]

Philemon. That name seems familiar. ['The dream? Damnit, I can barely remember it...'] Who is he?

[bladedskies]

The force that dragged us here, right? That's what you seem to be implying, anyway.

[meaningdies]

He is, yes. It seems he's quite the powerful figure, though I suppose that was obvious.

[not_that_scary]

Is there a reason why I'm here as my Player Character from The World? Is it to protect us better or something?

[bladedskies]

[Player cha-- ugh, it's probably going to be a while until she picks this up, especially since her world doesn't even HAVE computers. She'll get it eventually, though. Eventually.]

[meaningdies]

Perhaps it was a way of giving you additional power you don't have offline - I'm assuming you're not exactly a powerhouse offline. Or perhaps he felt it was a truer expression of your soul and what you could be capable of.

Backdated response is backdated as fuck

[not_that_scary]

... You're right. This isn't my real body. Back home, I'm just a teenager without any special powers. It's only when I'm playing The World that I have this appearance and power.

But there's something else. My friend, Atoli, only seems to remember things from before a certain point in the past. I've been walking around in the World like this for a while now, yet she didn't even recognize it vaguely. Why is that?

It's cool. o7

[meaningdies]

There are people here brought from different timelines, and if he's capable of that - who's to say he can't pull people from different points in the same timeline?

[So basically: magic.]

thnx bro

[not_that_scary]

Then that would mean--['Her arm is fine, no damage whatsoever. That mean's she'd be from just after we defeated Azure Kite.'] That actually explains a lot about her behavior. Thank you.

[meaningdies]

Heh. It's not a problem. Any other questions?

[He can do this for a while. He's pretty bored here.]

[not_that_scary]

Well no, not- ['Wait. My money's no good here. How am I going to-']

... Do you know where a guy like me could get a job?

[meaningdies]

Most of the stores here are eager to hire visitors. I'm sure you can find one that suits your needs. Other than that, if cracking skulls is more your style, I hear the police force is looking for help patrolling.