Okinawa Jail was cold and desolate. The entire atmosphere of the Jail was dark and decrepit. The group slowly wandered forward from their location at the entrance. Mika was clinging to Hifumi the whole time since they entered the Metaverse, and now she was holding onto Dragon. "..." She was pretty terrified.
"Is this the lab...? It's kind of...eerie..." Zenkichi said while looking around. Everyone was on edge from the atmosphere.
"Bad vibes here, guys..." Oracle shook her head. "This place looks straight-up haunted."
"Erm...Mika...are you alright...you're squeezing my arm hard..." Dragon said with a concerned tone.
"Fine...!" Mika squeaked. She was too focused on the scary atmosphere and didn't notice anyone's attire change just yet. She was just focused on the only thing that made her feel safe in this moment: Hifumi.
Noir noticed that Queen was the most on edge out of all of them. "Queen...you alright...?"
"Uh...yep! All fine here...!" Queen stammered. She was trying to keep her composure, but she could also feel that it was hanging on by a thread. A thread that could snap at literally any moment.
"You uh...sure don't sound fine..." Skull sweat with some concern of his own. A can then rolled around on the ground and startled everyone from how sudden it was. Skull let out a surprised gasp. "Ah!? Oh...well screw you too, can!"
"...Uh..." Joker felt something on his leg. Everyone turned and saw Queen clinging to Joker for dear life.
"Imsosorryimsosorry. Where are you, Sis!? I'msorryimsorrry...!" Queen kept repeating this over and over. Dignity gone. She was scared and hell and wanted her sister.
"..." Crow had no words. But the least he could do was turn away and at least try and spare Queen some embarrassment. This also reeked strongly of secondhand embarrassment. He couldn't look at this.
"Q-Queen-senpai?" Violet was at a loss for words. Queen was always so strong and fierce! This was the first time she'd seen her like this...
Zenkichi could only draw one conclusion from Queen's reaction. Dragon and Panther were obvious, but this was unexpected. "Oh, I uh...didn't realize you two were..."
Queen realized what she was doing. This was a poor impression! "Uh, oh, no no no no no! We're just friends!" She hastily stood up and desperately attempted to wave the situation off.
"...Good to know I'm not the only one who's frightened in here." Mika said while taking a shaky breath. Then she blinked and realized what it was she was looking at: The Phantom Thieves. Her eyes widened. "What the-?! When did all of you change clothes?!" She then looked at Dragon. "Hifumi-chan!? That's...a look I'd never imagine on you! That's a lovely kimono...but why does it look like your chest is the only thing holding it up?
"U-Um...that's...!" Dragon blushed. She tried not to think about that, but Mika just brought it up like that.
Mika then whipped around to Panther, almost bursting out into laughter from it. Sure, she's seen the Phantom Thief outfits whenever they hijacked the airwaves, but seeing them all in person was a completely different story. "A-Ann!? Is that you! In latex!? Are you trying to show off or something? Halloween isn't for another few months, but that's already out of style."
"Wha?!" Panther's eyes went wide.
"What's with all those zippers, too? Do they even work?" Mika quirked a brow.
"W-Well..." Panther was too flustered to answer that question. "Some of them don't even work! It doesn't matter!"
"Panther's outfit perfectly displays the kind of rebel spirit she has within!" Mona exclaimed. He would not let Mika trash Panther's honor!
"Wh-!? WHAT IS THAT THING!?" Mika started coughing at the black and white furball that started talking. She squealed and hid behind Dragon. "MONSTER CAT! KILL IT! KILL IT!"
"W-Wait, hold on there...!" Violet waved her hands.
"Yeah. That reaction is about right." Zenkichi remembered his reaction to Mona talking. Now it was kind of amusing seeing someone else have the same reaction. No wonder those kids got a kick out of him freaking out.
"I'm not a monster cat! I am Morgana!" Mona huffed.
"WHY IS IT TALKING TO ME!" Mika yelped. "No, I get it. I understand what happened. I died, but I at least died looking sexy. This is all just one horrible dream."
"...It's very real, Mika..." Dragon said with an exasperated smile.
"...I was afraid you'd say that..." Mika sighed heavily. "Will somebody explain what the hell is happening here!?" She was tired of being dragged around in ignorance, especially when her life was in danger.
"Okay, I'll give you the quick version..." Dragon had no choice but to explain the Metaverse situation to Mika, since she was demanding to know. She did have to skip over the details that involved their cooperation with the police, simply because Zenkichi was standing right here and she'd never hear the end of it otherwise. "...And...that's the gist of it..."
Mika had a lot of information to absorb. "...You know, Hifumi-chan. If this were anyone else telling me this, I'd think they were insane."
"You'd be right to think that." Zenkichi added. He thought these kids were on some drugs until he saw it all for himself.
