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Janine Liberi     The cave can be found deep in the Pale Wolf's territory. The massive dragon masquerading as a wolf is nowhere to be found, but the back of everyone's neck bristles at time, as if something is watching them from between the trees. The White Pig leads the way, snuffling at the ground without even a trace of fear. Perhaps it is because of Wotan's invitation that he feels secure. Wotan is the master of the Forest, so nothing would dare attack them on the way.

    Stray Shadows can be seen now and again, growing more and more numerous as they get closer. They're weak, faded, and can only really be seen out the corner of your eye. Why they're all out here becomes apparent once the caves come into view. The Shadows are going into it, advancing into the impenetrable blackness and vanishing from sight. A final journey for the concepts. Either they fade away in the Forest, or they brave the cave for a chance to continue existing on the other side, as part of the Wild Hunt.

    The cave is built in a great rock wall, of impossible length and height. The top cannot be seen through the constant cloud that hangs low over the forest, and it seems to go on forever in both directions. The patterns of cracks begin to repeat after a while, like a texture lazily copy-pasted again and again on a surface. The only way around it is through the cave.

    "All right," Janine says. She looks pale, and tense. But not afraid. "Last chance to bow out. Don't know if we'll come back from this. But, if you're sticking around..." She draws her sabre. The blade is bright and polished, and shows signs of having been recently sharpened. She's taking this seriously. Catherine arises from her reflection and conjures a golden thread, lashing it to a nearby tree. "Grab hold of this, and don't let go." She and her Persona stride into the darkness, the thread lengthening as they go. Something to help everyone follow her... or find their way back.
Tina Natsumi The camera is charged. The backup battery is charged. dinner has been consumed, and the guns are ready.

Tina's ready to go. The ominous cave stands before the group, and she takes her phone out briefly to fiddle with it before turning the front-light on and sticking it into her jacket's breast pocket.

"Looks like we're all here... Okay, folks. @FreedomWithFries here, about to enter a weirdo cave in humanity's mindscape and... Uh. Save humanity from getting yeeted outta existence, more or less." She murmurs to her phone more than anyone else that's actually present, her tone more subdued and somber than usual.

It's probably anxiety. Tipping her hat down for a moment, she gives her revolvers another look over while Uncle Sam looms behind her like a giant American shadow, but mechanical. "We'll be fine, Janny. We've survived a hell of a lotta stuff already, and we still got a heluva lotta fans back home to come back to."

She actually laughs a bit at that, grasping a portion of the thread before advancing. "Now or never, yeah? Just remember. We ain't speedrunnin' this, and we don't need to do it perfectly. Just survive."
Kotone Yamakawa It seemed like a lifetime ago that she'd made August and his companions the promise she'd help. A lot had changed, there'd been soured relations in some ways yet here she was. She'd made them a promise and she was going to keep that promise some new faces had joined on the way. Others who had been involved had had to move on for whatever ever reason. Yet it looks like the end of this long journey was in sight.

So far there was nothing more dangerous than the odd stray shadow. Yet she knew that was going to change at some point.

She's well-armed waring her stealth armour and is carrying some external ger with her as she looks to Janine for a moment.

"My life's been on borrowed time since before I unified. I also promised you and your companion I'd see this through to the end."

Kotone looks over to Tina for a moment and says "

"It seem that way, Tina."

She looks back to Jaine for a moment she looks to the golden thread and will hang on to it tightly as she moves to follow Janine into the darkness.
Big Boss Big Boss is here. In his greatcoat and cap, he's armed with an assault rifle, a pistol, a missile launcher, and his own bear hands. As the others are anxious, he seems calm, collected, as they follow the Pig, grab the thread, and move to enter the cave. A flashlight is turned on to assist.

"Don't get separated unless you have a plan." The legendary soldier grabs his rifle, prepares it, and keeps a steady pace. "It is likely, given the psychological composition of this area, that we will see things. Do not allow them to get to you. Kill anything that's a threat, no matter what it looks like."

He doesn't have a cigar, for once. Not a great time to smoke.
Rean Schwarzer Rean's here, sword drawn and resting gently in his right hand. He glances at the cave entrance, making a futile attempt at looking into its depths from here. What would it even be like in there? That cave was the beginning of where things became forgotten, right? Would it be filled with the psychological equivalent of humanity's trash? Would it just be an empty, dark void?

...Would they be forgotten themselves if they went in?

