compnetwork | [VIDEO]

Entry tags:

[VIDEO]

[This video feed is notably smooth and free of shaking, flickering or static corruption. Especially considering that it seems to be the first time this user is putting material on the Network- you haven't seen this girl before. She's seated facing the camera, and when she speaks it's as quiet and slow as you expect considering the blankly vague expression on her face.]

......hello. This is user ID....

[She pauses; her eyes flicker away from the camera to check something on her COMP.]

.....2510994. I'm not too sure how essential the serial is for indexation and looking up people..... .... but you can call me Nanami. I guess. Mmm.

......

I'm new, so pardon if this breaks any rules or conventions, but I'd just like to ask about the situation here? From what I gather, there are demons as well as creatures called Persona, and it all runs very similarly to an MMORPG. Many of you are definitely far more experienced players and I don't want to make too many stupid mistakes at this point, considering there doesn't seem to be a Save and Reload function.

[Slowly she starts appearing more lively and picking up the pace of her speech. Especially when the game metaphor starts.]

So what strategies would you recommend? Should I focus on finding allies first or levelgrind instead, like at the 13th Hour feature I've been told about- is that too high-level for someone just starting out? Where should and shouldn't I go? Does anyone know what the win condition for this game is?

That last one.... I've been wondering about that quite a bit. It's just weird to start a playthrough not knowing what you're supposed to achieve at the end of it, you know? Though I guess.... this is what it must feel to be a video game character, huh....

[She smiles slightly.]

Mmm. Any constructive responses would be appreciated. That's all I have to say.

[The video feed cuts. bzzt.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[OH

OH GOD]

[Well, it's obvious she couldn't have been the only one brought here. Someone like Nanami, though? She's so... calm, still speaking about everything like it's a game...

Her voice is unsettling, honestly. You know how sometimes, someone can be so zen, their mood just cuts through the room and hurts?

Yeah.]

[Just

let her

okay does she look presentable uhuh alright ready

go]

Well, you certainly took your own sweet time getting here!

[Her voice is put just a notch too high-pitched than usual, but Saionji corrects herself quickly.] Have you even awakened your Persona yet? Treating this all like a game... you're about to piss me off, you know that?

[.....]

[Saionji is here too? Does that mean.... everyone else who...]

Nanami feels more alert and responsive in the wake of that thought, but it only translates to her looking marginally more sleepy and confused.]

Hello, Saionji. You're here, too?

[No shit, Sherlock. Of course she's here. Nanami would try to find a better way to put her message across but that would take too much processing time.]

I mean, well, it's quite a... surprise? This situation, that is....

....

And also, I'm sorry about pissing you off. It wasn't my intention.

Edited 2014-06-02 14:04 (UTC)

[...Saionji...

Really doesn't know whether to trust Nanami. Hell, she was 'deported' (for lack of a better word) as a certain point where Nanami was still 100% alive, as far as Saionji is concerned. Who's to say she doesn't stir shit when Saionji isn't there to...?]

Well, I shouldn't be surprised... SHSL Gamer must be a hikikomori, after all! Social skills must evade you.

[In any case-] There's no one else here, thankfully. I don't think I could deal that.

So! I think you need to tell me a few things, Nanami.

.... ....

[So. No one else is here- Nanami isn't sure what to make of that. Does this prove or disprove the possibility that those who.... lose the game, so to speak, come here? Where are the others?]

[She shrugs. Lacking social skills was never something she denied.... for various reasons.]

I suppose you can put things that way.

What do you want to know? I might not be able to provide the answers.... I haven't been here very long at all....

Edited 2014-06-02 14:31 (UTC)

[Well, Nanami, guess who just changed the privacy of the video? It would be good for you to learn how to do this, too.]

I'm not dumb enough to ask you things you obviously don't know.

Tell me- what's the last thing you remember?

[She's working on it, she's working on it. There's a lot to process and maybe not getting one's ass handed to them by a demon took higher priority than figuring out how to make your answering machine play elevator music. Okay, maybe Nanami's done both, but....]

