genessia | 002 | surrendering to gravity and the unknown

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Current Location: Genessia City

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002 | surrendering to gravity and the unknown

[ ACTION ]

In Genessia City, wandering around today, is a lanky teenaged ~~hobo~~ former hobo.

He's hitting up all of the grocery stores he can walk to.

Not specifically to buy anything ... if someone runs into him, they'll catch him scowling and looking at prices under his breath. Shinjiro knows how it looks, though, and he'll usually walk out of the store with something. A jar of concentrated miso. Cabbage, vinegar, carrots, onion. He tries to pick things which don't weigh too much, considering his trek about town, but he also tries to pick things which won't spoil too quickly. After all, even though he hasn't found a job just yet, whatever he does find might not give him a lot of time to do more than quick food prep.

He might run into people there, or on his way from store to store.

Eventually, though, he'll end up at an nondescript cafe near Genssia Commons, buying the cheapest tea on its menu. Sitting outside, bags stacked on the ground beside him against the wall, he tries to do some research on the futuristic smart phone. Shinjiro looks frustrated, and it's really very clear he's not used to the device he was given on arrival.

Shinjiro also looks deeply conflicted about something.

[ TEXT ] [ ANONYMOUS ] ((hackable))

how does healthcare work in Genessia?

also have there ever been cases of Apathy Syndrome here?

troll away I guess but a serious answer would be nice.

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[His lack of a proper response to Akira's mini-speech is enough to suggest the potential distrust. It doesn't bother him, though. He isn't trying to turn the guy into a Phantom Thieves supporter; all Akira is doing is answering his questions. Whether Shinjiro trusts him or not is up to him.]

Yeah. In addition to the Shadows that become Palace rulers though, there are also lesser Shadows who faithfully serve them. Those are the ones you can kill without any consequences. I'm guessing those are most similar to the Shadows you're used to seeing.

[ It wasn't necessarily distrust, either. Otherwise, he wouldn't be sitting here, having this conversation.

He felt a little justified, all things considered, not automatically trusting someone who could use Persona, however.

Still. There was a lot that he could share, considering this guy was from the future (if he was from the same world at all). ]

Kinda.

... There was somethin that happened. Ten years ago, my time.

Bunch of assholes experimentin with stuff unleashed somethin terrible, a whole bunch of Shadows, and created the Dark Hour.

The site of the explosion grew a huge tower which had ... bunch a little Shadows like you described, and a bunch of larger shadows, really powerful. Tartarus.

And if that ain't enough. Twelve huge, serious Shadows - apparently are the original ones, which got out ten years ago. They've been randomly attackin outside of Tartarus, each full moon.

Apathy Syndrome has been growin, until we defeated one of those Shadows durin the full moon. Then, people get better.

If we ... I mean. [ Rubs at his face] My friends. And, not if. They did, they did defeat all twelve of those Shadows, by your time.

[ Shrugs ] Dunno if those things are like anythin a human person could produce. I just dunno.

[All of that resulted from an experiment? That's insane. Akira would like to hear more about that, but there's something else that stands out to him even more. It sounded like Shinjiro was starting to say something like "if we defeated those twelve Shadows," but he changed it to "his friends." Now that he thinks about it, didn't he do something similar earlier too?

"If we are from the same world, then that means they've done it."

He didn't think anything of it at the time, but now it's clear that there's meaning behind that wording.]

Only your friends defeated those Shadows? You're not giving yourself credit?

[ Hunches down in his seat, a bit. Closes his eyes. Tosses several different options around, but finally decides on the truth. It wasn't as if the information could be used against him.

As far as he knew, anyway. ]

I helped for all of a month. When we took down a single one of 'em. And then ...

[ Shrugs. He is so tired. He still wouldn't tell the guy about Castor, or anything like that. But maybe this serve as a good excuse to duck those sorts of questions, anyway. ]

And then I died. So.

Oh...

