What misfortune would find Ruo in the deepest parts of Shibakuzoi? She remembered going onto the subway at one point and for whatever reason, she miscalculated the directions on the tram, even having the internet at her disposal to look it up. Perhaps it was predictable that someone as defective as her would make mistakes. It had been not long enough since she had been to Shibakuzoi, not long enough since she escaped her captivity as it were. Truly, it may not have been how she called it, considering her own breakdown due to a malfunction in her system caused it. But Ruo would dare not try to come back for fear of being captured once more. She had no idea if they even continued to look for her or were even alive for that matter, as she could not remember if she had attacked anyone or not in her escape, but it never hurt to be too careful where she would go. Ruo almost turned to head for the next tram back to Iwaigodai, but something made her stop. She would turn her head looking upon a man among the crowd of people now exiting the tram looking at her with a sort of confusion. Ruo had her hood down, so her black hair was revealed, but her jacket was zipped up, though her legs remained out in the open. The man made no move, apparently not noticing that Ruo had noticed him. Being looked upon like a bug under a microscope unnerved Ruo, and she had every intention to turn onto the next tram, however, if the schedule was correct, the next one would take almost ten minutes. Ruo was less than willing to wait that long in his presence. Having no choice, she would make a slight speed walk towards the city she thought she had abandoned, and walk into Shibakuzoi.
Ruo would not find the city familiar for the most part, as she was kept mostly underground for her beginning before breaking out. She could tell you how to get back to where she was, which was a troubling thought in her head. However, she would not know a single area of where to go around the city. It though perhaps seemed illogical to go down the one path she knew, towards where she had escaped. However, the worry of the unknown was far too great to give Ruo much other choice. It also could give room to investigate and gather any information left by her escape at the complex. She would walk down the path from the tram, only having to go straight through the city, near what she would remember was the casino that was very well-known online and off around Ueitawa. A small mildly clean alleyway would be between the casino, and other buildings. Along it would be a door leading into the back of an otherwise ordinary shop. Not even the owner knew of this area, or if they knew, kept quiet about it. Ruo remembered it down to the exact, and would walk down the alley, making several looks behind her to see if the man was following her. She could not see him, but that only worried her more. When she reached the one door, it was predictably, half torn off the hinge from her escape. How it never got fixed was odd enough. Did that mean that they left and never returned? That may in fact have been a blessing in disguise for Ruo, as she could achieve the solitude she always searched for in her strolls, and perhaps discover something new about herself, her makers, or anything. She would walk inside calmly, looking behind her once more before closing the door as best she could, the door still hanging halfway.
The small back room was hidden by many different boxes and trinkets, one of them being a small paperclip on the floor, to which Ruo picked up almost immediately. Never know when that will be needed. However, looking up from her new addition to her collection, she saw in the back of the room behind a bookcase was a half-hidden door. It was half hidden mostly because it was now a hole, easily accessible through practically turning sideways and walking through. Ruo, being as skinny as she was, was able to get past the opening with ease without making too much of a disturbance. On the other side lead a long staircase going down….far down…..far too low than anyone might expect in a basement. Ruo would traverse the staircase, going what felt like miles underground, until finally reaching a door that also looked broken off. All of these doors were clearly the work of Ruo, when she escaped the area. For the first time, she wondered what those ones who researched her were doing. Who knows.
Walking through, the room would be a complete mess. The place was dead quiet, with no inhabitants. Scrap metal everywhere, some scorch marks on the wall, as well as a boarded off room, which was meant to be an observatory when she was being tested, the glass window had been long broken. She had never been in that room at all since her creation. That would end up being her first inclination to go to as it looked the most intact. The room would actually be pretty clean for the most part, aside from papers on the floor. They probably did not have time to get rid of any information when Ruo escaped. A good opportunity would be to see if it had anything useful. She would explore the room, and not find anything in the drawers or on the floor that was useful, until she came across a locked drawer in the corner that she had to shoot with the projectiles in her fingers several times before breaking the lock. Inside, were papers, forgotten by the people that used to be here apparently. The information on here would be astounding; with key words like ‘Persona’ and ‘Shadow’. The moment she absorbed this information, she would feel large jolting sensations everywhere on her body, causing her to stumble over, falling outside the room. It was for whatever reason, making her feel heavy. The information hit her like bricks, but it felt so familiar to her, that in the back of her mind, she could not dismiss it as fiction. Picking herself up slowly, she would practically crawl to the middle, before stopping, after a feminine voice called behind her.
“It appears you have learned the truth…” the voice said. Turning around, Ruo would see a large figure about twice her size, (
Appearance Here) swing at her with her hand, forcing Ruo to roll to the side. The impact with the woman’s hand on the ground made a loud sound, and cracks in the floor. Ruo would try her hardest to get up, but would be struggling, overheating slowly as it went.
Her left eye would start to emit blue flame, releasing the heat from her inner body to keep herself from overheating. But that was not feasible considering she was not doing anything out of the ordinary. Could it be this woman was causing it? Out of instinct and perhaps more so, fear, she shot at the woman using the projectiles found in her fingers. However, the projectiles failed to cause the woman pain once she was hit.
“Perhaps you need to trust yourself. I will not harm you,” she said. Though contrary to her words, she again would strike at her, this time, with an enclosed fist, to which Ruo would jump to the side, falling over. For whatever reason, even the cooling that her body was letting her do was not enough. It was as though her and this woman were completely matched in prowess.
“What’re you doing here…?!” Ruo managed to say before she shot once again, this time, the lips of the large woman clearly being pursed into a light smirk.
“It appears you do not understand who I am. Perhaps once you understand who you are, you will learn,” she said. This time, the woman would bring both of her hands to the ground nowhere near Ruo. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, several small blasts of wind would strike at her, sending her to the ground near the wall. This was getting worse and worse. She had no idea what to do, which was the worst case scenario for her, as she is always decisive. Not knowing caused Ruo a feeling of distress wash over her, something she has never felt before. The large woman would make one last punch as more emotions flooded into Ruo. Fear, anxiety, worry, hope, rage, anything that might help her escape.
As she was feeling, the woman had halted her attack right before it hit Ruo. The woman would pull her hand back, and her smirk would turn into a neutral expression.
“I take it you understand young Ruo?” she said, using her name for the first time. Ruo slowly stood up, the blue flame still burning from her eye, and she looked upon the being with a realization:
“Maya…” Ruo said. That was this woman’s name. How did she know? Maya was Ruo, and Ruo was Maya. At first Ruo did not understand, but Maya would give a light smile in hearing her name, causing Ruo to feel another emotion: reassurance.
“Never forget, I am you, and remember who you are as well,” Maya said before slowly fading away into nothing, and joining Ruo as one. Ruo would feel a bit surprised, and look around to see if anyone saw her, making sure no one witnessed the battle. After several seconds off looking, she would flex her hands to see.
“Persona…” Ruo confirmed. Nothing would happen that day for the paranoid robot apart from her returning home, however a feeling was with her. She could not discern what it was, even the paranoid android, realizing her newfound power, formed her first smile.
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