?, ?, ?

Malebolge, The Abyss of Time

Daytime

"Careful!" Fuuka alerted the exploration team as they descended another floor. "I sense a powerful shadow ahead."

"A floor guardian?" Aigis made a guess as to the nature of the enemy before them. "Or is the black shadow we are chasing?"

"It feels like a Guardian." Fuuka reported carefully. Midori could almost see her scrunching up her face in concentration to try and divine even one more iota of information about what lay ahead of them. "I cannot detect the other shadow yet. Keep looking! I know you can find it!" She said encouragingly.

Now on their guard, Metis quietly asked Aigis about the existence of these Floor Guardians, and Aigis explained to her how there were certain shadows that seemed bound to locations as choke points, and they needed to be bested to proceed. Metis nodded in understanding and reaffirmed her support of her sister in that cheery voice of hers.

From there, it was a short walk to the room where the guardians waited. And the Black human-shaped shadow waited behind them passively.

"Halt!" Aigis yelled out past the Shadows, trying to command the unknown entity to submit. It stayed still, but turned away from the four as the Shadows advanced on them. "Do not flee!"

"Aigis, focus on the enemies!" Akihiko warned as a Gigas-type and a trio of Mayas charged at them.

"Agialo!" Midori yelled, as she reacted faster. A wash of flame ripped across a Maya and sensing that it was weak to the flames promptly inundated the rest in roaring flames only to be brought up short by the Gigas itself. "Heh. Play nice?" She asked worriedly as it swept its arms around, knocking her back against the wall. The shock of the hit and followup impact rattled her, and Frosty lost cohesion.

"Midori's down!" Akihiko called out as Aigis followed on Midori's example and switched to Orpheus and it's Agi skill to fight the Maya while Metis went to work on the Gigas, matching strength for strength without yet using her Orgia mode. Akihiko rushed back to Midori and gave her a quick check, then sent a jolt of healing magic through her to try and get her back up and active. It wasn't much and she groggily waved him off to help in the fight.

A few minutes later, they stood over the vanishing remains of their fallen foes, Akihiko looking worried. "Midori, are you alright? You're not standing straight."

"I'll be fine," Midori took a deep breath. "Just gotta get back into shape."

"You're not fine." Aigis declared. "We need to get you back to the dorm. You are not the toughest person on the team, and I do not want you permanently injured."

"I agree with Sister. Your weakness should not be allowed to hinder Sister." Metis chimed in, her cheerful voice contrasting the meaning of her words. The vicious glares that were fired back at her seemed to confuse the ebony robot. "Did I say something wrong, Sister?"

"I can walk." Midori shifted her attention from Metis to Akihiko, who was still fussing over her. Standing, she did lean against the wall to steady herself for a moment before completely regaining herself. "See? Just like normal?" Her assurances didn't seem to convince Akihiko.

"I don't detect that Black Shadow any more," Fuuka interjected. "It looks like it escaped while you were fighting the Guardian." She sounded apologetic, but also determined to make up for the loss. "I do detect what seems to be another door ahead though. Perhaps it went through there?"

"We shall investigate." Aigis, assured that everyone was ready and capable, led the group past the Guardian's lair and deeper into Malebolge. True to Fuuka's word, there was a door standing in the side of the hallway. "Odd. It appears to be identical to the one that let us enter in the first place."

"I can sense that it's not connected to the rest of Malebolge." Fukka announced in the backs of their heads. "But it does seem familiar."

"Perhaps it leads back to the Abyss?" Metis suggested, running one hand along the door frame. "It makes sense."

"No, it doesn't." Akihiko shot back. "Fuuka, I see a corridor ahead of us still. Does that lead further into this place?"

"Yes." The answer was quick and to the point. "I don't know where that door leads, but it doesn't go further. It will transport you some place else."

"Very well." Aigis pushed the door open and kept it that way, blinking at the change in the light. "Metis was correct. This is the Abyss."

They crowded around the door, careful not to cross the threshold. Indeed, they could see the familiar sight of the ring of doors before them, and the shadow cast by the stair leading back into the dorm crossing over them ever so slightly.

"FUUUUKKAA!" Midori promptly called out, waving to attract her attention. "We're behind you!"

Startled, the smaller girl dropped her Persona and spun around, surprised and confused. "What? Where did that door come from?" She looked behind her again to the entrance to Malebolge behind her then back to the quartet. "The door you found leads back here? Interesting."

