A/N As promised, here's this week's chapter and as always (usual I should say) the next chapter will be posted next week.
Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or its characters and I make no money off of this.
Chapter 11
July 22nd, Tokyo: Office of the SIU Director
"…you may give your report, Detective Shirogane," Tachibana muttered with chagrin.
The mentioned young woman stepped forward with the cheerful energy of a doctor giving a patient a terminal diagnosis. In the background, Yu was not much better, though at least he had the privilege of staying silent and getting his thoughts in order.
"As of this morning, a number of kidnapping incidents were perpetrated over the past two days. Security camera evidence has confirmed the involvement of the men in white masks in no shortage of thirty-two instances of a person being abducted. While this behavior is anomalous, all evidence suggests that they are indeed the group of criminals we are perusing."
A silence gripped the room as the director rubbed his temples. Just hearing the number of individuals that were known to be kidnapped was mind-blowing to say the least.
"Thirty-two," said the Director is disbelief. "Thirty-two that we know of. Do you two know how many people are kidnapped in Japan annually?"
"Around two people for every million, so thereabouts of two hundred and fifty," answered Yu solemnly.
"Right on the nose," Tachibana muttered. "The monthly average is around twenty-one for all of Japan. We've managed to see that number surpassed over two days in a single city by one single group. And with not a single lead on where the victims were taken."
"Sadly, yes, it appears that way for the moment," Naoto admitted. "Additionally, we do know that each of the victims that we are aware of were all young women between the ages of eighteen to twenty-three."
The Director visible rolled his eyes as if to say the information was about as far from comforting as it could get—in fact, as he himself was the father of a girl in her second year of high school, it actually made him feel worse. It was obvious he was about to make a snide remark along the same lines, although he held himself back and appeared to regain a calmer demeanor.
"Sorry, I shouldn't let my sour mood get the better of me," Tachibana stated apologetically. He turned his eyes towards his young protégé. "They vanished without a trace, yes? Wherever could they have gone, I wonder?"
Before saying anything, Yu reached into his pocket before tossing something towards his superior. The Director caught it easily and noticed it to be the flash drive he'd given him a few days prior. They shared eye contact for only a moment, though it conveyed everything that was needed.
"…I suppose in this case, you needn't explain," Tachibana thought aloud.
His expression was far softer now than it had been when the conversation had started. One would almost say he was relieved. He waved them off respectfully, knowing full-well that his ability to help in the matter was rather limited.
All he cared about was that the kidnappings came to a crashing halt, and seeing their determination as they left his office, the Director believed he had nothing to worry about.
Down the hallways the detective-lawyer duo walked in comfortable silence, at least until they were outside of earshot from anyone else.
"Yu, does Director Tachibana know about Inaba?" Naoto couldn't help but ask.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because it would explain his behavior up until this point. Why else would he give you the information that he did regarding the Phantom Thieves? And why else would he appear so relieved when you returned it just now?"
"The answer is yes and no," replied Yu with a small chuckle. "He considers Inaba to be another 'otherworldly' phenomenon. He also assumes that I was involved as well."
"He has good intuition, which I suppose I should expect from the Director of the SIU," Naoto mused. "I'm thankful for his understanding given it makes our jobs easier. However, we'll need to figure out exactly our next steps."
In what had to be a prime example of impeccable timing, the two received a message in the join group chat that came courtesy of Futaba. She had mentioned a potential breakthrough and had called everyone who was available to Leblanc as soon as was possible.
"And just like that, we have our next steps," Yu mused.
"Presumably," Naoto remarked. She stared at her phone, clearly puzzled. "Just what could her breakthrough be? You don't think they went into the Metaverse on their own recently, do you?"
"What? No, of course not," answered Yu. "She probably just had some luck with that thing she nabbed from the truck in the Metaverse the other day. Probably from one of the transports the Shadows were using."
"Ah, yes, of course. That must be it. The—wait, what?!"
