Kaneko once imagined the Red Hot Chili Peppers running around naked in the desert, which is why the Demi-Fiend is shirtless in the desert. The way I write Naoki, I'm thinking of Hey Oh as his theme song; he feels lonely and isolated as a demon who used to be human. It makes me think of walking alone on a snowy day.
I also think of Hello by Adelle as Nanashi's theme. The Other Side made me think of the afterlife, and in Nanashi's case, it made me think of how he's undead. Even though they're not physically separated, there's still this glass wall between him and his friends. He walks among the living, but his blood is cold.
Come to think of it, there is another character in this story who fits Hello better than Nanashi. He was isolated for years, and wants to apologize to someone he loves. He has not appeared yet, though.
In the Air Tonight is the theme of Tatsuya Suou. He remembered something important when all the world told him to forget, and he's atoning.
I've been playing Persona 5. I haven't gotten very far, but I think it's very effective at showing the cost of being a main character. The heroes are trapped, metaphorically and physically, and they can see no light at the end of the tunnel. They are shunned and hated in real life, and if they get into any trouble, no one will help them. Being a Phantom Thief looks like a lot of fun, but it's not worth it to have your life in ruins first.
My Joker's name is Robin Yu, because he's robbing you.
Maxie's redesign in Pokémon looks like Katsuya Suou. And Ken from Digimon looks a lot like Jun Kurosu. They even started out as mysterious, masked villains who were brainwashed.
I think that Persona 5 Royal will somehow relate to SMT proper. It doesn't seem like a coincidence that weird things are happening in Kichijoji, Kazuya's hometown.
This chapter is very SMT-heavy. I'll put in more Castlevania next chapter.
Clarification: during the Halloween Special, Kazuya recruited the Jack bros. in October 2034, and sent them back to Makai offscreen on October 2035. Kazuya, Soma, Naoki, and Daisuke have been roommates since April 2036, so Kazuya hasn't been hiding the Jacks from his roommates. He could only hide them from his mother because they have separate rooms.
Who knows what:
Yoko and the Agency know there's a demon summoner in Haruhata. Kazuya, Soma, and Mina know Kazuya is a demon summoner, but none of them know that the Agency is looking for him.
Only people who know in canon know that Soma is Dracula. It is common knowledge among the international supernatural 'community' that Dracula was the deceased Graham Jones, but no one has been shown to believe this.
Only Yoko and the Agency know what they're doing in Haruhata. Soma and Mina know they're doing something. The Agency also rescued a bunch of people who now know of their existence at the very least.
Make Friends, not Corpses
"A wandering vampire hunter might travel alone, but he is not a lone wolf. No matter how powerful the hunter may be, he can accomplish nothing without the help of strangers. The locals will always know the surrounding area, the latest gossip, and the strange old drunk who's been around longer than the elders can remember. Be polite, be sympathetic, and keep your pursestrings loose."
-Diary of Leon Belmont
Kazuya suffered from terrible tunnel vision [1]. It wasn't that his eyesight or hearing was bad; he never had any problems sitting in the back seat of a lecture hall, taking a driver's test, or aiming a hunting rifle. He just had trouble noticing things like people or furniture from more than a few meters away. As long as he wasn't consciously observing his surroundings, he could have a brisk stroll inside crowded café and not see a single person until he was almost right on top of them.
Surprisingly, this didn't hamper his survival ability. He had walked straight into enemy ambushes so many times that he learned to walk silently; he wouldn't see them coming, but neither would they. Demons caught even the wariest by surprise all the time; all the practice just made him better at reacting. It didn't matter that he didn't notice distant sounds when his protective headphones rendered him practically deaf; he couldn't hear a thing with them on, but if he kept firing a minigun less than a meter away from his head, then he wouldn't be able to hear a thing with them off. Besides, Aoi and his demons were always around to point important stuff out.
Still, if you knew this weakness, it was possible to catch Kazuya by surprise. That was, after all, how he was assassinated.
It was also how Kazuya completely failed to notice two people speaking in indoor voices less than three meters away from him.
Soma Cruz, Kazuya's roommate, and a girl Kazuya didn't recognize were standing on the couch, staring at him and Cerberus. A fireball floated in midair behind them.
"Oh, no, don't mind me," said Kazuya, sliding his hand to the ground and preparing to run. "Please, carry o-"
Soma's left shoulder wound back, warning Kazuya of an imminent projectile. He leapt to the side before Soma could complete the throw, to avoid the fiery projectile smelling of-
"Curry?" said Kazuya, resisting the urge to break eye contact and turn around. "You threw curry at me?"
"Sorry, I was aiming at the lion," said Soma, barely paying attention to Kazuya. His eyes were on Cerberus. "Kazuya, why is there a monster in our-"
"You spoilt little bratchny!" yelled Kazuya. "Did no one tell you to never waste food!? There are people starving in—there are starving people everywhere; you're just going to throw two days' worth of food away just to-"
"Forget about the curry; what's this thing doing-"
"Forget the curry?! Forget about the curry!? Do you have any idea what it's like to starve?!" roared Kazuya. "Have you ever gone even one day without a meal, Soma? Gone to bed with an empty stomach? Gnawed on raw boots with barely enough strength in your-"
Soma reached behind his back and pulled out another plate of curry. "It's magic curry, all right?" he said, unintimidated. "I can just make more with magic. Do you really think that a student would just throw food away?"
Kazuya stopped yelling, but he continued to glare at Soma. "There are still lots of people out there who could use some-"
Soma raised both his hands. The plate slipped out of his hands, but vanished before it hit the ground. "Let's discuss this later, all right? I'll donate these to charity if it'll make you shut up. Let's focus on the important issues, like what are you doing with a demon lion in our basement?!"
At this, Cerberus's hackles rose. "You want to fight, Snowball?" he growled.
"Bring it on, Kimba."
Soma grabbed something on the inside of his coat, and Kazuya broke out into a cold sweat. The only things that people hid in their inside pockets were wallets and guns, and Kazuya was pretty sure that Soma wasn't going to bribe him.
Kazuya opened his mouth to threaten Soma with fiery death by Cerberus, but stopped himself. The proper response to a demon's threat was usually another threat; demons don't respect the weak, and some demons with overinflated egos thought that anyone brave enough to threaten them had to be stronger than them. Humans, especially ones who lived in peaceful times, didn't take threats seriously. Or they saw threats as a reason to jump straight to fighting, not as a means of negotiation.
The second best response was to act like a sycophant; it was easy to trap flattered demons in a contract, but obsequiousness only worked because most demons couldn't read human expressions and social cues. According to Takeshi, Kazuya's bootlicking act looked like the Comic Relief Villain prostrating before the Evil Emperor in a children's anime, but demons ate it up.
Which left bribery (an admittance of guilt to a human), sneak attacks (which would get someone killed), running (to where?), blackmail (Kazuya didn't even know this girl's name), and… normal human negotiation.
How did Aoi do it, again?
"Cerberus, down," said Kazuya in an authoritative voice that betrayed no fear. When they were alone, his dog was Pascal, but in front of other people, he was the mighty Cerberus, guardian of the gate of Hades.
