What's in the slums?

Naomi took a deep breath, put on the clothing she had that was most similar to this San Malarus fashion, kept her raingear ready, and went through the portal. She stared vacantly into the distance and sighed. She didn’t usually stray too far from the portals while she was here, in case she needed to make a quick get away, but she needed to go somewhere special. She decided that she needed to check out the Slums last time she was here. Not that she knew what that meant. She just knew she had to get to the Slums, which was mostly her wandering around, following the direction that looked most despairing. She was sure to always know where a portal was, it case she needed it. By the time she finally found what was probably the Slums, she was more happy than nervous. She buttoned down her courage and quickly went to pull up Beep on her tablet. She knew the AI wasn’t usually available here, but her power should counteract that. As long as her tablet could work, she could reach Beep. She tapped on the icon and waited for her to come up. She smiled at seeing her friend once more, “You probably haven’t, but ever wanted to see the slums? I’m here now. I’m not sure what I’m looking for, exactly, but I’ll try to find it.” She kept her voice low so only Beep would hear. Then she started really looking around the place, trying to take in as much as she could and getting a feeling for what this place was like. She knew where a nearby portal was, but she wasn’t next to it. That would be annoying if she needed to make a break for it. For right now though, she was looking for anything that seemed strange. There must have been a reason Beep couldn’t normally be accessed in this place. All the while, she was keeping her guard up for anyone looking to do her harm. The people of this world on their manhunt were one thing, but now she knew there was an Angel with backup. The unfriendly kind of backup. They were going to be the real problem if they showed up.

She would shake her head when she was looking around the slums, “I don’t know.” Heck if she knew what she was looking for exactly, “I guess any reason why you normally can’t be here. You know, aside from it just being a more poor or less advantaged area.” She looked around a little nervously, “This is honestly a bit strange. I don’t know what I’m looking for, but I wanted to check this place out before the club. I’m going there once I’m done here. So far, it doesn’t look like there is much.” She was careful to pay attention to who was there and what they were doing. She needed to make sure she wasn’t taken by surprise, “Umm… quick question: what can you tell me about this area?” She was lost. What was she looking for? Maybe it was nothing. Maybe this place just didn’t have technology reach them. Then again, that didn’t make sense, given how far everything seemed to reach in this world.

Naomi looked around again. A junkyard? It didn’t seem like a junkyard, “Thank you, Beep.” It was more like a graveyard. Old androids and technology along with people who couldn’t make it to the city were buried here. It was a place of ruin and felt like the things here were just waiting to die. She reached out her finger and rubbed Beep’s head when she gitched again. She wanted to make sure she was okay and this was all she could do. When Beep mentioned the older her, she would look down at her, “I wonder if it’s safe for you to be here then. Maybe the reason you can’t normally be here is because there’s something here that they’re worried about.” It was possible. She only just barely understood the technology of this world. There could be anything here. Still, it was strange. Why would this place specifically be created after the blackout of the Older Beep? That meant this area was fairly young and wasn’t always this way. How was it before? She hoped that whatever might be here wouldn’t be that advanced. She had her tablet, and it was no pushover, but it was still out-of-date by this world’s standards. Still, maybe she could keep out whatever may be here that would harm Beep. Assuming there was something. It was just a theory. Then again, the way Beep said they could have left her predecessor here made her wonder if she was still around somewhere. What would that mean? Her head was beginning to hurt at all of this, “Well, the club is the only other place I can think of. They seem to want to keep you out, so it sounds like a good idea. Is it not?” She was worried about going there, since there would be no quick portal for escape. Still, this needed to be done.

She didn’t know. Anything was possible. Maybe the old Beep was still around, but she didn’t know what that would mean, “Well, what do you think it would mean if she was around here? We may be able to find some trace of her, theoretically, but would she still be operational? I thought they- you know…” Not killed. Shut down? What was the term for what they did, “Nevermind.” She didn’t want to think about it. What they did was basically murder. If Beep’s predecessor was anything like her, she was a thinking, feeling, emotional person. She couldn’t help but think of her as a person. The thought of anyone doing that to her Beep made her feel terrible and want to cry. She couldn’t imagine. When Beep told her to make sure she was with her going to the club, Naomi would smile sadly, “Thank you, I would love to have your help. But, you have to promise me one thing. If I get found out and there is no way out for me, I need to know you will still be safe. You may need to act like you had no idea what I was.” She had been afraid of Beep being discovered this entire time. If people learned she helped someone with a Persona, what would they do to her? She hated the thought, “Can you do that for me? I want you to be safe too. If there is any sign that you are in danger, you bail. Please?” She needed this worked out now. It was something she had to do. She had quieted her voice even more to make doubly sure no one outside the AI heard her.

