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The events to follow actually began much earlier than this, but for most of our heroes, the story begins when a strange email popped into their inbox...

Perhaps there were those who rejected this message, and forgot about the whole thing. But our heroes would not be our heroes if they chose that path; instead they each made their arrangements to receive this mysterious "package", curious to learn more.

The package consisted of an odd helmet that looked like some futuristic VR helmet: the insides were lined with electrodes, it had a built in headset that blocked out most sounds, and there was what looked like a pair of goggles that could be brought down over the eyes; all they did, though, was block out all the light. Coming out the back of the helmet was a long wire that ended in an ordinary USB port. It came with an installation CD and a printed letter indicating them to install the software at first convenience but not to try and use the helmet, as well as a list of other things not to do with it (mostly obvious things like not submersing it in water).

Booting up the CD would apparently just install a private chat client, allowing our heroes to communicate with each other in advance of the impending "operations" date. Apart from near-perfect translation of their various languages, the client didn't have any obviously strange features. Not until the night before the agreed date, when it notified all of them that continued use would require them to download version 2.0. The new version had several indicators including whether the helmet was plugged in, whether it was "armed", and whether there was a "destination", above a greyed out button marked "Evoke"; the latter two were inactive. The chat client worked exactly the same as before, though.

And then, at a time when all of our heroes were logged in together, their mysterious "strange guy on the internet" himself logged in for the first time.

Persona: Digital Guardians

Hello everyone.
I must say, more people answered my call than I could ever have hoped for.
Maybe we really do have a chance to do something...
Anyway, our first session here is just to acclimatize you all to our future operations together.
After tonight, you will at least know for sure that I am telling the truth about all this.
So, before we begin: Any immediate questions?

edited 18th Apr '13 1:11:55 PM by Anura

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.

'Why us in particular?' Sigrid piped up.

If it could be said that there was a primary motivator for Jacob Roth's actions now, that motivator would be boredom.

Weirdly phrased, anonymous emails and mysterious packages were pretty much the hallmarks of bad decision making, and yet here he was. When the message had first popped up in his inbox, he'd been inclined to just write it off as spam and send it to the trash. This was the online equivalent of a middle-aged man leaning out the door of his windowless white van and asking if you like candy. Well, maybe a bit less obvious, but still. Jacob was far from worried. This whole thing seemed harmless enough, creepy references to 'operations' aside. He doubted your average spammer or troll would go this far. He was almost surprised when the disk had booted up a chat program instead of just crashing his junky-ass white plastic relic of the 1990's. The helmet was pretty neat too. Some kinda Daft Punk shit, real nice handiwork.

Jacob leaned back in his gray office chair, the computer screen throwing pale blue ghost-light about the interior of his sparsely decorated room. A pair of chunky headphones were hung around his neck, though the room was silent save for the buzzing and humming of the computer and the incessant chirping of crickets. It wasn't like him to hesitate like this. Normally he'd be more than willing to plunge right into this and damn the risks. But now, he was almost reconsidering the whole thing. He wasn't very well-informed about Apathy Syndrome, but it sounded like some real nasty stuff. You just... stopped giving a shit. About everything. There were hospital wards full of drooling, glassy-eyed motherfuckers eating dinner through a tube. No way in hell was he gonna end up like one of them. He couldn't stand to live that way.

On the other hand, it's not like there was anything else to do. It was late, mom was working the graveyard shift, and the chatrooms he usually called home were dead quiet at this hour. Besides, he'd gotten the helmet, he'd shoved in the disk. He couldn't just back away now, forget this all ever happened. That'd be the easy way out, and if Jacob got the sense that this kind of opportunity didn't come around all that often. He passed this up, and he'd be regretting it for the rest of his life. Time to knuckle up. The Texan leaned forward, scanning the dull green text a second time before typing out his response, the sound of clattering keys filling the air.

yeah I got a question.

the fuck is all this?

Might as well get to the heart of things.

"You have more than enough potential. So tell me what is the one wish that would make your soul gem shine." -Mitt Romney, probably

Just a hint of hesitation before the words began appearing on everyone's screens again.

You did read the email, right?
We're saving the world.
And I chose each of you because I saw the problem retreating from your digital signature.
Meaning that you have a certain rare talent.
Unless my email reached the wrong person.
And I would probably notice if the email was shared.
I DID take a quick look.

