「 PERSONA 」blue shift

[Shamdeo]

"Blue Hills Exit 25B", and I turned off the freeway.

This town was where I grew up, all twenty-three years of my life. It seemed so different now in the Shift Phases, with all of the lights out, and two moons... how about that. I'm still glad that I can drive around, even with the power gone. I glanced down to my watch; it never displays the time, it only shows me where I need to go. It's not far ahead now... I pull into a small dirt parking lot after getting off all the main roads. I weave in between the cars that have stopped in place, people still inside. They are frozen in time, unable to move or sense that I'm moving around them. This was the Shift Phase I was told about, namely by Igor three days ago, where time stands still and the Shadows come out to prey on the innocent. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into.

I remember sitting there with my engine idle for several minutes, with my brights spalshed across the trees. There was a small playground nearby. I was told to be ready for anything, including a fight against the Shadows. I hadn't at that point seen one, and I had no idea what to expect. I turned off the ignition and stepped out of the car. I was wearing my chestpiece that I used when I played hockey several years ago. It was the only thing I could think of that would give me any protection. It was white, silver, and black, and had two shouldpieces as well. Now, don't laugh at me, but the only weapon I had on me was my aluminum hockey stick. I tried looking for a gun shop in Blue Hills before I left, but I couldn't find one at all. Even though I don't have a license, it would have been easy for me to hop behind the counter and take something while the world was frozen in time. Regardless, I pulled it out of the backset of my car and stood there for a moment looking around. The hands on my watch were spinning, so I knew I had at least gone where I need to go.

Then, I saw something emerge from the brush. It stepped out onto the dirt, and looked me square in the eye. I swear I'll never forget that look. Standing before me... was me. At least something that looked like me, the only noticable difference were the glowing golden eyes and an aura of dark smoke around it.

"Good lord, you look pathetic.", it said with a voice that sounded like mine but somewhat off.

I stood there, bewildred that this Shadow looked exactly like me and talked exactly like me...

"You really don't know what you're doing are you? Well, let me fill you in on something you might want to hear. You see, we Shadows just want to be able to come to this world at our leisure. Our world is quite boring, and we need to occupy our time with a game of sorts. So that's what this is all about; you coming here and "trying" to stop us doesn't change anything except make more trouble for you. And I know how much you hate to be bothered."

I narrowed my eyes, and got a better look at him. Stepping forward a few paces, my right hand tightly gripped the hockey stick, white-knuckled.

"Who-- Who are you?" I stammered, short of breath.

"I think it's pretty fucking easy to figure out; I AM you and you are me. We're one in the same."

"No way, that's ridiculous. You're just a Shadow that can copy my face to freak me out." I said, gritting my teeth.

"Oh is that so. Well, if I'm not you then how can I know everything about you and what you're thinking?"

A shiver ran up my spine as I tried to collect my words into a sentence.

"That's a load o--"

"Well," the Shadow interrupted "I might as well tell you right now that what you're doing is foolish but you already know that. You already know what you're doing is only going to cause more pain for yourself and others. If you set everything in motion today, will you able to account for the pain you will inflict on others and burden their lives? Honestly, here's the deal: we Shadows want to come to and from your would as we please, and the only way we can do that is if you leave us the fuck alone. You can forget about putting yourself and others in danger if you just let us do as we please. Just because you have a bit of power from your Persona, doesn't mean you can do anything. You're too shitless for that anyway."

"You're not me, you're a Shadow..." I murmured under my breath.

"There you go again, sheesh. I AM YOU. Get it through your fucking head. I know everything about you because I am you. What do you honestly think you can accomplish by standing against me? You have no idea what you're doing, you just feel the need to do it. And you're only going to fail, just like you've failed in every other aspect of your life. Your family, your friends, all you do is disappoint them with your promises and lies. You're as pathetic as it gets, thinking you can be of any worth."

"You're bullshitting me..." I said angrily with a quiver in my voice.

"Oh please, you know everything I've said is true. You've been a constant disappointment to everyone who knows you. Pity for them too, when they meet you they think you're a stand-up guy, but when they actually get to know the real you they find out you're about as worthless as it gets. I can see inside you, I know you have some delusion of grandeur of fighting Shadows as if it were some noble pursuit. It seems like this was the perfect excuse for you make people think you're actually worth a damn."

"Shut the fuck up!" I barked. My eyes quivered, remembering all the difficult times in my life... Every time I've had to greet my own failings, each brought on by my own decisions.

"Yeah, if you actually go through with this you're going to feel mighty fine about this. But what will you do if you can't stop us. This time when you fail it's going to be at the cost of your own pathetic life or someone else's. Do you really think you can drag that around with you?"

The Shadow cackled in some morbid twist of my own voice. He strafed me, walking over to a couple and a young boy that were walking back to their car after they had finished playing at the small playground off to my left. They were swinging him between their arms, but again, they were frozen in place as if time hadn't existed.

"For example, the consequence of you coming here to see me..."

The Shadow made a fist with his hand and pushed at against the mother's stomach. It wasn't until then I noticed she was pregnant.

"...Means that you've been the cause of a whole lot of pain for people don't even know the true shitbag you are."

The Shadow brought it's fist back, ready to throw a punch directly into the mother's stomach.

"NO, stop!" I cried out, paralyzed with fear.

The Shadow hesitiated, and smirked.

"Too chickenshit to actually do anything, I see. Looks like I've hit the nail on the head."

I clenched the hockey stick I was holding and burst into a sprint, charging for the Shadow, a thousand thoughts raced in my head nulled by rage at the audacity to do something so cruel to someone innocent and oblivious. I swung at his - my - face, and hit him square in the jaw. Unaffected, he smacked the hockey stick out of my hands on my backswing sending it sliding underneath a van to my right. I backed off a few steps, nearly tripping over myself.

"No... There's no way... YOU'RE NOT ME!" I bellowed, furious that I wasn't even able to make a scratch in his - my - smug face.

The Shadow reeled back in a laughing fit, and began to melt into pure darkness... The puddle it formed scattered across the parking lot to points I couldn't make out. I was left alone... but not for long.

Emerging from the distance a great darkness emerged from out of the trees...

"If only I wasn't worthless... If only... If only..." came the Shadow's take on my voice from the creature. It's body wasn't mine any more, it was that of a beast. It lumbered four legs towards me, covered in thick black fur. Plumes of dark smoke rose from it's body, as if the darkness was evaporating off of it. A menacing canine jowl opened to reveal rows of sickly black teeth. It whimpered and cocked it's head, golden eyes locked on mine.

