Part 3: Entry Three: April 17, 2009

Entry Three: April 17, 2009 (This is an intentional time skip; like many bloggers, RB90 does not update on a daily basis, but will summarize several days' events in one update.)

Current Mood: I have no idea.
Current Music: I'm too...something to listen to music right now.

Minato here. Uh...I don't really know how to explain any of this. You might notice my journal is on friends only for the time being...and that I don't have any friends yet, so it's not like anyone can see this. That's probably for the best. Have you ever drank one of those convenience store slushies and gotten brain freeze? My whole body feels like that right now. It sucks.

I guess I can best explain what's up if I start with the boring stuff and move up in excitement from there, kinda like the Matrix movies backwards. Let's see...



Okay, so I don't think I've mentioned this in my journal yet, but ever since I was little I've had really weird dreams about people I know. Like...what they do when I'm not around. When I wake up, I'll draw pictures about it...though I kinda do that with everything else too. Anyway, I dreamt about Mitsuru and someone new...




I didn't find this out until later, but this is Akihiko. He's a senior, a boxer, and a total prep. Just look at that vest thing he wears. Prep. I don't know if I like him all that much, but then again it's not like that matters right now. I'll explain why later.

Akihiko: There's a lot going on.



Okay, this Apathy Syndrome stuff is scary. Apparently people will just suddenly...I don't know, stop giving a shit. About everything. They just sit there and drool on themselves, and there's nothing you can do to snap them out of it. Nobody knows why it happens, and it could happen to anyone at any time.

Mitsuru: I've seen it on the news quite often lately. They say it's due to stress, but...
Akihiko: Yeah, right. It has to be THEM. Otherwise, it's not worth my time...
Mitsuru: You have a one track mind...will you be okay on your own? The Chairman will be here for the next few days, but after that, I can...
Akihiko: Don't worry. I'm just getting a little practice.
Mitsuru: This isn't a game, Akihiko...

So yeah, that's that. I don't have any proof or anything that's what they were talking about, or even if they talked at all, but it seems as real as the rest of what's going on.



Anyway, the next day I overheard a conversation on the way to class.

Some girl: Oh, um...about a bathroom?
Other girl: N-no! Not that one! I mean the story about the first-year student! Not only did she stop coming to school, she does nothing but sit and stare at the walls all day. If her mother tries to talk to her, she only mutters to herself, "It's coming! It's coming!"
Some girl: Huh, how about that.
Other girl: You don't believe me...?

You got it; it's that Apathy Syndrome again. It's all over the goddamn place these days.



In Composition, Ms. Toriumi was going on about her favorite authors. I have to admit I wasn't really paying attention...





...but I was paying a lot more attention than Junpei, apparently.



I helped him out, though, if only because he said I was "Da Man". I guess I'm too nice sometimes.



It's not like I got credit for answering the question, since it wasn't mine to answer...





...but it was the cool thing to do, right? I'd rather not sabotage my chances at fitting in on my second day. I've even held back on wearing my From Autumn To Ashes tour shirts. You should be proud of me, internet journal.



Not being a douche makes you more popular, which increases your Charm. Along with Courage and Academics, Charm is a statistic that improves gradually over very long periods of time and determines how people react to you. For the most part, you readers will get to determine Minato's growth.



I headed home after class to find Yukari and an adult chatting in the living room.




This is Mr. Ikutsuki. He's...well, he's...




...he's kinda like that. Mostly harmless, I think.



Ikutsuki: I apologize about the confusion regarding your accommodations. However, it may take a while longer before you receive the proper room assignment. Is there anything you'd like to ask?

First, I asked why he was here; he's the Chairman after all, you'd think he'd be busy or something.

Ikutsuki: To welcome you, of course! Well, to be honest, I do have other business here. Speaking of which...where's Mitsuru, Yukari?
Yukari: She's upstairs.
Ikutsuki: As dilligent as always. Although it doesn't hurt to come down and say hello...is there anything else?

I asked about who else was living here, since it was a pretty big dorm but I'd only met Yukari and Mitsuru.

Ikutsuki: There are only four students in this dorm: Yourself, Yukari here, Mitsuru, and a senior named Akihiko Sanada. I hope you all get along.

I was finished asking questions, so I mentioned heading off to bed.



This is the man who runs my school.



Somehow, I doubted Yukari. Anyway, that night I had another dream...



Ikutsuki, Mitsuru, and Yukari were in some sort of control room, watching a console that I was displayed on.

Ikutsuki: So, how's he doing?
Mitsuru: He went to bed a little while ago. He's asleep now. Mr. Chairman, do you think he's...?
Ikutsuki: Well, let's wait and see for now...the Dark Hour is approaching.

The Dark Hour...somehow, I think I had an idea of what it was just from hearing about it. It lead me to make this animation:

The Dark Hour

I tend to leap from drawing pictures into animating, so excuse that, nonexistent readers.




Yukari: Then, he must be...
Ikutsuki: As you can see, he's retained his human form. He's asleep, but he's definitely experiencing the Dark Hour. The only question that remains or not is whether he has the Potential. Although, he must...if he didn't, they would've preyed on him by now.
Yukari: Scary...
Ikutsuki: In any case, we should continue to monitor him for a few more days.
Mitsuru: Yes sir.
Yukari: I feel kinda bad though, spying on him like this...



All of a sudden, I had some kind of vision of a door opening and filling my brain with light. I meant to animate it, but never got around to it. Oh well. Inside the door was what seemed like a huge elevator coated in velvet...



This is Igor. I guess he's an imaginary friend or something, since I only ever see him in dreams. I wonder why my imaginary friend is a creepy old man...Freud would have a field day with me.

Igor: This is Elizabeth. She's a resident here, like myself.



This is Elizabeth, my other imaginary friend. I think she's meant to be Igor's "assistant", but I've never seen her do much to help him. Maybe I'm overanalyzing my own dreams.



Igor: It's been years since we've had a guest.



All of a sudden, the contract I had signed showed up on the table between Igor and I.

Igor: Only those who have signed the Contract can enter this place. Henceforth, you will be welcome here in the Velvet Room. You are destined to hone your unique ability, and you will require my help to do so. I only ask one thing in return...that you abide by the Contract, and assume responsibility for the choices you make.

I felt myself stirring from sleep, but before I awoke, Igor handed me a blue velvet key and bid me farewell.



(There I go again with the needless captions.)

I didn't notice any sort of key on me when I woke up, so I set all of that aside and headed off to school.



Junpei caught me on the way in. That guy really needs to lay off the sugar.

Junpei: The sky is blue...we're young...what more could we ask for?! Dude, listen to this...oh, wait! I'm not supposed to say anything...sorry, man.

Weirdo. The bell rung right after that.



You notice how my journal is now named "My Life is a Goddamn Mess"? The past few days gave me more than enough reasons to pick that name, not least of which is Mr. Ekoda, who appears to be some kind of samurophile.

Ekoda: I'll be teaching you about good old Japan all year. Some people say Classic Lit isn't relative to everyday life, but oh how they're wrong! Hey, are you all listening to me...?




Long story short, no. No, I was not. But I stayed up regardless, since I knew this would be on the test. I didn't listen, don't get me wrong, but I think I absorbed his blathering like some kind of sponge with cubic trousers.




Doing nerd shit like listening in class and studying gets you Academics points. There is all kinds of nerd shit to do in this game, meaning Academics takes the most effort to max out by far.

Nothing much happened for the rest of the day, so I hit the sack almost right away after I got home. I had another dream...



...and I think this one took place during the Dark Hour. Well, it did, as I found out later, but we'll get to that.



It was Ikutsuki, Mitsuru, and Yukari again in the control room. I wish I had normal dreams, like sugary birds make of candy knocking people off chocolate platforms or something.

Mitsuru: The same as last night.
Ikutsuki: Hmm, very interesting...even those who have the Potential tend to be unstable at first. Memory loss, disorientation...but this subject is rather unique. He hasn't exhibited any of the common symptoms.
Yukari: But...we're treating him like a guinea pig.
Ikutsuki: I understand your concern, but it's imperative that we recruit new members. I heard he's your classmate...wouldn't you be more comfortable working with someone from the same grade?
Yukari: Yeah, I guess, but still...

Suddenly, there was a beeping out of nowhere.



Mitsuru: ...Is that you, Akihiko?

I guess it was some kind of communications device. ...that or just a cell phone.



Akihiko: Unfortunately, I don't have time to talk...it's chasing me. I wanted to let you guys know. I'm almost there...
Yukari: Does that mean...he's bringing that thing here?!
Mitsuru: Mr. Chairman!



"Battle"? You've got to be kidding me, I thought. We're high school students, the only battles we fight are with finals.



Back at the front door, Akihiko wasn't doing so hot.



Akihiko: Get ready to be surprised...It'll be here any second.
Mitsuru: This is no time to joke around! Mr. Chairman, please head for the command room! Takeba, go upstairs and wake him up! Then escape out the back!
Yukari: But what about you two?
Mitsuru: We'll stop it here. You led it to us, Akihiko, so I'm afraid you'll have to fight.
Akihiko: Like I had a choice!




Okay, here's where things get weird. I actually woke up, and...well, all of this shit was still happening. This is right around when my life started to become an official goddamn mess.




I agreed, since I was too tired and shocked to really do anything else.

Yukari: Hurry! Downstairs! We'll leave through the back door! ...Wait! Take this, just in case.



She was just carrying a fucking sword around! And gave it to me for some reason! It was a real goddamn sword, too, not like those things those Akihabara nerds are always waving around. I figured I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, so instead of talking about it we headed downstairs as fast as we could.



Turns out we weren't safe at all, as we discovered when Mitsuru gave us a call.

Mitsuru: Takeba, do you read me?!
Yukari: Y-yes! I hear you!
Mitsuru: Be careful! There's more than one enemy! The one we're fighting isn't the one Akihiko saw!
Yukari: What?!



Then something nearly bashed the damn door down, so...




...we started heading back upstairs instead.



We made it to the roof entrance and headed out, and, well, that's when things started getting really weird. I animated what happened next:

Awakening

Don't ask me to explain it. And don't accuse me of lying, because it's what really happened. I swear. I made another animation, too:

Shadow

At the same time, I think I'm still dreaming, you know that? I'm pretty sure that I'm dreaming about writing a journal entry about this shit. Maybe I'm crazy. Yukari told me that after all this, I decided it was naptime...



...one way or the other.

I dreamt again. Maybe I dreamt while I was still dreaming, and I'm dreaming now. That's a dream within a dream within a dream.

Man, I'm glad nobody can read this.



Anyway, it was Igor again.

Igor: You became unconscious after awakening to your "Power". It's nothing to worry about, though. So just relax. By the way...I see it was Orpheus who heeded your calling.



"Persona". Igor told me about it. It's like a protective mask that everyone wears. We all have many faces we show to the world, and our Persona is but one of many.

And to think, yesterday I was fretting about my crappy journal username.



Igor said that a Persona grows more powerful as its wielder, the Persona user, develops their Social Links. Friendships, relationships, and the like. The closer you get to people, the more powerful your Persona becomes.

For some reason I could see this whole Social Link thing not going too well for me. I wonder if online dating counts.



After Igor and I had our chat, I woke up to find myself in a hospital bed with Ykari standing over me.

Yukari: Thank goodnes, you finally came to...how much sleep do you need?! It's been a whole week!



Well, she cares if I live or die, that's gotta count for some Social Linkage or something.

Yukari: Oh yeah, this is Tatsumi Memorial Hospital. It's just a short walk from the station. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong with you. He said you were just exhausted. But you kept sleeping and sleeping...you know how worried I was? Um...



Yukari: Even though I was supposed to protect you, I...but your power, it was amazing.



Hey, the creepy old man in my head was right after all! Maybe this is how kids with voices in their heads that tell them to burn things feel.



I would've called them Creepy Hand Rape Things, but I guess that doesn't have as much of a ring to it.

Yukari: We'll explain everything later. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before...I, uh...I wanted to tell you that...I'm sorta like you.




I think I've mentioned this before, but I really wish people wouldn't bring that up. Still, she was trying to be nice.

Yukari: To be honest, I already know about your past...but it didn't seem fair, so I wanted you to know about mine. It was back in '99...there was a big explosion in the area. Supposedly, my dad died in the blast, but nobody really knows what happened. He was working in a lab run by the Kirijo Group, so I'm hoping if I stick around long enough I'll learn something. That's why I'm going to Gekkoukan High, and why I was there when this happened to you. ...And here I am telling you all this right when you woke up. While I was waiting, I thought to myself, "I've been hiding so many things from him...and when he wakes up, I'm going to tell him the truth."



Yukari took off, and I spent the rest of the day thinking about what happened. And eating tasty hospital ice cream. I should unleash the inner fury of my personality more often.



The next day, it was business as usual at school since I was doing better.

Yukari: Hey, sorry to hit you with this first thing in the morning, but Ikutsuki-san wants to talk to you today. Come to the 4th floor of the dorm after school today, okay? Don't forget.



So I headed home right after class...




...and nobody was there. I figure they're all up waiting for me upstairs, but I wanted to blog about this in case they called the men in white coats to cart me off to the asylum or something. At this point, that'd probably be a good reaction to all the crazy shit that's been happening.

I'm gonna head upstairs now. Hopefully I'll have some answers next time I write.

Coming up in the next entry: What the hell is going on here, anyway?! Also: violence!