Animus
Welcome to Animus! You can find the Tumblr page at KageShirogane.
As well, you can also find the full spiel on Animus and its disclaimers back on Chapter 1.
Thanks and enjoy the show!
Kanji was the one to make the drive for both him and Naoto this time. Though they were both distracted by the events that had just passed, Kanji had been at least prepared to find out why his mother had died. Naoto, on the other hand, couldn't have possibly expected Kage to be the perpetrator. She was silent throughout the entire ride, lost in her thoughts and the overwhelming possibilities that came with the fact that Kage had been here since the very beginning… Since two months ago, no less… A lot of things were finally connecting and making sense. Indeed, the wheel of fortune was coming around full circle.
When they arrived at Tatsumi Port Island, Mitsuru Kirijo was waiting for the group at the gate with a smile. "Welcome back. Though, I realize it has been a longer time for some than others…" she said, her eyes trailing over to Touko, "And for those visiting for the first time, I welcome you as well. I am Mitsuru Kirijo," she spoke specifically to the auburn haired girl, holding out her hand.
"The famous Gekkoukan High… I've always been eager to see it," Touko answered, shaking the woman's hand as well, "Thank you… I'm Touko Aoi."
Mitsuru nodded, "A trusted friend of everyone here is a trusted friend of mine… Though I have to mention that where we are going is a concealed, unspoken of section of the school that I hope no one here would have the audacity to speak of when we're done, hm?"
A few members of the group blinked at Mitsuru's choice of words.
"Rules 1 and 2 of the Kirijo Labs," Kanji waved a hand, "Do not talk about the Kirijo Labs."
The Investigation Team 'ahhh'd with understanding.
Nodding, Mitsuru stepped towards Sousei and Ai and walked along with them as they all progressed into the school. She insured everyone that the procedure to remove the manual overrides from the two androids would take no longer than 15 minutes each, but because the day was now already well into the evening due to the long travel time, it would still be very late by the time everyone returned back to the estate. They would have enough time to rest… and then while they were all gathered in one place, they would take the opportunity to pursue Tsuge the very next day.
While waiting for Mitsuru to finish her work, the group stayed within one of the lab's main lobbies and made small talk with Labrys who was able to freely adventure around the school as she wished. Ai would soon be in the same state. Trapped, but free at the same time… And Sousei knew that depending on the results of their mission tomorrow, he too might have to give up his freedom.
Naoto watched as Labrys eagerly apologized to Kanji and herself for her previous actions, showing that she meant no harm. It was nice to see how human-like and sympathetic these androids could be… but deep down, Naoto feared for their future. If any of the roaming SSWs had been caught during their outbreak yesterday, then it would be very easy for the government to blame them for damages and shut all of them down. Perhaps they would even go as far as to close up the Kirijo Labs as well… Pondering this, Naoto realized that Mitsuru probably had all the same fears.
After nearly half an hour, the lobby doors reopened and Ai was the first to run through, hopping up to Labrys with a chuckle, "We're all better, onee-san!"
Labrys wrapped her mechanical arms around her sister and they embraced happily. There was no doubt that Labrys had been terribly lonely this whole time, and greatly appreciated that one of her sisters was finally returning.
Sousei and Mitsuru followed after. The woman would be the first to speak up, "Reactivated, polished and good to go… This old machine shouldn't give you any more problems," Mitsuru referred to Sousei with a smile, "As long as you keep this under wraps, alright…? When you're done, you'll have to return him here immediately…"
Naoto nodded in response, looking at Sousei who seemed to be a little downhearted about that fact.
"This might be the last time that I get to work with you, Shirogane-san…" he spoke up. Unfortunate, but true… "We have no time to waste…"
Mitsuru closed her eyes, "Now hold on, you're not running out of here that fast…" she interrupted him, "Actually, Shirogane… there is one thing that I'd like to briefly discuss with you. Alone, if that is alright…"
Naoto nodded as she stood. Passing by Sousei, she gave him a small comforting tap on the shoulder before following Mitsuru back through the doorway, ready to hear her out. Walking into a small hallway, they entered through another set of doors until they were at a far enough distance that no one in the lobby would be able to hear them. It was a quiet room, probably designated to storage.
