Persona 3 -Online- Chapter 1

December 29th, 2031

"Later, nii-san! Oh, and your game is here!" My sister, Minako said as she left our home to school. I peered out of my window and watched her leave. I resisted an urge to smile as I peered out of my second floor window.

"Must be fun, huh...having a reason for..." I muttered as I went down to the mail.

After I retrieved the game from the mailbox, I stared blankly my tiny bedroom; the majority of the room was a shelf full of games of many genres and various consoles. I walked over to it, selected the SONY Virtual station out of the pile, and plugged it into the wall outlet in between my mattress and the wall. It was like a technological helmet in which you could wear on your head. Once you say the key words "Link Engage", the game would put all of your senses in the game itself; essentially, your conscience itself into a virtual reality. In my right hand held a game for that very console titled "Persona 3 Online". There was a lot of hype for this game; a school simulator and a RPG in one. I looked at the cover; a picture of a bay side school was on it. The words "Persona 3 -Online-" were in white pixelated letters. In the bottom left-corner was the word, tItan in black with the capital i in white. The developer? I opened the box, placed the cartridge inside the VS slot, and watched as the three LEDs flickered a light green color. I put the helmet shaped console on and began this game...

"Link Engage."

The start-up of the console required an email, password, and various usual things that a MMORPG would ask. I put the information in and accepted the terms and conditions. Initially, when purchasing the Virtual Station, you have to input real information in order to receive two-year warranty such as name and address. It did not ask me for a custom name because it uses the information readily available.

After start-up, the game presented me with a date in front of black and blue. It was April 6, 2009. It also stated that the time of the day was -Late Night-.

The game spawned me onto a crowded train. It was full of what appeared to be high school students wearing various clothing that may have been set for them. Just like them, I appeared to be wearing generic clothing. Light brown plaid dress shirt and blue jeans. Left to my seat was a window. Ignoring the sounds of spawning players and their noisy introductions, I gazed into it.

A light blue butterfly appeared in the window and seemingly trailed the train at the same speed. I opened my eyes wide and it vanished as I blinked. I would have thought it was strange, but seeming as this is just a game. At first glance, you would not be able to distinguish this world from reality. Upon closer inspection, you could see the game itself produced people as extremely high polygon count models.

"Final stop, Iwatodai, Iwatodai Station." The PA said loudly.

Did anyone other than me see that butterfly? No, looking at them, they are all concerned with introductions, friendship and all that crap. Then again, this is the point of the game. Social interaction and school life was the basic title of this game, after all...why did I even order this? What was I going for? After all, the only friends I needed threw me aside like yesterday's garbage.

As I thought that, I chuckled quietly to myself with my eyes closed. When I did that, a group of girls called me creepy and scary. Back then…I did not have that appearance.

The students left the train carrying an object, a piece of paper containing information on which dorm they were staying in. My sheet said -S.E.E.S. Dorm-. What did S.E.E.S. stand for? Perhaps if I progress through this game more. As I walked from the station to the dorm, I passed by an area titled -Naganaki Shrine-. What is the benefit of a shrine in a school simulator game, for the sense of realism using Japanese culture? Damn Titan, you people must be pulling out all the stops for a mystery developer.

As I arrived to the dorm, I stepped in and it would appear as if the room was its own separate instance from Iwatodai. It was incredibly more spacious from its outside iteration. On my right was a lounge table and sofas surrounding it and a TV close by. On my left were pantries of sorts and a sign in sheet on the counter. I signed my name and an object spawned next to it.

"Room assignment,

Room#2-3, Yamamoto Yahiko and Shima Hajime's room." Was written on a piece of paper.

It shattered into blue glass shards and faded away. I looked ahead to a set of stairs and walked up to the second floor. The hallway was just as bleak and lifeless as the other room. It seemed of lower quality polygons. Nevertheless, this "Hajime" and I's room was placed in the middle of this long hallway. It had six rooms on the left side and seven on the right. I stepped into the second room on the right side, which happened to be the third room overall.

I stepped into the room and stared emotionlessly at the bunk beds at the southern edge of the room. The spacious room appeared just as a typical high school student would have it; or at least, what I think a high school student would. On my left from the entrance was a mirror. I stepped to it to see how closely this 'VRMMORPG' would match my physical appearance. I would have to say even though I appeared as a model and textures in this game; I would have to say it is pretty damn close; not that I care or anything. My shoulder length hair felt real enough to nearly fool me. I was thinking of cutting it, but it would not even make a difference. In the corner of the room was a TV. I turned it on and it seemed to be broadcasting this game's news. In addition, I heard what sounded like people entering the S.E.E.S. Dorm. Next to the TV was the bunk bed. It appears as if the bunk bed did not belong there. It was not proportionate to the ceiling.

