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 Ayakura Alisa on Feb 22, 2014 20:44:54 GMT -5
That night against the crazed schoolgirl shadow was definitely something. This time, I wanted to make an effort to get to know the others who were there, perhaps so I could gather support to have someone organize a formal group of shadowbusting, or something. And yet, I hadn't lost sight of my original goal - to find out what happened to my parents. It just so happened that while doing this perhaps I could find the answers I sought so badly. I had always referred to that one girl as "the Indian girl," but I had requested to meet her here in this cafe just to have a formal meeting, I suppose. She seemed to have a clear head on her shoulders, and she was much too tired after the fight to stay around, she probably just went home straight away.
I sat by a table on the outdoors section of this cafe, in fact, so it would be easier for the young woman to find me. I hoped that I could increase my list of contacts while also be able to be of some use to her in the long run. I think that the best way to get through this and find all the answers we seek was to cooperate with each other. Yes, I sure do hope this becomes productive. Try your best.
Post by Layla Amare on Feb 22, 2014 21:06:32 GMT -5
It wasn't difficult to find the meeting place. In fact, the woman Layla was supposed to be meeting had chosen a spot in the outdoor area of the cafe in question, making it a simple matter of seeing her once she was in the right area. She couldn't quite remember why the woman had wanted to meet her, only having written down a time and a place before going to pass out, but it was easy to guess. Two major battles on nights on the full moon now, both of which had left very noticeable damage to the city in their wake. Layla and this woman had been present for both of them, although last time Layla suspected that the other woman had been too drunk afterward to have any kind of coherent discussion.
After ordering a chai tea, Layla sat down at the outdoor table, across from the woman who had called her out here. "Hello," she said cheerfully. "Nice to see you again when we're not all beat up."
Post by Ayakura Alisa on Feb 22, 2014 21:15:47 GMT -5
The young lady I was meeting had in fact arrived, ordering her drink and then sitting across me at the table. Okay, this was going fine so far. I was able to get a closer look at her now. Yep. Quite alright. In a cheerful voice, she began the conversation immediately opening with the fact we were able to meet under more... pleasant circumstances. Instead of A.) me being very drunk, or B.) me being very tired. Well, point B also could apply to her, and indeed it did. "Nice to meet you too, under more favourable conditions, so to speak. My name's Alisa Ayakura and I'm an investigator... Sorry if this all seems under short notice," I said. Heh, short notice is RIGHT. Shush. "I figured I'd like to get to know everyone who was at the 'event' a little better. I think it would be to our advantage if we were able to contact each other easily for help and for the sharing of information." I nodded.
I think I should be straightforward about it. Sugarcoating what I really wanted to say wouldn't be a good idea here, as I was the one who made her come and thus it should be my part to try and make her time worth it. "On my part, I could offer you my assistance for anything that might come up as well. It's better to cooperate than to go at it alone."
Post by Layla Amare on Feb 22, 2014 21:47:57 GMT -5
Ooh, an investigator. This Alisa didn't look to be police of any kind, so unless she was plainclothes she had to be of the private sort. Layla rarely saw anything like that outside of books and TV. And she wanted to be able to contact everyone else involved in this whole shadow incident and be able to share information. Perfectly sensible. In fact, with how battling shadows on the night of a full moon seemed like it was going to be a recurring trend, being able to mobilize easily and hopefully minimize damage sounded like a great idea. And potentially necessary, considering how much damage the school had suffered during the last battle.
"Sure, that sounds great," Layla said. "For my part, my name is Layla Amare. I'm just a student, so I don't have much to offer other than language skills and a miraculous ability to not die, but if there's anything I can help with I'd be happy to."
Post by Ayakura Alisa on Feb 22, 2014 22:01:26 GMT -5
So, her name was Layla. And, she was a student. Yeah, that seems fair. A lot of the Persona users happened to be students. Only a couple of them were around my age. Even that robot maid was of a student's age. This really seemed like a silly video game, huh... Anyway, yes, she seemed to express agreement with my idea, which was good. This was going to get somewhere, I feel. Also she mentioned she had language skills and 'a miraculous ability to not die', which I found funny. "Sometimes, miss Layla, not dying is quite possibly the best asset to have right now. Especially with how dangerous everything is recently. And... That night was pretty dangerous. Considering how much was done in property damage. I wonder how that school's going to handle it... You study there, don't you?"
