Sep. 3, Location Unverified; Late Night
"Sounds like you've had an exciting week." It was a very faintly familiar voice to Thorne, who rubbed his eyes from sleep.
"H-Hello…?" he questioned. The black fog around him subsided, leaving him in the same dark film studio as before. "Oh… this place again…"
"Welcome back," greeted Commander.
Hamlet appeared behind Thorne, although Thorne didn't feel like Commander was any sort of threat.
"Tell me," Thorne began, "what is this place?"
Commander thought first, then replied, "You could call this… Home Base, if you'd like, Agent. Although… I think your perception of this place may change over time."
Thorne maintained a matching gaze with the shadow that Commander's military-looking hat cast over his eyes.
"I see you've gotten acquainted with the… other dimension," Commander noted.
"PsykoNet? Yeah, I've been there a few times," Thorne responded. "And almost died there a couple times."
"It may seem like no big deal as of yet, but I predict you'll find yourself in there a lot more often," Commander explained. The static screen behind him cleared, showing an image. There was a lot of information on the screen now. In fact, too much for Thorne to read. However, he did recognize the image that was on half of the screen. Half of the image was Heather, and the other half was her Shadow, divided down the middle of her face.
"Huh?" Thorne sounded.
"Your first mission, Agent," Commander began. "Complete it, and I will compensate you with money."
"Money…? But… isn't this, like, a dream world?" Thorne questioned.
Commander explained, "The money you take from Shadows remains in your pocket when you return to reality. Therefore, why should my money not do the same? Your mission is to uncover Shadow Heather's true face. I would've chosen something a bit grander to kick off my career, if I were you, but you're already so involved."
"You're saying I have a choice?" Thorne asked.
"Well, no…" Commander paused. "I'm saying that you ought to have more trust in fate."
Thorne stood in silence. For some reason, he felt like he had somehow created a bond with Commander… he felt that his Persona, Hamlet, had become slightly stronger as a result…
Thorne had forged a special link with Commander: The Fool. Symbolizing new experiences, new possibilities, new outlooks, and the courage or foolishness necessary to face them, Commander's rough-edged nature would prove to hone Thorne's powers as a Persona users in ways he couldn't on his own… Ding!
An alert from his phone took him abruptly out of his lucid dream.
Sep. 4, Dollar Star, North Commercial Dr., Vancouver; Late Morning
"T-thanks for coming…" Heather sighed. "So…" She awkwardly traced the pattern in the wooden tabletop she was seated at. "School starts in three days… you ready?"
Thorne looked at her in silence.
"I-I know you must be a little upset," Heather admitted, looking down at her thighs.
"A little…" Thorne scoffed. "Tell me why that image of me is up in the gallery in your HQ."
"I… I still must admit, I don't… know what 'HQ' you're referring to…" Heater stuttered, upset at herself, "but… the group chat I'm always talking about… I… posted it in there…"
"And? Why would you talk about me like that behind my back?" Thorne asked.
"I…" Heather froze.
"Tell me," Thorne demanded, though he didn't get angry.
"I… I wanna fit in, okay?" Heather replied, putting a few fingers to her forehead. "People used to hate me… but… then I got popular again over the summer… well, debatably… you saw all those people on the bus…"
Thorne remained silent, but urged Heather t continue with a furrowing of his brow.
"Well… I started getting into trends, and… people started to look at me as someone worth acknowledging… I don't want people to hate me again…"
"And dragging people down is the only way you can get people to like you?" Thorne asked, a tinge of sarcasm making hi words sour.
"N-no… but it's one of the ways…" Heather's stomach growled. She pushed on her stomach it her arm to make it stop.
"Are you… hungry?" Thorne asked, a bit disarmed.
"I'd be lying to say no…" Heater admitted. "But… I don't really want t eat anything right now…"
"What?" asked Thorne. "Why not?"
"Because…" Heather looked around. She couldn't very well just admit it was for the sake of her image. "This… is a serious conversation… I, uh, don't want… to mess it up by eating…"
"Heather…" Thorne said, narrowing his eyes. "I'm not buying it. Tell me the truth."
"F-fine…" She rubbed her forehead again. "I don't want to eat a lot because it'll change the way people see me…"
Thorne was taken aback. "What?" He awkwardly chuckled. "You can' really believe that, can you?"
