[Voice]

[undyingcrow]

[In the middle of a restless night, Akechi addresses the radio.]

One thing has become abundantly clear since my arrival: the vast majority of us hail from different times, if not different worlds.

[He pauses, letting that sink in.]

For instance, I'm from Japan in the year 2017. However, it is specifically the same version of Japan shared by Akihiko Sanada and Naoto Shirogane... in the future. That places the three of us in a shared reality, but not the same point in time.

However, our version of Japan has endured a number of odd, even supernatural occurrences, such as a "Dark Hour" and, more recently, the vigilante work of a group of "Phantom Thieves" who quite literally changed the hearts of wicked adults through the use of a parallel, cognitive world.

[His voice remains calm, if tinged with a subtle weariness.]

But that is far from universal. In my time here, I have encountered a talking turtle from a world where yokai and mutants are real. I've spoken with someone who had been sent into a digital world, like an isekai protagonist. I even had to explain the concept of religion to Serph-san, as well what a horse is.

[...]

All this to say, it may be worthwhile to cross reference the worlds and time periods we hail from. If nothing else, it may help us discern patterns that could in turn heighten our understanding of our present circumstances.

Comments

[undyingcrow]

That's quite a drastic shift from the Earth I'm most familiar with.

[It all sounds so fantastical, really. Then again, his own experiences both here and in the Metaverse are hardly ordinary to begin with.]

It must have been a considerable power to change the world so drastically. Sapient elements and objects are commonplace within human mythologies and fiction, but outside of cognitive worlds such as the Metaverse, they're otherwise unheard of.

[constantvrunning]

Meaning that people think those things should exist, but don't really expect to run into them?

[Unless you're a conspiracy theorist - which do still exist in the 'world' of Tamaris! Not that V wants to lend them too much credence, here.]

[undyingcrow]

It's a bit more complex.

Some of these concepts are rooted in myths and folklore. Others reside purely in the pages of fantasy novels, concocted by the author's imagination...

Yet, in a world of cognition, such concepts and archetypes are real. The power of the collective unconscious is so powerful, in fact, that it manifested a false god.

[A pity he never got to fight it, given Yaldabaoth's influence on his life...]

[constantvrunning]

So it's not quite the same as 'power of belief', to use the colloquial, but it certainly sounds as effective. And as dangerous.

[Gods, magic - quite the fantasy kitchen sink!]

[undyingcrow]

It was.

The cognitive world on the whole is a realm much too easily exploited. A criminal with access to it could effortlessly kill by attacking a person's cognitive self.

No one without prior knowledge would ever understand what happened.

[He would know, though that goes unsaid.]

[constantvrunning]

[Well that's... alarming. Those who learned to manipulate exotic forces likely had their own 'untraceable murder' prospects, but that makes this no less disturbing to hear about.]

Does it look like a heart attack? Or does the body as a whole just stop functioning?

cw for somewhat disturbing description/eye squick

[undyingcrow]

Their eyes roll back in their heads. Black ooze drips down their faces from their tear ducts.

But, yes. At times, it resembles a heart attack.

[The one time he saw it for himself...

Well, the less said about that, the better.]

Re: cw for somewhat disturbing description/eye squick

[constantvrunning]

So we would know if something like that happens here.

[Because uh. Yikes. Good thing V is sticking to text, they don't really want to broadcast their raw reaction to such an image...]

[undyingcrow]

Even if it was possible, the one who committed those crimes only hardly did so for their own pleasure.

It doesn't justify the crimes, of course, but they were effectively an unwitting puppet.

[He should know, since it's him. Of course, he hardly plans to reveal that fact.]

Switching between tags and reading your latest chapter like ;A; Akechi...

[constantvrunning]

[... There definitely sounds like there's more to the story.

But it doesn't quite sound like something V should keep asking about. Not now, anyway.]

So the chances it could happen here are vastly reduced, then.

HE'S GOING THROUGH IT...

[undyingcrow]

Yes.

It would require the MetaNav, access to the cognitive world, and someone malicious enough to pick us off like flies.

We're more likely to face our ends by the jaws of enemy monsters.

[Not that he intends to surrender to such a fate.]

:')

[constantvrunning]

[Well, that does mitigate the distress factor somewhat... without making it any less terrifying, granted.]

I suppose it is similarly unlikely that factors specific to the 'exotic forces' of my Earth will show up here, then.

[Though that doesn't mean V won't think about them.]

[undyingcrow]

Unlikely, but we can't entirely rule it out.

I recognized one of the monster types during the first attack, though they were certainly more tangibly flesh and blood than the Shadows in the Metaverse.

[constantvrunning]

[Well, not only is that concerning in its own right, it's also more concretely relevant.]

We do appear to have some data storage within the Convoy itself at our disposal. Would you be willing to document what you know of those 'shadow' creatures there?

[No telling how many Drifters actually paid attention to this Network, after all - or if new arrivals would be able to see or hear past entries.]

[undyingcrow]

I could. I'm not entirely sure how useful it'll be, but should any more monsters share similarities with Shadows, knowing their elemental affinities may prove useful.

[constantvrunning]

It is much appreciated.

None of the creatures I know of from home are necessarily classifiable as monsters, but if there turn out to be any that can appear here in similar fashion, I shall do the same.

[It's only fair.]

[undyingcrow]

Well, I'll keep an eye out.

Would you say that they're more docile compared to the monsters here?

[constantvrunning]

I'd classify them more as avoidant than docile.

[Which differentiated them a GREAT deal from... all the monsters they'd dealt with here so far, really.]

[undyingcrow]

So more akin to wild animals, then. It's common for even some predators to shy away from humans.

[Not all, but certainly the likes of wolves and foxes.]

[constantvrunning]

It does bring into question how much of this world's biosphere is intact, albeit transformed. There appear to be fish, just very much altered.

[The Husk-hatched monsters... really shouldn't count.]

[undyingcrow]

I suspect it may be a result of whatever left the world a desolate wasteland and created the Husks.

In dystopian fiction, there's often so me apocalyptic event. Nuclear war is common, but there's also the zombie apocalypse trope, often spread through infection. Sometimes it's a higher power, but such cases teeter closer to a dark urban fantasy than the light science fiction that accompanies most post-apocalyptic works.

[constantvrunning]

[On the one hand, V does know what 'science fiction' is. Same with 'dystopian'. Literacy isn't entirely dead in the Juniper Era!

On the other, they have the distinct impression they've somehow switched topics.]

Or simply horror?

[undyingcrow]

Oh, certainly horror. Monsters and the genre go hand in hand.

[constantvrunning]

It would be nice to not just be about living it... perhaps we will find some fiction while we're here.

[Even if it's a long shot, it'd still be an interesting quest.]