2025-08-09: Fly Close to the Sun
- Log: Flying Close to the Sun
- Cast: Myunghon Yeo, So-young Park, Shinjiro Aragaki, Mio Kazama, Julian Marlowe
- Where: Kaneshiro's Palace
- OOC Date: August 09, 2025
- IC Date: June 23, 2012
- Summary: The Cardboard Dragon party enters Kaneshiro's palace, but find themselves separated from each other. In the meantime, a snooping someone experiences her first taste of the Metaverse!!
MONAD: A party led by Myunghon Yeo has begun the event Kaneshiro's Palace.
(|======================== Monad - Kaneshiro's Palace ========================|)
-==== Round 1: Bank Entrance - Taking the Scenic Path - Challenge Level 1 =====-
| Approach Options: Proficiency or Charm |
| Conditions: Clumsy - Proficiency Down L1 and Smooth - Charm Up L1 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
Getting to Kaneshiro's Palace is difficult, given that it is a flying bank.
However, all it takes to enter it is find someone who is indebted to Kaneshiro
or possesses something that he wants -- whether a person traveling with you, or
one of the cognitively-created ATM machines with arms and legs wandering the
darkened streets of a cognitive version of Shibuya.
Now, though, you need to enter. The front door is risky, as there are a large
number of those cognitive people -- all ATM's -- standing in line to enter.
Fortunately, you see a few ways in along the side of the building. There is a
set of large, golden statues of pigs -- almost a statue garden -- along the side
of the building. There are also ledges and windows, along the side, which lead
inside.
There is a security guard here -- a masked Shadow, walking to and fro, that
looks quite serious. You dont want to alert it... though you might be able to
talk it into leaving.
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
The team had a meal at Benny's, and took the time to collaborate and figure out what it is the Palace is actually *shaped* like. But thanks to mastermind Junpei and the magic of Cartoon Ducks, they eventually figured out that it was a Bank of Gold that you can swim in, and off they go, through the Meta-Nav, into the Palace proper...
And what a sight it is.
The bank isn't just a bank -- they've come onto the lonely, darkened streets of a Cognitive Shibuya where--
"Haa--" Myunghon for once finds themself startled as they basically nearly run into one of the Cognitively-created ATM... people. It's a little disorienting to stare at first, but once their brain catches up to them, it clicks what the metaphor is. Especially because the UFO above where the bank is is just sucking up the cash from some of these ATM-people. This is the metaphor Serizawa gets mad at when Baofu uses it on her...
"Is everyone here? Sound off," Myunghon calls. "It looks like we might have been split up... tch, not unlike Tartarus. I can't sense Shinobu-ssi or the others nearby..."
Fortunately, Myunghon *is* one of the people who possesses something he wants, and thus the ramp to the bank opens up for them. ... hmm. That was easier than they thought, or did they already qualify for something without knowing it? "Let's not stick around too long -- we never know when Shadows are going to ambush us."
Unfortunately, it isn't long before they get to the front door -- and there's a masked Shadow, enormous in size, acting as the security guard. Hiding behind one of the pillars, Myunghon frowns. "Hmm... we could take it in a straight-up fight, but we'd need to pace ourselves. But-- hmm?!"
Then the security Shadow turns -- seemingly not to the group of Persona-Users, but to...?!
"wHO's THeRE...!!"
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young's mind is whirling enough that spooling back over the last few hours is easy, the steps that lead her here constantly replaying in the back of her mind:
Her apartment isn't far. She'd never exactly meant to step both feet first into Myunghon's business in so direct a manner, but she's accustomed to keeping her ears open for interesting news in the district, and even a walk to the convenience store had offered several schoolgirls whispering about the strange collection of people in the Benny's, and the kind-of sort-of maybe-cool person leading them. How was a self-respecting busybody not meant to take a look?
And, alright, once she'd recognized several faces around the crowded table, she probably should have walked up to say hello rather than eavesdrop. That's on her, but it was a spur of the moment decision. Something deep down told her that this was an opportunity to learn more about the weirder side of Sumaru, of why a mafia boss was so interested in antagonizing her new sibling, why it hardly seemed to phase them, why she could feel the odd tension in the air whenever she was there.
If she'd let that go, she would have never stopped kicking herself.
That's where things start to get hazy. Somewhere between then and now the world seemed to shift sideways in a way she couldn't understand. Two sidestreets later was when she first realized that the normal background noise of Shibuya simply wasn't there anymore. It wasn't the ebb and flow of city noise, the sound of a blaring lorry advert rising then fading away to leave silence in its wake. It was just gone, replaced with something new. And the sky--
--that thought is forcibly cut off to be dealt with later. Eyes forward, So-young. Don't think about the yawning drop you nearly stumbled straight over. Don't think about the line of ATMs you're attempting to sidestep. Don't think about what exactly you are talking to. Don't think about anything except getting some goddamn answers, and if those answers are anywhere they have to be inside this-- this-- bank?
She's folded her arms, doing her best to push through the reeling confusion and panic and relying on old acting neurons to stand as tall as she can. The masked shadow still towers above her, but she fixes it with a fierce glare that she learned from her mother. It would make lesser mortals quiver, but 'lesser' and 'mortal' aren't great descriptors in this place. "I am telling you, I want to see your manager!" she flicks out her long white hair, and then tries the winning smile of an actress instead. "I have important business to conduct with Kaneshiro, and he won't be pleased if it's delayed. Surely you can understand why I am not going to wait in a common _line_?"
this always works in the movies why isn't it working where is everyone aaa
Approach Options: aaa
Conditions: oh god why is she here
MONAD: So-young Park has acted with Vivace toward Bank Entrance - Taking the Scenic Path! Focus and Patra!
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
As the group arrives in the Palace, this is Shinjiro's first time entering one of these. He grabbed his large murder-sign before they left, making sure he was armed. As he reveals the new world, seeing the ATM people and the FLYING BANK, he sighs. Myunghon calls for a sound off...
"Here," he says, grouping up. When the ramp opens, he'll follow, but the front door is full of ATM people and there's a SECURITY GUARD. He goes behind a pillar... "I can distract it, catch up-" Shinjiro, no.
But he's interrupted by So-young showing up. His eyes widen, glancing over to Myunghon. He doesn't sense Resonance... Myunghon didn't *invite her*... don't tell him she's a mundane?!
Shinjiro swoops forward, and is about to attack when So-young speaks to the Shadow. Don't get her hurt...
"Hey, you need to let us through. We're replacing signs." He lifts his stop sign up. "See? We need to tell people to stop trying to take money. You only give money." Shinjiro says as he slowly walks forward, stepping next to So-young. He's guessing, based off the fact they're all ATM-heads.
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has acted with Proficiency toward Bank Entrance - Taking the Scenic Path! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
At Myunghon's call for a head count, a ray of sunshine burbles (buble) from behind her. "Osu~"
The Mio Kazama who appears in the cognitive world is similar enough to the one in the material realm, except her nun's habit is fantastic in the strictest sense of the word. Thin silver plate weaves between layers of fabric, creating something of a dreamlike cross between an armoured tunic and a flowing robe, and the scapular somehow bleeds and twists into a billowing coat in the same breath. Most vitally, the outfit's veil also features a studded iron domino mask of pure white that covers much of her upper face.
Despite the ostentatious warrior-monk thing she has going on, she's also dancing lightly on the spot with hands balled near her head, feet twist/scooting on the ground. I'm pretty sure you can imagine what would suit if you imagine the Palace music. "Wow, this place is tacky! I'm into it!"
With bubblegum-blowing, carefully-curated carelessness, Mio sweeps up the stairs and joins in with So-young trying to barge inside, and Shinjiro trying to tradesperson their way inside.
"Yaho~, are you gonna keep us waiting out for here long? Mou~, it's so freakin' cold out here!!" a cartoony, round-edged yellow star pings out of her eye as she winks and sticks her tongue out. Bleh!