"If only... If only..."

And then it charged at me at full speed, bolting fiercely across the parking lot. I could tell at this point that it was as tall as I was... just on four legs. I scrambled and tried to get out of the way, but before I know it, the Shadow's front foreleg barreled into my chest and sent me flying into a van behind me. The glass of two of the windows shattered in and I fell to the ground, clutching my chest. The pain spread through my chest and limbs, and it knocked the wind out of me. I picked myself up and scrambled out of the way just to avoid the Shadow ramming into the van and crushing in the door. It whipped the the left and caught me again, sending me reeling down on my back.

"If only..." It murmured eerily, as it now stood over me, ready to unleash those black teeth into the tender flesh of my neck. At that point my life flashed before my eyes... I remembered small insignificant things... and points in my life where I was joyful. I saw my family, my friends, the people who were important to me. The only thought I had after that, wasn't for my own safety... it was the thought of a Shadow like this destroying someone's life like the mother it had threatened before. It would only continue if the Shadows were allowed to cross into this realm. This Shadow was a part of me... This Shadow was a part of myself that I knew existed, but I never wanted to acknowledge. Yes... the Shadow was right. It is a part of me.

As if out of instinct, I reeled back my free arm that wasn't pinned under the beast's massive paw and formed a fist. Lurching upward, my fist rocketed into it's ribcage, alight with a firey green energy. I had used the power I had been given, but just a mote, from what I was told was my Persona. The foggy mist of that night's premonition had been far off until now. My hand broke the beast's ribcage inward and I could feel my fist burst into one of it's massive longs. The Shadow lurched forward and gasped ferociously before falling over on my right. I pulled my hand out of it's body, my entire arm soaked in inky black up to my shoulder.

I curled up against the van, scooting away from it's body. I was heaving in and out, even with my chest in pain, shocked that I was able to punch that hard. The Shadow melted into an inky black puddle, and evaporated into nothingness... Even it's inky hue that covered my clothes was completely gone.

Tears welled in my eyes, awestruck that I had somehow managed to survive. I snorted and tried to get up, when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.

It was my Shadow-self again...

He stood there silently, eyeing me as he did before.

"You... are me. You're me. I realize that now."

My Shadow-self nodded and spoke no further.

I moaned weakly and stood against the van, propping myself up. When I got a second look, I noticed that my Shadow-self had began to fade. Then, another figure began to appear. It was somewhat like the beast I had seen, though it didn't look nearly as menacing. It's fur was dark brown and cream-colored, and it had a canine head just like the beast before it... Though, it was wearing some assortment of clothes. I noticed that it was hunched over on two hind legs, and it's forelegs were more like arms and hands than paws. It wore a hood of white wool that flopped over one ear, and some sort of leather armor chestplate on its torso. On it's side, it wore a shortsword that seemed like it was more width than length, and it's sheath was a patch of moss with small budding lowers. It wore beige trousers with a tail poking out the other end, and sandals that laced up it's powerful legs to it's knees. One of it's hands reached up to it's mouth and pulled a pipe out and held at waist level. It blinked, and exhaled fragrant smoke out of it's canine nose... It was sort of a pleasant smelling smoke, somewhat like leaves burning in the fall or a woodstove with a tinge of something sweet.

It blinked, and I blinked back at it. Then it spoke..

I am thou
And thou art I
The time has come
Open thine eyes
And call forth what is within...

I remembered what this was...

"Persona."

The creature began to fade into a beautiful blue light that sank into my body. It didn't make the physical pain subside, but suddenly I felt as if I were strong. Strong enough to take on more of these Shadows and protect people from them. It was all just like Igor had explained in that foggy dream. This was the power that he had described.

I lumbered over to my car, which thankfully hadn't been damaged, and sat in the driver's seat for a minute trying to collect my thoughts. No doubt that the Shadows would appear again, intent on causing some sort of havoc for humanity... But why... Why was this all happening and where did the Shadows come from. As I pondered this, the parking lot lights suddenly flickered on and the sky returned to it's normal hue. The second moon disappeared.

"Oh my god! What happened to that van!", shrieked a woman from behind me. It was the mother I had seen before. She noticed that all of a sudden, the van that was parked near them had been severely dented and all by nothing. They hurried off, and I did as well, driving home for the night.

The cool breeze felt nice compared to the static realm of the Shift Phase. Though I knew the time would come soon when others would be able to enter the realm of the Shadows...

The strength of heart required to face oneself has been made manifest.
Tony has faced his other self...
He has obtained the facade to overcome life's hardships,
the Persona Hrodvitnir!

-- THREE DAYS LATER --

Tony paced through the North Star Mall, briefly checking the time on his cell phone... It was 1:23PM in the afternoon. The text message he had received as well as the others had cryptically stated:

1:24 PM SATURDAY
THE BLUE SHIFT BEGINS
A BEAST OF FALSE DESIRES
LURKS IN THE SHADOW

As the clock struck 1:24PM exactly, the power went out in the mall suddenly and time seemed to grind to a halt... Tony figured that if any others like him would enter the Shift Phase, it would be today.

"Right on time, I guess."

[Prophet]

1:24 PM SATURDAY
THE BLUE SHIFT BEGINS
A BEAST OF FALSE DESIRES
LURKS IN THE SHADOW

"That's odd," murmured Ben to himself, chocolate brown eyes gleaming in curiosity as he stared at the text on the small screen. He had read it several times now, but he finally let out a resigning sigh, shutting his phone with a click and slipping it into his jeans pocket. He placed his hands on the edge of his sink, glancing up into the bathroom mirror as the thoughts floated around his head.

Blue shift? Beast of False Desires? Sounds like a passage of Revelations... Too tired to figure this out now...

He stared at himself in the mirror, locking eyes with himself as he reached for his razor. The small blades came to life with a whirring buzz, and as he slid the small electric razor against his face, he turned his head this way and that, glancing at himself as he felt the tiny hairs fall away. His eyes were slightly glazed over, a mark of his perpetual tiredness, and as he slipped the razor along his face, he brushed a stray lock of black hair against his scalp. The light from the bathroom clipped his natural red highlight, almost a golden crimson along his pushed up bangs, and as he put the razor down, he leaned back, closing his eyes as he felt the damp wetness of a cloth against his face.

