Mosaic City, located along China's coast, is quite large city sometimes called the Crossroads Between Nations due to its diverse population. While it was once a large tourist spot, the city was placed under a blockade as the military appeared claiming there was a radiation leak. The true hazard, however, is much more sinister.
Post by Holly Mason on Jan 30, 2014 0:03:40 GMT -5
Holly frowned. "It's not as good a lead as I was hoping for, but it's a start. I doubt it's worth trying to kill yourself anymore than you already have, or will from exploring, until we figure out that last piece," she let out a soft chuckle. It was clear she didn't actually expect him to do anything more reckless than he already was. "The idea that there's shadows that look like us...that's also interesting. It's not surprising that there are shadows that look like humans given the situation, but literally meeting your evil twin? It's kind of disturbing. It looks like there's more connections between humans and shadows than I initially thought. I'll see if I can look into it."
Holly rubbed her chin and started staring at the floor, allowing herself to lag behind Ran a little bit. The recon itself was uninteresting, but the information they shared gave her a lot to think about. In the end, the discussion raised more questions than it answered, but it gave her some new ideas for what to investigate and how to handle the current situation. Life was good.
"Honestly, I'd prefer to keep our information off of computers as much as possible. I've seen too many machines possessed by shadows to want to risk it. I know they can't actually come to the inner circle yet, but it makes me uneasy. It just seems like we'd be creating an unnecessary weak point."
Post by Akira Nakajima on Jan 30, 2014 12:35:36 GMT -5
Giving the group a moment to add whatever credentials they needed to, the boy in drag observed the data his network managed to get before shutting it down and putting the phone away. It was much easier to maintain a forward march when he didn't have to hold a phone up. As if lazy, Imp had, at some point, crawled atop his head, effectively becoming a flesh hat. Imphat was the ultimate hat. It could spit fire on annoying people that got into the wearer's face. Such an accessory would make millions off of the anti-social crowd and would perhaps be the boy's one-hit wonder towards becoming a millionaire.
More seriously, though.
"Compiling data would be a worthwhile endeavor, but I can see where Holly is coming from. Putting it on the network is a means of easy access, sure, but the information can get out. Physical data would probably be better, if only because it should be safe from networked Shadows and hackers releasing the info on the open network of the city." Really, the data being leaked for normal people to experiment with was the worst-case scenario. Sure, they'd potentially get a few more allies, if they were lucky, but there was no telling how many people would die by poking into the sewers or into the terminal. Sure, the numbers of Shadows might've been down, but that didn't make it safe.
"Still, though. Doppelgangers? We may as well have been dropped into a game by this point. I mean, if we're fighting trains, computers, wrestlers, wizards, and other bizarre things, spewing out fire, ice, wind, and lightning, why not? Watch our next enemies be dragons, or maybe Zeus firing lightning bolts down on us." It was just a small complaint, seeing as how everything was pointing to RPG cliches, but there was a small issue with what he had said, and he was completely aware of it.
Stay the fuck out of it, Murphy. Ain't got time for your shit.
"But, yeah. Don't worry about it too much, Vice. I have no reason to believe that others can't become Persona-users. Like every Persona is different, every user awakens in a different manner, going by what I'm hearing here. You just haven't found a situation that brought it out of you yet. And, Seiji?" He flashed a smile over his shoulder, opening the scissors slightly, subtly.
"I have a means of snipping any stalker problems in the bud, if and when they pop up." He casually commented, his grip closing the handles and causing the scissors to quietly hiss as the blades closed. If he reacted to that, then Akira had his proof that Seiji had a fear of scissors. If not, then he at least clarified that he wasn't one to worry about stalkers outside of invasion of privacy.
"Still, seems like the majority of Shadows are avoiding us. Not seeing anything particularly valuable, or helpful, either. Might be a better use of our time to leave and discuss with fresh air in our lungs." He observed with a shrug while he looked down three paths at another four-way intersection. Why were catacombs so. . . dungeon-y? Really, this was not helping with the "like a game" argument.
It was the first positive show of mirth that the biker had shown all night. Not as unusual as it may have been, the action came from the mentioning of how his potential persona could have been stronger than the others. Now that was a happy little thought to think about. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, potential was simply potential and unless used remained useless. He could've had the biggest potential in regards of everyone present but that didn't really matter unless he could evoke his imaginary friend to do battle with him. That thought bothered him a bit but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.
Besides, he was sure he could still do something even without a fancy spirit.
With the brevity slowly returning to the group, the tension seemed to have finally began to spread away from them and the weight on his shoulders had finally been given enough time to cause Vice's posture to slightly sag. Whatever power he had left from here on out was more or less being taken away from his danger reserves and it was getting a tad bit more difficult to focus on the more intricate theoretical models that could have been built for this particular situation. Well, Vice mused, it wasn't like they'd need advanced economics to deal with a couple of dungeon crawling.
Looking at the front, the sight of a three way choice just wasn't very appealing to him right now. On one hand, if they split up a bit more from here on out (with Vice going with the least capable) , then it was entirely possible to find some bountiful treasure of some sorts. On the other hand, moving further than this would most likely force the team into a battle that they can't win in their current status. Or if anyone had a third hand, both could happen. Fuck probabilities though, Vice wasn't gonna risk his or any of their necks for that right now.
"I agree with Ran."
Vice began and though he was tired, he still tried his best to look aware of everything.
"Leaving now would be more beneficial for us and I'd rather not risk having to face off against another eldritch abomination. The lack of enemies is disconcerting and all too."
