achates | [DAY 0] TDM.

[DAY 0] TDM.

Error in final launch sequence:
Failed to execute MI command:
target remote localhost: 01633
Error message from debugger back end:
Cannot access memory at address 𝟹͚̽𝚡̰̍̂𝟸̠̯̘ͭͧ𝚌̭͉̺͖ͥ𝟿̳̰̒̇ͅ𝟷̦ͣ̉͌̅𝚋͓͎̈̒̀𝟻ͭ̌͂𝟷ͩ̓𝟾̦
Failed to execute MI command:
target remote localhost: 01633
Error message from debugger back end:
Cannot access memory at address 𝟹̖͇͕̃𝚡͉̹̯͇̻̉̓̂𝟸͚̹͈͓̩͚̲̼͒̾𝚌̱̠͙̝̪͇̈̌̂̃̄ͭ𝟿̱̜̪͓̳̹ͤ̊̈́ͦͥ̑𝟷͖̱̝̀̒̇̂̄̈́̓̇ͅ𝚋̥̯͉̹͛͛̊ͤͦͩ𝟻̬̮̈́̋ͯ͛̉̐𝟷̋ͩ̔̔𝟾̼
Waiting for debugger connection...
Debugger connected
Debugger connection lost.
Waiting for debugger connection...
Debugger connected
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Debugger connection lost.
Shutting down...
Rebooting
Download in Progress:
File download complete
Time elapsed during download operation: 00:12:33.131
Rebooting
Launching Demon Summoning Program. . .

You open your eyes to the end of the world, but you do not see it.

Instead what rouses you is screaming and crying, blood and tears: all around you are signs of life. Inside the overturned train, people begin to awaken, sprawled on the ground as if thrown violently from their seats, broken bones and bleeding wounds struggling to rise from the carpet of shattered glass from the windows at their feet. Emerging from the wreck, characters will find themselves at the edge of a dense forest, a towering stone wall at their backs. Bright eyes peer out from the shadows of the foliage, more and more blinking into view like stars in a darkening sky, but despite being drawn to the scent of blood that hangs heavy in the air, nothing steps out of the forest. Not yet.

None of the passengers can recall what happened, what they were doing on a train, where it was going- there's more they can't remember, but overshadowing the gaps of memory are things they have gained in return. A familiar item that is not theirs. A gemstone that feels lighter than it appears, as if hollow inside. And a device that wraps around their wrist (or rests on their head, or hangs around their neck, or however it presents itself to each character) that starts up on its own the moment the character turns their attention to it, as if waiting. Each character's COMP has a "navigator" selected at default, either "A☆L☆A" in bright neon orange, or "K5" in cool slate blue, although the presiding navigator can be freely switched between them.

Heya, boss! My name's Ala, your new navi!

You wanna know something really funny? Go ahead and touch the map on the corner of the screen to enlarge it. See all those little red dots? Those are demons out to kill you. Haha! You're surrounded!

Heya, boss! You can call me Keigo, your navigational AI.

If you touch the map on the corner of the screen, you can enlarge it and see the positions of all your allies. Looks like some of you are already heading out: see those little blue— oh. That one just disappeared. ... Try to stick together.

Along with providing a map with enemy/ally positions, the navigators will walk characters through the demon interaction, recruitment, and summoning processes, with advice varying between the two navigators (click to expand)

Just beat 'em up and force 'em to join! They can't say no if they're dead!

Nobody is immune to bribery, not even demons. What do you even have, though...? No matter what, don't let them get that life stone.

More demons incoming! Ooh, you're screwed. You'd better run! Don't worry, I won't tell.

Let's hide here. We'll wait here until that demon passes, then move!

Look, a body! Are they still alive? Wonder what's in their pockets...?

It's already too late to help. But better them being demon food than you.