"I understand that it is a lot to take in. None of us were able to fully adapt when we first entered the Metaverse." Fox said.
"Guh...but no wonder Alice was able to control those people! I knew EMMA was fishy! Someone like Alice could never get such a following by normal means." Mika felt like her head was about to explode. She then turned to Dragon and pointed at her accusingly. "You lied to me! You said the Phantom Thieves weren't ghost, but this is some paranormal activity going on here!"
"Ahah..." Dragon laughed nervously.
Mika then whipped around to the rest of the group, pointing out their outfits. "Awful." She said to Skull, who flinched. "What's with the tail?" She said to Fox, who blinked. "Again with the leather?" She pointed at Queen. "What even is that?" She said to Crow. "Pompous." At Joker. "Not terrible." To Violet. "Kinda cute." At Noir. "And uh...glow in the dark suit is sooooooo two years ago." To Oracle.
"...Are you finished?" Crow rolled his eyes.
"Why was she nice to Noir and Violet..." Panther grumbled.
"I think this is just how she's coping." Dragon shook her head.
"Uh..." Mika then pointed at Sophie. "Who is this? I would've remembered seeing a walking snowball with us..."
"I am Sophie, humanity's companion." Sophie smiled at Mika.
"Sophie...?" Mika blinked.
"Oh, but I'm actually named Sophia. Sophie is my code name." Sophie corrected.
"We use codenames when we're in the Metaverse. Because that's what Phantom Thieves do!" Mona exclaimed.
"Why is this thing still talking to me." Mika pointed at Mona. "Wait...are you the cat that kept making noise!? Agh...! Why would I even refer to you by your codenames? I barely even know your actual names! Like that guy!" She pointed at Joker.
"...We've met like four times." Joker said.
"And I never once cared to learn your name." Mika said bluntly.
"Please, Mika." Dragon insisted. "It's also for our safety...and if something were to happen, you could call upon us if you were in danger. And I promise you, if you called for me, as your friend, I would come running instantly! I will not let any harm befall you with this shield of mine, you have my word!"
"Ah..." Mika found herself blushing at Dragon's words. This was a completely different side to Hifumi than she was used to seeing. Hifumi being cool, brave, and protective!? ...She hated how her heart did a thing. It wasn't supposed to do that! "Okay...fine..." She conceded. "What are...your code names..."
"...Panther." Panther was already bracing herself for what was coming.
"Cou-"
"DON"T CALL ME THAT!" Panther exclaimed. She knew Mika was about to say it.
Mika then got the rundown of everyone's codenames. She only vaguely knew their names because Hifumi talked about them, so she was going to have to make the most of it. "I almost forgot about the Ace Detective...I didn't think he'd look like that..." She looked at Crow. She was a fan of Akechi back in the day, but since he fell out of the public light she also forgot about him.
"Now that we're done informing the ignorant..." Crow was just going to move on. "We have a Jail here."
"And that means that Ubukata person is the Monarch, right?" Panther asked. "So they should be around here somewhere..."
"But why wasn't Sophie able to detect it until now?" Noir tilted her head.
"There is a possibility that it was sleeping." Sophie said.
"Jails can sleep?" Fox did not like the notion of that.
"Once the keyword was activated, it almost felt as if this place woke up." Sophie explained.
"Huh...so you're saying that Jails have a sleep mode?" Oracle groaned.
"Now this is a wrinkle..." Mona grunted.
"If all the people on this island got their hearts changed, doesn't that mean their Desires were taken?" Skull brought up a good point. "We've gotta get them their Desires back, fast. We're in real danger until we do."
"Good point, first we need to figure out where they're being held..." Mona said.
"This really is real, isn't it?" Now that Zenkichi got to watch Mika freak out, it also reminded him that this was still a surreal experience to him as well. "Sorry, but I'm gonna stick around here while you do your thing. This place is your territory, right now."
"...I think you should stay here too." Dragon told Mika.
"...Yeah, okay..." Mika wasn't going to argue. The moment it sounded like the group was about to move out, she got a little afraid. Truthfully, she wanted to stick to Dragon, but if they were about to do stuff, she assumed she'd get in their way. "Don't leave me with this old geezer for too long!"
"Geezer..." Zenkichi sighed.
"Yeah, leave it to us! This is where WE take down whoever's in our way!" Oracle said proudly. "And don't worry, there are no Shadows near this area at all."
"Those...freaky things that could attack us?" Mika gulped.
"It'll be okay!" Violet told Mika. "Shadows don't approach entrances to Jails, so the two of you will be safe here!"
"Ugh..." Mika was just...tired.
"...I can hear someone calling to me..." Sophie said.
Queen stiffened up. "W-What do you mean by that...?" Was there a ghost in here after all!?
