Text: This is a public service announcement

[lighter_flick]

[After he wakes up from that weird dream, it takes him a few more hours to realize that Eikichi is, somehow, missing. And...that was it! That was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back! Because by mid-morning, there is an angry-looking text post from Tatsuya on the network, with only these words of warning.]

ATTN: HINOTO-RI

PHILEMON WILL RUIN YOUR LIFE

[That's....it. Maybe he should elaborate.]

Comments

[not here]

[terminalemulation]

_{[....tentatively....popcorn dot gifing at this....? she's not sure honestly]}

Privacy filter->[text]

[prototype_blues]

It could be either really, good or bad depends on you.

I get what you mean, you just know of the kind that do what they're told or programmed to do.

[text]

[greatseal]

[okay Tatsuya... she understands that you just got here and obviously went through something traumatic and are upset, but now you're getting hysterical.]

Of course they're coming back! You just answered that yourself - if they can leave, they can come back. And also, they aren't helpless if we can't find them. They're our friends and Persona users. I believe in them even if you don't believe in the person who sent them away.

[Video]

[itswhoopasstime]

[Maya's video feed comes on in turn, her fingers lightly hovering against her lips as she takes in the all-too-familiar face on the feed.

Oh. She had seen the name, and yet at home, he had hardly been the only Tatsuya... not to mention she had hardly known his name long enough for it to register. Yet something nagged at her now. She should have known.]

It's you.

[Video]

[lighter_flick]

[..."It's you"? That's it!? What did she mean "it's you"? Did she not...remember or...?]

...Maya-nee?

[He looks like he's about to cry.]

Text

[emperor_penguin]

Little late for that.

[text]

[lighter_flick]

[Hysterical is his middle name, to be honest.

It's awhile before he replies but when he does, it looks like he's trying to calm himself, despite still typing in all caps.]

I KNOW. I'M SORRY. I KNOW. I WANT TO THINK THINGS WILL BE OKAY. YOU'RE RIGHT I MEAN THEY'RE PERSONA USERS

[The problem for him is that being a Persona user can't protect you from some things, but at least he gets that she's trying to help.]

Text

[lighter_flick]

IT WILL PROBABLY GET WORSE.

PROBABLY.

[Text]

[electricyousei]

I suspected something like that, can I get the full details on this from you?

Text

[emperor_penguin]

I've seen worse, believe me.

Privacy filter->[text]

[lighter_flick]

YEAH LIKE THE KIND THAT ARE USED IN CAR FACTORIES RIGHT?

Privacy filter->[text]

[prototype_blues]

...

Can they talk?

[text]

[greatseal]

[She knows that, too. All too well, really... The problem is that thinking about bullets and accidents won't stop them from happening. Neither will being there, all the time. Some things aren't controllable, and once you start down that path of fearing the future and dwelling on the mistakes of the past, your thinking just becomes darker and darker until the despair swallows you whole.

That's an outcome she utterly rejects.]

Hey, what's your name?

[text]

[lighter_flick]

[See, that's probably why Nyarlathotep enjoys fucking with him...]

TATSUYA SUOU.

[gigglesnortpriestess]

[And she'll be switching from text to voice. Maybe he won't sound so angry if they actually talked.

That story sounds familiar hmmmm]

I'm...so sorry to hear that.

[text]

[greatseal]

Tatsuya-kun. I'm Minako Arisato.

My brother and [...well, she doesn't want to spread too much sappy information over the network but may as well] my boyfriend and some other close friends left with Eikichi-kun.

You're right, though. We don't need to just wait for them. Let's work together and make sure they come home safely... But stay calm while we do.

[text]

[meaningdies]

I recognize that. However, where I'm from, any supernatural being counts as a demon. Even angels do. Powerful deities do as well.

[Translation: stfu brat.]

[misery_hates_company]

Oh my, and so eloquently put too! Clearly you have enlightened us all with your calm, nuanced argument. Ho ho ho!

That said, regardless of what you may say, what exactly do you intend to do about this little problem, hmm?

Video

[selfgodded]

Hm? Oh, it is nothing. Just that with humanity being a walking contradiction, it is unable to achieve full enlightenment or evolution. Philemon is set at a disadvantage from the beginning, whereas his antithesis, Nyarlathotep, I presume, is already at the finishing line.

[Text]

[capitalbackup]

Explain yourself.

[linefacingforever]

Got that impression when he brought a seven year old here.

[Okay, so what else is he supposed to do while laid up at the hospital? And he's not even going to mention the convicted murderer too...]

[Video]

[itswhoopasstime]

[It was the same way Eikichi had addressed her when she had first arrived. She fought the urge to frown, instead offering him a hesitant nod.]

You're Tatsuya.

[No longer just Deja Vu Boy, thanks to Katsuya confirming the name for her.]

Katsuya's brother. You've been helping me, haven't you? Or you were before I came here.

text;

[empressive]

[Ruin huh? Well, this will great. Means one less higher up to trust, other than her father, so to speak.]

I'd very much like to hear the reasons why. You can't make a statement like that without providing support.

[thewunderkind]

TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE AND I'LL DO IT.

[Seriously, she will.]

[text]

[ineedthemforanalyzing]

[That was surprisingly good advice.]

I agree.

What do you know about a 'Shining Trapezohedron'?