[ooc] app part 5.1 - back history
People had never considered the truth behind the idea of coexisting realities. It was simply something lumped in with the paranormal and left with that. Thus, nobody was prepared for the breach when it actually occurred.
It started with people seeing strange black dots. What pictures of them were taken were treated in the same fashion as ghost sightings. Nobody took them seriously, and most people assumed that they were faked. At first small in number, over time they began to become more numerous, and often one person would see them multiple times. Nobody knew what to make of the dots, and small internet societies began to form based around those who had encountered them.
But then, people began to change. Overnight, and usually drastically. Someone who may have been mild-mannered and kind would suddenly become ruthless and violent. Nobody knew what was causing these changes, but with some investigation it was determined that the main link between all of the victims was that they all had a great deal of contact with the black dots beforehand. Suddenly, those who had even had one exposure to them were placed under scrutiny, in order to attempt to study the phenomenon. Those who experienced the drastic changes were sent to specific hospitals in order to keep the media attention off of the situation. Naturally, people began to be afraid of what would happen if they did experience seeing the dots, so many kept their encounters secret.
Still, with the others under supervision and documentation of previous encounters readily available online, a task force was formed in secret in order to deal with the problem. Consisting of many scientific elite, these people began to analyze all of the available data as well as attempt to get information from those who had been "infected". After an extensive period of study, it was determined that the black dots were attracted to strong emotions, especially latent emotions. Those who had the most encounters had strong subconscious feelings. The black dots would latch on to those with strong emotions and feed on those emotions, drawing them out of the person. This resulted in the sudden personality changes that had been observed. How to help those afflicted to go back to normal was unknown, as the true nature of what the black dots were was not understood.
Those who had exposure to the dots but who had not yet succumbed to them were put into special study, in order to determine what was going on. Special scanning tools were set up in secret in these individuals' homes in order to document the occurrences. After a long period of data-gathering, it was discovered that before the dots appeared there were unusual disturbances that could not be adequately explained. Specific frequencies were the main sign, and then the dots would become visible. Many physicists began to work on the problem at hand, and eventually a theory was developed: this entity was not native to this plane of existence and the black dots were mainly a protrusion into this "dimension" of some sort of entity.
Naturally this theory was not taken seriously by those involved. But with little else to go on, it was the only explanation. Putting the theories into practice, a prototype device capable of emitting similar frequencies was put into development. It was a unification of many disciplines: physicists, engineers, biologists and programmers. It took a very long time and a great deal of experimentation, and there were many failures, often with terrible results. Many people died during the experimentation. Eventually, however, with one prototype, there was a breakthrough. While touching the prototype device, the test subject had a brief glimpse into a strange space, filled with swirling energy. However, even this short glimpse was enough to seriously exhaust the test subject. Still, a success was declared, and those involved in the functional prototype were lauded for their success. However, it seemed to be difficult to use the device, as most people could not look into the other space without becoming tired quickly.
An experiment was set up. Someone who had been infected was subdued, and then brough in to the room with the device. A test subject used the device and peered into the energy rift at the infected person. No one was sure what happened next, as at the test subject instantly fell into a coma. All official experimentation with the devices was abandoned due to the terrible risk.
However, some people refused to let the project die. One of the developers, a brilliant young man named Jyotaro Amagi, did not want to see the project die. He went through the others that had been involved looking for others of like mind, who wanted to see things come to a proper end. He managed to gather a group of people willing to keep working. Even without official sanction, they were determined to keep going. Jyotaro reasoned that with their tests some people could stay for longer periods of time, and those that could last for a couple minutes said something about "feeling something surrounding themselves". Curious to know more about this phenomenon, it became the first functional test of the group. With funding available for a project seemingly not related to the original abandoned affair, a call went out for potential test subjects.
The results from the testing period brought some interesting results, and a startling breakthrough. One person in the testing group had been able to look for as long as he had wanted, and had experienced little ill effect. The description of his experience was that he had felt as though he had been wearing "another skin" while there. There had not been much to see, it was an endless energy plain with no one else there. Others had varying staying times before being exhausted, and some of those who had managed a bit longer than others described similar - albeit brief - feelings.