Or, you could stay. There is nothing forcing anybody to leave the relative safety of the train. Those who stay behind will find the conductor's cabin empty, save for a small black cat perched on the headrest of the driver's seat that peers out with bright golden eyes at those who enter. Otherwise, there are no signs of a fight or struggle inside the cabin. Elsewhere, there is unclaimed luggage in the overhead compartments with an abundance of clothing and blankets, although characters will not find any of their own clothing except what they're already wearing. The dining cart is still stocked with enough food and beverage to last each passenger at least two days— maybe longer, if people keep leaving/dying... But at the same time, maybe shorter, considering the pervasive hunger that gnaws at the pits of everybody's stomachs, an emptiness that yearns to be filled by something... more.

As minutes stretch into hours, it becomes painfully clear that nobody is coming to help. Everybody only has each other, this town, its inhabitants. The forest is dark and unforgiving, near impossible to navigate even with a map. Strange creatures jump out from the shadows, eyes bright, mouths salivating, hungry. Strong hands claw through the dirt underfoot to grab at people's feet, pulling themselves up, mouths wide open, hungry. Sharp talons swoop down from the skies above, snatching characters up into the air, crushing skulls and snapping spines. Hungry. The demons here seem delighted to see such a feast wandering right into their home; those who are stopped for attempted conversation express surprise that characters are able to see them, but ultimately the hunger wins, and hunger does not listen to reason.

Casualties are inevitable. Blood mist permeates the air, and follows even as characters break out of the forest and across town, all the way to the fraying end of the world. Out in the open, however, the sun rays beat down bright and harsh, and those hungry eyes shy away from the sunlight to remain in the shadows, inside husks of buildings and thickets of overgrown fields. Characters will be able to find refuge in the greenhouse and the church, and some of the standing houses are truly vacant (as opposed to "surprise! there's actually a demon inside!" vacant); the only eyes that follow you are those of photographs hung crooked on the walls, of familiar strangers and forgotten friends. Look, there's a picture of you too.

Other locations require more caution to explore:

The sound of crying can be heard from the upper stories of the school building, thin wails echoing up and down the deserted halls, and human-like shadows peer out from the broken, unboarded windows, as if watching. A barricade inside the front doors makes it difficult to enter from the main entrance, and with most of the windows boarded up, the hallways inside remain dark even during the day. The smell of rot is prominent, heavy and cloying, especially in the auditorium-become-mausoleum that is littered with crushed bones, thin and brittle, every last scrap of flesh already nibbled away. A flock of demons crowd around outside principal's office, where a blizzard blows through the entire hallway, rendering visibility near zero and temperatures below that.

The hospital is also deathly cold, breath visible in puffs of mist that sometimes form into screaming faces, and when all is still and quiet, you look up and see yourself. Shadows form into mirror images of the characters who enter the hospital, silently approaching others and attacking once the person's guard is down. If a demon borrowing your face isn't bad enough, Phantoms go a step further and take the form of people who are close to your character: friends, family, foes. Exploring the hospital may or may not be worth the potential backstabbing, considering the fact that the supplies found are maybe not the most sterile, half the equipment is rusted or corroded, and a lot of the medicine is unlabeled tablets and capsules inside unlabeled bottles (essentially, take at your own risk). Moreover, hordes of all sorts of demon ghosts will bar characters' way down to the basement, gathering in massive numbers anytime somebody tries to descend. Electricity bounces around the top of the stairway down, while bright flames lick the bottom of the stairs; particularly unlucky characters may be hit with a confusion spell, liable to throw themselves headfirst down the stairs to be consumed by the waiting demons below.

Hauntingly beautiful music can be heard from within the concert hall, and listening to their song puts you fast asleep— possibly in the middle of the street if you're not careful— while those who manage to make it past the front doors are immediately frozen in a hunk of ice or electrocuted to a crisp before being kicked to the curb. The concert hall appears to be actively guarded, and it's clear that strangers are Not Welcome. Even the other demons keep clear of this building, drawn to the music but lingering far enough to not be overwhelmed. Characters may have an easier time of initiating conversations with demons from around town or inside the houses nearby the concert hall.