The last thing I remember?

......

[How much should she tell?]

We were up to the fifth trial. It was messy. I'm not sure what happened to the others.

[...God.]

Who's still alive? Who's not?

And by the statement you're 'not sure what happened to the others'...

[Oh. Oh, Saionji knew it. She fucking called it, knew that Nanami was talking too little and acting too innocent, knew that she was just the right recipe for disaster!] ...That means you were obscured from them, somehow. So. You were executed, weren't you?

..... ..... if I remember correctly...

Hinata-kun, Souda-kun, Kuzuryuu-kun, Owari-san, Sonia-san were alive when I left....

[...they were playing this game, huh. Cards must be carefully played from here on out. Not that she wouldn't in any circumstance, there were safeguards in place in her psyche just in case some classmate got too nosy or imaginative or drunk...]

Yes. I was.

Edited 2014-06-02 15:03 (UTC)

[Oh.]

I knew you were a dirty murderer.

[It's said in something of an accusatory tone instead of a resigned one- the anger is obviously there, though she's shying away from looking at the screen.]

Who did you kill?

[[NOTICE FOR ANY CASUAL READERS: SDR2 CH5 SPOILERS AHEAD]]

[She doesn't react well to these sorts of things, does she. The Mutual Killing must have been a pretty bad environment for her. Nanami feels a bit.... sympathetic, as best as someone like her is able to, though a lot of it stems from how she had promised to help keep her classmates as in-one-piece as possible (and failed. spectacularly.)]

Komaeda-kun.

[Nanami doesn't react to the accusation. She knows where she stands.]

He set up a roulette-style murder and by his luck I shot the fatal bullet, so to speak.

[What a liar. She's a liar. Saionji can't hear anything but excuses from Nanami's mouth---

Pathetic, half-assed explanations with no backing, with the same calm face and tone and no god damn guilt and it makes her sick.] How convenient it must be for you! There's no one else I can ask here to confirm whether you're telling the truth, so you can easily reach for the name of someone we already know is absolutely crazy!

And then use a fake reason like 'roulette murder'? You expect me to believe that? You're not as tricky as you think you are, Nanami. I always knew you were the most dangerous one!

[Saionji's almost drunk in her 'realization' and 'crackdown' on Nanami. Sorry.]

[C'mon, it's Komaeda. If we had those Western yearbook titles he'd hands down be voted as "Most Likely To Set Up An Elaborately Destructive Plan To Kill Himself."]

[Saionji's getting a little ahead of herself here. But what can Nanami do? What would Nanami be inclined to do, anyway? It's the truth, just blown up a lot. So what if she was dangerous. So what?]

[She shrugs.]

....okay. I've said my piece. Your opinion is yours..... I guess.

My opinion.

[It's a complete deadpan.

And then, Saionji just switches the video off.

...Well, if they ever meet face-to-face, shit's gonna be awkward.]

......

[[Spoiler warning? More spoiler references than usual]]

[Her codes register that she's made an enemy; not an enemy, per se, her codes register that Saionji is probably angry and upset with her. It is perhaps not absurd to be angry and upset over things like death. And Saionji has never been kind with her judgement, Nanami remembers.]

[But what to do about this whole thing.... there is no answer for this in her mind. Her situation used to be that it didn't matter whether people hated her or not. It was them who were consequential after all....]

[No, Nanami doesn't think an apology would help. She closes the video on her end; to run through all your options and decide none of them work is to do nothing, in her book. Processors are set to idle if no commands are being run.]

END VIDEO EXCHANGE?

"Hi! My name's Kotoha; it's nice to meet you! I'm going to send you a pamphlet, and after you read it I'd be happy to answer any questions you have, okay?"

File transfer sound!

Edited (fixed the html) 2014-06-02 23:31 (UTC)

[....oh, this is less of an instruction manual and more of a lifestyle guide brochure. It's a little underwhelming, but that's alright. Life isn't always the fun and games you wish it is.]