[That one word is filled with melancholy and sympathy. No, he isn't particularly surprised to find out he's been talking to a dead man this whole time; he's known for quite a while that it's possible for people to show up here after their deaths in their own world.

Akira looks away from the other boy and towards the ground, feeling guilty for potentially bringing up painful memories.]

I'm sorry.

[ Shoulders go up. Right. Right. This is the reason why he shouldn't tell anyone about this. Still a good way to deflect questions about his own Persona, but still. Scowls. ]

Don't be. 'S done with. Ain't nothing to do about it now.

[ Shinjiro certainly doesn't look sad or even really regretful that he'd died. He more seems annoyed that Akira seems to be having a reasonable, human reaction to the news. ]

[Oops, did he not appreciate that? Apologizing for his apology probably wouldn't go over well either, so Akira stops himself from doing so. Welp, this is a little awkward now.]

Right... [Maybe he'll just... casually move on to the other topic of interest?] So, do you know anything about this experiment? Who was behind it, what they were trying to accomplish?

[ Shrugs. Deep down, Shinjiro knows that the kid was only being nice, sympathetic. He was the one who should probably apologize for being rude.

He didn't. Casually: ] Some guys in this big corporation, somethin about bein crazy and wantin the end of the world or somethin. Still a huge mess, no matter what they wanted.

[ Finally looks at Akira again. ]

But, maybe they knew Shadows could come from people. Always wondered how they even got started on the whole thing, anyway.

[Thankfully Akira isn't easily offended, so it's all good, dude. A thoughtful expression appears on his face as he ponders this information.]

Hmm... I don't know anything about the origins of the Metaverse, but apparently it's been around for a long time. It's possible that they could have found out about it and gotten their inspiration from there. If ending the world was their goal, though, why go through all that trouble? It'd be easier to set off a bunch of nuclear bombs.

[There has to be more to it than that. Too bad he has no way of figuring that out right now.]

[ Sighing, Shinjiro shrugs again. ] Who even knows.

I'd always thought ... if they hadn't been doin that shit, and never created the Dark Hour, none of us would have our Persona to begin with. I definitely thought Shadows wouldn't bug nobody no more.

[ It's part of the reason he needed to meet the kid, after all. Still never learned his name, at that. Hm. ]

But, you've never heard of the Dark Hour and you've got his Metaverse and shit - so, hell.

[ It seemed, no matter what they did, there would be people using Persona or Shadows to screw over the world and ordinary people. It was disappointing even if it wasn't surprising. ]

[Eventually Akira will realize that they still need to exchange names... Right now he's still too enraptured in this conversation. It's fascinating stuff.]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. But hey, at least Apathy Syndrome isn't around anymore in my time. Once I go back home, I won't rest until mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns are a thing of the past too.

Whatever. I'm not really surprised, honestly.

[ Looks at the kid. ]

Just ... be careful.

Dunno what other stuff you can do, but. If your time's like mine? Stuff can get outta hand real quick.

[Akira meets his gaze and lets out a small sigh.]

It already has, believe me. [He was in the middle of some Deep Shit at the time he was taken from, though at the moment he doesn't want to get into the details about that to anyone outside of the Phantom Thieves.

And then that belated realization suddenly hits him like a truck. Whoops.]

Oh yeah. This is the latest introduction ever, but I'm Akira Kurusu.

[ It's not like he opened up this conversation with the traditional introduction, small talk, weather conversation, etc. Shinjiro figured this one was on him. ]

Shinjiro Aragaki.

[ Considers. What the hell. ]

... If trouble from your time follows you here. Let me know.

[There's a brief moment of surprise at that suggestion, but it's quickly replaced with a soft, genuine smile.]

Thanks, Aragaki-san. I'll keep that in mind. [He might be able to use the extra manpower if things ever get out of hand with a certain someone here...]

How long have you been here, anyway?

Tch. Don't mention it.

[ Ugh. "-san" was at least better than "-sempai". He never got the underclassmen of SEES to stop doing that. Annoyed the hell out of him. ]

... Couple of days.

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