August 7th

Akira Konoe, CEO of Madicce, was holding a lecture in Toho University. The lecture hall was rather crowded; a lot of people came to see him speak. Little did anyone realize that the Phantom Thieves were also listening in on this lecture, sitting in the same room as them.

"…As you know, life is just an ongoing series of daily decisions." Konoe spoke. His posture was perfect, his voice carried a sense of confidence and authority. Everything that one would expect from a man in his position. "What's for breakfast? What should I wear today? Every day begins with these insignificant little dilemmas. But then there comes a time to decide your field of study, your place of employment, who you're going to marry. And it's these choices that matter. Yes, people are always looking for the best choice, or the 'correct answer. Madicce seeks to provide it, for everyone, though the power of AI. EMMA is a state of the art AI designed to integrate itself into our daily lives. By gathering and analyzing extraordinary amounts of data with perfect precision, EMMA can help everyone make the 'best choices'."

"Capable seems pretty spot on…" Morgana had to hand it to Konoe.

"Wow, he's so composed…" Haru was impressed with Konoe's charisma and stage presence. "He's practically overflowing with confidence. Look how clearly he states his company's outlooks and principles. He's got everyone's attention." She felt like she could learn something from this…

"You're right…" Makoto nodded in agreement. "He's not saying anything particularly suspicious, though…"

"Has he been saying anything bad, Fumi?" Ann looked to Hifumi, but she shook her head.

"No. I think he's just speaking clearly…" Hifumi said.

"Even if he isn't, what he is saying is important." Akechi was taking in Konoe's words. "EMMA is clearly the most important thing to Madicce's name. There is no doubt in my mind that nothing happens with EMMA that he doesn't know about." A solid hypothesis. But as always, but without any concrete evidence, all Akechi could do is doubt Konoe and Madicce greatly.

"Well, yeah…thanks to EMMA, Madicce's stocks have shot way up." Futaba said in agreement with Akechi. "You can bet they're one of Japan's biggest enterprises right now. But…a company with this much going for it wouldn't have much to gain from changing people's hearts."

"Perhaps, but that doesn't change the fact that EMMA is a key factor in the Jails." Yusuke said. Akechi did raise a good point earlier: whatever happened through EMMA, Madicce, or Konoe, had to know about it. "It is through EMMA that people are allowed access."

"Madicce is connected to this one way or another, be it directly or indirectly…" Makoto raised a good point as well. No matter how they looked at it, Madicce was at the center of this case. And at the top of Madicce was Akira Konoe…

"Do you guys think Zenkichi-san was onto something when he asked if there was a mastermind behind all of this…?" Sumire looked to the others. With how they were talking, it felt like someone had to be pulling the strings here. But the 'who' and the 'why' escaped them.

"I think so." Ren leaned forward in his seat. "Even if we can't figure out why or who yet…this is happening for a reason, and we have plenty of reason to think that someone is making it happen."

"Because of the nature of the Jails, yes?" Akechi asked. Ren nodded.

"There's gotta be something keeping the Jails there…but…I don't know." Morgana shook his head. They were still lacking some crucial information. "Even the Monarchs themselves didn't know much about EMMA."

"Alice and Natsume said the same thing, did they not?" Hifumi closed her eyes and thought. "So, it does stand to reason that there is something else happening behind the scenes. Yet another reason to believe that this situation has been manufactured by someone most foul."

"This means it could be someone at Madicce…" Haru suggested.

"Or our mystery observer…" Yusuke said.

"Or our head honcho down there." Futaba said while looking at Konoe. He was still talking, but she wasn't really interested in what he had to say. Nothing he said popped out to her.

"Until we have something that says otherwise, as far as I'm concerned, he is the most suspicious person on our list." Akechi was adamant about this. His detective's intuition was telling him this.

"But it could also be someone else entirely…" Yusuke frowned. All they could do is guess, and unfortunately for them, every answer was pretty much valid…

"Yeah, well, we just gotta stick to what Gramps was tellin' us, right? All we gotta do is keep solvin' cases and collect more info." Ryuji said. He couldn't even bother guessing since they just didn't know enough. "Long as the Phantom Thieves of heart do what they do best, we'll set this straight."

Ann went wide eyed. "Wow, Ryuji…that was really insightful." She wasn't expecting something so wise and logical out of Ryuji….

"But can you please keep it quiet…?" Hifumi pinched the bridge of her nose. She was impressed with Ryuji, but at the same time, he still retained that bad habit of saying "Phantom Thieves" and "we" or "us" shortly after aloud.