Cerberus straightened his stance, and looked away. "You got lucky, br-"
"No taunting. He's got a piece in there." Kazuya raised his hands slowly and put them behind his head. Now wasn't the time to wonder how his roommate got his hands on a firearm. Kazuya had survived bullet wounds without protection before, but a) even an amateur could hit something vital from point blank range, b) there was no one around with healing magic, and c) it could be one of those rhino-hunting guns for all he knew. "Just sit down in that corner and let me take care of this."
Cerberus whined as he sat. "You can start by making that girl put down that chair."
"What ch-" Kazuya turned around and saw that while he was yelling at Soma, the girl had armed herself with a chair. "Ah, yes. That chair."
Soma's friend was pointing a wooden chair at Cerberus, like a lion tamer from an old cartoon. Her hands were shaking. "You're a demon summoner, aren't you?" said the girl in a loud voice, as if to drown out her fear.
"I am," said Kazuya, trying to remember how Aoi spoke during Center meetings, and then trying not to cry.
Soma stepped towards the girl. "Mina, he's got the lion under con-"
"Soma," said the girl. "You know how in almost every anime or video game, there's this one person who willingly turned to dark magic who's actually a decent person, and they fight their own kind? Like how Akira fused with Amon in Devilman and why Ghost Rider is a thing?"
"Of course I-"
"They're the exceptions."
"Wait, but wasn't Akira out to prove that there were humans who-"
"You know what I mean," snapped Mina.
Kazuya eyed the chair. "Do you plan to kill me?" he said.
"If I have to," said the girl. Her hands were shaking.
"Let's say that you do," said Kazuya. "And let's pretend that Cerberus here won't maul you two to death for it. What are you going to tell the police? Are you really going to tell them that you killed your friend's roommate because you think he's a demon summoner? Where's your proof?"
"There's a division that deals with people like you," said the girl.
This made Kazuya drop his arrogant tone. "What?!" said Kazuya. "Since when!?"
"Since… I don't know, at least the sixties," said the girl, who was only a little less surprised than he was.
"Then-" Kazuya stopped himself before he could spill the next words: 'Where were they when the demons came?' Instead, he managed to regain his composure long enough to say, "You still don't have any proof."
"I've been filming you since you started ranting about the curry," said the girl coolly.
"You're bluffing," said Kazuya.
"What?" said the girl.
"Why would you just happen to be carrying a video camera with you?" said Kazuya triumphantly. Soma and the girl gave him identical baffled looks.
"…We… have phones," said Soma delicately. "Y… are you sure you're a computer science major?"
It took Kazuya a few moments to recall that most people in the 21st century carried around cell phones, and that modern phones had camera and video capabilities. There went that plan. "All right, I give up. You win. Can we please just talk this out?"
The girl blinked. "You're begging us for mercy?" said the girl, surprise briefly overtaking fear.
"Actually, my plan was to discourage you from attacking me so that I could call for parley, but since you have the high ground, all I can do is beg for it," said Kazuya.
Soma sat down. "I'd like a parley, too," he said. "I'd like to know what's going on without fighting to the death for once."
The girl looked at the two, and caved. "All right, fine. Let's have a parley. But you have to send away that demon of yours!"
Cerberus growled. "I will not leave my master's s-"
"I'll do it, but only if you put down that chair and he puts away that gun," said Kazuya.
Soma's brow creased. "What gun?"
"What?!" growled Cerberus.
Kazuya raised his hands. "One at a time. Soma, I'm talking about the gun in your coa…" took Kazuya a moment to recall that he wasn't living in a postapocalyptic landscape with no gun control laws. "Never mind what you have in your coat; if you think you can take Cerberus on with it, I don't want it anywhere near me."
Soma shrugged. "All right, but you need to go first."
"Kazuya…" said Cerberus, stepping closer.
"You don't need to worry about me," said Kazuya, kneeling and gently scratching Cerberus's mane.
"But Kazuya-"
"If I don't do it, it's back to the battlefield for both of us," said Kazuya firmly. "No one's trying to kill me yet, and I'd like to keep it that way."
"She wants to kill you," growled Cerberus.
"Most humans have an aversion to killing their own kind," whispered Kazuya. "She talks big, but she won't do it if I don't threaten her."
"But-"
"Just go, Cerberus. I promise you I'll get through this."
Cerberus lowered his head. Kazuya flipped open the COMP's cover and hit a few keys. "Give it a moment; you know what these old computers are like."
Cerberus vanished in a flash of blue light.
"Your turn," said Kazuya, watching both students for any sudden movements. He was keenly aware of how naked and cornered he felt; the closest thing to a weapon on hand were couch cushions, and he'd been squatting in the corner farthest from the door. But he didn't have to worry; the girl walked the chair over to the other end of the room, keeping her eyes on him the whole time, and Soma tossed his jacket on the chair. Soma made a move to sit at his old seat, but the girl tugged him to a table next to the door.
"Now take that thing off your arm," said the girl, pointing at the COMP.
"No," said Kazuya.
"What was that?" said the girl, her harsh voice betraying her fear.
"Soma can throw magic curry at people, and one of you can make fireballs," said Kazuya. "If you're not completely disarmed, I'm not taking this off."
The girl quickly stood up and hefted the chair. "Then we're-"
"Still having that parley," interrupted Soma. "I don't care if we can get away with it; we're not killing my roommate."
"We're not killing him, we're-"
"Seriously, can you please just explain?" said Soma. "What's so ba-"
"Soma," said the girl. "You of all people should know that the Agency doesn't arrest people for magic. They arrest people for murder."
Kazuya flinched.
Soma blinked. "What?"
"Demon summoning requires human sacrifice," said the girl. Then she cursed, or at least muttered an unrecognizable word in a tone usually reserved for cursing. "…And now that he knows we know, we're next."
Kazuya's whole body tensed up. It was one thing to be accused of summoning demons; they already knew he could do it, and he could just say that he didn't do anything illegal with them. Murder was different. It was almost impossible to prove that he wasn't behind a specific murder; proving that he never killed anyone, besides being untrue, was much closer to impossible. "You think that just because I've killed people before, I'm going to kill you?"
The girl blinked. "When you put it that way, it's—I mean, yes! Isn't the killer's second target always the witness?"
Kazuya froze. If he said he wouldn't kill them, they'd go to the police. If he said he wouldn't kill them as long as they didn't report him, he'd sound exactly like a murderer, and they'd go to the police anyways. "I haven't killed anyone who didn't try to kill me first," he settled.
"Was that a threat?" said the girl warily.
"No!" said Kazuya. "It's…" He shot Soma a pleading look. "Soma, every criminal is at least allowed a trial by jury, right?"
Soma blinked. He looked as if he hadn't yet registered that the person who slept directly beneath him every night was a murderer. "Well, yes, but-"
"And murder is legal in self-defense?"
"…I guess?"
"And desecration of human corpses isn't illegal?"
"…I'm not sure about that, but I'm sure it's just in poor ta-"
"Please," begged Kazuya. "Don't call the police yet. If they're anything like the supernatural police I knew, they're not going to give someone like me a trial. Let me plead my case."
Kazuya bit the inside of his lip. This was it. Strictly speaking, he wasn't helpless; with just a few swift, practiced motions, he could summon his strongest demons, order them to kill these kids, and then walk away. Maybe life would go back to normal eventually, or maybe the police would find him, and he'd have to run away and go live as a globetrotting refugee for the rest of his life (which sounded kind of fun).
