New Faces, Old Places, No Traces (Seiji/Vice/Holly)

[Akira Nakajima]

Sure was an eventful day. Fun times during the day, a small blow to his stale backlog- which only shrunk due to the lack of new materials from the outside- and, of course, the battle against the Grim Squeaker! Yeah, all around happy feels. And now? Now he was checking the freshly opened catacombs. He wasn't alone, though. He was accompanied, and by people he already knew the names of! That was a strange change. He was so used to being stuck with complete strangers- granted, they weren't exactly acquaintances beyond their common strings just yet, either.

So, for the sake of humor, he went over the group's details. A crossdresser, a tank in pajamas, a biker that he believed was a “normal”, and a girl with a queen complex. Yep. Perfect party for any dungeon run. Granted, he didn't expect too much difficulty in their recon. With a pleasant smile on his face, the boy was at the head. Sure, a tank could have been a better point-man, but he liked having the full serving of information. He could always drop back and send Seiji to go wild if it was too extreme. In his left hand, his scissors shifted with every step. His grip was relaxed, so the blades of the scissors were parted ever so slightly. Upon his right shoulder, Imp perched sending gazes all about, like a curious kitten. Its gnarly arm was planted on the boy's head for support, almost rubbing against the black ribbon in the back of his hair. He didn't mind. It was almost endearing- something odd to think about a representation of himself.

”Seems quiet so far. I'm not getting the vibes I get at the mines, either.” He observed aloud, despite carrying on. His right hand trailed across the wall, feeling for tremors. Even with the lack of a major foe, he didn't mind checking things out just a bit further. It was different, and it was close to home, more than places like the hospital or mines, after all.

[Vice Ysal]

It was a relief to be able to breathe again. To be able to gather enough oxygen without being pressed for time or the looming threat of death hanging above one's head, the latter was a pretty good mood killer at the very least, was a small gift that Vice was very thankful for. Yes he knew he loved fighting, yes it seemed to be against majority of what he believed in for doing something like this, but even he had limits…specially a body like his. It was something that he'd manage to pick up despite the heat of battle. Everyone around him had somehow managed to withstand the blows far more better than he did. These were also people younger than him who didn't look like they could even last against a few rounds with the intent to maim in competitions. Yes, appearances could be deceiving but this was going beyond that.

How could these other people be able to withstand something, to keep standing without so much as stumbling, as deadly as that last strike that had thrown him like a doll in a children's party. He could still feel the ache in his body, though it was much more dull now as compared to before. The skills these people were capable of unleashing wasn't normal either, given that it seemed to destroy so many of the things that made people understand how the world work. He wasn't well enough as of the current moment to give too much thought about it though, and was more interested in finding out just what the hell was happening in general.

"The fog from the outer circle doesn't exist here too…I had guessed that those Shadows needed that like we needed oxygen."

Vice noted, though the fog could have possibly been there and he was far more fatigued than he initially thought he was if he couldn't even notice something as obvious as that. And there was even a little imp thing hanging around Ran's neck as if it was…a pet of sorts. It wasn't something he could swallow pretty quick, and he doubted that the thing looking at him right now was just another figment of his imagination. He was tired, not half dead.

"The oppressive feeling of that monster doesn't quite reach this area either."

[Seiji Dalton]

There was no better way to cool down after a hectic boss fight than a bit of dungeon delving. Some people had gone home, Takeda had taken others to a bar, and here they were exploring a newly opened area that would probably have shadows crawling out of the woodwork in no time flat. He lingered right behind Ran, the only person he was taller than. She seemed like the leader type and he had no objections considering that leading wasn't really his style. Leading meant making decisions and actions. He was better with reactions, following the pace and shining with whatever situation he was forced into. He blinked as he saw the Imp sitting on her shoulder and the massive, over-sized...monstrosity she carried at her side. He'd conquered tables, shadow tentacles, the grim reaper, and a luchadore Hulk Hogan, but those bloody clippers made them all look like a pan of cupcakes. That was one scary girl.

The idea of an area like this popping up within the heart of the city worried him. What if this happened every time a powerful shadow showed up in the city? What was to stop the shadows from getting out? Whenever he went to the terminal it felt like the strange blonde lady and her safehouse were the only things keeping the shadows from running wild. "Hold up a second." He said. He didn't sense any shadows and he assumed Ran hadn't either but there was something he wanted to do just to be safe. After the battle, he felt the massive boosts to his strength and defense disappear so he decided to give them a little buff in case something else showed. Summoning Sir Gareth from the sea of his soul, the knight towered above them all by at least a foot or two as red light bathed over all of them. In another bright flash of light, the knight disappeared. "Okay." Seiji said in some indication that they could go again, if the others even stopped in the first place.

