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

[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.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[Oh, wonderful. Just what you should give a drug addict: lots and lots of woney.]

Fucking unbelievable... You get a chance at a brand new life and you fall into that pit again. I can't believe you really learned nothing after all that.

[I guess if getting drug-murdered by Rosiel isn't enough to cure you of your addiction, though, then nothing is.]

[autorejoin]

[ To be fair, he only just recently remembered getting drug-murdered by Rosiel. ]

I haven't actually found any dealers yet. I'd pretty much just recently got into drinking in this life. Not that I wouldn't love a hit of something...

[ He shrugs. ]

Anyway, this life was just a different flavour of shitty.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[And you'd think remembering it now would make him not 'love a hit of something.' Fuck, Katou.]

If you touch that crap I'll punch you in the face.

[He's not bluffing, either.]

Whatever bullshit you're going through here, it's not worth escaping for it just to end up in the same mess as before. Leave off it.

[autorejoin]

[ Katou rubs the back of his neck. ]

Okay, okay! Sheesh. You've got it, I'm clean.

[ Note to self: Don't tell Kira if you find a dealer. ]

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[HAHA you know how other Kira actually believed your bullshit Katou? This Kira, well. Well.]

It'd better stay that way. If that changes, I'll make you cough your balls up.

[autorejoin]

[ WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?

Katou grimaces and nods. ]

Yeah, yeah. I've got the picture. In vivid-fucking-colour.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[idk, katou, maybe it has something to do with having been very up close and personal to your last murder, or an ancient history of having been obeyed and feared as the ruler of hell; take your pick,]

Good.

[But he'll be keeping an eye on you.]

Like I was trying to say before we got derailed by... your hobbies...

[annoyance pours through his voice, but he continued, whether or not Katou tries to interrupt him with some whining or yelling]

All of this started happening around the time this app showed up on our phones. And there's a lot of people experiencing similar symptoms. It stands to reason we can use this app to meet up with other people like us and start to figure out just what the hell's going on here.

[autorejoin]

[ He does make a yelping noise at "derailed by your hobbies"— you're the one who brought them up! is on the tip of his tongue— but he manages to stop himself when Kira continues. ]

And maybe one of them will know how the hell an app I didn't download got onto my phone in the first place.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

My bet was on a virus. Could still be someone's clever idea... but I'd bet more on a hack-job, at this rate.

[autorejoin]

Yeah, but who did it? And for what purpose?

[neverbeentogeorgia]

That's a little harder.

...

But you know what they say, about the devil being in the details.

[autorejoin]

[ YOU WOULD KNOW, WOULDN'T YOU. ]

I do. But I want to know.

[ ... ]

I'd just.... like to have some idea of what's going on. To form my own damned opinions instead of stumbling blindly in the dark.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

We'll get 'em, don't worry.

[He's not sure how yet, exactly, but he's sure that the app is the first step, and he has patience. He has to: after everything he's been through, he's not stopping until he can get back to where he belongs and ensure Setsuna's safety against all those fucking insane angels.]

But even Rome wasn't built in a day.

[autorejoin]

Yeah? Tell me, then— how many days was Rome built in?

[ At the best of times, Katou had very little patience. ]

[neverbeentogeorgia]

Well, that sort of depends on when you consider it have been "built." If you just mean the day it was founded--then yeah, that's just one day. But Rome's still technically being built on, so that's 3000. Or you could just take an arbitrary point, like the death of Augustus, and that would 767 years, but it was technically a metropolis after 500.

[do you regret asking yet?]

[autorejoin]

[ Katou grimaces. ]

Never mind, I regret asking.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[Kira laughs.]

It's good some things about you stayed the same.

[autorejoin]

Yeah, yeah.

[ Katou flips Kira off, but it's clear from his grin that he's not really all that upset. ]

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[I still can't do what I want when he flips kira off because this is a different game and a different kira GUAH YOU'RE KILLIN' ME]

[Kira unhooks his ankle from atop his opposite knee and stands up, popping his neck.]

Well, the night's still young. What do you say we go get shit faced? I doubt anything's happening tonight and this seems like cause for celebration.

[autorejoin]

Now you're talking my language. There's a bar about two blocks that way.

[ He jerks his thumb in the direction he'd originally been walking. ]

They do a really shitty job of checking IDs there, it's great.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

Checking IDs are pretty pointless when we're all breaking the law by being out past curfew and they're breaking the law by running a business during prohibited hours, anyway. So I'd really like to see them try something.

[autorejoin]

[ Katou laughs. ]

Me too, honestly. "Oh no, I'm underaged— and you're running a fucking bar after hours. We're all fucked, aren't we?"

[neverbeentogeorgia]

It's a real good way to make a first impression with your local policemen.