Naoto, stunned and in dire need of answers, turned to her partner to demand them. He however was casually walking forward as if what he said was common knowledge.
"H-Hey, get back here!"
Yongen-Jaya: Café Leblanc, Later that Morning…
The bell to Leblanc gave off its characteristic chime as Yu and Naoto entered the quant little café. Sojiro turned to give them a proper greeting, although found himself in almost stunned silence when his eyes landed on Naoto's frightening visage.
"I take it everyone is upstairs?" Naoto asked, her voice even in spite of her expression.
"Y-Yes, go on up," Sojiro replied.
"Thank you."
The blue-eyed detective made her way to the staircase, wasting no time whatsoever of further pleasantries. Her partner in contrast passed Sojiro with an apologetic look gracing his features.
"Sorry, she's not in the best of moods," Yu stated.
"Pfft, no kiddin'?" asked the shopkeeper facetiously.
With that he darted forwards and caught up to Naoto, making a point of ensuring she did not enter the attic without him. His worries were soon proven to be incredibly accurate.
"Ah, Yu-san, Naoto-san, wel…"
Haru's pleasant greeting froze in its tracks the second she, and evidently everyone else, noticed the look that was present on Naoto's face. Those present included every member of the Phantom Thieves alongside Yukiko, Yosuke, Kanji, and Teddie. Each, save one, was in a stated of frightened silence—even and perhaps especially Teddie in what had to be a first.
Ironically however, the target of the young woman's ire was the one person that was too preoccupied to notice. Futaba still had her head buried in her laptop from her seated position on Ren's bed.
"Oh, hey you guys! Now I can—woah," Futaba said with a grimace. "What happened to you, Naoto-san? You doin' okay?"
Just as it seemed her blood had reached a boiling point, Yu placed a hand on her side. She glanced at him over her shoulder, noticing in his steely-gray eyes that he was all but begging her to let it go for the time being. Though it took everything that she had, in her heart of hearts, she hadn't the strength to turn him down when he was so sincere.
"…I-I'm fine," spoke Naoto, forcing a smile, fake as it was. "In any case, you had something you wanted to share with us?"
"You bet!" Futaba cheered energetically.
The bespectacled computer genius produced a device that no one—outside of the two Wild Card users—had seen before. Though confused as a whole, no one bothered to say anything given they expected an explanation.
"This is a transmission device that I found when we were searching those trucks in the Metaverse the other day."
"…which you neglected to inform us of," stated Naoto pointedly.
"She wasn't sure she'd get a chance to take a look herself if she spoke up at the time," Ren interjected, drawing a few curious looks from the members of the group present. "She also assumed it'd be faster this way, and since she seems to have figured something out, I'd say she was probably right."
"I figured it'd be something like that," Yu remarked.
"Wait, you two knew about this?" Makoto uttered.
"Not really. In my case, I just happened to notice her walking around with it when we were together at Destinyland the other day. I just gathered the rest from introspection."
"Same here, though I did talk to her about it that night when we got back to Leblanc," added Ren.
The two leaders of the team were now on the receiving ends of glares from their respective strategists. In both cases, it was obvious they were annoyed about being left out of the loop; that Futaba had achieved some success was inconsequential.
"Admittedly, I can understand your reasoning. However, in the future, please at least mention something like this instead of keeping it to yourself," Naoto spoke in a firm tone. "And for the record, I'd very likely have allowed you to examine the device for a brief period had you asked. I'm far from unreasonable."
"Yeah, I get that. I know now how cool all of you guys are, but that wasn't until after we hung out at Destinyland, and I was having so much fun that afterwards I forgot—you know what, not the point!" She shook her head in an attempt to get back on track. In an instant, she rushed over to her laptop and placed it on the table they had set up at the room's center. "Take a look at this and tell me what you see."
A quick glance at the screen revealed rather ordinary information. Characteristics like age, sex, height, a name and hobbies all appeared in sequential order.