But he wouldn't. If he did, there would be nothing separating him from the Gaians he had slaughtered so long ago.
Kazuya removed his COMP and slid it towards Soma and the girl. "I'm completely unarmed," he said. "If you want to kill me, you probably can."
Both Soma and the girl looked taken aback. "…I can't say no to that," said Soma. "We'll do it."
Kazuya cleared his throat. "It all started in the October of 1999, when I was just fifteen years old…"
X
Yoko skimmed through another report. Normally, she would have done her homework before flying to a job, but she had taken the job on such short notice that her application for a record transfer hadn't had time to go through. Alucard's good word could help her get jobs, but there is little short of a national emergency that can hurry up bureaucracy. Agent Fireball was senior enough to approve a 'transfer' and gave her a censored pile of mission reports.
From what she could see, most of the rookie agents weren't bad at their job. Not that they were good detectives or fighters, mind you. Only professionals can be measured by kill counts or solved cases. The litmus test for an amateur is how they report their screwups. Sloppiness is normal when you're first starting, and no half-decent instructor will hold a training mistake against their charges. Deliberately downplaying or obfuscating their messes to look competent, however, is a warning flag for poor record-keeping. Too many times had a Level Nine threat been underreported as a Level Six when the survivors wanted to sound tougher than they were. Of course, as a mercenary, Yoko didn't know this firsthand; she heard it from her grandmother, a former officer in the USSR's Occult Police program.
Agent Cowboy looked up from the poker table, and folded. "I thought you're supposed to help us. What are you, the secret auditor?"
"I can't help you until I know what's going on," said Yoko. Cowboy, surprisingly enough, was one of the more meticulous rookies. He wrote down every detail, no matter how trivial, in the hopes that some of it might be useful.
"You already know everything from the briefings," insisted Agent Cowboy. "Quit wasting our time."
"No, I'm getting a lot from this," said Yoko. "Such as the fact that the blood bank robbery was never solved, and you just skipped straight to the flying robot shark incident."
"That's not a mistake," said Agent Lily, shuffling cards. "The blood bank was robbed by an underground doctor and his assistant, who needed it for emergency transfusions. We let them off in exchange for free treatment whenever we want."
Yoko shrugged. Lily was one of three agents she was certain was cheating. Those three wrote about their tailings and investigations going wrong all the time, but she'd never seen anything about poor combat performance. If they were to be believed, they'd never needed backup, could dodge bullets, and heroically dived in front of werewolves to save fallen teammates. Of course, she did know more than a few people who had done all that when they were around the same age, but all of them had trained all their lives as monster hunters. Except for Soma. But she was pretty sure that reincarnations of the most powerful vampire to ever exist were in short supply.
"So what are you going to do to help us, then?" asked Agent Reaper, another cheater. "Are you just going to hang around until we find this summoner?"
Yoko shook her head. "I charge by the day, and, surprise surprise, your bosses consider that a waste of money. Until we find the summoner, I'll be investigating alongside you. Don't look at me like that, Cowboy. You're not going to always be working with people you like."
"Which is why you two are going to be on the same team tonight," said Agent Fireball, walking in. Everyone looked up. "I've written this week's rota on the board. Everyone's getting at least one round with our new comrade. Any questions? Yes, Agent Dragon?"
"What are we allowed to tell her?" asked Agent Dragon, the third cheater.
Cowboy moaned. "Weren't you paying attention during the exams? Mercenaries are given by default level Daleth-Omicron-Charlie clearance." [2]
"I know that!" snapped Agent Dragon. "I mean, if she's working with us, she needs to know what we can do, but that's in our profiles, and those are level Gimmel! And what if we're fighting a—what if we're fighting something we've fought before on a Level Theta mission?"
"That is an excellent question, Agent Dragon," said Agent Fireball mildly. "Agent Cowboy, you are correct, but you forgot that Ms. Belnades has already read files that normally require level Xi security clearance." Agent Dragon shot a smug look at Agent Cowboy, who scowled. "Ms. Belnades, would you mind stepping outside for a moment? There's a vending machine on the ground floor." He tossed her a 500 yen coin.
"Thank you," said Yoko. Agent Fireball wasn't being nice; this was nothing more than a simple ploy to ensure her alibi. If she didn't bring something back, or she couldn't give basic details on the machine, she was probably spying. Yoko didn't blame him, though; if this wasn't government, she'd probably be sending something back to the Belnades Clan Archives in case of emergency backstabs (from either side).
Yoko's suspicions were confirmed when she found that there was no vending machine on the ground floor. This was a trap meant for people who knew about this sort of test, and brought along their own snacks and drinks hidden on their person. Yoko never did this, because there is no brand ubiquitous enough to be in every single vending machine, or even any guarantee what kind of vending machine it was. She returned empty-handed, and made sure to knock.
Agent Wolf opened the door. "We're done," she said.
"Basically, you can hear anything from Aleph-Omega-Alfa to Daleth-Omicron-Charlie, anything between that level and Zayin-Lambda-Echo level is strictly-need-to-know, and we absolutely cannot-"
Agent Fireball sighed. "Agent Cowboy, knowing our codes does not make you smarter than her. Agent Wolf, tell Ms. Belnades what we've discussed."
"We—the rookies—can tell you bits of preapproved classified material, as long as it's below a certain clearance," said Agent Wolf. "For instance, profiles are usually off-limits to mercenaries, but we can tell you about our abilities or medical histories. If you need to know something higher, like how we killed a certain type of monster on a classified mission, Agent Fireball will fill you in. In the event that there's something that even Agent Fireball can't talk about, we're probably going to be pulled out, so you don't need to worry."
"Couldn't we just make a file full of stuff we can tell her and have her read it?" said Agent Reaper.
"That would take too long," said Agent Lily. "That is what need-to-know basis means. You don't read every book in the library to study for a test."
Agent Fireball turned towards Yoko. "I can make you another file by Friday, but in the meantime, just listen to the others." He turned towards the rookie agents. "The next shift is coming up, so get ready! Mobilize in ten, reconvene at 0500!"
The agents reluctantly stood up and began to prepare. Agent Fireball was already ready, and simply handed out advice as the agents passed.
"Agent Cowboy, good job staying unseen on patrol duty, but I think the Portuguese Mafia's caught on to the sudden gas leaks."
"Agent Wolf, you did an excellent job of evading that tracker, but you were missing quite a bit of context in that spy report."
"Agent Lily, I applaud your initiative regarding your training, but using your Stand to cheat at cards is terrible form."
X
Soma had a very clear idea of what was Normal and what was not. College was Normal. Roommates were Normal. Castlevania was Not Normal. Fighting monsters was Not Normal. Talking to people was Normal. Seeing a witch or a dhampir was Not Normal, but seeing Yoko or Arikado was Normal. Even discussing Not Normal things was Normal. This, however simplistic, is a common mindset held by many people living a double life, most commonly held by Persona users.
When Normal and Not Normal meld together, the result is disorienting.
For almost a year, Soma placed Kazuya firmly in the Normal category. Kazuya was more or less another extra on the set for college, a Normal Place.
Seeing Kazuya playing with a demon, an extra from some Not Normal Place, in the basement of his dorm, was about as disorienting as watching the new dub of his favorite foreign movie, only to find that King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table spoke in Southern US accents due to localization.