Post by Layla Amare on Feb 22, 2014 22:19:07 GMT -5
"That is true," Layla said. Mind, it wasn't her own ability that kept her from dying that night, but the combined efforts of everyone. But she was right. Having survived everything that had been thrown her way to that point was not something to laugh at. Should-have-been-fatal illness, shadows in general, giant time-manipulating shadow, giant tank, and the two monstrosities that had appeared on nights of the full moon...indeed, no ordinary person would have lived through all of that without quite a few more repercussions than Layla had.
Then, Alisa brought up the school and the resulting property damage from the fight. Layla shook her head. "No. I'm in college, actually. That was actually the first time I'd been to that school." And, after how much damage it had suffered, quite possibly the last. She wouldn't have been surprised if they ended up closing it and finding another, temporary location for elementary and secondary classes.
Post by Ayakura Alisa on Feb 22, 2014 22:35:28 GMT -5
"Ah, I see. Sorry for being mistaken," I nodded. Right, silly me. Anyway, it appeared that it would be easy to get into negotiations regarding what I needed and if she needed anything, what she wanted as well. "You and I probably both know that what happens on a full moon is probably going to become a regular occurrence, so, I'm glad that we can probably come to an agreement regarding cooperation." I had a soft smile on my face. "I do want to make your time to come here and meet me worth it though, so if you have any questions or anything pressing you need to know I could see if I have an answer for you. I mean, it is part of my job after all."
Post by Layla Amare on Feb 23, 2014 17:22:40 GMT -5
And clearly, Layla wasn't the only one who suspected that the trend of shadows appearing inside the lockdown on the night of the full moon would continue. That was one thing she wouldn't have to explain her suspicions on, then. But as for anything else...she had no idea. Why were they here? What are they planning? Did they even have minds to plan at all? Did anyone know the answers to any of those?
"Nothing pressing," Layla said, shaking her head. "I would like to know why there are shadows here, and what they're planning, but I doubt anyone could answer that just yet. And, well...it seems like too much of a coincidence that they showed up so soon after I moved here to start school."
Post by Ayakura Alisa on Feb 23, 2014 17:34:29 GMT -5
Layla had some inquiries... Mostly the 'why,' which I was still investigating. Harkening back to the conversation I had with Pyxis when I first met her, the best I could provide the Indian with were theories and speculations. Indeed; it seemed almost coincidental that they showed up in such short notice. It was hard to say. "I've been talking to people," I started. "The best I could offer you right now on that front are just interjections on the situation. I agreed with a peer of mine, she came up with a theory, that perhaps the Shadows are here to perform a takeover. They aren't hurting the regular civilians, those who aren't doing anything about the situation, because they don't need to right now. Right now, Shadows are trying to eliminate us, the Users, so they can perform the takeover unhindered. I believe it wouldn't be unreasonable of me to say that we all obtained our powers after the lockdown, when the Shadows first arrived, simply because we dared to do what others did not," I continued, pausing to catch my breath.
"Simply put, what I'm trying to say is, the full moon battles occur because they want to bait us out. Of course, they haven't been able to account for our sheer numbers yet, anyway. That might change, so we must always be on guard and continue to get stronger."
Post by Layla Amare on Feb 23, 2014 19:26:09 GMT -5
"I see..." It made sense. Layla recalled the last fight where, the moment the shadow started to realize it was at a severe disadvantage, it started just trying to bring down the building on everyone. Rather than settling for taking out a few persona-users and focusing on them, it continued, to the very end, to try and take out all of them at once. It had failed, in the end, but that was clearly a deliberate behavior. IF the shadows' goal was to eliminate all the persona-users who had emerged, then such behavior would make sense. Layla sipped her tea while trying to piece together the implications of such an idea. Most of the shadows Layla had fought in the outer circle were instinctual, but the ones that appeared on the inside were far more intelligent. In that case...were they the ones behind the lockdown in the first place? And would it disappear if they managed to defeat all of them?
There was another, more immediate issue, though. Alisa had continued on to say that those shadows were trying to bait people out, and would keep getting stronger as the persona users who showed up also grew in numbers and strength. "If that's the case, what happens if we just...don't show up?" Thinking back to the damage to the school, Layla had a sneaking suspicion what the answer would be, but she figured she should voice it anyway.