Vice was right, the fog wasn't heavy in the catacombs. Considering they were in a necropolis that wasn't very bright anyway, it seemed like the fog was unnecessary. "I think our DM decided a fog of war wasn't needed here." He commented dryly to Vice. That was the best explanation he had at the moment. "Hey, I take it everyone's been to the executive building or sewers at least once? It feels...I dunno, the part we're in feel almost like the first part of those places. I doubt we'll run into anything dangerous for us as a group, much less something on the level of the tentacle reaper." He matched Ran's observation with one of his own. Despite the calmness of the words and the seeming lack of danger, he kept his hand near the grip of his bastard sword so he could draw it at a moment's notice.

[Holly Mason]

This wasn't what she expected to be doing on her 'day off' from fighting shadows.  Granted, she also didn't expect time to freeze and a giant reaper shadow to appear out of nowhere either.  Life was always so full of surprises, she should have known better than to think dealing with shadows could actually get boring.  To make matters more interesting, a new place was discovered.  Even though she was a little tired and sore from the previous battle (not that she would ever admit it) Holly couldn't resist the urge to check the place out.  It's not like she was alone, what's the worst that could happen?

The other girl in the group was leading the way.  While she seemed competent enough, it offended Holly's sensibilities.  The front was her place, she had a natural distaste for following others.  She folded her arms and moved forward as though she was going to step past her, but very quickly slowed down.  No matter how...dull and not dangerous this place felt so far, this was not the time to be petty and let her emotions get the best of her and this was definitely not the time to let the baggage from the last fight spill into this new group.  No, now was the time to make allies, not enemies.  Instead, she stopped right on Ran's heels, though not so close that she'd risk stepping on her.  Ran was so short that Holly could pretty easily see right over her head anyway.  

"I know I should be glad that we're not getting into another fight so soon after that, but I'm disappointed," she shrugged.  

When the shorter boy asked them to stop, she was careful not to accidentally step on Ran.  Given the atmosphere of the place, preparing for a battle that required that kind of attack power seemed kind of excessive, but Holly supposed it couldn't hurt.

"Not a bad idea."

She summoned her own card and called forth her own persona.  A young woman with long brown hair and a yellow dress appeared, and with a mischievous grin and a flick of her hand bathed the party in another bright light.  That really should be more than they ever need.  With a wink and a twirl, Anaisa Pye disappeared once again.

"I always thought the fog was just a characteristic of the outside, not of the shadows, personally.  Fortunately, a crypt doesn't need that much help to feel at least a little eerie."  She nodded at Seiji.  "Agreed.  I wonder if we'll run into a weird, impassable wall.  Until recently, I couldn't get to the second floor of the executive building because of one.  I've run into several others as well.  They're all over the outside."

[Akira Nakajima]

Overall, the feel of the group was pretty casual. Vice made an observation about the fog. The boy wasn't entirely sure about the details on that mess, so he figured he'd leave it for the others. However, the rest of the party backed up the bit on the catacombs seeming fairly safe. Relatively speaking, of course. It was dangerous for a non-user, but a pretty simple A-to-B walk for users. Pausing and sending a glance over his shoulder, only to receive a Tarukaja, he smiled. Teamwork, go! Except he didn't see the point in raising a Rakukaja.

"It seems to be the consensus that we won't have to worry about the second coming of the Grim Squeaker, then." He noted after a few moments, fully aware of Miss Mason's extreme proximity. If he were a particularly shy person, it probably would have bothered him. Fortunately, he was used to even greater violations of personal space. He had a younger sister, after all. "Can't say I'm too bothered about that, since two bosses back-to-back would be a little mean." He casually went on.

"As for the blockages, it seems that there's a mini-boss of sorts in these places. There was one in the terminal a while back, too. Fair bit of warning, don't trust vehicles if it's in a place where Shadows are about." He warned, lifting his scissors slightly before his legs bent a little. Something small was ahead. Probably another Maya. "I never want to have to say I 'beat' the train in that context again." He closed before sliding forward. The Maya twisted around to see only a sight of two blades moving along either side of its head. The crossdresser didn't even use both hands- just spread his thumb from his palm- to spread the blades far enough. Then, the jaws of death closed on the Maya's. . . neck-part-thing. The top of the Maya's. . . head-part, along with the mask, clung to the blades of the scissors. Akira knocked it to the side nonchalantly. He wasn't too concerned about the direction, but it did happen to land in front of Seiji's feet.

