compnetwork | ☼ 001 [video]

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☼ 001 [video]

[The feed flickers on and Lea fiddles with it a moment, turning the screen sideways briefly before making a face and righting it. Crazy newfangled technology. He's not wearing the watch, rather has it set on the table in his apartment like it's a tiny tiny computer. After making sure the little screen will stay upright by itself, Lea frowns at it a moment before scratching his head.]

So they tell me this watch thingy posts live to a network everybody in the city can see. Wow, that's pretty impressive--not just in technology but in trust! [He leans forward a bit, folding his arms on the back of the chair he's sitting backwards in and plunking his chin down on them.] I mean, I could say anything, and I wouldn't even be censored? [A low, appraising whistle.]

I mean, not that I'd ever do anything like that. [Grin~]

So where can a guy find the best ice cream in town? I've had a long day you guys wouldn't believe.

[Nothing like being dead and then waking up and finding out you got your heart back and wrangling with the idea of having real emotions again and debating whether or not you should track down your old friends who think you're dead and then getting pelted by children falling out of trees to wear you out. Yup. But he's not gonna go into details.

[A beat of silence and then he glances around as if making sure no one's watching before he cups a hand beside his mouth and says in a stage whisper,] Xemnas is an insufferable ass. And his briefings were boring as hell. [Just checking on that censorship thing. Yup. Nothing to see here.]

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Depends. What type of ice cream do you like?

...... and no, things don't seem to be censored. [ He has no idea who Xemnas is, but he supposes it's good that it wasn't censored? ]

Sea salt is my favorite, but I get the feeling that's a... regional specialty. I've done my share of traveling, you could say, and it's not something you find everywhere. In a pinch, vanilla with a caramel swirl's pretty nice. I suppose I'd be willing to just peruse the menu, though.

[And then he laughs a bit.] Oh, good--people need to know these things, after all. Don't hire anybody named Xemnas to give company briefings: he'll put everyone to sleep, got it memorized?

[He realizes half a second too late that if Xion and Roxas and Aqua and Riku are all here, Xemnas could be, too... but... well, he defected from the Organization a long time ago, so it's not like the announcement that Xemnas is boring will cost him his job or anything. Honestly if Xemnas thinks that anybody thinks he's interesting he's rather in for a bit of a shock, but that is neither here nor there.]

[ He smiles faintly. ]

Sure, I'll remember.

Ah -- welcome to Hinoto-Ri, by the way. [ It seems pretty obvious that Lea is new. ]

As for ice cream... we don't really have sea salt here. But there's a good place in the Virgo distract called The Whole Scoop. There's also a cafe in the Sagittarius that serves ice cream sundaes.

Er... thanks, I think. I'm still not really sure how the heck I got here, but it saves me the rest of a trip, anyway: the people I was looking for are here already, so I guess if it ain't broke...

[Lea counts on his fingers a moment, then gives the boy on the screen a curious look.] Pisces, Virgo, Sagittarius... those're all a set of something, aren't they? When the welcoming committee asked me when my birthday was, they said it meant I was a "Leo", and I thought they were just pronouncing my name wrong at first, but those things are like names of stars or something, aren't they?

[The stars in Never Was didn't have names, but he'd heard these words before, around other worlds.]

[ Minato nods and then explains as succinctly as he can. ]

They're names of constellations you can see from Earth's sky. When they say you're a 'Leo' that means that the Leo constellation was dominant in the sky when you were born. In that context, we call it your zodiac sign. Some people ascribe symbolism to them, associate certain personality traits and use them for fortune telling.

Fortune telling, huh? You don't say~ Might have to do a little light reading, in that case; knowing my future, that'd be pretty useful, I think. Thanks for the intel, uh... didn't catch your name, there.

[He gestures to himself.] I'm Lea. And apparently also a Leo. You can see why I was confused.

Mm. I can. There's a library that might have the information you're looking for.

[ There's a pause as he nods to Lea. ] My name's Minato Arisato. Pleased to meet you. ... I'm a Gemini, so there's not much to confuse.

Good to know; I'll have to poke around and see what I can find. Never know just what you'll discover in a library.

[His eyes widen a bit, and he lets out an appraising whistle.] Meenato Ahreesato. That's quite a mouthful, either way. [Pardon his dodgy pronunciation: Japan was never on the work roster of worlds to visit, so he's a little iffy on the phonetics of it just yet. He'll learn.] Gemini. Noted.