Still not certain of what caused one to be able to stay longer, more experimentation went into play. The one who had successful ability to look in was put to the test more and more, but little other information was forthcoming. The man discovered that he could "move" through the space as he walked, but needed to stay within proximity of the test device otherwise he would no longer see into the other space. Thus, tests needed to be done within the room. The decision came to attempt the experiment that had previously ended the project - exposing the successful test subject to one of the infected. Strings were pulled and a newly-discovered inflicted was brought in en-route to being registered and committed, subdued, and presented to the test subject.
What happened was nothing short of amazing. The test subject was in his normal state of inactivity, but when the infected one was brought into the room, he was suddenly aware of another entity. It was enormous and bulbous, with small tendrils and a long tail wound around its victim. It "stared at him even without eyes" and fired some sort of energy blast, but at that moment, he felt something within him rising and a surge of power "flowed through his body". He was furious, so furious, but didn't know why he was so angry. Buoyed on by these feelings he began to attack the creature without even understanding how - shooting some sort of energy at it was his description. At a critical moment it seemed as if some sort of shield around it broke, and he felt as though he reached within it, pulling something out... and then the creature disapepared into glowing lights and the rush of emotion disappeared from him, leaving him feeling exhausted. Strangely, on the physical side, nobody noticed any sort of changes, apart from a rather focused expression on his face. Even more amazingly, the infected was actually cured of the changes brought on by the strange creature.
This sort of result was not to be taken lightly. Even with the success, however, it was kept secret. Jyotaro wanted to understand everything before any of it was revealed. Through further experimentation with similar results, and checking into the background of their test subject it was revealed that he had once had a younger sister who had been mugged, raped, and killed. This left a bitter resentment in him that he kept well-hidden. However, in a reality where creatures who fed on emotions lived, these subconscious feelings could not stay hidden. Rather, they took on a physical form, acting as a sort of buffer to protect him from the draining effects of looking in. When presented with the strange creature those feelings were drawn out more fully, filling him with power and vindication which he could use to take it down. In essence, the subconscious was the key to being able to look into the other dimension. But everyone had their own secret feelings and urges, so why was one person's stronger than anyone else's? There was little explanation for this. People who had horrible backgrounds full of tragedy had not been as successful as this person was. But, it was apparent that emotions had their effect on this strange reality, which may have been why the creatures that lived there were so attracted to those with repressed emotions. Armed with this knowledge, a designation for the creatures was developed: Analytical Intelligent Dimensional Anomaly, or AIDA for short.
After this, Jyotaro began to appeal for the original project to be resumed now that they had a better understanding and striking successes. Desperate for a solution to the problem, which was starting to get difficult to contain, while not pleased that the project had continued in secret, the government agreed to continue where it had left off. Armed with the knew knowledge, it was decided that more people who could stay in the other world were needed, as was a way to make the technology portable. Being able to deal with those who were already infected was one thing, but being able to find those who were not yet or in the process of being was also essential. Walking among normal people and weeding out the problems would be far more useful than waiting for them to be brought in as a full case. Also, the longer one remained infected, the stronger they seemed to get. Many of those afflicted were becoming difficult to contain as they were exhibiting super strength or strange powers. A call went out to start screening people for their potential, and the technology development team was sent to attempt to miniaturize the device so that it could be carried with a person.
One person on the team, a young man named Jun Banshoya, was having misgivings. All members of the team had their families checked for potential, and his younger half-sister had turned up positive. His misgivings were coming from a seeming mania developing in Jyotaro, as it didn't seem right... or healthy. Jyotaro was pushing very hard for all research and development, but was also making unusual requests. Unusual programming segments were put forward to be implemented, and there was a growing insistence on the devices being an implant of some sort. He denied all entrance to his office, and began to become somewhat eccentric. Jun was concerned, but could not get close enough to Jyotaro to uncover any information.