He wraps the golden thread around his left hand a few times, and ignites his sword as an extra source of light. It was too late to back down now. He'd given his support to helping save this world, no matter the cost. "Right. Now or never." Rean says. He then looks at Big Boss and nods. He'd gotten a taste of that when they'd fought the Wolf. And with that, he follows others into the darkness.
William Pauwel It took several weeks, a few rush-ordered parts and quite a bit of physical therapy, but William Pauwel is finally back in top form.

It's too bad that he's celebrating his arms' full functionality by hurling himself bodily into what just might be the most dangerous situation he's ever found himself in. The scifi cowboy tilts his head back and squints hard as if trying to find the top of the immense conceptual fissure, but it's no use. The crevasse is more of a concept than a physical thing. It's a place of forgetfulness, a hole in the collective memory of all mankind. It's made just for you. It's made just for me.

Will's left hand unfolds, mechanical parts shifting into something that looks very much like some kind of wire launcher. It jerks open one more time, locking around Janine's golden lifeline. He gives her a nod, "I gave you my word that I'd be here, an' I ain't about to walk back on it now. You've got me till the very end, for better or for worse."

"I don't know what we'll find in here," Will murmurs, feeling the telltale pinpricks of terror tickling down his spine, "But no matter how bad it gets, try to hold on to what you are. If this thing breaks down weak concepts... Then you need to hold on to what makes you strong."
Tohru Adachi Adachi's there like he promised he would be, though honestly, this is starting to already seem like a drag. It's one thing when you're the one who puts a dungeon before the boss, but having it done to you is really lame.

     "Back out now? And not help the hero punch God in the face? Now, what fun would that be? Besiiides, ol' Adachi doesn't go back on his word."

     Despite the obvious tension this situation should bring, the disgraced detective seems to be relatively laid back, the only signs of him taking this whole thing seriously being the drawn revolver he's holding firmly in his hand.
Janine Liberi     "Hah, I don't have any fans," Janine says in response to Tina. "No one in their right minds would exalt me. But I get you." She looks to Kotone and smirks. "I know a thing or two about borrowed time. Let's make the most of it." She looks to Big Boss and offers only a mock salute. "Yes sir, Enormous Employer." She looks at Rean, and almost reaches out to mock shove him in the back, but thinks better of it. "Now or never," she agrees. She manages a weak laugh and responds to William. "Hold on to garlic bread then, got it." Adachi gets a raised eyebrow, and a nod. "We'll get him."

    She leads the way, the golden thread spooling out from Catherine's handcuffs for everyone to grip onto. As they pass into the cave, with the stone overhead, the temperature immediately changes. 'Changes' in the sense that it is abruptly absent. It manifests as everyone feeling as if it was just warm and cold enough that they don't even notice it. But it's gone.

    The air is stagnant, but the earth underfoot is surprisingly smooth, the stone having been polished by the ambulatory appendages of billions of Shadows that precede them. Others are around them even now, moving through the cave. At first, the sources of light illuminate them, but soon they only illuminate everyone else in the party. And then Janine at the front vanishes from sight, only her thread indicating her continued presence. Then the person behind her vanishes, and then the next, and the next. Those with light are soon the only ones illuminated by it, even should they point it backwards.

    The thread jostles in your hands. Hands are still tugging it, and it never runs out.
Tina Natsumi Kotone being a familiar sight is something of a relief for Tina. "Glad to have ya with us. We're all gonna die sooner or later, but we might as well make a good show of it before we do." She laughs again finally, although it's a somewhat rehearsed one given her occupation and probably trying not to let all of this stuff set in too much.

Rean's not a face she's seen particularly often, but Tina's seen him enough to at least recognize him on sight. "Same goes for you, too. If you wanna give a gun a shot, just say the word. Uncle Sam here's got plenty to go around."

Big Boss being a familiar sight is much less of a relief for Tina. Even though she doesn't say anything to him, the look of tension on her face when she spots him is incredibly obvious. She opens and closes her mouth a few times as if trying to figure out what to say, only managing a brief nod after a solid half-minute if coming up with nothing beyond a short "... Right."

Will's last comment helps bring her back to the land of actually being loud again. "Heh... That's right! We ain't gotten this far just beating around the bush. We've been loud, we've been dumb, and we've been movin', so let's get to the top and see just who's gonna get that first punch in!"

Wait. That didn't sound right. Dammit, Adachi. Tina still manages a chuckle, though, shaking her head while moving onwards. "Good to know. This whole thing's gonna be an ordeal, but the least we can do is make sure whatever happens, we do it big and we do it loud."

