I came up with this idea when I got annoyed with people who say that SMT is becoming too Persona-like. Then I figured that a Persona game with SMT characters was a pretty decent idea on its own.

This will not just be a Persona story with the names of SMT characters. Even if I did have to fabricate practically everyone's personalities from scratch. The SMT games will have a bearing on the plot, but I can't say how or why at this point.

Just as a warning: I will be inconsistent with Japanese conventions. Everything I know about Japan is from anime or video games. For that purpose, I will not use honorifics because I know I'll screw it up anyways. Besides, I'd rather not refer to characters by their surnames if they don't have canon surnames to begin with.

I'm not going to keep track of the calendar, because I don't know holidays, and it would be too easy to write myself into a time crunch. I will do Social Links, but I'm not sure if I can quantize everyone's problems into ten sections.

Day 0 (Sunday)

The night air was damp and cold. A faint aroma of copper lingered in the unseen mist, mingling with the scent of mud and decay. The only sound was a faint whistling of wind echoing in the distance, like the ghost of whale song.

Aleph stumbled across sandy, uneven ground, hand held gingerly in front of him. It was too dark to see. The only source of light was far above him, a tiny white circle that illuminated nothing. Aleph had thought it was the moon at first, until he realized that no moon had such perfect symmetry; a single ring of shadow marred the pearly surface halfway between the edge and center, giving it the look of a target at the shooting ranges.

"I art thou…"

Aleph found that his feet had stopped moving. A figure stood before him, a humanoid silhouette darker than the gloom. Its voice was little more than a whisper, but a nagging feeling told Aleph that he knew it from somewhere.

"Thou art me…"

The figure reached out and grabbed Aleph's shoulder. Suddenly, the dim light at the top of his vision became unbearable, and he was forced to avert his eyes. After a few wet blinks, the impenetrable darkness resolved itself into a sandy floor.

Aleph looked up, and the landscape revealed itself to him. A lifeless desert met his eyes, dotted by odd chunks of rusted metal like bones in a desert. There was neither sky nor horizon; instead, walls of sheer rock stretched as far as he could see. There was no color in this world, just muted tones of gray.

"Looks like you're the one I've got."

The figure alone remained a blot of pure black in a world of gray. Something about that silhouette looked familiar, but Aleph couldn't quite place where he had seen it.

"You'll do."

Suddenly, the train lurched, and Aleph faded from the dream. Thoughts of spooky cliffs were replaced with the scenery of the train around him, the sleeping businessman next to him, and the digital clock on the wrist of a schoolgirl sitting two seats ahead on the opposite side. He tapped his pockets for his phone and wallet, but not before making sure that the ski bag with his bow was still there. Within moments, the fine details of the dream eluded him, save one.

"It wasn't the moon," he muttered to himself as he rubbed his eyes. "It was a hole."

X

Aleph Mekata shielded his eyes from the glare of the morning sun as he emerged from the station. Despite the sunshine and gentle breeze, it was a chilly April day.

Aunt Hiroko was supposed to pick him up, but she hadn't been anywhere inside the station. Aleph had texted her a few times before, but she hadn't sent back a single reply. If she hadn't asked him about allergies a few weeks back, Aleph might have thought that his parents gave him the wrong number. It wasn't the first time, either; he had once attempted to make a dental appointment at an upscale barbershop and didn't realize his mistake until he asked what washing his hair had to do with his calculus.

"This is Hiroko Mekata," said the tinny answering machine when Aleph gave her a call. "…I never check this thing, so don't bother to leave a message. Just text me."

Aleph scoped out the area, but the only blonde woman he saw was a photographer taking pictures of the surrounding buildings. Shuddering, he put on his jacket and plopped himself down on a park bench, watching the clouds drift by lazily like yaks.

It was a quarter to eleven when Aunt Hiroko finally showed up. By then, Aleph was so engrossed in the clouds that he didn't notice until she tapped him on the shoulder.

If an outsider to Mekata family affairs saw Aleph and Hiroko together, they certainly wouldn't think that they were aunt and nephew. [1] To start with, Hiroko was blonde where Aleph was dark. Aleph was tall, with shoulders and back broad from archery practice, while Hiroko was short, but with arms and legs thick and muscular from police training.

Also, thanks to a pair of grandparents who had many children through two decades, and multiple sets of parents with early illegitimate and late legitimate children, Hiroko was less than a decade older than Aleph.

