Disclaimer: I still don't own Shin Megami Tensei.
A/N: Hi, just a few quick notes here. Firstly, I will be mostly sticking to the game's script, with a few exceptions here and there. Secondly, I'll be including some demons not found in DS but in other SMT games, such as the Seraphs and Surt from SMT1 & 2.
Chapter II - The First Day
Location unknown, time unknown
"...Are you certain, Remiel?"
A disembodied voice echoed throughout the featureless white room. "I am, Raphael. This is the one who can - who, if we handle this properly, will - lead us to our final victory over the Scarlet Serpent and his slaves at Armageddon."
Many of the Seraphim laughed, a chilling laugh completely unsuited to their beautiful appearance, and some even nearly fell out of their chairs. "Oh, is he now, Remiel? He's just a little human boy..." The blue-skinned Seraph chortled. This human child, not even fully grown yet, bring down the Gates of Hell and lead the armies of Light to storm the palace of their Enemy? Not even Michael, the greatest of the Seraphim - no, not even Metatron and Sandalphon, the ones closest to Him, had been able to do that. What chance did this Child of Adam have? Surely Remiel was joking.
The voice was annoyed now. "I've been watching him through this maiden's eyes, Uriel. He is the one - of that, I have no doubts. He has the Essence of our Lord's blessed child, and so he is capable of destroying the Others and becoming King of the Demons."
"Hmph." The green-skinned female Seraph spoke now. "He isn't the only one, Remiel. There are many others like him, remember? So why not someone older, stronger, more experienced?..."
"In case you haven't noticed, I'm stuck in this lockdown because of you and I have seven days - no, six now - to pull this off! I don't have time to find anyone else with the Essence!" Remiel snapped back. "Anyway, I can't sense anyone else like him in here so far, so he's our best bet to win the Eternal War quickly and decisively right now. Unless you want to wait for the thralls of the Enemy to reach him first?..."
"Fine, fine," Gabriel relented. "I trust you can bring him over to our side?"
"Of course. I've already drawn up a plan, see - I can get to him through this girl - "
Uriel interrupted him. "I object to this course of action. The boy hasn't even begun to awaken yet, has he? If we pin all our hopes on his head, and he loses it in battle with the Other Ones..."
"I agree." Another Seraph, a human-looking one with white hair, nodded at Uriel. "Anyway, Remiel, you know better than to trust the Children of Adam so quickly. They are weak of heart, weak of mind, and weak of body...not only are the odds of him actually winning the War dangerously low, it is entirely possible that someone can tempt him off the righteous path even after he wins the Final Battle, and then it will be Lucifer all over again...ah, and my greatest fear..." The beautiful angel took a deep breath. "Assuming he emerges victorious in the War of the Others and remains loyal to El Shaddai - what will happen when he naturally dies, as all humans must, and so release the Others sealed within him?..."
"It's a risk I'm willing to take, and by that point we should be able to contain them - " The irritable Thunder of God was cut off by the orange-skinned Seraph.
"No, Remiel. Camael and Uriel are absolutely correct - I cannot allow you to take such a risk...at least, not now."
"Come on, Michael! This is our first real chance in centuries at breaking the stalemate and decisively defeating the Fallen Ones! You have to trust me!"
"No, I don't." Michael's response was cold and flat. "However...I can see the truth in your words. If you can guide this boy to victory in the ongoing war between the Other Ones...then yes, perhaps he will have the strength to oppose the Fallen Son of the Morning...but, of course, first he has to live through this Ordeal." Michael paused to think and decide on an appropriate course of action. "Observe him. Keep the minions of the Fallen Morning Star away from him. But do not intervene - not even to save his life, especially if the Others are involved - until you are absolutely certain that he can survive the Ordeal. When - if - he can overcome the first of the Others he will have to fight, when his dormant power begins to awaken, then you may act. Until then, you are not to so much as reveal your presence to him."
A long pause followed Michael's words. "Very well," Remiel finally replied, "I'll report back to you tomorrow morning. In a few days, we'll have him in the bag..."
"Good, good. Is that all for today, friends?" Michael looked around to find that none of the other Seraphim seemed to have anything to say. "Yes? Then let us depart from this place. May the Grace of the Unconquerable One Above Us go with all of you..."
Aoyama Cemetery, Tokyo, 8:21, August 19th 2012
"Hey, Yuzu, wake up."
Yuzu opened her eyes to find Hiro sirring next to her, his face uncomfortably close to hers.
"Whoa - !"
She nearly jumped away from him, and he recoiled.
Hiro blushed and scratched his head. "Ah...sorry about that, I didn't mean to scare you. I, I was just finishing my patrol, and it's eight o'clock - "
"Oh no, it's okay," Yuzu blushed as well. "Morning Hiro. Did you get some sleep...?"
"Not nearly enough, haha..."
"Morning!" Atsuro appeared from behind a gravestone, causing the two to flinch. As though nothing happened, he went on, "That girl was right. Some demon-looking things passed by, but they didn't notice us."
"Yeah… I saw 'em too. B-But now that the sun's out, we can get out of here, right?"
"We'll be alright." Hiro squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. The two blushed and Hiro quickly pulled his hand away, worried that Yuzu might yell at or even slap him for touching her, but to his pleasant surprise she smiled at him.
"Cool! I'm glad I didn't have to spend the night alone, though. It was pretty freaky."
Atsuro laughed. "Hahaha, yeah. I hope that's the last time I ever have to sleep in a cemetery! But the lights never came back on..." he sounded slightly worried, "Hard to tell in the daylight, but there's still a blackout."
"Yeah...I still don't have any cell reception. So...none of that was a dream..."
The COMPs suddenly beeped, and Hiro scrambled for his.
"Huh...that was the COMP's email beep. Wonder who it's from..."
"G-Guess we should read it..."
From: NAOYA
Subject: Death Clock
Hiroki, you're still alive, aren't you? I'll explain the function of the Death Clock to you.
