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[thirdarrow]

[ This is the first time Takakage has started a discussion instead of listening in and participating, so it took him a while to find the proper words for it.

Nevertheless, when he finally starts the transmission, his voice is quiet and confident, perhaps even a touch crystalline. ]

Hello, everyone. I am Takakage Kobayakawa, from the Land of the Rising Sun. You may also know me as MINTAKA from the previous Jaunt.

We have quite a few Persona users amongst us, myself included. Thus, I would like to propose that we meet and train together, so that those of us Investigating in future Jaunts will be able to pool our efforts together and use our gifts as a team. It will also aid in identifying Infiltrators, as I have noticed that our Personas also follow us if we take on alter egos. If you are partial to that idea, we can all share our abilities and compare what we are best at. I am aware that a few of us have also been Marked by Trumps, which may also change our Personas to some extent. That can be discussed as well.

As far as I know, I am the only Support Persona user in our midst, so it would be beneficial if you let me know, so I can best support you with what I can do. Noah is able to heal, scan surroundings, weaknesses, and detailed analysis - in addition to providing a psychic closed network which will be useful on stealth missions.

For those who have been Infiltrating with the Miners for the past Jaunt - may I also ask for your assistance? There was another Program with me, SAIPH - do you know if she is amongst us as a Traveler? I have something that belongs to her.

If you need me in person, I will be by the entrance next to the Trump phone. Thank you for your time.

[ True enough, he is seated on one of the stairs, with Noah floating above him in a stance similar to that adopted by guardian angels. ]

Comments

[leftbehindagain]

Oh, Naoto's supplies guy, right? Well, one of them. I don't think we ever met properly - I'm Naoki, I was helping her out a lot. Good to meet you.

In any case, this is actually a really, really good idea. And it's good to know we have a support person around, considering Rise-chan or... whoever worked with Minako-san aren't around. I think I kept the control panel thing from the Grid, but that can only do so much.

[thirdarrow]

A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Naoki. You are right, I was the head miner left in charge under ROSE.

May I know your Persona's specifics?

[ A slight pause here, because he remembers asking SAIPH to send things to Naoki... ]

And - I believe you met SAIPH briefly? Have you seen her in Liminal Space?

[leftbehindagain]

...I haven't seen her, no. I'm sorry. [He can guess at what kind of stab in the gut that has to be.]

Wind, healing, a little bit in the status department. I am not a physical fighter, not with my Persona, anyway. That's more Kanji's department, at least when he can pull off being the tank.

[thirdarrow]

[ He doesn't comment on SAIPH anymore, merely moving on. ]

Has your Persona evolved yet? And may I know its Arcana?

[leftbehindagain]

Yeah, he has. [Not long after Naoki became acquainted with small-p purpose, in fact. At least big-P Purpose doesn't seem to have set off another...]

Hanged Man. I'm hoping I remember myself when that one's around - if nothing else, it'd be an interesting conversation, I bet.

[stophamatime]

Fuuka-san.

Someone said that she used to be here. But it was before either Minako-san or I showed up.

[Maybe they'll pull her out of a dungeon portal someday!

...he really hopes so, because he doesn't want her to be stuck in one forever.]

[leftbehindagain]

I'm sorry you missed her, then. [Of course, if she got sent home, that's probably better. But that's not speculation Naoki's really ready to engage in.]

That's another thing. If we can figure out how, we should work on teaching you guys to card-summon.

hijacking, if that's all right?

[neverfeltthatway]

...if you succeed in teaching that, might it be possible for someone else to try and summon with an evoker?

And yes - Fuuka was here. Many months ago. [He hesitates, thinking about other friends who had disappeared around the same time. He wanted to comfort Ken, but he didn't want to lie to him.]

Fuuka - you know she's tougher than she looks. I'm sure she's all right - wherever she is.

[stophamatime]

...I don't know if it's possible or not. At home, some people had the potential and some didn't, but I don't know if we ever figured out why.

[shiroganeheir]

Certainly, Takakage-san.

Have I ever spoken about my Persona's abilities?

And, I have not seen SAIPH here, I apologize.

