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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.

[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.]

[shiroganeheir]

Certainly, Takakage-san.

Have I ever spoken about my Persona's abilities?

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

[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.

[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. ]

[thirdarrow]

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

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

[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.

[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.

[thirdarrow]

[ Tha was interesting. He remembered seeing her use it before. ]

My Persona seems to have acquired a focusing ability from the Jaunt. I can help you with targeting those spells.

[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.]

[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.

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.

[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?

[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.

[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.

[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. ]

[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.

[creativefool]

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

[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.