"Sorry…!" Ryuji quickly glanced around. They weren't speaking too loudly so… "It's prolly fine…"

"He's right, though." Makoto did have a smile as well. "And in that sense, attending this lecture is a valuable use of our time. Let's make sure we pay attention all the way to the end."

That wasn't exactly going to be easy for Ryuji. At some point during the lecture, he nodded off. He only woke up when Sumire nudged him awake. Yawning, he stretched his arms out and opened his eyes. The lecture hall was pretty empty as most everyone cleared out. "Yo, how long was I out? What'd that guy say?"

So much for Ryuji's one moment of intelligence. Ann felt extremely annoyed and glared at him. "Can I smack you?"

"Please do not." Hifumi had to be the voice of reason.

"Well, he didn't exactly say anything out of the ordinary." Makoto sighed. She was being a little hopeful for more, but she knew better to keep her expectations grounded. "Then again, I wouldn't expect him to trip up that easily."

"Getting an insight to how he thinks is important." Akechi crossed his arms. "I wouldn't consider this a waste of time."

"Well, I'm starvin', so should we start headin' back?" Ryuji was not thinking about anything other than food. "That guy was talkin' for friggin' ever…"

"Oh, Ryuji…." Ren shook his head. Some things didn't change…

"Is all that stuff you guys said true?" The vaguely familiar voice caught everyone's attention. Ichinose appeared them with a smile. "Are you really the Phantom Thieves of Hearts?" She overheard them. It was not fine. She phrased the question so casually, but the fact she was directing it to them at all was worrying.

"W-Wha…!?" Ann gasped.

Makoto quickly tried to move the subject along and away from them. "You're the woman from the beef tongue restaurant…"

"Ichinose-san right?" Haru asked.

"Y-You heard all that?!" Futaba gulped. So much for plausible deniability with a question like that.

"Wait, don't just…!" Sumire wasn't a good liar, but she also knew not saying anything was the best option sometimes. But it was too late.

"Well, the thing is, I'm really good at picking up when a cat meows!" Ichinose said with a smile. "Honestly, I found that way more interesting than Konoe's lecture."

"A cat, huh?" Akechi glanced over at Morgana. This was the second time Ichinose overheard them specifically because of Morgana.

"Mona…!" Futaba pouted her cheeks and glared at Morgana.

Feeling the heat, Morgana panicked. "M-Me!? But you guys are the ones she overheard!"

"T-The hell are we gonna do!?" Ryuji was panicking as well. They were caught red handed. Any chance of trying to deny it went out the window.

"…Unfortunately our hands are tied now." Hifumi sighed. They did not have any options and their fate was in Ichinose's hands…

"I guess we have to come clean…" Ren rubbed the back of his neck.

"Whoa, stop stop! It's alright." These kids sure gave up fast when caught…Ichinose waved her hands to show that she meant them no harm. "Listen, this place will be closing up soon. Let's talk outside."

.

.

Ichinose followed the group outside. She made sure they were in a secluded place where no one could hear them before shouting. Wow! To think you guys are the famous Phantom Thieves!" She was so excited to meet them face to face!

"We were just…" Ren was thinking of a lie.

"Don't." Akechi shook his head. "There is no point in trying to crawl out with a lie. None of you are very good at hiding it when you're found out." He would know, but he also understood why. The only way they could ever get caught was…pretty a situation like this.

"I have to agree. We are not in a situation to try any reversal or misdirection." Hifumi said.

"I like these two. They're so upfront and honest." Ichinose smiled. "When you guys mentioned Alice and Natsume, I imagine you were talking about Alice Hirragi and Ango Natusme from the press conferences, correct? Is it safe to assume that was your doing? Oh, and what was this about EMMA giving people access to Jails? Is that related to everyone's hearts getting changed?"

A heavy silence filled the air around them. Ann was completely devastated. This was the biggest blunder they've ever made, and they were blackmailed by Akechi. "She….she heard everything…."

"Oh. This is so bad. We messed up." Sumire could not believe this. How could they be this careless!? She wanted to hide. She imagined that's how everyone was feeling in this very moment.

This was, admittedly, not great on their end. It didn't seem like Ichinose had plans to turn them in, but Makoto still wanted to approach the situation carefully. "Um, may I ask what you're doing here, Ichinose-san?" She asked.

"Oh, I told you at the beef tongue place, didn't I?" Ichinose said. "I'm a researcher at the university."

"Oh, that's right." Haru recalled that properly now.

"I'm also the one who designed EMMA." Ichinose added casually. That grabbed everyone's attention immediately.

"You made the base!?" Futaba gasped.

'I didn't tell you? I specialize in the research and development of artificial intelligence." Ichinose said.