Another pause.

Okay, that probably came off as quite creepy.

edited 18th Apr '13 2:26:04 PM by Anura

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.

Jacob quirked a brow at the response, then looked over the text a second time. Then a third time, just to be sure. The hell was this guy talking about? There was that whole getting rid of Apathy Syndrome thing, but he hadn't taken that all too seriously. Maybe this was just an elaborate prank. They'd slip on the helmets and then bam, goatse on all sides. It was almost too perfect. But he hadn't gotten anywhere by being cautious, so he stayed on regardless. Needed a little more evidence before backing out of this whole thing.

no shit it did.

privacy man.

He had actually shown the message to a few of his online friends. They'd laughed and written it off as a spammer or some kind of viral marketing and told him to just ignore it. And look where he was now, banging away at his keyboard in the dark, looking for answers. Which could actually describe a significant portion of his free time, but still.

and "special talent"?

this an ARG or something?

"You have more than enough potential. So tell me what is the one wish that would make your soul gem shine." -Mitt Romney, probably

Hiromi had been wondering for a long time if playing along with this... strange activity had been the best decision in her life. Sure, she was supposed to help with this weird spread of Apathy Syndrome or something, but... how? And what was this 'digital signature' stuff? It was beginning to sound too sci-fi-ish for her liking.

Uh... saving the worl sounds cool and all but how do we do taht? ^^;;

Hiromi/Cosmic*Shooter typed her query, finding herself wondering if she was just playing into the hands of a prankster. It... would certainly make some sense. Though it was too elaborate to be anything short of some new TV show being the genius mastermind behind it.

The tissue box was quitely set aside. Midori's room was mostly dark. She left the larger light on and instead turned on her desk lamp. She used this tactic, usually, to illuminate her desk for when she was drawing. But now, the papers were being quickly moved off of her desk. Midori was terribly nervous. She had most stumbled into this entirely by accident, but... but... it wasn't just a coincidence... it couldn't be, it simply couldn't be! For... she'd spoken to her. The girl who constantly occupied her mind ever since they had begun talking! That girl, that wonderful, beautiful, lovely girl whom Midori would do anything for, was also a part of this. She didn't truly care for most of this other stuff, and felt nothing but worry at the presence of anyone else. But that one, lovely, beautiful girl...

Hiromi. Even her name was wonderful. After worry and hesitation, she has told Hiromi her own real name, and even shown her a picture. Hiromi was so brave... she used her real appearance as her avatar. Midori only gathered enough courage to reveal her appearance after some private conversation. Hiromi had given her advice... and to be truthful, Midori wasn't sure if the lovely girl even knew about her feelings. But that was okay. Midori would make sure she knew forever and ever and ever! And she'd make sure she never forgot, and make sure no-one ever tried to take her away...

Quivering, both from nerves and from excitement, Midori logged onto the private chat.

ArtistMi: I'm here.

ArtistMi: Hi Cosmic*Shooter!!!!

Some of the nervousness died down. Hiromi was already here... Some of her attention was torn away from the presence of the wonderful girl and to the topic at hand.

ArtistMi: What are you talking about??? How does that work???

edited 18th Apr '13 3:43:49 PM by AnnoR

"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."

If this was a game, I'd say it wasn't.
And if it wasn't a game
I'd still say it wasn't. :p
Anyway.
As to how this is going to go down.
I press a few buttons here on my end.

There was a brief pause, then the "Destination" indicator flashed on, with the words "Server 1" appearing next to it. Shortly afterwards, the "Armed" indicator flashed on.

Then you plug in your helmets, put them on, and click that Evoke button.
It'll become clickable once you plug it in.
If you don't think that sounds like a good idea, then try evoking without putting the helmet on.
You'll notice no spikes attempting to crush your head in or anything.
To those of you who don't back out...
I'll see you down the rabbit hole. ;D

Data_Bug is Evoking

Was the next thing that flashed up. The tag <evo> appeared next to his name in the list.

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.

you gonna be dodging my questions the whole time?

almost tempted to back out right now.

