personavelvetroomdr | whisper that the past is gone eternally

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whisper that the past is gone eternally

It's the Shibuya Crossing. The big, famous one, with all the crowds and the traffic and the 109 building overlooking it all.

And that's the thing.

The 109 building.

Paying no mind to the sea of empty cognitions around him, a Goro Akechi stands in the center of the crosswalk, staring up at the number-faced building with a frown. If you were looking for any Goro Akechi in particular, however, this one almost transparently isn't him. Twenty-one years of age and dressed like the masculine line of a Victorian goth brand was thrown over his head like a bucket of cold water, this Akechi stares at one of the most familiar landmarks of Tokyo like it's a river in a desert and he hasn't quite decided if he wants to take a drink.

He's back.

(Or, at the very least, he's no longer where he was. Her Shibuya was a 109 as well. And there was that strange room...)

"If the Shibuya Game has gone down the shitter again," he says, seemingly addressing nobody, or possibly the phone he's pulled from his pocket to glare at, "I am going to go after the Composer myself."

He lifts his phone. (It's the same phone he's always had. The only thing that hasn't changed, for anyone with a keen enough eye for detail. There's a new vinyl sticker on the back, a stylized skull in red at an angle, but it's the same phone as ever.) Snaps a picture. No change in the photo. Closes that, opens a different app, snaps again. His frown intensifies.

(It is, by now, a good thing that the cognitions are just filler that will continue to idle in whatever routine they're running, because otherwise he would surely have been hit by a car, right? But the crowd continues to wander around him, heedlessly.)

Finally, he lowers his phone, sends the photo to someone on his contacts, and apparently gives up, shoving it back into his pocket. The cognitions resume the flow of normal traffic, clearing the crossing so that cars can pass through, as he goes over to Hachiko to lean up against the side of the statue.

"I didn't miss the not having any idea what's going on," he tells the dog, firmly firmly and with a hint of melancholy. "Oh, if only a real person would show up with the answers right about now. Why, I'd even consider buying them a coffee for the trouble."

Despite nominally being addressed to the bronze canine, the way he lifts the volume of his voice makes it clear that it's addressed to you, onlooker, whoever you are.

[[OOC: I don't actually care what format you use i just always write introspective-y starters in prose. tldr twewy au post-canon post-death akechi]

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It's funny, actually. We were celebrating the aftermath of Kamoshida's palace at the Wilton when I had to intervene between Ryuji, Ren, and Shido himself.

[He winces at the memory, but otherwise remains composed. It's fine. He's fine. No big deal.]

I, of course, knew how to provide just the right flattery to diffuse the situation. At the time, he didn't seem to recognize me as his biological son, which is fine. I have a vastly superior dad as it stands. I will get to Shido's palace in time, but not until I am certain the Thieves are prepared for the dangers within it.

The question, I suppose, is what you'll meet in there if not yourself. I was the most dangerous tool in his arsenal, after all.

[It's bitter and sharp and sour - something he would, under normal circumstances, only say to someone who might understand it.]

I imagine there's still someone doing his dirty work for him, if he's already garnered the attention of the Phantom Thieves.

Well, he's garnered my attention, anyway. Even if I have a family now, it's been impossible not to monitor his rather sudden rise to fame, particularly when combined with waves of sudden cognitive changes distinct from and preceding changes of heart.

[It rolls off the tongue with an air of resentment, but otherwise sugary sweet.]

But if I had to guess, if he has any such cognition, it would be one Dr. Takuto Maruki. Then again, I suppose it depends on the exact nature of his palace in other worlds versus my own. For instance, Wakaba Isshiki never died and was instead incapacitated with a seemingly unexplainable amnesia that we only just undid.

Maruki? I'm not familiar with the name.

[It's presented more as a point of data than anything else - he can't judge what the man's involvement with Shido might or might not be. Hard to do that when he's never heard the name before.

... And if it was in connection with cognitive research, he would remember that.]

...I find it hard to believe Shido would let her live, even if I wasn't there to plant the metaphorical bullet. There's plenty of ways to die in a hospital, after all.

[He would know. Plenty of players have gone through its doors only to wake up on the other side in the end.]

He's a well regarded therapist with an interest in cognitive psience.

[Which should be perhaps a little alarming. For this Akechi, it's even more so, knowing how far he is able to go in other worlds...]

But you see, it isn't an ordinary hospital. Mitsuru Kirijo is not a woman so easily trifled with, and I don't believe he can afford to meddle in the affairs of the Kirijo Group. Not only that, but it is my understanding that her research mysteriously disappeared the very same night she collapsed.

[That bitter smile flattens.]

I suspect that Maruki stole it. Perhaps he's keeping it hidden in order to have leverage with Shido, but that's mere speculation.

