"So, not that I'm not glad to see you again, but I'm assuming that you didn't call me here just to catch up." Ren stated before slurping his lo mein noodles.
Sitting across the table from him, the silver-haired public defender shook her head. The two of them were currently in Tokyo's Chinatown eating at a small, family owned restaurant that had come at Sae's recommendation.
"I'm afraid not." She replied, a frown forming on her face. "Something…strange has been going on at my work as of late. I was thinking you might be able to help me shed some light on it."
Older sister to Makoto Niijima and long time ally of the Phantom Thieves, Sae Niijima was a good friend who had helped Ren out of several jams over the years. In fact, he would go so far as to say that she saved his life, though the same could be said of most of the Phantom Thieves as well. So when the text asking him to meet her in Tokyo came, Ren didn't hesitate to answer.
"Uh Sae, 'strange' is a bit of a general statement, don't you think? Don't get me wrong, I want to help however I can, but I'm going to need some more details first." Ren explained before grabbing a piece of chicken with his chopsticks and bringing toward his bag. A small furry head suddenly poked out of the side of the bag, biting down on the meat greedily before retreating back. Ren's cat, Morgana, if Sae recalled correctly.
"Well it first started a few weeks ago." She began. "My office had just brought in a new intern, an I.T. guy, early twenties, glasses, nothing to write home about. I didn't think anything of it until two days later. My boss tells the whole office that we're going to be using a new helper app to organize meetings and send files. The whole time, he can't stop singing his praises for the new guy, saying how amazing he is and how lucky we are to have him."
"Okay?" Ren raised an eyebrow, not understanding where this was going.
"My boss is the most hateful, self-absorbed man I know. I've worked at that office for four years now and he still thinks my name is Mai. And yet, now he's practically worshipping an intern who hasn't even worked there a week? It's almost like-"
"Like his heart was stolen?" Ren suggested.
"And it doesn't end there." She continued. "Over the course of the rest of the week it spreads. I go into the break room the next day, every one of my coworkers is talking about the new intern, not one of them has a negative thing to say about him. When I asked what was so special about him, they looked genuinely insulted before jumping to his defense. And it's only gotten worse since then, the office is practically forming a cult around this guy, and as far as I can tell, I'm the only one not affected by whatever's happening to them."
"Hmm." Ren thought about it for a moment. A soft meow then escaped from the bag, causing him to turn to it. "I know, I know. But it's too soon to jump to conclusions." He replied to his cat.
Makoto had explained to Sae that the cat was intelligent and apparently you could only hear its voice if you had been to the Metaverse, otherwise it just sounded like a normal cat to you.
Turning back to Sae, Ren inquired further. "Are you sure this guy doesn't have famous parents or something? Maybe he's set to inherit some wealth?"
Sae shook her head. "I ran a full background check on him. Koshiro Tanaka, nothing special about him. Average grades throughout high school, dropped out of college after his first semester, no prior work experience. His family is middle-class and he didn't seem to have any connections to anyone at the office prior to joining."
"Well, what's he like personally? Maybe this guy's just a cool dude and people like him."
"I've met him, and his personality's nothing to write home about either. He's clammy and awkward, but he sure seems to enjoy all the praise he's getting. Most notably, the last time I spoke to him, he kept asking me if I'd used the new app yet. In fact, that's what made me suspicious of it in the first place."
"And have you used it?" Ren inquired.
"I have, but I haven't experienced any strange symptoms like everyone else. Do you know what that could possibly mean?" Sae asked.
"Well, I'm not positive on anything right now, but I have a theory." He stated before a meow sounded from his bag."Okay, 'we' have a theory." He clarified. "Send me the link for the app. I know someone who can help look into it."
"Sakura?" Sae asked as she pulled out her phone to send the link.
From what she knew about Sojiro's adopted daughter, she was a certifiable genius when it came to tech and as one of the former Phantom Thieves, something like this sounded right up her alley.
"No actually, I've got someone else in mind. If this is what I think it is, she'll know right away and be able to help us out." Ren replied before putting his phone away. "Now we just need to wait to hear back."
Their meal finished, the two got up from their table and exited the restaurant. While walking through the Chinatown streets, they saw the sky beginning to turn orange as night approached.
