Video / Action

[terminally_clever]

[Video on the network; Action in Capricon Ward]

[Fumi's spent several weeks gathering information about Hinoto-Ri, Personas, the state of things in her world and various iterations thereof, and now it's finally time for her to begin her grand experiment.  But in order to have something to experiment on, first she needs a Persona.  She's only heard two different stories about them since coming to this place, and considering she doesn't already have one, the only thing left is to put herself in harm's way to force it to awaken.

And apparently, that's exactly what she's doing.  When the feed clicks on, Fumi's busily securing the watch portion of her COMP in a safe place, setting it up to record what she's about to do.  She flashes a small knowing smile at the camera without saying much of anything, and then walks off a short distance away, standing in the middle of the open field that makes up most of the Capricon District.  It's dark, and during the 13th Hour to boot, but there's just enough light to make out her white china dress and the faint light of what appears to be a cell phone.

And Fumi just stands there in the middle of the field for a short time until she is predictably found by a group of fairly strong-looking demons that happen to be wandering through the area.  They slowly make their approach, prompting very little reaction from Fumi whatsoever.  As they get closer, they pick up speed, and finally she slowly raises her head to regard the demons impassively.  As they tear toward her with their claws, there is a flash of light, and Fumi's Persona appears.

Of course, Vapula happens to be a support Persona, so there's precious little Fumi can do to fight back.  She takes the demons' attack on the nose, grunting as she is forced back a few steps.  For a moment or two, it seems that her gambit has backfired, but there is the briefest flash of a confident smile as she holds her cell phone out in front of her.  A second flash of light emanates from the phone, and suddenly there is a demonic sheep sitting in front of Fumi, joining the fray.]

...Tao Tie.  Finish them off.

[And that appears to be all the impetus needed.  There is a great swelling of energy from Fumi's demon, and it lets the attack loose on the unsuspecting demons, utterly vaporizing them in a single shot.  Megidoloan is always a nice standby for that sort of thing.  And after a quick Mediarahan, Fumi's back in tip-top shape herself.  She walks over to pat her Tao Tie on the head before summoning it back into her phone, and then at last walks over to her COMP watch, her newly acquired gryphon-winged lion Persona floating behind her.]

Well, then.  That certainly was exciting.  Chief, I'm ready to begin the next stage of my research.

Comments

[terminally_clever]

[Fumi nods.]

We've already met. He seems to be quite knowledgeable.

[otakuro]

Of course he did! Naoya's a genius.

[And he looks like he means it quite well, too. It seems he can praise Naoya openly when not discussing his merits as a person rather than a computer programmer.]

In my world, he's the one who created the demon summoning program in the first place. [and started the demon invasion] There isn't a hacker or programmer in the world who could match him. [because he's had 5000 years or so to practice]

[terminally_clever]

Hmm? Is that so?

[Sounds like a challenge. That small smile of hers is back.]

We've already done a bit of note swapping concerning the demon summoning program. I must admit it's quite impressive that he was able to come up with it all on his own.

[otakuro]

He...

[There is a short pause. It would have been impossible without the resources of the Shomonkai, of course, but... there was no need to mention that.]

He's basically a prodigy. I've worked with him for a few years now - he comes up with things that no one would even dream of trying. I think the trick is to be so convinced of your own brilliance that you don't mind so much when things are 'impossible'.

[terminally_clever]

You're certainly right about that. With the correct combination of natural talent, self-confidence, and hard work, even miracles are possible.

[otakuro]

That, or you alter reality until it fits your needs. He could probably manage it if he tried, too.

...But anyway. My name is Atsuro - I'm a demon summoner, too.

[terminally_clever]

Yes, that's a possibility also.

[She should know.]

Fumi.

[otakuro]

It's nice to meet you.

...So was that the first time you summoned your Persona, or were you broadcasting for no particular reason?

[terminally_clever]

Yes, that was the first time. I wanted to have a record of it for later reference.

[otakuro]

Good thought. It's hard to understand something that can only ever happen once in your life, right?

...But it is a little different for everyone, you know. Not everyone will summon it to fight off a few miscellaneous demons.

[terminally_clever]

[Fumi shrugs.]

It seemed like the most direct method of awakening one. Can I take your statement to mean that it was different for you?

[otakuro]

I was here on the first day they began to bring in Visitors - all of us awakened our Personas that first night against the Anoli. ...I think.

[terminally_clever]

All at the same time? And what do you mean by 'I think?' Do you have a reason to doubt your memories?

[otakuro]

N-No, it just means I never personally asked all hundred of us who were there that night. We were split up into different groups.

[terminally_clever]

Ah, I see. Small sample size and insufficient observational data. Well, no matter.

[otakuro]

Anyway...

Have you thought to ask Igor more about it yet? All we get are vague answers about the 'sea of our soul', but you might be able to figure something out.

[terminally_clever]

Perhaps I will. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting him just yet.

[otakuro]

Give him a visit whenever the Velvet Room pops back up! You can choose a second one to have on-hand, too - maybe even a special one.

[terminally_clever]

That's a rather handy service to have around. But what do you mean by 'special one' exactly?

[otakuro]

[Atsuro gives a shrug.]

One that's unlocked for you specially. The others are stored in a database or something.

[terminally_clever]

Interesting. It's rather similar to the demon compendium.

[otakuro]

Yeah. You'd think if these things are coming from the 'sea of our souls' or whatever it was, we wouldn't be able to share them communally.

Either that, or it's some kind of social commentary about people really not being all that different.

[terminally_clever]

That would make sense. The word Persona to begin with is derived from the works of Carl Jung, who also came up with the concept of the collective unconscious. If you think about it that way, it fits in rather nicely.

[otakuro]

...No more Carl Jung, please.

[He had had about as much psychology as he ever really cared to delve into.]

Still. I bet he doesn't mention anything about our souls manifesting as demons.

[terminally_clever]

That detail is conspicuously absent from his writing.