Nanako woke up in a place that was so blue, she almost thought she was in the ocean. When her eyes focused, she realized it was that limousine she'd dreamed of during her train ride several days ago.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," said a soft voice. Yes, the long-nosed Igor was there, sitting at the short table before her. "We meet again..."

"Yeah, I think I figured out that catastrophe thing," Nanako told him. "Murder, huh?"

Igor drummed the fingers of one hand against the other's knuckles. "Indeed... But more importantly, we must speak of your power. My assistant, Margaret, will explain..."

Nanako realized Igor wasn't alone. An elegant woman in a long blue coat and black stockings was sitting near him. She had unnatural golden eyes and wavy silver-yellow hair. A thick book was in her lap.

"You heeded the call of your subconscious," Margaret said, "and chose to follow your destiny, leading to your glorious awakening."

"Yeah, it was pretty glorious, wasn't it?" Nanako commented without a shred of humility.

There was a snicker and she couldn't tell which of the two it had come from.

Igor slid a key across the table. He informed her that she was responsible for every decision she made henceforth.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, puzzled by his words.

Igor ignored her comment and went on to tell her about the uniqueness of her particular power of Persona...

[4/16: Saturday]

Nanako woke up feeling great. Igor called me special! She had no idea why, but hearing that from the gremlin-like old man elated her.

But her good mood soon faded. She went downstairs and discovered that the dinosaurs she and Souji had colored had been removed from the fridge. She'd proudly posted them up there for Aunt Seta to see.

Had the woman taken them down? She scowled at the thought.

Her scowl became darker when she realized it was Saturday and apparently this part of the country hadn't abolished Saturday school. Back in Tokyo she only had to go on Saturday twice a month.

Well, at least it was only a half-day. And it wasn't raining, although it was foggy out. It reminded her of the TV World...

Still, seeing the sun cheered her up a bit. "I think today's going to be a great day!" she told Souji, who looked at her politely for further comments and said nothing himself. He was probably upset that it wasn't raining and he couldn't use the Loveline umbrella. She chuckled to herself. She wouldn't see that thing again anytime soon. She should add that to her shopping list: buy an adult-sized umbrella.

On the way to school, Chie ran up to her. "Did you check out the Midnight Channel last night?"

"Ah, no," Nanako admitted. "I'm kind of a sound sleeper. Why, did you?"

"Y-yeah!" Chie was bouncing with excitement. "So, uh, there was a girl on there, and uh, well, I reached out to touch it out of curiosity, and my hand went through the screen!"

Nanako's eyes widened. "What, really?"

"Yeah! I have the power too, Nanako!"

"Maybe it's because you have a Persona now."

Chie nodded, but then her smile faded. "Well, if someone was on it, then they could be in danger, right? We should talk to Yosuke and check it out after school."

Nanako agreed. They walked in silence for a bit before she broke it. "Now, be honest, Chie... You only tried to touch the screen because it was a girl, didn't you?"

Chie's face flushed, and she laughed nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about, Nanako!"

Nanako laughed, too, and then she heard a shattering sound and time seemed to stop. The image of a tarot card appeared in her mind. It depicted the silhouette of a warrior riding a chariot drawn by two sphinxes.

Thou art I... And I am thou...

Thou hast established a new bond...

It brings thee closer to the truth...

Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Chariot Arcana...

The card faded and time resumed, although she stumbled.

"You okay?" Chie asked.

"I just tripped over a rock," Nanako replied quickly.

"The problem with living in the country!" Chie quipped.

Nanako didn't respond. 'Social links' were something else Igor had spoken of, and apparently that's what that had been. Being friends with Chie would make her stronger, huh? Well, there was no problem with that. She'd always intended to be friends with her, if only to improve her kicking skills...!

The day ended up being a total bust. They'd talked with Teddie through the TV—apparently as long as Nanako opened the 'door,' sound could travel through, and thus they could talk with the bear without actually entering his world—and no one had been thrown in there despite someone having shown up on the Midnight Channel. Maybe that hypothesis had been incorrect, or they were still missing something.

On the bright side, Nanako had finished all her homework for the week... which meant her Sunday would be free.

She sighed while she put said homework in the correct notebook in her school bag. There was just too much to think about. She didn't know what to look at first. But one thing was certain: this was already turning out to be the best school year ever—well, despite having to go every Saturday.