MONAD: Mio Kazama has acted with Moe Moe Kyun~! toward Bank Entrance - Taking the Scenic Path! Focus and Efficient! MONAD: Myunghon Yeo has acted with No Longer Human toward Bank Entrance - Taking the Scenic Path! Focus and Escape!
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
Julian Marlowe wasn't at Benny's. Not his kind of place to begin with, and besides which, he's just an ordinary person. Though he's shown interest in it, he wouldn't be on anybody's list to directly involve in all this supernatural business.
There is someone else here, however... coming from inside the bank, heralded by the sound of leather shoes clacking against the polished floors.
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sklEuJkA_M
Calmly approaching from behind the Shadow is another masked individual... though this gentleman in the exceptionally fancy suit clearly isn't a Shadow. Moreover, this is no stranger to Myunghon and Shinjiro, having seen him before in Tartarus. It's Vesper, 'Supernatural Investigator Extraordinaire', as he introduced himself that time. Back then, too, he just kind of showed up out of nowhere.
"Good day," he greets simply, lifting his bowler hat and taking a bow at the waist in greeting. "You are a bit early, but no matter, I'm all in favor of moving the schedule ahead a little bit."
He looks towards the Shadow-guard, explaining, "This is the rest of my team that I informed you would be coming. I admit, they do not much look the part, but I assure you, they are the best of the best where it comes to safety inspection. Kaneshiro-san will have nothing to worry about by the time we're through."
Yes, he went with the classic Safety Inspector ruse. It's a classic for a reason, evidently it worked for him!
MONAD: Julian Marlowe has acted with Inspire toward Bank Entrance - Taking the Scenic Path! Focus and Patra!
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|) -==== Bank Entrance - Taking the Scenic Path - Round 1 ========================- Shinjiro Aragaki Proficiency Success Proficiency Base Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Julian Marlowe Charm Success Inspire Focus and Patra Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myunghon Yeo Charm Success No Longer Human Focus and Escape Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mio Kazama Charm Success Moe Moe Kyun~! Focus and Efficient Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So-young Park Charm Success Vivace Focus and Patra Fatigue: 0 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Clumsy-2 and Smooth-2 Final Conditions: Smooth-1 -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 1/6 |= | =====================================================- (|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon's eye shoots out wide as the Security Shadow turns towards -- So-young?! Why is she here?! How did that happen?! Did she somehow-- fall in? They're off to a mad sprint, but Shinjiro's more on the ball as So-young uses the Karen approach on the Security Shadow. The Shadow grunts for a moment, confused, which is just enough time for Shinjiro to step in and--
Hey, you need to let us through. We're replacing signs.
The Security Shadow pauses further and crouches, as if squinting at the sign for a moment. "bAnKs NEEd SiGNs...?? bAnKS haVE... nOTES!"
Did it just try to complete the logic circuit on its own?
Mio swans in next with cool-casual bubblegum swagger, complaining about how COLD it is out here! The Security Shadow looks between the door and the nun in the iron domino mask, and then starts grunting and getting more confused. The sheer power of Moe seems to be working quite well!
Before Myunghon can move, another masked individual appears -- Vesper! He was in Tartarus... and against the Full Moon Shadows, at that. Who is this mysterious man? He greets himself with grace and aplomb, explaining without any hesitation that this is the rest of the team that he definitely informed is coming for safety inspections.
"ohhHH... ohHH, i sEE!!" the Security Shadow nods, and then walks off to go patrol the rest of the perimeter.
Myunghon sprints further closer, frowning. "So-young, *how* did you get here-- no, that's not important right now. We have to turn back and take her back out of this space to safety." The collectedness is clearly fraying at the seams at this unexpected situation, but just as they say that--
The front door opens... and the *ramp* rolls up behind them, preventing them from going back to ground level to the Cognitive Shibuya. They're trapped for now... and the only way is forward. Myunghon's blood freezes at that, as if paranoidly wondering if the supernatural space they're in can sense their thoughts not unlike Tartarus.
"... just stay close to me for now, okay? Don't try anything sudden," they try to keep their voice level.
MONAD: So-young Park has drawn a new Challenge!
(|======================== Monad - Kaneshiro's Palace ========================|)
-==== Round 2: Laundering Office - Finding Key Cards - Challenge Level 2 ======-
| Approach Options: Charm or Academics |
| Conditions: Bothersome - Charm Down L1, Educational - Academics Up L1, and |
| Smooth - Charm Up L1 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
Once you've gotten inside, your infiltration of the bank's frontmost area is
fairly straightforward, if lengthy. You need to skirt along the entrance proper
-- fortunately, while Shadows guard the area, there are numerous furniture
pieces (tables, benches, and chairs for a waiting area) and columns to hide
behind.
Then, you find a set of stairs leading upward. There is an elevator there... but
it requires a keycard.
The other path forward is a door in the back of the bank's entrance. This is
marked, in large capital letters, "LAUNDERING OFFICE." It seems that Junya
Kaneshiro's subconsciousness is quite shameless.
The laundering room proves to be a large, white set of offices. The hallways can
be twisting and turning, more than an ordinary office would be. The offices need
to be searched -- to find a keycard that opens the way to the elevator. Desks
are scattered about the offices and may need to be overturned... and it may be
necessary to think like a banker about where such a keycard might be stored.
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young pulls back with a startled gasp as various faces walk up alongside her. It's not even clear if she recognizes anyone at first glance, because her primary consideration here is that they are at least actual _humans_ rather than ambulatory ATMs or formless masked shapes. There's a flash of something across her face, a rare and uncharacteristic look that screams 'oh thank christ' as one of the many slivers of panic she's feeling right now resolves itself with a full-body shiver.
And a human figure even comes from _within_ the bank, and mentions Kaneshiro to the guard. That's another deep sliver of panic resolved, because honestly So-young had no idea if this place had anything to do with Kaneshiro whatsoever. She'd made the assumption mostly by running on pure hope and some vague sense of intuition that he had to be the focal point of whatever was going on here. He seems calm and in control, and So-young happily piggybacks onto that approach as she makes a show of re-folding her arms.
She definitely doesn't notice Myunghon's cognitive coat, because at the first mention of her own name she's turned to reach straight through it for her sibling, gripping their forearm tightly without looking at Myunghon's face. Only now does she let herself shake with fear, but being able to feel someone's physical presence does a lot, and you can just see the way her jaw sets with a tiny little breath. "Like hell we're turning back," she shoots out like a gunshot, looking over sharply. "This is what you wanted to find, right? I bet this is the sort of thing you only get one chance at."
So-young swallows as she finally looks over with those words and holds Myunghon's gaze. Something to fight _against_ seems to energize her in a way nothing else does, because the musician doesn't even look back at the sound of the ramp comically rolling itself up behind them as she pulls herself together, plastering determination on her face like a mask. "Right, then. Thank you, and please lead on," she bows to Vesper with another flick of he hair, and sweeps forwards and into the bank as the Shadow lets them pass.
--
"I really don't know what I was expecting," So-young says sourly as she folds her arms again, a piece of paper dangling from her fingers. Now that she can't see the sky, now that she's in a building with a roof over her head, it's obviously easier for her to disassociate and pretend she's just out and about town. Just moving through the back corridors of a labyrinthine bank and checking out its LAUNDERING OFFICE, because of course a bank's going to have a LAUNDERING OFFICE.
She could maybe think better if the office itself wasn't lined on one side by gigantic washing machines, endless stacks of coins rolling back and forth around their drums and pipes and causing a constant clatter that is eerily similar to that of a pachinko parlour. Squinting through it, she looks again at the sheet of paper she's snatched up. She'd been hoping for something they could use as evidence, because that would have made sense, and instead has only found endless photocopies of Kaneshiro's face in different poses.
