In High Spirits (Open)

[Jaelyn Callahan]

Jaelyn could have jumped for joy right at that moment, if it wouldn't have been completely out of character for her. The bartender didn't bother to ask for an ID or anything. He just pulled out a bottle that was clearly a Russian import, poured a shot, and slid it over to her before moving on to the others present. It was a damned miracle. Or, failing that, a stroke a good luck after all the crap that had happened. Jaelyn accepted it and took a drink, only listening in on whatever bits of conversation from the others present caught her interest. Contrary to the impression that she had gotten earlier, everyone else didn't know each other, and in fact it sounded like at least one of them had never met other persona-users in their life. Weird. Naturally, she had been in the same boat, but at least in her case there was plenty of reason to believe that others had existed. Meanwhile, a couple other people just didn't realize that there would be so many.

And one girl who ordered soda, drawing a comment from the girl next to Jaelyn. "Who the heck asks for milk at a bar?" she asked. "Even soda makes more sense than that.

Then, soon after, the subject turned to getting acquainted and sharing contact info. Well...that could be a problem. She had finally gotten her room phone hooked up after Luka asked for her number, but more and more she just plain didn't want to be there at any decent time. That was what had prompted her to try and save up money from salvage trips for a cell phone. For that matter, the idea of many people wanting her around for much of anything but a battle like what they'd just gone through was laughable, and so long as she didn't sleep through any more of them she wasn't likely to miss them.

Well, she might as well try, at least. "Well, my name's Jaelyn, if any of you care. If you don't, I don't blame you." A depressing thought, delivered with a deadpan tone. Jaelyn didn't want pity, but she also wasn't under any delusions about fitting in. Although, then again, they all seemed to be a bit of a ragtag bunch. Now that the girl in the maid outfit was here, she wasn't even the strangest-looking person here. Brushing that thought aside, she downed the rest of her drink in one go and called for another. "Ahh, that has a hell of a kick," she said to no one in particular. "My mother used to love this stuff."

[Akira Nakajima]

Akira had heard that simply speed-drinking alcohol was bad. But, so far, the boy in drag had not felt so much as a buzz. Mentally deriding the drink with a “screw it”, he downed what was left before turning in his seat at the bar to look over the group. The red-headed Japanese man passed by with a nod. Akira just offered a slight smile and nodded back. People shifted about, finding their own spots. Seemed blue-head over there was covering for his drinks. That was cool. Doubtful that it'd carry over if he knew that Akira was not, in fact, a girl. Either way, he turned to the bartender for a second and mulled over RPG alcohols he knew.

”Ah, um. Get me an absinthe, please. Or, no, two.” Then he paused and shook his head. ”Or, no. Just the whole bottle, please.” He received a doubtful gaze, followed by a humored mumble, before the man produced and opened a bottle. Acquiring the bottle of his desired poison, the boy took a sip. And it burned. It tasted like what he imagined shit would. The bartender mentioned something about it being a higher “quality” than others of its kind. What the hell kind of standard was that? Not-as-shitty? He coughed lightly, covering his mouth. No wonder he got that doubtful look. His throat burned. Wow, that sucked. And he still had to drink the rest of the bottle.

”Ran, pleased to meet you.” He choked out in response to Jaelyn's introduction. His voice was still definitively feminine, but it was obviously strained. That was embarrassing. Slipping from his seat without an issue, he twirled around the groups that were massing, making his way between the Alisa-Maid-Other Person group and nearer towards the tables with Vice and the redhead. Along the way, he took another deep swig of the bottle, visibly wincing as he swallowed. Still no buzz, though. What the hell? It was all going to come down on him at once, wasn't it? Better than nothing, he supposed. The taste was probably why it was called “shit-faced” drunk.

”So, gentlemen.” He began, in what could have been seen as a means of flirting, had it been anybody else. He pulled a seat away from a table and plopped down, roughly in the middle of the area. Best way to eavesdrop with whoever the hell he wanted to. Plus, it was a bar. Who cared? ”I haven't seen either of you since our last major battle. Good to see you got your Persona, Vice.” He noted with a nod before downing another bit of the bottle, wincing. No coughs. He was getting better. ”I hope that offer of free stuff at Manga-Max hasn't expired though, Mister.” He flashed a slight smile at Takeda.

