ateratooc | TD006

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test drive

TD006

Test Drive 006

WELCOME TO ATERAT

Here is our Fifth Test Drive Meme! There are a lot of areas of the city to explore, so please have a look around! In case you need a little help getting started, I've included a few prompts below, or feel free to start your own! Exploration and player initiative are the names of the game here!

Helpful Links to Get Started

Arrival & General Information | Setting & Bestiary | Locales & Businesses | Residences & Housing Info | Rules & FAQ (ask questions here!)

I. Crash Into Me

Not exactly, but close enough. You have just arrived and received a strange satchel from a tiny, strange little man and are left more or less to your own devices (more information on what to expect upon arrival can be found here)! Follow directions to the north and check out the housing, or maybe have a look around the Historium and try to get some information from that giant glowing ball, see what you can waste your meager starter coin on in the Market District, or maybe just meet the neighbors.

II. What Goes Bump in the Night

It looks like Aterat proper has a spirit problem. Maybe you're seeing specters, hearing disembodied voices, your windows rattle when there's no breeze outside. Maybe there are cold spots in your place of business (or your apartment, which is so much worse). Either way, you're 100% convinced you're haunted. Hopefully, someone else believes you, or maybe you're used to feeling crazy.

III. When the Carnival Came to Town?

Take a look at the prompts from our latest event and go to town (or the carnival).

IV. Try the Network

The Tell-Phone allows for text, video, and audio transmissions to everyone else who has one. Give it a whirl!

V. Wildcard

The above prompts are all options, and there's much more to the setting than what they provide. Do your best (or your worst)!

Navigation

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I. Crash into Me

The blossoming pain in his chest faded and he took in breathes, his hand clutched there, where it should have been filling with blood, his blood. His eyes opened slowly, almost distrusting in their perception of light. This was wrong. It was the Dark Hour, not...what, noon? He nearly jumped out of his skin when the little man approached him, too confused the his surroundings to do much more than dumbly take the sack offered to him and nod, blinking after the little man as he wandered off. He took a moment to consider his clothes, jaw clenching for a moment when he noted the blood-crusted hole in his coat over his heart.

"So that happened." Whether he was commenting on his current predicament, where he'd come from previously, or something else entirely was anyone's guess. Even he didn't know for sure. Still frowning, annoyed more than confused, he finally takes a look around, finding a bench nearby to rifle through his bag. "What is this shit?"

III. When the Carnival Came to Town

Curiosity drew him to the carnival as it had so many others, though he kept his hands shoved firmly into the pockets of his coat, his shoulders hunched and his cap pulled low, just to make sure people around him got the idea he wasn't inviting conversation. Not that that seemed to stop most of the people around here. A lot of them were annoyingly friendly.

He found himself near the food stalls for sheer force of habit, and he felt a pang of regret that Akihiko wasn't around to explore the carnival fare with him. Sure, there were festivals in Iwatodai sometimes, but this was like every fun faire any western movie advertised, which struck him as odd, considering they were a little far from Earth at the moment. He wandered the food stalls, taking in the different sights but not purchasing anything until he came to a little food cart that felt a hell of a lot more like home. After getting his little cardboard tray of takoyaki he resumed his wandering, popping a deliciously crispy ball of octopus dough and eyebrows raising as he looked down at the treat in surprised.

"Shit." He hasn't expected them to be good.

IV. Try the Network

[Shinjiro has seen a lot of weird shit. He's even gotten used to it, and the idea that he's not, in fact, dead when he should be, but seriously.]

What's with the giant birds around here?

[That's something like an introduction, right?]

Despite being only 18 years of age, Mitsuru Kirijo had experienced more than most would by the very end of their life. In fact, one could also say that she'd held more responsibility by the age of ten than most people ever would. That aspect of her life was only accounting for the mundane responsibility that came from being a member of the Kirijo family. Add the Dark Hour and Personas to that and, well, it was probably impressive that the weight of responsibility hadn't crushed her. It came close, not that she would ever voice that aloud to others, but it had yet to win out over her. Instead, she tried to use it to her advantage. After all, with all that experience and the weight of all her responsibilities, how could she possibly be surprised by anything?

Turns out there's always a surprise to be found somewhere.

There were several people she never expected to see again. It would be nice if she could claim there was only one, but recent events had made certain the list grew. The young man on a bench complaining about the free things he'd been given happened to be on that list. She blinked several times in a mixture of confusion and perhaps...joy. There were certain sparks of joy hidden behind her mostly emotionless façade, but that would not be noticeable to most people.