The noise does not abate at the office's desks, many of which have note sorters clacking away merrily. On an experimental whim - because she hasn't heeded Myunghon's warning in any way - she snatches for one of the ten thousand yen bills going through the sorter, and holds it up to the light. Once again, in place of Yukichi, it's Kaneshiro's face, his chin raised high in self-importance. The watermark does not read 'HELL YEAH I LOVE LAUNDERING', but So-young gets the feeling it really ought to.
Pinching at her nose, she has to take another moment to herself as all of this sinks in. "... so this is his brain," she concludes slowly, like every word is a readjustment. "Can't we just cave in a wall or something?"
MONAD: So-young Park has acted with Academics toward Laundering Office - Finding Key Cards! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro sighs in relief (and exasperation, respectively) as Vesper and Mio show up. Murder nun... and a cool customer he can trust. "Let's go."
Once they're inside, he stops to take a breath, checking on the worried So-Young. He doesn't know her well, but... "This is real, but you'll be safe as long as you stick with us. Don't wander off." Just. Get the 'am I dreaming out of the way'.
Vesper gets a nod, though. "It's good you showed up. You knew we were coming?"
Inside the LAUDERING OFFICE, though, Shinjiro is sorting through the desks. "It's not his brain. It's more like... a distortion in the cognitive of our world, I guess." He doesn't really understand it, but... she'll forget once they're out, so. "This is Kaneshiro's Palace."
A pause. "If we cave in a wall, those Shadows will hear it, find us, and kill us."
Shinjiro moves to another desk, flipping through the cubbies. "If I was a banker..." What would he do, besides hate himself? He'll try to figure it out and find the keycard, though.
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has acted with Academics toward Laundering Office - Finding Key Cards! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon's stress and panic escalates as So-young decides to deal with the terror of the situation by shooting head-first into it. If they were calmer themselves, they'd be able to pick out the signs on her face, but it's a little over their head right now. "It isn't. We can come back. Palaces are exhausting ordeals, we need to approach it with a measure of caution unless we tip him off."
But even the Palace itself seems to welcome this outcome, and So-young gestures for Vesper to lead them on. There's further distress as Myunghon ends up having to run pace with So-young, any semblance of caution thrown to the wind at this point by the time they arrive to ... the laundering office.
There is a moment where they look at the ten thousand yen bills with Kaneshiro's face on them, and pauses for a moment as they think of their own tsumei -- Myorei Yukichi, and how that was also a reference to the very same figure on the bill. ... they're a far cry from Fukuzawa Yukichi, though. They likely never would be as influential as him. Neither they nor their father were the sort that were going to be on any yen bills.
"We aren't here to cause some kind of Mental Shutdown," Myunghon is severe for a moment. Shinjiro is thankfully there to explain things while they're not really in the best of minds, and there is a sigh as they take the coated man's leading query and starts to look.
"Banks have security procedures with multiple failsafes, requiring multiple employees to access sensitive data. There typically will be some kind of white room in order to process requests for confidential information." A pause. "Vesper, is it? You've been Cognitively recognised as a guest for inspections here. Perhaps we can further corroborate on that story..."
MONAD: Myunghon Yeo has acted with A Fool's Life toward Laundering Office - Finding Key Cards! Focus and Find!
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
It's unclear whether the gravity of the situation hasn't reached Mio, or if she's simply inoculated against such worries by something. She's stroking her chin with fingers in an L-frame shape while taking the stairs two at a time. "Humu humu~" she muses as the gang's charade works well enough to get them inside. That there are unfamiliar faces here is no worry to her!
She turns around briefly, mace slung over one shoulder. Gloved fingers grip the handle like a baseball player waiting for a good pitch. "Oho. You know, I don't mind pulling a little guard duty while we're here." she offers, free hand now forming a victorious point. "And as much as I wanna put this f--" one of the money-changers clacks noisily for exactly as long as it takes to say a bad word. "--r into a coma, Muscles here is right, and we wouldn't stand a chance." Shinjiro, you are now apparently Muscles. Even if only for today.
Without missing a beat, Mio picks up a clipboard from a desk and empties the contents on the floor, before drawing a safety checklist on it in red pen, with bubble letters. "Nope," sketch "we've gotta" squiggle "use a little" skoodle "subtlety!"
She tugs on the edge of her mask and stands up straight, proudly displaying her newly-crafted site safety procedure to the cognitive world, as well as her paper name badge that reads 'INTERN??'. "Okay, let's kick danger's ass. I got this, Merry! Ei, ei, o~!"
MONAD: Mio Kazama has acted with Charm toward Laundering Office - Finding Key Cards! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
Vesper's calm demeanor holds even as the Shadow leaves. You'd think he does this sort of thing every day. Nothing could be further from the truth - he came in with much in the way of theory, little in the way of experience. Being aware that these types of Shadows can be reasoned with within the context of the space they exist in, and going by the assumption that with them, too, a healthy dose of confidence helps to be convincing... that got him this far. And only this far. He doesn't break his stride, or his silence, until they're out of plain sight. Only then does he answer Shinjiro's question.
"Not as such. I had to bide my time a little, but I'd reasoned that others would arrive sooner or later. This man has been throwing his considerable weight around more than usual as of late. It was inevitable that when the option exists, and the means are known..."
He trails off there, instead concluding, "Well, let's just say I was more than expecting someone to show up. You might say... I was banking on it."
Oh god it's Ikutsuki II, the sequel nobody wanted.
Naturally, Julian has seen So-young before, but Vesper isn't supposed to know who that is. Either way, his reaction to that matter wouldn't be very different. "Oh dear, are you saying this person doesn't possess a... you-know-what? That's no good, that's no good at all. But, not to worry! No gentleman worth his salt would allow a defenseless bystander to come to harm. I aim to ensure that no harm will befall you, young lady."
To Myunghon, he nods his head to acknowledge his name, noting, "I do hope there would be a better way to resolve this matter than doing some sort of irreparable damage. It's what I'm here to investigate. I apologize for the... impromptu recruitment back there, but I rather think we stand a better chance putting our respective talents together."
Vesper has NOT joined the party, you have actually joined his!
He... has no idea how to handle Mio's brand of antics, so he tries very hard not to draw her attention to himself. Instead, he suggests, "I will see if I can convince the guards on this floor to share intel on how to access the elevator." Thereby momentarily taking his leave from the others, following up on Myunghon's suggestion to see how far he can push this... cognitive disguise. Though he doesn't plan to push his luck on this, backing off should he arouse suspicions.
MONAD: Julian Marlowe has acted with Charm toward Laundering Office - Finding Key Cards! Base!
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|) -==== Laundering Office - Finding Key Cards - Round 2 =========================- Shinjiro Aragaki Academics Success Academics Base Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Julian Marlowe Charm Failure Charm Base Fatigue: 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myunghon Yeo Academics Success A Fool's Life Focus and Find Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mio Kazama Charm Success Charm Base Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So-young Park Academics Success Academics Base Fatigue: 0 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Bothersome-2, Educational-2, and Smooth-1 Final Conditions: Bothersome-1 and Educational-1 -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 2/6 |== | =====================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ============================================================- Items: 1, Money: 1, Gear: 0 (|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
"I can look after myself," So-young bites reflexively and instantly towards Vesper's well-meant offer - and then she immediately catches herself. She doesn't take the time to look chagrined, but she can at least bow her head slightly in what is maybe meant to be an apology. "No, sorry. Thank you." If she were in a calmer frame of mind she might gloss right over that 'you-know-what', but she's tense enough that it positively screams for her attention, some feeling inside of her jolting for reasons she can't pick out.
Shinjiro's well-meaning attempts to explain the situation kind of run straight into the fact that So-young is operating on pure adrenaline and a fight-or-flight response that has never really experienced anything dangerous enough to do anything but the former. Plus, she has never been scientifically minded and isn't much for psychoanalysis either, so it's not just because of her current temper that the words 'a distortion in the cognitive understanding of our world' kind of slide off her brain like water off a goose's back.
