skippedabeat | Round 1: Test Drive

Entry tags:

test drive

Round 1: Test Drive

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ though there was some innate expectation for someone to know who philemon was, just due to the nature of the situation itself, eikichi still didn't think it possible. he was setting himself up for disappointment like this, for certain; before, there were only a handful of them that knew of who philemon was, so what were the odds of anyone else knowing? nevermind that weird app; so far, most people either ignored his message or replied back with a dismissive "nope" or "who?" maybe they really weren't in the same boat, after all.

after standing around outside for about twenty minutes, eikichi had started back home. he probably looked like a dumbass, standing there for as long as he did. by the time he was upstairs in the sanctity of his bedroom, he heard the app go off again. eikichi wanted to roll his eyes; it was probably another person either trolling him or acting oblivious.

when he opened the page, eikichi could have sworn that his heart stopped beating. ]

What the... fuck...

[ was this real? eikichi's instinct was to bumrush the message with shouting and jubilation and relief, but then a part of his mind piped up with that familiar doubt. that other guy went by "joker" and claimed he wasn't jun... so could this just be a coincidence? could someone else just so happen to have tatsuya's name? eikichi's hands were shaking before he even realized it. slowly, he sat down on the edge of his bed and tried to formulate a response that wasn't... obnoxious. ]

Eikichi Mishina: you're not fuckin with me right now are you

[ he couldn't think of anything to say that wasn't a jumbled mess of emotions. eikichi bit down on his lip as he sent the message, anxiety crawling up his chest. that persona he'd gotten seemed to feed off of it, making his heart pound all the more erratically. ]

[Yeap, that message sure read like something Eikichi would write. It took a much shorter while for Tatsuya to get back at him, maybe at maximum ten minutes, but they probably felt like the longest ten minutes for the both of them.

Tatsuya wasn't exactly as free-flowing with his emotions than Eikichi was. He tried to embrace his manly image but only those close to him knew that facade could crumble under the right circumstances. Right now, part of him trembled at the idea this might just be another trap set up by Nyarlathotep - like those golden statues of his friends. Yet there was something...he couldn't explain how he knew, but it couldn't be that bastard. Still, he just had to make sure he wasn't being fooled either.]

Tatsuya Suou: I'm not

[A few seconds after that, another message pops up, that probably provides him with more proof that he at least knew who he was.]

Tatsuya Suou: joining your band

[It was as much of a 'joke' he could do that moment. Truth be told, if this was the Eikichi from his side, he'd join in a heartbeat.]

[ he couldn't think of a time in recent memory where he was so anxious to hear from a friend. the past had been a whirlwind of events that sort of swept him up, not giving him proper time to fully appreciate how stressful they had been. now that he had a moment of peace, comparatively, he couldn't draw from experience. it was all a mess. once he saw that initial response, his instinct was to take it at face value, to assume that it really was tatsuya. even if part of him was still on alert, still suspicious, he just wanted to believe that it was him so badly.

but by the time the follow-up had arrived, it was all over. ]

...Shit...

[ there was no way. there was no conceivable way that it wasn't tatsuya, after a response like that. eikichi could feel his eyes watering, but the sting of tears was barely an afterthought as he laughed to himself in his room. relief, sorrow, and overwhelming emotions he couldn't place all assaulted him at once. it had to be him. ]

Eikichi Mishina: you know you have no choice in the matter, right? i said i was gonna get you to join and i meant it!

[ after a pause: ]

Eikichi Mishina: shit, ta-chan, where the hell are you? what's going on?

[It hurts a lot more than he thought it would. He goes of to scream into one of his pillows to let off some of his emotions escape before coming back. By now, he's read other conversations, confusion of people from the same place but different times. Places he's never heard before either. While he might not be the smartest boy in class, Tatsuya was pretty sharp to figure a few things out. One;]

Tatsuya Suou: we arent in sumaru

[He so desperately wants to write more. Like 'Eikichi you guys did it! Maya is safe. I saw her with my own eyes.' But right now, he feels...ashamed of the choice he made. Even if he made peace with it the past few weeks, when he's faced with a knowing, breathing, Eikichi that has those memories, it's too much. But this does bring him to his second realization.]