Another drink. How long would this shit take?

[Amane Mana]

”Kinda silly to come to a bar to drink soda, Amane. Then again, I've seen some ask for milk, so I guess you're playing your own risky game.” Amane reluctantly endured the teasing as the man provided the soda for her. She sighed and then started to sip her drink. This was going to be one long frustrating night...hold a moment. Something just dawned on to Amane.

"Say...Ran are you old enough to-" Amane turned over to the sight of Ran downing the alcohol much to her everlasting horror.

”Ah, um. Get me an absinthe, please. Or, no, two.”

"Um..."

”Or, no. Just the whole bottle, please.” Amane shuddered as the man just handed Ran a bottle. She right way got up from her table, managing to hold on to her cup so it doesn't spill.

"What are you doing?! You don't even check ID and you just hand her a bottle?! What kind of bartender are you?!" Amane was getting a few stares but she didn't care at the moment. "You don't even check her-wait where did she go?" Amane looked around for a moment before then noticing Ran hanging out with two men. "Ran!" Amane started to head on after her. The bartender stared at Amane and shrugged, continuing to do his job.

"Ran...please be careful about your consumption..." She looked over at the two boys and then reluctantly took a seat next to Ran and sipped at her soda. Amane was trying her best to keep her neutral expression but the recent spat with the bartender proved that she was anything but happy at the moment.

[Ayakura Alisa]

A lot had happened in the few moments that people had settled into the establishment. The young lady in her PJs introduced herself as Jaelyn, I could hear it - she sounded awfully dejected about something. It was clear that whatever she seemed down about, she wasn't looking for pity - the deadpan aspect made that very obvious. She enjoyed her vodka and asked for another one and that was that. Politely, I would respond after a swig of my whisky. "Pleasure to meet you, Jaelyn. The name's Ayakura Alisa, owner of the Ayakura Information Network." It was then and there I had caught Ran ordering an entire bottle of absinthe. Uh... Does that seem right to you? I had a bad opinion of this kid before, but having nearly sacrificed my life to save Chidori made me realize the true meaning behind her words... Chidori really helped me mature and appreciate that everybody had their gems of wisdom, eh?

Naturally, I had decided to immediately make my change of heart evident. "Yo, Ran," I called, even as she went over to the table where Vice and Takeda were and started chatting them up, drinking. She definitely had weird movements, but I don't think she was getting that buzz one usually got from drinking that kind of stuff... "You... you sure you going to be okay there? Absinthe's some rough shit." I downed my whisky and asked for more. The absinthe that was typically served was, at its weakest, of the same alcohol content as the very whisky I was drinking. Who knows how strong whatever SHE had was! And how old was she? She seemed like, 16 or 17 or something. Slightly underage!

And then I saw a familiar face, why, it was Amane, that girl who asked me for... uh, information a very long time ago. I still remembered her, but I wondered if she remembered me. Probably not. It's been a while, and my memory's pretty good for what it is. She chastised Ran for her seemingly blatant disregard for her own liver, but I found it laughable coming from the girl who decided to order soda in a bar. You come in to a bar to have some hard, delicious liquor, not to get soda you could easily buy at the grocery for cheap. I'm surprised they even stocked that crap here.

I laughed at the sight. "Man... the teens these days."

[Chidori Tsukino]

Being mute, Chidori was of course, the silent one at the bar, observing the others as she sipped at her drink, enjoying the mix of flavours that the three components coalesced to make. Nevertheless, in the time it took her to finish half of her drink, a lot took place in the bar; more and more people filed in, including some people she recognised from last time like the red-haired Takeda. Please, please don't let them compete again... Chidori honestly doubted their livers could handle another round of drinking if the did go at it again.

