Imperial Law (Vice)

[Xain]

This is a... Resort? Strange... I was expecting more people enjoying themselves.

Xain had never seen snow before. He knew what it was, information had been programmed into him. Yet that wasn't the same thing as actually seeing it. He picked some up, noting the weight. It made him... Sad... that he couldn't feel the cold. It made him wish he was human for yet another time.

Still, nothing could change the fact that he was what he was. With a metallic, hollow sigh, Xain walked onward. He as mapping out the city. He needed to know where everything was before he was able to help any of the users from the city. That said, it would probably help if he could speak to them without his voice glitching. He also needed an obscure way to figure out who was able to summon a Persona. It would be no good if he couldn't find any allies.

After a while of avoiding humans and scoping out every inch of the resort, Xain found himself taking a break in front of a suspiciously inauspicious warehouse. Xain surmised that it was where supplies were kept. Unsure of what to do now, the robot leaned against the door of the warehouse; he made a metallic clump when his back hit the portal. 

He watched the few humans ski before turning inward. He asked aloud, mostly to his Persona, "What am I to do? Alas, nothing I do will prepare me for the trials I face."






Vice Ysal

[Vice Ysal]

Summer was steadily approaching, according to the calendar at least, but the place here was still pretty cold. Everyone was still wearing his or her snow gear, hats and double layered jackets at the ready even, and just trying to have fun with what the climate decided to give them for today. Vice weren’t exactly here for that, the whole skiing and the sort with the tennis racket shoes or whatever. He was just here for an errand to finish, having to delivery a few packages from an old man across town to his daughter who had been working here. Whatever it was, probably had something to do with take care and such, was tightly and neatly wrapped inside a light blue covered box with an accompanying ribbon attached to it even.

The errand was already on its route to completion, the girl having already met up with the biker and thanking him profusely for the help he had provided them with. With the customary, ‘no problem’, Vice was then rewarded with the money that he had been promised and two cups of their newest coffee. Having no idea on what to do with the extra one, the young man just shrugged it off and accepted them with a smile nonetheless. The girl who had received the package just began to hum a rather joyous tune as she skipped away to who knows where.

Walking around, taking a sip from one of his mugs, the young man was just about to round a corner during his exploration (the word reminded him too much of the outside world) when the sound of something creaking piqued his interest. This was a resort after all, and things that creaked never usually meant to be a good thing. Turns out that whatever the hell was there, some blonde haired dude sitting on the cold ass snow with nothing but a pair of what looked to be leather pants, was talking to himself and was dredging the lines of going full emo rather dangerously. It was his duty as a sane human being to not let anyone stray down that path. Moving up to the guy, making sure his foot steps were head, Vice offered down the blondie with the extra mug of coffee that he had been given not too long ago.

"Whatever problem it is kid, a mug of coffee usually helps."

[Xain]

Xain barely registered a life signature before being addressed. He quickly stopped speaking, and looked at the man. He was in what Xain registered to be a stereotypical biker outfit. The man was offering coffee to the robot. Unsure of how to decline politely, the machine simply shook his head with a sad smile.

How could the man know that Xain could not eat or drink? There was no possible way. therefore, the android could not hold it against the biker. Still, he didn't feel comfortable speaking to the man. That being said, Xain wrote his name in the snow and extended his hand. He wanted to extend a little friendship, even if he couldn't express it vocally.

He realized at once that the man had heard him speak and would ask questions. Xain, prepared for this, pulled out a pad and pen and wrote down, "I don't speak in front of people. Sorry."

[Vice Ysal]

"Suit yourself man. Their coffee's pretty good."

Vice responded as he saw the name written on the snow and the whole pen and paper thing going on. He was pretty sure that the male sitting down wasn't a mute. Vice may have been dealing with a couple of problems but he was pretty sure that his hearing wasn't going to be one of them.

Sitting down on the snow, dashing any emotions on his face as he felt the cold snow go through the fabric of his clothing, Vice made himself comfortable before taking another sip on the other mug of coffee that he had. Maaan that was some good coffee. "I'd also shake your hand but as you can see, both of mine are taken up." Vice commented with a small smirk on his face as he looked onwards and towards the other people having fun.

He had questions, sure, but maybe they'd be best answered a bit later on. There wasn't a rush anyway.

[Xain]

Taking notice of the attempt at humor, Xain also realized that the biker may have questions of why the robot had just been speaking yet won't speak now. He considered possible options, but decided that the best was to get to the point. He scribbled in the pad furiously before showing what it said: "You can ask me anything, and I'll respond through this. Also, yes, I can speak. I just don't in front of those I don't know."

With that, he sighed. He was going to unnerve the man. He knew this. That would lead to something, but he wasn't sure of what. He watched to see how the guy reacted anyway, even though he was sure of the outcome.

[Vice Ysal]

"If that's the problem here…" Vice continued as he intelligently stacked the coffee mugs on each other. The indents on the top and bottom part of the mugs were identical and somehow made for a perfect fit in terms of balancing them together. Carefully writing his name on the snow like 'Xain' did, if only to go ahead with the other male's sentimentality, the biker then spelled his name out in the most clear way he could.

"There we go. Now that you know who I am, then there isn't a restriction for you to speak to me now." It was as smart-ass as Vice was gonna get for the moment, and after that took another sip from his mugs of coffee. They were at least doing their job of warming him up and keeping him awake. "You feeling up to it or are you gonna continue with the pen and paper thing still?"

