recolle | ( OPEN ) are_we_there

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( OPEN ) are_we_there_yet.mp3

WHO: the infamous nasty crimeboy, Akira Kurusu, and you!
WHERE: ALL OVER RECOLLE
WHEN: during our darkest month of the year, January
WHAT: We punch the dome, we hit the tunnels, and we check out the hub! I'll be using this as a catchall for some other things, but why not make it open, right?? Plot with me at

aftertaste or hei#2323 on discord if you have something specific in mind!
WARNINGS: possible Persona 5 spoilers

this is definitely not dome town

[ Akira's curiosity is unfortunately piqued by the sudden darkness, but what kind of person wouldn't find this strange and unsettling? There's a saying that curiosity kills the cat and that may very well be the case right now. He nicked the dome with his dagger and took a nasty shock... If only Yoshitsune or Kohryu was equipped, then he could have been saved.

You may find him passed out in the cold by the edge. Rest in peace, Akira. ]

where's my cat bus?

[ The subway isn't foreign to Akira, but it's surprising how long Recolle has gone without it... But America was a bit behind when it comes to public transportation aside from some small yet impacted places. You may find him snooping around the ENTRANCE (A), fiddling with his bangs as he does so (is this suspicious), before heading him by himself. On other days, he may go with other people.

If you decide to join him and they get far enough, Akira points out an abandoned SUBWAY CAR (B) in the distance. Which car will they find?
CAR 1 — He thinks it's worth investigating, looking through these personal belongings with no issues. Don't mind if he tries on some hats from the old era.
CAR 2 — He lies down on a bed and rates it on a 10-point scale. Eight times out of ten, he will ask your character to try it.
CAR 3 — He's suspicious of the food and doesn't plan on eating anything (yet), but he pitches that maybe your character should try some. For science.
CAR 4 — Oh, boy. Here are some choices to watch from Akira, though he doesn't... Seem comfortable if either of the last two play. If you would like a different memory, go ahead and pick from his regain list.

MEMORIES

🍔
BIG BANG BURGER (VIDEO)
Akira Kurusu decides to head to Big Bang Burger and take on their cosmic challenge.

🚪
LOST THE GAME (1:26:56-1:29:00)
Akira is brought to the velvet room and sentenced to death for losing the game. He's left to his twin executioners.

🔒
FRAMED (QUICK SCENE, VIDEO)
Akira intervenes what seems to be a quarrel between a drunkard and a woman. The man falls on his own and threatens to sue him.

CODE BY TESSISAMESS
CAR 5 — While it may seem better to book it, Akira decides to practice his skills on the skeleton car. Catch him by chance showing off... He's the type to climb on the car, scale its limbs, and be in the middle of danger. If you were with him since the beginning of the descent into this craziness, it doesn't change how reckless he is. With one slip, he may be crushed—a metal arm finally smacks him several feet back.

This is fine. He stays in the crater he made for himself, discerning what exactly happened. There's no groan or sign of fatigue in his movements as he picks himself up, but the car is preparing its charge.

When they reach the HUB (C), you're right to assume he's going to take pictures of everything... Including a selfie that they've found something. Hooray! High spirits. Keep up the morale. After the fun is through, he mentions how surprising it is to have this system. ]

wildcard

[ you do you ]

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[ Akira is starting to think these blades are meant for other uses, but he can't really pinpoint it. He makes his guesses, but Eren probably knows about weapons more than he does. He doesn't comment on it as the television screen sparks every once in a while, hissing from its wounds with steam rising out of the holes. It was risky and possibly amounted to nothing other than set a statement—they are more than these memories.

When Eren makes a spin to meet the demon lord's eyes, Satanael stays quiet, merely looking down at him. It's hard to read the figure's thoughts, but it provides a sense of security. When it's quiet enough, Eren might hear a deep voice in his mind, "fear not." His wings flexes once as an indicator that Akira is also lost in thought to that question.

With a shrug, Satanael disappears into a dark wisp. His hand instantly land on his neck, rubbing it with an awkward laugh. ]

As many as the universe has human souls, I guess? Personas are just a manifestation of yourself.

[ He walks forward to inspect the damage, but there's nothing special about the wiring. His Third Eye continues to fail him in their adventure. Thoughtfully humming, he guesses they can head out now. With a click of his heels, he walks past Eren after patting him on the shoulder. Good work! Except Akira is having a hard time getting the door to open... The car did not like that they broke the screen, whoops. ]

Hey, do you think you can break this down?