Jacob pinched the bridge of his nose. This was the ripest horseshit, right here. This Data_Bug guy seemed pretty sincere, though. Well, as sincere as you could get through text. The coy allusions were getting on his nerves, though. Just give a guy a straight answer, for chrissakes. The others' reactions were even more baffling. How could they just take this in stride? They had questions, sure, but they didn't doubt for a second that this was the real deal. Either they were gullible, or he was being just a little too cautious.

okay fine ill give it a go.

but this is some real shady shit.

This was either going to be the worst decision in his life, or the greatest. All depended on how it played out. Though that thing about spikes through your skull didn't exactly inspire confidence. Rolling backwards away from his computer, Jacob bent down and fished the helmet out from under his desk. He turned it over in his hands, the light of the computer screen bouncing off of the clear plastic of the goggles in odd ways. He sighed, sagging his shoulders a little. "Welp," He said to himself. "Now'r never."

With that, he plugged the helmet in, slipped it down over his head, and clicked Evoke. Time to see what this was really all about.

tramtracks is Evoking

edited 19th Apr '13 9:34:41 AM by Bindlestick

"You have more than enough potential. So tell me what is the one wish that would make your soul gem shine." -Mitt Romney, probably

Sigrid eyed the helmet that was sitting there with a certain amount of trepidation before going against her better instincts and putting it on.

'It better not be another one of Hans' silly pranks. The last one was bad enough.' she thought as she put the helmet on.

~Lunatic Pandora~ is Evoking

edited 19th Apr '13 5:00:11 AM by SixthSaint

Chiaki received an email in the dead of the night, something which wasn't all that unusual to her. Chiaki minimized her project just for a moment in order to see what kind of fan mail she'd received.

It wasn't fan mail.

Whoever this "Grid_Bug" was, he claimed he had a way to "purge" Apathy syndrome. The photo of Kurumi on the far side of the desk lingered in Chiaki's peripheral vision. Chiaki, all too trusting in anonymous online sources, sent back an email right away.

A few days later, the package arrived. Chiaki's dad immediately assumed it was some new piece of equipment (probably a new microphone, he thought, but goddamn is it a big one) for her modest workstation, so he didn't question it in the slightest. He simply handed her the package and told her to eat her breakfast.

Inside the package was a VR helmet and a CD. Chiaki installed the chat client on the CD, updated, and plugged the headset into the right-side USB port of her red laptop. It powered up straight away. There wasn't time for questions, Chiaki was simply eager to get started. She read Grid_Bug's instructions, put on the helmet, and clicked "Evoke".

utauhime is Evoking

edited 18th Apr '13 9:54:40 PM by opnerf

A want for distraction had driven Eddrick to take the e-mail seriously, but it appeared that he had gotten more than he had bargained for.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor of his room (a computer was expensive enough, and he wasn't really going to use a desk for anything else) he watched the odd conversation happening on his screen, nibbling at a scone he'd cooked up earlier (and had made a note about salt balancing out the sweetness, but he'd be buggered if he could find it). If he'd been more versed with the internet, or with the concept of pranking in general, then he might have already deemed the situation silly and cancelled out of the whole thing.

Except he wasn't, so he hadn't, and now he and everyone else in the chatroom were being told to install their strange helmets so they could 'purge' the Apathy Syndrome and save the world.

Alright then. With nothing else to do, and with nothing he could particularly think to say to any of the other mysterious people, he finished his snack and got the helmet ready. It was probably a bad idea and if he were still at his old home his ear would've been talked off about it, but what the heck. His life was already about to get a little crazy soon; why not up the ante?

IronLadle is Evoking

edited 19th Apr '13 3:26:48 AM by whizzerd

they/them || "Forgive me, regent of queer amphibians" - Lt.BGob

The chat client pinged. Someone new had logged in.

Detective_Yamada: Finally. I can never figure out these damned contraptions. Anyone care to fill me in on what's going on here? What the hell do you mean by 'saving the world'? Who the hell are you?

edited 19th Apr '13 6:28:37 AM by fearjunkie

Looking from the strange email she'd gotten out of the blue, to the weird high-tech helmet that had came fairly recently, Braith furrowed her brows as she pondered just what she'd been pulled into. It all seemed like a farce at first — or "spam" as they called it. Her internet lingo still needed some work. But something had possessed her into accepting the terms dictated by this Grid_Bug character. What was the harm in indulging in some stranger's little game for a brief period or two? Well, now she was starting to regret it a tad.