"I wanted to ask… Have you been alright? I mean, after you Shadow… you know…" Mitsuru asked.
Naoto sighed. Just another pity conversation? She had already had enough of those… "I don't entirely know… I can't say for certain if he's even gone. At first, I thought so… but now I'm not so sure."
"You believe that he's still out there?" Mitsuru questioned.
"Perhaps…" Naoto nodded, "It's not very likely, I know… But it's not impossible either."
Mitsuru folded her arms and looked off to the side, "Then… I suppose this is something you need to know. It might not have occurred to you, perhaps because you don't have the same sensing abilities that Rise and my Personas both share… but if you did, you would have noticed that a few Personas within your group have been… displaced. Actually, I get the feeling that Rise noticed it already…"
Naoto tilted her head to one side, "What do you mean by displaced? Who's?"
"To start… there's Kanji's. There is also mine. A number of old friends of mine, such as Akihiko's… And now, there is yours…" Mitsuru answered, "Simply put… our Personas do not exist within us anymore."
Naoto was perplexed. Her own case made sense… since Kage couldn't succeed at the challenge of living in the human world after being pulled from her. But Kanji's and Mitsuru's? "I don't understand… what happened to your Personas? Also, I thought that Kanji had his the last time we visited?"
"They passed on… as any living thing eventually does. You might have wondered why there are no adult Persona users in existence… The truth is that one's Persona simply doesn't live that long. Shadows live almost eternally… but once they have taken a vow to become your Persona, they greatly limit their lifespan in order to protect your own. It usually happens when one 'comes of age', so to speak. Your Persona simply… slips away," Mitsuru explained, "And it usually happens without notice. For me, I wouldn't have noticed at all without all this technology surrounding me. There just came a day when I learned that Artemisia wasn't within me anymore. For Kanji, I can imagine that his Persona passed away quite recently, and most likely after we absorbed that haze out of your bodies. As for whatever happened to yours… I can already say that whatever it was, it was quite inevitable."
Naoto squinted her eyes with disbelief, "So that's it? Let's ignore the state I found Kage in… Ignore the fact that he was plugged into my computer, ignore the fact that Sousei snuck into the estate after him, and most of all… ignore the fact that Kage might have been the one who killed Kanji's mother two months ago…"
Mitsuru's eyes widened a little. She wasn't aware of that last fact.
Naoto continued, "Ignore that entire setup… and let's say that he just conveniently died? Of old age? That's all it was?" she was in perfect disbelief, "No… Something else happened yesterday, something miraculous. I can't say what… But I know for a fact that Kage was in no way showing any signs of … dying."
Mitsuru closed her eyes, "Yes, he was… Very clearly."
Naoto shook her head, "When?"
"You saw the state that Sukuna Hikona was in… You saw how adamant he was about staying in his Shadow form and how much it hurt him to switch out of it. I saw the whole thing over our webcam calls… That tattered, broken Persona of yours was definitely dying."
That was true… Both times, when Naoto first saw Yamato Takeru and Sukuna Hikona, they were both in incredible pain. The ooze that dripped from Yamato's helmet… that was blood. He was internally bleeding. And the state that Kage was in after temporarily transforming into Sukuna Hikona… he had passed out after mere minutes of taking on that form. It had never occurred to Naoto, but only now did she realize how odd it was that Kage couldn't handle his Persona form, yet Yu, Chie and Rise were all able to gracefully equip theirs. "So…" Naoto lowered her head, "You really think that he's gone…?"
Mitsuru sighed, "I'm only commenting on what I saw… But the likelihood of your little Kage still being alive is… almost unreasonable. I don't know what happened in that room with him and Sousei, but I can assume that it was likely what pushed him off the edge. I… simply don't want you to have false hope, especially considering how important the next few days are going to be for you."
Naoto looked up with another tilted head.
