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

[celebrity_commentator]

Oh, that's a good idea! It's nice to meet you, Miss Aqua!

...think that's enough for Commlink to work?

Anyway, I've got that ability too. If anyone wants to come talk to me so we can network, my name's Rise Kujikawa and my Persona is Kanzeon.

[destinedwaters]

[She nods faintly. At least, she hopes so.]

It's nice to meet you too, Kujikawa-san. [Nope. Not letting on that she's Older Than She Looks.]

[celebrity_commentator]

You seem really on top of things. Are you part of one of the other groups who had Personas before Hinoto-Ri?

[destinedwaters]

[Aqua shakes her head.] No, I'm not... but I know from before Hinoto-Ri that a lack of communication is what causes a lot of problems not just between friends, but those who we fight alongside and try to keep safe.

[A lot of experience. She just doesn't want a repeat of what happened in the past to take place.] I was a leader back home, and a teacher of sorts... so I guess it's just stuck with me.

[celebrity_commentator]

A leader and a kind of teacher, huh?

Have you met Yu Narukami in Hinoto-Ri? I think you two have a couple things in common.

[destinedwaters]

[Well. That name got her attention.]

Actually, we kind of...work together. [JUST DON'T ASK WHERE, PLEASE.]

[celebrity_commentator]

Oh, at the library or the store or...

[Squinting. Now that she mentioned it, she'd seen Aqua somewhere once, hadn't she?]

Hey, you don't work Saturdays with him, do you?

[destinedwaters]

[...Oh.

Crap.

asdfghjhdsfgdsjafgkjfshfsjsfjahlsjf--]

W-why do you ask-?

[YEP. It's the third option and asjdsldj NOT IN FRONT OF HER daughters APPRENTICES PLZ. D:]

[celebrity_commentator]

Heheh~. Don't worry. I work at the same place on Fridays. Just to keep in practice with my dancing, you know?

[destinedwaters]

...Then you probably remember me behind the scenes. I did get hired as a makeup artist.

[celebrity_commentator]

I knew I recognized you!

Well, when we get back, I'll make sure to stop and say hi. Until then, I'll keep quiet about it if you want me to.

[destinedwaters]

Or maybe I could help you out, too.. since I do come in on Fridays every now and then.

[she smiles a bit.] Thank you. I'd rather my girls not know.

[YEP. She's a pseudomom.]

[celebrity_commentator]

[Trust her, she understands pseudoparents. See: Yu and everyone else on her team except Yukiko. And her, naturally.]

I think I'd like that.

You do a really good job with Senpai's makeup, after all.

[destinedwaters]

[It's almost like you attract them, Rise. :P]

Heh, thanks. [Aw, she appreciates it.]

[bondsofsuffering]

Hey-- If you have that power too, mind if I stick with you? Neither of the Personas I've got are suited for that kind of thing.

[celebrity_commentator]

If you tell me your name, I should be able to reach you anywhere here.

...assuming here is the same size or smaller than the city, anyway.

[bondsofsuffering]

Hizumi Mizushiro! It's nice to meet you, Rise!

[He doesn't have a hat, but he does put one hand behind him and the other over his chest as he gives a small bow.]

...It might be tricky to figure out the size of this place, though. So far all we know is that it's "big". I wonder how many floors it is...?

[celebrity_commentator]

Hopefully, someone local can tell us...

[bondsofsuffering]

Have you tried talking to any of them yet?

[celebrity_commentator]

As soon as we get out of this "quarantine", I'm gonna go asking around.

[bondsofsuffering]

Well, I've only talked to one person so far, but...

It seems that they were brought here in a similar way to how we were dragged into Hinoto-Ri. So actually, I'm not sure if you can count them as "local", exactly.

[celebrity_commentator]

How many places like this can there be, anyway?

[bondsofsuffering]

Who knows? But it definitely looks like our situation isn't so unique anymore.