The following is an account of the well-established individuals of society based in the Persona 4 setting. All depictions of real-life personalities are entirely fictional.
A vintage car, enshrouded by a thick fog, drove slowly past him eventually coming to a stop. He was dreaming. This would be a self-conscious dream, he thought as the realization sunk in, one of those dreams that were too close for comfort.
Without warning, he found his body thrust into the car and coming face-to-face with a sneering, blood-shot eyed, imp of a man. He could not avert his gaze from the protruding nose and his receding, wiry, white hair until he noticed the beauty sitting right beside him.
With flowing golden locks and a smooth, sculpted face, the woman inside the vehicle served as a stark contrast to her alleged colleague. She sat upright and proper next to the table that lay before them.
It was the old man that spoke first. "Ah…it seems we have a guest with an intriguing destiny." He spoke in a high-pitched tone of voice and chuckled softly after reiterating his assessment of the man.
"My name is Igor," he continued. "I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter…"
"So my dream is telling me that I'm not dreaming? That's the last time I ask the stewardess to leave the Coke can on my tray."
Igor appeared unwavering. "It is a room that only those who are bound by a contract may enter…"
"I'm going to stop you there," he interrupted, "but as the ex-Chairman of a multi-billion dollar company, I feel I'm qualified to correct your loose definition of this contract you speak of."
Amused, he figured he would play along with whatever nonsense this dream of his confronted him with.
"You see, a proper contract is only forged by the signing of the potential patron as an agreement to the obligations outlined by the document. Such a document has never been signed by me, nor come to my attention."
"Oh, but it has!" countered Igor enthusiastically. "No person may enter this room unless they are bound by this contract…"
"Lovely," he muttered to himself, "identity theft has finally caught up to me through the forgery of some delinquent signing my life away."
Showing no sign of sympathy, Igor barraged him with more startling facts.
"It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future. Now then… why don't you introduce yourself?"
"Bill. Just Bill is fine, thank you."
"Hm… I see. Now, let's take a look into your future, shall we? Do you believe in fortune telling?"
"No."
"Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different…" There was no stopping this man, thought Bill. It was like the guy had been predisposed to imitating a pre-recorded "*.wav" file for which there was no pause button.
"Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?" Igor said, chuckling to himself.
"While I enjoy a good philosophical debate, something tells me it's not worth the investment here."
"Hm… The Tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent." Unbelievable. Igor would be a dangerous man in the political field.
Igor turned his attention to a different card. "The Moon, in the upright position. This card represents "hesitation" and "mystery"… very interesting indeed.
It seems you will encounter a misfortune at your destination, and a great mystery will be imposed upon you. In the coming days, you will enter into a contract of some sort," Wait, another one?! "after which you will return here. The coming arbitrary length of time is a turning point in your destiny… If the mystery goes unsolved your future may be forever lost. My duty is to provide you assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen.
Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you. This is Margaret. She is a resident of this place, like myself."
A faint smile emerged on Margaret's face as she turned to acknowledge Bill. "My name is Margaret. I am here to accompany you through your journey." She immediately lowered her head toward the giant book in her lap after speaking.
Igor started up again. "We shall attend to the details another time. Until then, farewell…"
"Before I go, can I just say one thing?" Bill asked, attempting some politeness.
"Go on…"
Bill straightened his body and raised one hand to adjust his glasses. Speaking in a firm voice, he demanded only one thing from the odd pair. "Get the hell out of my psyche."
Bill's eyes shot open only to see and hear the tangible scene of men and women in suits shuffling around to gather their bags.
"We are arriving at our destination in approximately five minutes. The local time is… well, what does it matter to you anyway! Please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened until the craft has come to a complete stop. We hope you enjoyed your relaxing flight with us and we all wish you a peaceful holiday." The voice of a pilot sounding out over the intercom had never been sweeter to him. Peering out of a nearby window, his surroundings appeared vibrant and colorful as the bright sun shone in the picturesque clear, blue skies.
After docking at the airport, a mad scramble ensued as people squeezed their way into the aisle to depart the plane. Bill casually grabbed his bag and waited for everyone to pass by. No need to rush. He would be staying here for a while. All of them would be.
He passed the smiling faces of the flight attendants and pilots, making his way to the air bridge and out of the airport.
The first thought that came to his mind upon arriving was what exactly he would have for dinner that evening.