Mitsuru smiled faintly, "Two days from now… isn't it going to be your-?"
"I'm not celebrating it…" Naoto answered bluntly, "Not after all this… Not without Kage."
"Hm… I'm sorry…" she tilted her head down, "Maybe you're already regretting hearing this conversation… or maybe it was exactly what you needed to hear. Either way, all I can do is sympathize over your loss and wish you the best of luck tomorrow."
Naoto looked up at the other woman with a sharp stare, a hint of bold assertiveness in her eyes. 'Best of luck'…? What arcana did this woman think she was taking to? "No… I have no regrets," Naoto answered powerfully, arms crossed in front of her, "For anything…"
With that, Naoto turned to leave the room and made a fast paced walk back towards the lobby. When she reentered the room where everyone was waiting, she quickly hit a hand on Sousei's backside and issued them all to follow, "Rev up your engine, Wheels, we're making a bee-line towards Tsuge tonight."
The rest of the group looked up, some with groaning tired faces.
Naoto quickly looked over her shoulder at her tired friends, "We'll sleep when this is over. But not right now…" she spoke, stepping forcefully out the door. Her voice whispered aggressively low, "You're wrong, Mitsuru… Whether you believe it or not, I'm finding that damn miscreant of a Shadow tonight."
Pushed back onto the chilly, windy highway without the relief that they would be returning home to sleep, a number of people within the group felt extreme exhaustion during the ride back to Yagokoro. Most of all were Touko and Kanji, but Kanji at least had the benefit of riding on Sousei behind Naoto. If he had to nod off, then at least he wasn't the one driving. Still, a motorcycle was the last thing anyone wanted to fall asleep on.
Surprisingly, the rest of the Investigation Team showed perfect mental alertness. When they all came to realize this, Rise figured that anyone with an awakened Persona was probably being nurtured by their inner-deity's energy. It was indeed a strange feeling, having all of these psychological benefits in the real world and not just the TV. But if it helped, then it was worth it. The ride back to Yagokoro would take the team hours, and any small energy boost was a plus. Having left Tatsumi Port Island around seven-o-clock, it would be almost midnight by the time they returned.
Tracking down the specific building they were looking for wasn't a difficult feat. Mitsuru had already confirmed days earlier that the signal interrupting the SSWs systems was coming from a seemingly impoverished business building. At the same time, whenever there was android movement, they all seemed to be flocking back towards that building like worker ants to an anthill. Unfortunately, they never moved for very long, so it was impossible to survey exactly what they were doing, but it was at least obvious where they were going.
When the Investigation Team entered onto the building's property, they made their way into the parking lot with extreme caution. How many SSWs were watching them right now…? Sousei was able to register that a few dozen were in the local area, but none were activated. Realizing this, he suggested that maybe the team had come at a good time… or a bad time. If it was too late at night for the SSWs to be tampered with, then maybe Tsuge wasn't even here. The lights in the building's lobby were on, however, and there was nothing uninviting about the atmosphere. They would just have to find out for themselves… Taking parking spots at the edge of the lot where they were blind to the reception area, the team finally dismounted. Awkwardly.
Touko immediately fell onto all hands and knees once she had her bike braced, practically kissing the pavement. Everyone else hobbled with rump pains and tried to stretch out the kinks in their legs after the tedious travel. One long distance drive had been enough… Three in one day was just fiendish. Though, as expected, Naoto was the first to compose herself and she impatiently walked off towards the building's entrance.
Kanji quickly jogged up beside her and put a hand on her shoulder, "Wait, yer seriously going to just walk on in…?"
"Do you have a better plan?" Naoto turned to look at him, "This isn't a very large building, but it's obviously run by a decent number of staff members. It is possible that the people here don't even know what their servers are being used for… Think of it that way, and I'm sure I can get someone to squawk once I announce that the recent accidents in Yagokoro are being pinpointed to their location."
Kanji frowned, "So you're giving away our motives that quickly?"