[thirdarrow]

Not yet. Kindly inform me, if you prefer - or we can talk about it in person later

[ There is a pause before he continues. ]

Ah, I see. I was hoping to return her lightcycle to her.

[ But Naoto should be able to tell why she is so important to him, especially with the role she played in the previous Jaunt. ]

[shiroganeheir]

Either works, it is no secret.

I have multi-target Light and Dark spells with boosts on each, as well as the highest Almighty spell and both single and multi-target heavy physical damage spells.

[Naoto Shirogane, glass canon.]

[thirdarrow]

[ He listens carefully, writing down what she says in his spellbook. ]

I see. Are these light and dark spells probability-based, or simple elemental-based like other elemental spells?

[shiroganeheir]

Probability, I believe. Most often, I would only use them when something was weak to one or the other. Oddly, Mahamaon was quite effective against the Automata on the Grid. I usually do not expect either of them to be effective on anything except minions, as most of the larger Shadows blocked them.

[creativefool]

Hey. Gotta say... thanks for everythin' ya did back there. You were a good boss when I was a Miner [even if he never did get around to using that suit mod kit that MINTAKA'd given him], 'n the Cryptos really appreciated the purifier kit.

Apart from that... I told ya a bit about what I've got, but I can fill ya in on the full details now if it'd help.

[thirdarrow]

[ His mental voice is a touch amused when he replies. ]

I need to thank you too, Kanji. We may not have been in the same faction, but you played an important role as well.

[ He has no problems saying this, because in theory the assumption should hold. ]

If you could, that would be great.

[creativefool]

Heh. Thanks. I just wanted to do my bit.

[He smiles briefly before starting to list things off on his fingers, mentally flicking through cards.]

Lemme see. My original's Izanagi. Fool. That's electric with a coupla buffs. I've got a darkness-user under Death Arcana, Alice, instant kills and all that. Attis is a fire user with some revival 'n buffs under Hanged Man. Fortune, that's Norn, mostly wind and heals. Trumpeter's Judgement, that's pretty much all buffs 'n debuffs but I've got Megidolaon on there too... y'know, the big explosion. Vishnu's got that too, Temperance, but that's also another healer. Scathach is Priestess, that's all about magic attacks, ice 'n wind. Sraosha's Justice - that's for when I wanna get outta things' way, lotta agility boost stuff, but it's got light 'n physical attacks too. Yoshitsune's Tower, that's my physical specialist. An' to finish off, Take-Mikazuchi's my Emperor, that's a mix of electric 'n physical again.

I've... pretty much got a bit of everythin' there. [And man, it'd taken a lot of hard Velvet Room grind to get that far. Thanks, Margaret. Seriously.
...He's not sure whether the last one he'd had on call still is.]

[thirdarrow]

[ He takes notes when Kanji speaks, remaining silent. ]

You have quite the repertoire - you are a Wild Card user, I take it?

[ Those people were very, very rare, and tended tend to come from worlds where Personas were native to. ]

[creativefool]

Thought I mentioned it last time we talked? Uh, as us? But yeah, I am.

[seestheworld]

I don't think we ever met? I'm Minako - I was one of the Variables.

[thirdarrow]

A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Minako. It is explainable, my Infiltrator self seems to have spent quite a good amount of time away from the test d the other Travelers.

May you be a Persona user as well?

[seestheworld]

Nice to meet you, too!

I was around the rebel base a lot, but I was mainly concentrating on keeping an eye on people in case they ended up getting into trouble along the line. So it may just be that I didn't notice, either.

And yeah - I'm a Persona user, too.

[thirdarrow]

[ That would explain it. MINTAKA performed most of his tasks in the Miner Camp or in the Partition. ]

Could you tell me about your ability, then? Are you a Support user?

[fridgeninja]

I'd be honored to train with you and the others.

Although, I might need a day or two before I'm feeling up to summoning my Persona right now.

[thirdarrow]

Take as long as you need. If there is anything I can do to help, just let me know.

[ He hasn't heard Souji's role explicitly, but he could guess from slight pieces of information flying around here and there during the Jaunt. ]