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

[autorejoin]

[ Katou just laughs at that, not at all offended. ]

See, when you put it that way— it sounds like a challenge.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

See, when you put it that way, it sounds like I might have to start pretending you're not even here at all.

[autorejoin]

[ Kira knows that Katou hates it when he pulls that shit. ]

Fine, we'll put a pin on that for now. Anyway, what are you doing out here?

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[Yes, yes he does.]

Just watching to see how many faces change. Although yours is the first tonight, aside from my own.

[autorejoin]

Yeah, and isn't that a trip?

[ He's barely noticed that he's walked right up to Kira by this point, but— of course he has. ]

I've seen a couple of people walking by, but no one I actually knew. 'Til you, that is.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[I'm sure that has nothing to do with repressed feelings]

I guess that answers my other question, then.

["Have you seen Setsuna?"]

I've seen a lot more people with double-faces at the school, personally. Out here, the normie ratio seems to be a lot higher.

[autorejoin]

[ Of course not, I have no idea what you're talking about. ]

[ He's pretty sure he can guess what that other question is, and it's only slightly irritating, really. If he didn't like Setsuna by this point, it'd be moreso.

He takes a drag of his cigarette. ]

You'd think they'd pay better attention to the curfew. Oh well, it's not like I did, either.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[He shrugs.]

Eh. Rules were made to be broken. And as for you... I don't think you ever paid attention to any rule in any life; I'd be more surprised if you started now than otherwise.

[autorejoin]

It's sure a good sign for spotting me. "Thinks rules are a suggestion, not a demand."

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[Kira makes a noise of agreement and then bites his thumb.]

I wonder what comes next.

[autorejoin]

I don't know. Did you run into some kind of.... slimy black thing with teeth when you remembered everything?

[ He feels stupid bringing it up, but... ]

[neverbeentogeorgia]

Yeah. I take it you did too?

[autorejoin]

Yeah.

[ He taps off the ash from his cigarette before taking another drag ]
.
That was especially freaky, considering I didn't remember any of the other shit that had happened until after....

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[I mean, Kira won't admit it either, but he was kind of scared too. That hyper overwhelming sense of foreboding like everything was going to end on top of a slime creature with teeth... for a normal human, of course that shit would be terrifying.

But like hell is the Lord of Hell going to own up to that.]

Funny how perspective changes things a little. That shit was the equivalent of some rpg's first-dungeon rat or slime or whatever.

[autorejoin]

No shit, but now I'm kinda interested what the final boss is like.

[ He grins at Kira. ]

[neverbeentogeorgia]

You seem to have forgotten the basic strategy of any dungeon crawler. We'll have to fight a million of those things and whole hordes of monsters in between now and finding the "final boss."

[In other words]

It's gonna be a lot of work.

[autorejoin]

Probably more than forty hours of hard gaming.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

We don't even have a full party. Odds are we're gonna die pretty quick.

[autorejoin]

I wouldn't be surprised. But on the other hand, it'd be one way of finding more people.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

Dying's not generally how you find more people, Katou. It's usually what you do to avoid dying.

[autorejoin]

So is your plan to just stand around here, then?

[ He fidgets at that, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. ]

[neverbeentogeorgia]

Of course not. But only fools rush off to die without properly preparing first--especially since we're not exactly the way we usually are.

[And by that he means he can't just terminator the shit out of everything endlessly the way he now remembers. There's also no Nanatusaya to call, whatsoever--which is a damn fucking shame. That sword would have made mince-meat of those fucking black blobs.

Kira fishes into the back pocket of his pants and pulls out his smart phone.]

Think about it. When the hell did all of this start happening in the firs place--the headaches, the ominous feeling, our real names coming back to us?

[autorejoin]

I have no idea. My plan was to beat shit up and leave someone else to do the thinking— probably you, now that I know you're here, too.

[ And who knows who else. But at least he can generally trust Kira. ]

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[Oh, L--

no wait we don't call on that dude anymore; he's a dick hole.]

I see that your critical thinking skills haven't at all been improved by a whole second life's worth of education. Please tell me, at least, that some of your life choices have.

[autorejoin]

Are you kidding? The only difference is I have more money to blow.