You're probably woken up by the explosion first. A loud, deafening boom comes from behind the walls of the residential district. When you look outside your window towards the darker, more secretive area of the city, you might see the structure around it... crumbling, the land falling in on itself slowly but surely. That might be what wakes you up first. If it doesn't, you may be awoken instead by the sudden jerking feeling behind your navel pulling you from where you are to somewhere... else.
It's dark. The first thing you notice is that it's dark -- and then come the scrabbling sounds of creatures in the dark, like metal being dragged across metal, a chilling, sharp sound. The first thing that becomes clear, as your vision adjusts, is that you're on a rickety pathway, metal and rusting and frail, above what appears to be yawning blackness. Far, far below, there's the faint sound of rushing water, a ways away.
The second thing that becomes clear is that you are very much not alone. Something is out there with you, and from the screeching metallic noises that come ever closer, it seems to be stalking you.
Thankfully, you're not alone -- right?  ...
...........
................
:)
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PHASE I [ ??? ] It’s drafty here. You’re below ground, that’s for certain from the echoes of the wind in the darkness. If you continue on forwards along the rickety, metal railing that serves as a walkway, the skittering noises of creatures in the dark follow -- but they don’t appear.
It seems everyone has been dumped along this pathway at random; you may be with friends, with enemies or with someone you’ve never met before, but either way, it soon becomes clear. There are only two ways to go along this path: up or down.
If you choose to take the path that follows a gradual slope down, the sounds of water lapping against a surface increase bit by bit, the air growing heavier and danker, until finally, the metallic platform gives way very suddenly (watch your step!) to a muddy bank. Down here, everything is darker, and not far away there’s the water. It’s cold and frigid and there are unfriendly creatures that await if you choose to delve into it. However, if you brave those creatures, and dive deeply enough, there is a mask. It rests half-buried by silt and rocks, but it’s there, and can be found by any intrepid explorers.
Somehow, it feels a little familiar.
And if you carry on in the cave system underground, eventually you will come across what appears to be an altar. There is blood on it -- not fresh, but not more than a month old -- and pieces of trinkets. Old bits of cloth, locks of hair, and some of them may even be familiar. Any dropped character who has a reasonably large amount of spiritual or magical power may have left scraps, such as pieces of clothing, trinkets, hair, or the sort behind at the altar.
Maybe that's why they weren't in the Nexus Code.
PHASE II [ ??? ] If you go up, you will eventually make your way above ground. It takes some time, and some luck -- you’ll have to avoid rusty railing and pathways, the path crumbling under you and that creeping sensation that something is following and watching you -- and then you’ll suddenly be in fresh air.
Well. It’s not so fresh, really.
The landscape is broken down and crumbled. It may have once been part of the city of Cerealia, but now it is in utter disrepair and decay. Buildings have crumbled, and debris is everywhere. There are signs of the same level of technology that Cerealia has -- but it is all broken down and utterly inaccessible.
And you’re not alone.
It seems the technology and metal and broken down destruction has gained sentience over its time sitting alone, waiting. And it is not happy to be disturbed. The creatures are made of pieces of everything around them, and when cut down, they’ll just slowly rebuild themselves from the debris.
It might be time to run.
They aren't happy about being disturbed, and you're in their way.
PHASE III [ ??? ] Above ground, there are a lot of broken down buildings.
Some can’t be accessed at all; some are too broken, too reduced to rubble. For those looking for shelter, they'll be able to find buildings where the doors can be forced open and they can camp out on the inside to various degrees of stability. Though the ceiling may cave in or the floor fall out from under you at a moment's notice, it's better than being out there. Be careful, because none of the architecture here can be trusted anymore.
And other buildings... are even less trustworthy than that.
There is a series of buildings in the midst of the wasteland, somehow still standing. They stand there silently, towering over the rest of the rubble in their two-story glory, and if the doors are forced open, it soon becomes clear that the building itself is full of mirrors.
Once, the mirrors had perhaps covered the walls and ceiling. Once, this building might have been akin to something of a ballet studio, somewhere to express yourself creatively. But now the mirrors are shattered and broken into pieces and the building lacks the joy it might have once held. Shards of mirror cover the floor, some big, some not so big, but they still hang from the walls as well and everywhere you look, you can see yourself.
And then, the reflection changes. From one blink to the next, you see a memory playing in the mirrors. Your memory. You’ll see a glimpse of one of your most traumatic or life-changing moments, broken up but clear in the shards. Blink and look away, and it’s gone, only to show up again in the next mirror a few moments later. Surely it’s just a trick of the light, right?