Vice also came in as well, ordering vodka like the brown-haired girl a little down from where she was sitting. Speaking of brunettes, another came over to talk to them, apparently having met Alisa and Isolde before, introducing herself as Phoebe. Given the way the conversation quickly tilted, the mute realised there was another user amongst them; their numbers seemed to continue growing. A good point was raised about contact information, though Chidori was a tad wary sharing such information with such a large group. Staying quiet about that one, Chidori continued listening as some more introductions went around - the other brunette was named Jaelyn apparently, though she seemed very...downcast? It was odd, since she spoke in such a deadpan way, but the mute could see the all-too-familiar signs of sadness there as well.

Some other commotion took place on the other side however, something involving the younger ones drinking alcohol. She didn't catch what the name of it was, but judging by the reactions, she figured it was something pretty strong. Resolving to keep an eye on things at least, Chidori waved gently when Ran said hello to their mottled group of people, though her gaze swivelled to Alisa at a certain comment. 'Hey, I'm one of those teens. Well, not technically, but still!' Smiling as she mouthed at her friend, the mute sighed inwardly as she wondered how exactly such a large group was going to work.

[Rikki Hisako]

The boy stretched a bit after he took a swig of his drink. Turning his head slightly, it seemed the girl next to him could really down her alcohol. Wait, did she just order that? She was really going for the heavy stuff. Even Rikki himself would have quite a few issues drinking something like that. The boy opted not to say anything to her and simply took it easy for now. Though, he had a feeling he would be spending just a tad more on drinks than he expected. His head turned again when one of the younger girls seemed to get mad at the bartender for giving the girl alcohol. Rikki simply blinked as he watched her get mad then head over to the girl. She must have been worried over her friend. Oh well. She seemed fine.

Spinning around in his chair, the boy soon found himself alone at the counter as everyone began to gravitate to the other side of the room. With a smirk, the boy shook his head and looked around at everyone. From the things they were saying, it was likely that a good deal of them knew each other from past encounters. Well, this just wouldn't do! Rikki felt the need to liven things up a bit; make it a true party. Getting up from his seat, the boy swung his guitar around and made his way over towards the growing group of people.

Well, this is certainly a nice gathering of people I must say. He paused, scratching his cheek. He was talking to everyone, so he wanted to get a moment to get their attention. But! I'd hardly call this a celebration just yet. Let's get a bit more lively guys! The boy strummed a few chords rather quickly on his guitar. Let's play some games or something! If not, I can always just start singing for you all! The boy grinned as he said that. The way he worded it almost made it sound like he was threatening them with his singing if things didn't get a bit more lively. It was not the case, of course. The boy was simply looking for a way to boost everyone's spirit a bit, which was something the boy excelled in rather spectacularly.

[Pyxis]

Wow. An entire bottle of absinthe?! Pyxis recognized the drink from a few RPGs she'd played, and having looked it up...it was some nasty stuff. Not at all something that should be drunk straight from the bottle like that. Alisa voiced her concern over it, while another girl practically exploded at the bartender for allowing her to have it. The bartender, of course, simply shrugged it off and went back to work. Pretty irresponsible. That girl was going to be in really bad shape before too long. Probably before she even left. And, going by the atmosphere and general attitude of the place, she probably wouldn't be the only one. "It's times like these I'm glad I can't drink," Pyxis remarked.

Although, actually, her inability to consume alcohol was always a positive. While she did sometimes wonder if some games were meant to be played while drunk and would give a better experience that way, for the most part such a thing would just cause problems if she ever had to go into action on a moment's notice. Even for a celebration, she had to wonder how so many humans were okay with that.

Then, the blue-haired boy mentioned getting more lively. He had a point. They were supposed to be celebrating their victory, after all. "Only if you sing better than the people I've played online with," she remarked. It was a reasonable assumption. The way he'd said it sounded a bit like a threat. "What did you have in mind?"

[Vice Ysal]

Again, like his last observation, things were picking up more speed this time. The noise was still rising and Vice doubted that it'd be reaching its peak anytime soon now that there was going to be an inclusion of some kind of merry making from the other patrons. Maybe if he was smashed, he'd join in on the whole thing too but unfortunately, the young man was still quite a ways off from even getting the slightest buzz. The vodka was good though, not exactly the crude stuff you got off those side shops and actually held some kind of alcohol content in them rather than some weird mix between cigarette ashes and msg. Another shot down his throat, the warmth spreading through his body in a soothing sensation, and Vice was just about to ask the older of the two males about Seiji given that it had been quite a bit since he last saw the kid. Not to mention that he had been a big help in the last Event and the tidbit of him missing out on this did make him wonder just what the hell happened to the fellow user. Unfortunately, his plans were not meant to bear fruit as the form of one of the bigger players of the current team came up on their table with a bottle of what seemed to be absinth.