"Probably won't find too much of note here. No shame in going a little further just to be sure, though. Might find something that's not dust, webs, or someone's great grandfather." He concluded, standing straight again. He almost wished he didn't bring the scissors. Would've been immensely easier to just walk through and kick Shadows out of the way.

[Vice Ysal]

There were so many questions that rose up just from being there, that much Vice would admit. It was also disheartening that further exploration on the place had yet to raise any point for him to glean answers from. He was being impatient too, that much he could say to himself but tonight's events had more or less left him rattled with how things had gone down. Massive beasts that took the form of the Grim Reaper and something you'd see in a Michael Jackson's Thriller performance had gone on ahead and appeared within the city's walls, teenagers who could somehow manage to call upon their imaginary friends to battle with them in the most destructive and unrealistic way possible, and to see those two ideas suddenly clash in one night should be enough to shift one's stand on what can be really counted as real. Shaking his head away from those thoughts, the young man returned to keep trying on attacking the arising problems with the reasons and logic that could be backed up by past experiences.

He knew what Shadows are, well, a compressed definition of it for the current time and what those floating apparitions were really called. He also knew that the things that the military fed them were more or less lies. Aside from that though, there was pretty much nothing else in the way of 'why' all of these had gone on ahead and happened to them. For the most part as well, Vice took this time to just listen in on the conversation that the three were having. If he were to be truthful about it, it felt like he was being excluded in said conversation. He couldn't really blame them, Vice mused, given that out of the four of them he was more or less the only person who didn't exactly have a bigger than life imaginary friend and all that. He was they'd probably call a 'Normal' or something. Still, it didn't deter him from his goal of actually understanding these things further and into a much more intellectual degree than 'rah rah boom boom pew pew pew.'

"Alright."

The red eyed civilians started when the conversation seemed to move a bit farther than he was comfortable with.

"I'm pretty sure that you three are aware that I can't call forth this imaginary friend or as everyone refers to as a 'Persona' like most of the combatants in the battle. That particular part will most likely play a role in how things are gonna roll from here on out, I'm sure, so while we're still in an area where the chances of being ambushed is low would anyone mind to explain to me the entire situation? Or at least part of what they understand themselves?"

Answers. It was going to be a thing.

[Seiji Dalton]

Raising a hand, Seiji looked over at Holly seeing as they were pretty evenly spread out behind Ran and said, "That was me and my brother, that got rid of the barrier holding us back from the second floor of the executive building. This guy named David was a big help, too." Listening to what Ran had to say about 'beating' the train, he found a growing respect for the other Persona user. Seemingly, they'd faced many of the same dangers and could probably see where the other was coming from due to their similar (to him) points of view. "For that matter, don't trust anything that's not you or another human out here. I've seen tables, computers, wrestlers, you name it and there's probably a shadow that's taken on that kind of form." He was going to say something about the DM being an asshole but he didn't feel that'd be funny a second time.

Of course, an unfunny joke would be better than the horror Ran inflicted on the poor Maya. The massive garden shears weren't just for show, apparently. Seiji's face went white and he made a pokerface good enough to win him a pot in Vegas as the maya's head-mask settled on the ground in front of him before disappearing. Good thing Seiji didn't want to be the leader of the merry band of misfits, he had a scary, scary person that had her pretty little hands clasped firmly around the title, in a way a lot more Machiavellian than she probably intended thanks to the garden shears. Better to be feared, indeed. "That shadow was somebody's mommy." He said in a voice dramatic and flat enough to let everyone else know he probably wasn't being serious.

Then, Vice spoke up. Seiji turned to face him as they walked and nodded. He could certainly see where the guy was coming from, being a fairly normal person caught in the middle of all this stuff would take anyone aback. Tossing a glance to Ran and Holly, "If I miss anything important, feel free to fill in for me." He looked back at Vice and started, "And considering you may or may not already know some of this, sorry in advance if it sounds like I'm patronizing or talking down to you. For one reason or another, some shadows have surrounded the city and they've barricaded the 'inner circle' as we call it from the 'outer circle' as the spooky wasteland with the purple sky is called. For some reason, they can't get into the safe zone, but neither can we get out of the city. Something about a barrier but I haven't been far enough out to see it myself."

Pausing for a moment to catch his breath, he kept talking. Usually he wasn't long-winded like this, but at least this was a subject worth getting long winded over. "I did a little digging on Personas on what's left of our internet and just came up with some philosophy terms. The blonde lady said they were our 'other selves' and whenever I summon mine, it feels like a part of me. It's safe to say they're important whatever they are, because our Personas are what allow Ran, Holly, and myself to fight the stronger shadows. Speaking of shadows, that one we just fought was different in a lot of ways. Disregarding the terminal, a shadow has never been inside the city before. Something tells me it won't be the last..."