"So, I hope you don't mind my asking, but…" Ren scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Why contact me? Your sister only lives like 10 minutes away and knows just as much about this stuff as me."
The silver haired woman let out a sigh before responding. "When Makoto told me she wanted to become a police officer, I was so…so…" She struggled to find the right word.
"Proud?" Ren suggested.
"Mortified." She corrected, turning to him. "After everything that happened with our dad, the struggle we went through growing up, I didn't understand why. Why would she want to follow the path that got him killed? That night we had our first fight since…well since you came along and changed everything." She turned to Ren before looking away, brushing back a strand of her hair.
"Are the two of you doing okay now?"
"Yeah, it took some time but we finally made up. As for why I contacted you in her stead…Look, I don't know everything about what it is you do as a Phantom Thief or whatever it is now, but I know it's dangerous. And if she's set on choosing either that or police work, being a cop sounds a bit less worrisome. If I can keep my sister out of harm's way, I'll do whatever is necessary."
"That must be hard for you." Ren pointed out. "Constantly having to worry for your sister's safety like that." He thought it best not to mention the Shadow attack in the street he and Makoto had fought off together a few weeks ago.
As the two continued to walk through the streets, they saw the streetlights begin to flicker on as the sun fell over the horizon. A group of children ran past them, kicking a ball before a woman's voice called out for them to come inside.
"Well, *ahem* Makoto isn't the only one I worry about, y'know." Sae stated, looking away to hide the shade of pink growing on her cheeks.
"What do you-?" *RING* *RING* *RING* He was unable to finish his question as his phone began to go off. Checking the caller I.D, a look of surprise crossed his face. "Huh, that was fast." He stated before answering on speaker.
"Where did you find this app?" The voice on the other end asked abruptly.
"Hey Ichinose, it's been a while. I'm good, thanks for asking. How's retirement treating you?" Ren replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"This is no time for games, where did you find the app?"
"An employee at my workplace created it." This time Sae took the opportunity to respond.
"Ren, who is that?" Ichinose asked impatiently.
"A friend." He replied simply. "Don't worry, she's in the know so you can speak freely. So, is this app what I think it is?"
"If you think it's a cheap knockoff of my EMMA, then yes, it is what you think."
"Are you sure?"
"I know my own work when I see it, Ren. From the looks of it, somehow this person got their hands on an early build of EMMA, slapped a new coat of paint on it and called it theirs." Ichinose stated, anger clear in her voice.
"If this app is essentially just EMMA, then that means there must be a Jail right? And a Monarch? So it should just be business as usual then, we just need to find the codeword and-"
"Actually, no." Ichinose replied. "Being an early build of the app, it doesn't have the safeguards that EMMA had built in. Meaning no codewords, no locks, none of that. All you should have to do is find the entrance and defeat the Monarch."
"Well, that's a nice surprise for once." Ren said with a smirk. "As for finding the entrance…"
"Here, I'll send you Sophia. She should be able to help with that. She's been asking to see you lately anyways."
"Uh, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you in Hawaii right now? We'd need Futaba's device to-"
"Actually, no." Ichinose replied again. "Sophia's been optimizing herself, now she's at the point that she can compress herself into a file small enough to fit in a text message. A text that I've already sent, she should be arriving…now."
"Hello!" A cheery voice called out from Ren's phone as an icon with blue eyes and red hair appeared on the screen. "I'm Sophia, humanity's companion!" An excited meow sounded from Ren's bag before Morgana poked out of the top. "Joker! Mona Mona! It's been forever!"
"Hey Sophia, long time no see." Ren smiled as he spoke to the A.I. "I've gotta say, I'm impressed that you can send yourself by text now. What's that like?"
"It was weeeirrrd!" Sophia replied, her tone not unlike an excited child's. "It was like I was in this tiny box, and then I went WHOOSH! And then I was here!"
"Umm, Ren?" Sae raised an eyebrow.
"Oh right! You two haven't met yet. Sae, meet Sophia, she joined the Phantom Thieves during that summer roadtrip a few years back. Sophia, this is Sae Niijima, she's a good friend and an amazing lawyer."
"Nice to meet you Ms. Niijima, I hope we work together w-*sniff* *sniff* *sniff* Joker! I smell a Jail!"