[It's mostly alarming that Akechi hasn't heard of him. Maybe he's dead, killed by one of Shido's more mundane accomplices. That would fit. Wakaba was set up the way she was because she had family who would have looked into the matter otherwise, after all.]

That would do it. He was wary of the Kirijo Group in my world, all the more so when I discovered that Mitsuru didn't exist in Mementos at all.

[At the time, he'd thought she was just too far out of range - it's not as though she spends all her time in Tokyo, much less the center of it. But now... Well, an issue for later.][

Edited 2023-09-18 22:53 (UTC)

Ah, that would be because she's a Persona user, as are many of her peers. There's a surprising number of them out there, no doubt under Shido's nose.

[Ah, but the thought of Mitsuru beckons a soft chuckle. That's a fun little bombshell up his sleeve, isn't it?]

To be honest, she's a dangerous adversary regardless, seeing how she can summon a Persona in reality.

I was beginning to guess as much, if her company is specifically involved in cognitive incidents to the point that they'd intervene in Wakaba Isshiki's case, but I appreciate the confirmation.

[There aren't a lot of other options, really!

If this Akechi is looking to unsettle his senior, though, he won't be getting a bite. The older Akechi simply cocks his head, putting a hand up to his chin in thought.]

Interesting. I can't imagine it's a secret weapon she needs often, otherwise it wouldn't be much of a secret. I wonder how it works.

[Does it create a small cognitive space around her? Bring the planes into close enough association that there can be bleedover? He almost hopes she appears, now.]

[Ah, a relaxed reaction. Certainly more so than his counterpart, but that's fine. It's really a curiosity, to see how others will take it. It was certainly a shock to him as a kid.

...Granted, some may argue that he is still a kid.]

There are special devices that enable it, though some Persona users are simply so powerful they need not use said devices. Or they simply got their power through other means and could always summon in real life. I believe the Persona users of the 1990's were one such case, and since arriving here I've learned that they obtained their power from a being called Philemon.

[So perhaps that's the trick. This Philemon grants them the power more easily... One day, he'll have to do more research.]

[... Even more interesting, frankly. His eyebrows are raised behind his bangs, but with more curiosity and do go on than anything.]

The cognitive abilities I have now can be used to affect the minds of those in the 'real world' in a way that I always suspected was similar to the influence of our cognitive world. Certainly my experience in the Metaverse gave me an edge in using them.

[As both a Player and a Reaper, honestly. Setting up Noise in people's minds for the sake of Missions falls under his purview more often than not, now, rather than just being a mere monitor of the game.]

Oh?

[Well, now it's his turn to watch the other with intense fascination, chin in hand as the wheels in his head spin wildly.]

What sort of influence, specifically? Is it akin to a change of heart, or something else entirely?

Far less dramatic than that - arguably on the far opposite end of the scale.

[There's a pause - and then the younger Akechi will find himself thinking, inexplicably, about a nice cup of tea. What about a nice cup of tea? Whatever his mind would naturally suggest for the phrase suddenly appearing in his thoughts without obvious context.

Considering that he's familiar with cognitive phenomena, he's far more likely to pick up on the fact that the thought doesn't originate from him than the average person would. If he didn't, then the way his older self continues will make it obvious.]

Imprinting is usually little more than a sort of mental prompt or trigger - it can help people who are stuck trying to remember something or come up with an idea, but it's not usually enough to control someone's actions or desires.

There's a few people with an extra trick or two - I can prompt someone into saying what's really on their mind without a filter, like a far lesser version of my old Metaverse abilities - but for the most part, psychic interaction between the Underground and the real world is limited to Imprinting.

[...What.

His eyes blink wide open, and he reaches for his temple, not in a reflexive response to pain, but because what. Tea? He's just suddenly thinking about making tea?

That feels very abnormal.]

I'd almost be offended if that wasn't so benign. That seems like a power that could easily be exploited with the wrong intentions behind it, but if it's truly that subtle, then I can't say it's harmful.

There was also a fad for a while for a simplified version of an Oujia board called Reaper Creeper that actually did work, so long as your movements were slow enough that the living didn't think they'd bumped the damn thing.

[~~Reaper Creeper controls my beloathed.~~]

That was useful while it was around. But yes, the most most people can do with Imprinting is pushing someone into some irresponsible financial decisions on impulse. It's possible to do a bit more than that with some planning ahead, but it's tedious to attempt without the assistance of someone on the other side who's in on the Game.

[There's a capital letter there if you listen for it.]

I can imagine it was all rather frustrating coming hot off the heels of the Metaverse, then. Particularly with the unique power Call of Chaos affords...