Meanwhile, after a lot of time and work, the portable devices were completed. They were small, and due to Jyotaro's requests were designed to be implanted into the head behind the ear. The body would power them, and with but a bit of concentration one could tap into the AIDA reality while moving and walking around. The first test subject took the implant successfully, and was able to walk around and function while at the same time seeing into the other realm. With this, the ability to scan more people farther away came about. As potentials began to turn up, they were sent to take the implant. Soon, seven were located and outfitted. Jyotaro demanded one more, and for ease's sake Jun's sister was called in to be outfitted.
With that, Jun decided that enough was enough. He broke into the production labs and stole the final implant, hiding it. He was hoping that this would slow Jyotaro down enough that it could be discovered what he was up to. Much to everyone's surprise, Jyotaro said that things would continue as planned even with only seven candidates. That night, when the seven were gathering together for a final word with Jyotaro, Jun managed to break the security on Jyotaro's office. There he discovered detailed theories and plans relating to nothing more than an attempt to influence the real world using the AIDA dimension. By opening one to their innermost feelings, one could tap into the true power of the psyche and their dimensional avatar would be able to unleash a very powerful ability specific to the person. With the research done on the candidates, he had determined that if all eight used their special abilities in a certain sequence, it would create a resonance that would bring the two dimensions closer together, giving him power over the emotions of others. Validated in his decision to keep his sister out of the mess, Jun read further. There was a detailed timeline, leading up to that evening... that moment...
Seven people, plus one - Jyotaro had himself outfitted with the device - accessed the AIDA reality, and started to use their special abilities in the sequence... but when they got to Jyotaro, something went wrong. The sequence was disrupted, and the seven others lost consciousness, eventually slipping into comas. Jyotaro was found raving, his genius seemingly destroyed by his ambition. With the seeming failure, the project was canned and everyone involved, having signed a non-disclosure agreement, was bound to silence. However, Jyotaro wasn't done yet. He had suspected Jun of treachery, even through his seeming madness, and targetted him for revenge. Jun was expecting trouble, and made records of everything he had seen and learned, then sent them all to his sister.
Even with everything gone, the AIDA problem still remained...
It started with people seeing strange black dots. What pictures of them were taken were treated in the same fashion as ghost sightings. Nobody took them seriously, and most people assumed that they were faked. At first small in number, over time they began to become more numerous, and often one person would see them multiple times. Nobody knew what to make of the dots, and small internet societies began to form based around those who had encountered them.
But then, people began to change. Overnight, and usually drastically. Someone who may have been mild-mannered and kind would suddenly become ruthless and violent. Nobody knew what was causing these changes, but with some investigation it was determined that the main link between all of the victims was that they all had a great deal of contact with the black dots beforehand. Suddenly, those who had even had one exposure to them were placed under scrutiny, in order to attempt to study the phenomenon. Those who experienced the drastic changes were sent to specific hospitals in order to keep the media attention off of the situation. Naturally, people began to be afraid of what would happen if they did experience seeing the dots, so many kept their encounters secret.
Still, with the others under supervision and documentation of previous encounters readily available online, a task force was formed in secret in order to deal with the problem. Consisting of many scientific elite, these people began to analyze all of the available data as well as attempt to get information from those who had been "infected". After an extensive period of study, it was determined that the black dots were attracted to strong emotions, especially latent emotions. Those who had the most encounters had strong subconscious feelings. The black dots would latch on to those with strong emotions and feed on those emotions, drawing them out of the person. This resulted in the sudden personality changes that had been observed. How to help those afflicted to go back to normal was unknown, as the true nature of what the black dots were was not understood.
Those who had exposure to the dots but who had not yet succumbed to them were put into special study, in order to determine what was going on. Special scanning tools were set up in secret in these individuals' homes in order to document the occurrences. After a long period of data-gathering, it was discovered that before the dots appeared there were unusual disturbances that could not be adequately explained. Specific frequencies were the main sign, and then the dots would become visible. Many physicists began to work on the problem at hand, and eventually a theory was developed: this entity was not native to this plane of existence and the black dots were mainly a protrusion into this "dimension" of some sort of entity.