She hadn't even been in town a week and she was in this deep. Her dad would be worried if he knew and her mom would be... uh...

Well, Chisato Dojima was a unique woman. Nanako was old enough to recognize that now. A world-traveled pianist with an appreciation for art, she had raised Nanako to be open-minded in a rather structured and close-minded society and had taught her to appreciate the beauty in everything.

When Nanako was little, her mom had told her a story about mirrors and the importance of seeing what's actually there instead of what one wants to see.

So, TV World, Shadows, Personas, Velvet Rooms, and Social Links... Sure, they were weird, but Nanako had no doubt that it was real, that it wasn't just a product of her admittedly overactive imagination. She could feel Izanami in the back of her mind even now in the real world. It wasn't really the goddess of creation and death, but one aspect of herself, or so Igor had said.

The world I knew isn't the world I know now, she thought, and she had a feeling that if her mom was there, she would have replied, "I told you so."

Still, Nanako didn't want her mother to worry, so she just sent an opaque email telling her about her week. She informed her dad of the murder case, knowing he'd appreciate that. He probably already knew Naoki Konishi had been a student the same school she was going to, if the news reached outside of Inaba. Probably—the news was already calling it a serial murder, even though 'serial' meant three or more. Technically speaking, as it was right now, it was just a murderer who'd struck twice. When she'd told Yosuke that, he hadn't been amused by her semantic knowledge.

"Who cares if the terminology is wrong?" he'd declared. "It doesn't change that fact that two people are dead! And Saki-senpai is suffering..."

"Soon enough, it might be three, anyway," she'd quietly agreed.

Now, Nanako was supposed to stay up and watch the Midnight Channel. The morning fog had given way to a rainy evening. But Nanako didn't really care to stay up; she was still tired from yesterday, and her little cousin had pointed out that she hadn't taken the medicine he'd given her, and so she was kind of obligated to take it right then and there even though it was the kind that made you drowsy...

So, she, uh, went to sleep instead.

It took several rings for the cell phone to reach through her medicine-induced haze of sleep and awaken her. Her eyes were too blurry to make out the time or even the name of who was calling when she flipped open the phone. She meant to press 'End Call' and missed the button, answering it instead.

"Nanako DID YOU WATCH THE MIDNIGHT CHANNEL?!"

"What the hell, Chie," Nanako muttered to herself. Giving the girl her number this afternoon had obviously been a mistake.

"IT WAS YUKIKO AND SHE WAS—"

Chie raced on like an auctioneer with a megaphone, but Nanako put the cell phone down and rubbed her eyes, which honestly only made them blurrier but at least served to make her feel slightly more awake. When she picked it back up, Chie was panting heavily into the phone, apparently out of breath or just waiting for Nanako to respond.

"Chie, honey, run that by me again?" Nanako said. "Quieter and slower this time, please."

"Did you see the Midnight Channel?" Chie asked between gasps.

"Tell me what you saw again and let's compare notes, hmm?"

Apparently Chie had seen Yukiko wearing a fancy dress with lacy underwear—no, she hadn't seen the underwear, but Yukiko had said she was wearing that—she'd said that?—yes, she'd said that. And she'd also said she was looking for a 'hot stud' and had entered a castle behind her. Then the show had ended.

"What the hell was that, Nanako? It wasn't like anything we'd seen before."

"I assume you tried calling her, right?"

"It says she's not in a service area!"

"Has that ever happened before?"

"No!"

"Then she's probably in the TV World," Nanako mused. "Tomorrow, let's meet up at Junes. Umm, what time, umm..." Loveline was tomorrow morning! She couldn't miss it! But... if Yukiko was in the TV World, she was in danger... "Afternoon, maybe... one-thirty?"

"Y-yeah, all right. Umm... Thanks, Nanako. For being so calm... I was freaking out over here!"

"Not a problem," Nanako said, though she was surprised that Chie hadn't woken up her family. "Try to get some rest. We might need it."

Man, I wished I'd stayed awake now... Nanako thought as she pulled the covers up over her body. Yukiko's show had sounded very... interesting...