"Okay, guess it's showtime then. Lead the way."
The group walked throughout the city, following Sophia's directions as they traveled by bus and subway to reach the Jail's entrance. After more than half an hour of walking through the city, they finally stopped in front of an office building.
"It's here! The Jail entrance is here!" Sophia called out.
"Are you kidding me?" Sae crossed her arms. "This is my office building. If I'd known we were going here, we could've gotten here 20 minutes ago!"
"Sorry," Ren shrugged. "Cognitive psience isn't an exact…y'know science."
He held his hand out and, out of thin air, a green portal appeared in front of him, his hand disappearing from view as it entered.
"Well, I think we found the entrance." He retracted his hand before turning to Sae. "Okay, we'll take it from here, I'll contact you after-"
"What? No!" Sae protested. "Of course I'm going in with you."
"Uh what? Sae, I don't think you understand how dangerous the Metaverse can be."
"I can take care of myself." She replied, huffing as she crossed her arms again.
"Look, I'm sure you can, but aikido isn't going to cut it." As Ren spoke, Sae reached into her bag and pulled out a 9mm Glock pistol. "Uhh, you have a gun?"
"Yeah I have a gun, why is that surprising? You have a gun." She pointed out.
"I have a gun because I kill shadow monsters for a living. You're a defense attorney, what do you need a gun for?"
"Life is dangerous in the city, you can't always rely on aikido."
Ren placed his head in his palm, sighing before he relented. "Okay, you can come. But the second I think you're in real danger, I'm pulling you out. Got it?"
"Fair enough." Sae nodded and the two of them stepped in.
When they entered, Sae was immediately shocked to find that the world had changed completely. Night had turned to day and the city around them had become some kind of medieval fantasy kingdom.
"A c-castle!?" Sae's eyes widened in shock.
"Yeah." Ren nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry Ms. Niijima. Everyone gets disoriented the first time." A female voice said from behind.
"Huh? Who-" Turning around, Sae screamed out in surprise upon seeing the strange small red haired girl and, more importantly, the strange cat creature standing behind her. A brief panic attack and long winded explanation later, Sae had the basics of shadows and the Metaverse explained to her.
"Okay so, did any of that make sense to you?" Mona asked the public defender as the quartet walked toward the castle.
"Not much…" Sae replied, trying not to stare at the creature. "But you're saying that we just need to go into the castle, find Tanaka, and talk some sense into him?"
"We'll probably need to rough him up a bit first, but yeah, basically." Ren nodded. "And if you see any familiar faces, don't worry, they're not real, just cognitive versions of the people you know."
As they walked through the kingdom streets, they were surprised to find the townspeople staring at them, but unlike most shadows, they didn't attack. As they arrived at the drawbridge, they were even more surprised as it lowered for them, seemingly welcoming them in.
"Okaaay, it's usually not this easy. But we should keep our guard up nonetheless." Ren said before snapping his fingers. Suddenly, blue flames bursted out from his body. When the flames died out, Ren was wearing a large faded red trench coat and white mask resembling a bird with horns.
"Whoa." Sae stated simply, looking Ren-no, Joker, up and down.
"Pretty cool right?" He smirked. "But we can discuss it later, for now we need to-"
"My Lady!" A voice called from ahead of them. From out of the castle, a man in strange clothes ran toward them before stopping in front of them. "What are thou doing out here? How did thou leave the castle? Who is thine strange company?" He asked.
"..."
"My Lady?"
"Who? Me?" Sae asked in surprise.
Thinking quickly, Ren stepped forward to answer. "We were assigned to uh, to escort Our Lady into the town for uh, ye olde…groceries. We're the new hires, so that's why you probably haven't seen us around before now."
The man turned to Sae. "My Lady, is this true?"
"Um, yes." Sae nodded. "What he said…eth."
"Very well then, shall I escort you to the throne room? I'm sure that His Majesty wishes to see his favorite princess."
'Princess?' Sae's eyes widened. Turning to Ren, he mouthed the word 'Yes.' Taking the hint, Sae followed his instruction. "Er…Yes. Take me before the king."
"Very well My Lady."
