[EVENT] Memory Tapes

[vrdr_mods]

On the morning of November 21st, denizens in the Velvet Room will awake to a message on their phones or by their bedsides in an envelope. Perhaps even on their computer screens.

Greetings! If you've received this message, then you've been selected as a participant in a new activity to strengthen bonds within this community.

In order to facilitate connections with your fellow residents, we advise you to watch this video. Watch it and return the tape to its rightful owner. If you lacked the means to watch VHS tapes before, we have provided you with the necessary equipment.

Failure to do so may put your own memories at risk. Do not be selfish, lest you find yourself struggling to recall crucial moments of your life. You have no way of knowing which memories have been shared, so ask yourself if it is worth the risk to selfishly hoard another's secrets.

They will soon find a VHS tape, with a case that gives off a soft, blue glow to symbolize its importance. If they lack a TV or VCR, they will find one in their living space.

What they do is up to them, but they should heed the warning, if they value their own memories.


[For links to characters' memories, please see this post in the OOC comm. Have fun!]

Comments

[vampirethief]

Ryuji and Sumire are. Ryuji's a zombie. He died and came back as one in Kamoshida's palace. Much like I died and came back as a vampire.

Sumire is also a vampire though she didn't go through the actual dying process because she awakened to her persona while still actualized, and still believing she was Kasumi. In hindsight, her awakening should have been a red flag because instead of the usual blood and screaming of our persona awakenings, she basically had a magical girl transformation if it was Halloween themed.

[It was sure something. Even seeing a moment of her covering her ears briefly before they became pointy, then covering her mouth briefly before moving them to reveal fangs (and doing so in a way that implying blowing a kiss).]

Morgana is a nekomata and Yusuke's a kitsune, and I'm not sure how long either live for, but Morgana did mention that kitsunes live for centuries and Yusuke will gain more tails as time goes on. He only has two fox tails at the moment.

The other girls... Well I'm not sure how long werewolves, werecats, satyrs, and plant nymphs live for, but they are mortal. I think Morgana said that were-creatures do have a slightly longer lifespan than humans.

[So yeah, Ren is dreading when most of the girls will eventually pass away. At least he'll still have his boyfriend, the guys, and Sumire.]

[rosemaudite]

Well, congratulations on your success.

[fogboundcrow]

Rather cruel, that there are all these discrepancies. It sounds like it will make navigating the world quite tricky, going forward, especially for those who no longer visibly age.

[It's beyond his comprehension, outside of the ream of fiction, but that makes it no less tragic.

So different from losing a parent from age. That's to be expected, if anything.]

[fogboundcrow]

Thank you.

[His grin softens to a more sheepish smile.]

But how have the gardens been holding up? It is starting to get colder now...

[vampirethief]

Yeah. I know Sumire still wants to make her and her sister's dream with gymnastics come true, but I'm not sure if she'll even be able to. I hope she manages to before her lack of aging causes too many problems.

[It is quite different. Ren already knows he'll have to leave all his human confidants behind, which will suck but it's life.]

[rosemaudite]

It is, but anything that can't handle winter weather already has cover, if it needs it.

[herewardbound]

"... Distorted how? Can you describe what it is you're seeing?"

[midnightmaiden]

"It's a lot of static and hissing between what looks like my awakening." Exactly the way she remembers it, even. So why the discrepancies? What does it mean?

[fogboundcrow]

In some respects, it may actually prove advantageous, if only for a time. After all, the retirement age for gymnasts is rather young.

[At least, based on what he understands.

An unaging body would certainly buy her more time, at least until people start to grow suspicious.]

[fogboundcrow]

Do you have any advice? Crow seems to be getting ready for the winter season again, but you and Noir-san certainly have more of an expertise where gardening is concerned.

[Then again, perhaps he's underselling Crow, since somebody had to tend to the garden even after Yu left in his time.]

[vampirethief]

Oh really? I had no idea. I guess it has some in common with the idol industry.

[True, she doesn't have to worry about getting old, and aches in joints. Ren's pretty sure he might be able to buy some time before people start to notice him not aging either.]

[rosemaudite]

It depends entirely on what he's planted, but I'm sure he has it well in hand. If he doesn't, he's welcome to ask.

[lostgemini]

"No need to tell me twice!"

Kou growls as he dodges tentacle after tentacle, shooting until his gun's completely empty, and moving on to slashing them to hell and back with his sword after. He's clutching his tape close to his chest the entire time, furiously defending it from the tentacles. He's noticed the gap forming, and he's slowly fighting his way towards it-

CLAP!