"No. You 'did not' tell us." Akechi said while crossing his arms. How could she say something this ground breaking so causally!?

"Yeah, uh, we definitely didn't hear about that…" Ann scratched the back of her head.

"What are the odds of that…?" Hifumi was completely floored. They were speaking to the creator of EMMA!?

"Around the time I finished developing EMMA, Madicce offered to buy it." Ichinose said with a bashful smile. "I was actually pretty tight on money at the time, so I went ahead and sold it."

"Is this lady for real?" Ryuji couldn't believe this.

"And that's why Madicce was participating in the lecture today. Well, to be more accurate, the university asked me to reach out to them. I certainly didn't expect the CEO himself to show up, though." The woman said with a small laugh. "I only got invited because of my little connection with the company. Anyhow, yeah, that's how I ended up being there to overhear everything,"

"There is nothing about the connection you share that is little…" Hifumi was a little exasperated at this entire conversation. This was too much.

"So you're EMMA's creator and Madicce is simply the ones running it?" Yusuke asked for clarification.

"Oh, well, they're certainly the ones running it, but I can't say for sure if that's all they've been doing." Now that Ichinose was privy to the information about EMMA being behind the creation of Jails and linked to the Change of Heart incidents, she was beginning to have second thoughts. "I just designed the base. Who knows what they've been doing since."

"Soooooo…you know all about EMMA then?" Ann asked, hoping to poke around for some answers.

"Naturally, it's like my baby, you know?" Ichinose beamed. "And at the risk of tooting my own horn, it's a reeeeeeally good baby."

"A baby that's partially responsible for a country-wide epidemic." Akechi said while rolling his eyes.

"Don't mind him." Haru quickly said. "Can we, um…have a moment to discuss?"

"Of course." Ichinose nodded.

So the others quickly huddled together a little distance from Ichinose. "Well…never would've expected this to happen." Morgana was shocked. They ran into the creator of EMMA…

"Say, Fumi…is she telling the truth about designing EMMA?" Ann looked to Hifumi.

"She's not." Hifumi shook her head. "I don't think she has any reason to lie about it either. She's telling us the truth."

"…." Akechi was silent.

"Is something wrong?" Ren looked to Akechi.

"…Nothing I can prove. I'm just going to remain the one who maintains a healthy amount of skepticism towards the situation we've found ourselves in." Akechi replied.

"This is a lot to take in…" Sumire wasn't sure how to feel. "Is she harmless…?"

"If she's the one who made it happen, doesn't that mean she has a lot of influence?" Haru suggested.

"This is true. And let's not forget the university asked her to attend the lecture." Yusuke said.

"The pieces that have fallen into place for us feel far too convenient for this to be a mere happenstance." Akechi said. "But that is my only take on the matter. I could be wrong, and the lot of you are just lucky."

"We could definitely use the lucky break, that's for sure." Ren said. He wasn't objecting to this turn of events.

"What should we do? She could probably tell us a lot about EMMA." Morgana said.

"Not to mention she knows who we are now…" Ann said. That was the biggest and hardest thing to ignore.

"Whaddya think, Ren?" Ryuji looked to Ren.

"I think we should tell her the truth. There's really no point trying to hide anything." Ren decided. Akechi looked as if he was the only one who had reservations about this, but he was keeping silent about it.

"It's settled then…" Makoto said with a shaky breath. She was a little nervous about this, but…it looked like it was their best option. "We'll tell her everything…"

And so, the Phantom Thieves told Ichinose everything they knew. Naturally, the woman needed a moment to digest the information she was given. "Is all of this really true?"

"Right, we know, it's kinda hard to believe." Ryuji expected this reaction.

"What if we showed her? Like what we did with Zenkichi?" Futaba suggested. If Ichinose really didn't believe them, the nuclear option of bringing her into the Metaverse was always available.

"Wow!" Ichinose squealed in delight. "It really does exist! I mean, how else would you explain all this!? So EMMA functions as the entry point here, huh? No, that's…I have to consider the possibilities…!?"

"….She believed us?" Sumire and Ann said in unison.

"At least we don't hafta go through the trouble of convincin' her…" Ryuji wasn't sure how to feel. On the one hand, he was glad it was so easy, but on the other, he could not believe it was this easy.

"Um, Ichinose-san," Makoto started. "Do you have any idea why EMMA is serving as an try point for Jails?" It was worth asking, since Ichinose was the creator of it.

"Oh, no, I couldn't tell you." Ichinose shook her head. "I'm surprised this other world even exists. There's no way I could've thought up a way to get in if I didn't even know it existed to begin with."