...thank you! Mm, file transfer received. I'll take a look.

[There is some information here, player objectives, Persona- training is a good idea, then- and-]

[Oh. PLACING YOURSELF IN MORTAL PERIL IS A BAD IDEA the screen highlights in capslock. Whoops. Too late. Oh well.]

....if I'm here for a prolonged period of time, then where do I.... live?

"You said your name was Nanami, right? All Visitors get a small apartment and a monthly stipend upon arrival...ah! You're in the Libra ward apartment, 5-03."

Slight pause as she turns away from the laptop she was looking that up on.

"Oh, just so you know - your Persona will unlock more skills when you use it, but for some reason that usually only happens when you've teamed up with another Visitor. So in response to your earlier question - allies first, then level grinding."

...they only unlock skills when you're Double Battling?

[Huh. Okay.... change of plans, then, time to go party-gathering....]

Thank you for the information....

[Give her a second, she's got this-]

[........]

.... .....thank you for the information, Kotoha-san.

...it really says something about Kotoha's social circle that she's not even slightly affected by Nanami actually having to work to remember her name.

She at least got it right, which is frankly a step up.

"Oh, couple more things - if you become close enough friends with someone, you can merge your Persona into a new, Dual Persona. And if you stick around long enough, your Soul Persona can change, too!"

[Merging Personas? Changing Soul Personas? This seems like quite a complicated subject...]

[Research needs to be done! Nanami's very serious about these things. Acquainting oneself with game mechanics is very important- if you want to do well, you have to know what you're doing.]

Oh.... I see. Is there anywhere I can read up on this more?

"Lessee..."

Kotoha wheels back to her laptop, narrating as she conducts a search.

"Nowhere you can read up on it, I'm afraid, but...ah, yeah, here we go - Nano Shinonome is the closest thing we've got to an expert on Dual Personas, and as a bonus both she and her...sister? are on record as having upgraded Soul Personas."

A slight pause to mutter under her breath 'didn't know she had a sister' before Kotoha recalls something Nanami said earlier.

"Oh, right - you said 'Double Battling' like you knew what the term meant; are you a Pokemon Trainer?"

[Oh no. Fourth wall approaching. Fourth wall approaching at a speed where either you or it is going to break. Time for some complicated and diplomatic scenario navigation!]

[Nanami looks up at the term double battling, visibly a little more alert than seconds before. Seconds before, she was on a slippery slope to a glazy-eyed trance- okay, let's not kid ourselves here, the slippery slope slides all the way to falling asleep onto the camera.]

........ oh, I play video games a lot, it's a term we use. I think-

[She's still half-convinced she's in some sort of game, after all, and letting characters in the gameverse realize how digital things are would be a very bad idea.]

Are you a Pokemon Trainer? I've heard a bit about Pokemon Trainers. ....I think.

[!!! A real life Pokemon Trainer!!! How big are Pokemon, what do their moves look like when you're in the gameverse? She's always wanted to know!]

Kotoha draws herself up a little straighter and does a kind of half-bow in her seat.

"Straight outta Asperia City, entered ten time in the Hall of Fame itself - the legendary genius Pokemon Champion, Kotoha! At your service."

Jazzhands!

Oh....!

[Ten playthroughs? Respectable. Especially for a player character doing it from within the game, this was all very exciting.]

[Nanami spends a moment figuring out how she ought to react to a situation like this. Let's see, awe and excitement, she isn't good with awe or excitement....]

That's very impressive!

.....maybe...sometime, ah, next time, could you tell me about where you come from? I'd like to know more, especially from a native.

[That was not very good phrasing. Unfortunately it's still an either-or dichotomy between a properly-ordered sentence or being able to respond within a reasonable timing.]

"Sure thing! I'll introduce you to my team, okay?"

[!!!!]

That would be.... very nice!

Could we meet up sometime? In real life, I mean. Maybe?

"Sure! I have a place down in Pisces; feel free to visit any time!"

....okay. .....so it's alright for me to visit you?