[4/17: Sunday]

Nanako woke up later than she'd planned and blamed it on the cold medicine. It was a good thing she'd set their meeting later in the day. Due to how groggy she was, it took a while for her to get dressed. Since it wasn't a school day, she put on casual clothes: a simple white blouse, a pink cardigan jacket, and a matching pink skirt.

Downstairs, she found her little cousin at the tea table in the living room, staring out through the sliding glass doors and apparently daydreaming.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked, taking the seat across from him.

Souji didn't turn his head. "It's sunny out..."

"Do you want to go out and play?" she suggested. They could play kickball, or maybe catch. Despite her sleeping in, there was time for a quick game before the show started.

"...I should do the laundry," he whispered as if he hadn't heard her.

He does the laundry, too. Nanako drummed her fingers against the table in thought. Of course.

She stood up, and with the rustle of her clothes, the boy finally turned to look at her. "Why don't we get a load started, then?" she said briskly.

Souji obediently rose from his spot, and she helped him out with the laundry. While they were separating the light and dark wash, she asked where his mother was and discovered that she was often out on weekends, too.

She also learned that the boy went to daycare on Saturdays. Nanako had just assumed he'd been at cram school yesterday. Does your mom take you to the daycare or do you walk? she wondered. There was something radically wrong with the image of Souji walking to daycare all on his own.

After the load was started, Nanako set Souji in front of the tea table and told him she'd be right back. She went up to her room, opened up the bag of stuff she'd bought from Junes, and took out a snack bag. She brought it downstairs, opened it up, and set it on the table between them.

"I always have to have gummies when I watch Loveline. It's tradition," she declared.

He stared at her while she turned the TV on and flipped it to the right channel. She ate a few gummies from the bag and then forced one of them into his hand.

Just eat it already, damn, she thought when he stared at it. It's just a gummy, you don't have to be so surprised.

"Magical Detective... Loveline!" she sang along with the theme song. While the opening theme played, she wondered briefly what would happen if she touched a turned-on TV... She could test it later, though—the show was starting!

She watched the show, yes—it was her favorite, after all—but out of the corner of her eye she also watched little Souji. He was engrossed by the TV. And he really was a normal child, at least in that moment. He smiled at the jokes and he held his breath unconsciously during the suspenseful scenes.

And during a commercial she heard the crinkle of plastic when he pulled out another gummy from the bag all on his own. She mentally cheered.

"Hey, Souji-kun... I missed the last episode of Featherman, can you tell me what happened last week?" she asked during the break between shows. Featherman was coming up next. She'd missed it because she had been packing some last-minute items.

He looked down at the table, and she worried for a moment that maybe he'd missed it last week, too, but then he looked up at her. "Red Hawk and Yellow Owl had their minds switched. But Blue Swan fixed it."

"That sounds like fun!" She smiled at him in thanks. "I'm sorry I missed it. Well, at least I'll see this week's!"

She only hummed the theme because she didn't know all the lyrics. She didn't watch Featherman even half as often as Loveline, but at least she knew the tune. She listened, but Souji didn't seem to be humming or singing it. Yes, he was sort of eyeing her. Maybe he was too embarrassed by her presence to sing it himself.

Well, she'd just have to learn the lyrics on her own for next week and embarrass herself more than him. She grinned to herself at the plan and then the show started.

This episode involved one of the rangers getting ill while the bad guys created a giant bird monster to attack the others. The sick one got better just in time to save his friends. "I'm going to be like that!" Nanako claimed. "I'll save everyone."

Although watching TV with her cousin was doing nothing to save Yukiko, that was true...

Souji looked at her. "You aren't sick anymore..." he conceded.

"That's right," she said. "Hey, this was fun, wasn't it? Watching TV together?"

Souji blinked at the now-empty package of gummies, and she wondered if she was wrong to put him on the spotlight with such a direct question.

He didn't look up when he said his very quiet, "Y-yeah..."

A card suddenly appeared in her mind's eye: a glowing lantern with an eyeball under it.

Thou art I... And I am thou...

Thou hast established a new bond...

It brings thee closer to the truth...

Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Hermit Arcana...

"W-we'll have to do it again next week," she told him, disconcerted by the voice in her head.

Apparently tired of talking, he stood up. "Have to finish the laundry..."

"Hey, I'll help you!"