And then they go deeper into the cave. "You don't know that. Plenty o' people got a thing for the tough gal with the sailor's mouth." She chides Janine lightly, then quiets down when the cave becomes less cavey and more vaguely marble-like in texture. There's another hitch in Tina's breathing when people start disappearing one by one, the thread in her hand being the only thing reassuring her that everyone's still there.

Well, that and the lights from her phone, Big Boss' flashlight, and Rean's sword. "Keep your heads on, everyone! Just keep it movin', don't split up, get ready to shoot anything that comes at us weird..."

Her teeth are chattering. She might be telling that more to herself than the rest of the group. She gives Uncle Sam a tap, and that mechanical Persona starts playing a shitty midi rendition of Stars and Stripes Forever while an American flag-shaped light shines on in front of it.

Anything to keep herself from losing her cool.
William Pauwel "Now you're just pidgeon-holing yourself into Italianism," Will huffs, putting on a brave face with the help of a little bit of humor. "At least hold onto your spaghetti, too."

Because clearly, spilling one's spaghetti is not something that aught to be done in this sort of situation.

It's a wonder how many things that people just sort of... take for granted. Light, for one thing. For another, heat. Not in terms of hot or cold, just... Just in general. The sensation of touch is one that is just so ubiquitous in the experience of being that its sudden absence is... jarring.

Sight soon joins touch. Will continues forward into the dark, quietly dropping his scan-visor down over his eyes. He doubts that those artificial senses will do him any good here, but it's certainly worth a try.

What will this place rob him of next...?
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa grins back at Janine's reply to her as the party moves on she'll take note of whom is here, she looks to Big Boss. This is a little awkward but given what's at stake she will put any issues aside for dealing with what lays ahead. Given what could lurk in the depths of anyone's mind? A collective of things from the gunk of a world's population this was going to be an experience.

"I hate to admit it but that's true, better to do something than just rot away waiting for it to end."

She notes to Tina. She also looks to William and Adachi for a moment before she looks back on the path ahead.

The air is stagnant even with what she is? She can tell even with her nature, the temperature changes now, there's just nothing. She keeps moving on the stone, she hangs on to the thread-like the lifeline it is like one by one everyone in the party vanishes into the darkness.
Tohru Adachi      "Yeah. You'll get em. Bullet right between the head and all that, executioner style!"

     The tone he uses to say this is weirdly chipper, but unlike his usual pretend act, he probably means it.

     A golden thread is offered to Adachi, which causes him to pause. Well, he did maybe help convince them to do this, so he should probably stick with the group to see how it comes along. The moment he can stretch his legs the way he wants though he's done playing follow the leader.

     He grabs the thread, and he's eventually funneled into the tunnel with everyone else. It's dark, and he's likely to be eaten by a Reaper. The Shadow kind, not the ones that play games. He's again, not really concerned, even with the loss of sight and potentially other senses. It's a bit different from the Midnight Channel, but the weird foreboding atmosphere is actually kind of cozy!

     "Man, why'd it have to be a dank dark cave anyway? You'd think they'd come up with something a bit more elaborate, or is this one of those symbolism things?"
Big Boss "Do you hold a grudge?" Is all Big Boss says to Tina, as they pass inside, before the lights go out and everyone disappears. Big Boss can kinda imagine what might happen next.

The rifle's safety is triggered off. His finger doesn't move to the trigger, but there's a response to Adachi. "Symbolism."
Rean Schwarzer "Er...Ok. Thanks." Rean says to Tina, with a small, but still sort of nervous smile. He's not sure he can even figure out how to use a gun properly if he needs to, but the gesture's appreciated.

The temperature just seems to negate itself as they step inside. One by one, everyone else disappears, and it's just him and his flaming sword. "...Guys?" Rean asks, turning to illuminate the path behind him and in front of him. No one's there. He grips the thread tighter, expanding his aura sense outward to see if he can still pick up the others.  The thread is still taut, so they're probably still holding on but...

He takes a breath, thinking back to William's advice. His classmates, Mikoto...Those counted enough as things that made him strong, right? He continues to walk forward, quietly humming to himself. It was an an old Erebonian folk song about someone searching for their lost lover, and the light that disappeared from their life as a result.

Probably not the /best/ song to hum right now, but it's what came to mind.
Janine Liberi     Everyone speaks, but abruptly, nobody hears anything. Big Boss' reply to Adachi is seemingly cut off mid-reply. Not a single person can hear what anyone else is saying, even if they are right next to them. All words, all sounds, even the MIDI anthem belting from Uncle Sam, is swallowed by the darkness.