"…and I was a completely ordinary boy," said Kazuya. "I didn't know demons were real, I didn't believe in magic, and I wasn't even that smart or rich. That all changed when a man named Stephen tested his teleporter network exactly one week from Halloween, when the walls between the worlds were at their weakest. He accidentally broke the barrier between the human and demon worlds, allowing demons to-"
"Wait, couldn't he have just shut down the teleporter?" said Mina.
Soma expected Kazuya to roll his eyes and complain about being interrupted, but instead he gave a tense smile and said, "I asked Stephen that same question. Using the teleporter once made it easier for demons to enter this world using any route, not just the teleporters. Don't ask me why; I didn't understand then, so I can't remember now. Besides, the government seized the teleporters before he could destroy them." He paused. "You'd think they'd at least have destroyed the one in the Diet building."
"Anyways, that's just why everything went to hell. I became a demon summoner ten minutes after I saw a Preta rip a man's throat out. I ran into a Pixie, gave her my allowance, and she agreed to be my-"
"How?" said Soma. When Kazuya gave him a strange look, Soma cleared his throat. "Okay, there were at least five things wrong with what you just said. There's no way anyone could learn how to cast a basic fire spell in ten minutes, let alone summon a demon-" You're one to talk, muttered a Student Witch. Not now, he bit back "-and even if you could learn how to summon a demon, you just said you ran into one, not summoned one. Third, paying demons doesn't guarantee they're going to listen to you. Four, I forgot number four, but five, what about that thing?" Soma pointed to the wrist-mounted computer Kazuya put on the ground, knowing better than to touch his computers without permission.
Kazuya blinked. "Right. I forgot about that. Stephen wrote a program called the Demon Summoning Program, which covers everything you just said. It allows anyone with a microphone and 64 MB of memory to communicate with demons, make contracts that heavily restrict their ability to backstab you, return them to their home dimensions, and retrieve them. I have no idea how it works."
Mina looked as if he had told her that it was too late to deactivate the Evil Emperor's Death Ray.
"Don't worry, I'm the only one who has it," Kazuya added quickly. "As far as I know, I'm the only one who has the program, and I have no intention of distributing it. Before you ask, I got it off an email."
Soma chuckled.
"…Yes, Soma, that is exactly how I was scammed the other day," said Kazuya coldly.
Soma shook his head. "Never mind that. So you summoned demons to protect yourself? That doesn't sound that ba-"
"He had to kill people, remember?" said Mina urgently.
"Actually, I didn't," said Kazuya. "I'm not saying that I never killed humans before, but I never did it for the Magneti—you don't know what Magnetite is."
"The most magnetic natural mineral on earth?" said Mina.
Soma blinked. "You knew that off the top of your head?"
"I read a lot of Nat Geo."
Kazuya shook his head. "They're both called magnetite. My Magnetite is short for Magic Net Field Effect Mineral; -ite is the mineral suffix [3]. They didn't call it Magitite because they didn't think anyone would take it seriously after Final Fantasy. The person who named Ma—my Magnetite, I mean—didn't know about the mineral called magnetite, and no one renamed it because… anyway, demons need my Magnetite to sustain their bodies in our world. Humans have a lot of it naturally, but there exist deposits in places with a lot of natural magic. I found it most efficient to scrounge it from other demons."
Soma blinked. Is this true? he asked the monster souls within him.
In response, Soma heard an incomprehensible cacophony.
Soma groaned internally. Please be quiet. The souls fell silent. Stolas, is this true?
The word is unfamiliar, Master, but the concept rings true, Stolas responded. We do not require sustenance from humans if we gather around places with strong ambient magic. The castle was a wellspring of magical energy.
Huh, thought Soma. Does that have anything to do with how I'd get a refill on magic when I broke stuff or killed monsters?
Did you not notice? Stolas added politely.
Wait, is this the same energy I use for magic?
Stolas nodded. The very same. Do you not bestow it upon us when you create bodies for us?
But most people can't use magic!
They simply lack the knowledge, not the potential, said Stolas. I believe the word is vestigial?
Got it. Thank you, Stolas.
I am at your service.
Soma realized that Kazuya was glaring at him. "I'm throwing myself on your mercy," he said, gritting his teeth. "The least you could do is listen."
"Sorry, just fact-checking," said Soma. "What did I miss?"
"He wants to demonstrate a summoning, and I said that even if this 'Magnetite' does exist, he can't prove that he didn't get it from humans," said Mina.
"It's real, and you can get it from demons," said Soma. When Mina gave him a look, he added, "I'll explain later. Hang on."
Stolas, could you please do some calculations for me?
A few moments later, Soma said, "It's difficult, but possible, to summon a demon entirely out of demon sacrifices."
Kazuya blinked. "How-"
"Gift. Horse," said Soma.
Mina considered this. "I have another que—two questions. How was this covered up, how old a—three questions. How was this covered up, how old are you, and why are you only going to colle—four questions. How do you look-"
"Time travel," said Kazuya bluntly.
Soma whistled. "That makes so much sense."
Mina looked up. "How?"
Soma shrugged. "He doesn't know the last Prime Minister's name, couldn't use the washing machine, things like that. Oh, and he hadn't even heard of Harry Potter until he came here."
Mina pointed at Kazuya. "Explain."
Kazuya sighed. "Technically, I'm from an alternate timeline, but 'dimensional traveler' sounds like an astronaut. From what I've read, the timeline's mostly consistent with what I remember, up until the demons," said Kazuya. He took a deep breath.
"In the November of 1999, a general in the JSDF led a coup. He claimed that the American ambassador was planning to nuke Japan because it was God's will. The American ambassador thought that general was planning to summon Lucifer. I'm not sure if either of them were guilty of those particular accusations, because they—anyways, they fought each other more than they fought the demons, and Tokyo turned into a battleground." [4]
Kazuya paused for a second longer than Soma should have. "I joined the local Resistance movement. We fought the coup forces and the American army, but the ambassador had a… surprise." Kazuya looked as if he wanted to say something significantly less pleasant. "We—the Resistance leader and I—managed to kill him, but Got—the general—was right about the nuke. Tho—the ambassador launched it right before he died."
Kazuya's hands were shaking. "The Resistance leader saved me at the last minute. A—she sent me and… me and some friends thirty years into the future."
"The Tokyo of the future was a wasteland, but we rebuilt. The Resistance leader reincarnated, and we worked together to—no, you need more context."
Kazuya took in a deep breath. "Two factions sprung up in our absence. Powerful ones, filled with powerful demons and summoners. Both of them wanted to massacre the other, down to the last civilian. The Resistance leader and I didn't want either of them to take over Tokyo, so we went to war. After we took the heads of their leaders, the survivors were willing to negotiate. People are a lot more efficient when they're not trying to kill each other, so we built a new city. Things were all right—for maybe a decade."
"One of the two factions took over the whole city, and crushed the other one," said Kazuya, speaking rapidly. "It was all legal, and Aoi and I couldn't retaliate because they were the entire government by then. They still couldn't kill us—we were too popular and powerful—so they assigned us to the slums. The Resistance leader did a good job of it, and we became a force to reckon with, so they-"
Kazuya's voice broke. "I got elected," he continued in a forced monotone. "I did the managing fine, but I wasn't so good at talking to the Cent—central authority. Aoi had pull with them—she was born into their cult—but all I had was demons. They gave me more and more problems, didn't lift a finger to help, and when I took a break…"
Kazuya sighed. "We had lovely natural cave systems, and I took a holiday. There was a cave-in. Some bratchney stole me COMP right off the arm, so I know it was an assassin. I died."