The Death Clock displays the number of days a person has left to live. The details are:
The Death Clock is only available to the party leader.
A single digit (0-9) is displayed.
If a person has 10 or more days left before death, nothing is displayed.
Finally, the Death Clock is simply a value calculated by the Laplace system. A person's actions can cause the value to change, so be careful.
'Oh no...' Hiro was petrified inside. 'Yesterday, our value was one...so, today...hahaha,' he tried not to think about that, 'Must be an error or something...there's no way any of us are gonna die today...' He took a deep breath and read his other email, titled 'Laplace Mail'.
From: The Observer
Subject: Laplace Mail
Good morning. Here is today's NEWS.
1. Power outages will continue in all parts of Tokyo within the Yamanote Loop through the day. It is unknown when power will be restored.
2. Poisonous gas is suspected to have escaped from underground pockets. All train service is cancelled across all lines. All exits from within the Yamanote Loop will be closed.
3. At 13:00 in Chiyoda-ku Bunkyo, a localized blizzard will occur. Three victims wil be murdered by a snowman.
HaVE a nICE daY.
"A-A Death Clock...! What's up with that?" Hiro looked up and saw that Yuzu was panicking. "So we can see how long people have left to live? Hey, Hiro..." She slowly turned to Hiro, "Didn't you say before that you could see a number over our heads...?"
"Yeah, I did."
"Well...? What was it? Hey!" Yuzu grabbed him by the shoulders, "How many days do I have?"
"...It's zero, isn't it?" Atsuro's words caused Yuzu to let go of Hiro and turn towards him instead, "Yesterday, you said...the number was one. Which means...our number right now...it's zero, isn't it?"
Hiro looked down, partially to look away from his friends but also to hide the fear on his face. "That's right..."
"Ha...haha..." Atsuro was laughing in disbelief, "Oh man...I'm gonna die today?"
"That's it. I've had enough! This stupid conversation is over!" Yuzu nearly screamed out her response, "C'mon, let's go. This is all some big hoax...let's hurry back home!"
Hiro looked over his Laplace Mail again. "Wish we could...but the trains don't work..."
"...! Wh-What do you mean?"
"Calm down, Yoohoo." Atsuro sighed. "I checked the other email. Don't you remember what it said? 'All stations are locked down'. If that's true, we won't be able to use the trains."
"B-But...! How can we know for sure unless we go?" Yuzu was desperately clinging to every last hope she had of getting out of there, "The email might be wrong about that!"
Hiro got to his feet and pocketed his COMP. "Let's go to the station, then."
Atsuro nodded with approval and got to his feet as well. "Yeah, I'm with you. No sense in griping about it here. Let's check the nearest station!"
As they left for the nearest station, Yuzu prayed, "God, please let Shibuya Station be open...!"
After the three left the cemetery and emerged in Omotesando, Yuzu suddenly stopped.
"Hey, you guys! Look...!"
Hiro felt a chill down his spine. before him, the road was littered with ruined and abandoned vehicles, and there were signs of violence everywhere.
"What the hell...?" Atsuro was pale as a ghost, "What happened here?"
"What a mess...did all this happen just because we had a blackout for one night?"
Hiro looked closer at one of the cars, and noticed that there were claw and bite marks on it. "No, it wasn't the blackout..."
"Huh?" Yuzu turned to him, surprised. "What do you mean?"
"Headlights aren't hooked up to the power grid." Atsuro pointed up, and Hiro saw that it was just as he said - a car's headlights were hooked up to a transmission line. "Accidents this bad wouldn't have happened..."
"Then..." Yuzu paused, as if she dreaded the answer. "It really is because demons are in Tokyo...?"
"There's no proof, but that'd be my guess." Atsuro started walking again. "Let's hurry...we're almost to Shibuya."
Shibuya Station, 8:38, August 19th 2012
Hiro could not push past the large crowds gathered in the streets of Miyamasuzuka, though he could still make out SDF vehicles and a barricade past the crowds. An SDF officer was repeating through a megaphone, "Poison gas has leaked! This area is dangerous! Please stay away from Shibuya Station! All lines, including private rails, are affected. Remain calm until the problem is solved! Police blockades are in effect throughout the Yamanote line, including overpasses."
As Hiro got closer to the barricade, he spotted a man arguing with another soldier at the barricade. "All the rail lines...? Then how are we supposed to get outside the Yamanote Circle? Hey, what's going on here? I demand a full explanation for this!"
Hiro could barely make out the soldier's answer over all the noise the crowd was making. "The cause is currently under investigation. Until then, please obey our instructions! To ensure everyone's safety, we ask for your understanding and cooperation!"
"We're also looking into the explosion that occurred in Aoyama Cemetery last night." The soldier with the megaphone announced, "If you have any information, please inform a disaster relief worker immediately!"
As the soldier repeated his message, the crowd began to calm down and disperse.
Atsuro groaned. "Damn…not only aren't the trains working, we can't even get near the station…!"
"Was that stuff about the gas leak true?" Yuzu scratched her head, "You think this is because of the demons, too…?"
Hiro glanced at the soldiers gathered around the barricades, who were still repeating their message to the shrinking crowd. On one hand, he reasoned that a gas leak was entirely possible; on the other, something about all this felt off, and the SDF did blockade the area very quickly and without prior warning. "Hmm...well, I suppose it could be..."
"I don't know...seemed to me like the Self-Defense Force guys were just lying." Atsuro was looking at the soldiers suspiciously.
"Huh?"
"You think they put up all these barricades and blocked in the entire area overnight? No...it looks to me like all this was prepared way in advance..."
"W-Wait, you mean...?" Yuzu bit her lip.
"Yeah...there's something else going on here that we don't know about." Atsuro began pacing nervously. "Damn...everything that email said is coming true. At this rate, we're gonna...!"
Hiro tried to stay calm and reminded himself of Naoya's emails. "Let's raise the number."