The crackle of electricity can be heard from inside the power plant's upper stories despite the blackout, and the entire building shakes from time to time, as if caught in a thunderstorm, or an earthquake. A slow drip... drip... drip... can be heard throughout the building, of amorphous demons clinging to the walls like mold and leaving puddles of caustic acid Everywhere. Anybody who enters the power plant's front entrance is met with a massive agglomerate of black Ooze that has expanded to fill the entire first floor from wall to wall, floor to ceiling, preventing anybody from going upstairs while it remains. Arms and legs poke out of the demon's body in places, desperately clawing and kicking, weaker, weaker. done.

OOC

Welcome to Day 0! What better meet-and-greet is there than everybody being tossed into the fray to fight for their lives? ('': For convenience, here are the game info, locations, and demon compendium pages; please use these as reference for what more can be found in the setting.

The characters' COMP will turn on only after they notice and focus on it. If they do NOT activate the COMP, they will not be able to see the demons or interact with them in any way other than being killed. Activating the COMP will allow characters to see demons and somewhat understand their language, with an added effect of allowing physical attacks to harm demons, and mitigating the damage taken from demons.

For characters who app and are accepted, please report demon recruitment here. Characters who are just tdming do not have to report. Recruited demons are inclined to listen to their summoner, but are not necessarily friendly at the beginning: if your character shows weakness, the demon may be just as likely to eat them as they are to protect them.

There will be no NPCs in this game other than the two navigators and some key demons. You're on your own for now!

This first event/tdm is open to the public, and can be used for test driving at any time after the game starts. I'll be keeping a pulse on threads for when characters have gotten their bearings and seem to have a general idea of how they want to proceed into the next day, and we'll go from there.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Armin skids into the house after Minato, slamming the door shut. He immediately finds a piece of overturned furniture to bar it closed. He's more than a little breathless; no stranger to action, however. It evens back out quickly.

[He turns to find Minato, and the smell hits his nose - rot, ever familiar. Armin learned long ago how to tamp down his nausea. He approaches from behind with a soft sound - just the gentlest clearing of his throat, so as not to startle Minato.

[Only a foot that they can see - if the rest isn't nearby, then Armin can only assume its been otherwise disposed of (eaten - that's his first thought).

[He checks the map for red marks. There are none. He doesn't trust it.]

Take that knife...[His voice is soft, nearly a whisper.] We'll need to do a check before we can rest...

[He has at least one blade still drawn, held tightly in his hand.]

[ ...yeah, he's right. Minato stoops to pick up the knife, eyes never leaving that shoe. It's small, its sole clean, as if it never got much chance to run around outside before... this. The knife, when he turns it in his hand and stares at his reflection on the blade, also looks fairly new, its edge sharp and without nicks or scratches. Clean. ]

Sure. Be right there.

[ This place is hardly large enough to require a "divide and conquer" approach, so he'll join Armin's side to canvas the area. Living room. Kitchen. A children's playroom. An office. Two bedrooms. Bathroom. An arm here, a leg there, splatters of blood that run up the walls only to drip back down to stain the hardwood floor.

But it's otherwise empty, there's nothing that jumps out at them, still and silent save for their own footsteps, and their quiet breaths. ]

[Armin stays by Minato's side as they search - he knows better than to expose his back to a knife, or...at least, one would think so. The house appears to be clear, save for the dead.

[Then, they have a place to rest for the moment; Armin doesn't.

[Without explanation, he moves back through the house, picking up body parts and laying them in the office, side by side against one of the walls, until all have been accounted for. He can't bury them right now, and he's not one to pray. These men and women - whoever they might be - won't have a proper funeral, nor a headstone.

[He does what he can - only what he can. It's never enough.

[Standing before the row of body parts, Armin's expression looks grim. He loses himself for a moment, watching them with blue eyes, duller every time he blinks to open them again.

[Finally, at long last, his voice comes quiet, almost idle.]