Neither Soma nor Mina interrupted this proclamation.
"Three years ago, on the day before Halloween, I woke up in my old bed, in my old house, with my m—everything was the same," said Kazuya. "Everything but the year. I don't know how it happened, what happened to the me of this timeline, or why the COMP still has the program." Kazuya sighed. "And that's my story."
Soma and Mina stared at Kazuya, and then looked at one another.
"That sounds so ridiculous that I don't know what to say," said Mina. She turned to Soma. "What do you think?"
"I think… Oh." Soma realized what she meant. All of you, one at a time. Did he sound like he was lying? If you think he said something that isn't true, but he wasn't lying about it, don't say anything.
He lies!
He speaks true.
I shall wreak vengeance upon he who once bound me to slavery…
Liar!
I don't think he's lying.
THE FILTHY EARTH BOY LIES!
Hey, I know that guy!
Look, it's Stepdaddy!
Yeah, me too!
Can we say hi? Canwecanwecanwecanwe
Soma clutched his head. One at a time.
"Soma?" said Mina.
"Is he all right?" asked Kazuya, tilting his head.
"I'm fine," said Soma. You know him!? Why didn't you say anything?! Oh, and only one of you speak this time. Vote on it.
After a while, one of the senior Bats explained that Lilim was one of Kazuya's demons when he liberated Shinjuku from a tyrant, Arachne fought him while he was trying to save the Resistance Leader, Kali helped kill the faction leaders, Quetzalcoatl was friends with Cerberus, and more than a few of them fought him at some point.
Wait, but… timelines?
We are not linear beings, explained Stolas. I will elaborate when you have time.
"He's telling the truth," said Soma. "He's travelled through time, fought those factions, everything."
Kazuya eyed him curiously. "And how do you-"
"Gift horse. Mouth," said Soma. "So now that you know he's not lying, are you going to let him off, Mina?"
Mina was silent.
"Mina?" said Soma.
"I'm thinking."
Kazuya's face morphed into the stony mask he usually wore, but Soma knew better. Dracula knew better. The vague wisps of the man Dracula once was knew better. Kazuya was as high strung as a violin tuned for a dog, and coiled to run.
Zephyr, get ready.
Tch, brat. I, Zephyr, do not take orders from—
NOW.
Zephyr had no choice but to obey. Soma's magic circuits rearranged themselves to accommodate the Time Stop spell.
Mina spoke.
X
Thunder boomed. Rain splattered on the muddy pavement, washing away the deeds of the night.
The murderer stalked the empty streets, clothes completely soaked. This was no mean feat in winter in northern Japan; the murderer was wearing three layers, not including underwear. The murderer seemed to expect the rain but did not care; not a single layer was waterproofed, but inside an inner pocket jangled a small plastic bag containing keys, a wallet, some paperclips, a small pocket knife, and some candy. The murderer did not carry a phone.
The murderer's destination was a dimly lit apartment building in the eastern corner of the city. Rain silenced booted footsteps as the murderer climbed the concrete steps. The door had a keycard scanner and a number pad, but the murderer required neither. A mere twelve seconds of pressing an ungloved hand against the scanner later, the door's bolt clicked open.
The murderer opened the door silently. The apartment's occupant was lying in front of the television, buried underneath a fort of cushions, pillows, cardboard boxes, and blankets. A mug of black tea sat in front of the quivering mass, next to a boiling electric kettle, a small saucepan of heated cream, and a half empty bowl of sugar.
"I'm home."
The accomplice barely looked up from the television. "Difficult job. Angry client. Don't talk."
"Don't be like that. I've got something for you." The murderer gently put a box on the ground, and opened it. "Say hello."
The box meowed. A tiny brown kitten popped out, looking at the world with bright amber eyes. "Mew?"
The accomplice looked up. "Was that a…?" The accomplice stood up, collapsing the fort. "A cat?"
"You said you used to have a cat," said the murderer, pouring a mug of tea and swishing it around to let the heat out. "You've been under a lot of stress lately. Thought you'd appreciate a pet."
"Yeah, and we all know how the last one turned out," muttered the accomplice, and added in a gentle voice, "It's okay, I won't hurt you." The accomplice extended a finger for the kitten to sniff. "What's her name?"
"She doesn't have one," said the murderer, wincing as chilled tongue met scalding hot water. "How about… Fluffy?"
"The Cerberus from Harry Potter?" said the accomplice. "Why not McGonagall?"
"This little kitty is too small to be Professor McGonagall."
The accomplice shrugged. "Guess that means Mrs. Norris is out of the question. Crookshanks?"
"Not orange enough. How about Bastet?"
"Too pretentious," said the accomplice. "Hubel or Wiesel?"
"Who?"
"Neuroscientists. They used a cat for their experiments on the brain. It was groundbreaking."
"…That's even more pretentious. We might as well name her Ailuros and be done with it."
"Morgana?" suggested the accomplice.
"Cute, but that sounds like a witch's cat."
"Felix?"
The accomplice considered this. "Classic cartoon character, and a pun on the Latin Felis. Works, except she's female."
"Fine. Felice?"
"Eh, it needs the x to be cool. How about Catherine?"
"I never liked that pun," said the murderer. "How about Luna?"
"Doesn't look like a Luna," said the accomplice. "What does that have to do with cats?"
"Luna is the name of Sailor Moon's guardian cat," said the murderer. "Didn't you ever watch Sailor Moon as a kid?"
"Didn't have cable, wasn't friends with anyone who had it," said the accomplice. "Why not Sagwa?" When the murderer didn't react, the accomplice sighed. "Of course you wouldn't watch non-cable cartoons. Sagwa's Siamese, anyways."
"What's the name of the cat from the Simpsons?"
"Itchy is a terrible name," said the accomplice. "Unless that's the mouse. Scratchy is also terrible."
"Not the Itchy and Scratchy Show; the Simpsons family had a pet cat."
"Snowball, and not for a brown cat. Besides, there were six cats named Snowball on the show, and they all died."
"Dawon?" said the murderer.
"Who?"
"In Hindu lore, Durga rides a lion or tiger named Dawon into battle," said the murderer. "Or Gdon, depending on your source."
The accomplice stared. "How did you know that off the top of your head?"
"How did you know the names of two neuroscientists off the top of your head?"
"…Touché."
"Maybe Frejya?" suggested the murderer. "Her chariot is pulled by cats."
"Just what we want, sentencing an innocent soul to hard physical labor," muttered the accomplice.
"Selina, then?" suggested the murderer.
The accomplice mulled this over. "Catwoman's real name, Selina Kyle. I like it. You're Selina from now on!"
"Mew!" said the cat.
The accomplice tickled the newly christened Selina under the chin, and then went stock still. "Does this apartment allow pets?"
The murderer sighed. "Do I need to remind you about all those times we have literally gotten away with murder?" When the accomplice didn't respond, the murderer added, "Yes, they do."
X
"Summoning is illegal because murder is illegal. If you've only killed in self-defense, and you only broke the law because your life was in danger, I can't turn you in."