As the group entered the castle, Ren leaned over to Sae. "So I guess you're a princess here. This guy must really be into you." Sae shuddered at the thought, so Ren reassured her. "I'm sure he just admires you for your mind."
When they arrived in the throne room, they saw the king sitting on his throne, head in his hand looking bored until he saw the group approaching him. As they did so, Ren, Morgana, and Sophia ran past their guide, charging toward the throne before stopping just in front of it, each aiming their weapons at the king.
"Alright 'Your Majesty' we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Ren said as he cocked his gun, aiming straight at the king's head.
"Wh-What!? I don't understand!" The king pleaded, panickedly. "What is it that you want!?"
Morgana took the opportunity to jump onto the man's lap, grabbing him by the collar with his tiny paws. "Where'd you find the EMMA app bub? You better tell us before my partner here loses her cool."
On queue, Sophia stepped forward and aimed her ray gun at the man's chest. "Yes, I am the bad cop. And so it is my job to threaten you with violence if you do not provide us with the information that we are requesting."
"I-I don't understand what you're saying!" The king sobbed.
Before they could question him any further, Sae stopped them. "Re-er, Joker! That isn't Tanaka!"
"Huh?" Ren looked at her confused.
"It's my boss!" She explained.
"Wait," Morgana turned around. "If this isn't Tanaka, then where-AGH!" He was cut off as he, Ren, and Sophia were suddenly lifted into the air by an invisible force.
"Well, well, well," A voice came from a dark corner of the room. Out from the shadows, a man with glasses, garbed in long purple robes and a pointed hat stepped out. "It appears that I've gotten here just in time. Another moment and these assassins might've taken the king's head."
"Court wizard Tanaka!" The guide said before bowing. "M-My apologies! I was under the belief that they were escorts for My La-AGH!" The man couldn't finish as he was hoisted into the air as well, being choked by the invisible force.
"You have failed this kingdom for the last time, fool! Away with you!" Tanaka said before flicking his wrist, sending the man flying against the wall where he quickly dissolved into shadows. "Now, as for these 'would-be' assassins…" He turned his attention back toward Ren and the others
"Tanaka stop!" Sae yelled, holding out her hand. "Don't hurt them."
"Princess. Whatever for? They tried to kill the king. Even though we both know he is a fool incapable of ruling,"
"Hey!" The king protested.
"Quiet you!"
"Y-Yes sir." He replied, hiding behind his throne.
"Even though he is a fool, there would be unrest if he were outright killed. Luckily with my new incantation, I can rule this kingdom from the shadows with him as my puppet." He smiled before suddenly disappearing and reappearing behind Sae. "And one day, with the beautiful princess Sae Niijima by my side, we can expand our kingdom and rule over all!"
"Y-You disgust me." Sae said, gritting her teeth at the man, trying to mask her fear.
"Sae…" Came Ren's strained voice from above them. "Get…out of…here…too…dangerous…"
"That's enough out of you!" Tanaka said as he raised his hand.
"No!" Sae grabbed at his arm, trying to land a kick only to be grabbed by the invisible force.
"I could never hurt you Princess, I love you too much for that. And since you're so insistent on saving these fools, I'll give them a fighting chance." He waved his other hand and from all sides of the throne room, shadowy monstrous figures filled the room. "If they can defeat all of my minions, they're free to go." He released the trio from his grasp and into the center of the crowd before teleporting Sae and himself up to the throne. "Come now, let us enjoy the show!"
The fighting began immediately as dozens upon dozens of Shadows began attacking Joker, Mona, and Sophie. The trio used their weapons as well as summoning their Personas to fight back, but struggled against the sheer numbers that they were up against. As they soon became overwhelmed by the swarming Shadows, they each began to fall one by one. First Sophie, then Mona, and finally, after a hard fought struggle, even Joker fell, reaching out a hand as a flood of shadowy bodies dragged him down.
"No!" Sae reached out in vain, collapsing to the ground as tears fell from her eyes.
"Well, they put up more of a fight than I could imagine, but ever since learning my new incantation my powers are limitless and my minions infinite! They never stood a chance!" Tanaka laughed as he sat back on the throne.
"Monster."
"Hm?" The wizard looked down at Sae only for her to turn and look at him furiously with glowing yellow eyes.
