Round 1: Test Drive

[cordibus]

Welcome to the first test drive!

Please don't worry too much about using your Personas correctly or following the prompts exactly. They're meant to give you starting ideas, but by all means, go wild and add more options!

The objective here is to try out characters and see who you could have the most fun with in the game's setting. However, feel free to follow this link to request a Persona be generated for you as if you were part of the game. (Please try to limit this to only one of your test drive characters if you can as to not overwhelm us! Never mind generating Personas is a pretty fast process! Request for as many characters away as you like!)

If you have questions about the test drive itself, you can ask them here! If you want to play an AU don't forget this entire post can be used for you to get AU scenarios set up and see who your character might have been related too or know before Awakening.

Now then, let's begin...

Prompt 1 - From Dawn to Dusk

The city has been abuzz for the past few weeks. A new string of murders is making front page news and serving as a grim reminder why the nightly curfew is so important. As families, perhaps even someone close to you, mourn, pressure continues to rise at the many police stations and at city hall. The people are afraid and they’re demanding answers.

There's not much time for you to dwell on this.. Like everyone else in the city, you have a lot to do, and a tight schedule to do it in. You don't even notice the application that has appeared on your phone's screen. The headache that follows, however, is strange and disorienting, and it brings with it an odd sensation that something is wrong today. You’re just not sure why.

The day passes by and soon, it's close to midnight. Your body, if you're not in bed by now, is completely exhausted. Despite your best efforts, you'll find yourself closing your eyes. Too bad it's quickly interrupted by a strange noise, and movement like something pulsating softly.

It's your phone, or at least you think it's your phone, but it's never glowed this orange before. There’s mist rising above it almost like fire...something's definitely bizarre about this. Despite your fears, you forces yourself to open it, and click on that strange snake-like icon.


It opens revealing a single statement and blank box;

To begin, please write your name.

Your fingers move on their own. Before you have time to really think about it, and as the pain inside your head becomes so terrible you start breathing rapidly and sweating, you've entered a series of letters and pressed enter. Now you're in a large chatroom with many others...but your 'name' you've never even heard of it...have you? It almost feels like you have...

Prompt 2 - Awakening

The last rays of the sun disappeared over the horizon almost an hour ago, yet here you are, walking through the apple orchards located behind one of the campus wings. The strange app that's been sending you strange clues the past seven days now says you're ready to face the truth. It told you to come here tonight, but never to travel alone. Repeatedly, it warns you to make sure to have someone close by if you're to survive…but besides some friends, what else did you bring with you? Did you pack for this, or did you figure you'd make it up as you go? Are you in a position to be able to bring weapons with you that no one would suspect?

Something is out there, and it's getting closer.

Before you can think, you see it: a large, blackish mass, almost like slime, slithering along the ground resembling a vaguely humanoid shape with glowing yellow eyes. When it roars again, it reveals rows and rows of teeth. This was a mistake your brain warns. The strange name from the chatroom, the days leading up to this...you're fairly certain even if you are prepared that you're going to die.

And yet, something inside you stirs. Even as they move closer, you find yourself charging instead of running, as your heartbeat increases. A voice inside is guiding you, each movement bringing forth a surge of memories of a past that you had lost. You’re angry and confused, but your pain, your fears, your rage for all of this… all of that needs to be taken out on those creatures.

All you need to do now is to tear out your heart.

Prompt 3 - A new, old life

Now that you have your memories back, the strange veil of this world has been somewhat lifted. Things that seemed simple now seem strange. You have so many questions, but not enough answers. Then there's the new weapons you wield and the strange creature inside of you...your Heart Persona.

During the day, you are encouraged to continue to live as you did before, but with old and new memories together, sometimes it is difficult to keep acting like you did. Will it cause issues in your job or school life? Will it change your reactions to whatever life you had here? Do you notice others like you who have awakened?

Maybe it would be a good time to send a chatroom message, just to ask others what they are planning to do. Maybe you should set up a meeting to fight shadows at night. Maybe you’ll organize a plan of attack or set up a club to escape the strange looks others have been giving you. Maybe you just want someone's opinion on the best place to have pizza. Hey, no one said you had to use the AppleNET just for serious things, after all.

Comments

[catchthishand]

1

[ There's a lot of things Isamu isn't quite willing to think about, and weird, mysterious apps count right up there. He has school in the morning, practice after that, and a test coming up.

In History.

He doesn't need this headache, and there's no way he can risk getting sick. ]

this is spam, right? how do you delete?

2 - pre-ass-kicking

[ Peering around a particularly large tree, Isamu holds his phone up for more light, scowling in confusion. ]

Why'd they have us come here this late at night for nothing?

[ He's talking to himself, because this is stupid and he didn't bother bringing anyone with him. This is the campus, nothing happens on campus, dire warnings about needing weapons and allies and murders on the news aside. It's probably one of those video game things that got popular a while back.

He just wants to find whoever made his phone download this app, and get them to take it off.