Which is to say, she's all for biting and honking right now.
Myunghon and Mio each provide a rather less subtle warning as to what will happen if they truly damage this place, and the thought of that does pull her up short, swallowing shakily as she takes that in. Still, her brow flickers as a furrow crosses it, and the question clear in her eyes is 'why not'. She's evidently not quite reached the 'moral implications' part of the thought process just yet, let alone the self-preservation aspect.
Her eyes narrow as Myunghon uses the term 'Cognitively recognized'. She's trained enough in how to act that she can feel the capital letter slot neatly into place, and its presence makes her suspicious. Is everything in here going to be Cognitive? Are they going to Cognitively Gather around the Cognitive Cooler to have a Cognitive Chat?
She joins Shinjiro in turning over the desks with a little more aggressiveness than is strictly needed, while Myunghon and Vesper handle the more subtle task of talking to the staff and trying to cognitively construct an identity for themselves. That second part goes much more smoothly once they all have paper badges proclaiming their new job titles - and while the Shadows don't offer much in the way of help for finding the keycard, it does seem to at least divert suspicion away from the group.
Success comes only when they start to test the limits of this plan - and when So-young, with a new block-capital HEAD OF SECURITY badge slapped on her chest, tries the drawer of the biggest desk in the room for a second time. Last time, it had been empty. Now, a shiny gold-plated keycard sparkles at its base, next to a large bottle of whisky she would swear had not been there before.
She squints, and wisely decides not to get drunk in someone else's head. It's bad enough when it's just hers.
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has drawn a new Challenge!
(|======================== Monad - Kaneshiro's Palace ========================|)
-==== Round 3: Underground Vault - Outer Ring - Which Golden Piggy to Break? - Challenge Level 2 -
| Approach Options: Understanding or Academics |
| Conditions: Bothersome - Charm Down L1, Box - Add 1 Item/Money/Gear., |
| Educational - Academics Up L1, and Stupor - Academics Down L1 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
After retrieving the keycard, you start to make your way back to the elevator.
On the way, you notice something shown on a small digital readout by the door
leading out into the front of the bank: "R=C=0, I=1, H=2"
The elevator leads down into the Palace. It goes far, far down -- long enough
that it might make your stomach drop and give you some concern. When it opens,
you find yourself inside of an enormous circular room. Ahead of you, there are
circular walls.
You realize, then, that you are /inside/ a massive lock, and the curving walls
ahead of you must be manipulated. To do that, there is a panel with a 10-key
numeral pad (like a touchtone phone) and the word "RICH" over it. Entering it
makes the wall slide along, until an opening is revealed...
...and a new keypad, with the word "REAP" over it. Fortunately, there is a
stairwell here.
The stairway leads down into a dimly lit set of hallways. You manage to duck and
dive behind some corners from a couple of guard Shadows approaching. Then, you
find a large room, that glitters despite the dim lighting. There are nearly
twenty golden pig statues here -- which need to be destroyed, to find something.
But spend too much time here, and the guards will notice. How do you find the
correct one?
The lucky pig statue has a tablet inside of it. The following note is engraved
on it: "P=1, E=9, A=3."
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"Muscles?" Shinjiro responds to Mio. He's not... very muscular, just tall. It doesn't help that he's kinda unhealthy looking, and also looks like a homeless person if you squint (because he is).
Shinjiro stops talking nonsense as soon as he notices So-young isn't listening, instead going to... "My first time was hard, too." He will not mention the blood and the monsters and the green and the giant goddamn tower and the fact he probably got injured.
Then, though, they're in the den of golden pigs, after unlocking a circular room's keypad, getting another one to appear, going down a stairwell, and avoiding some scary guard shadows...
"Fuck you, Kaneshiro."
Shinjiro approaches one of the many pig statues, trying to figure out which one to smash. He's just going to start hitting them. When they find the tablet, though...
He looks to Myunghon first, frowning with ??? over his head. Shinjiro's not stupid. But this is *bullshit*.
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has acted with Understanding toward Underground Vault - Outer Ring - Which Golden Piggy to Break?! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
The stress is definitely not subsiding, and Myunghon wonders if they're the ones going insane compared to how jovial and effortless Mio is taking this -- perhaps they shouldn't worry. Nothing bad ever seems to happen around So-young, why should they care? If she dies, this is on mother, not them--
That's the kind of self-preserving thinking that leads one to kill a hundred people with a swipe of their keyboard!!
"Y-yeah. I'm counting on you, Kazama-kun," Myunghon isn't really displaying leadership qualities now, pupil dilated as they turn towards Vesper. There is a deeper frown as Vesper explains exactly *why* he is here, and that he was expecting others to show up. Put two and two together, and they're enticed down the path of--
Wait, this could be a trap. There are others that know about Palaces, that much is certain, but we cannot be sure of their allegiances. Even amongst our group, Tsurugi is out there -- what's to say the NWO doesn't have more plants amongst us? They fought with us against the Emperor and Empress, but so did Tsurugi there as well, the NWO is that flexible. The way he says he was banking on someone to turn up meant that it didn't really *matter* who turned up -- perhaps they were onto the trail of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts? Or is he a Phantom Thief? Were *they* the one who set So-young on our path? I--
So-young found the keycard. There's a haggard little sigh as they try to reel themselves back in from spiderwebbing out in paranoia. "Good work," they acknowledge, swallowing their pride.
The fact that they're going *into* the bowels of the Palace isn't making them any calmer given that they still have someone unpowered by their side, however. There's a glance at a readout, and there's an instant cognition that this is a cipher. Is it... actually that easy?
What awaits them down the bottom is more impressive, resembling the innards of a massive lock. It doesn't take long for Myunghon to manipulate the dial... 0102? Was it really that easy? This is a massive breach of operational security. This could be a trap. But it does open, and--
The next one isn't quite as easy. The clues aren't in plain sight -- and there are guards. "Over here," Myunghon draws So-young with them and effortlessly crouches behind a wall.
"It looks like there is a simple letter to number cipher substitution, but they're guarded behind those..." Myunghon gestures. "Piggy banks. As to which one..."
Myunghon focuses further, and when the guards are out of sight--
"Kudlak."
A massive column of Blue rises from out of her, and an inky-black Shadow humanoid unmelds out of their Cognitive Coat, with white hair, red eyes and the hint of aristocracy upon their necktie. Kudlak hovers forward at the piggy banks and starts sniffing through them... and...
LICKS IT.
...
...
...
It's pointing at that one! It tastes delicious! It tastes like the correct one!!
MONAD: Myunghon Yeo has acted with A Fool's Life toward Underground Vault - Outer Ring - Which Golden Piggy to Break?! Focus and Find!
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
Another day in the life of Kijin Mio, fearless deliverer and getaway-driver for undesirables. Proof that sometimes the best way to retain your sanity is to keep it at arm's length in certain respects. Of course, maybe she has more experience in these strange, belief-powered worlds than she's otherwise letting on?
Also, that Shinjiro is unsuitable for the nickname 'Muscles' just makes it stick even better, clearly. That's how such things work. Mio pays such things no further mind, marching victoriously on as if they own the joint. Perhaps to Vesper's beleaguered delight, he'll find that the rambunctious girl makes it easier for him to ply his own trade because she's absorbing all the attention in the room like a magnet. In the meantime, though... the girl in the iron mask peers at one of those statues and then jerks a thumb at it, facing Shinjiro again.
"I think that one's got a gleam in its eye. It's hiding somethin'." permission to smash: granted.
And for all that inhuman swagger, Mio is keeping a closer eye on the situation than her sunshine and performance aesthetic might suggest. She's the first to glimpse around a corner, keeping at an angle to protect the more vulnerable member of the group, and is pausing to eye up Myunghon from beneath that stylish mask. "Ah, boss, I think this is a simple..."