"That tracks. The Metaverse isn't exactly common knowledge." Akechi furrowed his brows. He had a thought; a flicker of an idea…but it was a longshot, too far to even suggest bringing it up.

"Wait, so does that mean the function was added later…?" Futaba said. Logically, that had to track.

"A world where people's Desires are stolen and their hearts are changed. Hmm…so many questions." Ichinose sounded excited, but. "Oh, wait, maybe I should sound heartbroken here. My baby is being used for evil, after all."

"Should sound…?" Sumire blinked. The phrasing bothered her for some reason. It was probably nothing, this woman has already proven herself to be the eccentric type.

"We'd like your cooperation, if you're willing." Ren said.

"I like how it sounds! Super Phantom thief-y!" Ichinose grinned. "And I can't say I don't feel kinda responsible for all of this. More than anything, though, I think I'd die of curiosity if I didn't get involved! So what do you need me to look into? Just say the word and I'm on it!"

"We'd like to know what sort of changes were made to EMMA after you sold it to Maddice. That alone would tell us a lot." Ren said.

"I see, I see!" Ichinose nodded in understanding.

"If we're making this a deal, we have to offer something in return…" Makoto was stumped, but Ichinose waved her hands.

"Nonsense! It's fine just the way it is. My inner researcher is just squealing with delight!" Ichinose dismissed the notion. She was just happy to help. "So, what do you say we seal the day?"

"It's a deal, then. Here's to working with you." Ichinose said to the group.

"Oh, hey!" Ryuji had an idea. "If she specializes in AI, maybe she knows something about Sophia, yeah?"

Ichinose's eyes widened. "Huh…? Sophia…?"

Sumire held her phone out. Sophia appeared. "Hi, I'm Sophia, humanity's companion. It's nice to meet you, Ichinose."

"…So this…is Sophia…" Ichinose's tone changed. It went from upbeat to a low. The difference was immediate and it was jarring.

"Who flipped the switch on her…!?" Ryuji wasn't expecting this reaction.

"Oh, no…it's just I've got so much on my mind right now. I guess even I'm a little confused." Ichinose said while placing a hand on the top of her head.

"We met Sophia in the Metaverse. Is there anything you can tell us about her?" Sumire said with a bit of hope.

"No, I'm afraid I don't know anything about her." Ichinose shook her head. "Think you can send me her code later, though?"

"…!" Hifumi's eyes widened ever so slightly. Akechi noticed and it caught his attention. The others were too focused on Ichinose getting Futaba's contact information to notice. "She…lied…?"

"Well, then! I'm excited to see how this develops. See you around!" With that. Ichinose finally left.

"And she's gone…" Ann scratched her head.

"I was hoping she knew something about Sophia…" Futaba frowned.

"Um…I think she does." Hifumi said quietly. Everyone looked at her. "I didn't want to say anything, but I think she's holding a little information back from us. I don't know what it could be or why…and I didn't want to push her away after she agreed to help us. I don't think we should be suspicious of her, though…"

"Speak for yourself. The circumstances of our meeting bother me. I'm remaining skeptical, but her aid is appreciated all the same." Akechi replied.

"It's okay." Sophia spoke up. "I'm okay as I'm useful to all of you. I'm happy with the Phantom Thieves. And if Ichinose knows or can figure out something about me, I can wait."

"Man, what a day." Ryuji sighed. "Oh, right, we're supposed to be headin' to Sapporo right? I almost forgot about that with everything that's happened today."

"Yeah, we shouldn't keep Zenkichi waiting for too long. We have to be there by tomorrow." Morgana said.

"Alright. Let's head back to the parking area. We do have a bit of time, so…how about one hour before we leave?" Ren said to everyone. They could enjoy Sendai for just a little longer before having to depart.

.

.

Only one hour left in Sapporo. It wasn't a lot of time. Hifumi still had to figure out the secret item of the parfait shop before they left. It felt like too big a task to do on her own with such limited time! So she asked Sumire to help her, since Sophia was also in her phone as well. "What did you need help with, Hifumi-senpai?"

"I heard there is some secret dessert item here in Sendai." Hifumi explained. "I wanted to surprise Ann, but I didn't have the time earlier. And…we're rather short on time now. I'd like to get this for her before we have to leave."

"Oh, that's so sweet!" Sumire smiled warmly. Hifumi and Ann were adorable. She was a little jealous of what they had. If only…ah, she shook her head. "So were you hoping Sophia and I could lend you a hand?"

"If you please." Hifumi said with a nod.

"Leave it to me." Sophia spoke up happily. Within a few seconds, she was able to ping a search that was of interest. "Sweets found. I've got hits of an extremely limited quantity of a parfait some have even called legendary."