"They almost look like a random profile you'd fill out on some website," Ann thought aloud.
"Yes, exactly!" Futaba exclaimed. Grinning madly, she went on. "I had originally thought this thing was some kind of transmitter, but it isn't. It's on the receiving end, and what it's receiving is information that's been datamined from a little-known social media app."
"So, what, this thing is taking all this info in?" Kanji asked.
"Yes, but not just that. It's running each user through some kind of algorithm and parsing them out to identify likely candidates." Futaba's expression became a bit more serious as she reached the bottom-line. "Basically, this isn't a list of profiles. It's a list of targets."
The group at large understood the implications. It was obvious that the men in white masks had been kidnapping people with the intent on experimenting on them to create Persona users. To what purpose, they didn't know. However, now they at least did know that they weren't taking people at random.
"Y'know, now that I take a closer look, the information here is a bit more than I'd expect to see on some app profile," Yosuke remarked. "What app are they getting this data from?"
"Jeanie," replied Futaba. "Which makes sense given how wide-spread that app is being used recently here in Tokyo. But the scary thing is just how much information they're managing to collect on people. A lot of this information isn't even what you'd find on a user profile. It's like just basic information gives it everything it needs to make a book on your entire life. It can find employment history, marital status, your relatives—you name it, I'll bet they've got it. It's some real next-level stuff."
"What about your location?" Makoto asked.
"Yes and no," answered Futaba, scratching her head as if unsure of how to phrase the answer. "The app can track user activity, so if someone is using it, then yes. That only goes for the company that made it, though. I'm not sure if that information gets picked up by this device. If the user posts, then that becomes public in most cases, so I guess in a way you sort of can?"
Pieces of the puzzle regarding the methods of the white-masked criminals were quickly coming together. However, before anyone could even react to the revelation, Futaba had one thing she needed to get off of her back. Thus, she turned to Yusuke, directing at him an almost taunting look.
"Told you they were using that app to spy on people."
"I fail to see how that is relevant."
"More to the point," interjected Makoto, "do you suspect the apps creators to have a hand in this, Futaba?"
"I did at first, but I'm gonna say no on that one. As best I can tell, this device is directly leeching off of the app's datamining repository. Since I could barely figure that out, it wouldn't shock me if the company that made it didn't even have a clue as to what's going on."
"But why Jeanie and not, like, Lime or Facebook or somethin'?" Kanji wondered aloud.
"Sheer amount of data is my guess. Having hacked into both of those companies before, I can confirm they ain't got nothin' on Jeanie," Futaba replied, sounding almost impressed. "I'm assuming they have a skilled enough hacker to the point that they could take their pick. Their still exists a small chance the company itself is behind this, but like I said before, I doubt it…"
"It's probably best that for the moment we refrain from informing them," Makoto stated, clearly deep in thought. "Telling them that they've a breach in their network can only go one of two ways. If they're guilty, I don't even need to explain why going to them would be a mistake. If, however, they're innocent, then they'll in all likelihood scramble immediately to plug the hole in their system."
"Which would scare off the White Masks and potentially chase them underground, or at least more so," Yukiko reasoned.
"Precisely what I was thinking."
Most everyone seemed to agree with her sentiment. A certain ace detective, however, was busy connecting the dots in her head and incorporating this new information with her working theory.
"Yu, do you remember what we spoke about earlier this morning?" Naoto abruptly inquired.
"Hm? Yes, of course. About the victims we've rescued already, right?"
"Yes, exactly." She faced the broader group, sensing their curiosity. "I spoke to a number of people who were familiar with the victims and their families, believing that I could identify a pattern as to why these people, specifically, were taken. I believe I was able to do so."
Naoto went down the short list of four victims that they'd recovered up until that point. The first, Akane Kirio, in all likelihood had a father who resorted to physical abuse. The second, Hayato Tsubasa had recently come out as a homosexual and was dealing with a number of interpersonal issues as a result. And finally, the two girls they'd recovered the previous day appeared to be dealing with drug abuse in their immediate family and bullying, respectively.