"It's okay..." he said, but she helped him anyway. While hanging the laundry out to dry, she thought about the 'Social Link' she'd just established. Cards in her head, representing her friends (and now family)? It was a bit weird, though convenient.

And Souji was the hermit? Wasn't that supposed to be reserved for old men at the end of their journey? It was true Souji had gray hair already, but she knew his father had been a natural gray, too, so it ran in his family, as strange as that was...

She wondered if Souji had been different before his father's sudden death, but she didn't have much time to ponder it because she had to meet with Chie and Yosuke at Junes.

Nanako got there early, apparently, because neither of her classmates was in sight. She took a seat at the one of the round plastic-topped tables and waited. She checked her phone and there was another message from dad telling her to be careful. Yeah, Dad, I know...

"Hey there, little lady..." said a familiar voice. She looked up to see Yosuke walking towards her. Since it was Sunday, he was also in his casual wear: an open white jacket with fur lining, and brown pants and boots. His undershirt was an orange v-neck and he still sported his signature headphones. "Can I interest you in any of these?"

He took out a sword and a knife and waved them around.

"Uhh," said Nanako since she had not been expecting that.

"I found them in the closet at home!" he explained. "Chie said you'd found monsters in there, so... which one's more your style?"

"Gimme the knife, fast," Nanako hissed, well-aware of the fact that the lady behind Yosuke was beginning to panic. Yosuke handed it to her and she stuffed it inside her own jacket so that it was out of sight. "Now, Yosuke, you might wanna, umm, put that down."

"I bet I could fight with this," Yosuke mused, looking at the katana. He then took some practice swings and Nanako tried not to facepalm as a police officer suddenly came running up to them.

"M-miss, are you all right? SIR, drop your weapon! Hands where I can see them!"

Responding only to the officer's last request, Yosuke held up both of his hands, including the one with the katana, so it looked like he was about to attack with it.

The officer proceeded to arrest him, although Nanako tried to explain that he'd meant no harm.

Shit, she thought as she watched Yosuke get taken into a police car. He might not be the smartest member of the team, but he didn't deserve that. She didn't have high hopes that he'd be able to explain himself. The police were understandably on edge after the second murder, so they weren't likely to go lightly on him... but what could she do?

While walking around Junes's front entrance area, she almost literally ran into the answer. "Hey, watch where you're going, miss, haha..."

She blinked up at the red tie and then into the face of a familiar policeman. "Adachi-san! Just the man I needed!"

"H-huh? Oh, you're Seta-san's niece... Nanako-kun, was it? Uhh," Adachi drawled. "What can I do for you?"

She eyed him shrewdly, calculating how best to formulate the request. She didn't know anything about the guy except that he used to be her uncle's partner on the force. That fact really couldn't be used as leverage... She decided just coming clean might be best. "My friend is kind of an idiot and just got arrested for waving around a fake sword. I kind of need him... not arrested. Could you maybe see your way to fixing this?"

Adachi coughed and began to laugh. He covered his mouth in amusement. "Ahh... And why would I do that?"

Damn, the question she'd hoped he wouldn't ask. "Because..." Her eyes flickered to the produce he'd been looking at. "I'll buy you cabbages."

The amusement died on his face, replaced by curious puzzlement. "Oh...? I thought for sure you'd ask me to do it as a favor to your aunt." He seemed impressed by that. "But... cabbages?"

"Beautiful, fresh, green cabbages," Nanako said, having no idea what the hell she was even on about. She thought of running her fingers over the cabbages on display, but she had more pride than that.

"You shouldn't try to bribe an officer of the law," he muttered, but she could tell she was winning him over.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "There's also red cabbages on the other end of the display!" She ran towards it.

"No, no, I like the green ones!" he called after her. She turned and he scratched the back of his head. "A-all right, then... I'll help, but I'm holding this against you!"

"Thanks, Adachi-san!"

"Don't thank me yet," he said. "I haven't done anything. Come along, we'll see what I can do."

Come along!? She followed him out of Junes and to the parking lot, where he unlocked a black and white car with "Inaba PD" on the side. He invited her to sit in the passenger seat. As she sat down, the knife in her jacket dug into her thigh and made her wince until she shifted it. The action seemed to draw Adachi's attention, but to her surprise, he was actually checking to make sure that she had her seatbelt on, immediately earning him points in her mental tally.