X
Naoki yawned, and rubbed his eyes as he emerged from the building housing his calculus class. He'd been out all night searching for Daisuke. Then he remembered that he forgot to do his physics homework, and stayed up all night on it. Naoki was thankful that caffeine still worked on a body with glowing lymph and an extra brain in a horn, and didn't care if it made sense or not. He sometimes wondered if he could get drunk.
Naoki started towards the building that held his programming class, when he was struck by an adrenaline rush (or whatever demons produced). He felt himself step into his combat stride, ready to advance or retreat at a moment's notice. Every possible escape route was marked and sorted by difficulty. He ticked off a mental checklist of everything that could go wrong with him; the backpack could pose a few problems, his left shoulder was a little stiff, and he should put less weight on his right leg. Every noise, every tiny drop in temperature, every tiny zap of static electricity was quickly scanned for potential threats and discarded.
Naoki was in perfect combat mode. All he needed to do was find out what set him off. His instincts worked faster than his brain.
"…All you need is coconut milk, milk, hot water, gelatin, sugar…"
For a moment, Naoki wondered if he wanted coconut pudding. Then he remembered whose voice that was.
Using the crowd of students walking to their next class as cover, Naoki walked closer to the voice.
Bingo. The gang leader from the other night was sitting on a bench, talking to another student.
"There will be a film of pure fat. It tastes good, but if you want to get rid of it…"
Naoki quickly ducked behind a convenient wall, attracting a few stares. He got out his phone and pretended to read something.
"I need to get to class. See you tomorrow."
Naoki's heart sank. He had to go to his computer science class. For a moment, he wondered if it was worth missing a lecture on recursion, something he still didn't understand even when he got Kazuya to patiently explain.
What's all the fuss about, anyway? his rational brain added. She's not a demon. She can fight, but what's so special about that? You need to go to class.
Are you my rational size or the rationalizing side?
I could be either.
But if you're my rational brain, who's thinking this?
This metaphor doesn't work. The voice vanished in a puff of logic.
Naoki rubbed his temples. I have trusted my instincts in the part, but I have gotten false alarms before. Even if I had a low rate of false alarms in the past, the low probability of discovering someone who could put me in danger compared to the number of people I scan every-
"You're not very good at sneaking up on people, are you?"
"No, not—Aah!"
The gang leader was right next to him. "Rule number seven, aka, the Peekaboo rule. Just because you can't see someone doesn't mean they can't see you."
Naoki's first instincts told him to beat the intruder to death, but conditioning held him back better than his rational mind. He never attacked someone who was talking to him.
"You did a good job disguising yourself this time; face paint and a hat isn't a real disguise," the gang leader continued. She was standing well out of punching range. "Why are you following me?"
Naoki blinked. "I thought you were following me!"
"Cut the crap," said the leader, sticking her right hand in her coat.
Naoki would have gotten into his combat stance if he hadn't already been in it. "I guess you're finally doing this in the open," he said.
"There aren't any witne…" The gang leader's eyes flitted from side to side. "Is there anyone behind me?" she asked.
Naoki blinked. "No," he said.
"And there's no one behind you."
Naoki did not sense any hostiles behind him. "…I'll take your word for it."
"Cal," muttered the gang leader. "Do you know what this means?"
Naoki froze as he the revelation hit him. "…Class already started."
The gang leader quickly took her hand out of her pocket and zipped it back up. "Let's settle this later," said the gang leader. "Meet me at the abandoned power plant at midnight tonight. Come alone."
"What abandoned power plant?"
"The abandoned power plant at the other side of… just look it up," said the leader, running off.
X
It took Naoki a while to find the abandoned power plant. He couldn't find a web site for it, or even a Google Maps location, so he had to trawl through Haruhata's sparse Wikipedia article to find a mention of a power plant that was abandoned in the eighties due to budget cuts. He then had to cross reference a bunch of aerial photographs to find any nearby landmarks, and then trawl through about a dozen chain supermarkets on Google Maps to find the one that was next to the 24-hour doughnut shop.
Then he had to do more physics homework.
By the time Naoki reached the abandoned power plant, he realized that the gang leader hadn't said anything about where they were supposed to meet inside the power plant. Luckily, the gang leader had realized this, and was sitting right in front of the main entrance next to a campfire.
"You look cold," she said.
Naoki had just realized that he forgot to bring his jacket. "You… don't." The leader was wearing a large trenchcoat straight out of a 1930s gangster flick.
"Ever since the day I met you, I've been wondering who you were," said the gang leader. "You're not human, that's obvious enough."
Naoki blinked. "How did-"
"You parried a metal bat with your bare arm, punched me into a wall, and got your head slammed against pavement with no apparent injury," said the gang leader, ticking off with her fingers. "I don't know how you expected to get away with that." She paused. "Although I suppose you could be a cyborg or some kind of enhanced human, but you just said you weren't."
"…I'm bad at this, aren't I?"
"You're definitely a student; you were worried about being late to class," continued the leader. "That's a point in your favor; I know you haven't been stalking me."
"How do I know you haven't been following me?" said Naoki. "How do I know you're really a student?"
"If I were following you, I wouldn't get caught," said the leader confidently.
"…That's not proof, that's just bragging," said Naoki.
"If I were following you, then I wouldn't have to test you like that," said the leader, less confidently that time.
"Yes, but what if you're diverting suspicion away from yourself by accusing me?" said Naoki.
The leader paused. "…Why would I want to foll-"
"You said it yourself; you've wanted to know who I was since you met me," said Naoki. "How do I know that you haven't set up this whole 'coincidental' meeting so that you could interrogate me?"
"I have several friends who can vouch for me, like the one who was with me earlier," said the gang leader. "If you think they're in on it, there's something called a student directory. And I said we were late to cl-"
Naoki raised his hands. "All right, fine. We both know we're students. Now can we-"
The leader reached into her trenchcoat and pulled out a gun. "I'm not done."
Naoki got into a combat stance. "Pull the trigger and I rip out your throat."
The edges of the leader's mouth flickered upwards. "I'll do it for 652 Macca."
"Done," said Naoki, tossing a shower of coins at the leader without hesitation.
The leader stowed away her gun. "You're no ordinary demon."
Naoki gave her no leverage.
"I'll admit, I haven't spoken with many demons before," said the gang leader. "But I have known several humans who share your mannerisms. You make threats the same way they do, but you talk your way out of trouble, and bribe or take bribes when necessary."
"And your point is?"
"You may be a demon, but you negotiate like a demon summoner," said the gang leader. "Who are you?"
Naoki sighed. "What makes you think I'm going to tell you anything? You're just throwing inferences at me until I squeal. What do you think this is, a Detective Conan epis-"
The gang leader drew a sword hidden inside her trenchcoat. "Then I'll just have to beat it out of you, malchick!" She started to charge at Naoki.
All right, I'm pretty sure that never happened in Detective Conan.
Naoki held his ground, preparing to jump to the side. The leader definitely had some trick up her sleeve. The obvious answer was the gun. He wasn't bulletproof; he needed the Masakados Magatama for that. Except she already showed it off earlier, so she pro- [5]
Naoki jumped to the side a moment before he was in whip range, sliding a little on the concrete, and-
A zigzag of yellow light flashed in midair. Pain erupted throughout Naoki's body, and he fell to his knees, paralyzed.