"L-Legendary…?!" Hifumi's eyes went wide.

"It's called…the Zunda Supreme Parfait." Sophia said. "Unfortunately, however, there aren't any details as to its exact location. There are only reports that it's been seen in Mt. Aoba Park."

"What…" Hifumi let out a sigh. "Wow. I would have never have found something so elusive on my own. Thank you, Sophia, Sumire!"

"Are you sure you want to do this on your own?" Sumire asked. "I can help you! I'll even text you if I hear anything."

"I won't turn down your help." Hifumi said with an appreciative smile. Had they a little more time, she wouldn't mind looking herself. So the pair of them split off, searching for the means to obtain the Zunda Supreme Parfait.

About 20 minutes later, Ann received a text message to meet her at the Parfait place. Ann was already taking the time before they left to sample as many Sendai Sweets as she could. So imagine her surprise when she saw Hifumi and Sumire at a table with a huge parfait. Her eyes growing wide at such a treat before her. "Ah…W-What…is that?! It's so…beautiful…!"

"Surprise!" Sumire said with a smile.

"You were looking so down the other day, so I wanted to surprise you." Hifumi placed her hands in her lap. "This is the Zunda Supreme Parfait, the most legendary treat in Sendai!"

"You…got this for me?" Ann took a seat. It was so beautiful, she couldn't wait to eat it.

"Hifumi-senpai did most of the work. Sophia and I just helped her find it." Sumire said, preparing to stand up. "So if you two want to eat it, I'll leave you to it."

"No, it's okay. You can stay. You deserve some of it too!" Ann said, ushering for Sumire to sit down. "You helped Fumi find it. Besides, aren't you curious how it taste?"

"A little…" Sumire admitted. She wasn't a sweet feed but this did look good the longer she stared at it.

"Come on, we can share it!" Ann insisted. She had such a big smile on her face. Enjoying something so incredible with her girlfriend and her friend was absolutely worth it. While Sumire indulged on the treat, Ann and Hifumi were feeding it to one another, as couples do.

"I do feel a little like a third wheel…but it's okay. I'm just glad I could help them." Sumire could watch and eat with a fond smile. And suddenly her thoughts about it were starting to fade, because she was soon focused on having to work off what she was eating. She could feel the calories in a single bite of this parfait. This was going to be a real challenge.

.

Futaba managed to talk Ren and Yusuke into sticking their heads into the stand ins of Date Masamune and a woman over by his statue. Yusuke had his head in the cutout of Masamune. "Whoa! You look just like him!" Futaba said, shocked at the uncanny resemblance.

"Mewhehe, lookin' good, Yusuke." Morgana teased.

"Make a funny face." Ren said, trying to goad Yusuke into being more expressive.

"Is that really necessary?" Yusuke didn't seem like he was going for it.

"Hmm…something's still missing…" Futaba was looking over the scene carefully. "Ah ha! I got it. Ren, get in the other one!" She had a mental image in mind, and she was so hoping it was going to turn out just as she hoped.

"Okay." Ren shrugged and went into the cutout of the woman. "How's this?"

"Ahahaha! This is priceless!" Futaba immediately burst into laughter. "Here comes the princess! Cute couple!"

"…Ren, is it just me, or are we being exploited for entertainment?" Yusuke glanced over at Ren.

"…Aren't you being a little too relaxed at the moment?" Akechi was watching this and felt a headache coming on.

"Hey, come on. We have a half hour left before we leave. We can squeeze in a little fun." Ren said. Akechi, however, was not taking him seriously with his face sticking out of a woman in a kimono.

"You're so wound up. I thought you were starting to relax?" Futaba said.

"One idle evening was fine, but we have work to do." Akechi said. "Just let me know when you're prepared to leave. I have to get my car ready." And he was starting to walk off just as fast as he arrived.

"I believe he wishes to keep the investigation going." Yusuke said. "I suppose the information we learned today has pushed him back into work mode."

"I can't say I blame him." Morgana watched Akechi leave. Today was…quite a bit.

As Akechi walked, he was mumbling something under his breath, thinking about all the new points of information they were exposed to today. "Akira Konoe, Maddice, EMMA, Ichinose, Sophia, Jails…" Nothing about today rubbed him the right way. Something about it was just off. There were threads connecting these points together, but nothing that convincingly tied it all up. It was going to bother him, but there was nothing he could do for now aside from think about it. EMMA was the common point, but where did that point go…

The answers would come the more they dove into their investigation. With their impromptu job in Sendai officially complete, it was now time to depart and head to their main target: Sapporo. The Monarch of Sapporo was going to deliver a frigid chill of reality….