Post by Ayakura Alisa on Feb 23, 2014 20:44:01 GMT -5
I had been idly sipping my drink at the time (I think it was some variety of peppermint coffee. Loved the stuff) and musing over the things I had just said. Layla seemed to get my point too, and was similarly thinking and mulling over the possible implications of the theory that had been proposed. Interestingly, the Shadows that appeared inside seemed to be more aware of themselves as time went on, while those outside seemed to attack just for the sake of attacking or in self-defense. Yes, as the schoolgirl shadow panicked at the brink of death, it tried hard to take everyone down with it. Good thing it failed, though. Soon, Layla seemed to come up with a strange idea - what if nobody showed up? I'm pretty sure Layla knew the answer as much as I did.
"Pretty sure you know just what'll happen as much as I do. They'll just continue to wreak havoc around the area, leaving the common folk in suspension, until people - read, us - come in to stop it. Damn good bait, if you ask me."
Post by Layla Amare on Feb 24, 2014 20:53:38 GMT -5
Yep. Exactly as she thought. The shadows would just keep rampaging, like they had at the school, until persona users gathered to take it out anyway. A bait that couldn't be avoided. "If only there was a way to undo that suspension..." Layla thought out loud. "I've never heard of shadows getting inside the lockdown except in that weird shadow time, so if we could stop it, maybe they'd get banished. Or trapped." 'Shadow time' was a pretty lame name for the phenomenon though. Her creativity wasn't faring so well at the moment. "That's probably a stretch though. I guess the best we can do is organize, like you said, and try to take as much initiative as we can. If this trend of shadows appearing inside the lockdown during the full moon holds true, then we can at least plan for them."
That, and if any future shadows shared similar behavior patterns, they could be used against it. After all, if they were trying to take out all of them, then it would be easier to predict what they could do. Layla voiced that as well, saying "Maybe we can try to predict their behavior in the future, too. If we know they'll keep trying to take out all of us instead of settling for a few, then maybe we can figure out what they'll do when driven into a corner."
Post by Ayakura Alisa on Feb 24, 2014 21:16:34 GMT -5
"I think the main problem is," I started speaking, but paused for a moment. "is figuring out where they're going to be. Perhaps they may be targeting high-profile locations. Shadows coming from the outside are less likely to come into the inner circle due to their... animalistic nature. However, I do recall conducting an investigation for a client regarding paranormal activity, and I did indeed discover a Shadow had been the sole cause of disruption..." It was hard to say, exactly, what needed to be done. "I also recall that there originally was a way to get inside the boundary itself, from... you know, the 'outside world,' but apparently that method had been blocked off. As for how I know, well, insider sources. I wouldn't hold my breath on finding holes in that case..."
I sighed. This wasn't going anywhere.
"Ah well... This requires a bit more investigation. I think I might need to go to more unfamiliar territory. There might be answers there."
Post by Layla Amare on Feb 24, 2014 22:39:44 GMT -5
Where they would be. That would be troublesome. As far as Layla knew, there hadn't been and sign of unusual happenings in the graveyard or the school before the respective shadow attacks there. But then, she hadn't actually had any reason to pay attention to either before this point. Alisa mentioned paranormal activity, and a shadow being behind it, which ruled out the idea of forcing shadows to retreat by ending the time freeze. But that had been an isolated incident, from the sounds of it, and not related to the large problem. "What about the graveyard and the school?" Layla asked. "Were there ever any reports of strange activity there before shadows appeared there?"
Alisa also mentioned someone finding a way to get inside...so others had managed to get in since the lockdown happened, then? If they could get out, then someone could leave and call for backup of some sort, but if Alisa knew about that then backup had probably already come. That wouldn't go anywhere then, and Alisa seemed to think so as well. Finally, she mentioned needing to investigate more. "Like where?" Layla asked. "Maybe I can help."
Post by Ayakura Alisa on Feb 24, 2014 23:22:34 GMT -5
I sighed. "I don't think I was able to find reports of the same sort of activity at the graveyard nor the school," I admitted, sipping my drink some more. Soon, Layla said she might be able to help. I was thinking about it. I didn't want to seem like I would be using Layla at all. "On that note, I've been trying to gain access to the more esoteric parts outside of the city... But I don't think I'm strong enough to manage those places. So I've been sticking to the areas I'm familiar with. I tried scouring places like the executive building and the hospital to perhaps find clues on a larger hideout, but I haven't found much." I rapped my fingers on the table.
"If you find anything unusual or something, like a Shadow hideout, God forbid if such things even existed, then it would be great if you could share."