Tatsuya Suou: dont think philemon is around either

[ while eikichi had no idea of the choices tatsuya had made, he's wracked with his own brand of guilt all the same. wanting to remember, wanting it for himself without second thought of the consequences, was a heavy burden to bear. at the time, it had made so much sense to him, to want to work toward remembering everything before it had been ripped from him. now that he had, he wasn't so sure if it was the right thing to do. of course, he had no idea if maya was alright, if any of the others were alright, so maybe it wasn't as bad as he was making it out to be in his head. on the other hand, being so selfish on its own was a significant blow to his self respect.

but did any of that matter right now? he was talking to tatsuya, albeit over this strange app on his phone. it had to be okay, right?

the tears hadn't stopped rolling down his cheeks and he was dimly thankful that he had yet to put makeup on. he would have been rocking some terrible racoon eyes by now if he had. sniffling softly, he read through the messages, his expression softening. so, it wasn't sumaru, that much he had gathered, but... ]

Eikichi Mishina: shit
if he's not around then...

[ eikichi trailed off. he didn't know what to say. he was completely clueless about everything; he felt no more aware of his surroundings than before. ]

Eikichi Mishina: what about ginko? or jun?

or maya-nee?

[Dammit. Of all the replies, he wasn't expecting that one. Eikichi he...just can't. He can't tell you what happened. He's just glad to be at home with no one else around him to see how much of a pathetic shell of a being he's right now.]

Tatsuya Suou: I

Tatsuya Suou: they're all fine. maybe they haven't awakened yet but im sure everyone is ok

[That's....good enough, right?]

[ he knew it was probably a lot to ask of tatsuya so soon, but he couldn't help himself. ever since awakening, he couldn't stop thinking about them, especially maya. the whole point was saving her, wasn't it? aside from the whole world, that is. ]

Eikichi Mishina: you think they're here, too? i haven't seen them, but...

[ with a frown, he reached up and rubbed at his eyes, renewed conviction pouring into his message. ]

Eikichi Mishina: if they aren't awakened, i gotta find them and protect them!!!

[His chat with Akira - the other Joker - earlier had prepared him to find Eikichi's name when he went through the various chatter on the app again. He'd been specifically looking for it, in fact.

But nothing in the world could have prepared him for the name he finds with it.

It's a good long while before he can even hold his phone steady again, much less type anything in response. They both remember. They need to know. He needs them.]

Jun Kurosu: I'm here.

[Oh.

...oh.

oh.

At this point, he wants to throw the phone to the wall. Is Lisa going to show up too? ...will Maya? He's not sure his heart can take much more of this. But they...his three friends, they deserve to see her alive so much more than anything else. Than anyone else.

It breaks him and he holds his phone with one hand while he finally sobs. It's gross and comes out in between gasps of air. Maybe Eikichi even managed to type something before him at this point, but he finally types a reply.]

Tatsuya Suou: hi

[Okay, that's just really pathetic.]

Eikichi Mishina: wh

[ well, if tatsuya was pathetic, eikichi was just an idiot. he couldn't stop his fingers before he sent out that fragment of a word, his eyes wide and full of shock as he stared at the screen. was this a joke? that guy was going around calling himself "joker," and now jun was actually there, too? and by the looks of it, he was awakened like the both of them.

well, this made things easier.

unlike tatsuya, eikichi's reaction was far more jubilant, a shuddering laugh leaving his lungs as he felt another wave of tears stream down his face. he couldn't help but keep laughing as he typed, both scared and relieved to see that name on the screen. ]

Eikichi Mishina: holy shit hoLY SHIT
jun is that really you??? shit
fuck
are you okay??? wait

[ okay, leave it to eikichi to ruin a moment, but: ]

Eikichi Mishina: you know there's some punkass out there callin himself joker, right??? i nearly shit when i saw that
but is it really you? are we really two for two here?

Jun Kurosu: Hi, Tatsuya.

[It's not enough. There's so much he wants to say but this isn't the right platform - if it were, he wouldn't need to say it. But it's a start.]

Jun Kurosu: Yes, it's me. I remember everything. I'm alright.

[And that's a lie; he hasn't been truly alright in a long time. But he's as alright as he ever is. A...little better, with Eikichi and Tatsuya here with him. He's thankful Pointe-a-Tarte doesn't have many people right now. No one needs to see him crying over his phone.]

Jun Kurosu: I know, I met him. He's too far removed to have known what that name means.