For a few moments she didn't approach, even though she knew he'd more than likely notice her eventually. There wasn't a crowd currently that she could blend in with and, even if there had been, her attire and bright hair stood out in a crowd. Mitsuru stood out in a crowd. She always had. It all came down to how she carried herself: proud, poised, and as if nothing in the world could possibly rattle her. If only they had seen her just a short time ago when everything had really fallen apart. They'd know the truth of it then.

After a few seconds she steeled herself to approach him. It shouldn't be possible. Not with what had happened. It just shouldn't be possible. Yet, none of this should be possible. Perhaps it's all just a dream. If so then what would the harm be in saying something?

"A welcome package our hosts graciously gifted to us upon our kidnapping. You might make them angry implying it's shit." Even though it certainly was.

Not since shortly after he and Akihiko had met Mitsuru, been pulled into the web of intrique and slight insanity that was the life of a Persona User, had Shinjiro ever needed to look up to know who approached him whenever the footsteps sounded like hers. Mitsuru carried herself with purpose, drive, and determination, but there was also a bit of uncertainty there, hidden deep under all her poise and grace. Very deep, but it was there. She was the perfect precision of an ice sculpture and he was a battering ram. It made them work well together, especially with Aki around to take the heat and the brunt of Shadow attacks. How could he not recognize the final point of their triangle?

Or have thought he wouldn't have to face them again after all the decisions he'd made. He'd never really had to deal with what Mitsuru might think of his drug use, his attempts to suppress the chaotic power of Castor when he was uncertain he could do it himself; the drugs that were killing him as surely as the bullet he'd taken for Ken. He hadn't had to worry about facing the lecture at that little choice, either. Except now, fate had evidently decided not only did he not deserve whatever rest waiting him in the afterlife, he needed a stern talking to, also. Mitsuru was pretty damned good at those.

He opened the pamphlet that came with his 'Tell Phone' and didn't look up as he responded. "Not this shit." And with his free hand, he gestured around the square. "That shit." He couldn't deny her using a curse, even if it was mocking him, made a smile tug at the corner of his mouth, though. Maybe he and Aki wore off on her more than he'd thought.

He made a motion of stretching his neck to hide that little smirk before looking up. "They got you too, huh?"

"So it would seem." For a moment she thought about pointing out that was quite a stupid question to ask. Obviously they had gotten her, she was standing right in front of him. There was no point to pointing that out though and she was oddly tired. Perhaps everything was starting to catch up to her after all. Or perhaps it was just the effect Shinjiro managed to have on her. Not that he only had that effect on her. Even Aki sometimes found himself sighing at the way the other young man handled things. If Aki was here he'd probably be able to handle all this better, but he wasn't. At least not that she had taken note of. She made a mental note to do a more complete scan of this place later.

"It's quite a bit of a step up from Tartarus, wouldn't you say?" As far as different dimensions go, this one looked a lot better than the one they usually stepped into during the Dark Hour at their school. Though, at least there, they understood their goal. This entire thing seemed a bit more...abstract. Mitsuru wasn't particularly great at abstract things. She also wasn't particularly great at social interaction in general and this was...awkward. Why was it so awkward?

"Tartarus makes sense." In the way that it didn't really make sense at all, but at least it was consistent in its inconsistency. This place he didn't know how to read or what to expect. It also didn't have a set timeline, and people could come here from wherever. "Far cry from Iwatodai, too."

Anything would be, really, but this place? It was like a fun house come to life. Weird stuff. "Sit down. You're bein' weird." And by that he meant awkward. It was for him, too. He wasn't supposed to be here, alive, breathing. He didn't know what to do with it. He'd resigned himself to it being over. Know what he hell was he supposed to do?

"I'm not certain I ever thought I'd hear that." Yet there was definitely a truth there. After how much time they had spent in that place it certainly had a strange sense of familiarity. Even more so for her considering her own personal ties to the experiments that led up to Tartarus. "It appears quite different from any place I've even heard of. Though, I must admit there's not much I know about it yet." The yet was said with a tone that implied that wouldn't last long.

"I'm being weird?" she scoffed and folded her arms across her chest and sat down. "It's not a bad idea though, I'm certain there's a lot we should talk about." The only reason she said that at all was to reaffirm that sitting down was her idea, not her listening to him. After a second she looked over at him to really try to take the situation in. That might not have been the best idea as the situation only seemed to get more complicated the longer it went on.

After another few seconds she looked down. "I think we're the only ones here." There were a million other things she should have said, but she couldn't.

