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]

Not a clue. I presume that'll show up in the credits, though.

[autorejoin]

Wait, do you actually read the credits?

[neverbeentogeorgia]

Sometimes. Those people worked hard at what they did; I think I can spare them five minutes of my time for a really good game.

[autorejoin]

I usually just run those in the background and don't pay much attention to 'em. It's a lot of names I'll never remember.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

Yeah, that does seem like you.

[He's not exactly sure why that's the case. He knows that Yusuke can put in plenty of effort with things that he cares about; according to his parents, his grades used to be perfect.

But...

Even barring what he knows about the other boy's careless attitude these days, that just seems right.

Because acquiring knowledge was never Katou's passion...]

[autorejoin]

It's the game itself I'm interested in. Fighting, questing, magic, swords! Adventure and excitement!

[neverbeentogeorgia]

Makes sense.

[His head... aches. Something fierce. About... about why it makes sense? But--it's just because it's an exciting story, right?]

It's a lot more exciting than just a regular boring life.

[Anyone would want more than this. Right?]

[autorejoin]

Exactly!

[ That, and it's an escape from his own life. ]

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[Yes, that's also occurred to Akira. He's just trying to have enough tact not to say it.]

You know, that's a much safer way to spice up your life than this. If a guy like you goes sticking his nose in places it doesn't belong, you never know what might happen.

[autorejoin]

[ Yusuke wrinkles his nose. ]

Yeah, but this is more exciting than a video game. I like 'em, but you always know they're not real, in the end.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

Even if it's a real escape you want, there's probably better ways than this.

[At least, safer ways. Within the shadows of one of the larger, nearby trees, something slithers and pulses, oozing down the backside of the trunk, still invisible... but does it matter if they can see it if they can both start to feel it?]

[autorejoin]

[ His eyes flicker towards that shadowy spot, but there's....


...nothing there? No, that's not right. It feels.... cold....?

His grip on his pipe tightens. ]

I had other plans originally, but curiousity won out.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[Kira's fingers itch to open up his bag behind him, but--no. He holds off.]

You ever hear about what curiosity does to cats?

[That feeling of coldness intensifies. There's a feeling in the back of Kira's throat like he might vomit. A feeling of wrongness. Like they shouldn't be there.

(Of course we should be here. If anyone should be here, it's us.)]

It's been ten minutes. We should go.

[The grass around the roots of the tree begins to rustle.]

[autorejoin]

[ A cold chill runs down his spine, and Yusuke— Katou?— shivers. He barely resists the urge to let go of his pipe long enough to swipe his hand over his mouth, a feeling of bile climbing up his throat. This is a mistake! a voice clamors in his head, loud and terrified beyond rational thought. Mistake! Mistake! Mistake!

(Let's do it!, proclaims another part of his mind. It's somehow unfamiliar and yet... nostalgic?) ]

Yeah, but doesn't satisfaction bring 'em back?

[ Still, he takes a step back. ]

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[Since when does Katou know the more obscure ending of that idiom? He's impressed--and confused. Who's Katou?

His head hurts--but that's the least of AKira's concerns as the shadows lurking within the grass bubble up like the ground's personal, vile black head and then opens up, revealing a mouth full of razor sharp teeth, as it advances on them.]

Holy fuck!

[Kira also takes a step back, holding out an arm in front of Katou.

It's fucking Yusuke. (Isn't it?) They need to fucking run and he's having some kind of fucking episode. An episode which includes suddenly being able to remember (imagine?) being eviscerated dozens of times and dying in pain. He doesn't want to die.

Not again!]

[autorejoin]

Alright, I can admit just this once that you were right.

[ The words pop carelessly out of Katou's mouth, his eyes wide and terrified. He'll be forgiven, he thinks, if the words came out with just a bit of a tremble. I should run I should run I should run I should run I should run I should run I should run I should run I should run—

But his feet aren't moving. It is coming nearer and nearer and he can't bring himself to run away like a sane person. ]

[neverbeentogeorgia]

It's a little fucking late for that!