She trails off as Myunghon's Persona flares to life.
"... nevermind."
Mio tiptoes to one side and gently inclines her head at what, according to HER calculations, the right statue is. Is it the licked one!?
MONAD: Mio Kazama has acted with Understanding toward Underground Vault - Outer Ring - Which Golden Piggy to Break?! Base!
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
Searching an office is not the most thrilling job in the world. Maybe that's why So-young can feel the adrenaline starting to bleed out of her, leaving her feeling like she's badly crashing. Maybe that's why she feels so exhausted - whenever she pauses her limbs feel leaden, as if she needs to keep busy, keep moving, in order to keep her head in this place. Myunghon's compliment is met with a lopsided, quieter-than normal smile as she hands the keycard over.
She's just about to propose taking a break, when a sudden hysterical thought leaves her with the mental image of waking up with her head and torso replaced by an ATM just like the endless line outside. That's enough to jolt her to her feet, enough to last her through the elevator ride and the ensuing puzzle, tapping her foot incessantly and folding and refolding her arms as she gets more distracted.
It's only when she's pulled behind a pillar that she seems to blink back to where they are, letting herself be tugged along as she does her best to hunker down. She's not used to being stealthy, and it shows, nervousness joining the rest of her tics as she fidgets. "How used to this are you?" she whispers at both Myunghon and Mio with a frown, and the answer is--
--the answer is her falling back on her ass in an entirely ungainly fashion, her eyes bright and wide as the blue light of Myunghon's summoning washes over her. Something pulses within her in response, something she still can't describe but which feels closer than ever, like a lump in her throat she can't push down. She doesn't even register what Kudlak is actually doing - the sheer process is what's caught her attention the most, and she's stunned into complete silence.
MONAD: So-young Park has acted with Understanding toward Underground Vault - Outer Ring - Which Golden Piggy to Break?! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
Vesper takes no offense to So-young's outburst, responding, "That's quite alright, please excuse me if that came across as insulting, that was not my intention." Some things simply can't be done without a Persona. But he won't argue, he'll simply step in if and when he feels he needs to.
Later, when Vesper returns to the others from briefly splitting off on his own, he quickly closes the door behind him, and adjusts his tie and hat. He may have needed to do a bit of running back there. But he's not about to show any further signs of that if he can help it. He coughs in his hand, then explains, "Unfortunately... it seems that this section of the bank is under a higher level of scrutiny. We should operate under the assumption that we will not be able to reason our way through so easily from this point on, we'll require more than a flimsy basis for our arguments."
In other words, he wasn't able to learn anything and the attempt got him in a bit of trouble. Should've taken a badge with him to begin with! That seems to work much better. Somehow. He's just not going to say anything about this feelings on the matter, no good comes of expecting things to make perfect sense in these spaces.
Though he acts like he knows what he's doing, Vesper can be a bit hapless at times. But that, too, could be an act. What is his game, really? If he knew how much Myunghon was agonizing over that... well, he'd honestly probably enjoy that. He's certainly taking all sorts of mental notes along the way, about the way this group relates to one another, how they address one another... Everyone having secrets and trying to puzzle them out makes everything so much more interesting, doesn't it?
Far more interesting than the actual puzzles in this place. Vesper could be seen rubbing his temples (or rather, his mask in the area where his temples are) when NUMBERS are brought into the equation. Not too big a fan of those. And then some sort of guessing game? Where are the clues for this one?
His eyes widen a little behind his mask at the method Myunghon's chosen to discern the correct solution. Rather than offer his opinions on that, he instead crouches by So-young when she falls. "Dear me, are you alright? This is, ah, the way we solve problems in these spaces. It's rather difficult to explain, but try to remain calm - I assure you, you are quite safe."
Well technically none of them are super safe in here, but he's trying to reassure someone here. And being serious about it, look, no puns on the word 'safe' or anything.
MONAD: Julian Marlowe has acted with Counsel toward Underground Vault - Outer Ring - Which Golden Piggy to Break?! Focus and Empathy!
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|) -==== Underground Vault - Outer Ring - Which Golden Piggy to Break? - Round 3 =- Shinjiro Aragaki Understanding Success Understanding Base Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Julian Marlowe Understanding Success Counsel Focus and Empathy Fatigue: 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myunghon Yeo Academics Success A Fool's Life Focus and Find Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mio Kazama Understanding Success Understanding Base Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So-young Park Understanding Failure Understanding Base Fatigue: 1 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Bothersome-1, Box-0, Educational-1, and Stupor-2 Final Conditions: Stupor-1 -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 3/6 |=== | =====================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ============================================================- Items: 2, Money: 1, Gear: 1 (|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro stares at Myunghon summons their Persona. As it begins licking a piggy bank...
Mio also points at the same one.
Though, So-young freaks out, and Vesper tries to counsel her; the latter is useful, the former... well, hopefully she can get up and out before the Shadows arrive. "...Myunghon can control theirs. You're safe with them, I'm certain of it."
Shinjiro shatters the proper bank, grabbing the tablet up and taking it, reading it out loud. He walks back to the code himself, taking a breath. He swallows. They're not necessarily safe with *him*.
Shinjiro inputs 0931 into the lock. "Everyone! Let's go. We'll be out of here sooner than later."
MONAD: Mio Kazama has drawn a new Challenge!
(|======================== Monad - Kaneshiro's Palace ========================|)
-==== Round 4: Underground Vault - Middle Ring - Powerful Shadow Ahead - Challenge Level 3 -
| Approach Options: Charm or Guts |
| Conditions: Boss - Add 1 Fatigue on failure., Bothersome - Charm Down L1, |
| Shuffle - Draw 1 Minor Arcana., Stupor - Academics Down L1, and Terrifying - |
| Guts Down L2 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
The second pin pad, once the numbers for REAP are entered, causes the circular
walls to shift again. This opens forward another way, which leads even deeper
into the room-sized lock. You're approaching the center of that room, and
realize the center must be where the heart of this place is.
The next pin pad is ahead. This one has the text "HUGE" over it, and there is
another stairway leading down into shadowed corridors.
You begin moving through the corridor, but as you do, you spot a massive Shadow
ahead -- and on the wall behind it is a tablet, like the others that provide the
clues. The Shadow is guarding it, and it glows with a faint red light. When you
engage it, it shifts into a golden-haired humanoid with a snarling face and a
huge sword. This Shadow is known as Take-Minakata, and is quite powerful.
Once defeated, you can examine the tablet for the following clue: "U=A, G=P."
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
So-young asks Mio how used to this she is, and the mace-wielding troublemaker regards her with a curious grin. "More 'n you, but not as much as I'd like. It's okay. You'll figure it out." she adds with a wink. Is it meant to reassure? One can only hope. Given what happens soon after, with Myunghon's Persona, perhaps it wasn't so reassuring. Anyway, they've got work to do, so it's time for them to leave.
Beep beep beep beep
~click~
The gang put the metaphorical and literal boot into the problem, solving the way forward through Kaneshiro's password puzzle. One can only hope his email account is locked down tighter than that. Further through the Palace they go, zipping through the criminal shadows of this criminal hideout, stopped in their tracks by another lock up ahead. But this one comes with a guardian: a shadow they can't sneak past, can't trick, and can't out-maneuver.
Mio holds a finger up to her lips briefly, turning back to see how ready everyone is. She furrows her brow for a moment, and then a veil of deep-sea blue light pools around her feet. A towering humanoid phantom fades into view above her shoulder, Samson straining at its bonds. Itching to destroy. "Okay." she announces the plan. "I'm gonna kill it before it can raise the alarm." ... is that it?
Yep, it seems like that is, in fact, it. Mio's Persona suddenly rips a concrete hunk out of the ground and hurls it at Take-Minakata with missile-strike force. Like always... she's not trapped in here with you, you're trapped in here with her.