"You mean change how long we have on the Death Clock...? Good idea, Hiro!" Yuzu's voice was filled with hope again. "Naoya's email said the number changes based on what we do! So let's do something about all this! That Laplace Mail stuff about not escaping the Yamanote Line and us going to die today...let's prove it wrong!"
"Haha...I'm surprised to hear that from you, Hiro." Atsuro calmed down and laughed a little. "The Death Clock and the Laplace Mails do run on the same predictive algorithm...which means the Death Clock uses what the Laplace Mail says to calculate a number. Its probability ratio is pretty high...the underlying process must be real complicated."
The influx of information was confusing Yuzu. "H-Hey, slow down, whiz kid. You're getting a little ahead of us non-eggheads…"
"Oh, sorry. It's an important point, though, so listen…with an algorithm this complex, one mistake could cause a very large error. Which means…if we make sure the thing the Laplace Mail predicts don't come true…its predictions become useless, affecting the death clock's readout!"
Yuzu nodded. "Does that mean…we don't have to die today?"
"Seems that way..." Hiro nodded. Atsuro's words restored some hope to him - now he knew there was a chance they wouldn't die today.
"So we have a chance!"
"It's not certain that the results will be thrown off, mind you…" Atsuro said grimly. "But it's probably safe to assume that we can change the outcome."
"Uh…is this really possible?"
"Haha, what's the matter, Yoohoo? This was your idea." Atsuro laughed.
"Huh? But…I don't know all that stuff you were talking about…!"
"Haha, there's the Yoohoo we know. Don't sweat it, okay? Alright! Let's do whatever we can to find a way out of this lockdown! As long as we prevent what's predicted in those emails, we can beat the Death Clock!"
"Yeah! C'mon, let's go!" Yuzu started to walk away. "Even if the area inside the Yamanote line is locked down there must be a secret exit!"
"Right! But we'll have to be careful of the police and the Self-Defense Force…" Atsuro warned her.
"Huh?" Yuzu stopped and turned around, confused. "Why..?"
"We were at the cemetery." Hiro reminded her.
"He's right." Atsuro pointed out. "The SDF guy at the station said they were looking into the explosion. If they happen to detain us, they might take away our COMPs…"
"Oh yeah…okay, then. We'll be extra careful."
Shibuya Station, 8:50, August 19th 2012
"When the hell're you gonna let us out?"
Hiro stopped and turned at the sound of that voice. A punk was arguing with a soldier, and it was apparent that their conversation had gone nowhere.
"We'll lift the lockdown once we can confirm the area is safe. Please wait until then."
"Yeah, yeah, you said that already! I'm askin' when that's gonna happen!"
The soldier narrowed his eyes, the punk was clearly starting to get on his nerves. "No matter how often you ask, the answer is the same. Now go back to the safe zone."
"What?" The punk himself was more than a little pissed now. "You wanna say that again?"
"Quit yappin' like a dog and shut your cake hole."
The punk, the soldier and Hiro turned to their left and saw a tall young man with purplish hair approaching them. As Hiro looked him over, he felt that this wasn't someone to mess with - the man already looked like a delinquent, and that ugly expression on his face (as well as the fact that he was taller than Hiro) didn't help at all.
"Huh? Who the hell said - …!" The punk gasped and stepped back as soon as he identified the man. "K-Kaido…! I-I'm sorry, man!"
"…Hmph." Kaido watched as the punk fled with a bored expression on his face. Atsuro seemed to recognize the delinquent and whispered in Hiro's ear.
"Kaido…? Like, Kaido of the Shibuya Daemons…?"
"You know him, Atsuro…?" Yuzu's expression of wonder quickly turned into one of disgust. "Ugh…more 'daemons'. That's the absolute last thing I want to hear about now…"
"C'mon, Yoohoo. They're not quite the same thing. A daemon is a guardian spirit. The Shibuya Daemons are one of the more charismatic punk gangs. Kaido's their leader. They're really famous in Shibuya."
"Hey," Hiro suddenly spoke up, "Think he's seen Naoya?" This was a chance he couldn't miss - Naoya was the one person they knew who seemed to have any idea what was going on, and if they were going to get any meaningful answers, it would have to come from him.
"I get it…even if he doesn't know, maybe one of his flunkies will!"
"Kaido IS known for treating his people well…" Atsuro nodded. "Yeah, let's go talk to him!"
The three quickly made their way to Kaido just as he turned and began to walk away.
"Huh? Who're you guys?"
"I'm Hiroki Takeda," Hiro said politely and pointed his friends, "And these are my friends, Atsuro Kihara and Yuzu Tanikawa."
"Cool, I'm Kaido. You guys need somethin'?"
"Do you know Naoya?"
Kaido tilted his head in confusion. "Huh? Naoya? Who's he?"
"He's Hiro's cousin." Atsuro spoke up before Hiro could explain. "We don't know where he is..."
"Well…things are pretty bad around here, so I'll help you look. Got a photo or anything?"
"Yeah, one sec..." Hiro pulled out his phone and showed Kaido a picture of Naoya.
"This is the guy, huh…? Send me the pic over IR." Hiro nodded and did just that. "Cool, got it. Alright, once the cells come back on, I'll spread it around my crew. That all you wanted?"
"Oh, uh..." Hiro had to know if there was any other way out of the Yamanote Line. "D'you know of any secret exits?"
"If I did, I'da used it already. We're havin' trouble gettin' through the central ward."
Atsuro sighed with disappointment. "I had a feeling you'd say that…"
"Everyone's in the same boat here… If that's all, I'm gonna get going."
Hiro nodded politely. "Goodbye."
"Huh...? No need to be so formal, man." Kaido chuckled and walked away. "Alright, be seein' ya."
"How'd it go, Hiro? Were you able to see what the Death Clock said about Kaido?"
"Yeah, it was 6."
Yuzu was shocked. "Six days? I-It was that short? That means he has less than a week, right…!"
"Don't be ridiculous, it was just a coincidence. Six days is better than our time…" Atsuro pointed out.
"Y-Yeah, but…"
Atsuro sighed. "Sorry…didn't mean to bring you down like that. C'mon, let's get going! We'll find a way out and change our fate!"
