(Author's Note: This story won't feature every detail from the game, but it will feature Nanako and Dojima's reactions to the plot and some of the details.)
After selecting the game difficulty, the screen faded before revealing a blue limousine driving down a foggy path, after which the scene shifted to the inside of the limousine where two figures were sitting at a table with bottles of alcohol nearby.
"Dad, who are they?" Nanako asked curiously. "I haven't seen them before."
"Neither have I, though they might be the characters we play as in this game." Dojima said before the screen focused on the male figure and he began to speak.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room." the man said calmly as the cutscene ended and the game began looking more like the images on the back of the box. "Ah… It seems we have a guest with an intriguing destiny."
With those words the man chuckled slightly in amusement.
"Guest, does he mean us?" Dojima asked suspiciously.
"I think he means the person playing dad." Nanako said.
"Right, I'm just overthinking things, especially since this game takes place in Inaba." Dojima said. "Let's just have fun and enjoy ourselves."
"Ok." Nanako said happily.
"My name is Igor… I am delighted to make your acquaintance." the man said calmly. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter, it is a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter. It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future."
"A contract, are we going to make a deal with somebody?" Nanako asked.
"I'm not sure, but something tells me we'll find out." Dojima said. "Still, I wonder who that woman is. She hasn't said anything so far."
"Maybe she can't talk." Nanako suggested. "Or she doesn't want to."
"I don't know, it's just strange." Dojima said thoughtfully.
"Now then…why don't you introduce yourself?" Igor asked calmly as a menu popped up for them to put in a character name.
"Ok Nanako, any ideas for a name?" Dojima asked.
"Um… Junes Dojima." Nanako said with a smile.
"You really like Junes don't you?" Dojima asked calmly. "Alright, Junes Dojima it is."
"Thanks dad." Nanako said happily putting in the name.
"Hm… I see." Igor said. "Now, let's take a look into your future, shall we?"
The moment Igor said that, a set of cards appeared on the table in front of him.
"Future, isn't that bad to know in a game?" Nanako asked.
"No, sometimes it tells you what you're trying to do but you still need to figure out how to get there." Dojima said calmly.
"Do you believe in fortune telling?" Igor asked before waving his hand over the cards as they randomized themselves. "Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different… Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?"
"He has a point, everyone has the same chance at birth but they don't end up doing the same things." Dojima said thoughtfully. "This game just gets more and more interesting."
As he said that, Igor flipped over one of the cards, and an image of the Tower Arcana card appeared on the screen.
"Hm…The Tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent." Igor said thoughtfully. "The card indicating the future beyond that is..."
"Hopefully it isn't anything worse than the Tower." Dojima said.
"Dad, what did he mean?" Nanako asked. "What's a catastrophe?"
"Something very bad, bad people would like that to happen which is why the other people at the Inaba police station and I work so hard to protect everyone." Dojima said.
"Oh." Nanako said sadly. "Ok."
Nanako one day it'll make sense, Dojima thought, it has to.
As Dojima thought that, Nanako pressed the button and Igor flipped over a second card revealing an image of the Moon Arcana card on the screen.
"The Moon, in the upright position." Igor said. "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."
"A mystery, well I'm sure the two of us can solve any mystery this game throws at us." Dojima said. "This should be easy enough."
"Yeah, we'll figure out everything." Nanako said with a smile.
"In the coming days, you will enter into a contract of some sort, after which you will return here." Igor said calmly. "The coming year is a turning point in your destiny… If the mysery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost. My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen."
"Alright, so he's going to be a supporting character that we can get advice from." Dojima said. "That should be useful."
With those words Igor waved his hand over the cards and they vanished into thin air.
"Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you." Igor said suddenly before gesturing to the woman in blue sitting next to him. "This is Margaret. She is a resident of this place, like myself."
"My name is Margaret. I am here to accompany you through your journey." Margaret said politely.
"We shall attend to the details another time. Until then, farewell." Igor said as the screen faded to black.
"Well, that was quite the interesting opening to the game." Dojima said. "The Velvet Room, you almost could wonder if something like that actually existed in the real world."
"Yeah, do you think it does dad?" Nanako asked. "The game takes place here so maybe the Velvet Room is real too."
"It could be, but I've never heard of a Velvet Room before playing this game." Dojima said. "Plus I think we'd know if Igor was walking around town. His nose is hard to miss."
"Yeah, it was huge." Nanako said with a smile. "I'm glad we're playing together dad."
"So am I Nanako, so am I." Dojima said with a small smile.
(Dojima and Nanako have met Igor and Margaret, and are preparing to play through the opening of the game. Next chapter they'll continue playing through the opening. As always any reviews or critique is appreciated.)