"Thorne…" Heather sighed a heavy, dense breath. "I've been the outcast for so long… I don't wanna fuck up being the princess…"
It was as if the entire photograph incident had never happened. Thorne insisted, "Heather, eat something."
"No…" she resisted.
"When's the last time you had a full meal?" asked Thorne.
"A… a full meal…?" she stuttered. "I-it's been a few days…"
"Heather…" Thorne's face became heavy with concern. "You really want people to like you, huh…?"
"Doesn't… everyone?" Heather asked.
"I guess…" He couldn't contest to that. He couldn't think of a single person who didn't at least want to be well-liked. "But Heather… this is unhealthy… both for you, and the people you're putting down…"
"I-I know, Thorne," Heather said. "But… it's working…"
"You can't keep this up…"
Heather sat in silence, staring down at the tabletop for longer than a minute.
"I… I know…" she admitted. "Thorne…?"
"What?" he asked.
"How do you get to the 'HQ' you keep talking about?"
Sep. 4, Heather Holland's Masquerade, PsykoNet; Approaching Noon
Heather tripped over herself and landed on her hands and knees on the marble floors of her own HQ. She gripped her head with one tense palm.
"God… what… just happened…?" she sputtered, attempting to get up before falling back down to her knees.
Thorne offered her his hand. She took it, and Thorne pulled her up to her feet, though she was still dizzy, and stumbled slightly on her feet.
"I promise it gets easier," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Wait…" Heather sounded, her eyes going wide as she gazed at Thorne. "W-when did you put on that outfit?"
"Oh!" Thorne himself looked slightly surprised. "Oh… it's kind of a long story… I got this outfit when I awakened to my Persona."
"Your… Persona…?" she asked.
"Again, long story," Thorne replied.
Heather herself did not have a costume of her own yet. Instead, she was wearing the same outfit she had worn a couple times throughout the week. Clearly, she liked it. She wore a gray top underneath a red sweater that was draped slightly down her shoulders. She also wore a short-ish skirt and thigh-high socks, with knee-high brown leather boots, complete with a sufficient number of buckles and zippers. The outfit helped to show off that she was actually incredibly thin. Thorne hadn't previously thought anything of it, but now that he knew of her eating habits…
The sound of metal footsteps echoed through the hallway that the two had entered through… Clank… clunk… clank… clunk… Fearing what it could possibly be, Heather dashed behind Thorne! She peaked out from behind his shoulder as Thorne put his hand down to his waist, where Heather didn't expected she'd see a holstered pistol.
"I thought that I'd sensed a familiar presence." It was a familiar voice… a one-tone yet somehow loosely masculine voice that didn't quite sound human. The faceless head of Android 07 peaked out from behind one of the side doors. "You have returned, Thorne."
"Oh… it's you…" Thorne sighed, letting his shoulders drop. Heather still hid behind him, though.
"You've brought another person," Seven noticed.
"This is Heather," Thorne explained.
"You've brought the Headquarters' owner into their own Headquarters?" Seven questioned.
"Y-yeah… she asked me to show her…" Thorne's face contorted. "Is that bad?"
"No, it is not inherently bad," Seven stated matter-of-factly. "However, she is in danger of coming into conflict with her Shadow."
"W-what?" Heather asked. "T-Thorne, who is this?"
"I am Android 07," Seven answered. "Thorne has given me the nickname of 'Seven', which I also respond to as per his request."
"Seven…?" Heather mumbled to herself.
"How may I help you?" Seven asked.
"W-what is this place?" Heather nervously questioned. " And… w-why is it dangerous for me to be here?"
"This is the PsykoNet, a perceptive-based representation of the online actions of people," Seven began to explain. "Specifically, this is the Headquarters belonging to you, Heather Holland. As for why it's dangerous for you to be here, your online identity, since it is in conflict with your real identity, has taken the form of a Shadow. Shadows are known to attempt to murder their real selves in order to end their co-existence and become the 'true self'."
"M-murder!?" Heather and Thorne both gasped.
"You didn't tell me about that!" Thorne shouted.
"It was not among the questions that you had asked me," Seven replied, unable to sense the emotional tension within Heather and Thorne.