Nevertheless, I took this chance to take the bottom bunk before this Hajime character could put it up for debate. I lied down and put my hand up. This hand looks just like the one in the real world...if I stayed here…will I be accepted? I crushed those thoughts by tightly clenching my fist. I put my index and middle finger up, and placed them together. Using my wrist, I made a downward stroke of sorts and opened the system buttons. Nothing happened. In most Virtual Station games, the method of ending the game or accessing the options are doing a downward stroke with two fingers in a delicate motion.

"What the hell...?" I muttered.

Maybe there is something that induces the menus or something...Maybe the developers are doing something to fix this.

Whatever…I think I will wait a little longer…I stared at the watch on my wrist…it was approaching twelve. My body became heavy…my vision, blurry.

-April 7th, 2009-

I still had not been logged out. I attempted to open the settings again but it still would not work. Gazing at the closet near the door, I saw two school uniforms.

"Two, huh?" I said aloud. Standing up off the bed, I stumbled towards the closet. Before I could reach for the black uniform off the hanger, I was interrupted by snoring. I turned to look at the top bunk of the bed and a boy with honey brown hair slept with one arm dangling from the mattress. This must be Shima Hajime. I looked forward and grabbed the uniform and it suddenly appeared on my body in a flash of blue light. It woke up my sleeping roommate.

"Are you Yamamoto-kunnnn…?" He said sleepily, rubbing his left brown eye.

I did not bother speaking.

When I walked down the second floor stairs into the lounge, I heard a group conversing about why we cannot log out. I sat down, perched on the steps and eavesdropped on the conversation. I particularly did not want to take part in the conversation; I just wanted answers.

"This is bullshit, man! What if we get stuck in this game forever?" A rough voice shouted.

"Calm down, I assure you, the developers must be doing to correct this issue." A noble voice said.

"Um…" A soft female voice said.

"Yes, what is it?" The noble voice spoke.

"The uniforms in the closets…" The soft voice spoke again.

"Ah, yes. Those appear to be the uniform for the school nearby. Perhaps we will meet with more people that are unable to log out there. Or maybe we will find answers if we attend class?" The blonde noble voice said.

"Remember, this isn't the only dorm in "Iwatodai"." Another voice said. It was feminine, and sweet.

"I get it, I get it. At least right now, we should see the school and get some damn answers." The rough voice said.

It seemed like the conversation was going nowhere. I stood up and walked to the door, receiving glances from the bystanders. I turned to look to see: A blonde haired blue-eyed boy…A foreigner, perhaps; a brunette haired girl, a long black haired girl, and a buff boy with dyed dark purple hair.

They stared at me as if they expected me to speak up.

"Oh, hello…Oh, I did not catch your name." The blonde haired boy said with nobility.

"Yamamoto Yahiko."

"Ah, I see. Anyways, Yamamoto-san, can you open your settings?" He asked.

"I cannot." I said.

"Oh, I see. Where were you headed off to?"

"I was going to find a way to induce log out. I thought I could find an answer if I went to the school." I said, looking straight ahead at the wooden door.

"Is that so? We were planning to go there too. Do you need company?"

"I'm fine by myself." I said as I walked out into the streets of Iwatodai.

"Damn…he's cold." I heard a rough voice say as I left.

When I reached the end of the street near the dorm, options appeared to go certain places. I selected "Gekkokan High" and I was warped into a moving train. I was seated near a window next to a noisy, social student. In fact, everyone on the shuttle was a student. It was crowded and noisy. The majority discussed gameplay and the log out button not appearing. I, like always, stared out of the window to my right. The sky was bright blue, reflecting its color onto the ocean below. The school began to appear in my sight. It was white and massive, having multiple sections of it; for underclassmen, perhaps.

Apparently, many people could not log out of the game. The students who went to school just idled in the auditorium after the "principal" gave his speech. In this game, adults appear as high quality, life like models. Right down to the principal's gray hair follicles. Amidst the confusion, I could sense someone's glee…As if that person was wishing for death of some sort…as if they knew this was going to happen. Maybe it is just my suspicions getting the best of me. I arrived at the dorm and the game shifted from "After school" to "Evening". So what happens if I stayed outside for a certain period? Would it shift when I'm outside or would it only shift when I enter the dorm? I hope this curiosity doesn't become the death of me.

