first chapter | open [voice + action]

[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.

[thirdarrow]

[ Hanged Man... interesting, too. He hasn't met anyone with a Hanged Man Persona just yet. ]

I am not sure if we will see them the next Jaunt. It seems mostly to be Justice and perhaps Devil next round.

[ Which by itself is worrying. ]

If anything, your Persona should be very strong. We just need to play our cards right, and most things can be taken down.

[leftbehindagain]

...Where are you getting that? Devil was just around on the Grid, but that was... probably not scheduled, considering ROSE apparently snuck off with us to get her job done.

[But... yeah, if Devil might be around in the next jaunt too? That bodes.]

Most things, yeah. We can't plan anything huge until we know what we're getting ourselves into, but we can at last work out our strengths as a group. [And Naoki would know from taking on a god.]

[thirdarrow]

This is a casino mixed with a courthouse. And I have found that casinos tend to be where people succumb to their greed.

[ But he is just making guesses, so he just moves on. ]

We have Persona of both types, so it should be fine. [ And then: ] Have you visited the Velvet Room?

[leftbehindagain]

But how would that have any bearing? I mean, I picked up there was a message in the supermarket from hell, but that had nothing to do with the Grid. [Or, from what he's heard, with Anime Trope High School.]

I haven't, no, but I met Margaret-san when I first got here - she didn't stick around, though. And I've heard a lot about it from Kanji.

[thirdarrow]

I merely made observations. I could be wrong, and I expect to be proven wrong. But in the even that I am not, it could be very interesting.

[ But back to the Velvet Room. ]

Not Igor or William, then? Those were the attendants who served me when I visited it.

[leftbehindagain]

[Naoki has no idea how liminal space imagery works, just that the one time it included a giant 'HEY SOME OF OUR FRIENDS ARE DEAD' red flag. On to other things.]

Kanji mentioned Igor - with the nose, right? - but he was closer to Margaret-san, was always my impression. She helped him start getting his head around the tarot stuff.

[thirdarrow]

[ He's heard of Margaret, if anything else. ]

Interesting. I would attribute this to different universes being served by different attendants.

[leftbehindagain]

Maybe? Souji-san knew her too. I don't know who took care of Adachi-san's stuff.

[They've really only just managed civil conversations, and Naoki's not equipped for a Comparative Velvet Room talk anyway - that'll be Kanji, if it happens.]

[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.

[neverfeltthatway]

But... it's worth giving it a try, isn't it?

[stophamatime]

...

[Shooting yourself in the head for quite possibly nothing? He's not terribly sold on that, honestly.]

[neverfeltthatway]

[Shooting himself in the head doesn't carry the dread for him it might with some. He's expected to die in worse ways before. He doesn't relish the idea, but...]

With everything a Persona can do, all the ways a persona user can help people, and the situation we're in right now... can we afford to leave that sort of potential untested?

[stophamatime]

Even if it works, it's not like we have extra Evokers.

[The three people who brought theirs...all need to keep theirs for their own purposes, and the odds of one of them being convenient to borrow from when the shit hits the fan don't strike him as terribly high.]

[neverfeltthatway]

That's why I suggested it when Naoki mentioned teaching you to card summon - if you could do that, you might not need them.

[shiroganeheir]

[Naoto has been listening to this with increasing amounts of uncomfortableness, and finally speaks up.]

I have some reservations about it, to be honest. Handling firearms of the normal sort when one is not trained on them is difficult enough, but handling technology that can neither be replicated here nor understood seems extremely dangerous at best.

Given the correct things, I could likely replicate them, but I do not have the materials, nor the blueprints to do so.

[neverfeltthatway]

I've had training with firearms. And does anybody using them now actually understand how they work?

[A genuine question, not trying to prove a point.]

But we're not in a situation where we can avoid danger - no matter what we do. I'm a soldier - it's my job to put myself in danger to try and help others. This... this is no different.

[shiroganeheir]

I am certain they have more of an idea of their usage than someone who has never fought Shadows, yes. Evokers and Persona in my world are used for a very specific reason. Here, they can be used for other things it would seem, but still. Persona are dangerous if they are not controlled properly. If you get a Persona the hard way, it is much easier to control, but I highly doubt you wish to face all of your suppressed emotion. Trust me, it's ugly.

This is not my fight, so I will step out, however, I am not comfortable with it, for what that is worth.