    Your hands are still wrapped around something. It's a thread. It seems important somehow, so you cling on to it. Someone is leaving it behind them. It never runs out, so they must still be out there. Even if you can't see them, hear them, or even feel them by expanding your senses. You are, for all intents and purposes, alone.

    Feet step, one after the other. It's the only sound there is, beyond that of your breathing, beyond that of your beating heart, your churning guts, your rushing blood. You are still here. You are still alive. You. You...

    Who are you again?

    Not in the sense of names. You still have yours, and only yours. But... what are you? People have titles, descriptions, summaries of themselves. A soldier, a student, a cyborg, a scavenger, an ex-detective, a streamer... concepts like these are gone. Everything related to them is gone. Those under your command, your classmates, your engineers, your village, those you like to mess with, your fans. All gone. You can no longer define yourself by them. By what they call you.

    There is a thread in your hand. You're not sure if it's moving.
Tina Natsumi Can anyone else hear her? It's hard to tell, but Tina can at least hear the others. Adachi's doing his part to keep spirits up, at least, and Boss...

"... I dunno. I mean, yeah, this is kind of a bad time for all that, but... Y'know. Hard to forget." She answers truthfully, letting the thread and that constant discomfort around Big Boss remind her that she hasn't been abandoned yet. Can he even hear her, though?

She certainly doesn't hear anything else. She doesn't feel anything else but the thread. She doesn't feel that tug from ahead of her or behind her anymore. "Sure is a creepy ol' place here, ain't it pards? But this is the home stretch now, so don't tab out yet 'til we hit that finish line! You wouldn't wanna make yer pal... Uh."

Who is she talking to? What is she talking to? Why is she even talking at this point? Does it matter if she talks or not?

The thread is there, and the bearer of the cowboy hat keeps following it. It gets cradled gently, as if it needs protection from something. Anything that might take it away.

Rather, the bearer of the hat needs protection. She needs protection from whatever might tear her away from that thread. She needs the thread to survive against... Something.
Big Boss Big Boss is going to reply. Everything is cut off. And then, he forgets.

His name is Big Boss. But he's not aware he's a soldier. He's not aware he has troops under his command. What is he doing? He can't see well in here, so he looks over himself.

Guns. He's armed. What is he? A cop, a soldier, a...protector, of some sort. He's perhaps a protector. That's what it feels like. What is he protecting?

This thread. It's held tightly in his hand. He can't let go. He has to keep walking, keep with it. Not turn back. He still remembers a story. The labryinth. Perhaps he is here to slay the Minotaur. He must proceed as he is.
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone's enhanced visuals will just bring back nothing she can't hear anything she can't see anything. Tina's music just vanishes much as the temperature did. She still has touch she can still hang on to the thread. She knows the thread is important.

The thread doesn't seem to end. It also seems taught so there maybe others? Wait what others?

There is no sound o a beating hear, her heart her real one had stopped beating long ago. She's still alive though he knows that.

She knows she's armed there's a weapon on her hip and one across her back. Her name is Kotone Yamakawa she knows that.

Who is she again? Her body is not flesh most of her flesh is long gone long dead. She had a promise but to whom? About what? Didn't she have to keep it? Was she looking for a friend? A loved one? It had to be something important to come to a place like this.

She's not aware that she's a multiversal adventurer who has ended up joining a much larger group.

She has no idea she's designed a line of Motorcycles which she sells to people in the multiverse, she has no idea of the worlds she's seen or maybe if the people she considers as family. For the moment Kotone presses on wondering just as she pushes on ahead following the thread. She knows she has to keep going she has to stay alive. As to why? Or what she has no idea...
Tohru Adachi      The further they go in, the more they lose. Titles, the meaning behind them. Murderer, ex-cop, they mean nothing.here. The only thing left is the name Adachi. It's annoying, it's inconvenient, but it's nothing more than that.
     The man has never put much stock in fancy titles or others. He knows who he is without those just fine. He knows his True Self. He has to know, he wouldn't be who he is without knowing.

     He is, quite frankly, a sociopath. A psychotic misanthrope who bores of the day to day life. But you can't get by with that kind of face, so he lies to the world. He puts on a funny act, a carefree attitude that makes him seem like he knows less than he actually does. But he knows. The World is shit. People are shit. Everything would be better off burning and every single person dead.

     And yet here he is. He hasn't done that, but not from a lack of trying, from what he feels. He's not going to really dwell on that though, he's got a thread in his hand, the the first thing you do when you find you have a rope in your hand is to pull on it and see where it leads.
William Pauwel Memory, identity, personality, all these things are stripped away. Torn back to reveal a core of... Something. What is left, when everything else is lost? What kernel of 'self' even remains when there is nothing to define the self with?