"I heard your father is a detective, too," he remarked while turning the ignition. "He ever give you a ride?" He grinned at her. He had a very goofy, disarming grin that she wasn't quite sure what to make of.

"Y-yeah, actually," she replied, "but well, it's been a while, and it's always fun."

"The Tokyo PD, huh?" he went on. "Bet he's got fancier gadgets than I'm stuck with." Adachi fiddled around with the police radio and the sudden static it emitted made both of them wince. "Eh, sorry about that. What division is he with?"

"Homicide, actually," she said. "Is that... what you're in, too?"

Adachi leaned back in the driver's seat and looked in the rearview mirror while he backed the car out of the lot. "I wasn't until this week!" He chuckled without humor.

She blinked. "The murders...?"

"Out here in the sticks," he further explained, "it's not so much divisions, just whatever the top brass decides you're gonna do. Why did I have to be one of the unlucky ones assigned to this case?" He sighed and looked very uncomfortable. Yeah, the homicide division wasn't for everyone. Nanako remembered several times when her dad had come home drunk because he'd seen something terrible on the job...

She also recalled how Adachi had been sick at the crime scene. No wonder the guy had been screwing around at Junes instead of investigating.

An uncomfortable silence elapsed, interrupted by the police radio. Adachi listened intently until the dispatch was over. "Haha, maybe someone has even less luck than me. That sap just got assigned to code 17. You know what that is? Come on, guess!"

It had to be something inane, so... "Uhh... Helping an old person cross the road?" she guessed.

"Finding a lost pet." He laughed. "Thank god I'm high enough on the ladder not to deal with that shit anymore. Uh, forgive my language."

"Not a problem!" Nanako replied cheerfully. "My dad's definitely said worse."

"Oh yeah? Like what...?" he asked teasingly.

They made some more small talk, and before Nanako knew it, they were already there. This town was small, wasn't it? The ride hadn't even lasted five minutes.

The Inaba police department wasn't a large building—it was less than half the size of the one her dad worked at—but some care had been put into its outer appearance; its paint job looked recent, and a landscaping company's placard had been placed in front of the well-trimmed bushes lining the entrance. The water from a small fountain babbled away between the largest bushes. Its cherub motif seemed out of place for a police department.

Adachi stopped before the sliding glass doors and sighed heavily. "I hate going into the office. Well, let's get this over with..."

The front office was teeming with activity and the sound of several different ongoing conversations filled the air. At a glance, Nanako saw a couple of civilians speaking with a uniformed woman right by the front entrance, several people gathered around a coffee-maker near a hallway, and farther in the back people gossiping while eating lunch at their desks.

As soon as the people noticed Adachi, however, all conversation ceased until it was so quiet that she could hear a pin drop.

Adachi's dress shoes echoed in the room as he walked across the tiled floor to the front desk. Nanako noticed how his hand clenched into a fist. He was well aware that all eyes were watching him.

"Ah, Adachi-san, sir," the receptionist said a tad too brightly. "How may I help you?"

Adachi slouched against the reception desk and bent one of his legs in a relaxed manner. "Ehh. Some kid was armed at Junes. I imagine he's being questioned..."

The receptionist nodded eagerly. "Oh, yes, that's in I.R. 3."

"Right."

Adachi headed down a hallway and waved for Nanako to follow him. She could hear whispers behind her as conversation started up again in the front office.

As if hearing her unspoken question, Adachi commented, "It's been almost half a year and they still treat me like something to be pitied."

Nanako knew without asking that he meant his partner's—her uncle's—death.

He stopped before a door. "Stay here," he told her.

He didn't bother knocking, just opened the door and interrupted the interrogation. He left the door open, and Nanako peered in through the small window that the gap provided. All she could see was an officer at a desk.

"You," Adachi said, pointing at the officer, then jerking his thumb towards the door. "Out. I'm taking over from here."

The officer tried to protest, but Adachi apparently stared him down, and he left the room, scowling at Nanako as he passed her in the hall.

"All right, kid," Adachi said. He stood behind the desk and leaned over it, palms down on the tabletop. "We could do this the easy way... or the hard way."

"I'm not the killer!" Yosuke's voice had an 'I'm about to cry' quality to it.

"Damn right," Adachi agreed. "Get the hell out of here, kid. And buy that girl outside some ice cream or something, because she just saved your ass."