Ugh, gotta drop it. No time now. 3rd Dan practice at 1:30... college applications afterward... maybe free tonight?

Ben Grund glanced at the clock once before leaving the bathroom, switching into a more hurried pace as he made his way to the door. The house rang with emptiness, the warm glow of the hallway light a contrast to the quietness that filled the place. Everyone was gone for the day; parents at work, siblings at various soccer games / dance rehearsals / art classes. He was last to leave, as usual. Ben gave the place a quick look-around before slipping out, locking the door with a solid click. His keys were already in his hand, and as he slipped into the inside of his '98 Ford Escort, the engine revved to life with a sputtering put.

Another day, another practice... what I would do for a nap and a free evening...

The wheel was cool against his grip, and as he pulled away from the curb, he let his finger stray over the radio button. Music blared to life, and he winced slightly at the harsh tones, adjusting the signal slightly as a few stray notes danced over the antenna.

Tonight's gonna be a good night... tonight's gonna be a good, good night, I can feel it...

"Don't I wish," muttered Ben, the thoughts of the mountains of work he had to do later ringing through his mind. He let his eyes wander along the road as he drove. He felt his mind twisting, rippling, focusing on all the things he had to do, but as the sky darkened, the slightly tinted cloud cover rolling, he saw a few drops flick against his screen. It was always a pleasant thing for Ben, driving in the rain. He wasn't sure why he liked it, but there was something about driving against pouring showers while being safe and dry in a warm car that appealed to him. He sighed, rubbing the wheel of the revving car slightly as he sped along, his thoughts settling as he felt a warm sensation run through him.

Ugh, God give me strength...Don't worry about it man... just get through the day. And hey, maybe tonight'll be the night for Hannah. Justin's been telling me to go for it all week... Just do what you gotta do...

There was a splash as Ben hit a puddle along the side of the road, and he signaled easily as he pulled into the parking lot of his dojang. It was still pouring slightly, and Ben could see hints of fog growing up around him. Ugh, this was not gonna be a pretty day. He grabbed his duffel bag filled with Tae Kwon Do gear, and with slight groan and a bemused grin, he opened the door, leaping out quickly before jogging to the dojang door. The water dripped down his face, and even as he fumbled for the key, unlocking the door in moments, he was nearly soaked from head to toe.

Awesome... haha, if only Nora was caught in this rain... damn that white blouse was hot yesterday...

He slipped inside, taking off his shoes and tossing them to the side as he made his way onto the wooden floor. It was empty, the vast dojang ringing with the silence of Saturday afternoon. The others hadn't gotten there yet; there were six other candidates for 3rd Degree testing. Ben was the first one there oddly enough.

Must be early... I'll get changed and stretch out before the others get here...

Ben tossed his bag to the side, cracking his back slightly as he loosened his shoulders. He was wearing a simple black t-shirt, slightly tight fitting as well as a pair of now soaked blue jeans. A black belt with a single silver buckle held them up, and he proceeded barefoot into the dojang, flipping on the lights as the rubber matted for came to life, the neon lights lighting up like the stars in the sky. Ben cracked his neck, groaning a bit as he loosened up, hopping from foot to foot, getting the blood pumping through his veins as he let himself drop to the floor, knuckles catching against the mat as he began to do a set of push ups, chest pumping as the muscles began to strain.

Gotta hit 100 by testing... it's gonna be tough this year... not to mention, gotta build up the chest too... six pack's there, gotta improve though...

He glanced up, breath coming a bit heavier as he dropped again before pushing up once more. He glanced at the analog clock on the wall, the time reading about 1:24. They should be here in a few moments. But even as he let himself drop again, feeling the burn of his muscles begin, the lights in the dojang suddenly flickered and stopped. He blinked, the darkness taking the dojang instantly, neon rainbow lights flickering before vanishing out of existence.

Huh? What the hell is going on?

He stood slowly, breathe coming in slight pants as he glanced around, hands on his hips as he looked around, eyes filled with curious apprehension as they came to the clock once more. It had stopped ticking, frozen at 1:24. He felt the water dripping from his brow as he turned, looking back out at the window of the dojang. The rain had seemingly stopped... the lights from a highway car stood frozen in the air, the energy beams completely stopped in the dark afternoon air. Ben walked forward for a moment, a look of confusion on his face as he reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone and flipping it open. No signal. All his eyes were drawn to was that single text...

"1:24... blue shift..." he murmured to himself, his chest heaving slightly as he glanced around the empty Blue Hills Dojang, a look of blank interest covering his features, "That's.... odd..."

[Piercing Light]

Doublekill, triple kill, overkill!, Extermination... Marc grinned as his opponents all dropped to the floor. "Heh, have fun re-spawning noobs". Marc's mind went back to his cell phone. He flipped it open and took another look at the message on the screen.

1:24 PM SATURDAY
THE BLUE SHIFT BEGINS
A BEAST OF FALSE DESIRES
LURKS IN THE SHADOW

"What in the world could this mean". "Hey! man pay attention!" yelled one of Marc's teammates. "Whoa!" Marc made his character side step as a rocket flew by his head. Marc quickly defeated him and ended the game. He turned of his Xbox 360 and pondered the meaning of the message. His thought process was interrupted by his mother. "Marc! Can you go to the mall and pick up a few things?" "Umm, yeah sure". Marc got up from his couch and walked over to his mom. "Here's twenty dollars and a list of what I need you to get". Marc took the things and stuffed them in his pocket. "Ok, be back later then". Marc walked out side to pouring rain. He didn't mind the rain, in fact he loved it. It felt invigorating and seemed to calm him down. He hopped on his blue mountain bike and started for the mall. He didn't live very far from the mall so getting there would only take a few minutes. Reaching the main entrance, Marc chained up his bike to a nearby tree and walked inside. He bought a few things from a bakery and headed to a home improvement store. It was then that it happened, Time stopped. Marc didn't even notice it at first until he walked into someone. "Oh! sorry I-" The man was completely frozen. And looking around so was every thing else. He glanced at a clock in a store window. 1:24. "No way...Is this what that message was about?" Marc continued to look around until he spotted a young man who seemed unaffected by whatever was going on. Marc approached him. "Hey, umm. you have any idea whats going on?"