Now that, that Vice found funny. He didn't honestly care whatever tolerance the girl had in her but ordering that straight up after a fight? She was either damn well ballsy or just downright desperate not to find out what the hell was happening tomorrow. Regardless, the biker might have gone for the same thing if he actually wanted to get wasted but knowing the streets at night, he was probably going to want to have some sense of self before travelling. Not to mention he still had to pick up his bike from where he had parked it. Jesus, all these things to do.

"It's already been a month since we last saw each other? I guess time starts passing by strangely when you're focused on things." The red eyed asian informed, a small curl in his lips to indicate what little mirth was present at the moment. "And thanks, Ran. Actually, reason why I've been gone for a while was due to getting this little gem polished. It took a while but at least the shadows now wouldn't be absorbing my bullets, right?" A jab at his former incompetency, something that the young man was glad to have finally gotten rid off. Moving his eyes to take a good look at the newcomer to the table this time, blue hair who looked to be rather concerned for the well being of her friend, wasn't that just so sweet? Vice had half a mind to tell her off about alcohol choices but decided, that since it was a celebration, there was no need to go around inciting people into getting pissed at something so trivial as a drink in the bar.

Vodka was turning into water at this rate, another shot down the hatch and Vice wondered what the hell was gonna happen next tonight. The school would most likely be placed under scrutiny for the time being, and it was going to be secured away from the students due to the damages and repairs that were going to be needed. Vice wasn't really interested to what the school was going to do next, it was more or less a given, and instead wanted to know just how much time would be allocated for the students to not go near what could have been some kind of accident. The time could be used properly, he was sure, by some of the more serious teenagers but then again, they were teenagers so that was a never certain thing.

"And you two seem close." Vice nodded his head towards the both users in front of him. "You mind introducing us?"

[Phoebe Minola]

Phoebe eyed the people at the table with worry. Absinth? Did they even know how strong that stuff is? She had enough drinking experience to know that was gonna end with someone needing to be rushed outside to chuck his dinner. Assuming any one of them had eaten anything. Well, she had and she figured she might as well enjoy herself a little. She had polished off her second beer so she went to the bar, with a few 'excuse me' and pardon me' used to squeeze through the people, and ordered herself a cocktail. She was gonna take this nice and slow, though, so she started with a Papa Doble -- a nice, chilled Hemingway Daiquiri.

When she got back to the table she sat next to the girl dressed like a maid who wasn't drinking. She sat down near her, since the shifting around of the table had eliminated her earlier seat.

"Hi. Name's Phoebe. Not joining the drinks?" she asked the girl over the loud din. "Can I get you anything? It's easier for me to get up and go to the bar now."

[Takeda]

The rattling of bottles behind the bar, the smell of smoke laying thick in the air, the sounds of some poor wino barfing up their intestines in the bathroom...it was just like home. Well, minus the pizza boxes and ratty furniture. Scratch that, from the looks of things, or at least what Takeda could see, the old booths looked like they had been around since the Jurassic period. Keeping his ass firmly planted in the ripped up cushion of the booth, he looked across at Vice, before taking a swig from his glass, speaking once it had made it's way down to bomb the hell out of his stomach. "Amen to that." Truth be told though, Takeda had never been the type to sugarcoat things, more like...well, the opposite. Sarcasm and blunt snippets were usually his way of communicating with most people. With his hand still on his glass, he lifted it up once more, taking a swig of whatever off-brand shit he had bought. Booze was booze, though, it burned nice all the way down, and it could get him drunk, that's what mattered.