Except if someone else is with you, they’ll see it too -- and you might end up seeing a bit of their own past as well. Hope you're fond of sharing.
PHASE IV [ ??? ] If you survive the monsters, the crumbling landscape and the untrustworthy buildings, you may eventually find a terminal. It is buried deep among the rubble. One turn around a corner, one stumble into a hole, and you will find it. It sits there, out in the middle of nowhere; the building in which it used to be housed is apparently long gone, reduced to nothing but rubble.
And if you turn it on, there is a brief message.
Transmission Broadcasting.
Transmission Connected.
And then, there is a face.
BONUS [ ??? ] For those who have been wearing their masks a little too much, they might also start to notice that there are some strange effects attached, which worsen the more they’ve been wearing said masks. How badly they worsen is up to your discretion.
➝ Broken Mask: An intense feeling of paranoia, focused on whoever your character is with. They might also begin to remember fabricated memories of being betrayed by those people.
➝ Barcode Mask: Everything will begin to have value to them. There will be whispers in the back of their mind of the worth of their friends, the worth of a monster, the worth of everything around them. An intense need to own and consume as much as possible and as quickly as possible.
➝ Dripping Blood Mask: An intense lack of self-worth, a hollow feeling and thoughts of being weak and empty. Feeling as disposable as possible and an intense listless along with it.
➝ :( Mask: A need to prove yourself, to show everyone how strong you are as quickly as possible. You can do things, you can be of worth to everyone around you. Why won't they see that? Why?
➝ Ivy Mask: A choking sort of terror from all things metal and technology based, and a need to lash out against it. An intense distrust for anything that they feel is against the laws of nature.
➝ Grey Mask: More personable than normal, more emotional, more empathetic. An intense feeling of kindness and gratitude to those around you and a renewed love of life.
➝ Feather Mask: A dulled, lack of emotion. A detached feeling to everything around you. A sort of bland curiosity towards things without any empathetic reaction.
➝ Bloody Fingerprints Mask: They'll feel absolutely fine. No change.
The effects of the broken mask can stack on top of the others, if they chose to break their mask after the other effects began to appear. No other effects can be stacked, as no other changes can be stacked.
PENALTY [ ??? ] For characters who die while in the dark parts of the city, things will get... a little strange. They will die as normal, but they will wake up almost immediately after their death -- in the Nexus Code. They will have a few surreal moments to be there, to see their friends who have left Cerealia hanging lifelessly from odd, glimmering strands (though there are some faces, of course, that are missing, anyone who was spiritual, or magical, seems strangely absent) and then --
They’re back to being dead.
When characters revive in Cerealia, anywhere from one IC day to three or four IC days later, they will find that things are… not quite right with their code. They’re glitching, for a lack of a better word. Sometimes, their fingers will phase right through an object, their own limbs registering as cold and lifeless. Sometimes, they will see a face watching them -- but when they turn around to try to see who it is, the face will be gone.
These effects will last an IC week, before slowly things go back to normal.
That was strange.
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
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OPEN!
[ It is, perhaps, serendipitous that Mitsuru took some of Minato's warnings to hard. The thought that CERES takes a special effort to make things difficult for them, that they are often whisked away without notice hadn't left her mind since their previous conversation, so when she finds herself suddenly on some rusty metal railing suspended somewhere beneath the earth, she's not as surprised as she could be. And armed.
It's still not pleasant. It's a precarious structure and equally precarious descent, but Mitsuru manages to make her way down the scaffolding. It is, indeed, dark, and the sound of water seems to be constantly in the background. When she hears footsteps, she's on guard immediately. Pulling her rapier out, she turns around, peering through the darkness. ]
Name yourself!
[ It's been less than a pleasant visit thus far, but she's trudged onward. After having a run in with a few unsightly creatures, Mitsuru is on edge, uncertain, and understandably unhappy. The implications of what is happening, however, are the most daunting part. She's not seen the colony take a turn like this before, though she's heard stories that make her skin crawl. Something is not right and she's not certain whether to blame CERES for it, or if something more supernatural is really going on.
The altar seems out of place, at first. But the appearance of blood is none too reassuring. It seems fresh. But whose? It is clearly an altar of some sort. Has a sacrifice been made? What sort of sick rituals are being performed here, and for what purpose? She steps tentatively closer when she sees a piece of familiar red fabric hanging off the edge.
And she gasps. ]
It can't be--
[ Mitsuru snatches it away in an instant. No, it couldn't possibly be his. How could she place something so innocuous and simple, she doesn't know how to differentiate fabrics from one another. Then why is he the first thing to come to mind? ]
...What is the meaning of this?