[gene chaos]

[ Seems likes a small town, not much different than any other out there. Just perfect.] he thought to himself taking a view of the town. Richard had just moved to Blue Hills only a week ago, he really never liked small towns. he believe them to be boring as hell or theres some sort of hidden danger. [ lets see, today i gotta find a job] he said looking down the street. beep, beep, beep. checking his pocket he finds that he has a new message.

1:24 PM SATURDAY
THE BLUE SHIFT BEGINS
A BEAST OF FALSE DESIRES
LURKS IN THE SHADOW

[what the hell does that mean? probably just spam] with that he continued down the street, as he neared the cross walk he didn't notice the several cars heading toward him. just bearly noticing the oncoming cars he tries to get to the other side but there coming too quickly. he braces for the impact,... nothing he puts his hands don and opens his eyes. the cars were silent no everything was silent. "what the hell" he muttered in shock, he took a look around him everyone and everything was still. " lets get away from the city she says, its quiet she says, theres not going to be time dilation feild she says" he continues down toward the mall ranting on.

[Chi-Chan]

Emily moved through the streets, no real interest going into the task. It was her mother's request. She groaned at that though...Cause we don't want it to be like last time do we, Emily? You need to make some friends..that are in your neirbourhood...she mocked her mother relentlessly in her head. She had always known her mother did not like her friends. Then again she could not control most of her friend's preference. Then again she had never liked that sort of stuff. Basically, her mother was a homophobic and most of her friends were on that side of the fence. She laughed at the medaphor they had made up...it wasn't particually her intention to nearly have all her friends like such, they just happened to like the same things she did; Punk Rock, Leather, Anime and of course, Tim Burton works. Or maybe she just attracted that sort of people...she wasn't completely sure...ethier way she stil loved her friend unlike her dearest mother...listening to her ipod as it changed songs to one of her favourites; Love Me Dead by Ludo, Emily started mouthing the words to herself..it was then that she felt her phone vibrate within her pocket.

1:24 PM SATURDAY
THE BLUE SHIFT BEGINS
A BEAST OF FALSE DESIRES
LURKS IN THE SHADOW

Now that made Emily smirk. Her friend's normally sent her lyrics to songs as their way to say hi...though once reading it, it was not lyrics she had heard before, and truthfully she was wondering what the time was there for. That was a mere minute away... Looking up as she watched little kids play...to watch them freeze... 'What the heck...?'

[Watson]

Don't you just hate it when shit happens?

1:24 PM SATURDAY
THE BLUE SHIFT BEGINS
A BEAST OF FALSE DESIRES
LURKS IN THE SHADOW

The phone had showed those exact words, and did he care? No. Matt really didn't. Probably just some rapist or murderer trying to psyche him out so he'd be easy to pick out of a crowd. Or maybe not. Did he recognize the adress? No. But that didn't mean a thing. Of course, nothing really meant anything if you put any effort into thinking about it. Nothing is anything, and everything is nothing, and see how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly. I'm cryin'. The song has a real meaning to it, that being there is no meaning. All things are pointless and the points they have are not had at all but have been had and not had. Ergo, everything's pointless and every minute alive is not another minute spent alive but another minute gone in your life.

Pointless, right?

Thought so.


Of course, if everything is pointless, why did Matt bother to go for a walk if there was no meaning to it?

Because he decided this while walking, meaning before the walk he thought it had a point, and after the walk he'd probably feel the same way as he did before it, but during it he had decided that life was meaningless. And seeing as the majority of the time Matt Watson would be spending on earth was going to be spent rotting in a hole in the ground, it really was pointless, wasn't it?

Yeah. It sort of was.

And now it was raining. Whoop de doo. People hate rain, but what's so bad about it? It's simply water, and water has only ever hurt Asians. And Australians. And people living on small islands. But usually not North Americans. Unless you count New Orleans. Well, the point is, there is very little that water could do to a teenaged boy standing in the exact spot he was standing in. What were the chances? Who bother to calculate them? It's pointless. Things happen, or they don't, or they do and don't at the same time. And then there's the matter of, they probably don't. Maybe all the shitty things that make up Earth are just the dreams of some being. Damn the Wachowski brothers for getting these thoughts into the heads of people worldwide. Unless Guillermo Del Toro made that movie... but he made the one about Cuba, didn't he? But the Hobbit's his too... but Tolkien wrote it. Every trail of thought leads to a dead end, and thus, pointless.

Absolutely pointless.

No rain now, someone must be happy about that. Someone had been watering their driveway in the rain as he passed.

Idiot.

Oh well, pointless to insult him, no? I think yes. Oh well. It seems I may be wrong, but watering a driveway in the rain at least is pointless. And meaningless. Although not to the man who did it, obviously. Perception, perhaps, altered reality. Did quantum physics not state that somewhere? But, if reality is not a fixed thing, is it not pointless? So many questions to ask, so few answers... yeah, pointless. Pointless questions with no answers at all. Why did the dead baby cross the road?

Because it was stapled to the chicken.

Pointless answer, that answers nothing. Thank you for creating that thought, Stephen King. And thank you, Eddie Dean, the character, for using that question and answer. Strange, no one's moving. Maybe they're all simply lazy? Or maybe in a reality I have unconsciously created no one but myself can move. Oh, that girl moved. I guess she too can move. If so, she's probably a rapist I created. Better walk away, down this street. Oh look, everyone's stopped here too. Huzzah. Another universe, more boring than the usual one. What happened to wonderland and the crazy shit you're supposed to find in alternate realities? The mad hatter was probably a pedo, though. But Johnny Depp wasn't... although John Travolta might have been. But Michael Jackson wasn't, and then he died. Why did he die? Life is simply not fair? Is there any point to life being unfair? No. Except there might be. Is there? Screw it. Someone who is obviously not a rapist, murderer, psycopath, pyromaniac, kleptomaniac, or mental retard please just move already...


(OOC: Meh. I'm pretty sure I've done better, but oh well. Here's to another good roleplay that may actually survive.)

[Ulti]

1:24 PM SATURDAY

Sarah flipped open her phone again. The text message was the same. She didn't expect it to change. Perhaps her memory was fading already. No matter how many times she read the message, the time and date was the same. Why did this message bother her so much? It wasn't hard to imagine that someone randomly sent this to her by mistake or as spam. There was the slight chance of both instances occurring. Maybe it was the fact that she received the message at all that disturbed her. Nothing fun or exciting ever happened to her.