-reality ripples as Kira appears next to him, and Kou notices just in time to not make him a few centimeter short with his sword- sending it flying at a tentacle instead. He doesn't know what kind of powers Kira has to do that- it has something to do with that whip- but he doesn't care right now. Instinctively, he reaches back to Kira, grasping his hand tight with his gauntlet as he follows along. The sword he can replace, it's fine, if they get got by Maruki and brainwashed-

"Freak out about it later! We need to get out, now," he yells back, rushing forwards. He grits his teeth at the once again familiar walls of the interrogation room, forcing his mind to stop thinking about it-

"Stop right there!" an echoing voice calls out, a mix of Goro and Amamiya and Maruki and- but Kou ignores it, his lungs burning as he and Kira run for their fucking lives. Tentacles undulate under the walls, chase after them, try to form into people only for them both to rush by. No matter where they go, they get chased, forcibly blocked off, and redirected.

"You said you knew the way out?!" Kou yells over the chaos at Kira, still clutching his tape desperately.

[linkclickakira]

"Uh-" He barely managed to duck a tentacle rushing at his face as the echoing voices of what he was familiar with, growing even more unfamiliar by the second as he finds his mind held in a trance almost. "-I can get us out. Not a way out. But for that we need both hands and I need to set up few things-!"

He shook his head as the walls around them finally started to calibrate again. The hidden shrieks withheld with a faint rumbling as the walls read in a few block letters, Recreating environment...

A wall closed in behind their running forms- sealing them into a one way path, remiscent of the very start of the maze. The walls were now drawn in asphalt, the hallways leading to a certain interrogation room where screams couldn't possibly be heard.

It seems as if Akechi-san was right about him after all...

You have been detained, Kurusu and will be transferred soon. You are under suspicion of various counts of first-degree and second-degree murder, manipulation of evidence, an accomplice in numerous crimes and...god knows what else you have done.

A line of blood followed from Akira's mouth as he pursed his lips.

Akira heaved a deep breath and pulled his hand away from Corvus's. "Okay, I need you to cover me," he goes for his bag and pulls out a rifle. A legitimate one, heavy as he quickly goes on a quick rant while throwing the bag over his shoulder. "This is real by the way. The magazines and everything are loaded just flick this switch," he gestures at a small rotator switch mounted at the side of the gun and shifts it to SEMI and holds it out for the other. He makes sure to keep walking, a flashbomb clinking to the cuffs of his jeans. "And I will be needing your gauntlet out so we can high-five with no issue," he holds out the gun for the other- his finger off the trigger as they stop- for a moment.

"If we run into the actual Maruki, a real gun would go better."

[lostgemini]

Shit, is he bleeding? Spitting up blood denotes organ damage, what the hell happened while they were separated...?

Kou has no time to think about it; between the tentacles and the shifting scene, even if he did have any energy left, he doesn't have any healing skills, nor does he have any healing items. He accepts the gun with grit teeth, stuffing his tape under his armpit, unwilling to let it go.

"Got it," he growls, pulling off his gauntlet and readying his stance with the gun. He's not exactly experienced with rifles, but it'll have to do.

Within seconds, tentacles shoot out with horrible, ear-piercing noises, trying to get to them both, some of them shifting into the vaguest versions of people, voices echoing through the room. They beg, they scream, they cry, Goro cries, for him, for Kira, and Kou's eyes water, despite himself.

"Fuck OFF!" he shouts, voice trembling-

He fires.

The kickback is more than he's used to, and he has to readjust himself constantly in order not to lose his tape. It's all he can do to keep the tentacles from getting to them, to keep the fakes from forming. Wails and cries of agony in his voice try to dissuade them, but he ignores it, he has to ignore it-

"Hurry up! I can't- I can't keep them off our backs forever!"

[takutomaruki]

[Well let's just say after a certain long day, or perhaps even days of recovery- Maruki has now finally found the energy to finally respond and actually understand how the network works. He even went as far as to go through this specific Akechis post and a certain post where him and Hannei talked closely]

I believe I have your tape.

Where would you like to meet?

[mirrorkechi]

Oh great he does have a tape floating out there.
Wonderful.
I see, thank you for contacting me then, how about we meet at the Junes in the Inaba door? I can be there in 30 minutes

He still isn’t quite sure what to make of the man, he hasn’t heard great things but also hasn’t met the man himself either. Better keep it on neutral ground then.

[takutomaruki]

I won't be able to make it there that quickly.

Make it two hours. Please.

[mirrorkechi]

very well, I’ve no reason to argue against that. I’ll see you in two hours then

Wonder what the hold up could be? Oh well, that’s not his problem, if he’s curious he could just ask Hannei to snoop around.
And currently he isn’t.

[takutomaruki]

Okay.

