[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

[fruitknife]

Rude of 'em.

Well, come by whenever and you can have it back. [He does at least include directions to the dorm in Iwatodai.]

[undyingcrow]

Very well.

[This is exceptionally awkward. Thankfully, the directions are helpful enough, and before long, he enters the dorms.]

[fruitknife]

[He's greeted, first off, by a dog. Koromaru barks cheerfully. Hi new person!]

What's that? [There's a brief clatter in the direction of what must be a kitchen, and then Shinji emerges. Depending on what Akechi's looked up about his new employer back home, this is a face he might have seen before (so is Koromaru's, for that matter), if likely only in photos.]

Oh, hey. You here for the tape?

[undyingcrow]

[Oh. Akechi looks down at the curious pooch, then tentatively offers a gloved hand to sniff.]

That's right.

[He watches closely, trying to get a read on Shinji.]

[fruitknife]

Just a sec, then. [While Shinji's off grabbing it from wherever he stashed it, Koromaru's more than happy to have a sniff.

It's not long before Shinji returns with the tape. He didn't bother ditching his apron at any point, making him the obvious source of the previous noise in the kitchen, and his face is pretty impassive, even as he hands it over.]

Waking up when you didn't plan on it's a real bitch, isn't it.

[undyingcrow]

[He accepts the tape with a raised eyebrow. Rather an interesting admission, there.]

Ah. So that's the memory you obtained.

[Interesting...]

And are you implying that you've lived through similar circumstances?

[fruitknife]

Sure did. Figured I was dead, woke up five months later.

[undyingcrow]

A coma, I presume?

[That, or some other form of resurrection.

Five months is quite a while, though...]

[fruitknife]

Yep.

[Once Akechi has the tape in hand, Shinji goes over to a coat rack, fishing in the pocket of the red trenchcoat on it. Eventually he comes up with... well, presumably that used to be a pocket watch. There's still a sizeable bullet lodged in it.]

[undyingcrow]

[Akechi's eyes gravitate to the... is that a watch? Goodness.]

A pocket watch saved you? That's rather impressive.

[fruitknife]

Only because a friend of mine went lookin' for it. Otherwise I would've ended up just as dead as I figured I was.

[undyingcrow]

Well then. That's quite a lucky coincidence...

[If you can call it that. All the same, he does spend a bit longer staring at the watch with this new understanding.]

Frankly, I'm still not entirely sure what saved me. Sheer will power, or perhaps something more...

[fruitknife]

Weirder shit's happened. It wouldn't surprise me.

[undyingcrow]

[Hmm... True. By all accounts, it's hard to simply draw the line with supernatural phenomena.]

So, how did you cope with your continued existence?

[fruitknife]

Didn't have very long to start gettin' my head around it before I got shoved into an interdimensional space. Not this one.

[undyingcrow]

[He stares for a moment.]

...So this is rather mundane to you, then.

[Fascinating...]

In my case, the circumstances were significantly more mundane, although that may change thanks to Mitsuru Kirijo.

[fruitknife]

Oh, Mitsuru's sticking her nose in? [Despite the question, so far as Shinji's had any variation in his tone of voice so far, he sounds... pretty positive about that.

Koromaru barks. Mitsuru is great!]

[undyingcrow]

Evidently, she has a little group of Persona users acting as "Shadow Operatives" in a bid to give our ilk a sense of legitimacy within the law.

[The bitterness in his voice suggests he's not wholly convinced in this endeavor.]

[fruitknife]

Well, if anyone can pull it off, it's her. No guarantee she can get through everyone's bullshit, but she didn't wanna sit there and watch our problem go unsolved when she was eight, and she's not gonna want to sit there and do nothing for other batches of clueless high-schoolers.

[undyingcrow]

She's been at it since she was eight.

[What the hell? Pardon his dumbfounded stare. That's... quite the reveal.]

...No, perhaps I shouldn't be entirely surprised. I'm well aware that there are versions of me far younger than I was when I awakened.

[fruitknife]

Well, the Dark Hour started when we were eight. Dunno exactly when she got actively involved with shit, but she had years of experience by the time me and Aki got involved, and that was right outta middle school.

[undyingcrow]

Middle school.

[He says it so incredulously. That's so young. Even younger than he was...]

Rather troubling that children were expected to clean up the messes of adults, but I can't say I'm surprised.

[fruitknife]

Kirijo-san would've been happy to do it himself, if he could've. Problem was that he trusted the wrong person to make sure everything was done right. [And that resulted in bullshit like Strega, and like Ken being let on the team without anyone stopping to ask why the grade-schooler's Persona was associated with revenge.]

[undyingcrow]

Ah yes. A tale as old as time.

[Bitter laughter creeps out of him.]

I know a thing or two about betrayal myself. I've even been the one to twist the knife...

[He doesn't sound especially proud of that fact, however.]

[fruitknife]

Long as you don't do it again, Mitsuru'll have your back.

[No judgement here. Teenagers do dumb shit all the time.]