Nanako's eyes widened as she walked into the Kirijo Building. It seemed quite different during daytime hours, more like a regular office building. She had a hard time believing that the people who had rescued her the previous night would work in such a boring place, yet there was Ken, leading her through the building as if he had been raised there. The familiarity of his movements made her believe that he had.
"Keeping up, Nanako?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at her. His eyes softened as he watched her curious gaze dart in every direction. "It's a lot to take in, huh?"
"Are you sure this is the same building from last night?" she asked. "It looks completely different."
Ken led her into an elevator. "You were in the upper floors." He punched in a code and scanned his hand on a covered panel before selecting a higher floor. "It'll look familiar soon," he assured as the elevator began to ascend.
The doors opened on the eighteenth floor, and Nanako's eyes widened. It was the exact place she remembered from the night before. He led her into an office where Mitsuru Kirijo sat behind a large desk. Nanako recognized the couch she had woken up on. Her mouth went dry as she remembered the monsters that had towered over her outside of the train station.
Souji Seta burst through the doors in a flurry but instantly calmed when he saw Nanako with Ken. "Hey Nana-chan, how was school?"
Nanako blinked her widened brown eyes at him in disbelief for a moment. How could he ask such a casual question in the middle of the office of Mitsuru Kirijo?! "Fine," she slowly answered. A quick glance around the office told her that both Mitsuru and Ken were pretending to ignore their conversation. "How was...work?"
Realizing the awkwardness of the conversation, Souji slowly answered, "Fine as well." He then turned to Mitsuru and cleared his throat. "Have the preparations been made?"
With a nod to Souji, Mitsuru turned her crimson gaze upon Nanako. "Nanako Dojima, what all do you believe you understand about last night?"
Nanako's face flushed a deep red as she thought about it. "Though I don't know where they came from or what they really are, those things appear to exist. Yet I almost didn't feel as if I was in the same dimension. After all, when Ken and the other man arrived to save me, they shot themselves. And then those things appeared and killed the monster things."
"You seem to have grasped the situation quite well," the woman replied, impressed. "Those monsters that you saw are called Shadows. They are the enemy of mankind. I'm sure you've heard of that historic case of Apathy Syndrome about a decade ago?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"What was known as 'Apathy Syndrome' was actually Shadows who had managed to take over humans. It was a major problem here in Iwatodai." Mitsuru sighed. "I led the team who put an end to Apathy Syndrome, and to this day, I still lead them. At the cost of two of our own, we were able to save everyone. It wasn't until about a week ago that we were able to awaken them from what was supposed to be an eternal slumber. But with that aside, do you know how we find people to help us fight the Shadows?"
Nanako shook her head. "No, ma'am."
"We look for the people who can remain conscious when the Shadows are around. Nanako Dojima, we believe that you may hold the power that it takes to defeat the Shadows. We call that power Persona."
"Persona?" she cocked her head to the side and looked at Souji for an answer.
"When Nanako was six years old," he slowly reported to Mitsuru. "She was kidnapped and thrown into the TV world. My team and I had barely managed to rescue her. She was hospitalized and recovered well. After that, we never mentioned anything that happened in there with her. Yet after last night, I believe she may hold the power."
"What are you talking about? I got sick, remember?" Nanako felt an anxious edge to her voice. "That's what everyone said happened!"
Souji continued speaking as if she hadn't said a word. "With that said, I am uncomfortable with Nanako being presented an evoker for the first time without me present."
"Understood," Misturu agreed with a nod. "Nanako, please come to my desk. Souji, you as well."
The two approached the desk and looked down at the case she had set on top of it. Souji gulped as Nanako slowly inspected it. After a moment, he opened it for her and she gasped. Inside was one of the silver guns she had seen Akihiko and Ken use the night before. Her head was suddenly spinning, having never been so close to such a dangerous weapon before.
"Nana-chan," Souji began, clearing his throat. "These are what we use to summon our Personas. They are called evokers. We put them to our heads and pull the triggers to call them out." He slowly picked up the silver gun and showed her where to put it to shoot. "It seems scary in the beginning, but it's actually not. Here." Carefully, he placed it in her hand. "You try."
Blinded by tears of fright, Nanako felt her stomach jump up into her throat. She looked from Souji to Mitsuru to Ken and back again. Her heart pounded in her chest. How could they expect her to do such a thing? Were they actually just trying to kill her off because she knew too much? There was no way Souji would go through with something like that, right? Nanako felt dizzy and nauseated. She quickly dropped the gun onto the desk with a loud clatter and bolted from the office.