Taking that as her cue, Nanako popped her head into the room and waved at Yosuke.

"Wh-wha... Nanako-san!" Yosuke squeaked in surprise and relief.

Adachi eyed her impassively, then glanced over the paperwork on the desk and shook his head at its contents. "I'll take care of this. Get the hell out of here, both of you."

"Thank you, Adachi-san!" Nanako sang.

He didn't answer, but the look on his face said, 'You owe me.'

"N-Nanako-san..." Yosuke sniffled while they were out in the hallway. He rubbed his watering eyes. He looked even more awful than he'd been during the week, if it was even possible. "They thought I was the killer! C-can you believe that?"

He was trying hard to be cheerful. Nanako patted him on the shoulder. "Well, now we know about weapon safety."

"Th-thank you so much for bailing me out there... They were trying to call my parents and, ugh..." He wiped his eyes and sniffled again. "I don't even want to think about it."

"Yosuke. You're on my team," she said. "Of course I wouldn't abandon you."

He looked like he really appreciated that.

In fact...

Oh, thought Nanako, as time stopped and yet another social link was earned. Magician, huh? After this incident, she kind of doubted Yosuke had any wisdom to depart, but she had a feeling his heart was in the right place.

"Well," she said, "Moving on... We're extremely late to our meeting with Chie." Yeah, Nanako checked her phone and there were a few texts from her friend.

Cum 2 daidaras by bookstore csd

Were r u?

U ok?

Coming, Nanako sent back.

"Apparently we're going to... Daidara's?" she informed him. "I guess it's at the shopping district."

"Oh, yeah," said Yosuke. "That's the blacksmith shop. I always wondered why we had a blacksmith. Feels old-timely, right? Like when wagons were used instead of cars."

"All right. If you know where it is, why don't you lead the way?"

Daidara's Metalworks was unlike anything she expected to see... anywhere, really. It was, in essence, a blacksmith's shop. There was even a forge in the corner, and by the glow it emitted, it was on and ready to be used, too. The wooden shelves were covered in weapons that looked like they belonged in medieval Europe: axes, pikes, swords, knives... Even some old bucket helmets were on display.

And Chie was there, looking annoyed at being forced to wait for so long. "There you are! Look, Nanako, we can buy weapons and armor here. If we have to save Yukiko, we should go in prepared, right? I'll leave it up to you to decide what to get."

"Y-yeah," said Yosuke. "I knew a golf club wouldn't really cut it, so..."

Chie handed Nanako some money, and Nanako looked over the assorted weapons on display. Nothing really spoke to her... She noticed the blacksmith watching them from next to his forge. He looked intimidating—his face was scarred and he had a bandana over his forehead, presumably to keep sweat out of his eyes. Well, if they were going to make use of this place, she thought she might as well get acquainted with the owner. "Daidara-san? Maybe you could give us some advice?"

An hour or so later, they stood before the large TV in the Junes electronics department. Chie kept itching her sides; the padded vest she wore under her lime green jacket seemed to irritate her skin. Nanako wasn't fond of it, either, but she imagined it was better than not having the vest.

On the other hand, Chie was rather happy with her steel-toed boots. Nanako caught her lifting up her feet and looking at them admiringly on more than one occasion.

With Daidara's help, Nanako had picked out a naginata for herself. She'd carried it with her into Junes, hoping the wooden sheath over the blade would conceal the weapon's nature. It seemed to work so far, and once it was in the TV World, she figured she'd never have to take it out into the real world again. She'd already tossed a plastic crate into the TV and planned to use it for storage there.

And Yosuke... had another rope. Well, Nanako had given him back the knife he'd given her earlier in the day, but Yosuke's job was, once again, to keep their backup exit open. He was less than thrilled with the idea.

"Why can't I come with?" he complained.

"I'm still upset with you for earlier," she told him, and he lowered his gaze, chastised. "And we can't guarantee that Teddie will be there to let us out."

"Y-yeah, well," he said, "that's all well and good, but what if someone comes here and sees me feeding a rope into the TV screen? It almost happened last time..."

"I'm sure you'll come up with an excuse," she said. "Come on, Chie! We have a Yukiko to save!"

[Next Chapter: Royal Pains

The first rescue mission begins!]