rekindleme | INTRO LOG

INTRO LOG - JUNE 2014

Who: Everyone
Where: The Welcome Center
When: 18th June, late afternoon
Summary: The new arrivals, freshly pulled from their worlds or others, awaken in a strange place...
Warnings: Inbox death may occur. System overload at own risk. NPC responses may be slow.

It's a shuddering breath, a sensation of being pulled to elsewhere and finding oneself pressed against something on the soft and some place cozy. However, before one can fully stir, there is and odd, warm stirring sensation that lifts you up from wherever you've been dropped, when you begin to drift off once more.

Yet the feeling passes quickly, and when you awaken, you begin to realize your surroundings. It's a small room with what some might recognize as a Far Eastern theme when it comes to decor, from the walls to the sofa (or bed) you find yourself on. Illumination is provided by carefully crafted lamps, and even a candle flickering on a nearby desk. The doors are made from paper and wood, with a thin frame; through them it's easy to hear other people stirring, talking, or coming to.

You are not alone...

Close at hand there's a note that reads:

WELCOME CENTER
Newcomers: Please come downstairs to the lobby for refreshments and your welcome packets!

Odd... This wasn't written in your own language, and yet you find it easily understandable. Soon enough, if you don't enter on your own, there's a gentle knocking on the door as someone comes from downstairs to usher you along.

"Welcome to Saeng Seong! I know you must be confused as to where you are and what's going on, but we promise to explain this to you once you've had a chance to stretch your legs!"

Whether you go downstairs immediately or linger a little longer, eventually you must come down and get out of the small space, and sooner rather than later would probably be better. You'll find yourself in a well-lit lobby, filled with comfortable-looking couches and chairs. Along one wall are refreshment tables, loaded with all sorts of cool and relieving food and drink, including some you probably aren't familiar with. It's just as well they're in good supply, as the windows outside show a city well heated from a summer sun.

On the wall opposite are a pair of desks, each with a sign, and one person at her station-

Rhea, General Assistance
Andi, Technological Assistance

The plaques have a shiny new look to them, as do the desks. The one with 'Andi' listed appears to be empty, though. Gathered around both desks and several tables are boxes as well, and...Empty jars? The woman minding her desk doesn't appear to give them a second thought.

However, before you can go over and give at least one of them a piece of your mind and ask questions, the same person who ushered you downstairs hands you a manilla envelope that contains your welcome packet, urging you to read this before asking the two figures questions that the packet likely answers.

Inside it, you will find: a ring with a key and apartment number on it, some kind of cash card, a map and informational guide to the city, and a letter folded neatly on the top -

Welcome to Saeng Seong!

You are among a new group of arrivals to our city, from many far-apart worlds.
We have gathered you here because our city is in a crisis, and we are at our last resorts. The energy of the city is in a slow downward spiral, and is dangerously close to expiring altogether.

That's where you come in - you and everyone else we've brought to the city. Unlike those of us here, you have the potential to generate the energy the city needs, but you'll need to work together to do it.

Why? Because the energy can only be generated when two people touch each other. Any touch will do, but it must be between two of you who are new to the city. If you don't keep in contact with someone, eventually your energy will begin to drain as well, making you dangerously ill.

A few other things:

The closed-off sections of the city are closed off for a reason; approaching them will cause your energy to drain very rapidly. We're working to open the rest of the city to you as soon as we can, but for now, please remain within the first five districts of the city.

You have been given a key to a one-bedroom apartment in a complex set aside for you and the other new arrivals, near the riverside in the 1st district. You're free to change your living quarters whenever you like, and we encourage you to move in with someone in one of the larger apartments. When you want to change, just come back to this building to exchange your key.

We've also included a cash card with a living stipend; if you're unfamiliar with this system, or the network established for new arrivals, you can talk to Devin in the lobby for help. It's what he's here for. If you need medical assistance, contact Mai, one of our nurses.

Again, welcome, and thank you for all your help.

~~Irene~~ Rhea
Arrival Liaison

Outside, and through the translucent glass you can see a banner hanging from the tiled roof of the building across the street. The cheerful colors on it match well against a bright blue sky:

WELCOME TO SAENG SEONG
(ENJOY YOUR STAY!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He heard his name and his shoulders lowered. So she remembered...

Gray eyes moved quickly, acknowledging the hand, before turning back to her face. He couldn't wrap his head around the motion, but didn't question it. But his mind was all made up when he reached up to grasp the hand instead. No warnings given, he turned and made way for the stairs.

"Like hell you are! ...Besides, I got bandages n' all that in the apartment."

Shura winced in pain at her burned and bruised hand being grabbed, but she smiled a slightly pained smile nonetheless. Yes, this was definitely Kanji. "Thanks, Kan—" and she tripped on the first step.

Something changed and he looked back, eyebrows high in surprise. His body had turned in the motion, inadvertently acting as a cushion rather than hitting the floor in the stumble. Short of a grunt and an embarrassed flush of his face, Kanji acted rather than let himself fluster.

"Damn it, sorry...! Can ya walk?"