Almost the entire bar was packed just like the last time, some folks got away without having to show an ID, some were forming little groups to talk to one another, typical stuff really, it was a celebration after all, another behemoth down. With the brew slowly making it's way down to his gut, he spoke out. "Been busy with work, the usual shit. Haven't really had the time to go out hunting lately." His expression was sort of blank, his eyes looking down at the drink as he spoke  just as he would to anyone else, just holding a conversation. "Apparently for too long, hell, you managed to get one too. I gotta start using sick days." Of course he was referring to Vice's persona, because the last time he checked, they were busy just throwing lead at a demon printer. Before he could ask where Whitey happened to be at, coincidentally at the same time Vice was about to ask him about his brother, the girl showed up. 

Now that he had a better look at the girl that wasn't obstructed by giant meat cleavers hacking away at them, or wasn't precluded by the actions of a shadow suicide bomber...oh dear god, internally he had to keep from laughing just thinking back to the first time the Dark hour had set upon them. Having plopped herself into a chair just next to their booth, the chick was downing absinthe like a professional, though, for whatever reason, the kid was taking to it like it was just water. "Nah, it's free still, especially now that you kind of put all my organs back in." Bit of an exaggeration, but the kid had indeed patched him up to make this little night of drunken revelry possible, so, at the very least he could afford to sneak an extra game, some figurines...or...ugh...manga. Part of him hoped the kid was just after the games, but, well, she probably wasn't. "Wait, you know Vice, eh?" A bit of interest pierced through the usual tone of his voice...hadn't told the kid his name, and Vice didn't seem to know her either. Now that was a hell of a step forward. Looking down at his glass for a moment, then at the girl, he spoke out. "Actually, didn't manage to catch her name, myself. Last time we met I think we were too busy setting shit on fire to bother with the formalities. Not to say it wasn't fun." Being able to see the girl without having to worry about being savaged by some abomination, he kind of had to admit one thing. If she were a bit older, he would've definitely called her cute at the least.

"Eh...fuck it. I'm Takeda." That was his introduction, short, sweet, flavored with a bit of expletives with a sprinkling of a rasp after he downed the last third of his glass. While it was nowhere near as good as some of the stuff at Lian's, it did the trick, with the added side-benefit of not making him blind. "Just putting that out there. Also, offer's void during Sundays, and past four PM. If you see some douche with glasses sitting behind the counter, just turn around. Or make fun of that weird mole on the side of his face. Either or." With the introductions out of the way, he heard one thing that made it's way over all the noise of the bar..."If that guy starts playing the fucking guitar, I swear to god..." Takeda had enough of that shit in college, given the fact that his roommate was crushing hard on the girl next door...had to plug his ears with cotton for a week straight after she moved off campus. Turning his head to look back at the guy, he noticed that Alisa was yucking it up. The mood was good throughout the bar, so he just turned right back around, put his elbows on the table, before having the server get him another glass. Hell, almost record timing on that one, as she came back with another glass, with only one cube of ice in it.

"Always lively after one of these abominations goes down. It's only natural, I guess." Ah shit. Putting his right hand to the side of his face, he held the glass in the other, swirling the cube of ice by moving the glass in a circle. He forgot...couldn't get away with talking to himself in Japanese, not with the girl there.

[Akira Nakajima]

It had seemed that Amane was very worried about him. Ah, that was adorable. If he had had a second younger sister, he wouldn't have minded her being it. He wouldn't trade her for his blood sister, though. Akira leaned over towards the girl and just planted his hand on her head. Pat. Pat. Rub. Rub. It was obviously affectionate, but his expression was more along the lines of greatly amused. She kind of reminded him of Luka. A less socially-inept Luka. Without the mean-streak.

"I'll be careful." He told her before flashing a slight smile Alisa's way. "I'm hoping it's rough, though!" The crossdresser casually shot back towards the woman. The mute seemed to be annoyed- in a good way- at Alisa, but Akira didn't bother her. Instead, he noted the fact that his benefactor was going to play music. "So long as it doesn't turn into a drunk singing contest, that's fine. Drunkards can't sing." With a sage-like nod and a note of finality, he tried to down more of the absinthe. He was adapting to the shitty taste, but it was still bad. His lips curled in an unpleasant expression.