[Shit. Shit. That thing's mouth is just going to shred them--and--Kira reaches over his shoulder, blindly grappling at the zipper tag. It slips through his fingers once, twice, and then finally the third time he gets a good hold on it. It screams open, and then he's hauling out his sword--]

Fuck!

[The prop sword, really!?]

[autorejoin]

[ That gives him room to pause, and he just stares. ]

Why are you carrying around a fake sword?!

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[Kira curses again, tosses the fake sword aside, and reaches again for the bambo shinai sword still in the bag.]

I had a D&D session earlier tonight, so sue me!

[He shifts into proper stance and readies himself for the blob to attack.

But it's going to eat right through the wood, a voice seems to whisper. His heart pounds and he feels... cold. You'll never win. You're going to die.... Unless you rip out your heart.]

[autorejoin]

Why are you such a nerd?!

[ He takes a swing in the direction of the blob, but even then, he knows it won't work. There's a voice in his head, firm and insistent, telling him that the only solution is to tear out his own heart. Just tear it out. It's the only way.

He adjusts his grip so only one hand is holding his pipe. The other.... is reaching towards his own chest. ]

[neverbeentogeorgia]

Well, we couldn't all be fucking stoners getting high or wasted to run away from things.

[His tone is much sharper than he means it to be, but his fingers are digging into his clothing. No, he must not run away. He has to run forward. He has to see the truth--the ugly truth--

Katou being torn apart. Feeling it. Tokyo exploding, shielding himself in his jail cell. The face of a boy with brown eyes the pulls at his heart--a woman with the same face, dark chocolate curls

Setsuna. Alexiel.

What's Been Missing.

How? How can these be his memories? Whose memories are these? But he knows already, doesn't he? Sakuya Kira. That name in the chat room.

Tear. Tear. Tear!

His fingers dig in and he pulls, pulls!]

[autorejoin]

I'm n—

[ Not a stoner? But he is, isn't he? He fell into a pit of despair after he found out the truth about why his father hates him—

But that wasn't—

No. Don't turn away from the truth. It's ugly and it's painful, but he's not going to run anymore. He isn't going to run.

Katou Yue.

These are my memories!

He doesn't even notice that he's screaming— in fear, in rage, in frustration, in determination as he's reborn, as he's tearing at his heart. ]

cw: gore/body horror

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[It feels like he's squeezing his still-beating heart with his own fingers. Like he's tearing out between the bones of his ribcage, digging into the warm, wet cavity of muscle. It's slimy, disgusting--his stomach lurches.

And, oh, it hurts. But of course it hurts. He's died so many times, at the hands of so many different people.

Rosiel. Arachne. A knife fight in a back alley. The car crash with his mother. Time and again, dozens, hundreds even, as Kira Sakuya. And before that, as Nanatsusaya. Over, and over, and over...

But what's a little pain? Existence is agony, isn't it?

It's the first time he's had to rip his own heart out, but in spite of the horror, in spite of Akira's voice within himself begging him not to do it, he finds that he can, and he does.

And then all of his existence is still as his heart stops.

Death. Again.]

[autorejoin]

[ Digging into your chest is more painful when your doing it with your bare hands, especially when you're a (mostly) normal human. It's beyond any pain that he's ever felt, beyond—

A sword cutting through him. A cross-shaped rob stabbing through his chest. An explosion of energy, expelled all at once, wiping him out as his soul fades.

—any death he's ever experienced. Digging through muscle, past bone, brushing against lungs as he grips his own heart. And as he rips it out, he swears he hears the sound of a heart monitor flatlining. But that's ridiculous, isn't it? He's never heard one before. Not any other time he's died. ]

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[Kira's only ever heard flatlines on TV before himself: his mother died before the ambulances could arrive, and of course his own heart monitor never stopped. Even for Akira--he wasn't present at the time; neither he nor his father got the news until long after.

It ends quickly enough, though, apparently trading duration for severity; Kira barely notices that his clothing changes; he's too distracted by the formation of a real sword in his hand. He tosses the shinai aside, getting a two handed grip on the Japanese blade.

Gone is his fear: they can more than handle this.]