Ad Visitatores

[animusmods]

Characters: anyone participating in the event
Setting: floor 56 and eventually other areas of the Tower
Format: either
Summary: Welcome to the Tower.
Warnings: horror/creepiness/potential danger/generally unfortunate things all possible
Notes: PLEASE GO HERE TO MAKE NEW POSTS.

A few minutes before anything happens, Ruana's voice rings out over the Tower's intercom--it manages to be louder than anything the residents happen to be doing. "Hey, everyone, there's something exciting going on at floor fifty-six! Go make sure they don't get themselves killed!"


You arrive, stepping or tumbling, in a surgical suite. It looks abandoned, with dust collecting on the table and floors. The lights flicker, and for a moment blood dripping off the table, puddling on the floor--but no, the lights are back, and surely that was your imagination. It's quiet, eerily so, but nothing hinders you, and you're free to spread out and explore. There are multiple rooms here, like in any hospital, and it's all a bit confusing. Occasionally the lights flicker, and it's a bit frightening as Things appear that shouldn't exist. Shadowy creatures stitched together and reaching for you, doctors brandishing phantom surgical tools, blood splattering the walls or floor or ceiling, how did it get there--but none are real, and all of them vanish when the lights return. Eventually you find the staircase, spiraling up and down into darkness. Approach it, though, and the thing glitters with a barrier that will push back any attempts at climbing the thing.

A girl, a teenager dressed in red and black, appears. And she does simply appear, inserting herself into the space, nearly pushing it aside to make room in it for where she is now. Her face beams with unconcealed excitement, and her words tumble out on top of themselves. "You can't go there! Yet, I mean. You'd all die!"

The girl steps onto the staircase, passing through the barrier as if it weren't there, and sits on the steps to address everyone. "Hi! I'm Ruana. You didn't show up the normal way, so the Tower can't support you yet. We got this one floor ready when I saw you were coming but, well, the Tower's kind've big, so getting all of them set up is taking a little longer than I thought." She smiles, sheepishly apologetic in a carefree sort of way. "I've got everyone coming here to visit you--or at least they know they can visit you--and I'll have someone bring food up for you. It'll be oatmeal, and oatmeal is super boring, but you have to eat it, okay? Then you can have whatever you want! The cafeteria's down on the first floor if you get hungry. We should have everything ready in a few hours. I've gotta go help with that, so you guys wait here.

"Don't worry, the monsters can't get to this floor as long as that barrier is up."

And then she's gone, blinking out of existence. The barrier will remain for three hours.

Comments

[primordial]

THIS IS NOT WHAT I MEANT ABOUT SEEING OTHER WORLDS!

[He gives a little strangled scream when he sees the shadows move in the corner of his eye, shaking his head. Act the part, while gathering information and formulating a plan to get out. As easy as cake.]

Ugh, ugh, this is...why???

[bondsofsuffering]

Hey, calm down already! If you just keep freaking out, you're going to get the rest of us hurt, too!

[He puts up his hands in the universal gesture for "stop".]

It can't be that bad. You heard the girl; they're even giving us oatmeal for the stay. [OBVIOUSLY that means everything is going to be okay.]

[primordial]

[He lets out a very pathetic whimper, wringing his hair in his hands.]

Oatmeal?? Oh god, you don't understand! We're all going to die, we're all going to die, they're going to cut us up and sell our organs and...

[His speech devolves into wordless rambling.]

[bondsofsuffering]

...Now I think you're letting your imagination go crazy there. We can fight back, remember?

[In stark contrast to Sam's voice, Hizumi's keeping his own tone upbeat! Who even cares if they're in a creepy hospital man, no big deal.

Except for the part where it is, but y'know.]

[primordial]

Our Personas are still there...right?

[He hasn't checked, but...if it is, then yes, he can defend himself without having to resort to extreme means.]

I mean, I couldn't fight by myself to save my life.

[bondsofsuffering]

I still sense mine... Unless you somehow left yours behind in Hinoto-Ri? 'Cause thaaaat might cause some problems.

[primordial]

How in the world would I leave a part of my own mind back there? It's not like a pair of keys or a wallet or something!

[And he takes a few breaths and closes his eyes, allowing his mind to settle back and..ah, there. There it is. He lets out a relieved sigh.]

No, it's still there...thank god.

[bondsofsuffering]

See? There's no problem! So you can calm down.

[primordial]

...

We just got transported over time and space to a different place entirely, and yet you say "there's no problem".

[bondsofsuffering]

Well, there's no problem with your Persona, right? So if you can use that, you've already got a way to defend yourself.

That's a step up from nothing! [OPTIMISM.]

[primordial]

Yes, but, do you fail to realize...ugh, nevermind.

[A slight flippant wave of the hand as he realizes he is going to get nowhere with this kid.]

...Do you know where we are?

[bondsofsuffering]

Well, if I had to guess... I'd say it's a huge tower.

[Wow, really?]

I heard that eating oatmeal is important, though. If you don't eat it, you'll throw up whenever you try to eat something else! ...Or at least, that's what a girl from here told me.

[primordial]

You'll throw up without eating oatmeal?

[Ugh, he could barely stomach human food in the first place...where in the world was he going to find raw fish and other such sources of coldblooded creatures around here?]

That's odd...I wonder what's in it.

[bondsofsuffering]

It really makes you wonder, right? But who knows how long we'll be stuck here... I don't think we have much of a choice in the matter right now.

[primordial]

[A sad frown.]

Ugh, I hope not for long...I greatly prefer Hinoto-Ri with its demons and stuff to this place, and I haven't even spent much time here yet.

[bondsofsuffering]

Well, that probably depends on how quickly we can find that guy. At least, I hope they'll let us go back once we get him...

Ah, that reminds me though - how good are you at hide-and-seek?

[primordial]

What, the butterfly-masked man? Ha, an easy thing to say, considering he might not even be here at all...

[And he tilts his head, giving Hizumi a confused look.]

I'm alright, I guess...what does that have to do with anything?

[bondsofsuffering]

No, not him. [He waves his hand impatiently.] Him. The one Philemon - the butterfly-masked man was talking about in that dream.

He said we needed to chase Him where He was hiding or... something like that, right?

[primordial]

Oh. That guy.

[A pause.]

So, we're here on a big scavenger hunt for a missing person here, basically? Why can't he do it himself?

[bondsofsuffering]

The same reason he can't protect Hinoto-Ri himself? How should I know? [Sigh.]

[primordial]

Yeah, you're right about that.

[He pinches his nose, frowning.]

I didn't need this, I really didn't...what about me said I wanted to be transported over time and space to this creepy place?

[bondsofsuffering]

If it were up to me, I'd prefer to have stayed back too... Maybe our disinterest was what convinced the Trapezohedron we'd be perfect targets for sending on the job?

[primordial]

What? Our disinterest? Wouldn't that make us the worst people for the job, though?

[bondsofsuffering]

To kick us into doing some work for once? I mean, you don't exactly do much to help around at Hinoto-Ri either, right?

[Sam certainly doesn't strike him as the type, if his sniveling is anything to go by.]

[primordial]

Well! Um. [He rubs his forearm awkwardly as he stares down at the ground.] Yeah, I don't help out much...

So they basically just want us to stop being lazy, huh?