Post by Seiji Dalton on Feb 2, 2014 19:18:10 GMT -5
Once again, Holly was smart and sensible, water was wet, Ran was hot scary, and Vice showed he wasn't some airhead biker with a gun looking for a fight. He had little to add to what Holly said, merely saying "Only there was a shadow that broke into the inner circle." Given how the fight with the monster was fresh on everyone's mind, he doubted that he needed to specify further.
Then Ran had to go talking about fighting dragons. Man, that idea got Seiji all giddy, not that he gave a strong reaction to the statement. There was awesome and then there was fighting a dragon. Granted, it wouldn't be as awesome since there'd be others stealing the thunder from his awesome battle with the dragon should one ever appear. The fights against them in his roleplaying games were always long and tense affairs filled with equal part strategy and tenacity. "I bet someone is going to get Zeus as a Persona, actually."
He glanced at the Imp nuzzling her head and wondered what about Ran's personality made her Persona manifest in that form. Maybe she was feisty, tricky, or playful? Oh, she motioned to the scissors again. Definitely playful and feisty. He wanted to gulp but he wasn't going to give the girl that satisfaction. "Glad to see you know how to take care of yourself." He finally said. Better that she be murder with garden scissors than a damsel in distress.
When the group found themselves at a crossroad, Seiji had a feeling they were going to turn back. While the healing magic had brought them back to roughly full strength, they were still tired from the fight in the cemetery above. He wanted to know how drunk the older members of their group were at whatever honky tonk Takeda had found. Seiji had known that man for only a handful of months but he could find vaguely American bars with the best of them. "Turning back sounds nice."
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, or you wouldn’t have come here.”
Post by Holly Mason on Feb 4, 2014 10:42:50 GMT -5
"You know what I mean smartass," she scoffed at Seiji, though she didn't seem annoyed. "I don't think any of these paths are going to have anything spectacular down them. The other places that this place feels like didn't have anything that interesting in them either, and..." she paused and sighed. "I suppose now isn't the best time to draw out one of the guardian shadows. I'm not against going back. I wouldn't mind going to at least the end of the party."
She didn't make much effort to hide her disappointment. Overall, she felt fine, but she wasn't sure if she could keep up the spell spam if they did encounter a powerful shadow. Even if it wouldn't be as powerful as the reaper she had no real way of gauging what amount of power she should expect. It'd be one thing if it was just her, but she wasn't willing to risk the other people exploring with her. Going to the party would also give her to meet the other users. It was actually kind of exciting to think about, there were several she didn't know and meeting new people was always fun. It seemed like everyone agreed, so Holly opted to turn on her heel and start moving in the other direction.
"Although I do wonder how the reaper was able to get here when none of the other shadow seems to be able to. Even if only the strongest shadows were able to come into the inner circle it seems like they could do a lot of damage. I swear I will never understand these things."
There was no point in waiting until they got back to the surface to bring that up. Walking in complete silence would be less interesting anyway.
Post by Akira Nakajima on Feb 4, 2014 13:32:48 GMT -5
Someone getting Zeus would be an interesting turnover for a Persona-user. Of course, Akira highly doubted he'd want anything to do with a person like that, given that, if he recalled the brief bits of Greek myth correctly, Zeus was a giant dick to just about everything and everybody. Also a lecher. Lechers just wanted sex, and Akira was far beyond such vanilla principles and weak-willed resolutions. Other than that, it did seem that everyone was generally in agreement in regards to getting out of the grave site. That was good. He wasn't one to enjoy necrophilia, as that was just a bit nasty. Plus unhealthy.
"Then it looks like we're in agreement." The boy in drag noted, giving the three paths one last gaze. Nothing seemed to be coming, so it was probably fine to show their backs to the four-way. With a slight nod, he whirled on his heel, careful to keep his scissors low and out of the way, before offering a slight smile to the group. It wasn't until Imp's grip failed and the entity clung onto the boy's face for support that he sighed. With a hand that brought justice into the world, he grabbed Imp and tossed it to the side, allowing it to disappear while straightening his hair and walking back among the group.
"After a trip down here, a shower would be great." He summarized his feelings up nicely. It seemed Holly wanted to continue on about things that no one could really add input on, but, rather than just letting silence settle, or let someone else say something first, the crossdresser skipped and whirled again. "No one will know exactly what caused the attack, not yet at least. We may find answers over time in the other places infested with Shadows. Maybe at the deepest reaches of these catacombs, even. I think we can all agree, though, that it'd be best to expect another attack sometime. It wasn't the end-all boss for the Shadows. There'll definitely be more, and they'll almost definitely try to attack the city. All we can do is make sure we're prepared and do our best to curbstomp them." There was something wrong about a girlish face smiling innocently while mentioning curbstomping.
Nonetheless, the boy in drag turned again, and, with a kick to his step, he retraced the path back towards the exit. The prospect of actually getting back home and bathing had replenished his strength. It'd last him just about long enough to return and get in bed.
"Since we're pretty much on this topic…I have half a mind to come up with some kind of Exploration Schedule in order to create the fastest way to open up any other area we haven't gotten the chance to map out yet. Unfortunately the other half is falling asleep from the events of tonight so that'll have to wait."
Inserting a little bit of his own brevity into the situation wouldn't hurt, not when he's surrounded by competent people. Aside from that though, Vice doubted he'd have anything else to contribute to the conversation currently and thus would choose to preserve whatever semblance of consciousness his body still clung unto.
Matching his pace with the rest of the people on the ragtag team of explorers to have something to focus on aside from whatever bits of conversation the kids wanted to get out of their system, the red eyed asian simply continued going on. Christ he couldn't wait to go back home, pull out a drink to help with the post-sleepy-haze effects he'll have, and crash into his bed to the oblivions of the morning after.