applenet | COUNTDOWN: I SEE YOU

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COUNTDOWN: I SEE YOU

Seven days remain.

The warning bells of the Nightly Curfew ring across the city. There's a faint hum from the phone this time before the icon appears. This time it displays a time: 1:00AM

The rest of the night is normal. Perhaps you've cuddled up with family, or you've gone to bed early to wait, but sure enough, time tick by right until 1 in the morning when....

You're back into that application again. A single question before you're even permitted to type anything else. And while it seems to be overwritten by something inside of you, it feels a lot more natural than before. Which is, truthfully...troubling.

But then something happens...

WƎ☹C!ERROR!OMƎ ▒ O ▒ HƎ FIN⟡☹ QUIZ!!ERROR!!ERROR!
⟡nƧwƎ!ERROR!r from ▒ hƎ hƎ⟡r▒ , ▒ hƎ p⟡r▒ of you ▒ !ERROR!h⟡▒ h⟡Ƨ bƎƎn dƎniƎd for f⟡r ▒ oo ☹ong.

Is your ☹ife here ⟡ ☹ie?
YƎƧ | DƎfini▒ Ǝ☹y | ƧurƎ | I'vƎ hd my !ERROR! doub▒ Ƨ bƎforƎ, bu▒ yƎƧ | HƎ☹☹ YƎƧ | ▒ hƎrƎ iƧ no o▒ hƎr conc☹uƧion | I wiƧh I cou☹d dƎny i▒ nd ☹ivƎ hƎrƎ pƎcƎfu☹☹y !ERROR!bu▒ i▒ 'Ƨ ▒ ruƎ.

▒ h⟡nk you...!ERROR!▒ h⟡▒ wi☹☹ bƎ ⟡☹☹. ☹Ǝ▒ uƧ ƧƎƎ wh⟡▒ your hƎ⟡r▒ b☹oo!ERROR!mƧ in▒ o...

I SEE YOU.

What had just happened? Before you can think about it for too much, and as your heart beats faster, the screen returns to normal, and another message flashes.

Well shit. Lets try this again. Answer from the heart, the part of you that has been denied for far too long. DO IT QUICKLY!

Is your life here a lie?
Yes.

Sorry lambs, this time we can't kid around...

Once you are done, you are tossed once more into the main chatroom. Is fear rising? Is your heart beating faster? There's a lot more at stake now it seems. Fortunately, your user names are the names that you wrote down in the last survey, but with all those questions it's....hard not to think of them as your own. Maybe you'll be cursing at this device, but it looks like you're already deep down the rabbit hole by now.

And now...something's might be looking right back.

[OOC: This is one of the final network post before Awakening. ALL Users will now be able to speak of who they are in their AU life without the information being blocked by the application.

Additionally, while speaking, Applenet might spazz out, like above. If this happens, a random painful memory will hit both Awakened and Unawakened (please warn if the visions are graphic for other players). They might find themselves writing down things afterwards regarding the memory (for example, getting shot, they might write down the pain they are felling, etc) and regretting it. This can happen up to 5 times per user.]

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You don't think we were in the same position a month ago?

We were. And we didn't have anyone before us trying to help. Just Luci, and Luci is vague and roundabout at the best of times.

You can try to prepare however you like. You have good spirit.

[If nothing else, that should get this person through Awakening. It's never certain, but if they're thinking about how to move forward, they won't be stuck on what they don't know. Being stuck on something doesn't tend to go well.]

You weren't! This didn't happen a month ago.

[Kouyuki's gathered that much having observed conversations between Luci and the other app users, the older ones from the 'round' previous. Before now, things might not have been lackadaisical, but they weren't urgent, either. This threat, whatever it is, hadn't presented itself. And if it even was a possibility a month ago, Luci didn't make it known to anyone.]

Whatever did happen...it wasn't this. But it prepared you guys, at least. We don't even have that luxury.

The error message didn't. But up until now everything has been exactly the same, and one month ago we were exactly as uninformed and helpless as you are.