Heather chuckled, her forehead becoming sweat. "Um… let's not run-in with my… Shadow… then…"
"Good plan," Thorne nodded. "If we do, I'll use my Persona and my gun to protect you."
"Thanks…" Heather nodded, her breathing starting to steady again.
"The guards which have been dispatched as per Shadow Heather's request will most likely still consider the real Heather to be an intruder," Seven explained. "They, however, will not be able to identify her as herself. It is most likely they'll see her as they had seen you, Thorne, prior to awakening to your Persona; someone wearing a mask, with no identifiable identity."
"That's… good, I guess," Thorne chuckled. "What should I show you first…?" he asked himself, though the implied subject was Heather. He thought for a moment. "What better place than the painting gallery. Stick close to me."
"Don't have to tell me twice," Heather nodded, and moved in close to Thorne.
As they approached the door leading into the central ballroom, they heard the slightly-distorted voice of Shadow Heather. "Only three days until my grand celebration!" she sung, evidently excited. "My past self- the one I tried to make myself- can finally be buried! The perfect self sculpted by society, hailed as a work of art, will finally be the self that people truly see!"
"I-is that… me?" Heather asked, whispering.
"Yeah," Thorne answered, also in a whisper.
"I…" she was at a loss for words. "She's totally lying…"
Thorne, Seven, and Heather waited for the sound of Shadow Heather's high heels to disappear. Thorne peered out from the door he was hiding behind. He saw that there were multiple guards patrolling the ballroom, on both the ground floor and the balcony.
"We can't risk putting Heather in danger…" Thorne insisted.
"I second that," Heather half-joked.
"We need to devise some way to get around all these guards…" Thorne put a finger to his chin in thought. "Seven, can you go out there and set the guards off our path?"
"I will obey all orders to me given by PsykoLink users, as is my purpose," Seven replied, as if reading a script. It was as if he didn't have the option to say no.
"Right…" Thorne said in a discernible tone. "Seven, distract the guards long enough for us to slip into the hallway leading to the gallery. We'll regroup with you after Heather has seen what I want her to see."
"I will do so," Seven agreed. He stepped out into the ballroom. Immediately, the guards all began to chase after him. He led them over to one corner of the ballroom, away from Thorne and Heather.
"Sh," Thorne sounded, putting a finger to his lips. He grabbed Heather's wrist and the two of them ran along the side of the ballroom wall until they made it to the hallway, which they ducked into.
"It's like you're an undercover spy," Heather said, panting from the mad dash.
"You've noticed too, huh?" Thorne chuckled, not quite so out-of-breath thanks to having the power of a Persona to keep him going. "Follow me."
They crept into the gallery, closing the door as quietly as they could behind them. The same few masked girls who had been there before were still there. One of them made a comment. "Oh my gosh! I wish my mask looked like her's."
Another one of the girls also commented, "Wait, is she with the unmasked guy? W-what's up with that…? Someone with as pretty a mask as her should be hanging with other beautiful girls… like us!"
"Wait…" Heather paused. "Those girls… their voices sound familiar… Sam? And Maggie?"
The two girls who had commented gasped. "How does she know who we are?!" one shouted, jumping back in surprise. "Did our masks slip!? Sammy, how's my mask looking!?"
"Your mask is on perfectly fine!" the masked PsykoNet version of Sam, as Heather knew her, shouted back. "How's mine?!"
"It's on just right," the first girl, supposedly 'Maggie', responded. "C-can she see through our masks!?"
"If someone could see through our masks… we'd be ruined!" 'Sam' shrieked. She then fainted. The other two girls, 'Maggie' and a third one, rushed to their knees to tend to her.
"W-what the hell?" Heather asked, looking unsurely at Thorne.
Thorne responded, "Just… ignore them… Look." Thorne pointed at the paintings on the walls. There was the one of the girl sitting under the tree with a book, which Thorne remembered was titled 'No-Life', and the one of that boy with a scar on his cheek, titled 'Aimless Delinquent'.
Heather's jaw dropped. "These… paintings… they're recreations of pictures I've posted in the group chat…"
Thorne gestured towards the one that had fallen to the floor.
"That photo… of you…" Heather looked at the plaque. 'Totally Fucking Insane' it read. "I… that's how you found it?"
Thorne nodded.
"These pictures are all things I've posted in my group chat…" Heather sighed.