Naturally this theory was not taken seriously by those involved. But with little else to go on, it was the only explanation. Putting the theories into practice, a prototype device capable of emitting similar frequencies was put into development. It was a unification of many disciplines: physicists, engineers, biologists and programmers. It took a very long time and a great deal of experimentation, and there were many failures, often with terrible results. Many people died during the experimentation. Eventually, however, with one prototype, there was a breakthrough. While touching the prototype device, the test subject had a brief glimpse into a strange space, filled with swirling energy. However, even this short glimpse was enough to seriously exhaust the test subject. Still, a success was declared, and those involved in the functional prototype were lauded for their success. However, it seemed to be difficult to use the device, as most people could not look into the other space without becoming tired quickly.
An experiment was set up. Someone who had been infected was subdued, and then brough in to the room with the device. A test subject used the device and peered into the energy rift at the infected person. No one was sure what happened next, as at the test subject instantly fell into a coma. All official experimentation with the devices was abandoned due to the terrible risk.
However, some people refused to let the project die. One of the developers, a brilliant young man named Jyotaro Amagi, did not want to see the project die. He went through the others that had been involved looking for others of like mind, who wanted to see things come to a proper end. He managed to gather a group of people willing to keep working. Even without official sanction, they were determined to keep going. Jyotaro reasoned that with their tests some people could stay for longer periods of time, and those that could last for a couple minutes said something about "feeling something surrounding themselves". Curious to know more about this phenomenon, it became the first functional test of the group. With funding available for a project seemingly not related to the original abandoned affair, a call went out for potential test subjects.
The results from the testing period brought some interesting results, and a startling breakthrough. One person in the testing group had been able to look for as long as he had wanted, and had experienced little ill effect. The description of his experience was that he had felt as though he had been wearing "another skin" while there. There had not been much to see, it was an endless energy plain with no one else there. Others had varying staying times before being exhausted, and some of those who had managed a bit longer than others described similar - albeit brief - feelings.
Still not certain of what caused one to be able to stay longer, more experimentation went into play. The one who had successful ability to look in was put to the test more and more, but little other information was forthcoming. The man discovered that he could "move" through the space as he walked, but needed to stay within proximity of the test device otherwise he would no longer see into the other space. Thus, tests needed to be done within the room. The decision came to attempt the experiment that had previously ended the project - exposing the successful test subject to one of the infected. Strings were pulled and a newly-discovered inflicted was brought in en-route to being registered and committed, subdued, and presented to the test subject.
What happened was nothing short of amazing. The test subject was in his normal state of inactivity, but when the infected one was brought into the room, he was suddenly aware of another entity. It was enormous and bulbous, with small tendrils and a long tail wound around its victim. It "stared at him even without eyes" and fired some sort of energy blast, but at that moment, he felt something within him rising and a surge of power "flowed through his body". He was furious, so furious, but didn't know why he was so angry. Buoyed on by these feelings he began to attack the creature without even understanding how - shooting some sort of energy at it was his description. At a critical moment it seemed as if some sort of shield around it broke, and he felt as though he reached within it, pulling something out... and then the creature disapepared into glowing lights and the rush of emotion disappeared from him, leaving him feeling exhausted. Strangely, on the physical side, nobody noticed any sort of changes, apart from a rather focused expression on his face. Even more amazingly, the infected was actually cured of the changes brought on by the strange creature.
This sort of result was not to be taken lightly. Even with the success, however, it was kept secret. Jyotaro wanted to understand everything before any of it was revealed. Through further experimentation with similar results, and checking into the background of their test subject it was revealed that he had once had a younger sister who had been mugged, raped, and killed. This left a bitter resentment in him that he kept well-hidden. However, in a reality where creatures who fed on emotions lived, these subconscious feelings could not stay hidden. Rather, they took on a physical form, acting as a sort of buffer to protect him from the draining effects of looking in. When presented with the strange creature those feelings were drawn out more fully, filling him with power and vindication which he could use to take it down. In essence, the subconscious was the key to being able to look into the other dimension. But everyone had their own secret feelings and urges, so why was one person's stronger than anyone else's? There was little explanation for this. People who had horrible backgrounds full of tragedy had not been as successful as this person was. But, it was apparent that emotions had their effect on this strange reality, which may have been why the creatures that lived there were so attracted to those with repressed emotions. Armed with this knowledge, a designation for the creatures was developed: Analytical Intelligent Dimensional Anomaly, or AIDA for short.