Naoki ran a cursory check. Nothing seemed too badly damaged; the Wadatsumi Magatama made lightning more effective against him, but his natural toughness countered it. The worst part of Magtama weaknesses was pain; even if his rational mind knew that he could weather his weaknesses, the pain still distracted him long enough for enemies to get another free attack.
He couldn't defend himself while paralyzed, but that should wear off in…
Bambambambambam!
A flurry of bullets bounced off of his skull; it didn't hurt him as much as the lightning, but she shot him from out of Gaea Rage range.
Wait for it…
The gang leader reloaded her handgun, walking backwards.
This is taking way too long.
The gang leader hurled another bolt of yellow lightning at him.
Oh, come on.
The leader shot him again.
Zap.
Bambambambambam!
Zap.
Bambambambambam!
Zap.
Bambambambambam!
Zap.
Eventually, the leader ran out of bullets.
"…Cal, you're tough," said the gang leader at last, taking off a pair of headphones that Naoki didn't notice were there.
Naoki didn't say anything. He was still paralyzed.
"Now will you answer my questions?"
Naoki didn't say anything.
"…Right, that will wear off on its o-"
The world vanished in a blaze of white light. One of the weaknesses of Freikugel was that Naoki couldn't see while it was in use; using your eyes to shoot lasers rendered them temporarily unable to perform their usual function of absorbing light. Once his sight was restored and his eyes adjusted to the dark, he could see the tunnel of destruction in front of him, but he couldn't tell if he had landed a direct hit on the gang leader, or if it missed entirely.
"…Sodding hell," said the gang leader from behind him, echoing Naoki's thoughts exactly.
Naoki got to his feet. "You cheap, trigger-happy spammer!" he yelled as he charged at the leader. The leader stood her ground and threw knives at him with her left hand, but she wasn't very accurate, so Naoki ignored it. Her right hand was still in her coat.
Just before he was in what Naoki guessed was whip range, he stopped, and allowed the gang leader to overswing her sword in the space where he would have been. The moment it reached where his heart would have been, Naoki slid in, yanked her sword arm towards him, and punched her in the chest.
The leader's ribs shattered, not with a single crack, but with many little crunching noises accompanied by wet squishy sounds. The leader staggered back.
She was critically injured; just one strike to fi-
Jesus Christ, you're going to kill her!
Naoki froze. His eyes met the leader's, and suddenly he saw the eyes of Jyoji Hijiri.
"I've made many sacrifices in my lifetime. But, I've always followed the path I believe in. Just remember, you'll pay a high price for following that path."
Seriously, why Hijiri?! If I'm going to be blinded by guilt, why not someone who I k-
Their expressions are identical. She faces death with the same warning as-
Holy hell, they actually look really alik-
The air hummed with electricity. Naoki leapt back, but was too slow; several bolts of lightning burst in every direction, hitting the fence, a few trees, and Naoki.
Naoki's body seized up, and the leader snatched up her sword and buried it into Naoki's chest, leaning into it to support her half-dead body.
"…Do you want… continue?" said the leader, shuddering and breathing heavily. Naoki unclenched his hand, and his mouth filled with acid when he felt the thin, smooth stick that wasn't a stick slide out of his bloody hands.
The sword in his gut jiggled when he moved his arm, and his chest blossomed with pain. The lightning and the bullets hacked away quite a large chunk of his stamina to begin with.
All that, he could live with. He'd suffered far worse wounds before. But nothing healed the wounds in his heart.
"…Is it too late to talk?" said Naoki, intentionally feebly.
"…no," said the leader, putting her foot on Naoki's chest and grabbing the sword's handle "Hold still."
Before Naoki could vocalize an answer, the leader yanked the sword out in the exact manner that you are not supposed to do, splashing blood and glowing red lymph everywhere. Before Naoki could shout in pain or anger, the air filled with a pale blue-green glow.
Naoki's wounds vanished. Healing spells always felt strange; they didn't quite have a feel, but the sudden absence of pain was a sensation in and of itself.
The leader healed herself, rubbed her torso, and winced. "Have you seen my rib?"
Naoki pointed at it. She picked it up. "I'll get it fixed later."
"If you're going for Stockholm Syndrome, I haven't forgotten who shot first," said Naoki halfheartedly. "And now you know that you won't get answers out of me that way."
"And I know you don't want to kill me," said the leader. "That's all I wanted to know."
Did she plan this? Can I really trust anyone who—
No, seriously, how could anyone plan something this random without—
Wait, did she just use magic?
The only humans I know who could use magic used a Terminal or fused with a demon, but it looked like—
Come to think of it, Manikins could use magic, so—
How the hell did she get this good? I'm the Demi-Fiend! I've slaughtered gods and devils by the thousands, brought low the mighty creator, and killed death itself nine times! How could she—?
Would she have healed herself anyways and killed me if I hadn't given up?
Where is her gang? Why didn't she try to kill me in front of them? Why—
Seriously, what was the point of goading me like that? Did she overestimate her skill, or was she actually manipulating me into—
No, intentionally almost dying and gambling on my mercy is so stupid—
Where did she get that gun? And that sword? And—
The edges of the leader's mouth twitched upwards. "Judging by your silence, it looks like you have some questions for me," she said. "You ask your questions, I ask mine. We all go home happy."
Naoki growled. "Fine," he said. "First question. What is your name?"
The leader's eyes narrowed. "That's not on the table."
"I can live with not knowing anything. Can you?"
Naoki did not use contracts on his demons. He naturally had the power to summon and dismiss demons, but there was no magic binding them to his service. Naoki's demons only listened to him because they respected his strength. Not even the most dishonorable among them would betray him for another they thought stronger than he; the only way to prove it was to kill Naoki, and if they miscalculated, they would meet a swift and bloody end at his hands.
In most cases, he was stronger than they; after all, he couldn't talk them into joining if he wasn't, and the Minister refused to make demons stronger than his customers. The exceptions were the demons who evolved and the results of the Minister's fusion errors, but the evolved demons respected him after he led them through so many battles, and the fusion accident demons thought that anyone who fused them must be stronger and didn't even try to test him (although the Minister told Naoki not to push his luck).
Not surprisingly, Naoki had a strong aversion to lower bargaining positions. He'd paid the barest of lip service to Gozu-Tennou, and working for the Old Man in the Wheelchair was about as uncomfortable as it was enlightening (and Naoki was about 81% sure that he was the Devil).
The agreement was ostensibly between equals, but this was half blackmail. With violence off the table, all he could do was blackmail her back.
"…Spoken like a true demon summoner," said the leader with grudging approval.
Did I just say that out loud?
The leader cleared her throat. "I am call-"
"No nicknames, no lies, no half-truths, no 'I'm known as The Crushernator' or 'You may call me Marth,'" snapped Naoki. "Your real name." He held out his hand. "My name is Naoki Kashima, of the Fiend race. What's yours?"
The leader took his hand and gave him a crushing handshake. "Aoi. Aoi Miyama."
TO BE CONTINUED!
[1] Kazuya's tunnel vision: This is a reference to how objects are shown in SMT1. When you're indoors, you can't see enemies or NPCs until you're on their tile.