Still, the whole situation had came with the added bonus of meeting others tapped into joining whatever this was. The private chat had grown to be a worthwhile afterschool activity. Braith found herself rushing home each day to correspond with her new internet buddies. Why hadn't she checked out chat rooms sooner? Well, barring the unavoidable run-ins with perverts asking for naked pictures. Eww.

Braith closed the email window, focusing on the chat client again. Grid_Bug had finally shown up, chattering away and answering questions. Her fingers hovered over they keyboard, the words not quite forming as she wanted them to. Damn. Soon enough though it came time for the main event. Taking a deep breath and adjusting her glasses, the young Welsh schoolgirl connected the helmet then slid it over her head. 'Here goes nothing...'

Lady_Arsenic is evoking

edited 19th Apr '13 6:14:50 AM by maxyrama

"Who am I, Elisha Otis?"

Yamada sighed, finally finding the backlog. He wanted to investigate what exactly this 'Data_Bug' character was up to. "The things I do to get some answers..." grumbled the old detective, putting on the helmet.

Detective_Yamada is evoking

The immediate effect of clicking the button was a mortal terror at the concept, Death is here, that was fired into their minds. Instinctively, each mind struck back in it's own way, desperately seeking to preserve itself. But there was nothing to strike back against; indeed, the very metaphysical limb that attempted to lash out was caught, redirected, and sent elsewhere.

Of course, the concious mind was unlikely to recognize this. All our heroes were likely to know was that they were absolutely terrified for an instant, that there was a sound of breaking glass, a brief vision of a glowing blue butterfly, and then they were... elsewhere. An empty white space, where strange entities were materializing one by one out of floating Tarot cards. Each creature bore a name floating above it: the name of one of the people in the chat, and looking at their own body would reveal that it was not their usual one, although it would feel quite comfortably familiar, like a friend they'd always known they'd had.

But they weren't just there. They were also sitting in their room, in their human body, wearing the helmet, looking at the screen. If they had brought the goggles down, their vision on that end would be completely black; the goggles apparently weren't a screen, just a piece of opaque material.

Back on the side with the white room, one of the beings waved a hand. Bearing Data_Bug's name, it was a humanoid figure apparently made entirely of smooth chrome finish, covered in glowing green lines reminiscent of a circuit board. Over one of it's carved eyes, the only part of it's face that had any detail, there was a device that looked like a fusion between a monocle and a scouter.

"Hey." A voice was heard, on the "real world" side, out of the headset in the helmet. It was a male voice that suggested youth, but it sounded strangely weak and tired despite it's enthusiasm. "You guys are all here! So, uh... you ought to try and relax. Using the Evoker isn't pleasant, as you just, well, found out. And being in two places at once is a bit disorienting at first..."

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.

oh hey, Mi~ ^_^ Hiromi typed back in reply. It was a funny coincidence, the two forum-associates ending up taking part in the same... whatever this ultimately turned out to be.

They were given instructions related to that weird helmet, and Hiromi looked at it nervously. She had to tell herself that there was no danger in at least trying it out. She wasn't going to... get her brain fried or something impossible like that.

Finally placing it atop her head, she let out a breathe, smiling slightly at the idea that the second she pressed that button, it would just reveal some guy shouting 'you got punked!' or something.

Cosmic*Shooter is evoking.

The instantaneous terror felt from clicking that button left Hiromi's mind at a loss on what to process for a moment. Long after she apparently got teleported to a white room, occupied by named... somethings, and a living computer chip.

"...Wha...?" Hiromi muttered in confusion. "I'm... we're... huh?"

Hiromi... Hiromi was happy to see her! This instantly destroyed any remaining nervousness that lingered in Midori's heart. Simply seeing happiness expressed at her arrival... it made Midori feel joy. If only she could see Hiromi's smile, like she could see the smiley the lovely girl had typed into the chat...

When she was told to plug in the helmet, put it on, and press evoke... for a moment, Midori hesitated. She didn't trust the person speaking to them. Not entirely, even if Hiromi was there and had done so as well... she didn't want to put on the helmet. She didn't want to evoke. She didn't want to trust that person. But... what if Hiromi did? If Hiromi did... Midori couldn't just sit by without doing it herself. What if...