"Sure has been. Might have to fix that. Next battle, you should feed the thing some bullets, just for old time's sake." With an entirely pleasant smile, the crossdresser made that jab at the biker. "Awesome, then. Medical service with a smile." He laughed before nodding affirmatively question regarding Vice. Both the comments regarding a douche at the counter and the guitar made him let out a slight chuckle.

"Ah, right, right. Introductions. Amane, Vice. Vice, Amane. Despite his name, he's not evil. Despite her overprotective nature, she's exceedingly adorable." And that'd probably set her off. "And this'd be Takeda, apparently. While I did enjoy burning things, I guess it'd be in good taste to return the favor. Ran is the name, burning Shadows is the game." Takeda uttered some Japanese, as well. Well, it was nothing bad, but he did feel the urge to tease.

"Speaking of abominations." Uttering that in Japanese, he winked at Takeda before giving Vice, Amane, then the other groups a look over. "Twice in a row now is maybe a coincidence, but doubtful. Mark the full moons on your calendars and be ready for the worst." Though he raised his voice, it was still subdued enough that not everyone may have heard him. Even if the uninvolved parties around them heard, it could be assumed to be a game, or some other nonsense.

And, with that, Akira took another sip of the mess, directly from the bottle. Hell, his throat burned.

No buzz, yet, though. What the hell.

[Amane Mana]

"Yo, Ran," Amane turned over to the reason why she was trapped in that damned maid cafe for a few days. "You... you sure you going to be okay there? Absinthe's some rough shit." Don't talk about that when you're downing alcohol yourself you crazy-@#%!#$!! Amane then remembered she needed to give Alisa notes on her own investigation.

"I'll give you notes when I'm not baby sitting." Amane grunted, now seeing that Alisa is sitting down with them. She then felt something on her hand. She turned from Alisa over to Ran. Amane turned red both in frustration and out of embarrassment from the sudden head pat. She really needs to stop doing that.

"I'll be careful."

"You're not being careful!'

"I'm hoping it's rough, though!" Amane sipped her soda in a vain attempt to quell her agitation. It was then introductions with the other men at the table began...and her irritation began to rise. "Ah, right, right. Introductions. Amane, Vice. Vice, Amane. Despite his name, he's not evil. Despite her overprotective nature, she's exceedingly adorable." Amane only turned more red this time in anger. "And this'd be Takeda, apparently. While I did enjoy burning things, I guess it'd be in good taste to return the favor. Ran is the name, burning Shadows is the game." Amane glared over at Vice and Takeda.

"Nice to meet you." Amane was half tempted to knock out Ran and drag her out of this place.

"Speaking of abominations." Ran began. "Twice in a row now is maybe a coincidence, but doubtful. Mark the full moons on your calendars and be ready for the worst." Amane nodded.

"Now that I've seen them myself...its rather disturbing those can get into the city no problem." Amane started to finish off the rest of her soda. "How would you guys explain that phenomenon that happens when those types of shadows appear?" Amane took a look at the rest of the group. "Strange sky...the coffins. Outside of the powerful shadow that appears, what do you all make of that?"

[Pyxis]

For now, at least, they were still on serious discussion. Pyxis nodded to the woman who sat next to her, the only Persona-user present who hadn't been a part of the recent fight. She asked if she wasn't joining in on the drinks, a question that Pyxis suspected she would know the answer to if she had been present. Shaking her head, Pyxis answered "Call me Pyxis. And actually, I can't drink. I'm just here for the celebration. Thanks for the offer, though." Hopefully, Phoebe wouldn't ask too many questions. Her secret was already effectively out, but going against direct orders in a situation like this was much harder than it was in the shadow-infested zone or during an engagement.

Although, of course, if someone else ended up filling that detail in, she wouldn't be able to do anything about that.

Curiously, it was the crazy absinthe girl, Ran, who brought up the topic of the full moons. It seemed like more people were catching on to the trend. Her own guess had only been a theory, based on Alisa's information and video game logic, but when it was proven true there was enough merit to it that anyone could notice. "Maybe we should start preparing for them in advance," she said. Then, Amane brought up the strange phenomena that accompanied the shadow's appearance. She left out the part about time standing still and quite a few electronic devices not working, including her coworkers' phones (most likely related to time standing still), but Pyxis was sure everyone else was thinking it.