"Y-Yeah…! Let's go, Hiro!"
As the three left the station, their email alerts went off. Hiro opened up his COMP to find two emails, one from Naoya and one from a 'DA Registrar'.
From: NAOYA
Subject: Devil Auction
How are you doing, Hiroki? I've written a new application for the COMP, so I'm sending it to you.
Once you read this email, the option for the Devil Auction should be available in the COMP menu.
You should be getting an email from the auction site, too.
You know about Macca, the currency of the Netherworld, right? You get it when you defeat demons. You need Macca to bid in the auctions. Money makes the Netherworld go 'round, too.
Please keep surviving. I look forward to seeing you again.
'I appreciate the help, but...if you wanted to help me out this much, why'd you get me trapped in here with the demons in the first place?' Hiro thought bitterly. 'That's another thing I'll have to ask him when we find him,' he reminded himself as he opened his other email.
From: DA Registrar
Subject: Welcome!
Welcome to the Devil Auction!
We are a member-based auction site that helps you with the bothersome tasks of forming contracts with demons for use on your behalf.
Demons will make themselves available as merchandise to bid upon by Devil Auction members. The winner will be able to make a contractwith the demon, and will have a powerful new ally.
Please spend your wages of sin at the Devil Auction!
"A Devil Auction...?" Yuzu's exclamation alerted Hiro. "Wh-What is this? What's going on?"
"...demons selling themselves." Hiro finally said after some thought.
"...It looks that way. One thing's for sure..." Atsuro was lost in thought, "Demons have been on this world for a long time, and some people have known about them."
"H-How can you be so sure?"
"Think about it. For an auction to exist, you need someone to run it and you need someone to buy from it. If there are other bidders than just us, then the auction has been around since before then."
"Uh-huh..." Yuzu nodded with understanding. "Okay, I get it. Still...it's kind of a shock. We were living here but we knew nothing at all..."
An idea popped into Hiro's head. "Let's try to use it."
"Yeah..." Atsuro nodded at him. "There's a chance we might die today...if we can get strong demons as allies from this website, our odds of surviving will go up."
"So you're saying that we have to get demons so we can fight even more demons?" Yuzu clearly did not approve of that plan. "I've had enough of this! Why do we have to fight?"
"We have to live!" Hiro reminded her.
"Urgh...that's true, but...let's try to avoid as much of this bad stuff as we can, huh?"
"Yeah...if we can escape, that would be the best option." Atsuro sighed. "But if there's ever something we can't run from...we'll have to make up our minds..."
Hiro stared at his friend. "Make up our minds?..."
"What else? We'll have to use this auction and do everything we can to help us fight..."
Shibuya, Tokyo, 9:29, August 19th 2012
"There are demons here, too?" Yuzu looked around worriedly as demons closed in on them from all sides, and fumbled for her COMP.
Atsuro had already gotten his demons out. "Everyone will be in trouble if we leave them alone...we better take care of 'em!"
Hiro followed Atsuro's lead and summoned his demons - Kobold and a newcomer, Ogre. "Right, uh..." he pointed at the mass of demons coming in from the front, across a small bridge, "Just...take them out! Do whatever you're best at, demons!"
He would not be disappointed in his investment. Actually, the Ogre he had just bought frightened even him. At his simple command, it roared and hurled its cleaver at an enemy Ogre that was charging their position, splitting its head in half and slicing through a Kobold running behind it. Even as his Kobold worked itself into a frenzy, the Ogre had already rushed forward and was beating another Kobold into a bloody pulp with its bare hands.
'Why am I starting to think this is normal?...' Hiro wondered, but he quickly pushed those thoughts out of his head. 'This isn't the time, this isn't the time...' That mantra repeated itself in his head as he joined the fight and launched a fireball at an advancing Kabuso.
He realized the battle was over almost as soon as it had begun. The enemy demons were more than a little scared of them to begin with and so attacked in large numbers, but after seeing their allies being chopped up or beaten to death or set on fire, many of the enemy demons realized their best bet was to get out of there and live to fight another day. 'That's another thing...' Hiro thought as he looked at the carnage around him, 'We should clean these bodies up before someone finds them. We should also collect Macca for the Auction...' he was personally disgusted at the thought of looting corpses, but if it meant improving their chances to survive this day, he reasoned that it would have to be done.
Shibuya, 9:38, August 19th 2012
"Hey, Yoohoo!" Atsuro laughed, "How come we never talk about boring stuff? Tell us about your family..."
Yuzu stopped and turned to Atsuro, and though she was smiling, Hiro instantly knew that she was now looking for an excuse to beat Atsuro up. "Hey, moron, try calling my family 'boring' one more time..."
"Uh-I-Sorry!" Atsuro flinched and stepped back. "It was just a slip of the tongue!"
"Eh, it's fine...it's not like it really matters all that much." Yuzu took a deep breath. "It's just an ordinary family. But my parents never got along at all...so they got divorced last year. I've been living with my mom." She looked down and sighed. "But even after leaving my dad, my mom seems a lot touchier...she fusses over nothing! I know it's tough to take care of me by herself, but she's getting on my nerves." Another uncomfortable pause. Hiro was thinking that starting this conversation might have been a bad idea when Yuzu continued, "...She and I hardly ever talk anymore."
Hiro looked down to avoid her eyes. 'Damn, she's got it tough,' he thought, 'I've always been complaining about Naoya never being around anymore, but she's lost her father and doesn't get along with the only family she has left...' The trio walked in silence for a few minutes before he worked up the strength to ask, "Was it better before?"
"A jerk who supported us or the tense freedom we have now...it's hard to say."
Ebisu Station, 9:38, August 19th 2012
"Huh? We can't go through here, either?"
"Sorry, Miss." The SDF soldier didn't sound sorry at all. "There's been an outbreak of poisonous gas. Please step back." Hiro noted that the man and his comrades all had no Death Clocks - it appeared that they will all live longer than 10 days.