THE BLUE SHIFT BEGINS

Tossing in a milk carton, Sarah pondered the next part of the message. Blue happened to be her favorite color. It was a very nonthreatening color. Blue Shift. It had to be some sort of event. Maybe the opening of some club or bar. She did recently turn 18. A bunch of people suddenly became interested in Ms. Jones now that she was an adult. It didn't matter what it was for. She wouldn't go to it. What was the point of going to some fun place by yourself? She was busy, as she would tell herself.

A BEAST OF FALSE DESIRES
LURKS IN THE SHADOW

Cocoa Puffs or Cinnamon Toast Crunch? Both had its ups and downs. Shrugging, Sarah tossed in the Cocoa Puffs into the cart and left the Crunch on the shelf. She looked at her list again to make sure she had everything. All seemed to be accounted for. She gave the cart a tiny push, wincing at the screeching noise of the rusted wheels. All around her people yelled, screeched, laughed, and all other sorts of noise. She filtered out the nonsense, only making her thoughts clear in her head.

Maybe this event was for some new video game or movie. The last part of the message was a total give away. But Sarah didn't hear about this on the TV or internet. How could the ever persistent net dwellers overlook this? Another thing was odd. If this was an advertisement, why didn't they include an address? This message was odd. Damn the sender to hell. Now Sarah's curiosity was up and running. She couldn't just forget this.

A loud or sudden noise would get anyone up and running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Sarah was not like that. A bomb could have dropped on the store and she would not have looked up. What stopped her in her tracks was the sudden silence. No squeaking wheels. No chatterboxes. Not even the faint sound of breathing could be heard besides her own. Sarah looked up from her phone. Immediately, Sarah thought she was on some prank show. She had seen this scene before on an old one. Everyone but the victim would stop moving as if the entire world just stopped moving. The same scene was present before her. Nothing was moving. Everyone had perfectly stopped in their tracks. She looked around her for the hidden camers when she noticed another odd thing.

Boxes shouldn't defy gravity, even on TV, right? A box between two employees was also frozen. Leaving her cart, Sarah was slowly drawn to the floating box. The verb truly fitted the noun. The box was floating. Nothing was holding it up nor keeping it from falling. Her breaths came in short and shallow. She took a few steps backward before turning around the corner. Aisle by aisle, she saw the same shit over and over. A perfect picture. No one was moving but her. No one was alive but her. Sarah had to know. She had to know what the world was like!

Forget the groceries. Forget college. Forget her roommates. Sarah was terrified at the thought of being the only person who wasn't like this. True, she enjoyed her loner lifestyle. But the thought of absolute isolation was horrific. She slammed into the store doors, only the force of the doors slowing her pace. She pleaded heavenward, praying to whoever or whatever was truly up there. Let this be a joke!

The prayer of the skittish girl was answered by the one thing that really chilled her spine.

Absolute silence...

Edit: Know what? Let's all assume I am at Junes :X

[Iwrestledabearonce]

Derek sat on the bus silently, his music drowning out all around him. People around him talking loudly, arrogantly. Derek paid no real interest to anybody on the bus; he wasn't in the mood to people watch right now. Third Eye Blind was far more interesting to his ears.

As the bus neared downtown Blue Hills, Derek smiled. He was going on a simple buying run; headphones. The ones he currently had were slowly breaking, so he decided that, rather than further fucking them up by attempting to repair them, he would just buy new ones. And while he was at it, he figured he could go visit his older brother. Simple enough, right? Wrong. His mom had made him look after the dog until 12:30, and now he was running late, for he told Shaun that he'd meet him at 12:45.

As Derek looked out at a large digital clock on the side of a building nearby, the time changed to 1:15. At this precise moment, Derek felt a buzzing in his back pocket. "Who's texting me now? Is it Shaun? Shit, I hope he isn't mad at me. . ." he thought to himself worriedly. Flipping his phone out, he realized that this definitely wasn't Shaun. Aside from the perfect grammar, which Shaun was NOT prone to do, it wasn't something that anybody Derek knew would send to him.

1:24 PM SATURDAY
THE BLUE SHIFT BEGINS
A BEAST OF FALSE DESIRES
LURKS IN THE SHADOW

Derek read this. And re-read this. And, just for good measure, re-re-read it. "Is this some sort of viral marketing campaign for something? Spam? The FUCK is a "Blue Shift"?" he thought. Trying to make heads or tails of something like this was hard, indeed. Derek drew no feasible conclusion. Noticing that there was no number under the "Sender" category, he chalked one up to some annoying spam company. Laughing at himself for attempting to make sense of something so stupid, he smiled, and hit Delete.

The message flickered in front of his eyes, taunting him. Delete. Still taunting. Delete Delete Delete. BLUE SHIFT.

"Pesky sonovabitch, aren'tcha?" Derek muttered angrily to himself. He tossed his phone up, watching it flip closed in midair, caught it, and hastily put it into his back pocket. Looking out the window, he realized how much time that stupid text message had wasted; he was two stops away from his destination.

"Perfect. Maybe Shaun will only rip me in half, instead of killing me outright. He's so fucking impatient." Derek mused the many ways Shaun would - could - sever his body. As he laughed to himself, going over the many ways of mutilation, his song switched. As he listened to the opening riff, he realized it was Crisis, by Alexisonfire. Derek softly began hitting himself, playing person-drums to the beat.

"The temperature's through the floor
Your fingers are turning black.
There's a crisis - "

As the word "Crisis" was said, the clock struck 1:24 P.M. Derek noticed this, thanks to another large digital clock outside, and the bus stopping.. Blue Shift. Derek looked out the window, watching the cars mo -. . . . stop? Looking forward, Derek noticed people frozen in place on the bus, their mouths open, but not moving. People getting off the bus? Frozen in place, their feet raised, their balance perfect. The people outside? The same thing. It was as if somebody just snapped, and everything was. . . stuck.

"Ehehehe. . . . H-hey, what's going on?!" Derek questioned rather loudly, taking his headphones off whilst standing up. Not a head turned his way. Not even a damned notion of movement. And that's when he realized that there was no sound, either. His headphones had stopped playing music. Nobody was talking. Everything was frozen. Every single fucking thing. That's when Derek began to feel the fear. Looking outside of the bus, he realized that all the electronics out there were off. Large digital displays, clocks, everything. Off. Flipping out his phone, Derek hoped beyond hope that it worked.