"It is always alright for cute girls to visit me!"

......cute?

Kotoha would be more nonplussed at Nanami's reaction, but she's gotten used to people being bewildered by her flirting attempts.

"Yeah. Hasn't anyone ever told you you're cute before?"

Ah.......

[Good question. Nanami had never taken note of these things...]

[What were they supposed to mean? How was she even supposed to react to this?]

....maybe once or twice?

Kotoha laughs a little, because frankly this is starting to be a pattern.

"Man, one of these days I am going to flirt with someone that realizes they're attractive and I'll just shut down from sheer shock."

I think.....

[What does she think?]

....... ... if they're someone who acknowledges their attractiveness, they could end up flirting back.

....maybe?

Nod nod.

"Exactly! I'm pretty sure I've lost the skills needed to deal with that."

"Oh. Oh no, I see."

"I can't help with that, sadly... I'm not good at the courtship game."

[No, really. She detests dating sims.]

"Oh, no worries, my current girlfriend doesn't come outside much anymore so I'm planning on dragging her out for a birthday picnic pretty soon."

Ah, that's nice..... all the best for that.

I should probably... start on something soon, such as take a look at my apartment....

Nod nod.

"Okay, sounds like that's everything, then! Good luck!"

Thank you.

END VIDEO EXCHANGE

[Aggie isn't that much of a nerd, but she does use the internet and play games in her spare time, so she parses at least half of what Nanami's saying.

And she can respond relatively in kind.]

I would recommend unlocking your Persona first if you have not already done so. Otherwise, your combat options will be severely limited, and surviving on your own in the 13th Hour will be difficult if not impossible. Also, familiarizing yourself with the city layout is also a good idea, if only so you don't get lost.

[Pause. Why did she just talk so much?...]

... Ah. It is nice to meet you, by the way, Nanami. My name's Agatha.

[Oh! Someone's speaking her language!]

Unlocking Persona- I've passed that checkpoint, I think. Though I can't say I'm comfortable with the battling system yet.... does the 13th Hour have level-tiering, or is it entirely above the capability of the average new player?

I'm assuming you've seen enough of the 13th Hour to give a review of it, here.... have you?

But thank you for the tips. My.... [Small yawn. She's run out of steam and needs to phrase this properly in her head, give her a sec....] ....my name is Nanami. Hello, Agatha.

[She knows some of it!!]

I'm not...sure if there is a level system in place here. I am not an especially avid gamer, but if it were, wouldn't there be those little bars over our heads by now?

Either way, it would probably be best to team up with others, especially if you and your Persona are not oriented toward the front line. ... Besides, there's other things to do anyway, like going to class and getting jobs and dealing with the random events here, and so on.

[So it's basically more like Rune Factory Hardcore Mode.]

You wouldn't know, actually. From inside the game itself, it might not be so clear what the mechanics around you are..... I guess.

I gathered that teaming up would be a good idea. Yeah.

[Going to class, getting jobs? Nanami kind of prefers the running-around-hunting-things sort of game. She'll hands-down run around and hunt things all day.]

[Though on the other hand, the new experiences would be....interesting.... maybe?]

I guess.... if I'm stuck here, I'll have the time to figure it out. This system seems to have a fairly important slice-of-life part to it too.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[VIDEO]

1/??? give me a moment...

2/???

3/4 OKAY DONE SOON...

VIDEO; 4/4 ok you can reply to this comment forgive me for the icon spam

hi.

SOBS INDEFINITELY

ok. ok

PRIVATE VIDEO;

REAL PRIVATE STUFF. OOH. SNEAKY.

no subject

such spoiler. much spoil. wow

try not to edit so much though i get email alerts for each edit

!!! damnit sorry

no subject

no subject

no subject

they should never meet face to face

Video

Instruction Manual Get!!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

HUMS THE POKEMON CENTER HEALING SOUND EFFECT LIKE THE GAMER SHE IS

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

[video]

Re: [video]

[video]

Re: [video]