"Holly, Ran?" He asked, wanting to give them a chance to give their input on things considering he left quite a few things he knew out, mainly because either he or Ran had already said them at Alisa's meeting.

[Holly Mason]

It took Holly a moment to parse their meaning because they kept using stupid RPG terms and she didn't play video games, but she was pretty sure she understood what they were saying.  She rubbed her chin and looked up as they continued walking and mused out loud.  

"So the barriers are tied to stronger shadows then.  Do you think the big barrier cutting us off from the outside is tied to one as well?  What'd you do to draw out the ones you beat?"

The poor shadow getting brutally murdered barely even registered while she was thinking; she just blinked her eyes downward for a moment to see that the...'threat' was taken care of and continued thinking about the outside.  It was fortunate that shadows didn't bleed as far as she could tell.  She didn't want to get any shadow guts on her boots.  Her thoughts were interrupted by the normal asking questions.  If he had been to the outside she expected him to know more, especially since he wasn't freaking out anymore than anyone else was in that battle. 

"About the only thing I have to add is that the police and military that set up the quarantine a shadows, not humans.  I, and I think most persona users, have the ability to sense shadows somewhat.  They don't feel like people do.  I've been trying to study the shadows myself, but I haven't had much luck.  If some have been able to impersonate actual humans then they must have some degree of intelligence, but most of the ones I've seen just act kind of mindless.  The reaper there seemed smarter than most of them.  It's too bad it wasn't interested in talking."

[Akira Nakajima]

Vice finally pointed out the elephant in the room. Good, Akira thought. That meant that he sought out the truth. The boy in drag already doubted that this person would back down. Alisa had still yet to back down, after all. Seiji's comments rang through his mind. All solid points. He also decided to open up the info dump for the non-user. Holly proceeded, after a moment, to continue the dump. Meanwhile, though he stopped progressing, Akira glared down the hall, making sure that nothing was coming. Around the time Holly concluded on her point, the crossdresser shifted around, leaning against one of the walls. He propped his scissors up and twisted his wrists around, staring down the path before looking back at the group. Seemed it was his time to fill in the blanks, the ones he could anyway.

”Most of that is good.” He opened up, backing up their words with his knowledge from experience. ”I'll use comparisons for the sake of ease of understanding. Firstly, let me focus on Holly's question. While it's still theory, I'm considering the big 'guardians', or the bosses, of these areas to be like mothers- specifically the protective types, like bears. These area bosses just lay around with nothing to do, then a bunch of random humans pop up in its domain, killing all the little guys- in this comparison, the baby bears. Kill enough of the baby bears and the momma will come. Kill enough of the little Shadows, and the boss will come. That's my theory, at least. As for the outer barrier vanishing it has to be tied to something. I'd like to say it's a Shadow, but it may be the next big thing up. Something had to put the Shadows there suddenly, you know?” He focused his gaze on Vice at that point.

”For the most part, I'll just reaffirm what they said, but I'll offer some clarification, as well. Like Seiji said, our Personas are our 'other selves'. To understand that better, think of yourself conceptually. A Persona would be the conceptual base for an individual, twisted into a symbolic form. Why they're mythical beings, or other things, is beyond me, though. Could be coincidence, could be something more.” He slowly shrugged, punctuating his lack of further knowledge on that subject. By that point, he crossed his arms. Sending a glance down the hall, he made sure that nothing had changed. All clear for the time being.

”Like Holly here said, the military around us? Those are Shadows. The police, though- those're humans, mind you. Gullible humans, but humans nonetheless. I'll also back Holly's words on us sensing Shadows. We don't have any high-powered sensing skills- we're not going to be able to track down and kill every Shadow in this place, for example. For the smaller ones, think of it like a sixth sense, that stuff you see in movies where the actors can just tell something is off. It's like that, and it can give us an idea of about how strong the things we're dealing with are. Here? The Shadows are pretty weak, relatively speaking. Now, the mines, way off in the outskirts? The Shadows there are a bit more powerful, and a Persona-user can tell.” He paused and then shrugged again.