It would appear as if no one is in the dorm. I took the liberty to investigate the dorm. There's a kitchen near the lounge and a back door leading to who knows where. I attempted to open it but a purple hexagonal rectangle saying, "Blocked pathway" appeared. Next I tried the windows on the stairways all the way up to the forth. They all stated the same thing. Well, that is common sense, really. If one were to climb out of the window, it would lead to their death. Come to think of it...can we die? Can death induce the log out process? I remembered there was a knife in the kitchen…maybe I should…? No, that is suicide. After fruitless attempts at finding answers, I headed to the bedroom and went to sleep.

4/09/09

It would appear that lying in the bed with your eyes closed forces your avatar to sleep for around the next day. When I awoke, it was early morning. As I stumbled out of bed, Hajime greeted me from atop the top bunk. "Yo, partner! You know a way to log out yet?"

"…"

"Yeah…of course you haven't…you're still here, aren't you? Hey, you know they have a ramen shop in here. I wanna go after school. You wanna come?"

"You know we have to pay, right? We have no way of knowing if we have currency in this game. There is no HUD and I cannot see anything that signifies money." I said, rudely.

"Yeah…I suppose you're right, Yamamoto-kun." He said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"So…Hajime, have you found a way to log out yet?" I asked, still lying in the bed with a sense of drowsiness.

"Nah, but I heard a rumor from one of the kids at school. They said one of their friends was a beta tester and they said that we should be able to log out by the third day."

How dense is this person? That is how rumors work. People lie just to seem as if they are to a higher standard than others are.

He jumped off the top bunk onto the ground. He was already in uniform…or maybe he did not take it off yesterday. Dammit, I was wearing mine as well.

"You coming?" He asked.

"It's a waste of time. The school is too congested; I would rather stay in the dorm and wait."

"Alright, dude." He said, smiling weakly before he left.

Is he attempting to be my friend? That's quite the mistake. Whatever. I pulled the blanket over my head and went to sleep again.

-Late Night-

Instead of waking up naturally, I woke to the sound of rumbling and glass shattering. My room had a faint tint of green. The moonlight, maybe?

Someone was knocking on my room door. "Shima-kun! Wake up!" A female voice shouted. I nonchalantly walked to the door and opened. A brown-haired girl with green eyes stared at me with confused eyes. "Who…are you? Oh, it's you! I didn't know-"

"What's happening?" As I asked, Hajime fell out of the bunk bed onto the ground in a somewhat comedic manner.

"Something's happening to the dorm! The moon is glowing green! Like an event or something!" She exclaimed.

"Uh…what's going on, Hasegawa-san?" Hajime said, sleepily.

"I'll explain on the way, c'mon!" She said before running out of the room.

She stopped dead in her tracks. A stampede of player models running down the stairs to the first floor. Those who fell were crushed and their player avatars shattered into blue glass fragments. "I know what you're thinking and there's no way we can execute it with those people in the way." I said, looking at the window down the hall. The moon's light blissfully illuminated with the shade of green, giving off a slight horror feel. As I noticed, screams echoed from the floor below of the dorm.

"Then…how 'bout the roof?" Hajime asked.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan!" The girl said.

"You're forgetting one thing. This is a game. What the hell should we be afraid of?" I asked.

As if God was spiting my statement, the glass window nearest me shattered for no known reason. The shards of glass cut into my right my leg as the brown haired girl screamed.

My leg buckled and I fell under the digital pain. "What's wrong; don't tell me it hurts?" Hajime said.

"Are you okay?" Brown haired asked with fear.

I pulled the glass out of my shin and sauntered over to the stairway while the pain left me.

"Wait!" The two said at the same time.

My sauntering began to pick up speed. Before I knew it, I was running. Was I scared?

The next stairway before the roof, there was a window. The moon's radiance caused me to pause. The duo of idiots behind me caught up.

"Why did you stop?" The girl asked.

As I stared, the window darkened. "What the-" Hajime spoke.

In an instant, I pushed my body over the two as a giant black hand broke through the window. It receded outside and disappeared.

"Ouch…Yamamoto-kun, you alright?" Hajime asked. I looked behind to the glass on the ground.

I removed my body over the two and proceeded up the final flight of stairs. Upon arriving, there was a single door there. Without looking back at the two behind me, I entered the roof. It overlooked the town of 'Iwatodai'. Everything, painted in red blood, green moonlight, and faint red glows littered the town. It was damn terrifying and eerily quiet.