At least Tartarus let them know what to expect from the place. Here, nothing was assured, everything was uncertain, and anything, literally anything, could happen. While the presence of the thing was a double-edged sword, there was a part of him comforted by the presence of Castor. Knowing he could still summon his Persona here told him he could at least handle whatever this place decided to throw at them.

Not to mention, a lot of the place looked like it hadn't fared too well in whatever happened to the place. At least they didn't have to worry about trashing the joint. He shrugged at her comment. "At least we know how Tartarus works, kind of." There was a lot of mystery around the place, but it seemed to at least be predictable.

"That's what you want to talk about?" He was surprised, but thankful. Akihiko had a way of making it normal to talk about shit. Mitsuru could make it feel like an interrogation, and he just wasn't feeling it. He could leave, but he didn't have anywhere to go, and neither did she, so if she did bring it up, whatever it was, he was staying.

"We have made a considerable amount of progress in that department." We. What a strange concept to be talking about with someone who should be dead. It seemed so much easier to talk like that though than to acknowledge the elephant in the room.

"It seemed like the most important thing to confirm." Which was true in it's own right. It did actually seem important to confirm that he hadn't run into someone she couldn't sense. Though...that was certainly unlikely. Her support abilities may not be as strong as Fuuka's but she still managed well enough. She rubbed her arm awkwardly and stole glances over at him every now and then.

"Was there something more pressing you wanted to talk about?"

"Nope." It was a quick response, clean and truthful. He most certainly did not want to talk about the decisions he'd made in the last few hours, about the stinging pain that was slowly leaving his chest, or about how it might have left everyone else. He'd have to admit his lack of forethought, his overwhelming need to protect Ken where he'd failed his mother. That was best left buried.

Like he should have been, but that didn't matter to this place, or the enigmatic beings who summoned them here, so the implications there were just as valid a topic.

And a lot safer.

"And ideas why they picked us?"

Llewellyn loved a good carnival, even if this one was rather… strange to him. Not because of the entertainment or setup, those were normal enough. It just struck him as odd when things pulled into town as though that was an easy thing to do in this world, when there seemed to be invisible blocks that kept them all rather contained.

But it wasn’t as though he was immune to distraction, especially when there was food to be sampled. The man’s diet consisted of street food back in his world, not particularly healthy, but it wasn’t like Llewellyn tended to think about that when he was choosing his next meal. He jogged in the mornings, and he never really sat down for long. It was fine!

There was such a variety to choose from, though, that even he was having a hard time deciding what to try next. The man was compiling a mental list of what was the best that he could show Rhy the next time his husband had a day off, when he heard a rather interesting reaction to some food from a young man who’d just left behind the takoyaki stand behind. Llewellyn actually did know a little about food from Japan, but takoyaki was from a little after his time.

“Am… I correct in assuming that you mean they’re good?” Forgive the rather abrupt interruption, Shinjiro, the man sometimes forgot his manners. Especially in settings like this, where food was involved. Llewellyn was guessing ‘Shit’ meant good in this case, since his expression indicated it, but he had been wrong before. The dog at his heels, a young wrinkly thing, seemed just as curious about what the food was.

Edited 2022-04-17 14:27 (UTC)

In all honesty, Shinjiro was used to people giving him a wide berth. He didn't exactly radiate amiability, and nothing about his frowning glower or narrowed eyes suggested he was open to conversation, so it wasn't expected people would talk to him, even if they did pick him out of a crowd. He was tall for his age, just under 6 feet at the age of 18, and by the time he was finished growing, he would most likely stand a bit over the mark. He was thin and wiry, though the heavy maroon trench coat he wore did something to make his already broad shoulders seem broader, and all in all, he usually cast an intimidating shadow.

And so it took him a minute to realize the excitable man near him was talking to him. He looked over after a moment, brows lowering while he finished chewing and swallowing.

"Yeah." And they were. He hadn't expected a food cart in a fantasy world with weird giant birds and magic to have genuine street takoyaki. He was pleasantly surprised. He looked down at the tray then back to Watts before holding it out, his expression not changing. "Try one." He didn't, however, offer any explanation as to what Watts might actually be trying.

Llewellyn wasn’t really most people, to be fair. The frowning glower didn’t really do a lot to deter him. He had a friend in this world who was a champion at the expression, after all. Things that warned the man away from people tended to be a little different. So… Instead he waited the Shinjiro to finish what he’d already been eating with a good-natured, very curious expression.