Eaten, do you suppose?

[ Minato nods, mute. Just the way the bodies look, it's clear that they were torn apart none too neatly- but at the same time, something sits with him as being strange. Why would they eat people...? That's not what happens in his experience, but maybe it's his experience that's abnormal. ]

Armin...

[ He takes a step back away from the corpses, eyes still cast down upon them. ]

You're never seen those Shadows before, have you...?

[It's a constant battle as to whether or not Armin should admit his own ignorance. Appearing inexperienced can be detrimental in the wrong environment, and this environment is anything but friendly; still, it seems that Minato has noticed on his own, and there's really no point in denying it. It's help he could use, maybe, if that's what the other offers - and Armin has helped him. It may not be the safest to assume allyship, but it is the most conducive to moving forward...]

I haven't, no. [His eyes are still on the corpses as well.

[It hurts to see them. It never stops hurting.

[At last, he looks to Minato.] It sounds like you might have, though. "Shadow," you call them? That device used the word "demon".

[ He was hoping Armin would prove him wrong, that it was Minato who had a narrow worldview, but... ]

Something similar, but I'm starting to wonder if they're not the same thing. Other than the map, there's information on the... demons. [ he unloops the lanyard from around his neck and passes it over to Armin along with the music player. the screen is small, but right now he has it displaying information on Pixie ]

I recognize some of them. Pixie. Sarasvati. Apsaras. But not all of them.

[It's something. Armin has been shown a couple of times now how to use his device (though, doesn't balk at the idea of being shown again), but he's had no reason to trust it. He has no reason to trust Minato, either, or anyone, but sometimes it's a matter of deciding what to trust more.

[He sets his eyes on the other man, holding up his own device. With some trouble, he navigates to the same page - the Pixie. Comparing the text, the information given is the same; however:]

Please, if you wouldn't mind - tell me how the information given to us by these devices compares with the knowledge you already have.

It's wrong.

[ The description, really, is the only part he can take as being familiar, although what's given here is more than what had been recorded in his personal compendium. Folklore wasn't important to him, then, as much as strengths and weaknesses and skills, the arcana the demon is aligned with, whether they are more useful on their own or disposed of as fodder.

Pixie was one of his very very first. Their time together was short. Still, he knows each of these demons as well as he knows himself- that's what they are, to him, after all. ]

Pixie is weak against ice, not fire, and is strong against electricity. The spells listed here aren't all she can learn, either: she also hasrakunda, pulinpa, trafuri, tarukaja— these are skills Pixie learns as she gets stronger. It's hard to believe the ones here are all at their weakest.

[As Minato speaks, Armin's concern grows. Of course, he'd felt no compulsion to trust what his device said implicitly, as some others seem to, but perhaps he'd hoped that they were, at least, not being entirely misled.

[That was a foolish hope. They've all been made fools and puppets. Armin is damn tired of it, and for once, he doesn't force a smile to hide that frustration; instead, melds it into a serious expression - focused, even as his mind reels.]

Thank you for telling me. I can't say that I'm surprised we're being given misinformation, but I appreciate the clarification. [Even if he can't trust Minato, he'll choose to over whatever forces brought them here, already endlessly toying.]

If you don't mind, perhaps you can give me some information on the demon I managed to negotiate with. The device called it a "Hare of Inaba". I'd like to know what abilities it actually has, rather than what I've been told.

[Honestly, what he'd like is for Minato to create a full compendiem ~~ding ding ding!~~, but he knows he can't ask for that. There'd hardly be time.]

[ He nods once at the thanks. Unlike before, when Minato speaks of demons, all the hesitation is gone: he is SO confident. but also, he is SO wrong. The experience he speaks from means nothing here, especially since the vast majority of the demons are ones that he hasn't encountered, and the ones he has aren't the same as what he knows.