Will remembers his name. That is not the only thing he remembers. He remembers that he used to have arms. He does not feel them anymore. He remembers that he used to be someone. But who was that person he used to be? Why is he here, in the dark? Is he dead? Is this what it's like to be dead? There's a machine churning where his hand is supposed to be. Did he lose his arms at some point? He must have. Why? Was there something so important that he would give up part of himself to claim it? Why? How? What brought him here, to this dark place? Did he run here for a reason? Did he run away from something, or is he running to something?

He wants to find out.

He needs to find out.

But why? There's something he should be doing. Something he should be doing. Always at the back of his mind. Or, it used to be. A nagging sensation that is still there, even now, even when he can't remember what it's for.

Why?

There's something in his other hand--

                          This is not our mission                          

A sound, crystal clear, resonates in his skull. It reverberates up through arm, up into the hollow of his chest. He has those, he has a body. But he has something else too. What is it, that light?

Is it an angel?

                     There is something else we must do                    

Something else. What is it? Why doesn't he remember? Why hasn't he done it yet? If he's dead, then-- then why? Is he the kind of person to put something so important off...?

                          The reason we were born                          

The reason he was born There is a voice in the dark. A light that shines in the depths of the darkness. He hears a voice.

                            is to light the way                            

He hears a voice.

He holds it close to his chest. Who does it belong to? The little star. His little star in the dark.

                   and to be lost here-- is unacceptable                    

The one thing he can cling to--

No. There's something else. There's a thread here, leading forward. Always forward. But to where?

...Somehow, he feels like he's the kind of person to want to know where it leads.

He wants to know where it leads.

No matter how dark it might get. He has his star. Always.

Is he afraid? Afraid of losing it. What is he afraid of? The darkness? No, it's never been the darkness, has it? THe dark is just... somewhere that hasn't been explored, yet. Somewhere the light hasn't yet touched. No. He is afraid.

Of losing something important.

That's why he's running. Always running forward. Always looking for something to keep his eyes from the truth. When will he run out of time? Of space? The little star is important. So important.

...Is he...?
Rean Schwarzer There's nothing here. Just him and the sound of his own footsteps, and that song he's looped through at least twice now. "Just stay focused and keep moving, Rean." He mutters to himself.

Rean...what, though? He's pretty sure he has a last name, but he's not sure what it is. Maybe it started with an S, or maybe an O?  He couldn't picture having any family when he thought about it. ...Or friends, either.
The sword in his hand is ornate. He knows /how/ to use it, and how to keep that fire going, but not why or who taught him. He's got on what might be a uniform, so maybe he's a soldier or something? The words 'monster' and 'freak' come to mind for a second, and he shakes his head. No, that...that couldn't be right. He'd had to have done something /bad/ to call himself that. So who was he, then?

...He's legitimately not sure. Either way, this sensation of not knowing who he is aside from his first name is /familiar/ somehow.

There's a thread wrapped tightly around his other hand, almost cutting into his skin. Something tells him to not let go of it, or else he'll get lost. Or else he'll fail what he came in here for and it'll be terrible.

...Terrible for who, though?
Janine Liberi     The thread is important.

    That's what everyone decides, in this absolute dark. Due to curiosity, or training, or some deep belief that it's important somehow, they continue to follow it, further and further along. The ground underfoot is much less smooth now, demanding careful steps least they stumble, least they lose the thread.

    It all continues to eat at them. Who is 'them?' That becomes harder to define. Names get murky, their appearance becomes harder to call to mind. The equipment they carry becomes more and more alien to them. Skills are forgotten, experience lost. But the notion of following the thread remains. Just keep it in your hands, and all will be well.









































































    The thread disappears.
Big Boss Hold onto the string. Even as you lose anything, do not lose it. That is what he, who has forgotten his name, who has forgotten his equipment, locks onto.

He loses the string.

Panic. Frustration. Losing everything, huh? Is he going to cease to be? He's forgetting. Soon, he'll forget everything. Soon, he'll be nothing.

Except that'd disappoint her, wouldn't it? He'd be a failure to her, after everything they went through.

He can't remember her name. He can't remember her face. But he remembers what he did was wrong. Yet, he did it anyways. He holds it as an anchor.

Follow the chain and let it set you free.