His brows rose a little at the offer. Not everyone was particularly keen on sharing food like he was. So he really hadn’t expected more than a confirmation on whether they were good or not. “Oh? Well- thank you, then.” He commented, taking one to eat himself, not overly concerned with the fact that he didn’t really know what he was eating. Clearly Shinjiro was enjoying it, so why worry about what it actually was until he knew if he liked it or not?

That said, Llewellyn looked pleasantly surprised by the little stuffed nuggets of dough. “Crackerjack-! these are delicious? What are they??” He asked, gesturing at the tray of takoyaki again with an even more curious expression. Sorry about the… old-timey phrases. Man didn’t really swear by most people’s standards. But the point was, he liked the food, and he was absolutely going to have to get more of this.

Shinjiro wasn't bent on judging a man for his appearance, or for the way he talked. He didn't have any expectations for this place regardless. It wasn't an afterlife, even though it should have been, considering what he'd been up to most recently in his own world, but it was actually some other reality. He had some experience with that, so it wasn't as weird as it should have been.

What was stranger was the age gaps of everyone present, but that probably had something to do with the realities they all came from being so drastically different.

"Takoyaki." He answered the question succinctly, the pronunciation suggesting he was a native speaker rather than someone who simply knew the cuisine. "Fried octopus dumplings."

Edited 2022-04-19 05:22 (UTC)

A refreshing attitude that Llewellyn would be thankful for, if he realized it. Generally, he tried not to care what people thought… but it didn’t stop him from trying to fit in some ways that were easier than others around his peers over the years.

But for now, he was focused on this rather delicious snack and the new face explaining it to him. Shinjiro didn’t give him the vibe that locals to this world did, and he didn’t recognize him… So, probably a newer arrival. The response gets a thoughtful hum, “Takoyaki… Not something I’m familiar with, so it must be cuisine from beyond my era.” He mused to himself, even in his travels, he’d never come across it. Definitely Japanese by the name. Before he could work out further, Shinjiro added what that meant. “Octopus? I’ve never had it before. In dumplings or otherwise.” He smiled brightly, “It’s quite flavourful, with the toppings and everything. Which stand did you get it from?”

The detective absolutely needed a little more, and knowing where the stand was would help if he wanted to bring Rhy by to try it later.

Shinjiro had always felt like an outsider, even with Akihiko and his sister Miki, as they were family and Shinji hadn't ever had that. He didn't let it define him, but also didn't pretend he was something or someone he wasn't. It seemed like a waste of time.

The teen could appreciate a guy who appreciated food, though, and he pointed in the direction of the unassuming food cart before popping another dumpling in his mouth.

Clearly, this fellow was someone of a few words, but that hardly bothered Llewellyn. He tended to talk enough for most people, and if not, then it was more of a companionable silence as he got absorbed in other things.

At the gesture towards the stand, his expression lit up and his eyes turned in the direction until he caught sight of the likely vendor. “Ah- thank you!” He commented, disappearing over to the stand and purchasing an order for himself.

Perhaps the teen would assume that was it. He was done being pestered… But, no.

The man was back a few moments later with a large order of Takoyaki. He was already midway through one of the dumplings when he stopped next to Shinjiro again. “I’ve had a lot of things since leaving my world, but I have yet to find an end to excellent street food.” Sad that a lot of this wouldn’t be something he could discover and enjoy if he ever went back to his world. Even if he did get to travel again, so much seemed to be from ‘after’ certain points of time.

"Can't go wrong with fried dough." It was more than that, of course, but the fried dough was a big part of it. Shinjiro was, by no means, a food scholar, though, all of his knowledge having been gained from cooking television shows and practical experience. He motioned to the other man's basket. "Just as good?"

He wondered at the authenticity, too. I'd they were in some weird other world, how did they know Japanese cuisine?

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gadaboutdetective - 2022-04-25 02:28 (UTC) - Expand

Mono had developed the bad habit of following new comers around the city. It wasn’t hard to tell. If he saw Raimon around with those welcome bags like the one he’d been given, it meant someone had arrived. At first, he followed people to see if there was anything to worry about. If they’d ‘change’ when you least expected it, looking normal only to actually be something quite dangerous like in his world. These days, though, the kid had at least realized that wasn’t normal. Sure, there were one or two people he couldn’t quite ignore the anxious feeling he got when he saw them at a distance that sent him in another direction, but for the most part, he just followed because he was curious.

Plus, this world was weird, and he felt rather encouraged to help if people looked confused.

