[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

[greatseal]

I meant more like a really strong Persona....

[otakuro]

Oh!

...Yeah, that'd be helpful, too. You think I'd be able to bring it back home?

[greatseal]

I don't see why not. It's a part of you, now.

[......] Although all of mine did get replaced when I came here.

[otakuro]

...Replaced? By different Persona that you couldn't use before?

[greatseal]

It's more like...

[...] In RPG terms, it'd be like being knocked from level 99 to about level 30.

[otakuro]

[Ah. He comprehends perfectly.]

Don't worry; characters always get way weaker once they join the team in an RPG, anyway. I bet they'll explain it as a side-effect of switching worlds.

[greatseal]

[She thought so. He seems like a nerd videogame connoisseur.]

You have a point! It's just a little disconcerting to have to go back to grinding again.

[otakuro]

[That's game geek to you.]

At least it's a different environment, right? Besides, you've gotta give the rest of us time to catch up.

...Demon-fighting wise, I'm pretty sure I've dropped down a few levels myself. Those guys were a lot tougher than they should've been.

[greatseal]

I wonder if everyone else is like that, too? Not just people with Personas and demons...

[otakuro]

Maybe.

Demons are pretty tough in general, though. Even people who can defend themselves normally or who have a lot of firearms - they just don't work on them the way it should.

[greatseal]

That was actually the same with Shadows. Normal weapons don't do anything if you aren't a Persona-user.

[otakuro]

...Huh.

Maybe Shadows are just... demons that need more power to take a form. Or something predictable and cliche like that.

[greatseal]

Who knows.... though considering everything that's happened so far, maybe we'll get a chance to find out here.

[otakuro]

Have you asked anyone about it yet? If they're so familiar with Persona, they ought to know a lot about the state of your world, too, right?

[greatseal]

I guess I could. I hadn't really thought about asking, though.

[otakuro]

I'll see if I can bring it up the next time they have a Q and A session. Since your world's the only one so far with this same power, there's gotta be a few links here and there.