[2] Daleth-Omicron-Charlie clearance: These three letters correspond to a different category. In the first category, Aleph is the lowest and Tav is the highest, for the second, Alpha is the highest and Omega is the lowest, and for the third, Alfa is the lowest and Zulu is the highest. In theory, you can have Zulu-level clearance but can't see Beth-level secrets.
[3] Magnetite: I made up the Magic Net Field Effect. In Digital Devil Story, Magnetite was called Magnetite because demons used a special magnetic field to manifest, but no one ever referred to magnetic fields in any other game.
[4] Gotou and Thorman: When I first played the SMT1, I thought that the Gotou-Thorman conflict was out of sheer paranoia. We only have the word of the other that Gotou wants to summon Lucifer and Thorman wants to create the Thousand Year Kingdom, but we do see that Thorman (says he) wants to nuke Japan to keep the world from being overrun with demons, and Gotou stops at nothing to save his country. I think fear is a more interesting motivation than righteous smiting. I'm not saying that they were innocent of the other's accusations, but Kazuya doesn't know if they were or not.
On another note, I like how the Messians and Gaians are first introduced as flavored healing shops, but then they're THE major players of the franchise. It's like how the Big Bang Burger is introduced as another shop, but then turns out to be huge in Persona 5. I also like how the motto 'work all the time, because no day or night in space' turns out to be important.
[5] Naoki is bulletproof with Masakados: He's not, he just thinks he is. Masakados only blocks elements that were in Nocturne, so the Demi-Fiend is not immune to guns or earth magic. Naoki doesn't know that the gun element exists at all; he got Masakados long after fighting Dante/Raidou, so he's never been shot with it equipped.
Aoi is one of the names of the heroine of SMT1. There are no canon names, just a few suggestions, and I liked Aoi the best (and now it's too late to change). Maki was taken by the Persona 1 heroine, Yuka sounds nice but SMT is full of Yu- names with a k (Yumiko, Yuriko, Yuko, Yukari, Yukiko, and maybe Yu), and Futsuko sounded like they were trying too hard to pair her name with the Hero's.
Originally, Aoi wasn't supposed to be named until a big reveal a dozen chapters in, but then I figured that readers probably wouldn't put up with a mysterious heroine who can match the Demi-Fiend, no matter how cheap her tactics.
I always thought of Aoi of 1999 as being in her twenties and Aoi of the future as a teenager. I played the iOS version, which censored underage drinking (bars served alcohol, but if you tried to buy any, you'd be served juice instead), and I thought it would be amusing if Aoi was legal, but she couldn't use her ID without being arrested like every other Aoi in the city. I changed it to 19 in 1999 (22 in the present storyline) because that's the oldest I could make her while still being a college student. She had to be a student because if she wasn't, she'd have no reason to be in Haruhata.
It turns out that 18-19 is the only age she could be in 1999. Just one year older, and she'd have missed the freshmen entirely. Any younger, and she'd have trouble with college entrance exams and the Resistance. If she were a third year, maybe the Resistance would listen to her, but she'd find the exams impossible because she's cramming three years of school in two months (exams start in January, SMT starts in October). First year, she'd pass exams, but the Resistance would be less likely to listen to her. Second year, exams are difficult, but I doubt the Resistance would listen. I'm not worried about how she does in college because apparently Japanese colleges are generally easier, and there's a lot more free study time.
Aoi probably had a decent baseline education; the Messians are charitable enough to give all children the best possible education, albeit highly politically charged. Math and hard sciences had to survive if they could build Tokyo Millennium. She'd learn foreign languages in her adult life, since Tokyo Millennium had lots of immigrants. History, political and economic theory, and literature would suffer the most, because those depend more on books than the others. Her main problem would be reviewing; it's been so long that she might as well relearn it all.
The weird language that Kazuya, Aoi, and her gang speaks is Nadsat, the futuristic slang from Clockwork Orange. Like almost every quirk of language in this story, they're not literally speaking it; it's just an approximation of how future slang sounds from the perspective of modern Japanese speakers.
OMAKE: Language Barrier
(In my first drafts, Kazuya spoke much more clinically than he does now. I toned it down when he sounded like a robot and I sounded like I couldn't write dialogue.)
"Hey, Kazuya," said Mina.
"Yes?" said Kazuya.
"How come you speak so… weirdly?" said Mina.
"I do not know what you are talking about," said Kazuya. "Please tell me how my speech sounds strange."
"See? Like that!" said Mina. "No one talks like that! It's like you're standing on ceremony with the Prime Minister, but you've never heard of a synonym! Do people talk like that all the time in the future?"
Kazuya sighed. "I speak like this because I want to appear normal," he said.
"You call that robot-talk normal?"
"If I did not try to speak like this, then I will appear abnormal," said Kazuya. "It is not normal for someone my age to speak like someone from forty or fifty years ago. I will not be understood if I speak like someone from the future. I am trying to use basic words and grammar rules that do not easily change over time."
Mina whistled. "Makes sense. I guess when you're your age, you don't easily learn new languages, especially when it's technically your own. Guess you can't just read a slang dictionary, eh? Not that those are any good."
Kazuya shook his head. "It is hard to predict how a language will evolve. When a language changes, syntax changes, grammar changes, and pronunciation changes."
"Huh," said Mina. "Could you give me an example?"
"Grottier than a bodacious dook's neezhnies after a shive yet, that cool cat baboochka's starry threads, skinny though, cor, ain't spoogy to staja, ten four. Catch you on the flip side, bratty."
"…What?"
"I understand the following statement: while it is true that likable old woman's old clothes are uglier than an interesting ghost's underwear after it has been cut, she is not afraid of prison. Salutations on my departure, and I wish to see you again, brother."
"Language is strange," said Mina.
"Fish have no word for water," said Kazuya. "By the way, what does 'lit' mean, and how might I acquire some?"
Meanwhile…
"Group up, me droogs. Tonight is a raid on the Kirijo Building. If the millicents come round, shack up in the biblio until it's safe."
The gang looked at one another. Saitou's brow furrowed in confusion. At last, Sei spoke up. "Does that mean… we're going to stay at the library if the police see us?"
Aoi beamed. "Knew I kept ya' around for a reason, mate."
Note: Kazuya uses 70s and 80s slang in addition to Nadsat. I didn't use real 90s slang because it won't sound as dated as 70s and 80s slang; it's less important that Kazuya sounds like he's from the 90s than that he's forty years out of date.
OMAKE #2 The stupid twist
"So… where are you from?" Naoki asked.
"Kichijoji," said Aoi.
"Huh," said Naoki. "That's where my roommate's from."
"Maybe I know him," said Aoi. "What's his name?"
"Kazuya Kawamoto."
Aoi blinked. "Kazyua Kawamoto? He lives next door!"
"Wow, really?" said Naoki. "What are the odds?"
"Where are you from?"
"Ueno."
"My boyfriend's from Ueno!"
"Really? What's his name?"
"Yoshio Asuka."
"I don't know him."
There was another awkward pause.
"So… I hear Dawn of the Dead is showing. You guys want to come?"
Aoi glared. "I hate zombies."
"Oh. Okay then."
(In Shin Megami Tensei 1, every woman and girl in Tokyo who shares the heroine's name is arrested to find the heroine. The hero's neighbor, who is also a party member's girlfriend, also shares the heroine's name. She is turned into a zombie and asks to be exorcised).