[ She asks to nothing, no one in particular, but if someone happens to be coming by at the same time, she would like an answer. ]
[ She's been exploring for a while. Creating some mental map of the area, it seems prudent to reach out to others. She'd been able to make contact when she was in the library before, so she hopes that her signal will reach out effectively in this area as well. Bringing the Evoker to her head, she fires the pistol-like device, a sound of crashing glass followed by a short burst of light. ]
Artmesisa!
[ Her Persona appears before her. Though she's able to communicate without her presence, it does help to amplify the effect. People in the area, especially those with a special psychic awareness or telepathetic capabilities might hear her voice like she's speaking through radio static inside their head. Those who are less inclined may hear only static. Hopefully they don't think they're going crazy. ]
T̢̧̰̹̲̣̜̈́̍̎̄͐̈̽̀̿͜h̨̧͇͔̭͙͛̐͌̓͆̈́is is M̵̡̛̯͈̦̼̉̓̈́͂̂ǐ̵̜̯͇̲́̂̏͂͋́͜t̵̠͚̣͚͍͓͍͗̽̉̔͋̅̔ş̛̟̜̪̰̉͐̔̍́̄̚͢ǔ̢̻̥̪̥͉̱̌͂̽͋͂̔͠ru Kirỉ̛͙̙̳̹͗̆̉͢͜͟j̵̢͓͇̼͕͍́͒͐̄͡ͅo̝͙͍̞͙͍̩̣̔̿͊͐̋͋́͐̊.̧̢͓͚̥̯̙̩̓͛̇̑̈͛͌̒̈́͟͜ Ç̥̻͖̼̱̉͑̀̓̂̓̆͟͝͞͠õ̴͙̦͎̫̆̔̂̉͟͡m̷̛̫͉̥̣͗̍̿͒͊͜͞͞ͅe̴̡̡̬̯̞̺̮̊͆̈̉́ in C̷̙͖̼̗͍͉̝̠̀̉̐̈́̐͘͞a̡̛̛̹͙͎̩̪̜̮̦͍͒́̏͐̾̓̎n̼̦̜̰̓̌̿͒͟͞ anyone heā̡̰̭̼̣̘͉̱̘̾̉̆̄͂͌̋͋͛ř̷̛̝̰̟͉͔̗͎̦͎̐̋̿̌͒͢ m̴̧̨̛̦͍̠͉̌̕̕͟͡e̴̖̮̟̖̥̽͊̾̈͛͛̀͞?̷̡̙̥̮̱͖͕̇̈́̎̑̋̎̓̚͘
[ Having blessedly made it back above ground, Mitsuru feels that she can finally take a breath of fresh air.
Or not.
It's an utter wasteland, an environment as inhospitable as the one she's trudged through for the past few days. She shouldn't be surprised. She walks forward carefully, her rapier at her side as she keeps a keen ear out for others. The buildings amongst the rubble certainly stand out, so with some caution, she approaches. Shelter like this would be the most likely place to regroup.
The shattered glass adds to the eerie affect of the place. No, mirrors? Pieces of broken mirrors in shards of various sizes. Mitsuru stares blankly at her own reflection for a moment, noting that she's been scuffed up and dirtied quite a bit. Yet as she turns away, she feels that she sees something. ]
A pale yellow moon, a world covered in a sickly green haze. The viewpoint is looking downward as if from a great height, the edges of her skirt and the tip of her boots framing the lower edge of the image. A man stands a few feet down from the pole she's strung up on, a gun in his hand. He wears a suit, short dark hair.
He fires.
And so does someone else
FATHER!
He stumbles, blood beginning to seep through the exit wound and stain the back of his suit jacket. He falls to his knees--
[ Mitsuru smashes the mirror with the heel of her boot, shoulders visibly shaking. ]
[ Anything not listed above! ]
1-a
as he's walking along the metal platform with cradily lighting the darkness with flash, when her light runs across something red. they're equally posed to attack or defend, but the voice that follows puts him more at ease. he holds out a hand, telling cradily that she can relax as well. ]
...Miss Kirijo. [ he lets out a breath that he wasn't even aware he was holding. ] It's Steven.
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Stone? [ Yes, last name basis as she is with most people. ] Is that really you?
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he greets her with a small smile, more relieved than anything else. he'll approach her, cradily staying where she is to give them the proper light. ]
Yes. I'm glad to see you're in one piece.
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*TROIS
Because going down, he assumed, would only result in becoming more lost and possibly trapped in a place that was neither particularly bright or pleasant. Rather than losing his cool, he figures this is another ViViD trial...and while everything, in that case, is of little merit...