The words "Cosmic*Shooter is evoking." appeared on Midori's screen.

Quietly, she plugged in the helmet. Silently, she placed it on her head. She wouldn't let Hiromi do this alone.

ArtistMi is evoking.

And in that instant, cold terror struck her mind. Midori wanted to cry, to scream, but she found herself unable to. She hadn't felt fear like this in so, so long... it had been long since she'd felt like this... and then it was gone in all of one moment.

And then... disorientation. Midori felt as if she was... in this strange, white room, surrounded by strange figures... and back at home in her room. And she felt... strange, she felt what was going on?

Midori trembled this was so... strange, and, confusing... and...

"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."

Oh God, oh God, he was going to die. The thought was instant and lasted no longer than a second, yet hit Eddrick with such clarity that he physically jerked back from the sensation. Even after it was gone, and the strange white room with strange creatures replaced it, his heart still beat at a rapid pace and he sucked in air like he had been drowning just beforehand.

What hit him most, however, was the complete loss of balance: the fleeting moment of complete terror sending his emotions into disarray, inhibiting a body that wasn't his and yet wasn't completely alien, being in two different places at once and thus processing two entirely different sets of information; all left him feeling so disorientated that it was a wonder he didn't throw up. As it was he- and the 'him' in the computer- both clutched at their chests, looking for some solidness as he - and the guy in the computer, christ this was confusing- tried to regulate their breathing.

"What was that?" His Durham accent, normally quite subdued and nearly unnoticeable by foreigners, was largely emphasized by his haywire emotions. "Are... Did we just die?"

edited 19th Apr '13 2:24:32 PM by whizzerd

they/them || "Forgive me, regent of queer amphibians" - Lt.BGob

Sigrid looked around in confusion at the empty white space she found herself standing in.

'Is this some kinda simulation?' she asked the person next to her, who happened to be Hiromi.

"What a pretty blue butterfly..." said Chiaki, dreamily.

Then, the feeling of being both simultaneously in one body and the other, while in the process of dying, and the sound of shattered glass ringing throughout a white empty space woke her up.

When Chiaki came to, she said, "I'm not... dead?"

She patted herself down to make sure.

"I'm not even me!"

But really, she was.

"Am I?"

edited 20th Apr '13 12:16:24 AM by opnerf

Like everyone else, Braith wasn't expecting the sensations that came with evoking. She barely managed to stifle a yelp of surprise, feeling as though she was being stretched thin. Terrifying indeed. It was a rush — one that ended abruptly with her panting as she looked at her new surroundings. "Woah." She whispered, heart still hammering wildly in her chest as her eyes adjusted to the blinding white room she'd been dumped into. Eventually she could make out other figures with familiar usernames above them. Was this some kind of experimental virtual chat space? Cause that was sort of cool, actually.

Data_Bug spoke, which was pretty jarring considering his voice was heard through the helmet. In the real world. Where they still were, while also being here. Braith blinked. "This is too weird. Co-location shouldn't even be possible..."

"Who am I, Elisha Otis?"

"...the hell?"

Yamada listened to what Data_Bug had to say, a look of suspicion on his face. "What happened to me?" he asked. "As a detective of the Insert City Name Here because I can't think of one aaaaaaa PD, I demand answers..."

Data_Bug's apparent avatar turned towards the detective. "A detective? Your skills will be valuable here." he said, before speaking up, "Okay everyone, you're now partially in cyberspace. Specifically, an empty server I set up for this purpose. I'd have made it look like a field or something, but I haven't figured out how to do things like that yet. Anyway, your 'body' here is what is called a 'Persona', which is basically a manifestation of your inner self. I picked you out because you're able to do this; that helmet would probably seriously damage the mind of a normal person."

He looked towards Cosmic*Shooter and ''ArtistMi, who seemed to be suffering the most. "Hey, listen." he said quietly, in what sounded like an attempt to be comforting. "Just try blocking out this whole thing for a minute or two. Focus on your room, and ignore the rest of us. And when you're ready, close your real eyes and let your mind drift back here. Can you do that?"

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.

Alex looked at the Chatroom, looked like they were talking about those strange glitches. Cool.

Weerd has entered Chat.

edited 20th Apr '13 12:17:09 PM by TroyandHawk

Good to be back