"Hello, Aleph," panted Aunt Hiroko. Her face was glistening with sweat, and her jacket was tied around her waist despite the cold. "Sorry I'm late. I slept through my alarm clock."

"It's all right, Aunt Hiroko," said Aleph politely. He knew she was lying, but it was always awkward to tell that to strangers.

Hiroko lifted Aleph's suitcase. "You can call me Hiroko. I don't care if I really am your aunt; if you're too old to be my teen pregnancy, you're too old to call me that. How was your trip?"

"I slept the whole way," said Aleph.

"Are you sure no one robbed you?"

"I checked," said Aleph.

"Even your luggage?"

"I checked it between naps. Everything important was there. If someone did rob me, I don't mind losing a shirt or two."

Hiroko nodded in approval. "Sorry. Work habit. It's been a long night."

Aleph racked his brains for Hiroko's job. "You're…a police officer, right?" he said.

"Yup, I'm a beat cop," she said. She jerked her head towards the shops surrounding the station. "You hungry?"

"Yes," said Aleph.

"Let's get lunch, then. My treat. What do you want?"

"Is there a hamburger place around here?"

X

The nearest good hamburger place, according to Hiroko, was called Factory Burger, and it was just a short walk from the station. It was a small, cramped place with an industrial aesthetic; the walls were made from sheets of rippled metal, decorative pipes ran the length of the ceiling, and the seating was partitioned by barred metal fences. It smelled of window cleaner and grease.

Hiroko ordered two double Nandi burgers (Aleph privately wondered how that name hadn't gotten any religious complaints), a Spartan-sized fries, a chocolate malted milkshake, and a cola.

"So…how's life been?" asked Hiroko after it was clear that Aleph wasn't going to start a conversation.

"Good," said Aleph.

"Do any sports?"

"Archery," said Aleph, patting the ski bag with his bow.

Hiroko looked like a literature teacher who found herself in a quantum physics convention. "So… you like archery?" she settled lamely.

"Yes. How is your job?"

"Hard. But satisfying."

There was more silence. Aleph hadn't seen Hiroko since he was a toddler, and the only memory he had of her was when she accidentally kicked him in the stomach during a particularly aggressive sugar-high fueled soccer game. It was hard to associate that bandaged elementary schooler with the woman in front of him.

"Do you… like… um… Pokémon?" hazarded Hiroko.

"Not really."

"That's… fine. Do you like Digimon better?"

"I like Doom."

"Ah, Doom," said Hiroko uncertainly. "I heard it's good, but I'm terrible at first person shooters. Do you like any other games?"

"Goldeneye."

"That's… a movie, right? Named after a beach in Jamaica?"

"It's a game made for a movie."

Their food arrived. They chewed in silence, wrapped up their leftovers in silence, and walked to the bus stop in silence.

X

Hiroko lived in an apartment complex next to an all-night Chinese takeout restaurant and a park. The apartment itself was messy in a neglected sort of way. The tables were dusty and empty, and the sink was full of unwashed dishes. There were no coat hangers, so Hiroko's coats were tossed over chairs. There were three laundry hampers, and one was overflowing. There were several trash bags in the corner, and more in the closet.

The pantry was full of things like instant ramen, canned soup, breakfast cereal, instant oatmeal, and jam. Half of the containers in the fridge were takeout containers, and the freezer held an impressive amount of ice cream bought in bulk next to frozen croquettes and fish. There was little in the way of raw meat or vegetables in either, but there was a crate of seven eggs in the fridge. Hiroko also had a sizable liquor cabinet, mostly made up of bottles of shochu or liqueur. The inside of the microwave smelled of toaster strudel and was stained with brown splotches. Aleph's gaze lingered on a bloodstain on the bathroom tile before Hiroko reassured him that there was absolutely nothing suspicious about it.

It was, in short, a place where someone ate and slept rather than lived.

"Before I forget, you need to know some things if you're going to live with me," said Hiroko as Aleph was examining the oven. He straightened up. "As you've probably noticed, I'm never in the house. I can't enforce curfew, so you can come and go whenever you want. I'd rather you'd leave notes, but those won't help if you come back before I do."

Aleph blinked. "No curfew? But you're a police officer. Aren't you supposed to keep minors off the streets at night?"