After this, Jyotaro began to appeal for the original project to be resumed now that they had a better understanding and striking successes. Desperate for a solution to the problem, which was starting to get difficult to contain, while not pleased that the project had continued in secret, the government agreed to continue where it had left off. Armed with the knew knowledge, it was decided that more people who could stay in the other world were needed, as was a way to make the technology portable. Being able to deal with those who were already infected was one thing, but being able to find those who were not yet or in the process of being was also essential. Walking among normal people and weeding out the problems would be far more useful than waiting for them to be brought in as a full case. Also, the longer one remained infected, the stronger they seemed to get. Many of those afflicted were becoming difficult to contain as they were exhibiting super strength or strange powers. A call went out to start screening people for their potential, and the technology development team was sent to attempt to miniaturize the device so that it could be carried with a person.
One person on the team, a young man named Jun Banshoya, was having misgivings. All members of the team had their families checked for potential, and his younger half-sister had turned up positive. His misgivings were coming from a seeming mania developing in Jyotaro, as it didn't seem right... or healthy. Jyotaro was pushing very hard for all research and development, but was also making unusual requests. Unusual programming segments were put forward to be implemented, and there was a growing insistence on the devices being an implant of some sort. He denied all entrance to his office, and began to become somewhat eccentric. Jun was concerned, but could not get close enough to Jyotaro to uncover any information.
Meanwhile, after a lot of time and work, the portable devices were completed. They were small, and due to Jyotaro's requests were designed to be implanted into the head behind the ear. The body would power them, and with but a bit of concentration one could tap into the AIDA reality while moving and walking around. The first test subject took the implant successfully, and was able to walk around and function while at the same time seeing into the other realm. With this, the ability to scan more people farther away came about. As potentials began to turn up, they were sent to take the implant. Soon, seven were located and outfitted. Jyotaro demanded one more, and for ease's sake Jun's sister was called in to be outfitted.
With that, Jun decided that enough was enough. He broke into the production labs and stole the final implant, hiding it. He was hoping that this would slow Jyotaro down enough that it could be discovered what he was up to. Much to everyone's surprise, Jyotaro said that things would continue as planned even with only seven candidates. That night, when the seven were gathering together for a final word with Jyotaro, Jun managed to break the security on Jyotaro's office. There he discovered detailed theories and plans relating to nothing more than an attempt to influence the real world using the AIDA dimension. By opening one to their innermost feelings, one could tap into the true power of the psyche and their dimensional avatar would be able to unleash a very powerful ability specific to the person. With the research done on the candidates, he had determined that if all eight used their special abilities in a certain sequence, it would create a resonance that would bring the two dimensions closer together, giving him power over the emotions of others. Validated in his decision to keep his sister out of the mess, Jun read further. There was a detailed timeline, leading up to that evening... that moment...
Seven people, plus one - Jyotaro had himself outfitted with the device - accessed the AIDA reality, and started to use their special abilities in the sequence... but when they got to Jyotaro, something went wrong. The sequence was disrupted, and the seven others lost consciousness, eventually slipping into comas. Jyotaro was found raving, his genius seemingly destroyed by his ambition. With the seeming failure, the project was canned and everyone involved, having signed a non-disclosure agreement, was bound to silence. However, Jyotaro wasn't done yet. He had suspected Jun of treachery, even through his seeming madness, and targetted him for revenge. Jun was expecting trouble, and made records of everything he had seen and learned, then sent them all to his sister.
Even with everything gone, the AIDA problem still remained...