After a complex procedure where handful of cars swapped places to draw attention away from the most important ones, the ones containing Appraiser Three, Hypnos, and Thanatos arrived at the Third Republic base of operations. They all came in with the body and laid it onto a repurposed lab desk. They left the body for the researchers to work on it as the tumult from the streets died down.
After a few days, Neo-Lord Jin was curious about the capture of Thanatos. He would prove to be a valuable pawn. That was if the researchers were successful. By this time, news of the clash in the streets gave way. Much of the remaining Third Republic was gone by now, but at least the Neo-Legion was still at the Neo-Lord's disposal. Time was no object if they could get Thanatos to join the ranks.
Moros walked into the laboratory and examined the body of Thanatos.
"You did a good patch up job, men," he announced to the other two scientists.
"Thank you, sir," the lead Third replied.
"Much obliged, sir," said the other scientist.
Six, or Thanatos as he was known, laid face up on the countertop. The wounds from his previous battles had been patched up, and all his irreparable components had been replaced by salvaged Persona parts from the E. Co vault. It was as though Thanatos had come straight from the factory with clean armor and undamaged parts. Thanatos's right arm had been replaced with an upgraded version of his original serial model, exclusive with a particle accelerator cannon. To top it off, an internal propulsion system had been installed in his back, and propulsion boosters had been installed in his legs.
Moros also remembered the dead Persona's sin to Appraiser Zero―how he had buried his comrades alive in that massive building explosion.
"How far has your progress gone?" he asked the scientists.
"We've fixed Thanatos's corpse just about everywhere," replied one of them. "All damaged components have been replaced by new parts. What's left is refueling the body with Plasmite, and we'll have it synchronized with our Zero communication module."
Father will be pleased, Moros thought to himself. "Good work."
A glimmer in the corner of the room caught his eye. Moros walked over to a wastepaper basket and looked inside. He removed a mutilated device with wires and half a circuit board hanging out from its plastic shell. A bullet wedged itself into the screen.
"That was on Thanatos's person," said the researcher. "It wasn't working when we took apart the body."
"Strange to have a cell phone during a fight," Moros muttered to himself.
"Sorry?"
Moros tossed the broken phone away. "It's nothing."
The doors to the wing burst open, and a hulking criminal entered the room, viciously munching on a doughnut.
"Took those humans long enough to fix up my leg!" Hypnos muttered angrily to himself. "Yo, Father Un—"
Hypnos looked up, realizing that he was not alone in the room. He stared awkwardly at the Thirds, as well as Moros in mid bite. "Uh, am I interrupting something?"
Moros grabbed his subordinate by the upper arm and dragged him out of the room. No one was around to eavesdrop when the doors close behind them. He hissed out his message. "Would it kill you to so much as act civil in front of the humans?" Moros said.
"Civil?" Hypnos jerked, reclaiming his arm from his commanding unit. "I was calling you by your name, wasn't I?"
"You address me as Moros before the other meatbags!"
Hypnos rolled his eyes. "I'm sick of dealing with those insects! They're hyped up about this movement of theirs and end up dropping like flies! At least our Neo-Legion could actually shut up before a battle!"
"Why do you care? They are meatbags."
"They're spoiled brats, that's what!" Hypnos took another bite. "All of them look at me like I'm the freak who needs to be taught a lesson. And they go on thinking they're invincible until someone sticks their feet in their asses."
Moros scoffed. "Look who's talking. Daddy's boy."
Hypnos stuck a sugar-glazed finger into Appraiser Three's chest. "At least he bothered to save me after being buried alive. What were you doing working with meatbags anyways?"
"Father wouldn't be alive if it weren't for me," said Moros.
"Father would be happier if you did your job better," said Hypnos.
"Appraiser Zero gave us a direct order to . . ."
"Moros!" shouted a voice down the hall.
The Appraiser turned, realizing that his superior was dashing toward him. Neo-Lord Jin's expression was not in the least welcoming, and it did not contain any hint of friendliness. Even before he was within 4 meters of the two Personas, his voice was loud, and it was laced with venom. "I demand an explanation!"
"What is it, sir?" Moros replied, hiding his present mood.
The Neo-Lord stood in front of his subordinates. "When I give you an order to meet with me ASAP, then meet with me ASAP! Where the devil have you been for the last 48 hours?"