Sensing that it was safe to do so, Aigis moved across the threshold, placing her feet on the still sands of the Abyss. "This is good. We can take a break and return to Malebolge when we are ready."

With this, everyone else joined her. The door behind them remained open thankfully, causing Metis to remark that "Returning will be a simple matter". But rather than that, Aigis decided to return to the Dorm to report to Mitsuru.

1st Floor Lounge, Minatodai Dorm

Daytime

"I see." Mitsuru considered this new information as Aigis, with the help of Akihiko and Midori finished their report on their preliminary exploration. "It seems I was right in choosing you to lead as the doorways only respond to you." She paused to plan their next course of action. "Therefore I will make your appointment as head of the exploration group official. Do what you must."

Aigis nodded in acceptance. "I would like you and Ken to come with me for the next section of Malebolge. I intend to use this opportunity to make sure everyone is capable of wielding their Personas in combat as we go through the first few floors of Malebolge and come back out the waypoint now revealed to us."

"Then I shall wait for you downstairs, Sister." Metis announced cheerfully.

"No, you will stay here. I will keep Akihiko-san on the team." The denial was quick and pointed. It was a lash of the tongue that seemed out of place coming from Aigis.

"What!" The yell of reprisal was just as quick, and just as intense. "Why would you do that to me, Sister? I am here for you!"

"Your rude comment to Midori earlier caused me to evaluate your position as a 'team player'," Aigis countered, "and I cannot have someone who does not care for their fellows with me." The retort was enough to cause Koromaru to back away from the two robots and the intensity of the subtle conflict between. "My decision is final, or do you wish to challenge me?"

A moment's silence, then Metis backed down. "I will do as you say, Sister."

"Thank you. Midori-san, please recuperate quickly. I suspect I will have need of your strength in the future." Aigis nodded towards the sitting girl who smiled in return.

"Of course!"

"Just put an icepack on your head for now," Akihiko advised, "we have plenty of water and electricity, so the freezer should still work." He paused a moment before delivering his final warning. "Be extra careful. Concussions can have lasting effects, and I don't want you to suffer through them now while we need you."

Once Midori was settled down with a chill bag on her forehead, the reformed team left to practice and explore Malebolge some more. But before she left, Mitsuru addressed Yukari. "With Komaki recovering, Yukari, I'm leaving you in charge of the Dorm. I do not expect much in the way of difficulties," she cast a glance at Metis, who ignored the implication, "but if something comes up, tell Yamagishi and we will expedite our return."

They were quiet for the most part. Metis was, for the lack of a better word, sulking in one corner and muttering while Chidori and Koromaru sat together on the couch across from Yukari and Midori. Yukari looked and acted very pensive, tapping her foot against the floor in an erratic pattern.

"Could you stop that, please, Yukari?"

"Oh? Sorry Midori. Just... annoyed."

"We all are," Chodori chided Yukari from across the table. "But you are most reluctant to help out."

"Well excuse me for not wanting to jump right back into things! I'm not Midori here, to not bother with thinking things through."

"Hey! I'm right here!"

"Sorry, you know what I mean." Yukari tried to apologize, but it felt flat. "I tried to explain this to Mitsuru-senpai, but she couldn't understand. I don't want to be here."

"I understand that," Midori said carefully as she didn't want to disturb the perfect balance she had acquired with her icepack. "You want him to be here, hoping that if he was, this never would have happened."

Yukari gaped. "Why..! What..? You...!"

"It's obvious," Midori said, "you're one those people that can't lead, can't take the initiative in a situation like this." For some reason she was reminded of Yuzu, back from Tokyo. "You depend on someone you to trust to provide leadership and you fixated on Minato for that."

"What are you saying?" Yukari made her demand harshly, drawing everyone's attention to her. "You can't just insult me like that!"

"I've seen it before." Midori countered. "And if Junpei – sorry Chidori – were here, I'm sure he'd be in agreement. You're just not the kind of person who takes kindly to stressful situations like this."

"Oh, and I suppose you are?" The come back was sharp.

Midori was sharper. "I ever tell you about the time people tried to burn be as a witch because of..." She couldn't say it was because she had summoned Demons (why oh why did she recruit Cait Siths from the Auction House?) "Because of Frosty" she lied.

A chill silence descended.

"Look," Midori tried to find some way to not alienate her off-again friend. "Because they did. And I had to stand for myself." She was also rescued by Abel and his friends, but she didn't need to say that. "And look at me now. I'm not afraid. You are. That's completely normal." She found that she was loosing track of her little speech and resolved to conclude it quickly lest it blow up in her face. "But these are not normal circumstances. We have to confront the abnormal here, in our home, before we can return to normality. So please, even if you're not going to stand and confront our problems head on, try to understand the desires of those who do."

