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

[linefacingforever]

[...he's not sure if this guy is upset, or if the capslock is permanently stuck to on.]

What do you mean, bets?

[lighter_flick]

[It could be a little but of both, really.]

I MEAN BETS. OR EXPERIMENTS, I GUESS.

TOYING WITH PEOPLE'S LIVES

[linefacingforever]

[...yeah, the capslock is stuck.]

You sound like he's already bet against you.

[lighter_flick]

[Or IIIISSSSS IIIIIIIIIIIIIIT?

it probably is]

THAT'S NOT REALLY HOW IT WORKS, IT WAS MORE LIKE A BET AGAINST HIS...OTHER HALF.

IT WAS MORE LIKE WE WERE THE POKER CHIPS. ...OR WAIT WOULD IT BE THE CARDS?

I'M NOT THAT GOOD AT ANALOGIES I'M SORRY.

[linefacingforever]

[Whoa. Whoa. Hold the phone.]

Wait, his other half? Like a shadow?

[lighter_flick]

[Oh GOOD, he knows what a Shadow is, that saves him a lot of trouble.]

YEAH, THAT'S BASICALLY WHAT HE IS.

AT LEAST YOU KNOW ABOUT SHADOWS, THAT MAKES IT EASY.

[linefacingforever]

My friends had to face themselves. We also fought shadows regularly.

You've dealt with Philemon before coming here? Would you mind giving me more information about him?

[lighter_flick]

SURE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU KNOW ALREADY BUT OKAY.

HE'S THE PART OF HUMANITY THAT WANTS HUMANITY TO BECOME ENLIGHTENED. HE'S ALSO NYARLATHOTEP'S OTHER HALF. IF YOU THINK OF NYARLATHOTEP AS HIS SHADOW, THEN THAT'S PRETTY MUCH IT.

HE ALSO CREATED IGOR AND THE VELVET ROOM. PHILEMON ALSO SHOWS UP AS A BUTTERFLY SOMETIMES.

IF ANY OF THIS IS SOUNDING FAMILIAR TO YOU, FEEL FREE TO SPEAK UP.

[linefacingforever]

[...oh.]

I've been to the Velvet Room often before coming here, and I've worked with Igor before.

The butterflies I've seen on occasion, but I never met Philemon until I came here.

[lighter_flick]

[Ahahaha, aaaaaaaahahahahahaha that's funny.

You're funny, Yu.]

IF YOU'VE ENCOUNTERED WEIRD SPARKLY BUTTERFLIES AND CAN GET INTO THE VELVET ROOM, THEN YOU'VE MET PHILEMON.

ALTHOUGH I GUESS HE WASN'T SHOWING UP IN PERSON FOR YOU FOR SOME REASON??

[linefacingforever]

It was more they were around when I needed a moment to pause and reflect? I didn't actually see him in person until I was brought here.

[...wait. Freaking wait.]

Is it possible we're from the same world?

[lighter_flick]

I DUNNO, HAVE YOU HEARD OF SUMARU CITY?

[He probably has...it's a coastal city roughly the size of San Francisco. Much easier for people to have heard of Sumaru or Iwatodai than, say, Inaba.]

[linefacingforever]

It sounds familiar.

[Yeah, not even going to bother asking; he hadn't even been sure of Inaba until his parents said he was going there.]

[lighter_flick]

[...So he's not from Sumaru. And, let's be frank, if he wasn't from Sumaru, he'd be dead if they were from the same world.

Unless...if Maya's actually here, then...]

THIS MIGHT SOUND KIND OF WEIRD, BUT WHAT YEAR WERE YOU TAKEN FROM?

[Hey, he could have always been brought from before the Grand Cross happened...]

[linefacingforever]

2012

[lighter_flick]

[.....okay uh.

The next response might take awhile.

Because Tatsuya is kind of having a moment right now. So...

Please hold, we are experiencing technically difficulties]

[linefacingforever]

[...did he lose him?]

You okay?

[lighter_flick]

ISF THE EATRH OKAY????????

[linefacingforever]

[What the...?]

Not counting the issue we had with the fog and the TVs, yes?

[lighter_flick]

I'M SERIOUS, DO YOU HAIL FROM A BARREN AND RUINED WORLD THAT'S SIMILAR TO THE MAD MAX FILMS BUT IN A MUCH LESS AWESOME WAY?

OR ARE YOU FROM A NICE NORMAL CITY OR TOWN WHERE EVERYTHING'S FINE AND MASSES OF PEOPLE DIDN'T DIE HORRIBLY.

THIS IS REALLY SERIOUS.

PLEASE TELL ME THAT I ACTUALLY DIDN'T SCREW UP FOR ONCE.

[linefacingforever]

I was being serious.

I lived in Inaba before coming here, and other than the mysteries my friends and I had to solve, everything was fine.

[lighter_flick]

[...Sorry, he's...screaming internally. For lack of a better term.

It worked. Their plan to reset everything actually worked. That's why Maya was alive and she didn't remember it WORKED IT WORKED IT WORKED!!!

DID YOU SEE THAT NYARLATHOTEP???

IT WORKED AND THIS GUY AND MAYA-NEE WAS PROOF THAT IT WORKED AHAHAHAHAHAHAH SUCK HIS DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK.]

OH MY GOD SORRY I'M JUST

WHAT'S IT LIKE IN 2012??

[linefacingforever]

It's not bad, I guess. What year are you from?

[lighter_flick]

1999.

I'M SORRY THIS IS JUST REALLY

OH MY GOD.

AND EVERYTHING'S FINE EXCEPT FOR THE THINGS YOU HAD TO TAKE CARE OF, RIGHT?

[linefacingforever]

Yeah, and that's more or less resolved as well.

Were things that bad for you?