The man continues forward in the darkness, following the chain of his metaphorical anchor, of /her/, back to the metaphorical ship waiting for him. Sail back into his memories and find Neverland.
Tohru Adachi      Experiences are lost. More names are lost. He continues to lose, and yet, despite all that, he firmly grasps to the core. It's a spiteful refusal to lose it all more than anything. He doesn't even have the context as to why, it's just that more than anything he hates not having control of some sort. He's the one who makes the game to play, not the other way around. It may be full of holes and devoid of meaning, but he knows. That's him. You can't function without a 'you', even if the 'you' is an absolute mess at this point.

     He still has the thread anyway, he just has to follow it and- it's gone. The thread is gone. There's a scratch of the chin as Adachi tries to figure out what to do, before he shrugs. Did he even need it? Probably not. He can just continue walking forward. Honestly, he feels better without it.
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone keeps going things start to fade away as the ground becomes harder and harder to traverse but she keeps going. Was she here with others? The party has become vague shadows, it also feels like someone's missing but that fades quickly. Things are melding away skills vanished she's not even sure what she's carrying at this point, as the rifle on her back bumps into her from time to time.

She has to hang on to the thread. She should be okay, the thread then vanishes away.

There is a moment of panic, the thread was the one clear thing in her mind it's gone she wanders for a moment still moving. Even as hazy as things are something someone said the voice she doesn't know the name but the contempt in it most of the context is lost but the phase clay dolls comes to her mind and it angers her. She doesn't know why it bothers her it just does, she stops wandering and pushes ahead in one direction. She doesn't want to be that just some ... doll. Yet why?
Tina Natsumi The thread must be protected. There is nothing but the thread. Well, there's the hat. That's probably important, right? That hat on her head fits pretty well, and so does the jacket. There's a weird weight on her chest, though, like some kind of weird badge that hurts to look at directly even though she can't see it right in front of her.

The pain is soothing. It's a familiar sensation, and the weight on her chest feels like an old friend even though it's uncomfortable and not a person at all. It almost makes her forget the empty feeling in her hand.

Where is the thread?

It's gone. It's gone. Where is the thread? The thread is gone. Find the thread. Grab thread. Thread is gone. Run. Scream for thread. Look for thread. Scream at thread. Check inventory. Use thread. Thread is gone. Robot screams for thread.

look
There is no thread.

inv
You aren't carrying anything.

north
There is no thread here.

east
There is no thread here.

north
There is no thread here.

west
There is no thread here.

+stats
#-1 THREAD (#### #######) IS IMPURE

@wall THREAD
Permission denied.
William Pauwel The thread is gone. Memory is gone. Names are gone. Everything is gone. Everything slips away. There is a void there. A void that needs to be filled. A cavity that craves, achingly, for something to enter and make it whole again. There is a Will-shaped hole in the thing that used to call itself Will. The thread is gone. There is no path forward, nothing to guide the way. And yet his feet keep moving. One step after another. The ground underfoot is rough, corroded, as if none have ever tread across it before. He stumbles. He falls. There is no pain. No sensation.

                                  We must                                  

Is there even a reason to keep going? Is there a reason that he needs to move? No. There isn't. There is only darkness. Only the unknown. He is unknown. Within, there is nothing. There is only the need to know. There is only the void. The hunger. The desire. There is only desire. The desire to /know./

                                Keep moving.                                

There is a voice. Why is there a voice? A spark lances through the arm. A spark dances in his mind. What is it?

                       You wish to find your answer.                        

Yes. The void must be filled. The hunger must be sated. Everything is gone. Something must replace what has been lost.

                                Keep moving.                                

The spark fires again. Flares. Shines. Like a marionette on strings, his arms clatter and wind. Pushing out. Reaching out, pulling up. There is nothing inside. Something is there to fill it.

                                   Walk.                                    

The thought resonates. His legs move, motor neurons firing absent of any other conscious impulse. It matters little where the thought comes from. It is the ONLY thought. The only command. And so, he must walk.

                    The answer waits. Do not stop. Walk.                    

He must fill the void.

He must learn what is within the dark.

When he has nothing, then nothing drives him.

He must fill the hole within him.

He must walk. Must learn. Keep moving. Walk...!
Rean Schwarzer At some point, Re@n's sword stopped burning, his mental connection to the device in his pocket broken. He's not sure why he's holding a sword to begin with, anyway. Back into the sheath it goes, before he hurts someone (or himself.)  

It's totally dark. But the thread's still there. And then it's not.