Silence reigned across the Dorm after that. Midori refreshed her icepack without help, something which she doubted anyone in the dorm currently would have offered. She didn't blame any of them for that. Metis was in her own corner still sulking at Aigis' berating, Yukari was annoyed, Koromaru couldn't and it wasn't like Chidori to offer in the first place.

It also gave her a chance to cool off in a less physical sense from her speech. Running it back over her head, she came to the very annoying conclusion that she had botched it. Not in the emotional sense. She figured she had that down perfectly. But rather, she didn't say the right words.

It was infuriating to the self-styled magical girl of love and justice. She should be able to do these things properly! She even managed to make it work on Frosty, turning him from a cute and lovable Jack Frost into a cute, loveable, awesome Black Frost! Why was it so hard to work these things on people?

It was obvious that Yukari loved Minato, but from there, Midori was at a loss. She went over her objectives in her head again, only to come to the same conclusion which lead her to this problem in the first place. Love and Justice was a fine way to live, but it was hard to convince other people about it.

Fresh ice in hand, she wondered if they would be able to make shaved ice to munch on, although a quick check of the nearly-empty fridge revealed no sauce to go with the dessert. Returning to her spot on the couch, she waited in silence with the rest for Aigis to return.

The silence was quietly shattered when Midori's COMP started to hum. Startled by the unexpected noise, the icepack fell into her lap as she searched her new jacket for the device. Finding it, she flipped it open and saw that she had a new email. Curious, she scanned it over before looking at at people's confused looks. "That was a guy I know, Atsuro. He's on the outside, and says there's nothing wrong on his end, and he's asking me for more information."

"YOU CAN TALK OUTSIDE?" Yukari's yell rattled in Midori's head, threatening to undo all the work of the icepack. "Wait. This means we can leave!"

"If it could be that easy, I have no doubt that Mitsuru would have thought about it." Chidori said as she petting Koromaru back into relaxation after Yukari's outburst. "Have you decided to reply yet?"

"I'm not sure what to say" Midori confessed. "I mean, it's not like I can tell him everything that's going on."

"How is this even possible?" Metis spoke as she returned from her self-imposed exile. "This should not be possible."

Midori, wary of a possible complication, put one hand over her COMP protectively. "The Kirijo Group isn't the only one with access to technology that can work in errant space-time." At Metis' confused look, Midori sighed inwardly. "My COMP uses the same tech you do in order to work properly in the Dark Hour, and in the Abyss."

And with that, she had a burst of inspiration. All of a sudden, everything about Metis made sense. Her face lit up, causing no end of confusion from the other girls. "Oh! I get it!" She proudly announced as she pulled her COMP back to her. "I know what you are now. I can't wait to tell Mitsuru-senpai!"

Chidori narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Would you care to share your deduction, oh detective?"

"Nope!" Midori smirked as she felt so proud of herself. "Because I want to tell everyone at once!" It was a logical statement, though the others seemed doubtful of her sudden deductive prowess based on some form of circumstantial evidence. She didn't care.

It took almost another half-hour before Aigis returned. In that time, Midori had run over her line of thought over and over again, looking for problems and not finding any. This pleased her, that she could still contribute even when people over-reacted to being hurt.

When the five climbed up from the Abyss, she greeted them with the others. Amazingly, she managed to control herself long enough for everyone to settle down and relax before speaking. "Mitsuru-senpai," she said a bit stiffly, "while you were gone, I had an idea about Metis' origins."

The response was immediate. "Oh?" Mitsuru straightened up and recognized that Midori had said this while the mysterious robot was present, so she felt like it wasn't a threat. "What is your theory?"

"She was made by Naoya-san after he fixed Aigis." There, the statement was simple. Now for the hard part. "I got an e-mail back while you were in the Abyss, and Metis wanted to know how that was possible, so I told her that Dark Hour proofing technology wasn't in a monopoly from the Kirijo Group and it occurred to me that Naoya-san knew how it all worked and he may have done this to support Aigis but couldn't finish before Nyx came, and now, somehow, she is here!" The words poured out of her in a rush from all the time she had pent them up inside her.

Mitsuru's counter question was simple. "Evidence?"