"I was busy with overseeing the reproduction of Plasmite," said Moros. "Didn't your messengers tell you that?"
"Everyone I sent to find you couldn't find you!"
"Regardless. What did you want to see me about?"
In an instant, Neo-Lord Jin's mood shifted from furious to steel cold. "When you told me that we would have an invincible army," he said, "and presented evidence in the form of an army itself, I actually believed you. Now our thoughts are much different. I've seen the live footage of the battle, and do you know what I saw? I saw our Neo-Legion mauled over by a single cripple!"
Before Moros could offer a response, Appraiser Zero appeared in his left vision. This conversation will come to no avail, he said. Surrender and get on with it. I wish to see you and Hypnos immediately.
Moros paused and then stiffened his back. "My apologies, sir," he replied through gritted teeth, "I greatly underestimated our opponent."
"And what the hell do you intend to do about the movement? We've barely got enough forces to even make our divide and conquer quota!"
Moros paused. He had nothing left to say. The Neo-Lord ranted for a good five minutes. His voice filled the hall with more rancor than usual. Hypnos stood by meanwhile to watch his superior hold back looks of disgust. Now Moros was feeling just as deplorable as the Persona right next to him.
"Get working," said Neo-Lord Jin finally, "or I'll personally see to it that you're left in the rubble of Lord Carmen's Columbarium."
With that last note, the Neo-Lord stormed off leaving the two Personas behind him.
Detective Mitsuru watched from a distance via computer monitor.
A tracking bullet was embedded into Thanatos's torso. Courtesy of the legionary militia, the planting of the tracker was done in the midst of battle, and the Thirds never noticed another sniper firing into the chaos. The SIU followed the trail to a building near the fringe of Old Port Island and a city limit barrier.
She looked to other operatives working at the surveillance console. "Have they moved the body?" she asked.
The screen they looked at was a live feed recorded from an orbital satellite. All images captured were so precise that an operative from this console could read a book someone else is reading in broad daylight. Mitsuru would have used this to hunt down Thanatos, if she wasn't making deals with him. She thanked herself for not resorting to this mode of surveillance, or else the SIU wouldn't have gotten as far as they did in taking in the Neo-Lord of the Third Republic.
"No, ma'am," said the operative. He zoomed in on the building. "Looks like the occasional Third walks in and out with supplies. We just found their headquarters."
Chief Roland leaned in. "Send in the troops," he said. "We got 'em now."
The operative made a quick call and spoke in code. District Troops meanwhile were assembled and being sent to the Third Republic headquarters. Mitsuru kept her eyes glued to the screen out of precaution.
"What's that?" she asked.
"What's what?" said Chief Roland.
The operative zoomed in on a particular person walking toward the building. It had pale white hair and had a cell phone.
"Zoom in on the cell," said Detective Mitsuru.
He did. On that cell phone screen was a pixelated GPS of the region. Its endpoint was in Third Republic Headquarters. Mitsuru suddenly realized who they were looking at.
"Unknown bogey," said the operative. "Permission to subdue?"
"Permission granted," said Chief Roland.
Yukari approached the building where Minato's cell phone was last detected.
The Third Republic base was a facility that used to be for selling cars. Windows that would have displayed new models were covered up with curtains. The neon signs displaying the car companies sponsoring the facility were unlit. To top it off, the entire area was full of buildings in similar disrepair. Third Republic headquarters was a shabby building that could easily be overlooked.
Yukari checked her phone again. Minato was definitely here. Or at least his phone was. He promised not only that the phone could be tracked, but also it wouldn't be too damaged or found until the Thirds thoroughly examined the body.
Where did he keep the phone though? Yukari thought to herself. Perhaps she would never know.
The garage opened up. Yukari ducked behind a wall. Thirds walked out with radios and a solemn pace.
"Those things still freak me out," said one.
"They're totally under our control," said the other. "The boss said it himself."
"Those freaks are animals," said the first Third thug. "The sooner we get this city under our control, the less I'll have to worry that one of them will rip my throat out."
"Hypnos will definitely do that for you," said the second. "Especially if you're gonna be a baby about this."
The Thirds walked away. One pulled out a remote to lower the garage doors. Yukari skittered past them as they turned around. She ran in just as the doors closed behind her. The guards didn't see her.