Lo and behold, his hope had paid off! His phone was running! But. . . there was something off. Of course, there was no signal; where the bars showing signal strength were, normally, was the word "BLUE". There was a large clock as his background, and the time "1:24 P.M." was placed right below it. In the centre of the clock, the words "BLUE SHIFT" were written, as if to taunt Derek further. The fear was still there, gnawing away at him. The best solution was to get off the bus, wasn't it? He hoped it was, because he was already at the door, stepping out in to the street. Looking about, he saw the same thing. "As if shit would change by stepping off the bus. . ." he thought to himself. Then it hit him again, harder this time.

DEAFENING SILENCE. ZERO MOVEMENT.

"What in the fuck is going on?" Derek said to himself, the fear in his gut churning, and morphing into nausea.


OOC: I'm not sure if you peeps remember, but all power is out during the Blue Shift. :x

[The Big Lovin']

"Exhale. Push.

10...

Inhale. Control. Exhale. Push. Rack it."

A heavy clanking rang throughout the room and a heavy sigh followed. Ric sat up on the bench, wiping the sweat off of his forehead before he completely stood up. The fatigue has set in. He looked around the weight room, seeing only a few others working out today, most notably a cute brunette definitely working that hip abduction machine. Several times he thought about going over there and talking to her, but of course, he just let it go. It was a pretty large facility, housing about a dozen treadmills and bikes as well as various lifting equipment. Bigger than anything back home. He racked the weights he was using off the bar, bopping his head with the beat from the music he was listening to, then went off to the locker room, having one last glance at the brunette. "Gaddamn"

He opened the door, walked in, and plopped down on a bench in front of the lockers. Lazily, he reached out and dialed in his combination and then grabbed his backpack. He fondled around inside, first grabbing his towel for the shower, then his cell phone. 1 new message.

1:24 PM SATURDAY
THE BLUE SHIFT BEGINS
A BEAST OF FALSE DESIRES
LURKS IN THE SHADOW

"...okay." he whispered to himself. The hell is that supposed to mean? Don't people have other things to do then send him spam? Shit. He tossed the phone back into his backpack, closed it, then proceeded to the shower, not giving the message a second thought.

After the shower and donning a clean pair of red gym shorts, a black hoodie, a pair of black basketball shoes, and his glasses, he grabbed his backpack and left the athletics facilities, heading for his apartment not too far from the university. Even so, the rain was killer. Should of brought an umbrella, eh? He weaved in and out of different buildings, eventually making it to the parking structure under his apartment. The complex was pretty small, only 12 apartments and most rented out by college students. Two floors which mirrored each other and a pool and jacuzzi in the courtyard, both utilized nearly 24/7, except on rainy days. It's pretty rare to not see someone taking a dip or lounging around. Parties ahoy~

Ric finally made his way to his place on the second floor, surprisingly not as wet as he thought he was. He unlocked the door, then stepped inside. None of his roommates present. Alone. Wow. Really? Someone was always there. Today was turning out pretty odd. He made his way to the kitchen. The apartment was pretty small as well. The living room had 2 black, leather couches and small glass dining table set in the middle. White walls and a grey carpet. A rather large TV and entertainment set up was placed near the window that looked out over the court yard. Just over from the living room was the kitchen, separated by a small island. White tiled counter top and a few cabinets and shelves ran across the tops and bottoms as well as a small built in fridge. Ric opened the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water, and made his way to his room.

His room was decent sized, but he shared it. On his side was a rather neat looking desk set up. It was compact, but tall. It housed his computer and stereo, along with his guitar and bass amp. Next to the desk was his drawer and next to that was his bed. On the wall next to his bed were his guitars, an acoustic and electric, and bass. His roommates side was just a bed and some boxes. Nice, hu? He dropped his back pack at the foot of his bed, then dropped like a sack of potatoes on it. Ouch. He could feel the blood pulsing through his body and his aching muscles. It hurt so good. He flipped himself over onto his back and took a sip of water from the bottle still at hand. It's been about 3 months since he moved here and it's been a pretty interesting experience. He was able to land a job working for his uncle at the university as an outdoor maintenance worker, which paid surprisingly well and had it's perks like being able to use the weight room and gym. Being able to afford rent for this place and car payments from that check and a little help from mom and dad was pretty sweet.

His eyes wandered around the room and finally settled on his acoustic guitar. "Shit." He slowly sat up and counted the strings in his head. Five. A slight frown formed on his face before he sighed and pushed himself off of the bed. He searched inside his backpack for his phone and then grabbed his car keys from on top of the desk. "Well, at least this gives me a reason to go to Junes."

A few minutes later he was on the road, coming to a stop at the flash of the red light. He leaned on his steering wheel, taking a glance at the clock on the dash. It read 1:23 pm. Yawning, he looked back to the traffic light. Eventually green, he sat up and lightly pushed the gas pedal only to go no where fast. After a few more attempts, he looked around expecting the beeping of horns and angry faces. What he got was a lot more interesting and even more frightening.

It was now 1:24 PM, and everything had stopped.

[∞]

For not the first time, Jeremy Howell slipped his phone out of his pocket, a sleek and solid black Nokia and dark denim jeans, respectively. He eyed the message icon on the device's display, unlocked the thing with the press of two buttons, and opened up the message. He had only been sent it once, and even after viewing it, it still showed up as unread. What's more, any attempt to delete it proved futile. Jeremy suspected there was a virus on the phone. He had heard that there was a phone-virus going around, but after quizzing several people at Blue Hills High, he had found himself to be the only one with the quizzical message:

"1:24 PM SATURDAY
THE BLUE SHIFT BEGINS
A BEAST OF FALSE DESIRES
LURKS IN THE SHADOWS"

When Jeremy first received the message and found himself unable to delete it, he found it very much like a phenomena in a video game he had played, called The World Ends With You, but Jeremy didn't expect it to be anything so paranormal. After the immediate intrigue, he then got to work picking apart what he could find about he message. The closest thing Jeremy knew to a blue shift was a red shift, a way to measure how fast and in which direction a star is moving in relation to an observer's viewpoint. A blue shift sounded like the exact opposite, even if it scientifically wasn't. He doubted it had something to do with celestial movements if he had received it as unusually as he did.