"Damn it..." Atsuro hissed, "There really are troops all along the railroads! We might die today, too...damn it!"
"If only our cellphones worked, I could call my mom and tell her that I can't come home...Oh!" An idea popped into her head, "That reminds me! The COMPs' email works, right? Can't we contact the outside?"
"Hey!" Atsuro brightened at the suggestion, "I'll give it a try!" He got his COMP out and began to furiously type. "...If this works, I'll send an email to my COMP at home...huh?"
Seeing that Atsuro had stopped typing, Yuzu and Hiro both looked over his shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"'Cannot connect to the specified server.'...that's what it says."
"It's not connecting?...what's that mean?"
"Means we've been completely cut off from the outside..." Hiro said grimly.
"Let's not jump to conclusions like that," Atsuro replied hastily. "Well, Naoya made this COMP to begin with...maybe it can't use standard connections to communicate with regular COMPs. "
"So...it didn't work? All right, let's go check out someplace else..."
"...Hmm..." Atsuro was deep in thought. "Let's see if there's anything else going on..."
Omotesando, Tokyo, 10:30, August 19th 2012
"Man… Omotesando…" Yuzu sighed as the three walked down the street. "I could never have imagined something like this when I came out here yesterday. Hey, look…!" She pointed at a dark-haired man with a tie, who noticed her as well and made his way towards her.
"Hm…? Is that Yuzu? You used to go to Haru's shows, didn't you?"
"Yes, I'm Yuzu Tanikawa. I'm surprised you remember me, Gin!"
The man grinned. "Heh. A man in my line of work has to have a good memory for names and faces."
"Ahaha! Sounds like a tough job! Oh, um…"
Hiro interrupted them. "Who's he?"
"Oh, there's this indie singer I really like named Haru. Gin's kind of Haru's guardian. I met him at a show, and we've spoken a couple times since. Gin always watches out for people, so everyone tends to consider him a big brother."
The man chuckled. "You flatter me, Yuzu. So, are these two your friends? We haven't met, right?" He turned to Atsuro and Hiro and extended his hand.
"Oh, sorry! Feel free to introduce yourselves, guys!"
Atsuro took Gin's hand and shook it. "I'm Atsuro Kihara. Nice to meet you."
Hiro suddenly got an idea. He grinned and shook the man's hand as well and said, "I'm Yuzu's boyfriend."
"Wha...?" Yuzu turned to Hiro, whose grin became even bigger as he winked at her. She paused, then turned red as a tomato and stammered, "Cut that out! What're you saying, Hiro? That's not...u-uhhh," She turned back to Gin, "Gin, this is Hiroki Takeda. Arrrrgh...!"
"Heh, don't worry, I get it." Gin laughed. "Take it nice and easy, Yuzu." He turned back to Hiro, "The name's Eiji, but everyone calls me Gin. I run a bar over that way." He pointed down the street. "I'm in a real fix. Everything from the ice to the fruits in the fridge are wiped out. Well, no sense crying over spoiled milk. Just gotta wait for the power to come back." He looked over the three and asked, "You been here long? Bet you've been out since the Blackout…heh. What a sorry situation. Hurry home and let your folks know you're safe, okay?"
Yuzu's smile turned upside-down at that. "Uh, about that...the stations have been locked down by the SDF, and they won't let anyone through."
"What? The station's locked down and no one's getting through? Are you pulling my leg…?" Gin didn't sound like he fully believed what Yuzu was saying. "Hm…the bar TV's busted and my cell's dead, too. Looks like we're all in the dark…man…what's going on?"
"Your cell doesn't work either? That's been a huge problem for us, too!" Yuzu paused. "Well…sitting here won't get us home, so we're thinking of looking for a way out."
"Sounds like a big deal. But if the government's on the job this should blow over soon."
Yuzu sighed. "I hope you're right…"
"Just you watch, it'll be over by nightfall." Gin reassured her. "I'm going to go catch some Zs at the bar…If you need help with anything, just give me a holler."
Yuzu seemed happier as Gin turned to leave. "Okay! Thanks a ton, Gin!"
"Hey, Hiro..." Atsuro asked him, "What did the death clock say about Gin?"
Hiro looked on as Gin left. "It said 6..."
Yuzu whirled around, shocked. "6? Why? I-Is Gin going to die in six days?...but this is...this is insane!"
"I see..." Atsuro wondered out loud. "I hoped if we stayed close to people with high numbers, we'd have better odds of survival."
"I get it...people without a number are likely to live for a while. They might help us."
Hiro thought about it. Yes, it made sense - if, for example, they bunkered down at Gin's bar or stayed close to the barricades, they should remain far away from the demons and so stay safe. "You're right!"
"We can't know for sure," Atsuro admitted, "But we should do everything we can to increase our odds of survival!"
Kannagi-cho, 11:02, August 19th 2012
"It's so hot.,..wish the buses or taxis were working." Yuzu groaned under the heat. "I'm getting all sweaty...is Atsuro not back yet?"
Hiro looked in the distance and got up as soon as he saw a familiar figure enter his sight. "Hey, there he is!"
"No good." Atsuro shook his head as he approached the two. "All the roads under the rail bridge have been blockaded by the SDF. It's just as they said. Everything inside the Yamanote Line is locked down."
Hiro, however, was not daunted - mostly because he knew the alternative was to give in to despair and stay trapped in the Yamanote Loop for God knows how long. "Let's not give up yet."
"No argument here." His smile disappeared as he turned to the side. "Huh?...is that Keisuke?"
The person he was looking at, a boy with glasses, noticed them as well and began to make his way towards them. "What the...Atsuro?"
"I thought I recognized you, Keisuke!" Atsuro laughed and ran over to his friend. "Long time no see! Keisuke helped me out big time in middle school," he turned back to Yuzu and Hiro, "I wouldn't be here without the guy!"
Keisuke flushed. "I-I wouldn't go that far..." he stopped mid-sentence and looked up, and his expression suddenly changed. "Atsuro...! No, all of you! Your number..."