Shinjiro looked confused. Like… Super confused. Mono wasn’t sure why, but it was more than the usual confusion of suddenly being in a weird place. So… Shadow mode activated, and he pulled the brim of his newsboy hat low over his dark eyes and began following him around. At least he meant to as he crept around the bench Shinjiro had eventually sat down on. The question over the bag he was digging through made Mono straightened slightly. “That’s your key and money stuff they give you so you don’t gotta sleep in an alley and can buy food.”

Shinjiro stiffened at the sound of the kid's voice. It wasn't that he was trying to sneak around himself or anything like that. Shinjiro didn't typically try to be quiet when he was making his way around, but the kid was a lot closer than the teen would have anticipated when he spoke. He turned at the sound of the voice, dark eyes moving over the younger boy before cutting back to the bag in his lap.

He nodded once. "Yeah, not what I was talkin' about." He cast his eyes around the small park, up at the alien stars, as if to say, 'something more general than that'. "Nice setup, though." It told the teen they wanted something more than 'go make a world'. It was intentional.

But what?

Mono would have assured the guy there wasn’t any reason to be surprised. He was sneaky, after all. You had to be as sneaky as he was to survive in his world, plus he was getting extra sneaky lessons from someone else. Well, it was mostly climbing lessons, but Mono liked to think the man would help him improve that, too. He was always really good at figuring out where Mono was, after all. He probably had some secrets that could help.

“Oh…” He responded, tone not entirely sure what to make of that. What did the guy mean? Well… Adults were weird. They worried about lots of weird stuff. Even the ones that were normal, regular people.

Still, he remained where he was, arms hanging over the side of the arms of the park bench as he glanced up at the stars. They were pretty great. You almost never saw them in the Pale City, too much cloud cover, rain, and fog. The statement, though, gets a tilt of his head. “Yeah, it’s kinda great, actually. I mean… It’s really weird, but it’s a good weird.” He paused, expression scrunching slightly. “Most of the time. Sometimes there’s bad weird, but only sometimes.”

And Shinjiro had learned to be paranoid. It was a healthy adaptation, all things considered, and it tended to happened when you started to flirt with the underworld of society rather than stick to the good side of things.

"Things that look too good to be true usually are." And there it was, at the end of Mono's story. "'Bad weird'?"

Mono nodded his agreement to that. It was very true… “Yeah, things aren’t ever like you expect them to be. Kinda, why you gotta be careful and make sure of stuff.” But this world had proven to be far better than his, even with the ‘bad weird’ that happened sometimes.

“Sometimes stuff happens. Some people said it’s because the people in charge don’t know what they’re doing. Other times someone suggested they might’ve done a thing on purpose.” Mono thought the latter was rude, and made him quite angry… But people kept discouraging him from approaching them about it, and calmed him down. “Sometimes there’s bad stuff like monsters. When I got here, we couldn’t go down to the docks?” He’d still wandered as close as he could, though, curious over the descriptions of the creatures. His tone soured a bit as he continued to think of the random ‘bad weird’ he’d seen since arriving. “And a couple months ago, there was this really stupid crystal rain. The crystals were all full of people’s memories, so you saw them without meaning to if they hit ya.”

"Why couldn't you go to the docks?" and you could now, at least that was the idea he got from the kid's implication. The idea the people in charge were using them, or at least not giving them all the information wasn't surprising in the least, though. He couldn't even muster up the will to be angry about it.

"Memory...crystals? What the hell?" That was a new one, and one he could gratefully do without, thank you very much. "Hey. What's your name, kid?"

“Because there was bad stuff there for a while.” He responded rather simply at first with a nod. He did elaborate, though… “There were these crab men monsters. They started appearing in the fog after a weird ship came to the docks.” He wasn’t really sure about the details though… Mono had been more curious about the crab men than the ship at the time, and a little worried about the monsters leaving the docks and getting people.

His tone soured further. “Yeah… They were really stupid. I didn’t like it at all, got hit with a bunch of stuff that was people’s private memories. Made me really angry and confused.” Mono hadn’t minded most of the weird or bad stuff. It was all easy to avoid. Those hadn’t been, and emotions weren’t something that he dealt with well.

The question redirected his attention, though. “I’m Mono, who’re you Mr?”

That was enough to get Shinjiro to take notice and he leaned forward to show he was listening, resting his elbows on his knees. "Crab monsters that dragged people off, huh?"

At least this place didn't sound like it would be boring. He found himself thankful he could sense his Persona at the edge of his consciousness, like a violent and powerful protector.

"Shinjiro." He nodded a greeting.

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monochromatically - 2022-04-25 02:36 (UTC) - Expand

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TD006

Shinjiro Aragaki | Persona 3 FES

I

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When the Carnival Came to Town

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Crash into Me

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