”Those momma bears, as well as Grim Squeaker, seem to be the exception, though. When I fought the possessed subway train down in the terminal, I could sort of home in on its general location. It was more powerful, after all. Grim Squeaker, though? I'm pretty sure every Persona-user in the city could sense it clearly, even if they refused to show up.” He paused again and nodded. ”Intelligence is pretty much like Holly mentioned, as well. While there's a few exceptions, the smaller Shadows are generally just. . .there. The momma bears are a bit sharper. And Grim Squeaker there was able to speak to us, so that says plenty right there.” He offered a slight smile.

”And that about sums up Shadows, Persona-users, Hell-on-Earth, and You 101. Not much else we can say on this for the time being, but that's gradually being rectified.” He nodded again, then pushed himself off the wall, fully facing the three. ”On that note, while I have no ill will towards her, I will point out that Ayakura Alisa is not a Persona-user. Not a problem on its own, but, if you think back to our meeting a while back, she did make a point that she only wanted Persona-users in her little network. Not sure how you all feel about it, but I'll throw it out right now that I have no intentions of helping her. You're free to use this information how you'd like.” With that, he turned around and gripped his scissors.

”I'm gonna poke on a bit further in, scout it out. Make sure there's nothing noteworthy or valuable. After that, I'm probably done, unless someone wants to talk.” He had effectively tossed out a business offer to the three. What they did with it was entirely their choice. And just like he said, he carried on into the darkness. Whether they stayed there and spoke amongst themselves or followed him to carry on that line was their choice- their freedom as individuals.

[Vice Ysal]

It has been a while ever since things became a lecture for Vice. Usually, he was the one who sought out the answers on his own and would manage to find them out almost immediately without so much as dallying over the little things that were littered about in his search for the truth. This time, however, it almost felt like he was back in class, sitting on his table, and typing away on his laptop about the pros and cons of whatever topic they had going on. It was nostalgic enough that Vice unconsciously slipped back into his 'student' mode and ended up processing the information in his head whilst listing off questions in an invisible piece of paper by his side pocket. The information kept flowing and the red eyed civilian continued to simply stare at the person as they explained themselves and their findings. To some it may seem unnerving, but on that end Vice couldn't really care so long as he got the answers he was looking for.

"Alright, so basic information lands us pretty much on the door step of the puzzle. To go along with the jargon we've been using, Mob-Shadows are more or less that, mobs who can't think. Boss-Shadows like the ones you've been referring to can be attracted should we do enough damage on a particular level of their territory. And the Grim Squeaker, as you put it, stands at a level even above the Boss-Shadows. We also have no clue as to how we can attract their presence and thus gives us no viable answer as to how we can repel them prematurely."

Vice sounded out as he seemed to still be inside his own little academic world.

"Mob-Shadows can be easily dispatched by Normals like me, as proven by my experience, while Boss-Shadows would most likely require a team of Users or Normals in order to take down. The rest, well we know what's needed as the minimum to at least take one down. With that said, these Personas of yours and the Shadows, from what I've noticed, carry the same powers. Examples would be the ability to conjure fire balls, lightning, poison, and can generally fuck your day up. The connection between them, however, remains to be seen. Though the possibility of having the same source is out there…"

At that part, Vice began to trail off until a certain road block formed in his mind which was visibly shown by the crinkling of his face into a tight snarl for a few moments. Noticing that he'd probably written an entire story by his side pocket and the looks he'd possibly be receiving from the crowd he was with, well, it was enough of an indication for him to know that he slipped again. Coughing in order to save himself from some of the lingering embarrassment of his actions, Vice then continued on with the other tidbits of the conversation that had been brought up.

"How Alisa wants to operate is up to her. If that's her gig, then might as well find a way to make it useful for anyone else involved in this mess. If she doesn't want to visibly cooperate, then there are other ways to glean the information to further everyone's chances for survival. Provided, not everyone needs to know, but if people starts picking up on the cluster fuck the city's become then it'd be better to at least have them be armed with knowledge."

Vice crossed his arms as he began tapping his foot.

"We've got a limited amount of people here, and the possibility of outsiders being able to investigate is slim, so having people needlessly get themselves killed because they thought they were too tough for this would be counterproductive…"

Shaking his head, stretching his arms, and falling back into his casual stance, Vice then decided on his course of action.

"Whatever happens though, it'll always be better to know more about our enemy. I'll keep exploring the place a bit more too, and create a copy of the map I've been registering ever since we entered here. We might as well do what we couldn't in the meeting a while back."