'A beast of false desires/lurks in the shadows' reminded Jeremy once more of things from that video game, and another one, Noise for TWEWY, and creatures known as the Heartless from Kingdom Hearts. Again, Jeremy's logical mind quickly swatted away the links, and he found himself with nothing he could guess. All he could really do was wait until the time, and perhaps be somewhere where others like him might be. On a Saturday afternoon, if people weren't stuck at home, miserably at work, or off and about, they would probably be at a shopping centre, which was exactly where Jeremy was now.

He put away his phone and continued pulling a hot chip at a time from a cardboard cup and placing it in his mouth, before chewing it thoroughly, noting with extra attention the taste, texture, temperature, and all the other features of something one can detect in the mouth. A familiar voice interrupted him as he was picking up the next chip, a female one, high- and annoyingly-pitched, and without an ounce of vocal restraint. He looked up to find where the girl, one from his school called Jessica, blonde-haired and a ditz in the extreme, she was currently jogging toward him, as one says 'Hi' to a friend when passing them outside of school. She called his nickname 'Jezza' a second time, before she continued with the usual small-talk.

"Hi there. It's pretty rare anyone sees you here, Jeremy, what's so special abou-"

Jeremy waited several seconds for her to finish talking. He also waited several second to see if she would move. Neither happened. And for that matter, nothing else was moving or making any noise. After that time, all the lights and electronics as far as Jeremy could see flickered, and then went out. He swivelled his neck around on his head. Nearby was a woman in her chair pouring a sachet of sugar into her coffee. She was frozen in place, and the grains of salt shone in perfect stillness. Eventually, after having thoroughly surveyed his surroundings, Jeremy's mind began clicking into gear well and truly.

He was open to weird and wonderful concepts. He loved fantasy and science fiction, but he knew, for one thing, if time were frozen, he would immediately be ripped apart to the mono-atomic level as his body moved faster than the speed of light, and that the entire world around him would be black because of the stillness of photons, until he moved so that they would pass into his retinas. Since Jeremy was still sitting there and could still see quite clearly, it was obvious neither of those had taken logical effect, and so lent to this phenomena a much more paranormal impression, rather than one that strictly followed scientific laws.

He stood up from his chair, experimentally grabbed a chip from his packet, and found he withdrew it with no resistance, and placed it in his mouth. It was still hot and salty, as it should be. After that, he moved over to the woman pouring her sugar, and he reached into the stream of particles, and found that when he made contact with them, they would then act under seemingly normal physical laws, they would fall until they landed on the foam of the coffee. Further experimentation showed him he could bring no such reanimation to anyone around him.

So, he stood up, and left the food court, and began prowling the Junes shopping centre, for anyone else in his situation.

[Prophet]

"Hello?"

Ben closed the door to the Blue Hills Dojang with a quiet click, the sound reverberating slightly in the silence. It was haunting the quietness that present... The frozen cars... the stopped headlights. It was surreal as some impressionistic painting. Ben ran a hand through his black hair, pushing the red streak back up against his head, frowning as he glanced around. There was only silence... this part of town was relatively side-walk free; there were no civilians around to check on. He walked past a car frozen on the highway, chocolate brown eyes locking with a driver, the man stone-cold in the middle of a gaping yawn. Ben reached over, tapping on the window once, as he leaned over, trying to reach the man.

No luck; unresponsive. What the hell is going on? Time's just... frozen. Is it... is it time? Never thought I'd be sticking around for the end of the world...

Ben turned to face the open street, a frown crossing his face as a few sparse rain droplets seemed frozen in the air. He reached up, letting the cool sapphire beads play along his fingertips. They felt real enough... and somehow, this phenomenon didn't seem like an Apocalypse...

Even so... please tell me there is someone else around.

Ben began to jog, muscles pumping as his shoes hit the pavement with a patter that seemed hollow in this void. The familiar burn in his calves and the racing of his heart were comforting; yet even as he jogged down the empty street, he could not shake the unease that he knew was there. It wasn't in his nature to panic; in life he often responded with an aloof, nonchalant attitude that masked whatever true distress he felt. Yet, alone, jogging along the lonely avenue, Ben felt the traces of fear eating at his heart. What if he really was... alone?

Please God...

More empty street... with the rain, most of the people had cleared into their houses. He was reaching the storefronts now... even in the rain, all he could see were more frozen statues... People stopped in the midst of their daily activities. Even the midst of a jump, two kids hung in the air, the smiles frozen on their face like grotesque facsimiles. Ben tore his eyes away from those faces, attempting to look out for anything, taking in anything that could possibly save him from what growing to be a nightmare. He focused on the beat of his long legs on the pavement; as tall and skinny as he was, he managed to cover a lot of ground fast. However, as his eyes roamed along the storefronts, they caught something that made his heart soar.

Thank God...

There was a girl struggling to get out of the store front. Her glasses caught the pale light mysteriously, and Ben couldn't help but laugh breathlessly to himself, pushing the black hair back against his scalp as he quickly made his way towards her. There was another one... he was not alone. The greatest feeling of relief washed over him in that moment, and the fear and tiredness of his jog instantly melted away. He was not alone...

"I gotcha," he breathed out, still a bit short of breath as he grabbed the door, grunting as he helped her pull it open, his eyes catching hers as he motioned out towards the enigmatic environment, "Ben Grund; don't suppose you know what the hell is going on?" He grinned breathlessly as he asked, leaning against the door as he caught his breath; life was good again.

OOC: Pardon for any misconceptions; I wasn't sure if Junes was a store front or in the mall.

[Ulti]

Apparently as well as everything else, electricity wasn't working. As her body collided with the door, Sarah found herself thrown back. The automatic doors were shut tight and did not even sway against her. Rubbing her sore head, she tried a less violent approach. She dug her fingers into what little room laid between both door. Perhaps she could pry the door open with her bare hands!

"This..isn't...working"

The doors still wouldn't budge. What would one call this situation? Locked in a grocery store in a world that has ceased moving. It was like being in a bad episode of the Twilight Zone. Then again, it wasn't like she would die here. At least not anytime soon. But that didn't matter. Sarah was going to get out if these doors liked it or not! With another deep breath, she pulled with all her might.

Surprisingly, the door slide open. The sudden movement caused Sarah to lose her balance, stumbling forward a little before she could regain her footing. She pushed her glasses up her face and turned around. The sight of a moving human took away that sense of balance yet again. Information came in too quickly. Someone was here. Someone else was moving, breathing. Sarah was not alone. And just as quickly as she realized this, the ever annoying shy girl in the back of your class came back.

"Oh, um, hello. I'm Sarah.."