No qualms in carrying people. But after one too many kicks the man actually started asking first.

"I..." she wiped the tears from her face, but more took their place, "I... can't see..."

"Gnh-- w-why the hell didn't ya say so in the first place!? Here-" She needed to see a doc, not go with him! But- but if he gave one a call, they could make house calls right?

"I'll call somebody in a sec!" He moved then, lifting her as absolutely gingerly as he could before beating feet for the apartment on just the second floor. But it looked like every damn part of her was in a bad spot, like she had a bad sunburn and wanted to ask what the hell happened. That could wait a bit.

"Is there somebody in Saeng Seong who's due for an ass-kicking?" Who knows? Maybe what happened to her happened here.

Shura didn't even get to consider saying 'because I'm ashamed' before Kanji lifted her up and carried her away. It hurt, because her bruises and burns were rubbing against Kanji's clothes, but... she was grateful for the help. Where else could she be that someone would be so eager to take charge and take care of such a monster?

"I did the ass-kicking," she said, looking up and squinting at Kanji's flesh-coloured blurry blob face. "You should see the other guy."

He blinked down at her, inwardly relieved he didn't have to go out and rearrange someone's face. That was just like her, and even though she was in kinduva spot, Kanji had to laugh a bit.

He kind of wanted to see the other guy!

He managed the lock and entered the apartment. "Naoto...?"

Ah, she was out. Shrugging, he made a note to call her up later as he crossed to the couch. He hadn't bothered turning on any lights, letting the lengthened summer daylight hours pour in through the cracks in the blinds. She couldn't see... maybe her eyes needed a rest?

Lowering her onto the couch, he asked, "You okay crashin' here for a bit?"

Aloe, right? Aloe worked for sunburns. Cold water, painkillers... he had sunburn once. Never again, damn it.

"Yeah," she said, trying to get comfortable on the couch. Naoto's couch? But was Kanji now bold enough to go to Naoto's place? And with the key no less... unless... maybe they lived together now? Shura smiled a bit. That would be nice. Life was so short, better get with your lover before anything bad happened. She lay her head on the arm of the couch, turned to the side to avoid damaging it with her horn, and closed her painful eyes. Tears didn't stop pouring, but in the darkness it didn't feel like someone was stabbing her optic nerve with a searing hot knife.

"Thanks."

"Don't sweat it." Whatever happened had to be huge. Maybe later he'd ask, but right now she probably felt like just as much hell as she looked. He was up and away in the very next instant, and from the bathroom there was the sound of clacking, of things rustling around as he fetched the aloe and the rest of the odds and ends.

"That's weird- I thought people just got dumped back in their timelines and they forget ever bein' here. I mean, ya knew my name n' everything..."

Once she found a position she felt the least pain in, Shura remained very still on the sofa. "It's weird. Back in my world, I didn't remember a thing about this place... I woke up normally and went on to beat some sense into Kagutsuchi with my demons. But as soon as I was here... I remembered the sounds of the language and the smells of the place. I remembered you when you came to greet me, and I remember Naoto, too... and your Persona wielding friends. And the giant robot."

He decided to use his basket for this one. Usually it held soaps, shampoo and scrubby things, but today they were gonna hold aloe, bandages and something she can knock back to dull the pain.

"Man, I could never wrap my head around all that sci-fi stuff. At least we know that's what happens when ya got people poppin' in and outta here, right?" He took a seat on the floor and picked up the painkillers first. He could take pills dry no sweat, but...

"Y'wanna take these, anyway, as much as they tell ya to. It ain't gonna make the pain go away - which is seriously lame - but it'll keep it down to some liveable level. Then there's the aloe for the skin, which... u-uhm... I mean, you could probably handle that..." Yeah, he was just realizing what the lotion application would entail.

But he shook his head, set the basket on the table and moved along to the kitchen for a glass, fixing up a bit of water to drink. Okay, he had to call a doctor first, and then Naoto to let her know hey, Shura's crashing here for a bit, mind the darkness...

"Right," Shura agreed. It would make re-introductions easier.

She took the bottle in hand, grateful. Painkillers. She would have given a lot to have some in the Vortex World. She had learned to deal with pain since becoming a demon, but she was no masochist either.

"Aloe sounds like a blessing right now, but won't it stain the couch?" she asked, not adding to Kanji's discomfort. To be entirely honest, she'd rather put the aloe on her chest herself.

"There ain't a stain I can't knock out; aloe on a couch won't be so bad, I think." He just didn't find the furniture all that important compared to a friend in need.

"Anyway, don't worry about it. We get the aloe on, then the eyes get covered up until they feel a little better. They're not tearin' up like crazy now that you're not out in bright lights. Guess you're livin' like a bat for a little bit."

Wow. Shura had no idea Kanji's talents applied to laundry as well. "If you're sure," she said, holding a hand out for the aloe. "Too bad I can't put some on my eyes. This is what happens when you fight a moon-star."

Shura, you've no idea how deep the rabbit hole goes...