"Huh?" Atsuro turned around to face his old friend. "Did you just say-?"
"N-Never mind! I have to get going!" Before Atsuro realized what was happening, Keisuke had turned and started to run off in the opposite direction.
"What's up with him?..."
"How do you know him?" Hiro had been a good friend of Atsuro's since grade school, but he had never seen this Keisuke guy before, and was curious as to how they became friends.
"He always used to stand up for the weaker kids, so they really depended on him. He saved me a bunch of times, too...if not for him, I'd have been a gofer for three years."
"Weird..." Yuzu stared after Keisuke, who was still running in the distance. "He seemed pretty shy himself just now."
"Yeah, I have no idea. I lost all contact with him after we got to high school...oh, by the way, Hiro," he turned back to Hiro, "Did you remember to check his death clock readout?"
Hiro inhaled sharply. He didn't want to frighten his friends again, but figured that saying 'I forgot' would be an obvious lie. "Yeah, it was one."
"1...? Damn it!" Atsuro panicked for the first time that day and turned to look at Keisuke's fleeing form. "Keisuke's gonna die tomorrow!"
"No he won't," Hiro said firmly, "We'll save him from whatever problem he runs into tomorrow. After we live through today, of course."
Roppongi, 11:32, August 19th 2012
"Huh? Hey, I know that song!" Yuzu got excited as the sound of music filled their ears.
"Sorry about the volume!" a singer in white shouted, "I'm using a battery-powered amp. Blame it on the blackout! Here's hoping my songs get you out of those Blackout Blues!"
The crowd gathered on the street cheered loudly, and Yuzu joined in. "Omigosh! It's Haru! Awesome! This is just what I needed to cheer me up!"
The woman named Haru spotted Yuzu cheering in the crowd and shouted, "Looks like I've got a fan in the crowd! I'm about warmed up now-so here's one for you!"
"This is so great! Haru is the best!" Hiro could barely hear Yuzu over the crowd's cheering, and soon he himself had joined in. The street was filled with noise, to the point where Hiro couldn't hear anything anyone next to him said, until Haru's street performance ended.
"Of all the places to see a show from Haru...! That was so cool!"
Atsuro, too, had been cheering, and he took a moment to catch his breath before speaking again. "Her singing was pretty good, but is she that famous?"
"Yeah! Uh, in the indie scene. She's the same Haru I told you about earlier. She used to be in a band called D-Va, but now she's gone solo."
"Solo? What happened to D-Va?"
"I don't really know much about the band...I just heard they split up when Aya, one of their members, quit to study music."
"Huh..." Atsuro looked over at the singer, who was now gathering her things. "So her name's Haru? Well, I think you can count me as a fan too!"
Hiro laughed. "Me three!"
"I know, right? Haru's so awesome!"
Atsuro laughed as Yuzu continued to gush about Haru to Hiro. "Well, we've rested long enough. We don't have much time left…"
"Yeah, we should be focused on surviving..." Yuzu trailed off when she saw Hiro staring at Haru - or, rather, just above her. "Hm? What's the matter, Hiro?"
"It said zero..."
"That's what the death clock readout on Haru was…? We have to tell her!"
"Wait, Yuzu - " Hiro placed his hand on Yuzu's shoulder and tried to hold her in place.
"Wait a sec, Yoohoo!"
"What now?"
"What would you say? If you tell her straight up, she'll think you're crazy!"
Yuzu stopped at once, and Hiro felt it was safe enough to let go of her now. "Ugh...you're probably right."
"Don't forget, our number is zero too." Atsuro reminded her. "We might die today first. If we don't do something about that, how are we supposed to help anyone else?"
"Yeah..." Yuzu sighed, and her shoulder seemed to sag. "Good call. There's no use worrying about that until we have a solution to this whole mess."
"Right. C'mon guys, let's go..."
Shinjuku, 12:04, August 19th 2012
As Hiro walked back into Shinjuku, he saw someone who looked like Naoya duck into a side street.
"Hey, Hiro!" Atsuro had noticed the mysterious figure as well. "Wasn't that Naoya?"
Hiro had already broken into a run after him. "What are you waiting for?" he shouted back at his friends, "Quick, after him!"
He barely heard Atsuro and Yuzu following him. "Gotcha!"
Personally Hiro didn't feel too good about this, but what choice did they have? They knew next to nothing about their present situation, while Naoya had foreseen the demon invasion and the lockdown...no, he got them involved in the first place by giving them COMPs loaded with demons. 'How much more does he know, I wonder?...'
The three ran into the side street and came to an open area. "Hey! Where did Naoya go?"
"He's over there!" Yuzu pointed at an alley. "I saw someone go over there, and it looked like Naoya!"
"Alright, let's go after him!"
The three raced towards the alley - only to suddenly find themselves surrounded by demons, who were teleporting into the area and moving to cut off their exits.
"What? Why are there so many demons out in broad daylight?" Yuzu had thought demons only worked in the night or early morning, and hurried to get her own demons out.
"Maybe they don't care what time of day it is…well, whatever! We've gotta do something about them!" Atsuro turned to Hiro, who had already gotten his demons out. "What's the plan, Hiro?"
"Let's find Naoya, otherwise we'll have come all the way here for nothing!" Leaving now was not an option, Hiro reminded himself - Naoya was the only person he knew who had any clue what was going on, and he had a head full of questions for him to answer.
"Well, we won't find Naoya until we deal with these guys!" Atsuro gestured at the demons all around them.
"That's the safest way." Yuzu added, "If we don't defeat them, they'll probably come after us."
As Atsuro approached a Pixie team with his Kabuso and Kobold, he shouted, "Hey guys! Be careful of where you are in relation to the demons! If they surround someone who's all alone, it'll be dangerous!"
Yuzu was advancing on a team led by a demon Hiro had never seen before, a winged girl in pink, with Pixie and another Ogre by her side. "I-I know! We have to work together, so let's think our moves out carefully!"
