Shin Megami Tensei

Persona 3: Carpe Diem

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Persona 3, SMT, or any characters within. They belong to Atlus.

Tenth Story – Welcome to My World

NOVEMBER 12, 2011

"So this George Sears guy, what's up with him?" Hidetoshi asked. In all frankness he was the only one of the three who could even speak right now: Kenji and Kaz were stuffing their faces with the chocolate Chairman Tanaka kept in his mini-fridge.

They were traveling on I-95, before the driver took an exit off of I-10 to their destination in Tallahassee.

"He's the Master Mason of the American Order of Free Masons, the American counterpart to S.E.E.S., although more professional if you ask me," Tanaka said, pointing at the two boys devouring his stash of confectionery delights.

"And why does Mitsuru-san want him abducted? I can't see how this is going to help S.E.E.S. in any way," Hidetoshi said, talking with his hands in the same manner that Chairman Tanaka usually did.

"You're going to abduct him because he holds a seat in the Valley of the Queens."

"Valley of the Queens?" Hidetoshi asked, suddenly confused.

"It's an organization very similar to the Valley of the K – wait...you've never been briefed on this stuff, have you?" Tanaka asked after noticing Hidetoshi's face moving from confusion to sheer mental breakdown.

"Okay, well, I'll give you a crash course: the Valley of the Queens is a commission chaired by the seven most powerful ParaPols in the world, and-"

"ParaPol? What the hell..."

"It's short for 'Paranormal Police', it's what S.E.E.S. is. Now, don't interrupt me again, kid. Right now, those seats are filled by: The Vatican, the Knights of Malta, the Knights Templar, the Free Masons, the Shaolin Monks, Afro-American Shamans, and the Caliphate of Mecca. Needless to say, we need to kick one of them off of their throne if we want to be taken seriously in the world."

"And that's where this dude comes in? We're planning on taking the Free Masons spot in this...Valley of the Queens?"

"No. We're going to convince the Free Masons to stop endorsing one of the other members, effectively forcing them to resign."

"We're going to use the space station as a beacon for mind control, right? Why not just take over their-"

"Won't work, kid. These guys have been aware of their nascent spiritual energy for hundreds – even thousands of years. Simple telepathic control won't work over them."

"So how will kidnapping be any better!?" Hidetoshi asked, clearly not faithful in this plan.

"Trust me, it'll work. That's why they had me tag along. Now then, I'll leave you three to discuss anything else you want while I go to sleep. Wake me up when the driver stops, I've instructed him only to stop in Tallahassee, so those chocolate laxatives you boys are eating, yeah, keep enjoying them," Tanaka said, fully enjoying the look on Kenji and Kazushi's faces when they leaned over behind their seats to spit out whatever sweets were left in their mouths.

"Thanks for warning us, asshole," Kenji said, turning around to move down the small isle in the limo and grab one of the large bottles of soda sitting on the top of yet another mini-fridge.

"You're welcome. Now shut the hell up, I'm trying to sleep!" Tanaka said, closing his eyes and putting his head down on the lap of the blond woman who was in the car with them. Amidst the various coughing noises that Kenji and Kazushi made every once in a while, Hidetoshi waited patiently until he was sure Tanaka was asleep before making any small talk with the woman.

"So...uh, who are you?" Hidetoshi asked, prompting the woman to focus her gaze from the sleeping Tanaka to the boy.

"Natasha Chernenko. And that's all you'll need to know," she said, her voice was cold and unwelcoming. Just outside the window, they could see storm clouds forming over Florida.

"That's all I'll need to know? Come on, I know you're somehow related to the ParaPols and I'm not stupid. And as a future officer of S.E.E.S., I think I need to know more than your name."

"Oh? A future officer? My, someone's confident," Natasha chuckled, turning her head to look out the window.

"Hey! Don't mock me. After this mission, I'm being-"

"Being what, I wonder? You kids in S.E.E.S. have no idea how the ParaPols work, do you? Tell me, how long has S.E.E.S. been around for? Ten, maybe fifteen years? All I'll say is that you kids are babies on the battlefield. And that is all you'll need to know. Now don't speak to me again unless you need a smoke," she said, reaching into her breast for a pack of cigarettes and into Tanaka's breast pocket for a lighter.

"No thanks, I don't smoke," he said, forcing Natasha to blow smoke in Hidetoshi's general direction.

"I suppose you don't drink, either? Is this your first mission for a ParaPol, boy?"

"I don't drink and, no. This is my second mission," Hidetoshi added. He tried adding an emphasis on the 'second', just for humor, to emulate Junpei or Kenji. It didn't work.

"Still a virgin to the business. Don't worry. Once you've seen the evil in this world, you'll be asking your buddies for a smoke soon enough...vengeful ghosts possessing serial killers. Vampires ripping the heads from mothers and children. Tribal demi-gods angry at being displaced by a major religion...there's a lot of shit for you to see, boy. Let's hope you retain your sanity at the end of your life."

It was about this time that, sensing the commotion around him, Tanaka woke up, rubbing his eyes after about an hour of sleep and very pissed off that he couldn't doze off until they reached their destination.

"Alright...who's the prick who woke me up?" Tanaka asked sleepily, prompting Kazushi to point at Hidetoshi from his side of the limo.

"Actually, it was probably me, Tana-kun, sorry about that," Natasha said, to the mild amusement of Hidetoshi.

"Tana-kun?"

"Listen, kid. If word of that ever leaks out: you're dead," Tanaka said, angrily pointing a finger at Hidetoshi and bearing his teeth.

"Yeah, well, you won't have a hard time killing him. The boy actually believes ParaPols are all fun and games," Natasha said, putting out her cigarette in the ash tray next to them.

"I wouldn't doubt it. Considering they have the power of the Persona and all," Tanaka said, rubbing the remaining sand out of his eyes, causing Natasha to cock her head at Hidetoshi with extreme speed, looking him over in detail.

"What? Checking him out or something? They can't summon their persona yet, but they'll be in training soon."

"Training? You can't train someone to learn power of that magnitude!" Natasha said rather loudly, prompting Tanaka to get off of her lap and sit up straight, fixing his suit in the process.

"Nope. Sorry, already been done. The leader of S.E.E.S. was 'trained' to do it and so can these kids," Tanaka said, at least before Kenji and Kazushi started burping rather loudly after their fifth liter of soda.

"Well...some of these kids, anyway."

"So...you people really do possess the eighth power, don't you?" Natasha asked again, pulling out another cigarette, but refusing to light it, putting her arm around Tanaka and drawing closer to him.

"Duh. That's what I just said," Tanaka said, slightly falling to the floor, apparently asleep again. That was before it became apparent to Hidetoshi that a rather large dart was sticking out of Tanaka back.

"What the hell!"

"Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit, and you get to keep your life," Natasha said, pulling a small gun from her bosom before pointing it at Hidetoshi. "Sweet dreams, officer." she said as she pulled the trigger. Just before Hidetoshi hit the floor, he could hear two more gunshots, muffled by the sound of Natasha's voice.

Pulling a cell phone from her pocket, Natasha's conversation could be heard in the fleeting moments of Hidetoshi's consciousness.

"Yes, sir...mission accom-...no, si-...eighth...perso...now..."

And just like that, Hidetoshi passed out in the back of a limo, in the middle of a country he didn't understand nor want to be in, shot by a mysterious woman who was neither ally nor enemy. Perfect.