[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

[aboyandhiscat]

It would be nice if that is indeed the case.

[It likely is, but it's too soon for him to say]

[otakuro]

Then again.... it's still pretty dangerous with them around. They wouldn't have put up a curfew otherwise.

[He pauses.]

Why do you think it is that not everyone here can use a Persona, but all of us can?

[greatseal]

[.....umm.....]

I hope you're talking about how the Earth isn't really a perfect sphere, not that your Earth is flat .....

[aboyandhiscat]

Either it is because Persona is not a native power, someone is giving us this ability, some unknown supernatural law of this world, or people are chosen because they have the potential.

Find the common thread beyond 'we are outsiders' might be a clue.

[otakuro]

Ahaha, sorry. Bad joke.

...What was that you were saying about your island? It's man-made?

[otakuro]

...Some of us have demons where we come from. Some of us are normal high school students.

But all of us have the power of love and friendship inside!!

...It's not going to be something ridiculous like that, is it?

[greatseal]

[nerd jokes. gotta love them ??]

That's right... Most of the city is still on the mainland, actually, but my school and the mall are on the island itself.

[aboyandhiscat]

[There's a moment of stony silence as Raidou looks at Gouto off-screen]

...what?

[otakuro]

[No one appreciates his sense of humor.]

N-Never mind.

...Maybe the thread we have is that we can all learn to fight together to help defend this place or something. Something self-fulfilling and easy.

[otakuro]

Any reason someone would go to the trouble of building an island? Japan's not really overpopulated in your world, is it?

[aboyandhiscat]

...Possible.

[greatseal]

Well... [about that.] actually, ten years ago the Group was using the island to conduct Persona experiments. I'm not sure if that was the reason it was built but it turned out to be the best place they could go and not be questioned by anyone.

[otakuro]

...I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Hey, do you have a list of all the demons you've got back home on your world, too? Any chance I could do a comparison?

[otakuro]

...Gotcha. It makes sense if it was, though. No Personas, so... no Persona experiments. No one needed a separate manmade island.

[Though he wouldn't put it past Naoya to have built one to test his demon summoning in.]

So how many people would you say could summon Persona back in your world? Definitely not everyone, right?

[aboyandhiscat]

Not on all the demons, but I have a fair amount in my notebook.

Too bad I can't go and get Victor's compendium.

[greatseal]

No, it's nothing like this. Only a few people even knew about it. I didn't think there were any Persona-users outside of my group of friends and Strega before I met Yu-kun here.

[jundere]

[Hiding lewd material, no doubt.]

Are you hiding dirty books in your room, young man? How shocking...

[Totally fake shocked g a s p.]

[greyerrant]

Yes. Though some of us are much changed.

[otakuro]

So... Either they deliberately picked people who had the potential for it to come here, or there's something about this place that makes it easier to summon.

Do you mind if I asked how you first summoned it back home?

[otakuro]

If you're a normal human being, I'll say. You'd think our growth would have been stunted or something when we ran out of food on Earth.

Are there lots of inhabitable planets out there, then?

[otakuro]

That works. ...Yeah, I wouldn't have bothered keeping notes at all if my COMP hadn't done it for me.

[otakuro]

W-Wha... Why would they even take the time to warp that kind of thing here with me?!

[greyerrant]

Many more than once were. Terraforming has become a lost art to some extent, but it was widely practiced earlier. As for me, I' have been altered and enhanced for war.

[greatseal]

From what I've been told so far, my guess would be the former. But it sounds like Philemon-san has always had the power to give people Persona even in my world.

[as for the question...] I don't mind, but it's a little complicated to explain.

[misery_hates_company]

A stereotype perhaps, but I suppose called for! But there are plenty of other potions you can make too. Much more beneficial, but potentially less tasty! I'm rather out of practice, though.