"Screw being a good sport! They'll go down faster if we gang up on them!"
Hiro had already run up to a railing, flanked by his faithful Kobold and Ogre. "Alright, stay cool," he told himself as he turned to face another team of two Kobolds and that flying demon - a 'Moh Shuyuu', his COMP told him. "Nothing good will happen if you panic...rush them!" he ordered his demons.
Ogre hurled its cleaver at one of the Kobolds, but it quickly ducked to avoid the great knife and lunged at Ogre, sending both of them to the ground. Meanwhile, to Hiro's left, his Kobold had engaged the other enemy Kobold in close combat, though it was apparent that his demon - being stronger and more experienced - was winning. 'That just leaves me with...'
"Bufu!"
Hiro looked in the direction of that shrill voice, and found a large ball of ice being thrown at him. Before he could even curse, the ball struck the earth in front of him and shattered, spraying him with sharp shards of ice and leaving several cuts all over his body. The pain wasn't quite overwhelming, but it was enough to distract him from retaliating.
"Aaargh! What in the hell - ?" He looked down, and saw that - in addition to him bleeding from several cuts, mostly on his chest and arms - his legs were frozen solid. "Damn it to hell! You - I'll kill you!" he looked up to find the Moh Shuyuu flying at him, its eyes burning with hatred and a malicious grin on its face. "Agi!"
The Moh Shuyuu was hit by the fireball and fell to the ground screaming, but Hiro's look of vicious triumph disappeared when it hissed, "Dia!" and healed its rather severe burns. By that time, the ice had miraculously melted, and Hiro ran backwards to try and put as much distance between him and the enraged Moh Shuyuu as possible. "I will destroy you!" the furious demon shrieked. As it flew towards him, Hiro spotted a garbage bag on the ground, picked it up and hurled it at the demon. As he'd hoped, the heavy bag caught it in mid-flight and threw it to the ground, stunned.
"Agi!"
The garbage bag caught fire, as did the hapless demon trapped under it. Hiro watched grimly as the Moh Shuyuu shrieked and writhed under the burning garbage bag, and he instinctively covered his face as the stench of burning garbage reached him. As he turned away from the horrific sight, images of the Kobold's and Ogre's fiery deaths from yesterday flashed through his mind. 'You're doing it again, you're killing again and I bet you won't even lose a second of sleep over it this time - '
'Shut up, just shut up and calm down, I only did what had to be done,' He told himself as the Moh Shuyuu finally fell silent, 'She was going to take our lives, so I had no choice but to take its life, and anyway it probably just goes back to Hell or wherever it came from when it's defeated - '
"Huh?" Atsuro's cry made Hiro turn, and saw that his friend wasn't worrying about the Ogre he was beating into a pulp - he was now pointing at a bizarre latecomer, a brown demon with walrus-like tusks and large claws on its stubby little hands, that had just appeared in front of the alleyway. "They're multiplying! Why are there so many demons?"
Before Hiro could answer, the demon suddenly rushed towards him. It became a speeding blur, and just as his COMP identified it as a 'Waira', he was thrown against the guardrail and had an oversized walrus clawing and biting at him. "Ack - shit - get away from me - !" He struggled to push the monster off of him, but it was much too strong to push aside, and he could feel its claws starting to dig into his chest even as he tried to keep it at bay. "Ngh - no choice, then - "
He grabbed the monster's flank and snarled, "Agi!" As expected, the Waira caught fire and recoiled, shrieking and thrashing about as the flames quickly spread over its body. Hiro saw that he had no time to celebrate, however - his pants had caught fire as well. "Ahh!" With a horrifed yell, he rolled about the ground, trying to put out the fire, and ignored the pain from his cuts and from ramming into walls or guardrails. An entire minute passed with him rolling on the ground in a blind panic, though the flames had gone out much earlier and only left his pants slightly burnt.
"A-Alright...! We did it!"
Atsuro's voice snapped Hiro out of his panic. Without a word, he jumped to his feet and ran into the alleyway - only to find that Naoya was already gone. He stood perfectly still for a moment, thinking. 'So...we lost him. We almost got ourselves killed again, and all for nothing - '
"Damn it!" Hiro snarled. He turned and kicked the brick wall, which did nothing but further aggravate (and hurt) him, and by the time Atsuro caught up with him he was still hopping on one foot, howling.
"We lost him. Back to square one for us..." He paused to lick one of his cuts.
Yuzu caught up with the two, and gasped when she saw the state they were in. "Wh-What happened to you two? Did you get too close to the demons or something?"
"Hey, it wasn't like I had a choice, the demon got too close to me..."
Yuzu ignored Hiro, and instead laid her hands on Atsuro's chest and said, "Dia." Hiro watched as the spell magically healed his injuries, and remembered that it was the same spell that Moh Shuyuu used on itself when he set it on fire for the first time.
Atsuro spoke as soon as Yuzu finished healing his wounds. "Why'd the demons start showing up? What's with that crazy auction? The questions keep piling up. We need to find him..."
As Yuzu began to work on Hiro's injuries, she snapped, "I'd like to give him a piece of my mind, too! It's his fault we're in trouble!"
"Yeah, I agree," Hiro added. "I mean, the least he could do is tell us what the hell is going on...I think he's avoiding us." As he watched his wounds heal, he breathed a sigh of relief. He also couldn't help but feel that this was kind of nice.
"Why, though?" Atsuro asked.
"How should I know? What I do know is that he could've just waited for us in that alley or something. It's not like he has anything to lose by telling the three of us what's going on, right?"
"Oh, but we shouldn't forget to look for a way out while we're at it!" A few more seconds passed in silence, and Yuzu pulled her hands away from Hiro. "All done."
"Thanks. Anyway, yeah, I agree..."
"Same here. If we don't make it out alive, I'll be missing out on all my favorite net forums!"
Yuzu threw an odd look at Atsuro and sighed. "I guess everyone lives for something..."
"D-Don't give me that look...Hey, Hiro," he turned back to his best friend, "Does the death clock still say zero? It hasn't gone up, has it...?"
