Alright. So this was actually a story that i started a few years ago when i was like hugely into writing. I never really planned it out and kind of made it up as i went along, and the story was, like, endless. Or at least as long as one of the persona games, and no one has time for that. I had to focus on other things and just sort of got bored of writing and never came back to this. But now, with renewed vigor and a reformed appreciation for the persona series, i'm giving it another shot. Plus, its something i can do which isn't coursework, so score. The idea is that it reflects the feel of the franchise. I always thought persona has sort of character sets that recur in each game. Certainly 3 and 4. Junpei is similar to Yosuke. Chie reminds me of Yukari, etc. etc. Its a cool thing that helps you feel like each story exists in the same universe, and thats what i wanted to reflect in this. Yes there are allot of things that are similar to the games in this, but thats because it should FEEL like these characters could plausibly exist in that universe. Don't expect lots of content in each chapter and I probably wont be very consistent in when i upload them because this is just something i'm doing when i have some time to kill, so please keep that in mind. Enough rambling. You all probably won't even read this. Especially not after this huge introduction I've plopped at the start of the first chapter, but hey.
Here goes.
Persona: Frequency
Chapter I: A Fresh Start.
***Saturday, September 13th: Evening***
At the age of 16, this long haul journey from Tokyo to Falcon City California was the first flight Jackson Blake had ever been on alone. This high in the sky, the sunlight was unhindered in its quest to pierce through the window that supported his weary head. Jackson was smaller then most. His hair was short and brown. The kind of brown that develops an orange hue at the height of summer. His headphones spat out the last few notes that the short battery life of the ipod they were attached to could muster as the pilot announced that he was about to begin landing procedures.
Jackson left the airport through a set of tall glass doors, with an intricate arch above them, which read 'Falcon City Airport.' The sun was blinding. A dramatic change to the thunderous rains he had grown used to over the past 5 years. He had to drop his bag to cover his eyes with his forearm. He could see towering buildings behind, and commuters in front. Falcon was a city in which the majority of California's radio programs were now recorded, and the skyline was defined not by its buildings, but by the radio satellites that stood atop them. His phone had full signal, but no messages or missed calls greeted him, nor did any friends or relatives. He knew no one in this city.
He checked the map next to the station, and worked out a way to the apartment his mother had rented him for the year. He wasn't comfortable with using public transport here straight away, so grabbed his bag and started off on foot, wandering slowly towards the fog of car exhausts that drastically shortened the distance between him and the horizon.
***Late Night***
The block with his apartment was huge, one of the tallest in the city. He was on the 5th floor, room 134. He found it, slid his keycard through the lock, and opened the door.
"Hello?" Someone shouted.
"Err, Hi." Jackson called back in nervous response.
"You the new guy?" His roommate appeared from another room. "I'm Alex, Alex Austyn." He was taller then Jackson. His hair was short, dark, and poorly kept, and he wore baggy jeans embraced by a long t-shirt under an undone white jacket.
"Jackson Blake." Jackson replied. "It's nice to meet you." They moved to the living room, where Alex was playing some kind of turn based RPG game.
"You moved from Japan, right?" Alex asked.
"Yeah."
"Man that's crazy. Why would you move?"
"My parents are getting divorced and they need to sort out legal issues so I'm staying out of their way for a year."
"Smart move. Your English is damn good."
"I'm not Japanese, haha. We moved there when I was, like, 10 or something. I was born in Boston."
"An East Coaster, huh? I'd keep that quiet at school. You are going to my school right? Royal Springs?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Nice! I moved here a week ago so I'm going to be new too." Alex smiled. It was a smile that put Jackson at ease. He wasn't going to be alone when he started school.
"Sounds good. I'm shattered though, so I'm gonna go sleep. It was nice meeting you." Jackson said as he gathered his things.
"Cool. Same." Alex returned intently to his video game. "Your room is the one at the end of the hall."
"Thanks."
***Sunday, September 14: Early Morning***
Jackson woke at 8.30. He was glad it was a Sunday, because on any other day, he'd need to be in class in ten minutes time. He showered, dressed and made his way into the kitchen, where he found Alex sitting by the table, playing with an old yo-yo.
"Morning" Alex greeted.
"Y'alright." Jackson murmured. "That your yo-yo?" He asked.
"It was my Dad's, he gave it to me right before he died."
"Oh, sorry I didn't know." Jackson apologised awkwardly.
"Yea well, that was a while ago. He died when I was six." It seemed like Alex had dealt with this particular issue a long time ago. "He wasn't exactly the most memorable father figure. The legacy it seems he left, in fact, was if life gets tough. Kill yourself." There was a long silence that crept up Jackson's spine and looped in his brain. "Sorry. That was massively inappropriate haha" Alex recoiled.
"It's, ok. I get mad at my parents sometimes too." Jackson wasn't lying. It was because of his parents that he found himself here, away from his friends. He quickly changed the subject, "Are we the only ones in this apartment?"
"Oh err, no. The school owns two of the floors here. This is the guys' floor but we can't live here by ourselves until we're 18. So there's another guy who stays in this apartment, but he's hardly ever in. I've only seen him twice in the last couple weeks I've been here."
"What's his name?"
"Raymond Oz. He goes by Ray."
"Sounds like a real character" Jackson trailed the conversation off and made himself some breakfast.
***Evening***
'-with sunny spells throughout. That concludes today's forecast, and now, the local news.'
"Dude, it's starting!" Alex called. "If you haven't heard about the forgotten frequency, then you don't belong in Falcon City."
Jackson took a seat. "I'm quaking in my boots." He joked.
The news was boring and melancholy. A small man with grey hair and a round face sat behind a desk with a pile of papers. His voice was clear and precise, and he rarely changed his facial expression. The more serious stories ended, and the host turned on to less pressing headlines.
"A strange rumour has been plaguing the citizens of Falcon City, or as it's more locally known 'Frequency Central' for the last few weeks," said the man, "a rumour that if you stand near the centre of the city, namely the star's satellite and listen to a radio at an exact frequency, strange monsters known as Shadows start to appear and 'hunt' for you. They call this the forgotten frequency. Of course it's a just a fictional rumour, but many young children in the city have been missing school because they are sick with worry about the whole thing."
Alex turned the TV off. "Of course they don't broadcast the best bits," he looked a little disappointed.
"What are the 'best bits'?" Jackson asked.
"Well," Alex was suddenly more enthusiastic, "People have started turning up at the hospitals with amnesia ever since the rumour started. All they remember hearing is a voice, and static. You know the fuzzy sound on the radio?"
"Yea, I know. But what does that have to do with anything?" Jackson was starting to loose faith in the story.
"That's the good part, you see. Beause everyone is saying that the Shadows feed on peoples' minds!" Alex's eyes seemed wider than the sockets in which they were cupped.
"… Like a Zombie?"
"No idiot, Zombies eat people's brains, not their minds!" Alex seemed amazed that anyone could make this mistake.
"What's the difference?" Jackson, it must be said, was not as amazed. The rest of the night was spent arguing about the difference between Zombies and Shadows, and after a long discussion, the two decided to agree to disagree, and went to bed.