Kanji pressed the bottle of aloe into her hand and nodded. But he furrowed an eyebrow as something didn't make sense. "Uh- moon-star?"

Sounded like something out of a tokusatsu.

"Yeah. ... I'm guessing Naoto didn't tell you about my world. Not that it's a bad thing, since I asked her not to tell people," she said as she sat up slowly, cringing as she leaned over to try and undo her shoelaces. Hopefully her feet didn't smell too bad after than searing battle.

"My world ended. What's left of the universe is a sphere containing part of Tokyo. In the middle, there is Kagutsuchi, kinda like a sun inside the world, but it has phases like a moon. Makes demons a bit nut."

He shook his head, wondering if he should have asked Shura about all this earlier. He wasn't bad at keeping secrets, but when he himself had some things that he didn't want getting out, he wasn't one to talk about this kinda thing.

"S'like that word... lunatic, right? Where the moon can make people crazy sometimes." He was glad it was dark and she couldn't see too well, as it hid the small shiver up his back and the frown. After one of the gods here had turned him into a wolf, he'd been acting a little strange when it came to nighttime, when it came to moon phases. But he'd never told anyone about it; wasn't sure if he should.

"So ya beat the shit outta the moon - or, uh, the sun - huh? Explains all the burns. But... why? Was the world bein' wrecked and this moon-star thing connected?"

"Exactly like that. At full Kagutsuchi, demons can get pretty damn weird." After she kicked her shoes off, she began to slather her legs with the aloe. There was nothing sensual about it; Shura made it quick and efficient even if it made her hiss in pain.

"The world I live in is a world between worlds. You... probably don't know, but worlds live, die and are reborn like living things. God established this... game in the world between worlds, the Vortex. Whoever of the handful of humans who survive the death of the world can establish a vision for the next world, gather a following, summon a sponsor god and reach Kagutsuchi can remake the world according to his or her idea."

She grunted as she moved to her torso, which was more affected than her legs. "It's a trick. God is tricking humans into creating worlds where free will has been eliminated at creation because he can't handle the fact that we can decide what to do for ourselves anymore."

The frown deepened. Slouching where he seated, he shook his head and realized something awfully familiar about all this. "Damn it... I don't get it! What's with gods havin' ultimate motives?!"

Wrong word, he thinks, but whatever. "That sounds pretty damn similar to how Izanami-no-Okami wanted to fuck things up for everybody. She pitted three people against each other to see whose 'will' was better so she could shape the world the way they like it or whatever. Tch... least I got to kick her ass some."

He looked up, pointedly watching her face. "So what happened, then? You were the survivor?"

"Power goes to the head of gods too." It hurts something fierce to cover her shoulders and arms, but not nearly as much as the feeling that Kanji will kick her out when he learns the truth. Tears begin to trickle anew.

"I was one of them. I was born a human and I survived the end." Maybe if she slathers her face it won't show. "I'm a demon now. I was created to cheat God's rules of creation. And I won. I reached Kagutsuchi, the Light of God. ... it cursed me."

Kanji appeared confused for a bit, taking that all in. The markings and how she acted totally said she wasn't human, and she even made friends with demons that looked like personae. No wonder, right?

His mouth thinned into an unimpressed line. "So the bastard cheated right back."

Shura nodded. "It told me I was a foul creature with a heart devoid of any light, the bane of life itself. It refused to give me the world I wanted and tried to kill me." A beat. "I killed it first."

That was it. If Kanji figured out she killed creation... she wasn't sure he could understand like Naoto had. He had fought his hardest to save his own world. Shura had, essentially, eliminated the possibility of humanity. Curling forward, she poured more aloe in her hand to spread it on her horn at the back of her neck.

Bless her, but it took some time for Kanji to put the pieces together. If she wrecked the sun-moon, then there was no cycle? Or did it just repeat somehow? Even Izanami couldn't really be killed, but pushed back and shown what humanity was capable of.

But something stuck to him, first and foremost. Scratching his cheek, he asked, "What kinda world didja want in the first place?"

Shura couldn't help a small smile at that, as it made her think of her dear Futomimi, who had been there in her victory. This world had been, after all, her idea in the first place.

"A world of Equality. A world where the Manikins would not be enslaved, tortured for their life energy or killed for entertainment. A world without hierarchies, without masters or slaves, where everyone would collaborate toward a brighter, more peaceful future."

"Damn good world to fight for. So why the hell were they sayin' you were the bane of life and bad as hell? I mean, what're Manikins, if they ain't those weird display statues for clothes?" Whether Manikins were bad or not, he didn't sit well with the idea of slavery in any sense, or killing as if it were some kind of game.

But if he didn't know any better, Shura seemed kinda nervous about something. Maybe because she'd wanted to keep it all secret, but... why? Because she fucked up god? Because she was a demon? But Saeng Seong was full of different kinds of people, from robots right down to, well, demons.

But Kanji couldn't help but feel kinda uneasy- maybe he was asking too much, but if talking helped her kind of think less of the burns...

INTRO LOG - JUNE 2014

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