"…in short, each individual that we've rescued thus far has had a significant source of psychological stress plaguing their lives. As small as that sample size is, I believe it's safe to assume whatever algorithm they're using identifies targets on that basis," Naoto concluded.
"Which makes sense if their goal is to create Persona users since severe emotional distress always seemed to be a prerequisite," reasoned Yu. He turned to the Phantom Thieves present. "I take it your awakenings were about the same?"
The awkward looks that each of the teenagers gave off provided an answer.
"I also believe the demographic of the targets now makes sense since Jeanie's user-base is primarily young females for the time being," Naoto added.
"Sense or not, this is getting pretty eff'd up," stated Ryuji. "They got a laundry list of who knows how many people they can choose to take whenever they want. Just thinkin' about it is pissin' me off."
"I know how you feel, but we still don't know where to look."
Ann's comment was a somber and rather depressing reminder of where they currently stood. Naturally they could just go into the Metaverse and attempt to disrupt their activities to the best of their abilities, but the truth was even that had its limits.
Thirty-two people were kidnapped the previous night. Even if time was rewound and they had done their best, it was likely they couldn't have saved all of them even as they were hauled away to the Metaverse. Until they cut off the head of the snake, people would continue to be taken and made to suffer for the sake of some unknown cause.
To that end, Yukiko abruptly turned to the resident computer expert, asking, "All they're using this for is to identify potential candidates to become Persona users, right?"
"Hm? Well, yeah, at least from what we know so far."
"Then if we know what it's looking for, why not use that to our advantage? One of us can act as bait and be taken to the Metaverse so the rest of us can track them."
The group almost immediately took to the idea. At the very least, it was the closest thing they had to a plan to deal to find the base of operations for their enigmatic foe. All they'd need would be a tracking device of some kind as an insurance policy on the off-chance that Rise, Futaba, Teddie, or Morgana would be unable to follow their trail in the other world.
"That's quite the idea," praised Yusuke, "but who among us should serve as bait?"
"Well…" Ann began in an uncertain tone.
"Wait, you?!" Ryuji exclaimed in shock. "I mean, don't get me wrong, you've got issues, but I got my doubts they'd see you as a target."
"Shut up! I wasn't volunteering, you ass!" Ann growled. "I was going to point out that I already use the app and I haven't been kidnapped even though I'm already a Persona user."
"Same here," added Rise."
"…and neither of them are on this list, either," Futaba remarked.
"But like I said, it ain't gotta be her, right?" Ryuji mused.
A quick glance around the room revealed a few faces that were almost guilty in nature.
"Truth be told, I also…" Haru muttered.
"Me too," Kanji begrudgingly admitted. "Same with Ted."
"Oh, wait, I also have the app."
"Yukiko?!" Yosuke exclaimed.
"It might just be easier to ask if anyone doesn't have the app already."
Ren had meant that purely as a joke, though to his immense surprise, Queen awkwardly raised her hand. To say he was shocked was an understatement.
"…really?" he asked in disbelief.
"I-It's a super useful app!" Makoto stated defensively.
"Aaaand none of them are on here," Futaba added.
Although it was of concern that over half the people present were using an app that was connected to kidnappings, the primary issue was, ironically enough, that they were not being identified as potential victims. It seemed to be the collective thought of the group that this would end up being the case for all of them should they use the app.
"Maybe you can make a fake profile?" suggested Kanji.
"The Jeanie profile itself isn't the issue," Futaba replied with a defeated sigh. "I'd need to create and plant an astronomical amount of other information on the fake identify I would create. To do that correctly and in a way that wouldn't raise any eyebrows would take time, the kind of time we ain't got right now."
"So… what now?" Yosuke wondered aloud.