"That's exactly why I can't enforce your curfew," said Hiroko. "Police work is a full time job, and I happen to have the graveyard shift. If I'm out on the street keeping the peace, I can't do anything about my own home. Cobber's children have no shoes and all. Just don't do anything stupid or illegal while you're out there."

"Okay," said Aleph.

"I only cook on weekends, so you're going to have to either cook for yourself or buy your own food," continued Hiroko. "But don't worry about money; your parents are sending me a food allowance," she added when she saw Aleph's expression. "I'll leave it on the table. Do you think you're going to cook at all?"

Aleph nodded. "I do it all the time at home."

"Then do you mind making some for me, too? I'll leave you a bigger cut if you do. But you don't need to if you're too busy."

"Can I bring…friends over?" asked Aleph. He never had friends outside of his siblings, but he could hope.

"Of course you can. Just give me some advance notice and clean up after yourselves. Don't hide it if you bring a girl… or guy over for sex; I don't care about your love life as long as you keep it safe and legal, but don't bring anyone here without my permission. I won't tell your parents about it if you don't want me to, unless you try to hide it from me."

Aleph nodded grimly.

"Now that that's settled… come on, let's get you unpacked. You can use Dad's room; he said he's all right with it."

"How is he?" asked Aleph.

"He's doing fine. Working on a project in America. He can't talk about the details, but he's very excited about it. How are your…"

Hiroko trailed off, but the unsaid word 'parents' hung in the air. She cleared her throat. "You can use the drawers, but the closet's off-limits. Is that all right?"

Aleph and Hiroko unpacked, barely speaking. Afterwards, Hiroko showed Aleph the sights around town, mostly takeout shops. She went to bed around four, leaving Aleph alone with the television.

X

"The spontaneous and anonymous charity acts known as the March Miracles have continued into April, as more homeless shelters, orphanages, and soup kitchens discover large amounts of unmarked bills on their doorsteps. Orphanage director Roland Blitz states that…"

"In other news, another person has vanished. A junior high school student with the surname of Toriyama has been reported missing after three days. His family has declined to release his first name, and has included the filler name of…"

"A record number of Thneeds were sold last month…"

X

The dank air tasted of copper. Ribbons of pale light streamed from above, like the moon over deep water.

"You again," said Aleph, without even needing to look behind him.

The figure let out a short a hum of amusement. "Sharper than I expected."

"I've seen you before," said Aleph.

"Oh?" said the figure, twisting its limbs. "Where?"

"Last night."

The figure slumped in disappointment. "I thought you figured it out," he said. "Oh well. You'll know soon enough."

"Is that really copper I smell, or blood?"

"That's metal you're smelling. No blood was left behind. Everyone was swallowed whole. Even our…"

The figure shuddered. Without warning, the figure grabbed Aleph's shoulders. "Something terrible is going on!" he wailed, shaking Aleph. Aleph squirmed, but the figure had a grip like industrial clamps. "The other one saw it, the wall's gone, and—oh no, you're fading…"

Aleph's eyes opened, and stared at the unfamiliar ceiling. "Even our what?" he muttered to himself.

X

In a cathedral of white stone, tiles of blue stained crimson with fresh blood, a boy shivered in the cold.

In a hall of dark wood, created as a bridge of peace, a young woman discovered the button that destroyed the world.

In an iron cage in a land where prison was in the minds of all, a young woman listened for thunder.

In a desert with no end, at the foot of the tower of fate, a boy glared at the fiery false sun.

In a cavern created twice as the hope of the abandoned, a young man pushed against the massive stone doors.

In a plaza where idols were sacrificed on the altar of fanaticism, a young woman watched the leaves drift in the wind.

In a shop smelling of coffee and gunpowder, a boy marveled at the gleam of the counter.

In a crater where his home once stood, a boy adjusted his eyes to the darkness.

TO BE CONTINUED!

[1] Aleph and Hiroko as nephew and aunt: I changed their relationship to son and mother to nephew and aunt because it would needlessly complicate the plot. I needed Aleph to move in with an older relative for the purpose of the plot, and grow steadily closer with a Social Link. If it's his mother, that carries a lot more baggage than his aunt. I'm not ready to write that level of drama. So Aleph is not Hiroko's secret teen pregnancy.

It's also more important for Hiroko's character for her to be a rookie cop than having a close-to-canon relationship with Aleph. Besides, they're physically around the same age in canon.