Both he and Armin will have to learn that hard truth later. Maybe sooner than later, because Minato frowns at the mention of Hare of Inaba, gaze leaving Armin's face and instead wandering up, to the left, trying to remember. He has summoned Hare of Inaba before, hasn't he...? Something in him wants to say it's strong with physical attacks and insta-kill light magic, but he can't recall ever fighting with it, can't even put his finger on what arcana it is. ]

...Sorry. I never managed to complete the compendium, but I had 150... 60... something Personas— demons- registered, and can't really remember Hare of Inaba. Probably didn't spend enough time with it, if I ever did summon it. [ maybe he got it and just immediately fused it into something else? can't remember. ]

Have you asked it?

[ Armin's demon would know what it's capable of. Minato's never met a demon who didn't love bragging about itself. ]

[So, what? Armin will negotiate with a demon for power but won't bother asking it what it can do? He feels like an idiot. Perhaps later, he and the demon will have a little chat, and he can compare and contrast what it says versus what the COMP says. He still doesn't feel any particular compulsion to mistrust Minato. Local medieval peasant doesn't trust the bizarre technology strapped to him - who knew?]

I haven't, but I will. [His voice is careful.] That being said, though, do you have reason to believe what they say can be trusted? I'd doubt...

[ Armin doubts but Minato doesn't: it's clear enough on his face that he never needed a reason to trust the AIs, that he always had by default, and that is his general stance on whoever he meets. ]

Uh.

[ No, he has no good reason to trust them. he never needed something like a reason. So while he can't answer Armin's question in any convincing way, he tries to go about it from another angle, slow and careful with his words. ]

The information is [ wrong ] ...outdated, maybe. But I don't think they're intentionally misleading us. Doesn't make sense to put all this effort to lead us astray and get us killed, when doing nothing will achieve the same thing.

[ It's the existence of the COMPs in the first place that gets him. The fact that everybody has one. That there's an AI programmed into them. That said AI can communicate with them, show them the area, give information about the demons, connect all of them so that they're together despite the distances.

Imagine they woke up without any of that. They would leave the train unawares, walk into the forest, and to their deaths. It would be so much simpler, so why? ]

[Armin speaks slowly as well, though, it's more thoughtful than cautious.] They only mislead us in small ways...

[His eyes have gone focused under a furrowed brow, his thumb momentarily pressing against his front teeth before he removes it to speak again.]

You're right, though. Perhaps they want to test who will follow, who will survive. I can't imagine everyone will...[A deeply disquieting thought, but necessary death never becomes less so. It's reality.] But they certainly want some of us to.

[Entertainment? Is that what they are? There's a deep bitterness.

[Armin takes a deep breath; despite everything, manages a smile, though it's a bit thin.]

It seems we have no choice for the time being. What information they've given us is all we have.

That being said, it will be important to gather our own. I appreciate what you've given me.

[ Minato nods his your welcome for the very wrong information he's given Armin that surely won't come bite the both of them in the ass in the near future. As far as he knows, he was able to be useful, and that alone is deeply relieving. ]

Yeah.

[ Gathering information isn't his strongest suit, but he's observant. thorough when he needs to be. They'd made a beeline for this house but there are other buildings out there too- larger and taller, ones that stand out from the rest.

He'll take a moment to catch his breath, then he'll make himself useful. ]

We'll likely run into each other again, later. If we're both still alive. I'll see what else I can learn, until then.

[Armin's nod is steady, firm.] Right.

[He glances toward the door.] I'll be heading out again too.

I'm glad to have met you today. When I see you again, we'll have plenty to teach each other.

Until then...

[Armin places his fist over his heart.

[There are no words to follow it this time. Call it a force of habit more than anything else. He nods once more, then lowers his hand and heads for the door.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[DAY 0] TDM.

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cw: dead bodies/parts

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lmao armin you trusted the wrong bitch

armin like i should not be surprised anymore by this point

HONESTLY...(we can probably inch toward a wrap here soon)

yea!!

hehe I'll just put this bookend here then <3 minato bb...pls come back for day 1...