It still sucks. It smells, and he's sure he's going to catch something unfortunate if he breathes in this air long enough. He hasn't a whole lot of choice in the matter, and he ends up acclimating after some wandering. Surely there should be a purpose here, if it's anything like that convoluted fitness journey.
...And he wishes he hadn't.
If not for the fact that he's certain he had company below ground, and if he could trust the overhead street to remain whole, he may reconsider and become a sewer rat until the game ended. Castor's on projection in various shards around his feet. It's nothing new; he's being haunted. There's a body in the street, an older woman. Someone's mother--
And there's a clatter in the distance. Something real. It's not as if he's uninterested or unaffected in the memory playing at his feet, but it's something he relives daily. It's never far from his mind.]
Mitsuru..!
[To himself at first, rather than calling out to her. He shouldn't be surprised, they really ought to stop meeting like this.
He makes his way over to her, cautious of all the debris, not to mention the crumbling path. It's not until he's practically on top of her that he notes her disposition; it's a from-behind view, but she's clearly shaken, she...
Must have seen something. Be it a bad memory or a result of being chased up to the city by whatever faceless monster. He sets a hand to her back, closing the gap between them.]
Don't tell me the levels get harder as we go.
[Not that he doesn't like a challenge, he's the blunt force guy. The psychological stuff is a cheap move, though.
hi there, btw.]
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But seeing it in front of her, clear as day? That...brings an entirely new type of pain. It's more than reliving it in her mind, it's every detail etched in all over again. And after the time she's had below, it gets to her.
She does turn to the sound of his voice, looking and a little dazed. Her normally immaculate appearance is tarnished with grime on her boots and tears in her shirt, her hair having seen better days as well. But she's alive, and isn't that what matters?
He's alive.
Right? ]
...Aragaki.
[ It comes a little more belated than it should be as Mitsuru forces herself to straighten. ]
How long have you been here? I haven't sensed your presence this entire time.
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His hand drops timed with her turn, lest he inadvertently end up holding her at the hip. Indecent....]
Hard to tell. [He hasn't any way of timekeeping; he could've checked his device at the start, but he...didn't. That might've actually been smart.] But since the beginning, I'd say. Started out in a weird tunnel, didn't think anyone else was there.
[But who knows.]
So that might be part of the level. [Is it even appropriate to call these things 'levels'? It's weird and feels weird.] I don't think we're supposed to feel welcome here.
[Between their surroundings and the mini-movie that's continuing to play off of various reflective surfaces. He's not really paying attention to that.]
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1-A!
[ merrill's footsteps may sound wet, as she'd fallen into the water — some of it was still dripping from her clothes and hair. she folds her hands in front of her submissively, as if to say that she means no harm. ]
I am as lost as you, though I suspect I may be a bit colder.
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I see...
[ So another person who has been transported there against their will? That is unsurprising, after a moment, Mitsuru lowers her rapier, though she keeps it ready. Her journey has already been precarious enough. ]
I heard water...I take it you've found it already.
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[ mitsuru may notice that merrill is standing with one knee bent — she was taking pressure off of her foot, which she had gashed open when she fell down to the water. the dirty water only exacerbated the pain.
she points to the tunnel-ways behind mitsuru, leading off ominously into unknown ground. ]
I believe we will find some answers if we continue along this path. Would you accompany me? It's rather — lonely, down here.
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1B
He'd collected the items his own friends left behind and had simply tucked himself somewhere out of sight as he considered them with an aching heart until he heard her speak. That got his head to snap up. Pocketing the button and piece of headphone, he headed back towards the altar to see... ]
Kirijo-san?
[ He can tell just by the look on her face that she found something like he did. Something that belonged to someone precious to her. His expression softens. ]
... I don't know. I found things belonging to my friends, too.
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But she recognizes the voice and, at least given the situation, any awkwardness from their initial meeting is gone. He is a fellow persona user, and a unique one at that, so he's consequently someone she needs to keep track of. When he comes into view, she relaxs slightly. ]
Narukami.
[ At his words, her grip on the fabric tightens. She looks down at it for a long moment, then shakes her head. ]
This place has been known to be dishonest before. Wouldn't you say it's better not to take things at face value?
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... Yosuke was here just yesterday. Then Tadashi's app alerts me that he's gone, I find his room empty... and I discover this here.
[ After a moment, he puts the headphone piece away again. Apparently, he intends to keep it. ]
I intend to do what I've always done. Discover the truth, if I can.