[Seiji Dalton]

There was plenty Seiji felt like saying, but Ran did all the talking for him after his initial bit. Holly helped as well and Vice seemed to be pretty smart, being able to pick up on all of this as quickly as he did. Really, he was quite impressed with the older guy (who, despite being a teenager, didn't really come across as one from the little contact Seiji had with him). "And may your creator deity of choice help us all if whatever's pulling the strings decides it wants to come out and play this early in the chain of events." He liked to think of himself as both neutral and an observer. Ran and a few others (himself included) had pretty decent powers and instincts honed from being right in the middle of this from the 'beginning'. Vice himself carried himself like a man that knew how to handle weapons, and Holly had been the one to weaken the boss's defenses if he remembered correctly.

They'd all fall one by one like dominoes if the superboss decided to show up though. Whatever beef Ran had with Alisa was between them and he'd stay out of it. He just hoped he hadn't misjudged either of them when it came to their maturity considering how high the stakes were. "Keep that thing with the garden scissors up and the shadows will scurry away in fear." He commented on those awful, terrifying shears. If he possessed the capacity, he'd probably whimper like a small child from them considering he didn't like scissors to begin with. "Hey Vice, my brother and I have been working on mapping out the different places outside the safe zone, too. If you're ever in the neighborhood and want to compare notes, stop by the Manga-Max on Mimoza Corner." He hoped it went without saying that the others were free to stop by as well.

"Let's talk some other time, Ran. It's hard to have a serious conversation wearing PJs. I may or may not have slept through the initial appearance of the boss." Despite how embarrassing (in a really weird way) it was to admit he'd overslept for a raid, he kept a straight face.

[Holly Mason]

There was certainly no point in hiding anything from Vice because he had already been to the outer circle and thus already knew.  Hiding information would do nothing to protect him, if anything it would hurt him.  That said, she still didn't like the idea of sending normals out there, but it was pretty obvious that he was going to go no matter what she did, so it was counterproductive to try to stop him at this point.  Holly understood that the more bodies thrown against these things the better, but it still offended some of her personal ethics.  Sending people without super powers or the increased ability to take hits from super powers just seemed unethical.

"I'd tell you to leave it to us, but somehow I don't think you'll be satisfied with supporting us from inside the city only," she put her hands behind her head.  "Yeah, a lot of the skills are the same.  Some shadows have skills I've never seen from persona users though.  The reaper there had several, but even a couple of the 'mob shadows' had some unfamiliar skills.  I'm not sure if it's just because I haven't met a user that used them or if they're actually unique though.

"I don't want to get random people involved in this even if more bodies would be useful.  Some people aren't built to fight and trying to force them in, even if you think they are capable beforehand, will just lead to disaster.  I'm willing to work with the people that find the outside on their own though.  It takes guts to sneak past a police line in order to see a 'radiation leak.'  Actually..." she looked down slightly and rubbed her chin.  "How did the two of you awaken to your persona?  That fight against the reaper and my own personal experience suggests that there are more persona users familiar with the outside than there are non-users.  If we can figure out what triggers it maybe it would be possible for normals to get their super powers too.  My memory of my awakening is a little hazy, but it went something like this: I sneaked past the police line and went to the outside through the subway terminal.  I wandered around the city for a bit and was eventually ambushed by around eight shadows.  I think it was around there, I wasn't exactly counting at the time," she folded her arms and sighed.  "...Needless to say I was completely unprepared for something like...that.  They launched a few attacks and...it nearly killed me.  As I was losing consciousness a figure appeared and healed my wounds.  After that I was able to get up and the rest isn't important.  That's how mine happened, explain yours," she motioned at the other two users.

Her cheeks started to flush a little bit.  Hopefully that would be enough because she didn't exactly want to explain the part where she ran away screaming like a little bitch.  Holly already had pretty good posture, but after sharing that she somehow managed to walk with her back straighter than it already was.  She also instinctively started to shift her weight to her toes slightly to make herself a little taller.  She was far from standing on her toes; really the difference was hardly noticeable, her boots didn't even bend at the toes.  Vice had better be damn grateful that she was willing to share this story so he could attempt to get super powers himself.

"Anyway," she said quickly before anyone else could possibly have a chance to speak, "If we're going to be working together we should share contact information and our current projects," she pulled out her phone, it was a new and rather expensive model of smart phone.  "As I said before, I've been studying shadows.  I've also been making efforts to try to impersonate one.  I'm not sure if it's possible because it wouldn't surprise me if they had senses similar to ours, but I figured it was worth a shot.  If I could just talk to one...well, it'd be easier to figure out what was going on if they just told us."  Sharing her ridiculous plan wasn't exactly helping her feel less embarrassed.  "In the mean time, I've been studying their behavior and movements and noting down where I've found them and anything that might qualify as 'tactics' even if it's likely just luck on their end rather than actual coordination.  If we're comparing maps I can show you everything I've found as well."

