Video

[terminally_clever]

[No greetings, no introductions... Fumi's just getting right down to business.  It's not often she bothers broadcasting things over the network herself, after all.  Leaning back in her office chair briefly, she folds her arms before addressing the feed.]

For those of you who were acquainted with her, Miyako Hotsuin is no longer in the city.

[Her voice is flat and her face its usual deadpan expression as she says this.]

As this leaves me as the only official member of the JP's branch office, I will be assuming control of the newly renamed JP's Hinoto-Ri Branch.  It's been here long enough that continuing to call it the Nagoya branch seems a bit silly, and I'm relatively sure Miyako had been preparing for an official name change anyway.

[But wait, there's more.]

Additionally, following the departure of Kandori, Takeba, and Kirijo, and in view of the fact that I worked with each of them personally before the recent attack, I will also be taking over administration of the MAGI facility following the cleanup and reconstruction effort.

[No questions, no voting, she's just doing it, apparently.]

However, as there were three branches of the MAGI facility itself without even considering the resources required for the upkeep of the JP's location, I will be conducting interviews for the additional staff and personnel needed to keep things running smoothly.  For my own part, I will be acting in Takeba's capacity as the new head of the MAGI Research Branch.

At minimum, I will also require colleagues to take over Kandori and Kirijo's work as the respective heads of the Weapon and Development Branches.  Please contact me via secured network communication to apply for any of these positions or as support staff for either MAGI or JP's.  You may contact me in the same fashion if you have any questions about what the positions will entail.

...That is all.

Comments

[greatseal]

[Yeep. There's the recognition.]

That would be nice, Fumi-san.

[She remembers you, too.]

[terminally_clever]

So it is you, then.

[Urrrgh.]

[greatseal]

Mmhm, it's me! Although it's been a few years...

[terrible joke, w/e]

[terminally_clever]

Sometimes I hate this city.

[greatseal]

There's nothing to be ashamed of! You were very cute when you were younger.

[And so was she. But she's not that conceited.]

[terminally_clever]

That was a time in my life I don't particularly enjoy dwelling on, so if it's just the same to you I'd prefer to treat this as our first meeting.

[greatseal]

Well, that's fair enough.

[there's questions about her own past she doesn't want to answer, either.]

Then it's very nice to meet you, Fumi-san!

[terminally_clever]

Likewise, Arisato.

[Now that that's settled...]

As for my research, I've been working on a device to monitor all of a subject's vital signals simultaneously to provide as complete a picture as possible of their current physiological state of being. This is a holdover from a project I'd been working on at home, but I've decided to re-purpose it for the study of the Persona phenomenon.

The general intent would be to get a baseline reading from a subject who has not yet manifested a Persona, and then take readings during and after that process. Up until now, the limiting factor was the size of the machine. The most common method for awakening a Persona I'd heard of was to be in physical danger, but having someone strapped down to a device like that and placing them in physical danger skirts a bit too close to torture to be ethically sound as a research method.

But if we were to use an Evoker in the experiment instead, that would be an easy and reliable way to ensure that we achieve the desired result with a minimum of unnecessary stress inflicted upon the subject. And since I'm assuming you'd rather not surrender your own to the MAGI facility for the purpose of the experiment, have prior experience with using one, and are personally acquainted with parties related to Kandori and Takeba's original research, you would seem an ideal candidate to aid with this study.

[otakuro]

...

I think, on paper, at least, we should pretend to be responsible human beings. That's how a good corporation works.

[Video]

[bondsofsuffering]

...They really got to pick from the best of the best, huh?

[greatseal]

That sounds fine to me... Well, as long as the other participants are volunteers, of course.

[Because... some of that first bit sounded really sketchy. But Fumi wouldn't really do something dangerous in the name of science, right?] When would you like to start?

[terminally_clever]

Of course. It's not as if I don't intend to be responsible about this.

[For a certain definition of the word.]

But it's true that we'll need to know what we're starting with, so I don't think it should be an issue to look into the data that already exists.

[Video]

[terminally_clever]

When you're working with an almost unlimited government budget, you can afford to be choosy.

[terminally_clever]

Of course. We'll have informed consent and release forms. This is far from my first research project, so I'm quite familiar with the particulars. As for when we can start, first we'll need to find a willing participant.

[otakuro]

Basically, if we can find out what they're working on and if we can actually continue along the same lines, we'd be doing the jobs we're supposed to, anyway.

If they're not around, we've got to step up to the plate, whether or not they'd want us to.

[Video]

[bondsofsuffering]

That just sounds scary...! But then again, this does shed some light on why Miyako-chan acted the way she did.

[terminally_clever]

Yes, of course. But I also don't think there's necessarily any problem in utilizing MAGI's resources to expand into new areas of research, either.

[Video]

[terminally_clever]

Happy to help, I suppose.

[otakuro]

I think the really important question is...

Do these jobs come with really awesome places to live?

[terminally_clever]

Hmm... I wonder.

[Video]

[bondsofsuffering]

But I've been wondering... Just how aware is your government of your operations? It seemed like a hush-hush kind of organization, but if you guys have that much funding, that has to leave its mark somewhere. Unless it's been hidden as other types of spending?

[Video]

[terminally_clever]

Geomagnetism research.

[To answer only the last question.]

[Video]

[bondsofsuffering]

But that doesn't say anything about their awareness...

Or is that classified information?

[Video]

[terminally_clever]

[Fumi simply taps at the side of her nose.]

[Video]

[bondsofsuffering]

[Aha. Well, he's kind of classified information himself, so he understands how that goes.]

It sounds like you guys have some pretty fascinating work, then.