[ With your muscular body. ]

[ how the fuck are you so fucking cool right now. sanatael is cool. the words are heard, but he’s more interested in how that communication got through, and actually— finding himself mildly disappointed when it’s gone. nevertheless, he’s meeting akira from behind to check the tv’s end, snooping around the floors . . . and no firearm remains. that’s dangerous, my friend. he’s glad that it’s in the right person’s hands.

eren only gives a short look at the pat. bro, he didn’t do anything . . . other than brood over freedom for like ten seconds. time to check out the door, and these things-! at least these things he’s trained in. door breaching, air force security loves this. he could also ask “well why don’t you use your persona” but— he knows how powers work (so you better not be playing him like a FOOL) ]

It’d have to be . . . Here.

[ don’t mind . . . if he does . . . certainly try and kick in a hella dent in with heavy duty work boots. you don’t need a persona when you have an eren. he tries to impact the weak point with his heel, right where glass should shatter, or perhaps leave a favorable handle for prying it open. with the cart still slowly moving but coming to an end up ahead, eren pulls them apart. look at those triceps work.

it’s working. slowly, and eren might pop veins, but look at that! the cart is slowing down to a screeching stop s l o w l y ]

[ Thanks. Maybe when this is over, they can coo over how cool Satanael is. He belongs to Akira, is a piece of Akira, but he still thinks the Persona himself is cool. They'll be seeing him more if they end up encountering a wave of rats or that subway car monster.

It's true though. Akira doesn't want to expend more energy to summon his Persona... If they can break things normally and get through obstacles without using it, then that would be great. What happened earlier was a mere slip of emotion... Impulse. Instinct. He should reel himself back more often, but he's unfortunately reckless. It's a bad habit he needs to break.

He stands back to leave it to Eren and watches him work. It's actually fun to watch, considering he's showing a lot of experience in how he works. Akira, himself, would just continue to kick the damn door until it pops open. ]

You can do it, Eren!

[ Guess who's a cheerleader? This guy. For a quick boost, he makes Satanael cast Heat Riser while Eren is preoccupied, raising all of Eren's stats. Sometimes you have to break your own rules, but something fast as a little spell won't hurt. ]

[ once those stats raise, in something similar to a pop— eren gets that door sliding right open. he thinks it’s all him and his biceps, maybe an energy boost from that motivation, ya damn cheater, but hey!! he doesn’t need to know, does he. the cart continues to move some, until it hits its end and comes to a jerking stop as well. clapping and dirt away from his palms, eren’s chest puffs out with pride. he won’t admit he’s proud he did that.

but he is. ]

Just in time.

[ he hops off the cart, where everything seems to be a little too quiet; lights flicker up ahead, looks like . . . a rundown, underground central. ]

Good job.

[ He isn't going to mention that he gave Eren a lift—they're a team, so it should be implied they'll support each other. Ohh? Akira bounces out of the car to check it out. It's actually lit down here, but he doesn't hear or see another soul. It's almost unsettling... Like they've stepped into a new world all over again.

Like they've gone in time. ]

We're time travelers, Eren.

[ Should they ransack some store? Or head straight to the bright blue Retrospec booth at the other end. ]

[ unfortunate for akira, eren doesn’t easily tip into light hearted commentaries, not when there’s investigation and work to be had. the various booths get only a short scan of attention— ]

More like it’s been abandoned for decades.

[ except— what’s tanaka’s doing down here? and the motel shop? he shuts his mouth when he sees those, and not long after does he see the retrospec boith, bounding up to it. all these pamphlets on the floor, though. they looked like tourist guides, and eren gives them all very brief look overs before something catches his eyes, enough that he doubletakes.

welcome to p—

the words are eaten away by time and dust, but eren recognizes the image on the cover, looking alarmed. ]

This is . . .

I wonder how the modern shops got here...

[ Seeing that Akira actually recognizes some of the storefronts. The glowing blue booth does catch his attention, but he knows it can't ever be good... Every Retrospec stand is usually spun with mystery—very little answers, but a handful of questions.

Brochures. They are exploring a subway, after all. Akira isn't surprised until he notices some unfamiliar places. Then there's Eren's expression. ]

What is it?

[ He hovers of his shoulder for a peak. ]

The hell . . .

[ his mouth hangs open a little, finger hitting the brochure’s cover as he tries to come up with words. why did they always get more questions than answers with these things? ]

That’s where I used to live. [ he points to a tiny little district from the bird’s eye view shot, the small encircled wall attached to the outermost larger one. ] This is from my other life.

... What?

[ Akira takes a moment to let that sink. While it isn't weird for him to see places like Tokyo, Eren comes from a magical place... A walled city. It looks like a fantasy—an aerial of the caged city.

He's at lost for words. ]

I wonder if this is a joke.

