[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

voice;

[faceguy]

Don't forget magic and demons! Those are real, too!

[And aliens, and time travel...]

But yeah, I'm from New York in 2020.

[Truly a cursed year.]

voice

[bufudine]

[What the hell Akechi, don't let everyone know how little he knows!! Is how he'd feel, if he actually cared.

Since Akechi had mentioned a digital world, Serph explains in a much more straightforward manner than he has to most others prior.]

My original world was virtual, created by people of Nirvana.

[So that probably explains a lot about him not knowing things.]

voice

[thetatters]

[ Oh thank god, he doesn't have to keep pretending to understand anyone's references. He certainly doesn't know what an isekai protagonist is; the parallel world makes more sense. ]

I have noticed the same. [ And, like a lying liar who lies: ] For me it was Massachusetts, in America, upon Earth. The year is 1934.

voice

[flowersnjunk]

Never heard of a 'Japan', meself. I'd tell you where I'm from, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist anymore!

[She sounds entirely too chipper about that.]

voice;

[undyingcrow]

Well, yes. That's the only feasible to explain your little portal trick.

[2020, though... How interesting. Of course, it must be a different 2020. That much is more or less a given, and even so...]

Anything I ought to know about, heading towards the next decade?

voice

[undyingcrow]

[He remembers Serph discussing his world, briefly, but virtual...? How interesting.]

It's interesting that you're familiar with a Nirvana, and now we're tasked with finding it ourselves.

[Is it the same? Akechi has his doubts, but still...]

I'd no idea you were digital, however.

voice

[undyingcrow]

1934... That's before World War II.

[There's an air of surprise in his voice. Time discrepancies were to be expected, but one so vast is... quite a lot to imagine.]

I imagine this place has been quite the culture shock, then.

voice

[undyingcrow]

Most people would sound a bit more disheartened by that...

[There's clearly a story here. Consider his interest piqued.]

[bufudine]

[There's a tiny hint of wryness in his reply.]

Neither did I.

Digital data and... [Serph falters for a moment, trying to think of an appropriate word. 'Real' didn't sit quite right with him; the Junkyard was real] ...what exists in Nirvana aren't so different.

[Fred had said he'd jumped out of a video game, before asking him what level he was. What was that even supposed to mean?]

We were infected with the demon virus, turning us into monsters. The information gathered from us made the virus suitable for use in Nirvana.

voice

[solitarysoul]

[Wait, different worlds and times? He guesses that makes sense because if he thinks about it why would this place not just pull from wherever?]

I-I'm from Bohemia. It's, uh, it was 1942.

[flowersnjunk]

Well I'm still not one-hundred percent sure how it all worked, but my world wasn't exactly meant to exist in the first place? Or at least, not in the way it did when I lived in it. We fixed it, though! I think.

[undyingcrow]

[There are a lot of missing pieces to this puzzle. Details that don't quite fall into place, and yet...]

So, essentially, you were useful to some higher power within Nirvana, and they intended to spread the same virus.

[It's just a hypothesis, of course.]

[undyingcrow]

[Hmm... That's not entirely unfamiliar to Akechi, given the events of January.]

Was the world altered, then?

[Or perhaps it was a parallel reality? Hmm... The information is still too vague.]

[undyingcrow]

[Another from the distant path, and more importantly...]

That would put you in the middle of World War II.

[Goodness. What a time in history, especially given his own country's past.]

[solitarysoul]

No...the second great war just ended.

[He knows this first hand. But his timeline is a bit different from the norm.]

[bufudine]

If the moon is broken here, so is the sun in Nirvana. It's a black orb that turns humans to stone. If you have the virus, you won't turn.

[undyingcrow]

[That's... frightening, actually. Not to mention uncanny.]

So, you trade your humanity for survival, essentially.

[...]

That begs the question if this world's Nirvana holds a secret just as ghastly.

[undyingcrow]

[Well, perhaps that's to be expected. Parallel worlds, altered history...]

And what was the outcome?

[solitarysoul]

We, um, the Eastern Union lost. Basically.

[There was a treaty but the Kaiser clearly wanted the bunkers under Prehevil so he'd call that a victory on their part.]

[bufudine]

We won't know until we get there.

[But for all their sakes, he hopes it doesn't.]

The virus marked us, same as entry to this world.

[The brand on his face is obvious to anyone who's seen him, though what's less clear is that it is from before his arrival.]

[thetatters]

World War II?

[ This would be a horrifying series of words to hear if he were actually a human from 1934. As it stands, John has only a hazy awareness of the first Great War. He sounds puzzled, but not terribly alarmed. ]

Much of the technology seems... alien. And I suppose people dress in unusual clothing. But I was still able to find a vehicle that I recognize.

cw: vague mentions of war-related casualties + warcrimes

[undyingcrow]

Ah.

[Interesting. Very interesting.]

Where I'm from, Germany, Japan, and Italy eventually lost, though not without heavy casualties.

The United States developed a weapon that forever changed the world and robbed many innocents of their lives.

[It ended the war. Japan and the US are on peaceful terms now, but the tragedy cannot be understated.]

cw: vague mentions of war-related casualties + warcrimes

[solitarysoul]

I don't know any of those countries...but there's never a war without heavy casualties.

W-what do you mean changed the world?

[Text]

[constantvrunning]

[V is, for the most part, quietly listening.

But they do eventually have something to add:]

The planet - Earth - that I am from, subcontinent Tamaris - hasn't used a calendar like that in centuries, probably millennia. During what's known as the Radiant Era, humanity managed to call upon-slash-discover 'exotic forces'. Shortly thereafter, society hollowed itself out, suddenly and probably violently. For scale, it's generally believed the geography of the Earth was itself reshaped in the fallout.
There are scattered remnants of civilization slowly rebuilding, but large-scale transport and communication is at an absolute minimum. The closest thing there is to a date I can give you is 425 JZ - for Juniper Zero.

Nowadays, those 'exotic forces' are conventionally referred to as magic - enhanced animals, self-aware and animate sections of land or water, genetically modified as well as entirely 'artificial' - Synthetic - humans, and there are still artefacts from the Radiant Era that sometimes reactivate, or can be salvaged.

Voice

[guidemyway]

Pretty sure me and my friends are from a different planet than most of the people here.

We're from a place called Remnant.

And... I'm like a few weeks ahead of where my friends are from.