"Tough to say," remarked Yu. Cupping his chin in thought, he added, "Finding someone to act as a lure outside of our group would be the next best option. However, that comes with its own risks, and it also would take quite a bit of time to identify them in the first place."
"We'd also need to explain the situation to them—Metaverse included. I'd imagine that alone would be a deal breaker in most cases," Naoto sighed.
Everything that had been raised were good points in their own right. The time it would take and the complexity of bringing in a layperson would likely prove to be too high a barrier. Hence, yet again, they seemed to be back to square one even with the new information they had.
One among them, however, was of a different mind.
"Actually, I think I may know someone that could help," Makoto spoke up.
Her words were a source of great confusion at first, though those closest to her quickly picked up on what she was about to suggest. It didn't seem like Queen herself was hesitant or worried, though the same could not be said for her teammates.
"Are you suggesting what I think you are?" Ren pressed warily. "It might work, but would you really be okay with that?"
Ryuji couldn't help but remark, "I mean I know she would probably be cool with it. She's—"
"I would ask that you explain yourself before speaking any further on the subject," Naoto cut in.
"We're talking about my older sister," Makoto replied. Though her answer appeared to greatly concern a few members of the Investigation team, she continued before they could interject. "You're all aware of what a Palace is and how we went about changing people's hearts by now. My sister was one of those Palace rulers that we encountered, however unlike the others, we did not steal her treasure and change her heart. While her heart did change of her own accord, I have a hard time believing that the algorithm wouldn't flag her."
"True, she's got stress for days, so there's no way the app'd miss her," Ryuji stated.
His rather crass comments earned him an elbow to the ribcage courtesy of Ann. Although she did owe him previously for his dig at her 'issues'.
"She's much better now," said Makoto, a bit of cheer making its way into her voice. "However, if this app does track personal history as well as Futaba says it does, I do find it hard to believe it wouldn't flag her as a target."
"I appreciate the thought, Makoto, but I don't want to ask you to risk your sister's well-being even if she would agree. We can just as easily find another way," Yu said reassuringly.
"Couldn't have said it better myself," said the raven-haired Wild Card user.
"I appreciate your concern," she admitted. "However, if my sister were to learn about the situation, she would in all likelihood insist on being used as our bait. That's just the type of person she is."
"Well, it's certainly the best option we have on the table," Naoto thought aloud.
Given that no one seemed to disagree, Makoto simply concluded, "Then we're in agreement. I'll bring my sister up to speed and let you know what she says."
"And I will go ahead and set up her profile so that when she agrees we're all set," Futaba stated.
"Scary kids…" Yosuke whispered to himself.
Outside the Tokyo District Court
Sae Nijima stepped out of the courthouse looking as calm and composed as ever. Her client, who stood near her side, was the polar opposite. Emotions of relief and disbelief were written all over the young man's face.
The seasoned lawyer could hardly blame him for that though. Less than an hour ago, he'd been facing down the barrel of a year in prison for a crime he didn't commit. He, unlike herself, didn't have the knowledge of the law or the judge to understand how the court would rule beforehand.
Needless to say, he had been found innocent by way of summary judgment—thus avoiding a prolonged court battle and making him an unequivocally free man.
As was predictable, his parents soon rushed over towards them and captured their son in a rather touching embrace. The mother had tears of joy streaming down her cheeks while the father was just barely managing to hold his back.
It was a rather touching sight to behold.
"I-Is it over? No more hearings? No chance of this being drawn out?" asked the mother, wiping away her tears even as still more fell from her eyes.
"Yes," replied Sae evenly, albeit with a small smile tugging at her lips. "In cases such as this that are so open-and-shut, the decisions tend not to reach any appellate court."
The mother buried her head into her son's chest and held him tightly, clearly relieved beyond description at hearing Sae's words. The father, for his part, broke from his embrace with his family and bowed deeply.
"Thank you, Nijima-san. You were everything we were promised and more," he stated solemnly.
