personavelvetroomdr | [open/intro]

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Ann knows this place.

This shade of blue, and the song...though its notes flow far more harmoniously than they had the last (and only) time she'd heard them, the melody itself is enough to make Ann's heartbeat kick up a notch. That song only plays in the Velvet Room--and the Velvet Room is not a place she wants to be. Lavenza had said it. Her gut had said it--and Elizabeth had confirmed it. The Velvet Room was in the control of Yaldabaoth, wearing the skin of Igor.

Ann had never met Igor, personally, but both Akira in the previous timeline and the Attendants she'd encountered had painted a vivid picture of him. Taking in her surroundings carefully (this Room matched neither the descriptions of a prison Akira had once given her, or the crumbling ruins Lavenza had pulled her into at the End of a World), Ann eyes the man she can only assume is Yaldabaoth. And, even if it is truly Igor...

She's never met the man, and she doesn't trust anything he has to say to her. She might not be garbed in her will of rebellion, currently, but Célestine is always with her, and steeling her spine with a little of her flame, Carmine stands tall and proud.

Ann takes in the doors. Makes a split second decision that she shouldn't just be rushing into making a decision; Lavenza, and Elizabeth, she trusts--and she's heard Elizabeth describe their siblings enough that she feels as though she can trust them too. She'll poke around in this unfamiliar Velvet Room for now, and see if she can't encounter one of them...or at least someone who can tell her what's going on.

[OOC: check out Ann's AU info and perms here!]

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"I've learned a few things! Still finding my feet though," Ann says. "And it is so nice to finally meet another girl; the only other one I've encountered so far is Rose." She smiles, and resists the urge to pat Futaba on the head. "Even though you're not my Futaba, I hope we can get along."

"I've met Rose, I've also met a Kasumi." She smiled. "I hope to get along too!" She tilted her head. "What things like where you are from?" She knew they were from different worlds which meant there had to be differences.

"I'm from apparently a very uncommon, Goro took me in after Mom died, he didn't get to kill her someone else did."

Ann mentally rears back, just a little. "Oh yeah, wow, that's majorly different from my world," she says. "I'm from uh, one of the ones where he does kill her. You're actually a Phantom Thief! Or you were..." she frowns. Ugh, but time travel is complex. "It's a long story, but I sort of went back in time. So in the first timeline, my Futaba was a Phantom Thief called Oracle, and in my current one she's not a thief. She is helping me go through her mum's research though!"

"Yeah, that sounds like a long story. Being Oracle seems much more common among things." She was right thinking that Ann was close to her version of her. "Mom's research is certainly a lot to go through and understand. What are you using it for?"

It would have some assistance in the metaverse sure, but it wasn't foolproof or completed.

"Initially, we were mostly using it to try and figure out who else was involved in it," Ann says, "but then we found the chunks--the ones that could be salvaged, at least--that covered the realspace testing they did, since they didnt really have consistent access to metaspace, and we're trying to figure out a way for us to reliably access some form of Persona in realspace. We haven't got very far yet, but it's still interesting work!" And would come in handy if they could ever figure it out, for, you know, spontaneously combusting Masayoshi Shido from a distance at one of his stupid political rallies.

A persona in the real world. That was a concept she should do more research in. She was going to get her mom's work back out. "What all have you tried?" Maybe she could help figure out what her mom wrote.

"It's a lot of mental exercises, mostly. Since most of it was rough theoretical work in the first place, we're sort of flying blind here. Your mum did make vague mentions of groups that have made tech that creates a sort of false metaspace and speculated on what else they could do though, so my Futaba has been chasing that tail, trying to see if she can find anything in the digital ether." And in the meanwhile, Ann has been...meditating. So far, at least, Célestine does seem a little more 'present' in her head when in realspace.

That's a lot more than she expected. "If mom knew of someone being able to do that, there's bound to be some data on it. The hard part is where to look." She thought for a moment. "Crow might have the answer to that." There was the not quite a gun thing Ren had too. That might be how to do it, but she'd rather not give that information out. At least about Ren.

"Mm, that is the hard part," Ann agrees. "Especially since in my world, the people who are most likely to have those connections or answers are all involved in Shido's conspiracy--and we're not ready to run the risk of tipping them off yet, when so far they don't know we exist." She gives it a moment's thought. Futaba is probably talking about the Goro that goes by 'Crow' here, but it's also not a bad train of thought in general. "Getting Goro to poke around once I go home might be a good idea..."

But enough of that. She smiles down at Futaba. "What about you? What have you been up to in your world?"