And then she turned around. A G-Hound looked her straight in the eye. Dozens of similar hounds stood at attention behind the first. Yukari's heart skipped a beat. The beasts didn't stir. None of them appeared active. Yukari realized she stood before the horde while it was stationary.
"What on earth?" she asked.
Perhaps it was a blessing. None of the drones were told to attack intruders. They were certainly active, but all of them stared blankly into space. None of their eyes had that electric blue glow that Minato had. The Thirds were still working on messing with Minato's body, so they couldn't send out their Neo-Legion just yet. Which meant that Yukari still had time to save him.
"I'm coming, Minato," she whispered.
Appraiser Zero pretended to be in sleep mode while the Third Republic henchmen were still in the room. They were just finishing up synchronizing the new batch of Personas, verbally commanding them to follow them out of the room and join the other flanks in another section of the building.
He almost felt sorry for those men; when he felt fit to mobilize the units against the humans, then they would be the first to know.
Waiting a painstaking 15 minutes for the Thirds to finish up (and an additional 15 minutes for them to finish their traditional occult song), Appraiser Zero was left alone in the room. Soon after, Hypnos and Appraiser Three entered. Both Personas knelt before their leader.
"We are here, father," said Appraiser Three.
"Good," replied Appraiser Zero. "What condition are you two in?"
Appraiser Three unconsciously glanced at his hand. "Besides being unable to use one electromagnetic flail, I am in peak condition," he said.
"What of you, Hypnos?"
Hypnos lowered his head even farther. "My leg has been repaired, and now the dual fuel tank for my flight mechanism has regenerated and become fully operational."
"What of the humans?"
"Their forces are near dead, thanks to Six."
Appraiser Zero curved his face into a sly smile and then gave a guttural laugh. The sound was like rusted nails scraping a ComBoard. That raspy sound sent chills down Hypnos's spine. This was the first time the Persona had actually heard genuine laughter coming from a Appraiser.
"So the time has come," Appraiser Zero said. "Hypnos, rise."
Hypnos quickly glanced at Appraiser Three, who was keeping his eyes on the floor. The criminal stood up facing his superior.
The panels covering the shell of Appraiser Zero's console opened outward. Blue discharge shot out from the openings in the console, forming a connection between Appraiser Zero and Hypnos. The room instantly reeked of ozone. Blue discharge surged into Hypnos's body with a force that left the floor burnt to a crisp. He didn't scream, nor did he make any verbal noises at all. Appraiser Zero's face disappeared from the hologram projectors above his console, and then the lights in the room flickered weakly for a moment before finally losing power altogether.
Hypnos stood erect in his place, charred black and blue static coursing under his shell. He didn't move for 30 seconds. Appraiser Three almost thought that he was dead.
Out of the silence, a hacking cough was heard. It came from Hypnos's husk of a chest. The cough was loaded with charcoal and soot, and every heaping gulp of air was just as bad as the last. Finally, the coughing stopped, and the criminal laughed. His laugh was like the sound of nails scraping a ComBoard. Now it was Appraiser Three's spine that tingled, a feeling he hadn't experienced since he became a Persona.
"Hypnos?" Appraiser Three asked.
The criminal morphed his right arm and dashed. Appraiser Three reacted by guarding his torso with his arms. Hypnos diverted the course of his attack and drove his weapon directly into the Appraiser's gut. The drill pierced straight through the armor and back out the other side. A mass of the Appraiser's Plasmite flushed out like a water balloon popped by a sharp needle.
Appraiser Three gagged, his mouth now leaking the blue substance flowing out his stomach.
"Goodbye, Moros."
Appraiser Three looked his assailant in the face. Even though his vision was now leaving him, he could plainly see the eyes. In the dark room, they emitted a golden glow from beneath the helmet. Hypnos didn't have that color. He had red eyes. But Appraiser Zero had gold eyes when he used to have a body, which meant . . .
"Father?" Appraiser Three asked weakly.
"In the flesh," replied Appraiser Zero, wrenching his weapon out of his subordinate.
Plasmite poured right onto the floor, splattering everywhere on everything within a 2 meter radius. Appraiser Zero watched as his "son's" eyes flickered weakly before finally fading away completely. He dropped the body. The room soon filled with the foul smell of smoke and ozone, masking the odor reeking from the new carcass in the room.
Appraiser Zero smiled. My sincerest apologies, Neo-Lord, he thought to himself, but your little movement is going to turn in a whole different direction.