Even if it means breaking curfew. ]

2 - After combat

That was- And then it- And you-

[ Isamu- Okuyasu- drops from his ready stance, and into a crouch, breathing heavily. After a second, he points towards where the thing had been, until it had vanished into smog when it'd been hit hard enough. ]

The hell kind of Stand was that?

[ And then, turning to look behind himself, first one way, and then the other; as if his previous summon would appear if he looked the right direction. Instead, the winged wolf just ignores him, staring off into the distance. ]

And what happened to The Hand?

[ Okuyasu looks like he took three rounds with a sledgehammer, but he's still ready to put up a fight, even from his spot low to the ground. There's a vibrant energy flowing through his body that he hadn't even noticed had been missing until it had returned. ]

D - Wildcard

[ If you've got ideas, hit me up! ]

2, pre-this being even more awkward

[failedhandjob]

[from the other side of the tree comes a startled rustling before Isamu finds a baseball bat shoved in his face as threateningly as one can when the object in question was borrowed from a kid you babysit for. short notice meant that improvising on self-defense items had pretty much been required.]

Oh!

[regardless of how terrifying her weapon actually was, the standoff ends almost as soon as it had begun. upon realizing that the source of the unexpected noise and light is not, in fact, some horrible boogieman here to punish her curiosity, Emily lowers the bat with a relieved laugh. truth be told, she was pretty glad to see anyone at this point. in the silence of the darkened school her imagination was starting to supply enough horror for an entire film series.]

I was starting to think that I really was the only one who actually showed up!

[it had surprised her a little, really; she'd shown up by herself with the understanding that surely someone else with this strange app would heed the same call. it was a strategy that avoided any teasing from her friends on getting so into this - and one that she'd begun to regret when it turned out that apparently the only person in the entire city stupid enough to go stomping around after dark was her.]

What, it's not like there's anything weird about her (yet)

[catchthishand]

[ Isamu jerks back, hands going up in surrender immediately, light shining up into the sky rather than anywhere helpful. He had been looking for people- he just wasn't expecting to be threatened immediately on finding them. ]

Oh, uh-

[ Once the baseball bat is removed from his personal space, Isamu slumps out of his defensive position, pointing his phone back to the ground and away from either of their faces. Shrugging, Isamu's free hand goes to rub the back of his neck. ]

Yeah, kinda figured there'd be a ton of people wanting to figure out what's going on with this app thing.

[ It's weird, he'd figured that he'd at least be able to follow people's lights. ]

no of course not, just your ordinary hs girl

[failedhandjob]

Maybe they got fed up with all those other clues from earlier.

[Emily's gaze drifts out briefly across the abandoned campus before she turns back to her new companion with a small but no less cheerful smile.]

Or maybe they all just got scared! It's pretty spooky out here even with nothing happening.

[she's a pretty deft hand with horror stories, having babysat more than a few kids at this point, but even she can't deny the unsettling atmosphere a lonely school has in person. if Isamu had told her that he'd seen half the other people who'd shown up here swallowed by a giant void, she might even believe him at this point. ...for a little while, at least.]

[catchthishand]

What, this place?

[ Glancing around, Isamu just sees what he's always seen- the campus orchard ]

It's just harder to see than anything else.

[ A shrug, clearly not spooked by the atmosphere. He's been in the orchard often enough that he's having trouble seeing it as anything other than familiar.

Still, they're out breaking curfew for a reason, after all. ]

You have any idea where we're supposed to find whatever it is we're here for?

[failedhandjob]

[clearly someone didn't keep up with the latest urban myths and scary stories circulating the internet. Emily makes a mental note to enlighten her new companion whenever they find...whatever's hidden in between all these moldy apples.]

Well, we're going to hit the building pretty soon if we keep walking. It can't be that much further ahead.

[she chews on the bottom of her lip, crossing her arms (and the bat) behind her.]

I've been checking at the bases of all the trees, but it's kind of a bust so far...

1

[kokuyoyo]

49: I've been trying to figure that out for the last hour but nothing.
49: I'm starting to think it's a virus of some sort, in which case, sorry but also it wasn't me.

[catchthishand]

great. did it have to download itself on a school night or was that the point

[ If they wanted to irritated him, the creators of the app were doing a great job! ]

[kokuyoyo]

49: If it makes you feel better
49: Since most nights are school nights anyway
49: It's probably coincidence
49: And not a personal vendetta against you personally
49: At least it's just a chat app far as I can tell
49: besides the ""clues""

[catchthishand]

theres tests coming up
and chat apps dont download themselves
can phones even get viruses?

[kokuyoyo]

49: Technically not viruses
49: But plenty of other malware
49: What tests?

1 yosh

[probablynoteren]

isn't spam supposed to come from robots, not people? this is bad timing.

[Why, why, why in the middle of test week? He doesn't usually stress too much about tests, but even low-key stress will become high-key stress if you start adding murders and strange occult phone happenings on top of it.]

[catchthishand]

who cares who did it, ive got a test coming up

[probablynoteren]

most of us do... midterms.

[So really, if everyone is in the same boat, maybe there's a case to be made for it being connected? Why would someone release a virus into the school's phones during test week...? There's really only a couple of answers.]

maybe that's why.