"See, safe and sound!" Hajime said as he walked over to the railing of the roof to peer over the town. "Oh, shi-!" He exclaimed. He was grabbed and flung towards us. I caught him and we fell.

Noisily, a black hand reached over the railing. No, multiple black hands reached over the railing. A large blue mask peered over it and scrutinized us carefully. It jumped over the railing and landed in front of us three. It was a mass of arms carrying numerous sharp blade-like objects. We stared at it before the girl whose surname is Hasegawa pulled out a gun-like object and pointed it at the creature.

Click!

She pulled the trigger but nothing happened. She kept pulling it but nothing happened. She began to cry while unsuccessfully pulling the trigger.

"Let me out…I want to go home…Let me OUT!..."

As I stared, a hexagonal rectangle appeared over the monster and had the words "Agilao" over it.

"What's that!?" Hajime shouted. A ball of fire exploded from the creature and directly hit Hasegawa and sent her flying into the brick wall of the roof entrance. The useless pistol flew in my direction. I caught it and felt the intense heat emanating from the metal. I began to reflect over killing myself would get me out of this situation. I stared at the weapon in my hand. My heart beat faster. My breathing slowed. Time slowed. I put the muzzle on my right temple. It felt hot but it was an oddly pleasing sensation.

I closed my eyes and as if the game was sending images into my head, a younger version of me in a voice that was not mine asked:

"Can you do it?" and put his right index and middle finger on his temple before jerking it upwards as if he 'shot' himself. The syllables slipped out of my lips after a deep breath.

"Per-so-na…!"

I pulled the trigger. The sound of glass breaking rung loudly as a blue aura surrounded me. It began to solidify and swirl around me and rise upwards. They conjoined and a tall, white, humanoid figure appeared above me.

"I am thou; thou art I. From the sea of thy soul I cometh; I am Orpheus, Master of Strings."

It had white hair with a red scarf around its neck. Its midsection had speakers embedded in it. Its arms were mechanical and non-human. Its legs were crafted in a similar fashion. A lyre that could possibly be used as a weapon was behind its back.

"What is that…?! What are you?" Hajime exclaimed.

"A gamer." I said nonchalantly as I pointed towards the monster.

"Orphe-ugh!" A splitting headache appeared in my head. It throbbed with every heartbeat.

Orpheus and I screamed at the same time at the top of our lungs in pain. A white-gloved human hand thrust itself from Orpheus' mouth. Another did and clasped both hands on both sides of Orpheus's mouth. It brutally split Orpheus in half, causing my head to reach the pinnacle of its migraine and I screamed once more.

Another 'Persona' appeared. It had some sort of head-wear reminiscent of a demon or devil skull. Its midsection was more human shaped than Orpheus. It wore a dark blue trench coat with a sword and sheath at its side. It had legs but no feet, just like Orpheus.

It unsheathed its sword and roared. The monster adjacent to it roared as well even though the face on the mask did not change.

The masked one charged towards the persona but the persona swung its blade, cutting multiple arms off the creature. The creature fired more "Agilao" attacks, as the roof was set ablaze. It missed harshly, even hitting the brick wall multiple times. An icon appeared where it hit the wall. "Immortal Object" was written in a hexagonal rectangle.

The deathly being on top of me raised its sword with a final swing. It swung the blade through the mask of the creature and it split in a mass of black blood that splattered and hissed upon contact with the fire. A hand that was left over from the creature attempted to escape. The being above me picked it up with great speed and crushed it in its hand.

In a flash of white light, the large sum of power subsided. In a text box in front of me that appeared in front of me, words appeared.

"Orpheus has regained its initial form. You have acquired the persona, Orpheus."

My vision blurred but I could still see faint red flames and a green sky…the green began to change to dark blue. My ears deafened but I could hear my name being called. Who is calling out to me? Minako...? Why...? Why would you still care for me...? Even as your brother...I always pushed you away...If I came back...would you take me back? Heh...Happy new Year, little sister... I…felt as though the world was changing, but you stayed the same. I don't want to change, yet everything is...I'm afraid; afraid that if I change, I won't ever look back. If I do, then the only thing that I would ever amount to…

...is a tragedy.

Please review! I've had this idea for a long time and I finally put it into words. Please also help me out, and tell me how this fic could improve!

I based it off of Sword Art Online's premise of being stuck in a game and death is reality. That's honestly it though, there's nothing else from SAO in the story. Imagine if you woke up in Persona 3's world, what would you do? That's what Yamamoto Yahiko has to find out.

Thank you for reading :D