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phase iii
It's something to do.
The woman who's come here now is unfamiliar to her; she'd recognise that shock of red hair at a distance, much less this close. ]
It's all right. [ Her words are flat and devoid of emotion, but her intentions are probably good and she's leaning against the doorframe with hands clasped behind the back to show she means no harm. She's in pyjamas still! ] It isn't real. Who was that?
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In the state that she's in, the sound of an unfamiliar voice is enough to put her nerves on end. She startles slightly as she turns to the source, although the other girl's posture is anything but antagonistic. Although...what is she wearing?
It takes her a moment as Mitsuru steps away from the mirror she shattered. She straightens, trying to regain her composure. ]
...
[ Could she possibly talk about what happened with a complete stranger? ]
How long have you been standing there?
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I-C! First day;
The blast of static is surprising but a welcome surprise to his ears, and Minato pauses in his trek further downwards to respond.]
This is Minato. I'm heading downwards towards the water- where are you?
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There is audible relief in her voice, however, when she responses. ]
I'm heading downwards as well. Are you safe?
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1-c
When the voice does break through, however, he hears her question loud and clear, in a way he's not sure even the Force talks to him (
and maybe that's part of the problem), and the cringing is shrugged off with such immediacy, it's almost as if he hadn't just been curling in on himself.He sends back a feeling of affirmation, tries to force the yes, though he's not positive how (or if) it'll translate into actual words, or if the feeling is enough. Now, it's just a matter of ascertaining where the source of the message is coming from. He trusts the only feeling he has, grasping onto the echoes of that static, and pushes forward.]
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It is a feeling...and it didn't seem hostile. No, it seemed almost like a signal in and of itself. Perhaps Artemisia can lock onto it if she receives another. ]
...What ▄ you? C▄ you repeat ▄t?
[ What being the operative term. She assumes that humans, at least, will be able to communicate as they always have, so the thought she's contacted something else seems most logical. ]
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PIII
What?
He tries to focus, eyes closed as he tries to wrap his mind around the sound and tune it, unused to reaching out to anyone but his master at long distances.
Ẁ̗͇̘h̛̫o̝̦̝̺̼̫̖ ̦͖͍̭i̻̟s̻̖͚ ̛̠̫̜̼̺t̻̟͖͈̲̖h͖̬͓̕i̸̫̼͎̼̞s̡͚?̢͕̟͕ ]
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This? This most certainly is. She's knocked backwards a step with what feels like the onset of a migraine, but it passes like a wave a moment later. What was that? She'd been picking up signals from beings she'd never encountered before, she supposes that's always the risk of sending out an open invitation. However, when she's hit with another wave, it's a little less painful, and almost more...mechanical? With a similar broken static to her own communication.
So...it does speak. ]
T̲̬̥̠h̰͍̠͓̫͕i͚̼ṣ͕̗ ̜̝̤̙ị̖̜͇̟̥s̬͕̯̭ ͅM͓i̳̼ț̜̮s̞̞͔u̩̰͔̹͈ru̲̳͈̗̯̝̞ ̹̲͕K̻͙̖̝͎̙̤ir̮i̙̝͈j̹̫̤͈͔ͅͅo͈̣̗.͇͙ ͔̹S̪̙̹̯̹̪͙ta̬te͖͖ͅ ̠̬̪͇̟ y̰̹͇̞o̙̺̖̱̖̰uṟ̞̥ ̫̲͔̤n̖͕̱̘͓̯a͉̩̰̗m̺̱e̼̹̺ ̭̫̣ạṇ̘̼̜̦̺̜d̻̰̮ ̗̩͉̥̯ͅl͕̯͖̝o̹͚̝c͓̣̮a̹͚̭̠̙̟̫ṭi͉̬̜̝̜͈͎o̠ͅͅn.̠͇̺̳̦
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i-a
...He's not even too worried about her rapier, honestly.]
You know, isn't it more polite in these sorts of situations to introduce yourself first?
[Nice of all people shouldn't be lecturing about manners.]
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This is hardly the time to question my display of ettiquite.
[ There's definitely a bite to her tone, but she does introduce herself. ]
My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. Now, if you're concerned about manners, I expect a response in kind.
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iii I'M HERE NOW
Mit— suru...
[ he stretches out his hand in an attempt to reach out to her, but he's shaking, too. he's so nervous. he doesn't want to hurt mitsuru more than what she's already feeling now.
he's right there behind her, but he doesn't touch her. he'll... leave her alone, physically, for now. ]
I shouldn't have seen that. I'm sorry.
TIME TO GET DEPRESSING