[The way he mentions Call of Chaos, with a subtle narrowing of the eyes and a slight edge to his words suggests there's something deeper than simply knowing it from his counterpart.

Curious.]

[The thing about being the new arrival is that the older Akechi has no reason to think that this younger him doesn't have the Call of Chaos. Though he notes the edge... Well.]

I didn't have time to be frustrated, at the beginning. The first few days were... Well, imagine a dangerous Palace on maximum alert and the Shadows are stronger than you and can't be reasoned with. That's about what it was like.

[In other words, he was too busy fighting for his life to register frustration in particular. It was all just a blur of terror and stress, so there's a fairly equal edge to his voice as he talks about it - a memory that hasn't been entirely dulled by time.]

That's not too unlike the TV world, if I'm being honest. Those Shadows couldn't be negotiated with, and the layouts were randomized, much like Mementos, though I'd have to question if your enemies included masked tables and golden hands.

[Heh. TV world shadows came first for him, too, so them resembling Personas was certainly a surprise, come the Metaverse.]

Noise usually take the form of animals. They're not unlike Shadows, but frankly, they're cognitively even less.

[Shadows have some degree of substance behind them, some weight on the cognitive plane. Noise are just that.]

They're, effectively, the ground-up feelings and memories of the dead-and-less-than-dead that have yet to disperse. Static and ground pork of the soul. The seafoam that the mermaid turns into at the end of the tale.

If that seafoam was literally a pack of vicious wolves trying to rip your throat out, that is.

[And then Taboo Noise are worse because you can't even hurt them half the time! Everything was bad!]

So echoes of cognition, essentially? But not literal ghosts- those do exist, and I imagine they're a fair bit different in many regards.

[Sometimes at the shrine, a ghost would appear... And of course, there are the gods and other paranormal entities throughout Japan.

Still, the allusion to The Little Mermaid isn't lost. The words don't leave him stunned or speechless.]

Am I to assume you couldn't wield Loki or Robin Hood?

You are speaking to one, technically.

[Obviously ghosts exist, or at least, the direct souls of the deceased continuing to exist in some form or another.

The grimace on his face is probably answer enough to that question.]

Although the Underground is similar in many ways to the Metaverse, the two are not the same. No Personas, even now, and my abilities are much more developed than when I was a Player just starting out.

True, but you seem like a rather unique case.

[Certainly not a conventional spirit wailing in the night, at any rate.]

...So first you mention a Game, now you mention Players. This all sounds rather elaborate.

We're actually not all that uncommon. There's just the existing on a separate plane of reality thing. Though, technically I no longer live in our Shibuya, so perhaps it's unique to that world...

[Thoughtful chin prop, while he organizes his thoughts.]

The Reaper's Game is - in theory - a last chance at life for those who died before their time. It lasts seven days, and in theory, if you win, you get to go back to life. Most Players are between fourteen and twenty-five, though I've seen a handful further to either end.

[The young ones don't tend to survive long.]

But if you lose - and there are many ways to lose - you're Erased. Which, now that I've seen it more and more, I think scares me more than anything in the Metaverse. Erasure isn't simply ceasing to exist, although that's what many Players end up thinking.

It's being removed from the collective unconscious. People who were close to you will still remember you, but people with only casual knowledge of you? That barista who knows your order and has it ready as soon as you walk in the door? The math teacher who only knows you as a mediocre student? As far as people like that are concerned, you never existed.

When you've been Erased, you disappear. That's the bet you're putting on the table, in every version of the Game. Fail, and face Erasure.

So they're willing to forfeit their afterlives for a chance to live anew... Quite the gamble, and I assume there is no way in which anyone besides the winner can triumph.

[That's so... harrowing, really. Cruel, to say the least. It'd be one thing if they were banished back to the afterlife. That would be fair...

But when are these things ever truly fair?]

For what it's worth, I haven't seen any evidence of any other kind of literal afterlife.

[Is he ruling it out entirely? No. But would he put money on it existing? Absolutely not.

It's dust to dust, as far as he's concerned. In many ways, he's more comfortable with that - the idea that you only have one life, and it's yours to run or ruin.]

Those who manage to reach the end of the Game without being the 'winners' can also choose to play again, or to join the ranks of the Game's overseers and support staff, the Reapers. The latter is what I chose, in the end.

The presence of ghosts suggests the possibility, but I suppose we'll never know for certain until our time comes. For my sister's sake, I do hope a heaven exists...

[It would be sad otherwise. The belief that her mother is in heaven has brought her so much comfort...

He sighs, but listens to the information of this Game.]

Still, I can see why you took that path. At least as a Reaper, you continue to exist, and you aren't subject to the whims of this Game, I suspect.

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some of this is headcanon but I CAN back it up

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