We still don't know what we're up against much more than you do, we've just reached a point where we can fight. As far as I can tell, Luci is the only one who knows what's going on.

[Jun has his guesses. This seems like something Nyarlathotep would do. But at the same time, everything else is so different he's not sure what to make of it all.]

For now, all any of us can do is wait and try to be ready.

[Wait, wait, wait... Was that really all they could do? Were they really so helpless and incapable of protecting those around them from whoever or whatever was watching?]

I can't. I can't just wai!ERROR!▒̴Ƨ̴Ǝ̸ḓ̶ ̴▒η̴ ̶☹̴ ̷Ƨ̸▒̶▒Ƨ̵T▒̴⊥̴▒̵⊥̸Ǝ̶!!

[The three minute mark had come and gone. Their time was up and Aliea had vanished without a trace. Standing off to the side, Fubuki observed as his teammates rained praise down on Kogure. He hadn't won them the game, but he'd successfully blocked a shot that had otherwise seemed unstoppable. One he'd been unable to stop himself. But, while Kogure was talented, he was also someone who hadn't even stuck around to overhear his teammates and coach discussing whether or not he was to become a permanent addition to their team.

"Geez, nothing we can do about that guy. Right, Fubuki?" Someoka turned to look at him expectantly, but the expression Fubuki was wearing caused his own to fall. "What's wrong?"

Fubuki's answer came immediately, but without eye-contact. "I wasn't of any help."

"Well, neither was I..." Someoka started, but if he'd been about to say anything more, his friend didn't let him.

Shoulders hiking up defensively, his heart racing in his chest as it filled to the brim with anxiety, he shouted the only truth he knew to be certain in that very moment. "I couldn't do anything!" His and Kogure's confidence had been switched during the course of the match. He'd started out certain they could win, but in the end...he'd been useless. He wasn't strong enough. He hadn't been able to score even one goal!]

This isn't enough... I have to be perfect...!

[He'd expected arguing. Nobody would like being told they can't do anything. He gets what he expected.

But he also gets an interrupting error and a total shift of topic. That's... That's not good. This could be very, very bad. False memories and fire-- Not the time.]

Are you alright? What happened?

I'm...

Yeah. I'm fine.

[It's a lie, of course. He's anything but fine after that, but he can't afford to waver, can he? He didn't type those words, but they stare back at him like an echo coming from deep within. He really feels that, now more than ever, he needs to be perfect. There isn't any more room for error, not when so much is at stake. And even if he wants to reject "Shirou Fubuki," he can't. Not when they agree on this much.

As he is...it's not enough.]

I don't remember writing that, but...

[But he did. Unless it was the app again? And if it was, did that mean whoever was watching also saw what he did? What does it all mean?]

...I can't say I disagree, either. Not anymore.

[His eyes narrow at his screen. Something happened. Especially if he doesn't remember writing something. Perfection...huh.]

Leaving that aside for the moment - did anything happen? Anything other than an error and memory blank? Nothing on my end.

[Which is strange. If this were Nyarlathotep's doing, wouldn't it affect them both? ...No. No, it would be more like him to try and split the groups further. Turn them against one another. More than anything else, Jun cannot let that happen.]

[Briefly, Kouyuki recalls the warnings he's seen Luci and other users throw about in the chat room since the initial error appeared. Saying too much could be dangerous. But not saying anything wasn't going to yield any answers, either. If he was too afraid to even speak, how could he ever face what was watching, or what was waiting at the end of the countdown?]

I saw something. [He hesitates for just a moment, deciding whether or not to use a certain word. Like it or not, though, it does feel appropriate.] A memory. Or something like it.

Felt real.

[More real than the others had, anyway. Maybe because the way he feels right now is so similar to how Shirou had felt in that vision?]

[A flashback, just like the usual ones. Just an unusual way to induce one. He exhales, relieved.]

Nothing too alarming, then. Which is worrying on its own, but you're probably safe for now.

