002 [Video/Public]

[otakuro]

[The screen flickers on to a boy wearing an amused grin.]

Everyone!

I've got good news!  You're forgiven!  The angel I summoned said so himself; God would definitely forgive you in a heartbeat because man's heart is weak, as is his mind, and we're all, uh, susceptible to the workings of the Evil One, and even as we wallow in our filth and sin, we -- You know what, forget God; I forgive you.

Seriously, no one could possibly blame you for what happened last week even if some of us were lucky enough to be scorpion magnets.  Misery has it right - the important thing is to make sure that it doesn't happen again.  If you all missed the announcements from the higher-ups, the people who were affected most severely were Scorpios.  ...If you don't know what that means, in modern times on Earth - that's the 2000s - they were born when the Sun was in the sector of the sky dominated by the constellation Scorpio.  This makes no sense if you were born outside Earth or in a time when we didn't go in for ridiculous things like pretending arbitrary sky-pictures meant anything about our lives, but the important thing is that the sun transitions into Scorpio beginning on October 23rd.

Guess what last week was.

The next sign is Sagittarius.  The sun will shift into its sector on November 22nd.

So let's clear a few things out of the way - Everyone who was afraid, can you report in with your sign?  Same thing if you were a scorpion magnet, though maybe that's more of a subjective thing.  And everyone who's a Sagittarius, do you mind if we tie you to your beds from November, oh, 18th-ish to the 23rd?  Your choices are (Yes/Of course/Definitely).  If your name is Jun, (That's kinda kinky) works, too.  If you don't know your sign, Sagittarius goes from late November into late December - so the end of a harvest season into winter in the Northern hemisphere, and the end of spring into summer in the South.

I'll keep track of the data.  It's kinda my thing.

Oh -- this has nothing to do with anything, but I'm working in the computer labs of the university now.  Drop by if you ever need anything fixed or if you just want to say hi.

Comments

[otakuro]

Oh -- Sorry. I didn't get that.

[...Hm.]

That's the first report of Taurus I've heard. It's not shattering the theory or anything, but that would make three astrological signs that were affected, then.

I've tried looking through some books, but I can't find any specific connections between them, either. Taurus, Leo, and Aquarius... And the other group's Cancer and Capricorn.

[themortalhalf]

It's fine.

[He hadn't been exactly clear, either.

There's a longer pause as he mulls that over.]

What about compatibility?

[People were interested in that kind of crap, right? For their horoscopes and love matches and shit. He's sure plenty of girls did it back home. See if that pretty boy they'd been staring at all day long in class was a good match or a walking disaster. Not that all wasn't a bunch of bullshit in the log run, but the Full Moon Shadows had followed a theme, too.]

[otakuro]

...You mean, love horoscopes? Like, Capricorns are moody and Tauruses are down-to-earth and you were born under the thirteenth and half house of Venus so it's a good match?

[...That's a good thought. But...]

Is there a standard for that? I always thought they read like they were making them up on the spur of the moment.

[themortalhalf]

Like those. What signs go best with which and don't. Like the Chinese zodiac does.

[But he doesn't know if there's a standard. Not like he picks up and reads these things on a daily basis or tries to divine his life based on how the stars are aligned. That's for other people.]

You're the one with the books.

[otakuro]

Hm... Do Scorpios really have a problem with so many different signs? I guess that explains a lot about Naoya, anyway.

Alright, I'll take a look. I'm expecting a medal for having to actually study this stuff in-depth.

[themortalhalf]

Beats me.

Might have nothing to do with it.

[But he'd rather there was a pattern. That you can prepare for.]

But might as well send your bill to the government while you're at it.

[Might just give him a paycheck and a goddamn medal with his name on, because as far as he's concerned, they either know something and aren't doing much about it, or else they know jack shit and are full of incompetent morons.]

[otakuro]

I think they'll be using enough money to pay for the damages in the aftermath. Maybe I'll cut them some slack.

Thanks, though. ...You know, that's the best idea I've heard so far.

[themortalhalf]

[There's a pause for all of three seconds.]

Shit you could read in the back of a magazine ain't worth thanking someone for.

Who're you, anyway?

[Shinjiro thinks he's seen him on the network once, and maybe at the main hall when they had all had their asses dragged here in September.]

[otakuro]

Atsuro Kihara. From a Japan, somewhere out there.

It's nice to meet you.

[Shinjiro was fairly good about slouching in the background, so Atsuro couldn't say the same on his part. He is reminded, though, of a certain charismatic young gang leader.]

[themortalhalf]

Shinjiro Aragaki.

[Also from one of the many Japans, though his name alone probably makes that obvious enough.]

What part of Japan?

[otakuro]

Tokyo. Near Ikebukuro. How about you?

[themortalhalf]

[One of those big city kids then, huh?]

Iwatodai. 'bout an hour or so from Tokyo.

[Give or take. He's never exactly made the trip.]

[otakuro]

Iwatodai...

Are you from... Minako's world? I've talked to a few others, and I don't think there's an Iwatodai in most of the Japans out there.

[themortalhalf]

[The fact he knows MInako doesn't surprise him in the least; however, the fact that Tatsumi Port doesn't exist in some worlds is—

Actually, it makes more sense. The place was man-made, more or less, wasn't it? And made for a purpose. Without that purpose, why would it need to exist?]

Yeah. Same one.

[otakuro]

So you've been using the Personas before all this, too. No zodiac monsters back where you guys came from?

[themortalhalf]

A couple years.

[He hesitates at the next question.]

And no, but something like it.

[He pauses once more, and there's almost an audible grimace when he does speak again.]

We had Shadows and something like the Thirteenth Hour—it's pretty much the same thing.

[All it has is a different coat of paint, that's all, and it makes him uneasy.]

[otakuro]

Hey, right... I forgot about that with all the stuff about crawling through TVs. You fought them in groups like this for almost a year, right...?

[A brief, thoughtful pause.]

Were the scorpion things familiar at all?