MONAD: Mio Kazama has acted with Too Dumb To Die toward Underground Vault - Middle Ring - Powerful Shadow Ahead! Amrita!
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"More than I'd like to be, and yet also less than I'd like to," comes Myunghon's similar echo to Mio's answer. Now that they've had a moment's chance to regain themselves, they're noticing So-young starting to flag hard as whatever source of adrenaline they must've been relying on is starting to leave them. They really need to find an exit before long, but are they going to be afforded that luxury?
"Agreed. The closer we get to the heart of the Palace, the more on-guard his cognitive defences will be," Myunghon is in concord with Vesper's assessment. Whatever suspicion Myunghon may have had, they are relieved that they're there for So-young at this point, though they can't remove all doubt just yet...
Doubting just so happens to be at the heart of a rumourmonger's trade. And it is their vice, as well.
Shinjiro also comes to reassure So-young, and Myunghon does nod apologetically at him -- and once he inputs the lock, he's the one to take charge with something encouraging. C'mon, everyone must rely on each other here. They proceed onward, and yet--
A massive Shadow, appearing in the form of a humanoid with gold hair and a huge sword. Mio takes the initiative, to try to eliminate it before they can raise the alarm. "... I don't see any other way. Let's do it--"
A massive piece of the ground is suddenly flying through the air, and while it does damage it considerably, Take-Minakata roars and lunges towards the group, at Myunghon and So-young in particular--
"!!"
TWANGGG
There's a horrible clashing noise, and moments later, the golden Shadow's sword is in weaponlock with a web of Myunghon's Cognitive Coat, Kudlak pushing away with both its arms clasped to either side of the length of cognitive steel. "Hrk-- guhh-- it's like a vice-- So-young, get out of the way, it's going to crush us both--"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
As they proceed forward, Take-Minekata is here. Mio immediately pushes towards throwing *concrete* at him, as Shinjiro subconsciously steps in front of and towards So-young. "Hide," he says...
BEFORE PULLING OUT A GUN AND PUTTING IT TO HIS TEMPLE!!!
It's okay, it's an Evoker. He raises it to his temple, taking a *very* shaky breath. His hand is moving so much. He's still not *used* to this.
And then, Take-Minakata is coming after So-young and Myunghon!
Shinjiro suddenly *dashes* forward, pulling the trigger. "Castor, save them!"
Castor, the giant skeleton with a SPEAR IN HIS CHEST and a HORRIFIC HOBBY HORSE rides forward, moving to tackle Take-Minekata with vast strength. It barely pushes him back, but allows Shinjiro enough time to grab Myunghon out of the way of harm.
And then he's glaring back up at the Shadow, intimidatingly. He'll attack again once Myunghon is safe, but So-young... will they be okay? He could only grab one... and if someone can't stop it Now, they're probably all dead, honestly.
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has acted with Intimidation toward Underground Vault - Middle Ring - Powerful Shadow Ahead! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
Vesper sits by So-young, and very politely assures her that she's safe. Mio... ... sort of reassures her. She gives both of them a rather skeptical look in return, though she's still too breathless and confused to actually say anything out loud. There is gratitude somewhere in that look of hers, at least, because part of her is still running on full bore anxiety about what the hell she's actually doing here and part of her is self-aware enough to know when she's being a bit of an asshole, but--
--but Vesper and Shinjiro have let something else slip at the same time - that this isn't just Myunghon's power? That they all have one of those things? Why does that feel significant, and why does it make this feeling of nervous, uncontained energy only seem to grow stronger? It's getting harder to think, the air stifling, and the train of thought is sluggish, but she feels herself pick at it like a scab.
What ultimately pulls her to her feet this time around is the word 'safe'. It's not Vesper's fault for saying it, and So-young's sure he has good intentions, but it still feels like ash in her mouth. She never meant to fall into the Metaverse like this, but now that she's here, the last thing she wants to be is 'safe'. She's all too sure that to someone like Kaneshiro, 'safe' means 'ripe for the taking'. That's why she insisted on pressing further into this other world in the first place.
The Shadow at the front door had been one thing. She'd been able to imagine it as a guard, treat it as such. There's no doing that to this one - she can't simply will a giant, horned figure with an enormous sword away, especially not when it's thundering towards her at a speed so much faster than anything she could hope to muster--
She drops to a crouch, her hands thrown above her head as if it had any hope of helping her survive the incoming blow. There is an almighty clang above her, and for one deeply confused moment she wonders if that was the impact, if she's somehow already become a walking box of cash-dispensing metal like all the rest of the mundane humans here. Myunghon's voice cuts through that thought, and she bolts her head upwards - she's safe, even if for a few precious seconds more, even if it's at the cost of Myunghon's life in turn.
So-young is grinning.
She shouldn't be. She should be terrified and exhausted, if not a bloody smear on the floor. She should want to curl up in a corner huddling her knees, or maybe be at home taking a very long and luxurious hot shower before collapsing into a small ball on the bed under her quilts. She should not be suddenly striding towards the large figure with the larger sword, because she's seen prop swords and she knows that is very much not one.
But for some reason she's grinning like a madwoman, running on that feverish energy that's bubbling up from inside of her, so much of her fatigue blown away in an instant. Is this fire in her belly what makes Myunghon and the others able to dive into a space like this? This feeling of surety, despite not knowing what it is she's even sure _about_? She can feel it racing through her down to the tips of her fingers, begging to be let out and soar.
It's on pure instinct that So-young raises her hand, throws her arm sweeping across her torso in a conductor's flourish. She still doesn't know what she's doing, but at least she can damn well do it with confidence. It feels like the rush of a performance - the feeling of many spotlights and eyes trained on her, the thrumming whine of the violins as they prepare to build to a crescendo, the cacophony of a finale. "Get the hell off Myunghon!" she yells, and as Shinjiro's attack buffets the Shadow back enough for him to grab Myunghon, as the sword sweeps back down towards her, So-young wonders: what the hell are you doing?
That question is answered almost immediately. The swell of blue energy picks her up off her feet, lifting her until she's almost hovering in a cocoon of roaring wind. From somewhere above a clattering, not-quite-mechanical cry resounds, a
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
and a winged shape made of spines and sheets stretched over a thin frame abruptly rockets overhead at a speed that belies its fragile appearance, the sudden roar of wind in the enclosed space throwing the Shadow away from her and slamming it back against the walls of the vault.
MONAD: So-young Park has acted with Fortissimo toward Underground Vault - Middle Ring - Powerful Shadow Ahead! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
Vesper is left unsure whether he did an adequate enough job with his reassurance. He couldn't exactly prepare for this like his other self can for a counseling session. But at least So-young seems capable of continuing on, that's what ultimately matters. They can explain everything once they're truly back to safety.
Thankfully, somehow, taste was the correct sense to go with here, and they're able to move on in short order. Only to run into yet another lock. Vesper grumbles. "High security can be vexing, but at this point I might prefer it to shoddy security that sooner seems designed to make us waste time."
So he said, expecting another puzzle to lie beyond. Instead, the obstacle is more straightforward this time. Red glow means trouble, he's well familiar with that rule by now. "...No avoiding this one, it seems. This could be rather difficult." But thankfully, Mio seems to have an idea.
...Wait, that is not a very good idea at all! So he would have liked to say, but Mio is already putting her plan into action, leaving him to just sigh and mutter the word "Damnation".
No choice but follow suit - although things move quick, and Myunghon finds herself in a dangerous position, only to be assisted by not only Shinjiro, but also-- A laugh escapes him, in spite of himself, as So-young manifests a Persona. "You were holding out on us, it seems!"
Bringing a hand to his mask, he summons forth the cricket player/gentleman hybrid in the iron mask in a splash of blue flames, demanding, "Raffles! Grant them protection!" Marakukaja is cast, in hopes of keeping any injuries sustained down to a minimum.