"I have to… If I'm the first person here, then this company should consider itself lucky," Naoto answered, "They'll trust a private investigator… In fact, they may even let me look around. I said that they're lucky because… I call the shots on whether or not I bring the police into this. I don't have to… if they cooperate."
"Then what about the rest of us?" Yosuke spoke up, "We don't have that kind of status."
"No, you wouldn't be able to just walk in… However," Naoto turned to Rise, "With your Persona, are you able to keep tabs on my location?"
"I can follow you through and through," Rise nodded. Mitsuru would be proud… it would be like Tartarus again, or perhaps the TV world's dungeons.
"Then it's simple. If I locate Tsuge or the SSWs, then I will signal to you where I am. If the situation gets dire, then I will let you know if I require your assistance," Naoto closed her eyes, "… I know this sounds selfish… but I hope that won't be the case. The police may be better fitted to handle the situation in this building. But… on certain circumstances, you should all know what kind of situations would require your help."
"So then, we're sitting ducks until you get yourself cornered," Kanji leered his eyes. He was both disgruntled with this plan, and very, very tried.
"Kanji-kun… I… I do think it might be best if you and Touko stay here where it's safe… Or at the most, return home and try to get some rest," Naoto suggested. She knew that request wasn't going to be met positively.
The boy clicked his tongue, "Don't be stupid, I ain't going anywhere."
"But you don't have your Persona…" Naoto spoke up.
"Then maybe I outta spend this time I've got down here trying to summon the old bastard up, shouldn't I? It'll be fine, Rokuten Maoh hasn't failed me yet. But don't you dare think that you can put me on the bench after everything we've been through now," he demanded.
Naoto knew how headstrong Kanji was… and how impossible it would be to make him see this her way. Especially because of the things she knew… Things that she really didn't want to tell Kanji right now. Her eyes glanced over to Rise with a subtle beg of 'don't let him do anything stupid'. Rise understood… She was the only other person in the group right now who knew that Kanji's Persona was long gone.
"Then… as long as I have everyone's trust," Naoto concluded. She had spent far too much time during her drive back to Yagokoro thinking over the situation. She didn't want to slow down now… "I'll be going, then…"
When Naoto turned away, the rest of the group retreated from the parking lot, lay flat behind the backside of the building and tried to remain inconspicuous. They found a nice location that, unless you were being directly searched for, you wouldn't easily be noticed. Especially in the darkness of the night. That fact made it a little difficult to see exactly where they were, though. There were a few garbage dumps, air vents and a doorway, but any signs were impossible to read. The team tried to conceal itself around the dumps and vents so that they wouldn't be seen if someone decided to come out through the door, but holding their position got gradually more difficult. There was a horrible, off putting scent in the air.
"What kind of garbage is this…?" Yukiko spoke up, an arm covering over her nose.
"Smells like Mystery Food X has a solid contender…" Yosuke answered, which was immediately responded to with a jab in the gut from Chie's elbow. No Yosuke was complete without self-deserved physical pain. "Ghk-…!"
"Ssh…" Sousei whispered.
Rise was trying to concentrate with Kanzeon, and through the rancid smell wasn't helping, she eventually got a lock on the building and its inhabitants. There weren't too many people in it this late at night, as expected… Soon enough, she was able to distinguish Naoto, who was still in the lobby room trying to weed her way into the complex. Following the detective's movements, Rise watched as Naoto conversed with the receptionist, and then moments later, took a seat within the same room. Rise blinked, "Well… she isn't getting herself kicked out. That's a good sign…?"
"What's going on?" Chie asked.
"I think she's waiting…" Rise spoke.
In the meantime, Kanji stood up straight and folded his arms before him. So far so good, it sounded like… In the meantime, he tried just as much to focus on his Persona as Rise was doing. Unlike her, though, he couldn't seem to communicate with the creature… which was unsettling. If Naoto did eventually need his help, what would he be able to do? Out of all the people here… why did he have to be the one with this problem? He knew it was egotistical, but… if anyone should be protecting her, he felt like it was supposed to be him. Frustrated by his incompetence, Kanji clenched his eyes shut and tapped his foot against the ground. It tapped repeatedly into a puddle… a rather odd, sticky puddle.