Yukari stopped at the end of the hall. Did she see something familiar back there?
The guards were thin in numbers. Apparently Minato did a swell job thinning out the remaining Thirds, because there weren't that many left in the base. The few that remained were on guard duty, and their shifts were dangerously thin. Most of the efforts were placed into watching the preparation of G-Hounds and other Personas. Yukari narrowly caught the attention of laboratory personnel, but they were too occupied trying to keep a malfunctioning Sweeper in check.
As for Yukari's health, it wasn't faring well. Her breathing became shallow and her vision became dizzying. The world teetered left and right as she struggled to walk in a straight line. Everything felt like one big hangover. Yet she kept going. Because if there was anyone that Minato could count on right now, it was his best friend.
As for the thing she saw, there was no mistaking it. Yukari backtracked the way she had come. She stopped in front of a room with twin, swinging doors, each installed with a reinforced window for looking inside. They were soundproof too, so no one could hear through the threshold. Yukari peered through one window.
Inside the rooms were two Thirds. They were scientists by the look of their greasy attire. Both were muttering to themselves, deciding which tools to use for an operation that sounded like "cranial operation" to the girls. Extended on a lopsided, research countertop in the middle of the room was a familiar figure with black armor and a medieval helmet.
Yukari ducked down. If she went in, they would definitely see her. She had only gotten lucky sneaking around on her own like this. But here was another part of the risky plan. She looked both ways to be sure no one could hear her. And then she dialed on her phone.
"This better work," said Yukari.
After a few rings, Detective Mitsuru picked up. "I thought that was you, Miss Takeba," she said.
"I need your help," she said.
"I'm sending in District Troops now," said the detective. "Not that I needed your permission to do so. Don't resist when they take—."
"Thanatos is still alive," Yukari cut in. "And he's still going to help you."
There was a pause. "Why would he listen to me? You're apparently healthy enough to run errands on your own."
"I still need radiation treatment," said Yukari. "I'm sorry. But he needs me. And he needs you too."
"I wouldn't put it like that."
"Like it or not, you're in this together," said Yukari. "And frankly, we all have to pitch in if we're going to stop that Persona army before they wipe out Port Island."
"You're a liability," said Detective Mitsuru. "At best, you're cannon fodder when the troops open fire."
Yukari cringed. "That robot army is coming. And your best chance of beating it is right next to me. There's no way you can take on the Personas. Do what I say, and I can guarantee that you'll save your precious city. You know I'm right."
A soft sound barely sounded through the cell phone. It was a sigh of a very proud woman. "And what are you demanding exactly?" asked Detective Mitsuru.
That was it. Yukari successfully manipulated Mitsuru to do just what Minato wanted. "Just hammer away," said Yukari with a smirk. "I need time on the east end. Send everyone to distract the Thirds on the west side. Then I'll run in and get Thanatos out."
Detective Mitsuru scoffed. "I'm already on it."
Without any warning, the building's lights shut off. Throughout the building, the sound of Third voices could be heard openly asking what had just happened. Clutters of boots kicked down the doors and stormed the base. Guns blazed down the halls as District Troops clashed with Thirds. Inside the room behind Yukari, both scientists ceased all chatter and scrambled.
The scientists never noticed a sickly girl holed up against the wall. Detective Mitsuru apparently managed to get the crackdown police to shut down power to the area, which made things easier for Yukari. The Third researchers ran out to find cover in a secluded area. Yukari just ran in after they left.
Emergency power was still being routed to the laboratory. Red lights shone overhead. Equipment and machinery were still operational. Yukari saw a pump shaped to resemble a gas station nozzle suspended from the ceiling. Thanatos, or rather Minato, laid face down before the nozzle. His lower back had a port installed to dispense Plasmite. What Yukari needed to do seemed pretty self-explanatory.
"Let's fill you up," Yukari commented.
Yukari grabbed the pump and inserted the nozzle into the port in Thanatos's back. She then went to pump's console, looked for an on switch, and pressed it. Via a thick, transparent tube, the pump propelled Plasmite into her friend's body. On the console, a set of numbers separated by a colon appeared on the screen: 1:54 min.
Voices echoed down the hall. More gunfire.
"Please hurry" said Yukari.
Almost as if in reply, the voices of incoming Thirds grew louder. At the rate that the goons were approaching, Yukari was going to get caught, and it could get very, very ugly from there.