MONAD: Julian Marlowe has acted with Inspire toward Underground Vault - Middle Ring - Powerful Shadow Ahead! Focus and Patra!
MONAD: Myunghon Yeo has acted with Charm toward Underground Vault - Middle Ring - Powerful Shadow Ahead! Base!
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|) -==== Underground Vault - Middle Ring - Powerful Shadow Ahead - Round 4 =======- Shinjiro Aragaki Guts Success Intimidation Specialty Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Julian Marlowe Charm Success Inspire Focus and Patra Fatigue: 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myunghon Yeo Charm Success Charm Base Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mio Kazama Guts Failure Too Dumb To Die Amrita Fatigue: 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So-young Park Guts Success Fortissimo Specialty Fatigue: 1 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Boss-0, Bothersome-2, Shuffle: Sword-0, Stupor-1, and Terrifying-2 Final Conditions: Bothersome-1 -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 4/6 |==== | =====================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ============================================================- Items: 2, Money: 1, Gear: 1 (|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
You can say one thing for Kaneshiro, not that you ever have to hand it to the guy, but if this thing represents any part of his idea about himself, at least self-esteem might not be an issue. But that's enough glazing this scumbag. There's a muted *CLANG* as Samson hurls a chunk of the scenery at the Shadow, Take-Minakata, which recoils from the blow as rock and rebar shatter. Poor Vesper, he might have had a better approach in mind for this, but the girl embracing vengeful ruin has no time for it. There's little time to dwell on this, the Shadow almost blinking across the room with a furious counterstroke of its sword that the Persona, Kudlak, catches in both hands. With one free hand, even, the Shadow catches the oncoming tackle from Castor with an eerily echoing groan. There's a cracking, splintering noise as otherworldly material analogous to bone and muscle strains, threatening to break, but the two seem evenly matched in their very physical struggle.
Mio pulls her outstretched hand back, clenching it to a fist. Samson mimics her movements, a humanoid void clad in silver restraints, but hesitates in the moment before committing to the follow-up. "Ha~a?" she cocks her head to one side, senses tickled in So-Young's direction as she detects the winds of change beginning to blow. "Startin' to see everything for what it is, huh?" the masked nun's grin almost melds with her costume: teeth too sharp, grin too wide, eyes too large. The rapturous excitement of the moment of another's awakening demands such.
The wind picks up strength in this enclosed space, a deafening gale that threatens to strip rivets from their sockets and pull the walls themselves down, at Icarus's command. Without a firm footing to hold, Take-Minakata is flung to the far wall as if struck by a great and invisible fist and pinned there. The Shadow's howl pierces even the roar the gales and it lashes out one final time, sword hurled from its grasp. But this, too, is fruitless. The desperate attack collides with the twisting magics of protection Vesper brings to bear, little more than a distracting bump against such powers.
And, so cruelly snuffed out, the Shadow gives one final kick of the legs and then disappears into a burst of shadowy motes... and all goes quiet.
Applause sounds, Mio walking forward with a cheery and girlish laugh as she claps her hands. "Waow, waow! That was better than I had hoped for! Merry-boss, you need to introduce me to more of your friends if they're this handy!"
She boops the control panel at the end of the room a few times. The door opens. It's a comically quiet punctuation to the monumental awakening So-Young has just undergone. "Questions have to wait for the end, sorry."
MONAD: Julian Marlowe has drawn a new Challenge!
(|======================== Monad - Kaneshiro's Palace ========================|)
-==== Round 5: Underground Vault - Inner Ring - Release the Hounds - Challenge Level 2 -
| Approach Options: Guts or Understanding |
| Conditions: Bothersome - Charm Down L1, Hard - Understanding Down L1, and |
| Scary - Guts Down L1 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
You enter the numbers for HUGE on the third pin pad. This causes the walls to
turn again, leading into the penultimate ring of the massive lock-room. Here,
once again, you see a pin pad and a stairwell leading downward. The pin pad has
the word "GOLD" written over it.
The stairway leads down into a crowded storage room, filled with crates and
dusty boxes. This makes a maze in and of itself. When you look at the crates,
you see they're labeled "JUNK" and "TRASH." If you open one, it's filled with
mementos like cheap toys, notes, and other sentimental objects. These are not
what Kaneshiro cares for or feels a need to hoard.
Fortunately, you spot a way to navigate through the room of crates. You see a
large crate in the distance, and it has a ladder leaning against it. This leads
up to the top of that crate, where there is the metallic gleam of a tablet like
the others.
Unfortunately, ahead of it are four Shadows -- hound-like things that are
patrolling. You could rush them... but those Shadows can be distracted and lured
off. If fought, they turn into two-headed, maned canine Shadows called an
Orthrus.
After getting through the maze of crates, containing discarded memories, you
find a tablet on the wall. It has the final clue: "L=U+G, D=G, O+H=10."
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
Well, at least Mio is happy about how that went. Vesper forces a smile, seeing little point in a lecture about it, and he supposes there's no sense in complaining when they're all still in one piece. Instead, he focuses his attention on So-young, cautioning, "Easy now. We've all been through what you have, so I can tell you with certainty - you will experience great fatigue once that high passes. Please inform us if you feel a sensation like that catching up to you. It pays to be well-prepared."
His eyes didn't turn to look at Mio when he said that, you can't prove anything.
With the code obtained, what Vesper hoped would the the final lock is soon undone... but no, there is yet another. Pulling his hat down a little, it's easy to tell that the Supernatural Investigator is annoyed, even if he doesn't complain out loud again.
This time, in the room that proves with little effort how little Kaneshiro values anything but cold hard cash, he preempts any rash actions by moving on ahead, so he can call attention to the fact that, "There's Shadows up ahead. Four of them. Let's think about this, we might be able to avoid fighting them altogether if we study them first. Should there be a pattern to their patrol route, we should be able to sneak by with the proper timing."
That's what he would prefer. Of course, it's perfectly possible to override him... at least this time, he's ready for that possibility. He'd just have to adapt.
MONAD: Julian Marlowe has acted with Counsel toward Underground Vault - Inner Ring - Release the Hounds! Focus and Empathy!
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon first feels the massive impact Castor makes as it collides at full power with Take-Minakata, nearly ragdolled along for the ride; the Coat reflexively slithers away as Shinjiro starts dragging them out of the way, but he'll note how familiar their first instinct is: "NO! Get-- Get So-young out of the way, not me--"
Not her. Take their life instead.
They have no idea what's going through So-young's head. How much they're forming a rebellious spirit within them, not unlike how Mio Kazama chooses to manifest it. They don't want to be 'safe', they want to be right there, at their door, making them scared. As Shinjiro pulls them away, they can see their sister's...
... grin?
They watch in that instance as fatigue washes away as if it were some pithy comment that could never impale them. For a moment, Myunghon watches as So-young adopts the very grace of a conductor, someone who could make dozens of musicians act in concert to become greater than they could be as individuals. And then, it comes-- the swell of blue, as a Persona rises from within their spirit, something-- something that moves so fast they have trouble even catching up to its appearance, a roar of wind blasting Take-Minakata back.
"... So-young... she's... flying," Myunghon finds themself murmuring. No, they're not literally flying, they're being metaphorical.
They remember themself, and that they're in combat though -- though with Vesper's protection coming from Raffles, it isn't long before the last of the battle is met and completed. There's blissful silence for a moment... and then Myunghon rises to step closer to So-young.
"This wasn't planned, Kazama-kun," Myunghon advises Mio. Then they look to So-young. "I'll explain everything, eonni, but right now, we need to secure a path and make sure it's clear. Are you feeling all right? You first time summoning your Persona can be... extremely tiring." They nod as Vesper continues to pull up as someone who's a voice of reason and explanation.