So I take it you've been here a while? You kinda seem to know what's going on.

[ He lifts an eyebrow at Lea's pronunciation of and comments about his name but ... decides not to really call him out on it, except ... ] You can just call me Minato. Arisato is my family name.

And I've been here a little over two months. ... also I came from a world that had Personas, which helps. [ By which he means he'd be willing to answer any other questions Lea had about this place. ]

Right then, Minato it is. [He does a bit better with the pronunciation this time; he's a quick study.

[Lea squints a bit then. Right, Persona. He's still a bit fuzzy on that, so... this might be helpful.] Mm, so these Persona things are supposed to... [He presses two fingers to his temple, trying to grasp at the feathery remains of the hazy dreamlike conversation he'd had with the man in the butterfly mask.] ... well, we're supposed to like save this world with them or something, right? Seems like kind of a tall order, if you ask me.

I suppose so...

I think for right now, most of us are simply settling in and doing our best to learn what we can about this place. I don't think, strictly speaking, you have to save the world with them. Simply that that is what we are told about why we are here. ... I don't think it hurts to at least help out a bit, though.

[ He considers telling Lea a little bit about what Elizabeth had said about Philemon and his bet with the Crawling Chaos and her speculations on that but... he doesn't really known Lea, so it seems a little much to say all at once. ]

I guess sayin' I helped save the world would be kind of a cool thing to put on a resumé, but it does seem a bit much to swallow all at once.

So do these Persona things come with an instruction manual? Pretty sure I've never even heard of one before, even in all the traveling I've done, so I'm kind of at a loss here.

Hm. I don't know if there's an instruction manual somewhere, but I can tell you the basics for now.

[ He pauses in case Lea wants to interrupt and say 'nope' but if that doesn't happen, he continues on. ]

A Persona is a part of your mind or soul that manifests to protect you when you are in danger. You can learn to call it forth at any time and use its powers. Or you can call it forth using a device called an Evoker.

[He just nods as Minato offers to give him a rundown. His brow furrows a little at the explanation--yeah, it sounds a bit familiar, in more ways than one. On one hand, he's pretty sure the guy in the mask said something similar, even if he can't for the life of him quite recall the exact words. More than that, though, his chakrams were of a similar concept. He was still fuzzy on the details of how losing his heart and becoming a Nobody had granted him the power to summon weaponry from Hammerspace, but he supposed those details weren't so important. The relevant part was that they were, in a way, an extension of his soul. Hell, one of the modification gears actually made the chakrams manifest in a manner that was supposed to be a direct representation of his personality (did this mean he was a ninja at 'heart'?), so this wasn't as shocking to him as it might have been to someone whose life hadn't taken such a turn.

[Tilting his head a bit, he taps his chin with one finger.]

So this Persona thing... is alive? [That part was new.] Like, okay, it's a part of my soul, I can handle that, but... it's actually like a sentient self-aware thing that has my back in a fight?

[He could get behind that.]

[ He thinks about that for a moment because he's honestly not completely sure on that point and then shakes his head a bit. ]

Not exactly... Personas aren't really independent of you. Even if you're not consciously directing them, they're still acting based on your subconscious will, I think. That can make them seem like they're sentient, but I don't... I don't think they're truly independent of you.

If you're knocked out, for example, your Persona will disappear back into your head.

[Lea makes a bit of a face. This is starting to sound like an imaginary friend or something.]

Huh, you don't say. Sounds pretty interesting, actually; do I have to do something special to figure out how mine works?

[It's not the first time he's 'died' and woken up with an unexpected new ability. Might as well figure out how to use it to his advantage.]

[ But these imaginary friends let you set things on fire! And stuff. ]

Mm, well they naturally awaken in response to a need to protect yourself, but you can also use something called an Evoker to force it out. Once you have the feel for summoning it, it's not hard.

Right, right, you mentioned the Evoker. I'll be frank: I'd rather learn how this works before I find myself in a life or death situation. So where does one get an Evoker?

Hm. I'm not entirely sure, actually. I have mine from the world I come from, which I can let you use for the first time, but as for acquiring one permanently, you could talk to a man called Q or this... large robot named Brainstorm. Evokers are used here primarily in arena battles between persona users, I believe, but they should have others available...

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☼ 001 [video]

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sorry for the wait! i didn't get a notif!

It's okay! c:

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