"Eh?" Kanji opened his eyes and looked down. Thanks to the brilliant light that Kanzeon couldn't help but emit, the surrounding area became a little more visible. The puddle he was thumping into wasn't clear and shiny like water should have been. It was dark, reddish, and even a little thick. Quickly stepping away from it, Kanji lowered his arms and followed the trail of the puddle. The same reddish liquid was pooled and dragged towards the doorway from the field that surrounded this side of the building. "O-oi… is anyone else seeing this?"
The rest of the team immediately stared downwards and took notice of the crimson trail, their stomachs getting caught in their throats when they considered the possibility of what it could be. "Blood…" Yu spoke up, resting a hand under his bangs in apprehension.
Her fingers shaking, Rise held tightly onto the visor that Kanzeon provided for her and did a thorough scan of the rest of the building; through the doorway, and through the entirety of the building's topmost floors. She bit her lower lip and stuttered when she tried to speak, "There are people beyond that door… A lot of unconscious people…" she spoke out, lifting her head upwards, "And up there… I fear that there is a Shadow in this building."
The ticking of the clock in the lobby room was the only thing keeping Naoto from being fully focused. The receptionist had already revealed that Tsuge was a member of this company simply by recognizing his name. However, he was out at the moment… How expected. In his place was another individual who was apparently of 'equal status', and he would be available to escort Naoto throughout the building. When she started hearing the heavy footsteps of another coming closer, she looked up and caught the attention of a grey haired man.
He stepped forwards with one hand folded in front of him and the other stuck out in greeting, "Good evening, Miss Shirogane. I am Isamu Miyagi, a close acquaintance of Tetsuma Tsuge."
Naoto stood and shook the offered hand, "A pleasure to meet you. I apologize for coming so late… There are plenty of things that I would like to discuss with you about your facility." Isamu… She knew this name. Sousei had mentioned it once before, though he wasn't certain if he had the right name at the time. Either way, that was the name of the individual who had supposedly replaced Naoto on the Shadow Extraction case. The one that Sousei had eavesdropped on and caught Tsuge discussing bizarre matters with.
"Then let us walk," he suggested, leading Naoto out of the lobby room. Once they were at a good distance down the hallway and into an elevator, he continued "I do not wish to alarm you… but I am very well aware of why you are here."
Naoto quickly looked up.
Isamu nodded, "We have something in common, you and I … Many things, in fact. We both work under Tsuge-san as private investigators and harbor an indescribable interest in the recent paranormal activity that's plagued our city these past couple of weeks. The difference between us is that I currently have Tsuge's trust… and you do not."
"I want to see this case come to an end just as much as you do, Miyagi-san," Naoto announced, "I do not see where and why Tsuge may have benefited from replacing me. I've come very close to realizing the reality of what Shadow Extracting is… Does he not trust that I will put this case to rest?"
"No… it's quite the opposite, really. You took an added measure somewhere during your investigation that forced Tsuge to disband his team and reconstruct it with only those who he knew that he could trust… Those that he knew would cooperate with him. The truth of the matter is that you wish to see this case come to an end…" the elevator chimed and opened when it reached the desired floor, "… but we do not. The things that you have learned should never become public knowledge. This case… it must be swept under the rug and forgotten."
Naoto balled her hands into little fists, "What added measure…!? You speak as if you know how severe this case is, yet you're not going to do anything about it?" she wanted so desperately to mention that real human lives were at stake, but instead, she merely muttered and tried to hold it back. How much did they actually know…?
"You killed someone…" Isamu looked down at her, "I believe his name was Goro Yagi?"
Naoto felt the blood in her face drain, "But… the cause of death was…"
"Compression… gas… shriveled organs and mental instability…? I know very well about it, I was there when the autopsy happened. Quite a sight… and certainly something that no human could do, right…?" Isamu shook his head, leading Naoto further down the hallway, "Don't go thinking that you're the only one who's aware of what Shadow Extracting is. How it spreads… what it does to the human body… and who started it all…"
Naoto knew the first two answers to that string of information, but the last one…? "You know who started it…?" she questioned, eyes widening.