... was this why mother sent her here? Was this her plan all along? Damnit, that pisses them off considerably..!! It feels craven and mercenary, sending a daughter they weren't even aware of so they could inevitably awaken if they become embroiled, as is So-young's curious nature--
Calm down. Calm down. That's just assumptions. Their mind is allowing them to pick at any and all shadows of possibility. They have a task right now... they need to get to it.
"... Shinjiro-ssi. Thank you for rescuing me."
Myunghon looks more calm at this point, ready to take charge as Vesper identifies Shadows ahead. "I'll distract them. Leave it to me."
They crouch down as they observe the patterns, and then at an opportune time -- they manifest Kudlak, which starts to zip around corners, allowing himself to be seen ever so briefly, which alarms the Shadows, and starts corraling them one way as they start to investigate!
MONAD: Myunghon Yeo has acted with Guts toward Underground Vault - Inner Ring - Release the Hounds! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
So-young does a miraculous thing, with her massive flying machine Persona. As Shinjiro watches, she awakens and destroys the Shadow...
"You okay?" he asks, before turning to nod to Vesper as they move forward and get his plan. "Distraction. Gotcha. I'll help." Between the two of them...
Myunghon thanks Shinjiro. "Don't worry about it," he says with a nod. And then, as Kudlak appears, Shinjiro moves to make some loud noise towards where Kudlak is corralling, trying to draw more attention and scatter them!
Meanwhile, Shinjiro says to Mio, "Don't aggro them, alright?" He's expecting it anyways.
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has acted with Intimidation toward Underground Vault - Inner Ring - Release the Hounds! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
What kind of mad calm lies at the heart of the masked young lady who treats this land of death and shadows like another game? Mio returns the mace to its place slung over her shoulder, looking sidelong at Myunghon with eyes wide--but normally, humanly so. "Ah? Yeah, I figure you didn't plan it this way." she acknowledges with chipper ease. "But it worked out this way, so, that's what we gotta deal with now." she doesn't move to make any input on Myunghon's rapid explanation about how So-Young's world is about to change.
So, Mio strolls down the hallway with her Persona hanging over her like a sinewy, gauntlet-wielding ghost. Her knuckles crack as she balls her free hand into a fist again, and Samson's phantasmal form fades back into her. She tugs on the tip of her veil, peeking around the corner formed by a crate more cautiously than Vesper might have feared. "O-ho. I see whatcha mean. They're really predictable with that movement, huh? Shame there's no bomb to knock into them or something..."
There's a snap of the fingers. Shinjiro gives her some very good advice. "Oh, I got it. I'm gonna go this way so they don't see me." and she marches face-first into a crate labeled 'CRAP', which breaks before the weight of her tread, spilling empty gacha machine balls all over the floor. She then steps through the next crate. And the next. That's right: the patrol routine can't catch her if she makes her own path! Genius!!
MONAD: Mio Kazama has acted with Too Dumb To Die toward Underground Vault - Inner Ring - Release the Hounds! Amrita!
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
The Persona - Icarus - winks back out in an almost perfunctory way. One moment the winged machine is there, hanging in the air in a way it really shouldn't given its appearance, and the next it's not. All that's left is So-young, panting for breath, feeling like lightning is running through every inch of her body. "... I was holding out on myself, I guess," she rasps back towards Vesper as she looks down at her hands, slowly curling one of them into a fist.
She's still catching her breath as she looks owlishly towards Mio's crowing praise. She'd crow as well if she wasn't simultaneously so alive and so tired. She's not sure how to really respond to Myunghon as her sibling steps up to her side, how to put into words the way she feels like a live wire, like she's itching to race around despite the ache in her body and the emotional whirlpool she's just put herself through the last few hours.
"I'll be... alright for now. I don't think I could stop if I wanted to," is the way in which she eventually manages to sum it up, allowing herself at least one serious moment as she looks to the concern written on Myunghon's face. Perhaps it's rude of her, but she reaches out again for their arm. Something tells her that Myunghon isn't big on touch, but she is, and a little moment to steady herself is all she needs to suck air back into her lungs and reassert the frown on her face.
"Also, I'm going to kill Mother," she adds in a flat tone, and for once her thoughts must be going along similar lines - all of this has been too much of a coincidence for it to be anyone else. It occurs to her that saying something like that suddenly feels like much less of a joke than it used to, and she clears her throat to add: "... with a deep and lasting withering silence."
She's distracted by the boxes of childhood memorabilia more than the creatures waiting for them ahead, lifting a broken toy car from one of them and turning it over in her hand as she waits for Myunghon to act. She's not good enough at this to put her thoughts into words, but this also feels significant somehow. "He's stuffed all of this away in boxes... but they're still here," she muses.
She glances up when there's a growl. One Shadow didn't go with the rest of the pack, warily looking around for any sign of where Kudlak might have come from. With a murmur under her breath, So-young raises a finger and twirls it in a circular motion - and with a muted burst of blue, a sudden tiny tornado spins the creature around, sending it stumbling towards a wall.
There's a bonk.
MONAD: So-young Park has acted with Fortissimo toward Underground Vault - Inner Ring - Release the Hounds! Specialty!
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|)
-==== Underground Vault - Inner Ring - Release the Hounds - Round 5 ===========-
Shinjiro Aragaki Guts Success
Intimidation Specialty Fatigue: 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Julian Marlowe Understanding Success
Counsel Focus and Empathy Fatigue: 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Myunghon Yeo Guts Failure
Guts Base Fatigue: 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mio Kazama Guts Success
Too Dumb To Die Amrita Fatigue: 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So-young Park Guts Success
Fortissimo Specialty Fatigue: 1
-============================= Party Conditions: ==============================-
Starting Conditions: Bothersome-1, Hard-2, and Scary-2
Final Conditions: Hard-1 and Scary-1
-======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====-
-==== Reach: 6/6 |=====| =====================================================-
-==== Loot So Far: ============================================================-
Items: 2, Money: 1, Gear: 1
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
(|======================== Monad - Kaneshiro's Palace ========================|)
-==== Round 6: Infiltration Route Secured - Sealed Chest - Challenge Level 1 ==-
| Approach Options: None |
| Conditions: Revelation - The best result. |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
The last pin pad, with GOLD written over it, causes the roo to turn one more
time. This causes the lock to unlock -- and you see a large elevator ahead, as a
circular column at the center of the room.
You're through here before many others. You see a locked treasure chest nearby.
Inside is a plethora of weapons and equipment, matching the aesthetic of this
place. Maybe you find an upgrade... or something of interest to a savvy buyer,
like Iwai or Peacock Silk.
You take the elevator downward. This one, thankfully, doesn't need a keycard.
When it lets out, you find the lowest level of the vault. There are stacks of
gold bullion, sealed vault doors with promised riches, and more.
...but you aren't alone here.
TO BE CONTINUED... in Reservoir Dogs on August 15!
Final Loot: 2 Items, 1 boxes of Money, and 1 Pieces of Gear!
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
The plan is a go. Myunghon employs her Persona, while Shinjiro adds to the distraction in person. The Shadows, on alert, break off their normal routes and scatter into two groups, futily chasing targets that are already gone before they can reach them. Then Mio--
Vesper palms his face when he sees what Mio is doing. "That is... certainly one way." Sigh. He supposed he'll give her credit - it adds to the Shadows' confusion as much as it does to his. One does threaten to endanger her, but So-young's timely interference puts a stop to that.
All those distractions make it a simple affair for Vesper to slip through the wide-open gaps in the Shadows' detection. With a deft nimbleness, he's through the danger zone and back in no time flat, tablet safely tucked under his arm. Giving a thumbs-up to the others, he signals to make their retreat.
At long last, then, this code proves to the final one. "Thank heavens," Vesper expresses when he sees the elevator ahead. And hello, that's a fancy looking chest there... he wouldn't mind putting his home-made lockpicks to use here. At least they'll be able to collect something nice to bring back for their efforts. Certainly they've earned that much, as well as a respite, before they investigate what lies further ahead.