How many of these have you received?

Tonight? Just that one. But there were some before.

[And they all had in common the presence of that boy with the severe eyes and pink-colored hair: Someoka. The boy who had been outraged upon meeting him and who, later, he'd been outraged at having seen get hurt. Whatever memory this was must have taken place in between those two.]

I'm sorry. Derailing everything like that... What was it you said before?

You guys just reached a point where you can fight. I... I want to fight, too.

I received four, total, before the end of our countdown. Never more than one in a night.

[But the third...was specifically induced. Luci'd done it, probably hadn't done it to everyone. So...three? Maybe Jun should see if there's an average number...]

You'll be able to soon. That's what you're waiting for. I don't know the mechanics behind all this, but it can't be rushed.

[Is...is this even safe to say? He's not sure. But if it keeps someone without a Persona from doing something stupid like going out at night...maybe. All he can do is keep trying to do good.]

[Whether or not it's safe, Kouyuki appreciates that something is being shared at all. Continuously being told to stand down and keep quiet, or to wait and do nothing, has been wearing thin his already tenuous patience. He has never been someone good at walking away from a challenge, even one that was completely out of his league.]

I haven't had any more than one in a single day, either. And this... It was the third one.

[Three is better than having four, though. Or at least...he'd felt that way before, but he's no longer as certain now as he once was. If those memories help him fight, if they can prepare him for what's to come, he'd welcome all of them, even at once. Even if it meant more of those headaches, it would be worth it. Wouldn't it?]

What have you guys been fighting exactly?

[They're definitely getting into dangerous territory now. How to dance around it, how to play it safe while still giving this person something to hold onto for this last week.]

I don't think I can say exactly. There's a reason information has been scarce, and I'm sorry it has to be this way. That said, this is Eddan. You read the news, don't you?

[Is that vague enough? It isn't going to be enough to satisfy anyone who needs to know things, but maybe, just maybe, it'll be enough to stop this particular direction of conversation. Saying any more is definitely over the line.

But hell if Jun doesn't want to tell them outright what they're getting into. Ignorance kills. Ignorance, anger, and revenge...]

[The news? There were all sorts of incidents reported there, but then...only a select few were of the sort anyone could fight. Were the "Awakened" the ones responsible for trying to put a stop to and apprehend those responsible for the murders around Eddan?

Was that what this app or Luci or whoever was recruiting them for? The so-called "team" that they were now a part of?

He'd dragged Michi to one of the sites recently in the news under the guise of investigating paranormal rumors. He'd...walked his brother right into a potential danger zone.]

It's fine. I think I understand. As much as I can, anyway.

[Because the "how" is still a mystery. How could kids his age, maybe even those that were younger, be expected to take on a murderer? Or murderers...?]

[Good... Waiting is awful, but it's the only real choice right now. Seems like that's gotten through.]

You'll be on the same page as the rest of us soon. Until then - try to live your life as normal. It's the safest thing.

["""Gotten through."""

In a sense, that's true. Then again...he's already made it pretty clear he won't be running from trouble if it rears its head. He doesn't quite know how to fight the things he's read about in the news, but he's unwilling to let those horrors venture any nearer to his home than they already have.

He thinks...Michi would probably do the same. But that's all the more reason for Kouyuki to fight instead. So that Michi won't have to worry anymore. So his brother can be happy again.]

Alright. That's fine with me.

[Except it's not. And he won't...]

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COUNTDOWN: I SEE YOU

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax

Shirou Fubuki ⚔ Marchosias

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax

Shirou Fubuki ⚔ Marchosias

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax

Shirou Fubuki ⚔ Marchosias

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax

Shirou Fubuki ⚔ Marchosias

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax

Shirou Fubuki ⚔ Marchosias

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax

Shirou Fubuki ⚔ Marchosias

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax

Shirou Fubuki ⚔ Marchosias

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax

Shirou Fubuki ⚔ Marchosias