"I'm just happy to be of service. Please, go enjoy your time as a family, I'm sure you're more than looking forward to it," Sae replied.
Nodding his head, the man went back over to his family before the three started to walk off in high-spirits. Seeing them hold onto one another as if they were afraid to let go was a sight for sore eyes, and a firm reminder to the young beauty why she'd chosen to be a lawyer in the first place.
To her surprise, the ringtone she had specifically tied to Makoto sounded off. She quickly picked up, curious as to what her sister could have possibly needed at such an obscure time.
"Makoto?" Sae asked confusedly.
"Yeah, hey sis."
"Is everything alright? It's rare for me to receive a phone call from you, let alone so randomly."
"Yes… at least mostly," answered the younger of the Nijima sisters. "There was actually something urgent I wanted to discuss with you. Do you have time for us to meet up for lunch?"
She took a single glance at her watch before replying, "Yes, I think I can make the time."
Yongen-Jaya: Sakura Household, Futaba's Room, Some Time Later…
The youngest member of the Phantom Thieves was placing the finishing touches on Sae Nijima's soon-to-be Jeanie profile. As she did so, each of her other comrades save for Makoto were hanging around in the interim.
"Hmm, I'm suddenly stricken with hunger," Yusuke offhandedly remarked.
"Gee, I wonder why?" Futaba muttered to herself. "Just sit tight for a few more minutes, okay? I'm almost done."
"By the way, Futaba, I gotta say, I don't know whether to be impressed or a little creeped out you know all that stuff about Sae-san," Ryuji admitted.
"I downloaded all that data from her personal computer, remember?" A cheeky grin crossed her lips. "I still have it, too. If I wanted, I could even find out what kind of underwear she likes to buy."
"For real?"
The excited nature of his voice prompted Ann to groan and Yusuke to shake his head in disappointment. Ren, conversely, stifled a chuckle.
"Your obsession with such vulgar trivialities never ceases to amaze me," Yusuke stated.
"Oh c'mon, the way I see it, that's a perfectly normal response," Ryuji said defensively.
"For a pervert," Ann countered.
"What? T-That ain't fair. Ren, back me up here—"
"Nice try, but I already tried that on Ren like half a year ago and he wasn't interested," said Futaba, confidently grinning even as she kept her eyes glued to her main monitor. "Ren doesn't give into temptation, unlike some others I could name."
"It is one of his more admirable qualities."
"What the eff, Yusuke?"
Any further talk on the subject of Ryuji being an unadmirable pervert went on hold as the group received a message from Makoto regarding her sister's cooperation. It seemed that Sae had accepted and that the 'mission' would be set to go on that very night.
"I gotta say, I saw that one coming," Ryuji chuckled.
"Pretty sure we all did," Ann remarked in agreement. "I still feel kinda guilty about it though."
Ren understood the sentiment since they were going to actively put someone else in danger. However, there was one thing that was worth pointing out.
"I get what you mean, but it is Sae-san we're talking about. If it was anyone else, I'd certainly be concerned, but here I don't think we have anything to worry about."
"…but, wouldn't—nah, you know what, never mind," Ryuji muttered.
"Cat got your tongue?" Morgana joked.
"Excuse me while I step outside to cringe," replied the blond-haired young man. "But for real, I was just thinkin'… ain't is possible Sae-san winds up with a Persona if she gets kidnapped?"
It was difficult to say exactly how everyone reacted to the question. One thing was certain, they were all far from shocked by the thought, almost as if each of them had already considered the possibility. The blue-eyed model among them was the first to confirm that fact.
"I thought the same thing," Ann admitted. "I mean, without her Treasure being taken, I always wondered what would happen with her Shadow. So, if she still has one, and these people get ahold of her and somehow force it out, then yeah, I'd think it would be possible. The thing is…"
"You didn't want to mention it in front of Makoto, right?" Ren mused.
"…yeah," she replied.
"It's the same for me," Ren stated.