"...Ah." R3@n says. There's no clear way out anymore.  Still, he keeps going forward. Always forward. That was what 43@n $^@#5!@%& did, right? Even when he was scared of failure, of others, or of himself he kept moving, right? Dragging himself through whatever he put himself through. He falls, scraping his hands on the stone underneath him. 43@^ punches the ground in frustration. It hurts. With a grunt, he gets back up, and starts walking again. There's blood on his hands. The word 'freak' crosses his mind again. But it means nothing to him, now. Not when there's nothing to consider 'normal' anymore.  His mind's empty. Nothing else mattered.

The only thing that mattered was finding a way out.

Finding someone who could fill this void.

Someone who could tell him who he was.
Janine Liberi     Everyone pushes on. Even in absence of the string. In the face of the dark and the solitude and the loss of self, they push on. There's a word for doing this kind of thing, but it's lost to all of them now.

    And suddenly, a sensation. A small hand slipping into your own, replacing the thread. A small, sprightly voice reaches your ears.

    "You should go see her. It's been a while, right? Speak to her, that hero who saved the world," is what Big Boss hears.

    "That kind of stubbornness has its place too. Malice isn't inherently evil," is what Adachi hears.

    "Despite everything, it's still you," is what Kotone hears.

    "It's not so bad, trying even when nobody is there to recognize it," is what Tina hears.

    "Don't forget; it's the human heart that drives you, not the spark in the machine," is what Will hears.

    "It's okay to lean on others... but don't neglect yourself. You need to prop them up too," is what Rean hears.

    The thread appears.

    It shines, golden in the dark, leading the way. Following it leads to a pinprick of light in the distance, one that swells and grows until it becomes blinding as you race towards it.

    You emerge from the cave.

    You stand on a barren, white field beneath an overcast grey sky. The ground is perfectly level, with no dips and raises all the way to the horizon. There's a silhouette in the distance, no doubt Wotan. Janine is leaning against the endless stone wall the cave is built into, staring at her good hand with a zoned-out expression on her face.
Big Boss The man struggles. He's still losing himself, when...

A voice speaks to him. His face firms, even though he can't see it, and he sees the thread, leading the way. He follows it, and reaches the end. He remembers himself. Big Boss.

Hah...perhaps he should go see her. He has that ability.

Big Boss places a hand on Janine's shoulder as he passes her by, to try and get her attention. "Hey. Keep going. You're fighting for someone, something, aren't you? Don't lose hope, even if you lost yourself."

Probably some of the most kind words that'll come out of his mouth. But she needs to keep going. She's their leader, here, the one who knows the game. Big Boss passes forward, and feels his rifle. The weight's right. It's time.

"Are we still worthy, Wotan?"
Tina Natsumi How far can she go? The thread is still gone. There's only a voice thatisn't hers, one that... Isn't hers. It's not her voice.

She's not alone now, right? It speaks to her. It reassures her. She's reminded of the past. She remembers those successes.

She remembers the times before dedicated wikis. The days when obsessive knowledge was uncommon in her limited circles. The days before she had that persona. The days before she had that Persona.

It wasn't so bad back then, was it?

Tina bursts out of the cave, nearly toppling over herself and only being stopped by Uncle Sam stopping her with an oversized forearm. Her eyes are red, she smells kind of funny from the crust on her nose and mouth, and her phone's camera is half-blocked by her jacket's pocket.

She looks over at Janine, stares at her blankly for several long moments, then hurries over to awkwardly hold onto her arm. Tightly, but extremely awkwardly.

It's the smell that probably makes it more awkward than anything else. Even Big Boss being right there next to them isn't enough to throw Tina's focus/what's left of it off right now.
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone keeps going and then she feels something, a hand the year a voice things come into a focus a bit more as she hears the voice say "Despite everything, it's still you,"

She keeps moving some other memories come back to her, spirits of ships, a station AI and other beings made by mankind's hand showing her compassion helping her find her way in dark time just as this strange voice seems to be. She keeps going she catches sight of the thread, and she will follow it seeing light ahead she pushes through and out of the cave.

Kotone has no idea how long she was in the cave, it felt like an eternity b but with how it wore upon her mind, she might never really know just how long at least subjectively she was in there. Even the bleak landscape is comforting to her, it's something it's substance the figure looming in the distance does not hold her look for long as she looks over to Janine she looks concerned.

"Janine?"

She checks her gear the rifle and the matter-manipulator.

"Thank you, for helping us."

The thread she had made had been a huge help to her making it through the cave after all.

"I guess your right, Big Boss. It's time isn't it?"
Tohru Adachi      Adachi hears the voice. It pisses him off. He'd call it out on it's shit, but yelling into the void like a rambling old man isn't really his style.

