[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]

[to be honest, the idea holds water. In her experience, Personas are only needed when something big is happening. And it's interesting for her to hear that these demons aren't something only on this world. But still...]

...I'm not really sure what it means for your theory, but I've seen some of these demons before, too. Except they weren't demons, they were Personas.

[otakuro]

Persona... I'm guessing you're from, uh... Yu Narukami's world, right? The one with the televisions.

I don't really know anything about them, but do you remember which ones, exactly?

[greyerrant]

Such sorcery always appears before a world burns.

[aboyandhiscat]

Demons had always existed in my world - it's usually most on another 'plane of existence', though they become more active during dangerous times.

[greatseal]

Well, it sounds that way, but I only just met him myself.

Let's see... I saw Alp and Incubus, Lilim and Lilith...

[misery_hates_company]

*She really shouldn't be bothering with anybody, but she had to admire this boy's good humor next to her, ah, STRONG personality.*

Oh my, aren't we the dramatic one. And here I thought you were all about the knock knock jokes.

[otakuro]

...

If Persona are a representation of your soul... I'd hate to meet whoever had those demons for Persona.

I'm... not really qualified to talk about more than what I've seen personally, but maybe Persona have a connection to wherever it is these things come from, too.

[otakuro]

Oh.

Er.

...I'm not sure if that was philosophy or if you're saying you've seen the same things.

[otakuro]

That's a bit reassuring. It's more along the lines of how they're usually imagined, right? Most people don't see them, but they come out to play tricks every now and then.

[otakuro]

Oh, uh. Sorry. I just don't know any that end with 'Who's there? The apocalypse!'.

Maybe a Russian joke.

[aboyandhiscat]

[He nods in confirmation]

It's when the major demons are being active is when one should be alarmed.

[greatseal]

[.....but Atsuro you've already met them.....]

Personas are just facets... they don't necessarily equal your whole self. At least not for everyone.

[otakuro]

...That's a good point. If it weren't for the Bel demons, things might not have gotten as bad as they did.

I don't know what else would go under major demon, though. Anything that could destroy you in one shot?

[blitzkriegzwei]

[He's trying out this network thing for the first time. Forgive him for sounding so stiff and formal.]

Ah... Atsuro, was it? It's Ludwig. How are you faring since the fight in the labs? I assume one of your demons healed all your injuries...

[otakuro]

...Can't you find any personality trait in anyone if you look hard enough? We could get anything as a Persona.

[misery_hates_company]

Some might argue the end of the world itself is a punchline on a cosmic scale. A fitting one, I'd say.

[otakuro]

I think the powers that be need a better sense of humor, then. ...Though they didn't appreciate my jokes very much, either.

[otakuro]

Yeah, that's right! ...Aha, I think all that's wrong with me now is that I've slept too much. My head feels like cotton.

[greatseal]

Mm-hmm... Though back home, only a few people could actually do that. Most people only had one Persona. Sometimes they changed if they made a big resolution of some kind.

[misery_hates_company]

I can't POSSIBLY imagine why. Oh ho.

It sounds like you've had quite a lot of practical experience on this front! I guess you weren't the type to sit on your laurels, hm? How... heroic.

[otakuro]

Right...

They were talking here about making new Persona in the Velvet Room. Do you know anything about that?

[aboyandhiscat]

They're ones known by specific names, rulers in their own way.

[A voice from off-screen cuts in]

They are demons you find in the Keys of Solomon, Legends that persisted in time, Or had been worshiped as Gods and feared as Devils

[greatseal]

That's right. From what I can tell it's only guests of the Velvet Room who can use more than one Persona.

[otakuro]

...I didn't do anything that anyone else didn't try. We... all of us just did what we thought we needed to do to survive.

[For some people, that entailed murder and other equally depraved acts. But under the circumstances... No one was acting in their right minds.]

[otakuro]

[Atsuro recognizes the second voice quickly as the cat. He'd actually been surprised not to see it.]

...Yeah. You know there's trouble when Lucifer decides to make a pit stop in Tokyo.

What about here? Nothing like that has popped up yet?