She would nod, “I do trust you. It’s just that I don’t want anything bad to happen to you either. We’ll find a way to make this work, I promise.” She hoped so, at least. Heaven’s knew they could use a break. Hopefully, Naomi could go in without being found out, but it was always good to have a backup plan. She did have a plan though. It was something she had been thinking about for a while now, but she finally had the means to do it, “I have an idea. It may come as a surprise though. I have to make sure it’s all prepared first though.” She hoped it was the right thing to do. While she thought about that, another idea popped into her head, “Beep, how much do you know about your predecessor? I have another idea, if you want to see if we can find her, but I need to know how she was right before the blackout and maybe even during it.” She could do it, she was sure, but it was risky, “The real question is, do you think it would be safe to talk to a version of her from right around the blackout?” She was preparing for the worst.

Naomi nodded, “I have faith that we can do it.” She hoped. She felt like she was getting closer. Somehow, she knew she must be, “Beep, I’m going to try something. It may not work, but if it does we may be able to find the old Beep right now.” It was just  test to see if she could do it, “Don’t touch anything, just in case. I don’t know what will happen.” She had to concentrate. She had never stretched her power this far before. Maybe she could access the old Beep, or maybe she wouldn’t fall under the reach of her powers. Thank goodness this was her own skill, so she didn’t have to summon Intertwined or Tommie. Still, she feared she’d get the Beep that caused the blackout. She had to hope she could get a version that was stable and manageable. Still, if anything happened, it should be contained to her tablet, since that was the only thing she was focusing her power on at the moment. For the moment though, she was looking for the old Beep. Anything that could bring her up. If she could find her, she would.

Human Skills:

Naomi would look freaked out then annoyed when her tablet went black. That was freaky. So much weird stuff was happening and she knew that it happened whenever something she wasn’t supposed to know was being looked into. Someone really didn’t want the rest of the world to know about this stuff. When Beep asked if there was a way to find any of the secret stuff, she would nod, “If I can find out where the information is hidden, I can hack into it. Or, I can go in blind and just mess with everything I can find. Pick your favorite.” She wasn’t sure if the world’s tech could beat her hacking skills, but she could try. Right now, she was glad she had decided to do this with her life. She couldn’t have planned it better if she tried, “I must admit that I’m surprised that didn’t work. I should be able to find things that aren’t functional anymore. My best guess she really is still functional somewhere, keeping her out of the reach of my abilities. Or, I’m just not strong enough to find her in the first place..” Either was likely. Now she was curious. She wandered a little closer to the nearest portal. She really needed a quick getaway if something went wrong. Before Beep could give her an answer, she started getting ready. Oh yeah. She was doing this. It was time to hack into any of the servers she could find and any sites that seemed suspicious. That was, unless Beep mentioned something to make her stop

She almost laughed at Beep’s excitement, “Okay, but you know the rules. Anything goes wrong, you find a way to get out and make it look like you had no knowledge of what was going on.” She couldn’t imagine whoever was maintaining her would be happy about this. Still, she had the go ahead. She wasn’t a hundred percent sure where to check, but she had jobs like that before. She was good at what she did. She just had to get in and get out without leaving a trail. Easy enough. She found some of the other servers and began trying to get into their bellies and look around. She also followed any lead that looked like it could hold information about the old Beep. Essentially, she was trying to break into anything that may hold a lead. She also thought about trying the club site, but that could wait until she found something. Or until she didn’t find it. Maybe that was why Beep couldn’t get near anything about the club. Anything doing with the old Beep seemed to repel her. Was it possible? She wasn’t sure, and now her brain was making crazy theories. She had to leave that thought for now and focus on the leads the search had given her. Those were going to be an open door to her.

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