Everyone seemed to nod in agreement, though their noticeably conflicted emotions left topic's originator quite puzzled.
"Uh, so… why do you guys look like it'd be the end of the world if you mentioned that earlier?" Ryuji couldn't help but ask. "I mean, if Makoto is any indicator, Sae-san would probably be a badass, right? So ain't it kinda a good thing if it does happen?"
Ann almost immediately crossed her arms and glared disapprovingly at the blonde in response. He couldn't have been more confused if he tried.
"W-What'd I do?"
"No need for the death-stare, Lady Ann. He probably just hasn't had enough time to realize it yet," Morgana chimed in.
"I agree, I'm sure he means well," said Haru cheerfully.
"Can somebody please explain this to me before my head blows up?!" Ryuji practically begged.
"Two things," began Ren, coming to his friends aid in his clear time of need. "First off, Sae-san is all Makoto has left as far as family goes. If you were in her shoes, would you be excited to know she'd then be entering the Metaverse putting their life on the line from that point forward? To be honest, I'm sure that if Sae-san knew what it was really like, she'd probably refuse to ever let Makoto out of her sight out of fear she'd ever set off into the Metaverse again."
"…okay, fair point," Ryuji answered, having no real retort. "What was the other thing?"
"We don't know exactly how the awakening process will go if it does happen," he replied. "You didn't see what Akane Kirio's was like, but as for Hayato Tsubasa—did it look like it was a pleasant experience for him?"
Just a moment of recollection had the image of a teenager curled up in pain seared into his mind. It was clear by his facial features that Skull had gotten the message.
"Those things are most likely very difficult for Mako-chan to consider, which is why none of us chose to bring it up I imagine," Haru mused. She then became noticeably downcast. "The trouble is, I have a hard time believing she hasn't already thought of those things already."
"Even if it does bother her, bringing it up would only make her worry all the more. Sensitivity in such a situation is key," Yusuke remarked.
"…kinda surprised to hear that coming from you, but I agree," Futaba said. "And I think everything will be fine. We'll just have to work extra-hard to keep Sae-san safe and sound!"
"On that we fully agree," Yusuke replied.
A/N With that, we're done with this chapter. It was definitely more of a filler/set-up for what is to come, but all the same I decided to cut it here for pacing reasons. Next chapter will be next week, so look forward to it!
Jeanie: Is the company guilty or not? Can't say, but in either case the data is harvested was the means by which the White Masks identified their prior targets. The little details regarding who they've saved/heard discussing it thus far fits the user base's demographic, though I'm sure there are quite a number of people that noticed that already and fully expected this reveal.
Sae: Obviously the plan set up in this chapter is more of a setup for her to take a more hands on role next chapter. Will she get a Persona? If she does, will it be vanilla style or does she get a Phantom Thief outfit? Who can say? Other than me, of course, because I ain't sayin' jack shit. All I can say is that I expect quite a few people to be surprised with the next chapter for more reasons than one.
Makoto's worry for Sae: I very easily could have written it to the point that volunteering Sae was a total flyover suggestion that didn't get questioned/thought over much by the group, though I didn't really want to do that. Their relationship as sisters and the last family each other have just makes me think that even if they have total faith in one another, there's still that nagging concern in the back of their mind when it comes to anything. I also felt the other Phantom Thieves would understand her worry/concern and I wanted to show that at least as a minor detail as to how well the group understands and cares for one another by this point. Other than Ryuji of course because he's both (I say this lovingly) a bit of an idiot and has low emotional IQ—though I will say he'd have gotten there eventually if given a bit more time xD.
Rise Absence: She's a popstar with a show coming up, so obviously she won't be able to make it on such short notice all the time. This kind of thing—i.e. being a mix and match for the group—will be consistent going forward based on who will be available at the time. This will change even more as summer ends etc. and the PT's go back to school. If ever there are smaller tasks in the Metaverse as well that need to get done, you'll see the same approach.