Hiro sadly shook his head. "No, it's still zero."
Atsuro sighed. "I had a feeling you'd say that...we can't find a way out, the death clock's stuck on zero, and the hours march on...damn it! What're we supposed to do?"
Suddenly the COMPs' email alerts went off, alerting all three of them.
"Hm? We've got mail..."
"What's it say?"
Atsuro shrugged. "Who knows? Let's check it out!
From:
Subject: Macca Bonus
The Macca Bonus increases the amount of Macca earned based on various situations that occur in battle. These are the calculations used to provide bonuses. In the case of a negative result, Macca will not be deducted from your total.
TECHNICAL: +5% x turns
Extra turns you gain plus extra turns the enemies lost.
NO DAMAGE: +20%
Finish a battle without taking damage.
OVERWHELM: +30%
Defeat 3 enemies with a single attack.
CASUALTY: - 30% x victim
An ally dies during the battle.
SHIELD: +/- 20%
An ally Voids, Reflects or Absorbs an attack: +20%
If an enemy does: -20%
Note: The maximum per battle is 20& or -20%.
From:
Subject: Skill Set Bonus
The new Skill Set Bonus function is now available. If certain conditions are met during battle, you will be able to set any command skill already registered on a COMP on a demon. Please note that the key to this function, an energy known as Magnetite, is still relatively unknown and we are continuing to experiment with it.
[Current Information]
Magnetite is believed to be a type of vital energy.
The Skill Set Bonus involves charging large amounts of Magnetite with the COMP and releasing it to affect your demons' abilities.
It is believed that Magnetite charges faster if you fight efficiently, the same way Macca Bonus is generated.
"So something called a Skill Set Bonus has been added on top of the Macca Bonus...it's more to worry about in battle, but if we play our cards right, it could pay off.
Hiro nodded, the Macca Bonus function should prove useful for buying stronger demons and the Skill Set Bonus should allow him to strengthen his own demons. "Got it."
Yuzu chimed in, "This is such a guy thing...you better not do anything risky going after this stuff!" She paused and asked, "Y'know, it just occurred to me...who's sending these emails?"
Hiro looked over his own again, it didn't look like it was written by humans to him. "I'm not sure..."
"Yeah, me neither...it doesn't sound at all like Naoya."
"Naoya might not have written them, but the wording and such should be based on his." Atsuro explained. "Like robots with AI personalities...their code is still written by humans. These advice emails might be generated by a program that Naoya created. Like, when you write software for general use, you gotta leave documentation. The emails are so impersonal because they're general documentation...which means this Demon Summoning Program was always meant for third-party use."
"Ah, I see..."
"As long as Naoya didn't program the manual with false info, we can trust what it says."
Sunset Street, 12:38, August 19th 2012
Yuzu sighed. "This place is no good either. There were SDF guards all the way to Ikebukuro...I'm exhausted from all this walking...I can feel the sweat pooling in my shoes..."
Atsuro just shrugged. "Better sweaty than dead."
"What the...?" Yuzu turned around to face him, and without looking Hiro could tell that she wasn't happy. "You don't have to say it like that!"
"...Sorry." Atsuro sighed. "I'm getting a little nervous..."
"It's okay. I'm sorry I snapped back. Let's decide what we're going to do from here."
"Yeah, good idea."
Yuzu glanced back at the barricades. Several SDF soldiers were milling about and shooting suspicious glances at passers-by. "Hey...are we really trapped in the Yamanote circle area? Are we going to just die like that email said...?"
"We'll try the east side." Hiro said. Personally, he couldn't stand to see her like that, and in any case he had to keep group morale up - the alternative was to surrender to despair and just wait for the lockdown to end, by which point they could be dead already.
"Yeah..." Atsuro nodded at him. "The west side might be sealed, but there's still the east. Let's keep at it!"
The COMPs' email alerts went off once more. "Incoming email. Let's have a look."
From: NAOYA
Subject: You made it
Yo Hiroki, you still alive?
The Death Clock calculated by the Laplace mail system may not be absolute, but if the root cause of the events described don't change, it's highly likely that the results will still end up the same...that's fate.
I've updated your COMP with a new function attached to this message so that you can face fate and cut your own path.
You should be getting an email describing the 'Skill Crack' function soon.
I'm looking forward to seeing you again. Keep surviving.
'Next time, don't run away and at least talk to us, would ya?' Hiro thought as he opened up his other email.
From:
Subject: Skill Cracks
The Skill Crack is a function that analyzes an enemy's ability and saves it to your COMP.
[NOTES]
The enemy selected must be defeated by the team with the COMP that set it. The crack will be nullified if any other team defeats that enemy.
Only a single enemy is targeted by the crack, not the entire enemy team.
The target of the crack and the COMP user who is targeting it can be viewed on the top screen.
Yuzu closed her COMP with a sigh. "I really don't get what Naoya's up to. He got us into this mess, but he's still doing everything he can to help us…"
"You got that right…if he cares that much, he shoulda made sure we weren't in the lockdown to begin with."
"He's hiding something..." Hiro said thoughtfully.
Yuzu nodded. "Yeah, that's for sure."
"Either he can't tell us or the time's not right yet. No way for us to know..."
"Yeah..."
"Hey," Atsuro said, "Those Skill things come in pretty handy, don't they? If that function can get us more of those, that'll be a huge help! It might even increase our chances of survival…!"
"That Skill Crack thing? Only someone who knew about the demons could program that in..." Yuzu pondered. "I wonder just how much Naoya knows about demons."
"Let's ask him ourselves." Hiro had figured a long time ago that the best way to get information out of Naoya was to just ask him directly and hope he answered truthfully.
"Yeah, I guess that'd be the best way, huh?"
"Yeah...let's find Naoya. We need to get information straight from the source."
"Though we have to do something about the number on the death clock first..." Yuzu looked downcast again.
"Yeah. We'll have to use every trick in the book to survive that long..."