[Xain]

The man wrote his name in the snow, revealing himself to be called "Vice." Odd name, yet Xain could not comment. Then the man alluded to the robot knowing him now, and the android chuckled. As sarcastic as the guy was being, it was amusing.

Still, Xain could not bring himself to speak. He wrote in his pad, "I would, but I can't find my voice." He gave a shy little smile before continuing. "Sorry. Anyway, what are some of your interests?" The robot considered asking about the lock down, but figured it would be too early in the conversation. Deciding to ask after a few questions first, he payed close attention to how the biker responded.

[Vice Ysal]

"I'm sure you aren't mute." Vice stated, indifferent with the whole mute play by the blonde was doing but there usually was merit to stating the obvious. Taking another sip of his coffee while making himself more comfortable in the snow covered ground and the wall behind his back, the biker gave a small content sigh.

"Not a lot. I'm a pretty boring person in general." The red eyed male informed, the silence between them only being broken by the occasional sip from his mug and the patrons of the place that decided to look at them as if they were beggars in the snow. Well, Vice wasn't exactly the most well dressed person someone could find, mostly cause those things were too stuffy for his tastes.

"You're a new face though. Recently moved in to Mosaic?"

[Xain]

Xain looked at Vice when the biker said bluntly that he doubted that the machine was a mute. Without the machine part, of course. Still, this posed an issue. If Xain continued to write in the pad, that would be horribly rude. However, if he were to try to speak...

Gathering up what little courage he could, the android started to speak. "I... I... I..." Realizing the futility of the task, the robot quickly scribbled in his pad. "I don't mean to be rude. I just can't speak in front of people until I get to know them. It's psychological." With that said (or rather, written), Xain then listened to what else the man had to say. Slightly shocked to hear that the man had little interests, the robot nodded his head a little when the question about his being new was posed. He didn't see any harm in answering truthfully.

[Vice Ysal]

"Ability to speak but unable to do when surrounded with unfamiliar stimuli. That's a pretty crappy psychological problem you have there. Hinders a lot of your potential when you can't even communicate with others during clutch moments…but I understand you. I'll allow it this once, but the next time we see each other you better be ready to speak properly." Vice threw a small grin over at Xain's way. "Shouldn't be too hard to get to know me."

Putting on a thoughtful face this time, of course after taking the mandatory sip of his increasingly delicious coffee, Vice tried to see what he could say to keep the somewhat one sided conversation going. "You look like a foreigner, and though I doubt you're the type to slander things, I still wanna say that Mosaic used to be a better place. You've probably gotten bored with everyone talking about the perimeter that had been set up but there's this network inside the city that talks about the outside world…or this 'Shadowlands', it's been the hot topic for pretty much anyone below the age of 22 and even some other NEETS that still have that kind of luxury in the place."

Another sip.

"Have you checked that out? The site I mean."

[Xain]

Xain had never heard of the site, let alone visited it. After all, he had just come to the city a few days before. However, he couldn't expect Vice to know this. He doubted anyone in the city would be able to even suspect such a thing. He couldn't hold it against the man then.

Thinking for a moment, Xain started to write in his pad for a bit. When he surfaced from his writing excursion, he held the pad up for Vice to read. It said, "Yeah, I'm foreign. As for the name of the area... 'Shadowlands,' was it? Who came up with that? Seems like a strange name for an outside area, even if it is inaccessible by most."

[Vice Ysal]

"One of the more often posters on the site. Apparently he says that the whole radiation excuse being fed to the masses was a lie, and that it's something completely different." Vice shrugged as he took note of his decreasing amount of coffee on both mugs. He'd have to get a new batch later, it was too good to just pass up like that.

"It's interesting to say the least. Looking for the unknown, even when you romanticize such a thing, it still fills you with that sense of mixed dread and excitement." The biker then shook his head. "Still, it'd be something else to see the outside, to understand what's happening. Anyway, I'm probably boring you with all this so I guess it's your turn to ask questions?"

[Xain]

Looking at the biker, Xain considered everything that had been said. It was something to ponder about, given that the person who coined "Shadowlands" seemed to know at least a part of the truth. This wasn't a shock to Xain, as he had been told that new Persona users would arise as time continued to pass.

The robot started to write again. when he lifted the pad, it read: "Has anyone tried to test this guy's theory out? Seems like it would be fairly easy to figure out if he was right or not. I may even try to myself. After all, somebody needs to find out the truth." The robot looked up. He felt that he was making progress with getting to know Vice. However, he doubted he would be able to speak to him for a while yet.

[Vice Ysal]

Well, the conversation wasn't going to be going anywhere if they kept up all the charades and such. Shrugging his shoulders at the question if anyone has tried clarifying it, the man returned with:

"I did, and it's true. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders so I'm confident that you wouldn't be doing anything stupid like going there unprepared."

Sitting up a bit straighter at the next topic that Vice was rolling in his head, the biker decided to use the usual euphemism that the other users had grown accustomed to. If the male would give a satisfactory answer then he be introducing him to the rest of the group to finally get his feet wet and ready for future endeavors. No reason to leave out new bloods to the wolves when he could do something about it.

"That said, are you already awake?"

[Xain]

Awake?

Xain was unsure about how to respond, until he remembered what he had been told by a human Persona user before the mission. "When we unlock the ability to use our Personas, humans generally refer to it as awakening. Keep this in mind, as it could help you find some valuable allies."

He looked at Vice and struggled to say something. When he couldn't, he decided to use his last resort. He pulled up his jacket sleeve, revealing a mechanical arm. "I..." He struggled to say the words, but was finally able to speak in front of the man. "I was created awake."