[Video | Public]

[otakuro]

Hey.  Looks like I've got this working.

[Atsuro's face appears on the network under somewhat inadequate lighting.  An astute guess would place him in his room illuminated only by the backlight of his laptop.] 

Everyone get out of that first mission OK?  I can't speak for anyone else, but geez, I think I slept for a few days straight there.  If they, uh, wanted a report or anything, the research labs are fine.  ...Probably.

[He stifles a yawn before continuing on, the camera zooming out slightly to reveal a lot of bedhead and a conspicuously absent trademark floppy hat.]

Hnn...  Sorry.

So!  Anyway.  I've been thinking a lot.  About what they've told us and about... what they haven't.  Hah, I'm still surprised this place isn't some weird hallucination.  It's a little unreal, right?  Like they're asking us to act out a game or a fantasy novel.  But... even if it seems like it might be fun to stick around, I think we need to find out what it is we're really getting into.  ...There's something I want to say about all this.

You've all run into the monsters by now, right?  They talk, they cast magic, they do tricks.  Not all of them are bad, but they're things we've heard of in myths and stories from different cultures all across the globe - Cerberus, the hound of Hades.  British pixies and kobolds.  Nekomata and other youkai from Japan.  So... what gives?  What're they doing here?

...I'm not gonna get into details, but I should say that these guys - the exact same identical demons - have popped up in at least two other worlds that I know of.  And both times.... they showed up because the world was about to end.

I'm not saying this place is the same way, but... maybe that's why they need our help badly.

[addendum a few minutes later]

Ah, someone reminded me - if you guys want to see a database of all the demons I've ever met, you can drop by my room.  Libra 5-07.

Comments

[misery_hates_company]

Perhaps if I'm lucky! Oh ho ho ho! But no, I'm simply looking for reagents.

Video

[universebeware]

I swear, if any of you lot caused the loss of any of the projects I was working on, I'm not going to be very happy.

[Not that Brainstorm's often happy to begin with, but that's neither here nor there.]

As for things we didn't tell you, well - there was that small issue of the attack that cut us off before we could finish.

As for your theory, well. The year here is 9AC. "AC" as in "after-crisis". One apparently bad enough that we're sealed in this city. We don't know what that crisis was, yet. I do think your theory is likely about nine years too late, though.

[aboyandhiscat]

Save for those that feed on humans, most will leave humans alone if they're not offended. As for the reason we're here - I don't like being left in the dark.

text

[putonagoodshow]

To add to that, the demon population here seems to have existed far longer than the city has been sealed for. Many of them have called this place 'home'.

I would like to believe that they are not, themselves, a sign of things to come. Or at least that they do not need to be such.

[blitzkriegzwei]

Hah... thanks. My Persona had good timing, though. I'm afraid I'm not trained to handle to supernatural. So, naturally, I suppose it's good that we have supernatural means to fight back with.

[Video]

[jundere]

The end of the world? That's pretty exciting isn't it? At least we won't be bored.

[She'd really really really rather be bored.]

Mind if I swing by your place to see your demon collection, though?

[cantgive100percent]

_{[It's so weird using this tech, but.. it's better to just run with it than resist, right?]}

They're all the same as the ones you know...? Weird... I haven't seen anything I can recognize.

..I'd like to see that database. When's convenient?

[endears]

Eh, so it's something like that...? [Wait, no, sounding forlorn isn't allowed.]

I'd really like to look at that database sometime! Is any time good for you?

[otakuro]

[beat]

...Er.

We... we're talking about Japan still, right?

[He must have slept too long. Neither of those names mean anything to him.]

[otakuro]

Thirtieth -- We just started the third! People are still around in 28,000 years?!

[otakuro]

...Your demons must have been vegetarian or something. I'd say most of the ones I met were pretty eager to chow down on some juicy human flesh.

So you've been dealing with demons your whole life... what do you think about all this, then?

[otakuro]

...Huh.

I guess there's no reason to give up all your hobbies just because we're stuck in some other world. Do you like to cook?

[otakuro]

I might ease back on the demon taming now if we've got access to a different source of power. It always felt a little... unclean.

[greatseal]

Yes? It's a few hours away from Tokyo... [Come to think of it, Aoba-kun hadn't recognized Iwatodai either...]

[otakuro]

W-Wha...?!

Do you think you guys could make some sort of tourist brochure where this kind of stuff can be summarized? 'Welcome to 9 years after the end of the world' has a nice ring to it, right? I can design it. I'm good with graphics.

[Atsuro sighs slightly to himself. Another apocalyptic scenario, huh...?]

So... OK. Home. Are we saying this could be where they come from in the first place? They were summoned into our worlds... from here?

[otakuro]

I don't know... I was looking forward to watching my apartment's paint dry back home. Kind of a rare opportunity.

Aha, yeah, sure. Come on over whenever you want!

[...And then Atsuro glances around his already very messy room.]

Actually, give me a few minutes and I'll meet you in the lobby.

[otakuro]

Some worlds seem pretty similar to this one - there's one where they already learned to use Persona, too.

I was just lucky enough to share the demons, aha.

Why don't you come by in fifteen minutes or so? I should probably clean myself up.

[otakuro]

Yeah, sure, come on over. Just give me a few minutes to look presentable.

[otakuro]

Iwatodai... Do you know the kanji for it? Otherwise... I guess it might just not exist where I'm from.

Was it newly built?

[misery_hates_company]

I suppose you could call it that. I doubt you would want to consume anything I came up with, though!

[otakuro]

...I feel like I'm stereotyping, but do you make poisons in a giant cauldron or something?

[greatseal]

巖戸台

[she types it out for him]

And not... really? The island itself was built by the Kirijo Group, but I was born in the city.

[aboyandhiscat]

Demons are what they are.

[He closes his eyes, considering Atsuro's question]

I don't believe this Philemon is lying, but he is omitting something. As for demons here - I never seen them mixing with humans like this.

[otakuro]

Yeah... Sorry. I definitely haven't heard of it.

Parallel worlds are still pretty hard to grasp, huh? It's not just 'Japan, except with Personas'; there could be millions of differences that I'd never think to wonder about. ...Maybe you don't have the color 'chartreuse' or... the Great Barrier Reef is off Madagascar or something.

[Atsuro pauses.]

Hah, the earth might even be spherical where you come from!

[Hilarious.]

[otakuro]

Maybe this is the natural result of what happens when we learn to live side-by-side. ...You know, when God isn't siccing 'em on us.