She seemed familiar, that was a very nice change of things. "Ah, I work with my brother, we are working on taking down our father, but he seems to think we need the phantom thieves. I think I can handle it on my own." She smiled, it seemed joyful except for the fact it didn't meet her eyes, which she quickly closed. She knew that was her weakness from all the times she tried to fool Goro.

"Goro is a pretty good teammate all in all."

Ann nodded slowly. "I'm mostly working on my own, too. Me and Goro working together is...pretty new, I guess. So I'm still adjusting to it. But teammates are good to have! And I can vouch for the Phantom Thieves being pretty solid. In most worlds, at least." She can understand wanting to handle things herself, though.

"I guess...my advice would be to keep going on your own, but if it gets to a point where it's too dangerous for just you...there's no shame in reaching out for help. I'm sure your brother would rather have you safe than revenge, you know?"

She owed him, but that was besides the point. "Of course." She looked to the side of her. "What do you do for fun? There has to be something you do between things." She didn't do much that was, for multiple people. She was alone a lot, so she entertained herself.

"Hm, me?" God. If Futaba had asked this of her a year ago, before she'd traveled back in time, she'd have plenty of answers. As it is, right now, she's pretty sure she doesn't really do anything purely for fun. It's depressing, but she's forgotten what a hobby is. "I model as a job, and that's pretty fun. I play some video games, too--I prefer console games over mobile games, but I do have a bunch of rhythm games downloaded on my phone, too. Outside of that..." Is eating sweet things a hobby? "I like going out with friends?" Why did that sound like a question, Ann! "What about you?"

"You model?" She stared in awe. She was really pretty, it was good that she put that to use. God, that was so cool! She also played games, oh Futaba was really liking her now. "I play on pc mostly, but I also have rhythm games on my phone!" She was practically buzzing with excitement. "I don't do much, I'm home alone most of the time."

"Mm, yeah! My parents both work in the industry, so I got into it young, but I've ended up really enjoying it...I pretty much get to scout out and book my own jobs now, too." She smiles fondly at how Futaba is all but buzzing in excitement. "Rhythm game buddies!" The joys of being born in the world at just the right time to love Hatsune Miku.

"Ah," Ann says. Some things don't change, huh? "My parents are overseas a lot, so I'm pretty alone, too...I've gotten used to it, though. I have people who love me, even if they don't live with me, you know?"

That was so interesting to hear. She found her own way into the industry because of her parents but she does it on her own now. "Goro is at work most of the time, being a detective and in interviews." The other job she joined him on. It was just her alone most of the time. "I get that. When I was little I remember my mom being at work and going long times without seeing her. I'd stay with Sojiro." She hummed.

"Your Goro does all that too, huh?" The mum stuff...seems Wakaba is pretty similar in every world, too. "Do you still live with Sojiro now?" Wait... "Is your last name also Sakura now, or...?"

She shook her head. "No, my last name is Akechi. I don't remember much from when Mom died. I just remember being with Goro after it. I don't have many memories of Sojiro either. It's strange that I remembered that much."

She masked her thoughts with a smile, "Goro could tell you more. He's here somewhere."

Oh, wow. From her vague discussion with her Goro, she'd sort of surmised that Akechi had been a fake name he'd picked out himself. She wonders if it's the same for this Futaba, or if it's their actual name--or, hey, if she'd just totally misunderstood what her Goro had been saying.

"Oh, that's nice!" She says. "Given all of the different people from different worlds here, you must feel super lucky that your brother is here with you."

"I do. I'm glad he's not alone either. He's pretty reckless on his own." Not that she wasn't. "I tend to male sure he keeps a good focus on the goal."

She hummed. "I also adopted a little brother here. Though he's older than me now. I taught him some skills in the metaverse. I love him very much."

"Do you have anyone back home?"

"Recklessness is indeed his middle name," Ann jokes. "I don't think that's something that changes across universes much, even if he'd never admit it."

Oh, wow. It's strange to think of Futaba taking someone younger under her wing--Futaba is firmly The Baby in Ann's mind. But her as a big sister... "That's cute," she says wistfully. "I'm sure you'll be a great older sibling, Futaba-chan."

She considers Futaba's final question. "Lots. Friends, mostly, not family...but the kind of friends who are family, in the end. My Futaba is one of them, actually."

"Reckless might was well be," a strange thing to agree on. She was close to her version of her? Interesting. It seemed many people were close to her. The Goros were the opposite. Though she had a lot of pride around Ren.

"The people I care about, well, they are here." She taps her toe on the ground. "I've ended up with more here than there is back home." There was a strange look in her eyes. Was this really the place she had decided to make her home.

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