[Action/Video] New Arrival at the Bay - OTA

[sup_dude]

[Action]

[Despite the pod opening to reveal a high school junior, he was still fast asleep and doesn't seem willing to get up.
Eventually, he does begin to stir in groggy protests and sits up in the pod, rubbing his eyes.]

"Ugh... Man... What happened?"

[He struggles to try to remember. He steadily begins to remember faces, a tower and darkness.]

"...Oh, right. We were exploring Tartarus, and..."

[Junpei took his hands off his face and finally notices his surroundings. Seeing a creepy cave littered with pods standing in water made him feel like he was in some alien movie. On top of that, he realizes he can't see any of his friends around. He begins to get nervous.]

"Wha... What the hell is this?!" [He tries to get out of the pod he was in, only to trip and fall into the water with a hearty splash.]

Flailing a moment to get back up, he grabbed the pod and pulled himself back up, spitting out water in the process. Looking into the pod, he finds the equipment he brought with him, a katana and the gun-shaped Evoker. Junpei takes them and straps them on. If this was another floor of Tartarus, surely there will be shadows and the last thing he wants is to get caught with his pants down, even if he was confident enough to take them all out on his own.

Furthermore, he finds something else in the pod, a simple box. Junpei picks it up and examines it a moment before turning around to look around the area he was in.]

"... Heeey!! Yuka-tan!! Mitsuru-senpai!! Akihiko-senpai!! Where are ya guys?!"

[Would that attract shadows? Probably. Junpei didn't care. He and Hermes can take them out. But, no reply. He waited a bit longer, listening carefully. Still nothing. He looks to the box in his hands and lifts the lid. He ignored most of the stuff he found inside, except for a necklace and a device. He didn't even hesitate to put the necklace on, grinning like the lucky guy that he was for finding such a sweet chain that would surely bring all the girls to his arms. He then turns his attention the device, holding it in one hand as he thumbed around with the buttons while he made his way towards the nearest exit, not realizing he just turned it on.]

[Video]

[The network feed came alive to a teenaged boy, looking as though he's really putting in the brain power to figure out the communicator, talking to himself.]

"Just how do you work this thing? It has a screen, but it's not a TV and it's not a phone... So what is it for?"

Comments

Re: Video

[gammavirginis]

[ To Ted, off screen, expression: annoyed. ] Yes, that's a good start. Add the 'abomination to god' part if you insist but I'll probably be editing that out.

[ Finally back to Junpei, smiling now. ]

Hi. Hello. Sorry about that. I'm Porrim, I work at the Guardian's office in Everglade.

Did you just arrive?

Video

[sup_dude]

[There probably will be no way for him to remember if anything as weird as this ever happened before.]

"I'm Junpei. So what exactly was all that about?"

Video forever

[gammavirginis]

I suspect my superior here may have been pulling your horn. [ He'd be getting an earful later. ] Let me call you back on my device.

[ She hangs up momentarily and then calls back with her own phone, in another office. ]

A little while back, Ted banned necromancy from Everglade, which wasn't a popular move. Rather than try to defend the action, he seems set on just going down in a blaze of righteous glory. I'm making sure that doesn't happen.

Praise Video-sama.

[sup_dude]

[All of that literally flew over Junpei's head, then went into one ear and out the other. The fact that so many things are going weirdly and wrong that was beyond his understanding was putting him too close to the edge.]

"Necro-whatsy? Wait, you mean like zombies? Just what the hell is going on here? And what's with the horns and the green skin, lady?"

[gammavirginis]

[ Oh bother. ]

Calm down. Let's forget about all that for now, it seems you'll probably be more at home in Genessia City anyway. You'll be more comfortable where there are mostly generic humans about. Each of the cities tends to collect a certain 'genre' of individual. I'm a Troll (among other things) and Everglade is the most comfortable for me.

[ Also green skin? Her little argument with Ted must have left her a little flushed, the green blood visible through normally grey skin. ]

I believe Ted mentioned the holographic console? That was made by Weiss Schnee with the Schnee Welcoming Company. Why don't you go give that a listen and call me back?

Re: Video

[youfool]

"Oh, that's too bad. You'd be surprised how angry that makes Him; I consider divine wrath one more thing to guard the city from. But all right, if you insist." In no particular order...

• The undead typically have an offensive odor


• It retards the grieving process.


• It disturbs people from what should be their eternal rest.


• It's subject to deception; I've heard of cases where sought after spirits were, in fact, being impersonated by a demon, or some other ne'er-do-well.


• It makes existential terror possible. The very worst abuses of anything else I can think of don't quite match putting a soul in a jar.


• It profanes life; seldom do people come back quite as fresh as they went.


• Dracula approves of it.


• I've actually met some of his lauded undead; scores of mindless zombies shuffling about, ravenous and violent. To say nothing of the bone-throwing skeletons. It didn't leave a favorable impression.


• It deprives a soul of its will, or defenses. There are things you can tease from a spirit it might resist otherwise.

That'll do for a start. Feel free to put down others; whenever Klaus gets back to me, I'll consult with him and see if we can't polish it up.

I hope it'll be enough; this isn't some philosophical plank that can be taken down with rigorous argument. It's the culture of a people, however warped. More heart than mind.

[gammavirginis]

"I think that will do for a start.

I was also thinking of taking Klaus along and actually taking an invitation that Dracula gave me a bit back to see the undead in his castle. He claimed they were refugees in the wake of your laws. If it's as you say, it may be good ammunition to show the public."

[youfool]

"Mm, well it goes without saying, but be careful in that place. Barely got out with my life when I made a similar journey. And, not to be a negative Nancy, but I don't think you'll find anything damning so long as he knows you're coming. Doubtlessly he'll dress them in as fair a costume as he can manage. But I'll trust your judgment.

Oh! One other thing. This is just an intuition of my own, but I don't think it was a coincidence. You know, how Everglade got the worst of the spirit attack. Which we really need an official, catchy name for. It's all too appropriate that the place which mucks about with wayward spirits bore the brunt of their wrath."

[gammavirginis]

"Thank you. I'll be careful."