"SHE HAS FEET!" Midori pointed triumphantly at the two robots standing side by side. "Aigis didn't have them before her fight with Ryoji, but Naoya-san added them when he fixed her up, and Metis has them too, so he must have built her after!"

Mitsuru looked thoughtful. "It would explain some things. But your theory does not account for how she came to be in the Dorm."

Aigis had turned to look at Metis in a new light. Instead of being a potential threat, Midori's theory, though woefully incomplete, had changed her opinion away from potential mysterious threat to the team to one of suddenly actually being the older model, and thus acting like a proper role model for the other Anti-Shadow Weapon. "But why continue construction after Nyx's defeat?" What went unsaid was that if Metis was complete before the end of January, why she was not deployed?

"Actually, this may be more base speculation, but I have an idea." Akihiko announced as he finished a glass of water. "We're caught in a time loop, correct?"

"Correct." Metis stated, still unsure about the nature of this conversation. She was who she was, simple as that. Why did people have to make things complicated? But she didn't raise the question, as this was all important to her Sister to see that she was there to help, not hinder.

"Well," Akihiko said, "it is possible that the night that Metis arrived was not the first loop." At the confused looks, he continued. "We honestly don't know how many times the Loop has occurred as we only started to remember things when Metis showed up. Even Midori's COMP still registers it as the last day of March. If that man was aware of the problem, he could have built Metis to help us out." He gestured to the black robot, "It would explain why she knows these things. She was programmed with that knowledge, and her entrance into the Dorm allowed the rest of us to become aware of the problem."

A stunned silence at the implications crossed the room. The enormity of the problems before them seemed too much to intellectually grasp. "The logic is... reasonable" Aigis finally spoke. "What do you have to say, Metis?"

"I know that I was made for you, Sister, and that I know what must be done to escape this place." The reply was quick and cheerful against the dreary atmosphere of the Dorm.

"She's right!" Midori spoke her agreement. "Aigis, you gotta grab Chidori, Yukari and Koro-chan and give them the warm up tour, then we can blast through the Abyss and get out of here!"

Yukari opened her mouth to object to being forced into this, but the reality was there. She couldn't get out of this without helping and being helped by everyone else. She may not understand everything that was being said, but it was the only way. "Fine. But I left my bow at home."

"We still have some of your equipment, Yukari." Mitsuru calmly admitted. "They are in my office. Yoshino, could you go with her, and make sure you and Koro-chan are all properly equipped?"

"Of course." The three of them made their way up the stairs in silence.

As they were leaving, Mitsuru turned to Midori. "You did well in figuring that out, Komaki. It is a great relief to have a solid theory to work with, rather than random ideas."

"You're welcome."

"Now that that is out of the way," Mitsuru's voice took on a shade of annoyance, "what is this about an e-mailed response?"

Midori quickly explained the reply she had gotten to her message, about how it looked like nothing was wrong outside the Dorm.

"And were does this man live?" Mitsuru's eyes showed she had a plan.

"Tokyo. Exactly where, I don't know. Not inside the Yamanote Circle." Midori tried to remember just what she knew about the people she had fought with that week, and realized that she hadn't really had a chance to properly connect to them at all. Certainly, they had the shared experiences of fighting the Bels, but as people? She had to leave so soon after the Lockdown was lifted, and her e-mails were few and far between.

She cursed herself for her failure as a human being, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

"Komaki, do you think Atsuro-san would object to helping us?"

"What do you mean? I don't know if he can get to here from Tokyo before midnight."

"Not what I was planning. Rather, you have in your possession our only reliable means of communication outside the Dorm, so with that in mind, I would like to use him to relay messages for us." She frowned. "The Kirijo Group has procedures in place for non-standard communications, and as such, I can give him some codes to use to get my people moving. They would, of course, expire tomorrow, but as that day is some time away, I think it will be acceptable."

Midori hadn't even thought of that. "Of course!" She whipped out her COMP and opened up the e-mail app. "What do you want me to say?"

"Nothing today," Mitsuru said, causing Midori to blink in confusion. "I need some time to compose my commands properly for your transcription, and it would be better if the message was sent in the morning, relatively speaking. It is already late afternoon now, and I want to maximize the response time on the outside."

That made sense, and Midori put her precious device away. "I'll have to remember to charge it tonight" she muttered.

Chidori and the others returned at that moment, and they descended into the Abyss with Aigis and Fuuka.

Mitsuru excused herself and headed for her office to begin her work while Akihiko, Ken and Metis joined Midori in sitting around the table.

"I wish we had a deck of cards" Ken finally complained.