She didn't answer her question. Or rather couldn't. Even though Sarah was ecstatic to find another in the silent world, she could not break old habits around strangers. Especially those of the opposite sex. She could only ponder the same question this Ben person before her asked. What was going on? Why weren't they like the others? Wait, where there others? Maybe some people were like them. Lost and confused without a damn idea what to do next

[∞]

In the total silence of Junes, human voices echoed out like sonic booms. A female one and a male one, Jeremy could just make out, but the voices alone, they were too quiet to hear the words they spoke, but the exchange was brief, rushed, introductory perhaps? Two others bewildered at their situation in this time-stopped place? It didn't matter, they were exactly the kind of people he was looking for. Was it only Junes that was frozen, or the entire city? The whole world, even? Jeremy broke into an easy jog as he navigated the corners, halls and corridors of the shopping centre, and eventually made his way to a store near to an entrance of Junes. Nearby, standing near an open set of automatic sliding doors, were the male and female in question. Both about his age, probably a little bit older, but Jeremy looked of similar age just because of his height.

The man was similarly tall to Jeremy, save for being two inches shorter, with jet black hair and a single crimson highlight, brushed across. He was dressed in a loose shirt and cargo shorts, and he looked as though he had recently gone for some light exercise. The woman was the shortest of the three, and short for her age too. She had dirty blonde hair that went down to her shoulders that framed her blue and black glasses that framed her blue-green eyes. He approached the two calmly, looking meek as he did, but also making sure to not appeared scared. He loved it when he could be a leader or an expert on a subject, maybe this strange phenomena was a bit similar to that in The World Ends With You.

He called out to the two people as he approached, "Hey there! Name's Jeremy Howell, Jezza for those who want to call me it." He then gave them time to introduce themselves, before he continued: "I've got an idea of what's happened, that seems obvious enough, but I'm clueless as to why or how. Either of you two know anything?

[The Big Lovin']

"What the f..."

The word trailed off the tip of his tongue as he looked around from the inside of his car. Movement? None. Sound? Only him shuffling around in his seat and the piercing thought roaring in the back of his mind that something was wrong. Finally, after building up the courage, he opened the driver's side door and stepped outside. His eyes darted back and forth, his mind scrambled over and over again in his thoughts, attempting to comprehend the current situation but failing miserably. What the hell was going on? The scene looked as if someone pressed a button and suddenly everything stopped mid motion. People, cars, other objects. Just frozen. After removing his car keys from the ignition, he retrieved his cell phone and flipped it open. Well, to his delight it still worked. At first. He attempted to make some phone calls, but it wouldn't work. The only thing that seemed to work correctly was the clock.

Wait. The clock.

1:24

He immediately searched through his text messages and found a now very relevant message. "No way" The disbelief was heavy in his mind. He snapped the phone shut and quickly shoved it into his pocket. Creepy. Way too creepy. He started walking up the street, searching for anyone who wasn't frozen or a working phone. His heart was about to pop out of his chest and it took every bit of self control to keep his calm demeanor. It wasn't long before he approached the North Star mall. That was probably his best bet for anything. He quickly made his way into the mall only to find the mall was in the same condition. It was dark and very still. His foot steps were the only audible sound and were amplified eerie silence. "I must be dreaming or something."

With a heavy sigh, he began to wander aimless through the mall.

[Shinkirō]

"Well this is rather... dull"

Being pushed around endlessly, with practically no visible abnormality to warrant him being in a wheelchair, combined with the people constantly looking his way, was definitely not one of Callum's hobbies. Sure, it was nice to get out every once in a while, but all in all, it was rather embarassing. Even something as simple as going to have a look at some new games that have come in, he was always on the lookout in case someone he knew was there. The explaining. That was what he wanted to avoid more than anything. "It's just such a pain", he thought quietly, whilst making his way through the Blue Hills Mall carpark, heading towards the mall. All the cars that he passed seemed all so similar. Their owners, seemingly the same. The whole town seemed so... Plain. So boring. So... Uninviting. Seemingly everything was put into motion, all in one direction, and that's how it always remained. Even the game shop was bound to be the same, just as everything else around him was. One year... He'd been like this for one year, one week and 5 days from today.

Everyone was constantly saying to him, and to people around him, "This isn't what a 16 year old boy should be doing". They made it sound like it was his choice to be disabled. Who would honestly want to be bound to such a lifestyle? Regardless, it was approaching. 1:24 PM, as said by that message. It was rather vague, yet explanitory at the same time, yet it did not phase him.

1:24 PM SATURDAY
THE BLUE SHIFT BEGINS
A BEAST OF FALSE DESIRES
LURKS IN THE SHADOW

"Shadows? So in other words, it will practically be lit badly during this time... Meaning shadows will consume practically all of the area. That's only if it becomes dark, though."
His thoughts were somewhat calculated, but a mess at the same time. This was something of a common for him, especially after the last few months.

He sat in his wheelchair - his mother pushing him around - head rested upon the hand held up by his elbow on the arm support. He had a rather bored look about him... No, not bored at all. Uninterested. Everything was just a dull, grey cycle around him. What stood in colour, so vivid in the daily routine? Nothing. Except perhaps this "Blue Shift".

He took out his phone and had a quick glance, then put it away again. "1:22 PM", it read. So about a minute left. He had a look around from the planted position of his head, specifically observing for any abnormalities. Any "colours". But of course, nothing at all. As expected.

"Ow" he noticed himself saying before realising his legs had collided with a table in front of a cafe.
"Sorry, Callum. Is it alright if we have a drink here?" his mother asked him, in her cheery voice.
"Of cou-"
He stopped, noticing the world had finally stopped around him. The Blue Shift.

He sat there for a minute, head still planted in the same spot, looking rather melancholy. "Why am I not surprised that this has happened?" he thought to himself.
"I had doubted it from the very beginning, yet... here it is, and I have no reaction."
He heard footsteps some way off from where he was "parked". They were seemingly getting closer to him. Perhaps it was the "Beast of False Desires" approaching, bringing with it his demise. "No, that's not logical enough. Surely there would be more toying around with me first, if it were the beast."
He pulled out his phone, expecting it not to be working, along with everything else using power. Correct, of course. None of the people around him had th slightest enthusiasm in what they were doing. "But then again, of course they don't; it's an endless, constant cycle."

He could hear a faint voice along with those footsteps.

"I wonder..."