"I'm going to go check it out!" And without warning. Sophie ran ahead, the door in front of her opening to allow her passage.
"Sophie! Stop doing that...!" Violet hated when Sophie just ran off, so she was the first person to chase after her.
"Guess we don't have a choice..." Joker took a deep breath. "Time to move out guys." But before leaving, he decided to do something as a safety precaution, and handed his gun to Zenkichi. "If something does come this way, use this."
"Is this a REAL gun?" Zenkichi was glaring at Joker. He wasn't going to accept something that was-
"No. It's fake. A model." Joker shook his head, quickly clarifying this before Zenkichi got the wrong idea. "But that reaction of yours is precisely why it's useful. In this world, these guns work...so long as the one you point it at thinks its real."
"..." Upon closer inspection, Zenkichi could see that this wasn't actually a real gun. But whoever made it really knew their stuff. At first glance, anyone would mistake this for a true pistol. "...Where did you get this?"
"Oh, you know." Joker wasn't going to answer that directly. Couldn't afford to get Iwai in trouble. "It's just for safety, so be careful where you point that thing."
"..." Considering the situation, Zenkichi was willing to let this slide once and only once.
Dragon turned to Mika. "We'll be right back. I promise."
"Yeah, okay..." Mika was too tired and unnerved to complain much. She got it out of her system and she just had to trust the Phantom Thieves. The group gave chase after Sophia and Violet, and Mika just sank to her knees. "I'm so tired..."
"No kidding...sorry about all this." Zenkichi said. He really felt for Mika, being dragged into this situation.
"Hifumi-chan and her friends are probably tired too..." Mika thought to herself. They spent the whole day having fun on the beach; then their lives were in danger, and now they have to do some fighting? Just the first two parts of that had Mika exhausted. She could only imagine how the Phantom Thieves were feeling.
.
.
"Are they going to be okay?" Panther was a little worried leaving Mika and Zenkichi behind. She never thought she'd be concerned for Mika, but...
"They'll be alright." Oracle said with a affirmative tone. "Just like the entrance of all the Jails, no Shadows should approach them. So they're a lot safer than we are right now."
"I can't believe Sophie ran off like that..." Dragon said. They were chasing Sophie, and Violet who had to chase after their AI companion in a hurry.
"Yeah, dude, what's gotten into her!?" Skull grunted. It wasn't like Sophie to just run off like...okay, well, no, it was.
"She said it was a voice..." Fox said.
"Whatever it is, we have to catch up to her!" Mona exclaimed. So they had to carefully and quickly make their way through the disquieting corridors. The atmosphere of this Jail truly was bone chilling.
"I hope we can find her and Violet quickly..." Noir said.
"M-Me too..." Queen was still unnerved by the Jail. It felt like something could jump out at her - at them - at any moment. Never had they been in a Jail or Palace that frightened her so.
"What's the deal with this place? It's so creepy..." Panther couldn't ignore the atmosphere. She felt the chills.
"Are you holding up, Queen?" Noir asked, concerned.
"Ah! Yes, fine!" Queen said quickly. "Let's hurry up and find Sophie and Violet!"
"There's a door up ahead." Joker said. It opened slowly for them, and in a Jail where the tension was high, they were all on guard. Literally any Shadow could leap out at them...but nothing of the sort happened. It was just an empty room with no one in sight.
"...It looks as if they aren't here." Dragon said while letting out a soft sigh. "But this is the only path forward, so they likely are past here."
"Oh, wait!" Queen had to stop everyone from advancing too far. On a table in the middle of the room, there was a tape recorder. "There's something here?"
"Uh..." Panther stared at the tape recorder. "That's a tape recorder, right?" What was it doing here?
"Let's find out if works." Oracle said while stepping forward, pressing play on the recorder. The tape recorder took a few seconds to start up, and once it did...
"This plan brings fruition to a dream long-cherished by the research team - no, by all mankind! Every last test subject, a successful change of heart! When the Penitentiary System is complete, the concept of suffering will be dead to all mankind!"
This was clearly about the creation of Jails. This was huge information and exactly what the group was looking for. Crow, however, could not help but scoff. "End the concept of suffering? Where have I heard that one before..." He said dryly. already disliking where this was going.
"Now, let us rejoice and welcome the new age of humanity! EMMA shall be guide into the promised land!" The voice exclaimed. However, the tape recording immdiately ended there.
"This is about EMMA...and changes of heart!" Dragon gasped.
"Just as Ichinose said, there was indeed some form of experimentation on EMMA here." Fox said.
"The voice said something about a Penitentiary System, too..." Noir trailed off.
"The creation of Jails." Crow said flatly. "Looks like we're finally starting to get some answers here. About time."
"That would be a logical conclusion..." Queen nodded slowly.