That's all Mockingbird would see on the other side.

---

The quiet hum of fluorescent lights buzzed softly in the dim room as Maruki sat slouched in a chair, one arm trembling as he tried to wrap fresh gauze around the gnarled, pulsating wound on his left hand. His lab—the same one that had once been his Palace—was now a patchwork of reality and unreality and a whole fucking mess

Files and bookshelves stood where twisted roots and distorted landscapes once claimed dominance. The remnants of his power lingered like ghosts, whispering to him from the corners of his consciousness.

The mirror on the far wall reflected a version of himself he barely recognized. The black-green scarring that crawled across his face like veins seemed to pulse in time with his heartbeat. He winced as he touched the edge of his face mask—a haphazardly stitched piece of black conjured to fit his face while he worked away the healing spell in the background. The greenish hue seeped past the edges, an eerie reminder of Azathoth’s lingering presence.

His Persona was silent now, but its betrayal echoed louder than any words.

“Damn it...” Maruki muttered, his voice raw. The gauze unraveled again in his shaking fingers, and he slammed a fist against the desk. The pain shot up his arm like a firework, but he welcomed it. It was grounding.

The memory of Corvus—of Kou—stabbed at his mind. The look of sheer agony on his face, the anger that had echoed through the trauma maze... It hadn’t been meant to hurt him. Maruki had only wanted to help.
To show him a path forward, past grief. Happiness.

But instead, he had unleashed horrors that no one should ever endure.

And in the end, Azathoth had deemed him unworthy of even his own body’s autonomy.

The bandage slipped loose again. This time, Maruki forced himself to breathe and tried again. His hands steadied, bit by bit, as he worked. He had learned to patch himself up after his power turned inward, when the Megidolaons had ravaged his body. Each layer of gauze and tape was both a physical necessity and a ritual—a reminder of his failures, yes, but also that he was still alive. Barely.

Alive enough to make amends. Or try.

After finishing the last knot, he leaned back in his chair and stared at the directory on his desk. Another tape bearing a label, a name, a story. His eyes fell on one in particular: Mockingbird. Hannei. Another Akechi, another thread to untangle. His body screamed for rest, but guilt refused to let him stop.

With a sigh, he reached for the mask he’d prepared to cover the veins. Its surface felt scratchy against his fingertips, and he hesitated before wearing it to his face. The scarring resisted, flaring briefly in pain before quieting down. The green-black lines, while still visible at the edges, were mercifully obscured.

Maruki stood, every movement slow and deliberate.

The tape labeled Mockingbird rested on top of the directory now. His fingers brushed over the label, lingering for a moment as he gathered his thoughts.

“Maybe this time... I’ll get it right,” he whispered, his voice barely audible over the hum of the room.

With that, he gets up, leaves the Lab with the tape tucked in the wide pocket of his black hoodie (one that he widened enough using his persona) and opens the door stabnding effortlessly at the side of the streets of Odaiba.
Whether it was simply the cruel twist of fate or something else entirely, he's back in the cold blue room. The woman's voice singing to him as he looked onward.

Inaba.

[fogboundcrow]

I suppose I can always let him know. ...Or, well. Perhaps I don't need to.

[A sheepish smile takes hold.]

Sometimes even I forget about the memory link.

[rosemaudite]

It must be the sort of thing that would fade into the background after a while. Still, I can't say I'd enjoy dealing with it myself.

[Not least because she wouldn't know how to stop that oncoming hell before it started.]

Inaba

[mirrorkechi]

You know, he did mean to visit this space sooner, especially after Hannei oh so gratefully regaled him with her adventure here when he was trying to find her before.
Frustration of that miscommunication aside, the place is quaint.
As small towns are.
Not that he’d know, he’s been in the city As long as he can remember.

But the Junes wasn’t hard to find, even when he arrived a bit early to make sure he wasn’t caught unaware, or worse, not punctual.
So he’s just been idly browsing the front of the store, still in sight of the entrance as he waited for Maruki to arrive.
…
Wow cognitive stores really do have everything, he’s not convinced the actual Junes has product this… varied.

He’s holding a novelty bobble head of his own face and contemplating chucking it out a window.
There’s a whole internalized debate with his persona, really this is just ridiculous, it’s not even a good bobble head!

[fogboundcrow]

I'm sure Crow still bears the brunt of it, but I suppose it's just that I don't feel as though we're synonymous. I'd like to think my path has diverged in many ways.

[But he shrugs, because despite the divergence, that connection remains.]

[rosemaudite]

Of course it has. He didn't experience this place at thirteen. You did.

[It's a bit like Magpie and Wagtail, in that respect.]