     The thread that was once lost reappears, shining more than ever, and Adachi isn't one to let an opportunity to get out of a place that is clearly fucking with him slip by.

     By the time he's out, he's in an open field, and his memories come returning to him. Why he's hear, what the game plan was. He notices Janine in some sort of stupor, but doesn't bother to help them. She's perfectly capable of taking care of herself if she can get this far.

     "Gotta say, not impressed. Not a single Reaper? Man, it might've been more effective at gatekeeping, but when it comes to style the Bitch has you beat."

     The ex-cop is loading his bullets into his revolver at this point, spinning the chamber and pushing back the hammer as he waves the murder tool around without a single care for trigger discipline or gun safety.

     "Alright. We played your game. Now come on down so we can get this over with. You can skip the 'I am thou, thou are we, I'm the true self blah blah blah' bullshit while you're at it, shit's cliche and old to me now."

     Though the way the sentence is structured seems rather lackadaisical, there's actual malice and annoyance behind the words. An intentional slip of the mask, though it's not like keeping up appearances concern him that much to begin with.
William Pauwel Left. Right. Left. Right. When you get right down to it, a human body is nothing more than a complex biological machine. All it takes is the right stimulus to the right locations in the brain, and the body will do as it's bid. Left. Right. Left. Right. Will's body trudges on, eyes absorbing the dark. Peering into the dark. With every step, he finds nothing. Nothing to fill the void. And so he continues on. Step-by-step, step after step.

But then, suddenly, something else breaks through the murk. Sensation splits oblivion. He feels a hand slip into his own. His heart remembers what it's like to have real arms. His fingers tighten reflexively as a voice whispers in his ear...

...The glimmer returns to his eyes. There, in the distance, a pinprick of light. Where does it lead? He needs to know. Is it his way out?

It is.

He staggers out into the open, blinking away the lingering motes of murk clinging to his vision. Everything comes flooding back, so much that he had taken for granted-- it's amazing how much we take for granted. Things like hot and cold. Light and dark.

...

"That..." Will groans, nearly tripping over his own two feet. "I never want to do... anything like that. Ever again."

He said the same when he decided it was a good idea to try and interface his essence with a literal world-soul.

Turns out Will is not very good at pattern recognition.

"Is everyone okay? I... I heard a voice, and then... Did someone save us?"

Was it Janine?

Or... someone else...?
Rean Schwarzer There's nothing here

Nothing

none

For a moment, there's nothing separating him from the darkness around him. He can't even feel his legs anymore. He stops.

Why was he...?

A small hand slips into his, and for the first time in what feels like days he hears a voice.

Though he still couldn't remember them, he could still feel it. There were people who were important to him, people who he'd promised to help, and people who he was important to in return. /That/ was why he kept moving. Rean rushes forward, chasing the golden wire towards the exit. One by one, names and faces fill his mind. A loving family. An old master who showed him everything he knew about the way of the sword. Classmates who went through many trials alongside him. One in particular who, despite everything, he still trusted to keep him on the right path...and who he'd do the same for in return. A girl he loved who he supported in trying to gain control of her life after she lost everything. A Princess who always expressed herself even when she was at a disadvantage. A boy who, like him, always cared about others.

He laughs as he bursts out of the cave, wiping his eyes on his jacket sleeve. Everyone is already here, safe, aside from Janine looking rather dazed. His hand's still bleeding from when he punched the ground earlier, but he fixes that pretty quickly with a cast of Tear on it.

"Yeah. Someone did save us." Rean says to William. He then turns to look at Janine, smiling. "But we made it through, and that's what matters." He draws his sword again. "We've cleared your trial, Wodan!" Rean shouts.
Janine Liberi     Janine is taken aback by the shoulder-pat from Big Boss and the awkward hug from Tina. "Hey, it's okay. You made it didn't you?" she says awkwardly to her fellow Persona-user. She has, unfortunately, pinned the only arm Janine has. "I haven't forgotten," she says to the legendary soldier. "Let's do this."

    She looks awkwardly to Kotone. "Yeah. I stretched the thread back out, but... if you heard a voice, and someone holding your hand, that wasn't me. I had that too." She nods along with Will and Rean. "Yeah, I don't know." Adachi gets a blank stare from the girl. "Sorry it wasn't more of a theme park." Too tired to snark back it seems.

    Wotan awaits. Janine strides forward, drawing her sabre to confront the god, here at the edge of human awareness.