[catchthishand]

we aren't even graded on a curve!

[ This is horrible, and Isamu can feel himself getting sicker by the second, headache growing as he squints at the bright screen ]

if they wanted to screw up the tests, they could have sent this to the teachers

[ Instead of to him. ]

[probablynoteren]

maybe they were trying to lower grades across the board.

[Actually, he hasn't heard of a teacher with this particular problem, but it's not like he discusses phone health or strange electronic snafus with his teachers regularly. He'll quietly go to them for help with his studies, or if there's a real issue with a classmate, but he keeps to himself otherwise.]

if half the class turns in doctor's notes...

[Among the students, though, there's been quite a few issues. Hey, desperate times, desperate measures?]

2a

[lovelledup]

[Gladion has been walking around alone, himself, trying to figure out what exactly he's looking for. He doesn't doubt the message, really, but there wasn't anyone he wanted to ask to come with him, not when it was something that bizarre. It's just by chance that he happens to overhear that question posed to the air, and come to the conclusion that it might indicate someone in a similar boat.]

If you're so sure it's nothing, then why are you here?

[catchthishand]

[ A light swings to face him, as Isamu registers that he isn't alone ]

Because if someone is here, maybe I can get them to get this shit off my phone.

[ He has no idea what it is or could be doing to his phone, and he doesn't like how it won't stay deleted. ]

[lovelledup]

Heh. That's fair.

[He looks at the screen of his phone and the app that somehow convinced him to come out here. He might be just as happy having the thing removed and forgotten, too, but he can't help thinking it's not that simple.]

I guess all we can do is sit around a while and see if anyone actually shows up.

[catchthishand]

You'd think they'd have been here already, if they were going to show.

[ Isamu pans the light back towards the trees, trying to see if he can find any sign of someone else in the orchard.

If this was just some play to get people to break curfew, they'd done a damn good job at it. ]

[lovelledup]

[The guy's not wrong. He crosses his arms and makes a quiet "hmph" sound.]

Maybe it really is some kind of prank, after all.

[An elaborate one that's only that much more creepy if it actually doesn't mean anything. But just as he has that thought, there's a sound in the underbrush and he can see something moving out of the corner of his eye, lit up by the other guy's light. Startled, he quickly turns to face it--and immediately concludes that whatever that might be, it's not someone who just showed up to remove a weird app.]

2 - after combat

[repugnant]

You realize that you sound completely nuts right now?

[ dude, what's a stand.

either way. dio's mind is racing as he tries to process the nature of these events and the fact that he is .... slowly remembering things. there is the dire nature of the situation where he feels that he is in danger of completely losing his shit, because terrible things don't happen to dio brando, they happen to other people, and quite often it's because of him. he shouldn't be finding himself in a situation where the other guy is just liable to point out to him that he had been in an equally vulnerable position with someone whom he doesn't even give a shit about, and yet here they are. his mind is a coiled viper. predictably it is whispering that he'd better kill the guy; dio stays his hand. that would probably make for an awkward starter to this recent acquaintanceship.

he glances at him.

he does not look familiar. he breathes a little easier. he needs to control his temper, really - ]

Are you alright? [ a pause ] I feel the beginnings of a migraine but that can be ignored, for now.

I don't like standing here. What's your name? Let's get out of here.

[ 'amadeo' .... it is not his name, and it's certainly not something that he'd pick for himself, but there are uses for fake names and he would rather make sure things are safe for him to reveal himself before anything else. ]

[catchthishand]

[ That's a lot of questions for Okuyasu to parse while still trying to merge two lifetimes and get over the fact that his Stand has gone missing.

Still, he's pushing to his feet, his wolf companion merging back into his shadow after one last wave of healing energy flows over Okuyasu. Which is- something else he's not going to think about too hard. ]

Okuyasu. Or Isamu, I guess? You've got the two memory thing going on, right?

[ If he didn't sound nuts earlier, he does now, but if this is the attack of an enemy stand, then he'd sound nuts no matter what he does.

Besides, when you fight with invisible ghosts, you always look crazy, so he doesn't really care anymore. ]

[repugnant]

[ dammit okuyasu he hasn't even started monologuing, get used to it.

he does, but he doesn't have to know the extent of it; he just purses his lips in reply. ] Most of us do.

[ where okuyasu's takes a while to hide in the shadows, his is already gone; dio's self-preservation is too high to allow anyone to see it in the first place, anyway, whatever the hell it had been. if it's useful he'll take it for what it is and explore it in his own time. ]

Which name do you prefer? I'm guessing Okuyasu, but correct me if I'm wrong.

2

[saviorsoul]

[ Setsuna's also panting from exertion, still gripping his sword for all he's worth. When he holds it this tight, it almost feels like it's supposed to. Almost. He lifts his gaze to focus on the space Okuyasu's pointing at. ]

Stand? That thing looked like a monster. And what hand?

[ There might also be some remnants of a oddly bright aura around him. Something that feels almost ethereal. ]