[Akira Nakajima]

Seemed the others kept following him. Either one, they were neutral and just looked for the best outcome of the situation, or, two, they were not particularly fond of Alisa's ideas. Either worked. Seemed Vice had the best idea for it, though. Seiji only brought a small smile to his lips. That was the second time he said something in regard to his actions with or carrying of his scissors. A third time, and he'd figure there was some sort of phobia involved. But it was true that Seiji didn't exactly look too serious while wearing pajamas. He simply nodded in response to the motion. Discussing notes and all that would be better when they were sitting down, dressed for business, and good to go.

And then Holly uttered something that matched his general feelings on the issue of letting normals out and about. It was respectable to go out searching to satiate your curiosity. Vice seemed to be in that case. Alisa, however, piggybacked off of his going into the terminal. Perhaps, had he waited five more minutes that day, she would still be some childish investigator not putting her life on the line? Well, either way. What was done was done. Holly then went on to discuss her obtaining a Persona. A decent enough topic. Probably the best thing to discuss around a normal human, if they actually knew what caused the awakening, at least.

”I was suspicious of the whole lockdown from the get go. Radiation doesn't cut off an internet connection to the outside world- not every single one, especially not when fiber optics are in place. So, I was using rooftops and a pair of binoculars to observe things. At some point, though, I blacked out. Or at least my memories of what happened were wiped. Regardless, next thing in my memories was running from Shadows. Eventually, I had to fight. Mid-fight, I obtained my Persona. Not sure what brought it out, exactly, but I will say that it sounds like the fears of death, or high levels of stress, are at least somewhat related.” He gave his spiel and observations as he proceeded. Seemed the majority of the Shadows were distancing themselves from them. Funny, and almost cute. They were like cats. With his free hand, he took out a lime green block, which soon revealed itself as a flip-phone. He refrained from making the screen visible, but he did fiddle with it just a bit.

”I just set up an ad-hoc network with my phone. You should be able to get my contact information by connecting.” He notified the others. Scissors in his left hand and phone in his right, the boy in drag slowed his advance. Even if they were weak, Shadows could have damaged his phone. Flip-phones were likely hard to come by in the limited stores of Mosaic. Plus, he had a lot of sentimental value placed in those things.

”For projects, I'm mostly checking out new locations, fighting and killing the Shadows I find, and getting information on their capabilities. I figure the more I explore, the sooner I'll find something important. As far as mapping goes, I actually don't make them. I do have a fairly good memory of my steps and all, though. So I can perhaps help with instructions for the hospital or mines.” He shrugged slightly. Despite knowing the good of copying down notes for the sake of information exchange, it really wasn't something he wanted to do outside of class.

He could always make the effort, but. . . he'd prefer not to.

[Vice Ysal]

This proved to be some pretty good information. The awakenings of the persona users was something that had honestly piqued his interest and the possibility of being able to somehow summon his own would surely be a boon for future endeavours as well. Still, apparently the most used idea for awakening one's inner power was to go ahead and try to kill yourself by getting ganged up on by the monsters outside the city walls or just getting really really stressed. If that had been the only way to actually awaken his inner diety then Vice was more or less going to be shit out of luck. He's already been ambushed by the monsters outside of the city several times and the fear for his life had been more or less thrown at him time and time again. High levels of duress under such situations, he was pretty sure that anything pertaining to that would have already been reached in terms of a quota.

Hell, he freaking fought against the Grim Squeaker despite not having any of these fancy resistances and powers to back him. Provided he didn't do much but the sheer fear, stress, and coupled with the actual threat of dying should have been enough to traumatize any sane man over the edge in order to summon their particular persona. Yet Vice remained a Normal with no fancy spirit guide to help protect him from these shadows.

"As a Normal whose been in quite the thick of things, not to mention going against the Grim Squeaker as well, I'm actually surprised that I haven't awakened at all. Guessing from that, there's probably more factors into it or I just haven't been pressed enough to be able to summon one."

Soon enough though came the exchange of phone numbers. Pulling out his own smart phone, the bright light shining an eerie shadow over his face, Vice inputted a few commands and easily enough sent his number to the phones in the vicinity.

"Project wise, I've got a couple of files and maps for both the sewers and the administrative building. Provided I've yet to explore the higher levels, but I've got a pretty good bearing on everything you can find on the first floor. Notes on shadow types and their abilities are also available and future explorations should bear quite a bit more fruit. Unfortunately, it's a bit slow going since I don't exactly have a group of people to go with nor do I have a spirit deity guide thing to help me out."