[ he starts flipping through the brochure, shaking his head. boy is he starting to get cold sweats right now— a lot of the information typed has been eaten away, it’s hard to make a lot out, but what eren does make out, he knows. ]

Wall Maria, [ he points to what he recognizes, to each header that gives a little tourist blurp about each wall (how big they were, how many kilometers in between each wall, if and when it fell to titans), and eren can’t help but to grimace. ] Rose, Sina— They made these into vacation spots?

[ ... While this is all interesting, sparking Akira's curiosity furiously, the dates of their fall disconcerts him. What does that mean? Titans? He squints, taking from Eren's reaction that this city is not one they should tour for luxury. ]

Is this place dangerous, Eren?

[ He doesn't want to ask why the city is walled off from the rest of the world. A mere boy wouldn't have the answers, but maybe this has something to do with it. ]

[ dangerous might be a slight understatement; eren has to wet his lips. ]

It’s overrun by titans. The last of the human race from that world lived in these walls.

[ his finger runs over the larger outer wall. ]

Wall Maria was fifty meters— it got kicked down by a sixty meter class and let the others in. I was there for it. [ he points to the little district he was in, a pocket that looked like it was made to grab attention if there was ever an attack. ] Then an armored fifteen meter class ran through the safety wall.

Five years after, that same titan appeared and kicked down another district wall on Wall Rose. This place . . . Is a living hell.

[ If only they knew the actual reality of that. Attack on Titan is a whole lie on itself. ]

Titans—you actually mean giant beings from the age of the gods?

[ Akira shouldn't be surprised, seeing that he summons figures of myths and lore from his damn mind, but it's hard to imagine them to be tangible enemies—for them to exist on their own. They even have classifications. ]

Why are they attacking humans?

[ Humans are a resilient species, he knows that. If anything, he's sure that humans would take advantage of titans if possible—but he's not sure why the other way around? What do humans have that the giants want? ]

[ for future reference: make eren watch The Village. he’ll remember his life, the lie.

that being said, akira is right on the money and they don’t even know it. not that eren knows it either. he tries flipping through the other pages, the booklet is pretty meaty but— the papers are dirty, tattered and ruined. he can’t read a thing. ]

To kill them, and eat them. [ and after a pause, ] We never knew why, and I don’t remember if we ever found out.

[ Uhm. He doesn't want to traumatize Eren like that. Two idiots are in the dark as they look over the brochure. What Akira has learned is that his friend is from awful fantasy world where humans are like cattle.

However, it doesn't make sense. He strokes his chin as he processes this new, grotesque information. It's... Fascinating yet terrifying. ]

... It makes no sense to eat humans. We mostly retain water and provide little nutrients. [ But it is a fantasy world. What if humans were different? Eren can regenerate, can't he? Akira's gaze shifts over, pondering some more. ] Were all the humans like you?

[ it gets worse, as in, it makes even less sense. but, like him? eren shakes his head. ]

I’m the only one I remember so far. [ but eren is even worse at connecting the more subtle hints. either that or he just subconsciously ignores it for his own mental health. ] They don’t even need to eat to survive. They don’t have complete digestive tracts, only stomachs.

[ which means. remains eventually get spat back out when there’s no more room. ]

Titans . . . Are a complete mystery.

They have to be eating humans for a reason.

[ And if nutrition isn't it, then what is it? He's having a hard time piecing these things together due to its nature. There's a chance that these titans eat humans for no reason... Maybe it's part of evolution and this is a old habit that's hard to kill?

Maybe this was a hobby. A terrifying hobby. Humans do the same thing. ]

No indication if they enjoy it as a sport, right...?

[ Idly, Akira picks out another brochure. Maybe this will help. ]

That’s the only theory we go off on.

[ eren, you’re using present tense . . . ]

There’s no other reason why, not yet.

[ He's thinking... It has to be for sport, but it can be something else. The other theory he has may be even worse than the first— ]

Maybe they want to inherit something from humans?

[ Human intelligence? Knowledge? Secrets...? Opposable thumbs? Hair? ]

[ akira receives a look that isn’t dissimilar to being present in the event of growing a second head. eren frowns deeply and lifts a brow in confusion, making his gears clock into each other and freeze.

did you direct attack on titan, akira ]

That’s . . . [ really disturbing in the sense that it isn’t completely out there. what if titans . . . wanted something from them? ] We don’t have anything. They’re not intelligent, not all of them—

[ he catches his own words. akira

ur freakin him out ]

[ No... But it's a rather easy line to tie when Elliot mentions Eren can somehow regenerate. That is not human in a sense—who is he to say? He summons mythical figures from his head.

He can feel the air tense and Eren's shaky nerves are palpable from his body language. They're deep in the underground subways and they're talking about this. ]

Let's think about this another time. We should probably head back.

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( OPEN ) are_we_there_yet.mp3

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