"Why… you did," Isamu laughed softly, "Why else would Tsuge replace such a pretty little genius mind such as yours? You can feign ignorance for as long as you like… or perhaps you really were unaware all this time. But the one who's been at fault for everything is you… You're quite lucky that the only ones who know of this are Tsuge and I. You might say that we're… showing a bit of mercy on our end. We know your tactics… and we also know that you're completely unarmed and incapable of any further harm from this point on. I'd very happily let you go with a simple smack on the wrist at this point. There's nothing else you can do, anyways."
Naoto clenched her teeth together, "Where is all of this coming from…? Tsuge is clearly hiding information from you, Miyagi-san… I know very well that he's been using this facility to breach security at Tatsumi Port Island. Can you honestly say that you know nothing about that?"
Isamu stopped and turned towards her, "I most certainly can. Why are you speaking of Tatsumi Port Island…?"
"The Kirijo Group…" Naoto answered, watching as Isamu's confident expression changed, "He used to work there… and I'm almost beginning to suspect that you may have at some point as well. With what knowledge you know…"
"… That was a long time ago. We've severed ties with that facility for good… There should be no such remnants within this building," Isamu looked away.
"You got back your little pet, didn't you?" Naoto walked in front of the man and forced him to stay on topic, "You've got a Shadow here, don't you?"
Isamu stared down at her with his piercing eyes, a grin slowly crawling upon his face, "Well… that escalated rather quickly, wouldn't you say?" he smiled, "I wonder how you came to suspect that… You must have come quite a ways to figure that out. Or perhaps you've got some friends in high places… either way, I am going to denounce any evidence that you've got that might suggest that we've been invading Kirijo's precious 'security'…"
"You're just going to keep handing over information on a silver platter, aren't you? You seem to understand exactly what I'm saying… You know what Shadows are, and what the Kirijo Group deals with… You're aware of all of this, and yet you're still going to deny having connections to them?" Naoto shook her head. Isamu was right; this debate was escalating very quickly… Each time they spoke, they amazed each other with how much they knew and how integrated all of it was. "You must know what the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons are… They've been signaled towards this building multiple times now. Someone, somewhere in your facility, has them under complete control. If it's not you, Miyagi-san… then it most definitely has to be Tsuge. After all, you're the only two knowledgeable ones in this company, aren't you? You just said so yourself…"
Isamu stood still, looking genuinely perplexed. He was able to perfectly follow her train of thought… until she started mentioning the interference with the SSWs. At that point, his brow raised and his eyes shifted with thought. "Tsuge wouldn't do something like that under my nose…" he spoke with authentic confusion. "How do you know about all this?"
Naoto wasn't about to reveal Mitsuru's involvement in all of this. "I own an Anti-Shadow Suppression Unit, don't you know? You must have seen him around the station… Sousei Kurogami."
"Yes…" Isamu looked up.
"He's perfectly capable of tracking down his fellow androids. His brothers and sisters, so to speak…" Naoto spoke, "And they've been on the move… here, towards this very building."
Isamu lowered his head and continued to think.
"Now then…" Naoto continued, "Are you still convinced that it was me who started all of this?" It had to be Tsuge…! That rotten man… he would lie to his own companions just to get his way, wouldn't he?
"Thoroughly convinced…" Isamu answered.
Naoto rolled her eyes and hissed through her teeth once. How far gone was this man?
Isamu looked back up, "Do you want to see it then…? I said I knew why you were here… and I'm holding my ground on that statement. You came here to see the Shadow, didn't you?"
Right on the money… "Please."
"Then follow me… We're already on the right floor," he spoke. Indeed, from the very beginning, Isamu knew that the conversation was going to come to this. "You'll have to pardon his appearance… If my suspicions are correct, then it's been quite a few months since you've last met."