Leaning against the wall this time, his mind absorbing the information being tossed around for everyone's convenience, Vice decided that he'd probably have to ask their help for further exploration. He could really only do much on his own and going with Alisa could help but he couldn't deny the bigger use a User has out there in the field.

"Compiling the files into some kind of databank or binders for hard copies shouldn't be difficult. Updating it though, that's gonna be taking some time since I've got no idea on how to do all those technical stuff."

[Seiji Dalton]

Another round of genuinely good information. Seiji wondered why he didn't hang out with these people more often. Listening to Holly with a demeanor that was calm once again now that the horror shadow killing was out of the way, he absorbed her information into his noggin without being biased or judgmental. She had a lot of good points. It took a lot of tenacity to break a blockade run by the police and shadow militants. She asked about how they awakened to their own Personas after sharing her own story. It was interesting to hear and he listened intently. It wasn't very different from his own, but he remembered someone else that told him of a weird way he awakened to his Persona. No one else had shared a similar experience and that, perhaps, was what made it so noteworthy. "This isn't my own experience, but I talked to someone that awoke to their Persona in a way drastically different from everyone else. He said he...faced a shadow of himself, and after overcoming it, 'got his Persona'." He said those last three words in an uncertain tone. It was definitely an unusual and weird way to put things.

He allowed everyone else to say what they had to say, patiently waiting his turn and listening, responding when he felt like he had something to say. Ran and Takeda were two peas in a pod considering how they both had their doubts about the military blockade right from the get-go. "Takeda questioned it from the beginning, too. Takeda's my brother, by the way. Smart guy, probably the smartest guy I've met. He basically told me, how'd he put it...that's not what you do when there's a fucking radiation leak. Unless the government is trying to turn us all into mutants, they'd probably evacuate us, especially since we have a coastline right there." He tried to keep his words concise and to the point but ended up being a bit too verbose for his tastes. At least talking about this had more value than normal conversations with other people his age. "And isn't it dangerous for a girl to set up a way for anyone that's smart enough to get her contact info? I bet you have one heck of a stalker problem." He observed with some amusement.

What Vice had to add was, as always with the badass biker, relevant and interesting. Hearing the perspective of someone who didn't have an imp, a knight, or Faust to fight off shadows and still saw things in normal terms was interesting and he nodded "Don't worry, Takeda didn't awaken the first time he encountered shadows, either." He left it at that for just a moment, looking around and making sure they didn't have anything to say before he started. "I got here a week before the blockade. A week. Takeda got kind of obsessive about finding out what was going on. Me? It wasn't like I had anywhere else to go and I couldn't get out so...I didn't really care to dig deeper at first. He told me he'd head to the barricade and think about ways to try and break it but he could never work up the courage until one night when he was really drunk. He got angry about something I said, go figure, and ran off."

He paused for a moment to catch his breath. "I tracked him to an opened manhole and went into the sewers after them. The thing I like about the sewers, if you're not afraid to get a little dirty, is that...how did Takeda put it?" He spoke again in a deeper voice that was a pretty good imitation of his brother, "Everybody shits, Seiji. The sewers run all over the city and it doesn't give the smart shadows a convenient place to wait on little red persona user." Gosh, he sounded cynical when he imitated Takeda. "Anyway, he ended up underneath shadow territory by the time I got to him. Got cornered by some weak shadows. Now...it wasn't a fear of dying that woke my Persona up. It was more like...there was a bond there with my brother, and I didn't want to see him die. I resolved myself with that bond and drew strength from it." It was still practically the same thing as a normal awakening, he just used something different to achieve his awakening.

"Takeda told me he felt compelled to head back a few nights later. The shadows swarmed him and in the chaos, he got his own Persona. I don't know what was different about the second time, you're better off asking him." Stretching out, he kept on alert in case a zombie decided to jump them or something. "As for projects, prettymuch the same as Ran's. I fight shadows, try to find answers, and usually get none. Occasionally, Takeda and I will pool our brain power and map out the city now in comparison to an atlas we bought. He does these really nifty drawings of Personas, too. Says their concept art for a game called 'Persona'...pretty good cover even though we haven't had to use it too often.'

"So, don't worry man. I'm sure you'll get your own Persona in time. Look on the bright side, as often as you've been out here, it might well be stronger than mine or Ran's." He didn't actually know if that was true or not, but it'd be awesome as hell if it was. "I'll just say I'm glad there's so many people that heard the call when that monster came. Imagine if it was just us four. We're all good, but that thing was so powerful that it probably would've been FUBAR." Gosh he loved saying FUBAR.