Edited 2017-05-03 03:36 (UTC)

[And just enough for Tatsuya to have a double-take at Eikichi's comment and look back at the previous public conversations. Shit. It's not...Sudou is it?]

Tatsuya Suou: WHAT PUNKASS

[It's a good thing that Jun spoke up before Tatsuya did, cause he probably would have gone off to casually threaten someone who might be a foe...but thankfully, it's not his worst paper-bag wearing shitty nightmare. Just a strange coincidence. This world is certainly something.]

Tatsuya Suou: Hi Jun

[Geeze he's really laying it on thick isn't he...look after that despair and bout of anger, he's not exactly in his right mind. He takes a small minute to look at his hand and just glad the mark isn't there...]

Tatsuya Suou: And this...Joker guy
he's not bad is he?

[ eikichi couldn't help but be thrown out of his torrential waterfall of emotions when tatsuya outburst in such a sudden manner. it took him entirely by surprise and even though it was only over text, it still made him jump. blinking back the remnants of tears, eikichi cautiously prodded: ]

Eikichi Mishina: uhhhh
are you okay ta-chan?

[ wait, no. ]

Eikichi Mishina: sorry that was stupid to ask
um but yeah, i have to say i'm with tatsuya on this, jun
you sure he's on the level?

[Something's wrong. Tatsuya's response was so quick, so...strong. It would've been stupid to think he wouldn't respond strongly to that name, but like that... Even through text, Jun can sense enough to guess there's something more here.]

Jun Kurosu: Tatsuya?

Jun Kurosu: I don't think so. I don't know for certain that he's good, either. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry about what you and your friends went through at the hands of... that Joker." That's what he said.
Jun Kurosu: And he's been to the Velvet Room. I couldn't enter, while I was...you know. He said it was 2016, while his group operated.

[Jun isn't stupid enough to think everything will be fine or naive enough to trust. He's not sure he'll ever fully trust anyone outside a select few again.]

Tatsuya Suou: I'm fine

[Okay, no he's not, and the other two know this. He needs to calm down and quell the bubbling rage that threatened to expose the entire thing. He was never good with that and even "he" at the time knew that and took advantage of it.]

Tatsuya Suou: 2016....that's 17 years in the future.

[That's right. Even if the Joker incident was so huge in the other side, it would get buried after that long. Enough for some punk-ass kid to take the name and parade it around.]

Tatsuya Suou: If he didn't look like anyone we know, let's keep an eye on him just the same.

Edited 2017-05-03 16:50 (UTC)

Eikichi Mishina: if you say so

[ he wasn't entirely convinced, but there was little point in badgering him about it now. there were more important things to consider, after all. ]

Eikichi Mishina: holy shit! that far ahead of us?! we'd be old as dirt by then!!

[ that's not very nice, eikichi... ]

Eikichi Mishina: i guess anything's possible, though... i mean, we're all here right now, yeah? we'll just put that guy on the backburner for now

[ now, onto something far more important... (as far as eikichi was concerned, anyway) ]

Eikichi Mishina: but uh... where... are you guys? can we meet up?

Jun Kurosu: We'd be about 34, give or take. He was about our age, so he may well have been born after everything, if things hadn't ended how they did.
Jun Kurosu: I'm in Pointe-a-Tarte for now. I....never went back to the house I was living in, after Awakening. I'd love to meet up.

[He had typed 'old enough to be parents' before thinking about it and backspacing. Better not to think about that.]

[He...really wants to go see them. But will it change something? Is this another trap or is he finally free of Nyarlathotep's shadow hanging over him? If this is just a plan for them to lose their memories so they can meet each other, it's a pretty damn impressive one. He has to think about everything - it's not just them this time, there's a lot more people with strange memories...

...maybe he can hope for the best.]

Tatsuya Suou: Maybe you'll be famous by then.

[Look Eikichi; Encouragement!]

Tatsuya Suou: I'm home. I could take the subway to tarte if we want to meet up there. there's still a few hours before sunset

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Round 1: Test Drive

YELLS don't apologize!

I am a bit rusty with him I will do my best

no worries, i'm pretty shaky with michele too OTL

we can drown in sadness instead, the p2 motto

the sadness will consume us...

rip my heartstrings also do you want a jun treadcrashing y/n

these children... and sure!

don't mind if i do, then~

I guess it's red, blue and green in that order lmao

sounds good to me!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject