WEEK ONE

[lockdownmods]

[ Well that Orientation... happened. Whether you feel more informed or not, the truth remains. Here you are, within Fayflower University. You have your run of the campus, indoors and out.

There's also your tablets to play with. There are several apps-- and even a game! They didn't leave you without some entertainment. The music is a bit dated though...

And should you wish, there's still time to talk to the "staff" in a more... private setting. The office. They're not hard to find. Well-- your Professor, Han and Megumi aren't. Oswald is a bit more... difficult. ]

LOCATIONS | PROFILES

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

Comments

[covertizer]

[ ... Man. That's an interesting summary. Hearing it from a third party who hasn't been involved with it at all. ]

Essentially. Except it's sort of... in a world that isn't my world, but can be access from it?

[ Hold on to your hipster jeans, Max, this gets more intense. ]

If we'd done all that in the real world, we'd have been arrested within about four seconds.

[reshoot]

In the real...

Hold on, let me guess...

[pumps her fists excitedly]

This all takes place in the digital world! It's like that one show!

[covertizer]

[ Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. ]

Nope.

It's... a little more complicated than that. I mean... really complicated, trying to explain it can get a bit tongue-twisty.

[ Digital world would be waaaay easier to understand. ]

[reshoot]

Well, I'm not forcing you to, I just think it's interesting. I think I'll be able to pick it up pretty quick, though. So if it's not the real world or the digital world, that means this other dimension is...?

[covertizer]

It's... [ Hm. ]

It's like people's perceptions made into a semi-reality. I've seen it called cognitive pscience. The idea that something you perceive becomes the truth, and while it's limitless in potential, it's kinda fragile too.

Really strong feelings, or beliefs can form their own world that bends to will of the person who created it. Unfortunately... I've only really seen it happen in conjunction with negative emotions. Someone in the real world isn't aware that there may be a cognitive copy of them living in a version of the world only they perceive, but with a little ground work we are and we can access it. We call them Palaces.

Steal that person's "treasure" from their Palace, and you remove the source of their powerful negative emotions, and the once you remove the item the Palace itself crumbles. And with it, so do those thoughts and desires and feelings.

[reshoot]

So...you're able to go to a world created by people's cognition? So you go into this other world, and what you do there affects the person in the real world, right? So when you take their treasure, it causes them to fundamentally change.

Oh, and that's why they confess! Just like the persona is the manifestation of your thoughts and wishes and junk, the other world is filled with other things like them, right? The shadows you mentioned...

[tilts her head...jesus this is some real high concept stuff]

I think I'm getting it. Sounds pretty dangerous. On top of, you know, insane.

[covertizer]

Yeah. We try not to cause any permanent harm to the people, in case it causes trouble in the real world. But when you take away the thing that was fuelling the corruption, and the feel the weight of their crimes again.

[ He shrugs. ]

We're careful with it. We're not out to cause anyone permanent damage, just to... knock them down from their untouchable pedestal. Make them pay for things they've done that should have got them locked up, at the very least.

[reshoot]

...Arcadia Bay could've used the phantom thieves.

[Sigh. She can't help thinking of a certain person's "palace".]

You're brave to take all of that on...it must not have been easy. Not only are you risking yourself for other people, but you also have to be careful with how you go about getting justice.

God knows people will abuse their power if there's not someone out there keeping them in line.

[Siiiiiigh.]

God knows...

[covertizer]

It's not as brave as you think. People don't know the Metaverse exists - not without being dragged there when someone else uses the app, or having it themselves. How do you go about proving that we did anything at all, when any proof is locked away in a place you don't even know exists, and a Palace that vanishes once the treasure it's protecting is gone?

[ But it was... good. Undeniably powerful, and as long as they were careful in the real world, they should be safe. Mostly. He's fairly sure of that... ]

It's always people who shouldn't though. Arguably no one should but... it's always people with control over the vulnerable. Teachers, family-- [ And thinking of what Futaba told them... ]-- even people in the government, or part of powerful companies.

[reshoot]

You're brave. Give yourself a little more credit, hero. Whether the world wants to admit it or not...You're risking yourself to change the world for the better. And I think that's awesome.

[Teachers.

Teachers...

Max has to pinch herself to stop thinking about it.]

W-Well, I'm rooting for the Phantom Theives. You have my full support, even if it's from overseas at probably a different point in time if not reality all together. [ :D? ]

[covertizer]

And you're hopping through time to do something similar. With no guarantee everything will stay stable.

[ Teachers.

They were all bad, the Palaces they'd been to, for one reason or another. But Kamoshida had hurt so many of them - he'd hurt Mishima, he'd gone for Akira, he'd harassed Ann, and what he'd done to Ryuji and Shiho...

He was one of the worst. ]

Support from places further away than just one world isn't another too strange. It's appreciated.