"Oh, also, I watched a swimsuit disappear from thin air," Thorne chuckled.
"What…?" Heather asked, totally confused.
"It was black, and there was a hat that came with it," Thorne answered.
Somehow, Heather knew what he was talking about… it was still in the corner of her bedroom from when she'd thrown it out of frustration. "The one I deleted a photo of me wearing… 'cause nobody liked how it looked…"
"So that's why it disappeared," Thorne noted. "That puts me slightly at ease."
Heather went to look at her phone.
"Why is my phone stuck on this green screen?" she asked, frantically tapping at the screen.
"It's the PsykoLink app. It's your ticket out of the PsykoNet, so when you're in here you can't close it," Thorne explained. "Ooh, but it has a map of your HQ if you tap that tab there."
"Oh… okay…" Heather accepted that answer, despite how bizarre it was. After all, she was in an alternate dimension where her online posts had become real.
"Let's meet back up with Seven," Thorne suggested.
"Sure," Heather nodded.
The two of them returned to the central ballroom to check on how Seven was doing. The Android and Marcus Brutus, the robot's sci-fi-looking Persona, had cleared out a handful of Shadows already. However, he was backed into a corner, and it looked like he wasn't fairing great.
One of the Shadows who had manifested was one of the statues called The Ideal.
"Intruders shall not win against the righteous guards!" The Ideal shouted without moving her golden mouth. "Those who wish to disturb the glory of those higher than them must be cut down!"
Seven threw an arm in front of his face as a ball of The Ideal's black energy flew towards him. Based on the rough-looking state of the robot, it looked like Seven had already sustained a fair bit of damage!
Thorne jumped forward! "Hamlet! Attack!"
Hamlet materialized behind Thorne! He flourished his skull-tipped rapier for a moment, before dashing forward and slashing it right through The Ideal! The initial slash seemed to do no damage, but a trail of sharp ice followed the weapon's slice, which caused significantly more damage! The Ideal shattered, her pieces depixelating as they hit the ground!
Seven looked up just in time to see the shadow ball evaporate not a foot from his faceless face. Seven got up to his feet. A few sparks fizzed out of his joints, showing his condition was fairly bad. "Thorne…!" Seven called.
Thorne rushed into battle! "Heather!" he ordered. "Stand behind me!"
Heather timidly ran up and stood behind Thorne, cowering. "What's going on!?" she shrieked.
"I'll protect you," Thorne promised with a nod back at her. Heather looked up at Thorne's eyes and nodded back.
At this point, there were only two shadows left. One of them was Prince Charming, and the other Shadow was Poisoned Chalice. Both of them prepared to attack Thorne. While Heather stood timidly behind Thorne's back, Hamlet stood proudly behind his shoulder, his unique jacket flapping in non-existent wind!
"More intruders?" Prince Charming scoffed. "Let me at them! They will fall at my blade!"
Poisoned Chalice hissed, "Against our power, your weak friend and yourself are nothing!"
"We'll see about that…" Thorne growled.
"Th-Thorne… I w-will assist-ist y-you," Seven said, his voice stuttering as he sparked and his voice glitched.
"No," Thorne ordered, glaring firmly at Seven. "Repair yourself, or heal yourself, or something. You've done plenty."
Seven seemed concerned, but obeyed Thorne's firm orders without question.
Prince Charming had taken Thorne's moment of compassion to charge at him! Thorne turned to see Prince Charming already beginning a slash at him!
"Counter!" he shouted! It was just in time! Hamlet swung his rapier at Prince Charming, then kicked the prince back with a strong kick from the bottom of his armoured boot! Prince Charming flew back, his sword flying in a different direction!
The Poisoned Chalice also prepared an attack. The liquid contained within it bubbled, and a stream of poison that looked almost tentacle-like came flying at Thorne! Thorne wanted to jump out of the way, but if he did the attack would hit Heather, who didn't even have a Persona to defend herself with!
Thorne tightly shut his eyes, bracing for pain! He had to protect Heather! The tentacle of poisonous liquid hit him with a stinging slap! It hurt like hell, and the sting lasted, but it looked like Thorne had luckily avoided being inflicted with poison. He sighed, grateful that he wasn't poisoned, and shot his pistol at the Poisoned Chalice! The goblet fell to the ground, weakened, but it wasn't weakened enough to break when it hit the ground.