"MONSTER!" She cried before an overwhelming pain shot through her head.
"Do you finally understand what must be done?" A disembodied voice that sounded like Sae's own spoke to her. "For so long you have held back your fury, helplessly watching as those with power suppressed those without. Since you can no longer defend them with just your words, you must defend them with your fists!"
As the voice spoke, a metal mask encased Sae's face, leaving only her eyes visible.
"I am thou, thou art I…Be not afraid…You were born to do this." The voice finished.
As it did, Sae tore the iron mask from her face. "Let me save them, JEANNE D'ARC!"
Suddenly, above the throne room, a blue glowing figure appeared. The figure took the appearance of a medieval knight clad in full metal armor with long dark hair peeking out from beneath the helmet. The knight was chained to a gigantic flaming sword in an almost Christ-like position.
This was Jeanne D'arc, Sae's Persona.
At Sae's command, the knight and sword fell to the ground, piercing the marble floor and sending out a shockwave that sent all of the Shadows flying, revealing Ren and the others on the ground. Hurt but alive.
The Shadows on the ground taken care of, Sae turned back to face Tanaka who was staring at her in shock. Walking toward him, Sae's iron mask returned to her face alongside her new outfit, black leather armor with an iron brassiere around her torso with long iron chains trailing behind her from her waist.
"N-Now Princess-" Tanaka began backing away in fear as the ironclad figure of Sae slowly advanced. "Why don't we just talk about this? Y-You don't want to hurt me, right?" He asked.
Sae gave no response, only the rattling of chains echoed through the room, her crimson eyes boring a hole straight through the wannabe wizard.
"Y-You wanted to know about the app right? I'll tell you everything! I found it on the dark web!" He held out his hand and a scroll materialized. "Here, it's got the link and everything! Just please don't kill me!"
Sae grabbed the scroll from him with one hand, grabbing him by the collar with the other. "You're going to quit your job, release everyone from your control, and never use that app again. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am! I promise! I'll never do it again! I-I just wanted to be popular!" He sobbed, completely losing all of his composure from earlier.
"Good boy." She responded.
A large *CLANG* then rang out as she headbutted the man with her mask.
"Well," A voice came from behind Sae. Turning to the source revealed it to be an injured but smiling Ren. "This was a surprise turn of events."
Removing her helmet, Sae let out a breath. "Trust me, nobody's more surprised than me." Taking in her new outfit, she looked back at Ren. "Is this what it's always like for you? What a rush!"
"You get used to it." He smirked. "I might be rushing this a bit, but I guess this makes you an honorary member of the Shadow Ops. Don't worry, you won't have to quit your day job."
"Yeah, as good as that felt, I don't think I want to drop everything and go fight monsters every day." She replied. "Buuuut, maybe every now and then could work."
From behind Ren, the other two Shadow Operatives looked at Sae excitedly.
"Ooooh, spiky!" Sophia said as she reached out to touch Sae's shoulder pads.
"If she's gonna be one of us, she'll need a codename." Morgana pointed out.
"Isn't that a little, y'know, childish?" The 28 year old pointed out.
"Sorry, non-negotiable." Ren replied. "Hmmm, well her sister is Queen soooo, Empress? Duchess?" He suggested.
"Defender?" Sophia added.
"Judge." Sae finally answered.
"Call me Judge."
[Shadow Operative File: 034]
Sophia
Codename: Sophie
Status: Standby
Species: Artificial Intelligence
Age: 5
Sex: N/A (Appearance Female)
Persona: Pandora, formerly Pithos
Description: An artificial intelligence created by Dr. Kuon Ichinose, Sophia, upon her creation, gained sentience and was later discarded by the doctor. Upon being rediscovered by the Phantom Thieves a year later, Sophia joined their team and assisted in bringing down the far more malistic EMMA A.I. when it attempted to subjugate humanity. Currently, Sophia is listed as off-duty and is coming to understand humanity more alongside her original creator.
Notes: Despite attempts to keep her out, the Shadow Ops' cybersecurity team has failed to restrict access to sensitive data files from Sophia. As far as they are aware, she is nigh omnipotent in the virtual world. Addendum {Source Unknown}: It should also be noted that Sophia is super cool and everybody in the Shadow Ops wants to be best friends with her!