She could only take wild guesses as to how it happened. Why, however, she did have a theory for that seemed to be supported by the last battle. "As for how they do it, I couldn't say. It may just be an ability that all high-level shadows have, or there may be one specific one doing it, that hasn't shown itself yet. Why it happens is simple, though. They're trying to lure out and eliminate 'Users', like us. There doesn't seem to be any other reason for keeping civilians in suspended animation."

It was, more a less, a repeat of what she had said to Alisa before. But with more evidence supporting it, there was no reason to keep silent about it.

[Phoebe Minola]

Phoebe listened in to the girl called Pyxis' explanations and the young girl who had called herself Amane while sipping her drink and an idea occurred to her.

"But do we have evidence it's the Shadows who are putting people in the coffins and triggering the phenomena? I think the phenomena affect the entire city and it's a far too big area to be covered by one Shadow, no matter how powerful. It'd have to be huge. Supposing it's the other way around? Could it be the phenomena what attracts or allows Shadows to pop up in the city?"

She tilted her head. "I was here when it happened and it was a really weird sensation," she blurted. "It was like there was a moment of pitch-black darkness, and I felt kind of like my consciousness was detaching from my body... but then something snapped it back and when I snapped out of everyone here was a coffin. They're completely inanimate and totally immovable. I poked and prodded some around a little and there's absolutely no response or any vital signs I could discern. If they're suspended animation devices, they certainly don't look man-made or even... I don't know, they look alien."

She was putting it lightly. In fact, it had all been downright creepy, sitting around a bar full of coffins. But she did not like the idea of the Shadows trying to lure out Users and kill them. "If you're right and they're trying to flush us out, why wait for every full moon? That is, if we assume that the theory of this occurring every full moon is correct. We won't know that unless it happens again next month. After all, once is happenstance, twice is coincidence and three times is enemy action. I think we should expand on Alisa's idea and create a kind of surveillance network. We ought to create map or something that we can attach information to. That way we can review what we've got and add new information pertinent to the location. If enough time and space locations cross over we might work out a pattern of some kind."

[Ayakura Alisa]

I sat at the bar and surveyed the scene. A blue haired kid seemed to be more interested in merrymaking than everything else which was more pressing. Fine, that's nice and all, just don't distract the others. I noticed that Chidori seemed to take slight offense to my statement as well, mentioning that she was within that particular age group. I reassured her with a pat in the shoulder that she was easily more mature than almost everyone else in the entire establishment, and hoped that would fix things. 「魔物ですかもね、ランさん。通りだ、あの戦闘は二回目であったわ・・・次のフルムーンって・・・やり直す」 I restated the obvious in Japanese, That sure was a monster, Ran. I agree, that was the second battle, which indicates that... it'll probably happen again at the next Full Moon Soon, I was busy listening to everybody else say their piece.

Phoebe had dug straight into the nitty-gritty of it, wondering and questioning why such phenomena only took place in the Full Moon. I had an easy interjection to make there. "I have a theory as to why they can only do it during the full moon. Shadows seem to only be able to manifest and thrive under specific conditions. The outer circle, as we know, is blanketed by an illusory boundary that happens to be the purple, ominous clouds we saw back then," I stated. "Almost all of us know that. When the Full Moon arrives, notice that the purple sky also materializes similarly, almost like fog settling in. It's under these basic conditions that larger Shadows can appear and work their magic. Those of us who have already been exposed to the atmosphere provided by the boundary are most likely considered a threat to the livelihood of the Shadows because it means we've acknowledged their existence."

I took a sip of my now refilled whisky.

"I can state an isolated case where this theory does not hold true - in a job I picked up for someone, I found a Shadow manipulating some poltergeists that disrupted a business' operations. They lurked in near total darkness. It wasn't the purple sky, but it was some form of darkness. Naturally, being called Shadows, they should logically be more in their element in the dark, right?"

"It's just my two cents on the matter." I finished.