Prince Charming glanced at where his sword had landed… it was all the way across the ballroom… There was no way he could get to it in time without being attacked… He had a plan, even if it was unlikely to work.
Prince Charming unbuttoned the top button of his tunic… Thorne watched in confusion… Prince Charming continued to unbutton his tunic, as if attempting to seduce Thorne…
Thorne blinked. "What are you…?" he started to ask.
Prince Charming flexed his chest… it was a broad chest… there was a lot of muscle to be flexed… Prince Charming's strong arms also had a lot of muscle to be flexed, Thorne noticed. He was conflicted… but he couldn't look away… Prince Charming was conventionally attractive, even if he was a Shadow. He watched Prince Charming with metaphorical hearts in his eyes as Prince Charming walked confidently past him with swagger and muscle, not even noticing that the Shadow was walking towards his sword.
Seven noticed Thorne's odd behaviour. "Oh m-my…" the Android acknowledged, voice still glitching out from his damages. "S-Sir T-Thorne has b-been-n inflic-flicted with inf-infatuation…"
Heather shook Thorne's arm. "W-what are you doing?" she asked, trying to get Thorne's attention.
Thorne didn't even notice her attempts as he and his Persona both lusted over Prince Charming.
"P-Person-na," Seven said. Marcus Brutus materialized behind Seven. The Persona also looked like it was slightly glitching, its semi-ethereal energy sparking. However, it was still strong enough to lunge at Prince Charming!
Brutus dug his golden dagger deep into Prince Charming's back, and lifted him up into the air, the dagger poking through him like a skewer! Blue blood drizzled out from the edge of Prince Charming's mouth, staining his cheek.
"How… dare… you…" Prince Charming spat through navy-blue blood, before disappearing, along with his sword.
Thorne shook his head and cleared his throat. "S-sorry about that…" he apologized, attempting to remain cool although his red cheeks didn't help.
The Poisoned Chalice attempted to get back up, but Thorne wasn't having it! The ballroom once again transformed into a dark, echoing interrogation room. Thorne promptly summoned an abrasive rope and used it to tie the Poisoned Chalice down on top of the executive table in the middle of the room.
He seated himself in the comfy executive chair and crossed his legs underneath the table.
"W-what do you want?" the Poisoned Chalice nervously asked, attempting to struggle its way out of the rope ties. Having no moving limbs definitely didn't help with that.
"I could ask for a lot of things…" Thorne smirked, adjusting the cuffs of his tuxedo jacket. "For now, though, I'll ask for answers."
"I'm loyal to Her Grace…" the Poisoned Chalice resisted.
"Her Grace?" Thorne chuckled. "Is that what Shadow heather wants to be called?"
"I won't tell you a single thing," the Shadow insisted.
"I guess we can do this the hard way…" Thorne put the barrel of his pistol right into the golden snake's mouth attached to the chalice's stem. He gave the Shadow an unamused look.
"Go ahead, shoot me," the Shadow scoffed.
"Well… all right…" Thorne sighed. "I didn't want to have to do this…"
He pulled back the trigger and shut a bullet right into the snake's mouth! The bullet made bell-like sounds as it traveled through the body of the metal snake, until finally, the Shadow evaporated.
He looked smugly at the smoke coming from his gun before blowing it away. The interrogation room faded out and turned back into the ballroom.
Heather looked rather shocked. "Wow… you just flat-out killed that thing…"
"Oh, you saw that?" Thorne asked.
"Y-yeah…" Heather blinked.
"What is this commotion? I swear… is everyone trying to disrupt my ball now?" It was Shadow Heather's voice, echoing through the walls.
"Is-" Heather gasped, "is that my Shadow's voice? Is she coming!?"
"It would appear so," Seven noted. "You two should probably leave."
"L-leave?" Heather asked. "What about you? Will you be okay?"
"I promise I will recover swiftly once you two have returned to you world," Seven answered. His voice sounded warm…
"O-okay…" Heather nodded. "Good luck!"
Thorne and Heather both used their cell phones to teleport out from the ballroom and back to reality. It was just in time for Shadow Heather to step foot into the ballroom. The Shadow glared at Seven, now all alone and damaged.