"But we can worry about that later! We have to find Sophie and Violet!" Mona said.
"Right, we have to catch up with them!" Panther agreed.
"Damn it, Shorty...why'd you have to run off like that..." Skull groaned.
"You almost got in trouble for calling her that last time..." Joker had to remind Skull. No time for making any jokes, though. They had to keep going, and as the next door opened, there was darkness waiting for them ahead. "Oh, that's fun."
"Why'd it get so dark..." Oracle whined.
.
.
Sophie stopped in the middle of a room. She ran for a while, but she had no means of finding the voice only she could hear. "Hmmm..."
Violet finally caught up to her, panting softly. Hunting Sophie down through those dark corridors wasn't easy, but she managed to keep up. "Sophie, there you are! Please stop running off like that!"
"Oh, Violet...I'm sorry." Sophie frowned. "It was not my intention to make you chase after me. But I felt compelled to follow the voice."
"What voice...?" Violet was confused. Nobody else could hear this mysterious voice. Only Sophie...
"There! Sophie! Violet!" Oracle exclaimed. The others managed to catch up with the,.
"Thank goodness you two are alright!" Noir breathed a sigh of relief.
"This happens pretty often...but I'm glad you two are safe." Joker was pretty relieved as well. While they had yet to encounter any enemies, that did not mean they were safe. Far from it...and that said a lot considering this Jail still felt safer than the island at the moment.
"You're telling me..." Violet sighed.
"I'm sorry." Sophie apologized with a bow of her head. "I can't hear the voice anymore. It disappeared once I arrived here."
"We never heard anything of the sort." Fox said.
"So it's something only Sophie can hear?" Noir asked.
"It was very strange - the voice sounded similar to my own. And it was calling my name. Maybe the owner of the voice knows me." Sophie explained.
"How's that, Sophie?" Noir asked.
"The only memory I recall before meeting Joker and Violet is the directive to become humanity's companion." Sophie frowned, looking a little sad. "I've traveled so far with you all, and learned many things, but still know nothing about myself. When I heard the voice, I thought it was the chance to learn about me. I'm sorry for worrying you..."
"Oh, Sophie..." Violet felt her heart pang at Sophie's words. She knelt down and placed a hand on Sophie's shoulders. "This is not something you have to do on your own. We're your friends, we can do it together!"
"That's right." Joker nodded. "We're all in this together."
Hearing that, Sophie looked to the two of them and found her smile again. "Thank you..."
"Besides, I think we might be able to learn more about you right here." Morgana spoke up, catching Sophie's attention.
"What makes you say that?" Fox asked.
"I've been thinking for a while now...Jails, EMMA, Sophie...there's a connection there somewhere. We found Sophie in a Jail, right? EMMA was linked to that Jail. And Sophie is an AI like EMMA. There's no way that's a coincidence. I had hoped we'd eventually find an answer if we investigated the Jails we found."
"Ichinose created EMMA, Maddice modified EMMA..." Dragon was going over the facts aloud. "I think Ichinose knows about Sophie. I don't know how much, but..."
"She knows?" Queen glanced at Dragon.
"Well, when she said she didn't know anything, I could tell she was lying...but I doubt she'd tell us if she was already avoiding it." Dragon scratched her cheek. Ultimately it wasn't a line of questioning they could pursue if Ichoinse just didn't want to talk about it.
"Maybe we can ask her about it later..." Joker would keep that in mind.
"Regardless of that," Crow began. "I can understand where Mona is coming from. Everything about Sophie and this situation is connected by one thing at the very least: EMMA."
"Mhm." Mona nodded. "And I know...I know what Sophie is going through. Not having any memories, no identity...it's hard. So that's why I want to help her. That's why we should help her!"
"That goes without saying!" Oracle beamed.
"Yes! For Sophie!" Queen added.
"Looks like we got two missions now!" Skull grinned. "Change the hearts of the locals and figure out who the hell keeps yellin' at Sophie!"
"Let's do both at once." Joker declared boldly.
"I have no objections." Fox smiled. "It's only natural for us to assist both the public and our own teammates."
"Let us thoroughly comb this place!" Dragon said confidently. "We will do this, for Sophie!"
Noir nudged Crow with her elbow. Once again, he was not allowed to stay silent on the matter. "...For...Sophie..." He wanted to say for the case, but that answer wasn't going to fly here.
"For Sophie!" Violet and Panther exclaimed. Everyone was eager to help Sophie. It brought a smile to her face.
"Thank you all." Sophie said softly.
"All right. Phantom Thieves!" Mona said while looking ahead. "Let's get to it!" Now that they were all united once again, they could properly tackle the mysterious and desolate Okinawa Jail! There was a lot on the line, but the Phantom Thieves were ready to match the challenge, as always.