[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

[otakuro]

...No chance of world peace, huh? Intergalactic war in the 30th millennium... Not sure I want to try and imagine that.

[blitzkriegzwei]

Unclean? How so? I found your demons to be quite helpful. You ought to keep them around, unless your Persona is capable of healing. I don't think mine is.

[otakuro]

I think people could forgive the taste so long as they don't keel over afterwards. So can you do... love potions? Good luck potions? Do I trade you some insect wings to restore half of my HP?

[otakuro]

Ah, I don't mind listening if you don't mind explaining. It's not like I've got anything else to do besides figuring this place out.

[misery_hates_company]

Perhaps, perhaps! I don't know much about the ingredients around here. Of course, I wouldn't do it for FREE.

[otakuro]

...They are demons. Presumably from a... not very wholesome place. I mean, the goddesses and angels and stuff are great, sure. And they've all saved my butt plenty of times. I just... think it's probably best to keep Agares and Lilim sightings to a minimum.

...The other thing is that I've got to learn to rely on myself if my COMP gets disabled, too.

[otakuro]

Insect wings, right? And salamander spleens and roach carapaces and bear claws.

[greatseal]

Mm, well... I'm sure you've probably been awake for what they're calling the 13th hour by now, right?

[greyerrant]

None. There is only war.

[misery_hates_company]

And perhaps, thanks to this place, a few more... exotic things.

[otakuro]

When the demons come out in force, right?

[otakuro]

Oh.

...I'll give you Kabuso's vocal cords if you can make a really spiffy invincibility potion out of it.

[otakuro]

H-Hah...

Is it really a good thing to persist for so long, then...? There must be something positive about exploring the galaxies - we've made friends with at least one new species or something, right?

[greatseal]

We had something like that, only there weren't any demons, just Shadows. We called it the Dark Hour.

[and... she's going to refuse to call this anything else. It's not even really the 13th hour, it's the 25th!]

[misery_hates_company]

I can't simply make something just like that. It has to have the right PROPERTIES, you twit.

...and what are you even doing with those, anyway? You hardly seem like the type to harvest such things. You seem far too urbanized.

[otakuro]

...Right. He mentioned that name - the guy on stage. He's probably from your world, too.

Are Shadows like demons at all? Or completely different kinds of monsters?

[greyerrant]

We tried. It did not end well. But mankind itself was united until recently.... But that isn't a story I wish to tell for the moment.

[otakuro]

Ahaha... Kabuso was my first demon. I never had the heart to let him go or fuse him away. ...I don't even know why; he spends all his time being a pain.

[otakuro]

Right.

Sorry. I didn't mean to pry.

[Atsuro wasn't about to tell the details of his own story to anyone else, yet, either.]

[misery_hates_company]

*Okay, she does not look impressed.*

Do you typically offer the body parts of your underlings?

[otakuro]

What?

...Uh. ...That was a joke. ...Do you actually know anyone who would do something like that?

[No one appreciates his humor.]

[greatseal]

Mm, he is. [And that's. All she's going to say about Mr. Kirijo.]

Shadows... aren't really sentient. Not usually. What makes them dangerous is that they basically feed on people's minds. Sometimes they call normal people into the Dark Hour. If the person isn't rescued soon, the Shadows get to them, and the person becomes like a vegetable. ...We called those people "The Lost."

[misery_hates_company]

The things I have seen people capable of are things you should never have to know. Needless to say, I should HOPE that was a joke.

[otakuro]

W-Wait, so... anyone who leaves their house after midnight could just get... turned into a zombie? Can they be, uh, found again?

[otakuro]

...

R-Right. Sorry.

[He's not sure why he's apologizing, but it seems appropriate.]

I'll let you get to gathering your plants now.