Chapter 13: Fools Rush In

In his personal VIP room in his exclusive nightclub, Wada ordered another round of drinks. Beside him, a good-looking young man took selfies with the buffet of beautiful club girls Wada had assembled. Wada allowed him to take all the pictures he wanted - encouraged it, in fact - because this particular young man was an influencer. He had a not-inconsiderable following on InstaYou, and this would attract even more.

Influencer, Wada thought, laughing tipsily to himself as he sipped his fourth drink. I'm influencing the influencer, so what does that make him? Nothing but a dumb kid who spends way too much time online. Then again, that's what they used to say about me and now look. Wada nodded at his own sage wisdom, trying to ignore the phone buzzing away in his pocket.

He'd already explained to his business partner that he was busy tonight, doing something that would benefit them both, but the old fossil didn't understand all this new-fangled Internet malarkey. What a pain in the ass. So some college chick discovered the mental shutdown ward, so what? Shido's big confession about the Metaverse sounded crazy enough that 30% of the public thought he was on drugs. Practically nobody understood or believed the truth behind mental shutdowns. Hell, Wada himself didn't really get it.

Still, he could only ignore his business partner's calls for so long. "'Scuze me, duty calls," said Wada, waving the phone at the influencer. He doubted the young man even noticed he was gone as he slipped away.

Safely behind the desk in his private office, he called Maeda on the burner phone he dedicated to that purpose. While it rang, he pulled out his real phone and used it to browse the latest celeb nip slips.

"About time. Where have you been, you moron?" Maeda sounded way too sober for a Saturday night.

"I told you," said Wada. "Bringing in a new lieutenant for our cause."

Maeda grunted dismissively and moved on to business. "Makoto. Niijima. Does that name ring any bells?"

"Yeah, yeah. The girl who found the mental shutdown ward. Look, this isn't a disaster." Wada raised his voice and spoke over Maeda as he started to say something. "This is an opportunity! If she blabs, we can just use it as a new plot point. Let it slip that Shido has a secure facility where all the mental shutdown cases will be taken care of. All the broken will be made whole, blah blah blah. The public will eat it up with a spoon."

"That's not what I'm talking about," growled Maeda. "I know we can spin it - I was spinning stories when you were in short pants eating paste. It's the girl's background. She's Sae Niijima's sister!"

"Who?" said Wada, thumb-typing the name into his phone to see if she'd ever had a wardrobe malfunction.

"Niijima. She was tracking down the Phantom Thieves last year. She built most of the case against Masayoshi Shido. She has access to a lot of sensitive information about our former alliance, can you understand that?"

"Oh, her," said Wada, scrolling through news results. "Hot. She's defending Akechi, I guess?"

"Why should Akechi need any defending?" said Maeda sharply. "Shido let him off the hook, same as you and me."

"'Course he did. No need for Akechi to sell the two of us out now, is there? What's he up to, anyway?"

"Nothing. Pretending to be an ordinary high-schooler."

"So what's the problem? All he needs to do is keep his head down."

"And if he doesn't?" said Maeda ominously.

"How many times do I have to tell you, it doesn't matter what Akechi says. It doesn't matter what anyone says except Myojo. The truth is just one storyline out of many and ours is the best. It's Must-See TV! Honestly, Maeda, you've spent your whole career in the broadcast industry. How do you not know this?"

"Used to be people could tell the difference between a sitcom set and their own living room," Maeda grumbled.

Wada drained his glass and spun around in his chair. "Well, isn't it lucky for us that times have changed?"

He ended the call without waiting for a response and tossed the burner phone in his desk drawer. Then he forgot the entire conversation and went back out to party.

On the other end of the line, Maeda slammed his phone down on the desk. He had intentionally bought the most indestructible mobile phone on the market, but dammit, it still didn't have that satisfying feel that the old corded receivers had back in the '80s. Those things had heft.

Maeda's bigger problem, though, was that his partner was a callow idiot with the attention span of a dead spider. With Shido at the helm, the different parts of his organization worked harmoniously, like spokes in a wheel. Maeda, although one of the major spokes, had severely underestimated how much control he would have without someone like Shido around to keep everyone in line.

With a quick text, Maeda sent a man to tail Makoto Niijima for a few days. If she wasn't up to anything, fine. But if she was snooping around, he'd be ready. After the Phantom Thieves debacle, he wasn't going to be caught unawares again.

Makoto pushed her way through the lunchtime crowds, looking for a certain cafe. After escaping from the hospital, she'd brainstormed ways to get in touch with Dr. Maruki. She didn't have his contact information, and for all she knew, his contacts were monitored anyway. It was too dangerous to hang around the hospital hoping to see him in person, not to mention how long it could take.

Finally, just as she was about to give up and ask Sae for help, it occurred to her that she might be able to send him a secure email through St. Luke's online patient portal. So she signed up for an account with St. Luke's and chose Takuto Maruki from the list of doctors. Just like that, she was able to send him a secure message asking to meet up.

When she found the right cafe, she peered around the room and saw him waving her over. He'd found a relatively secluded spot where a table was mostly hidden by a floor-to-ceiling divider. Makoto took the seat with the back to the divider.

"Good to see you, Makoto," said Maruki. "How have you been?"

"Busy with my university courses," she said neutrally.

His face lit up in a warm smile. "That's great. I'm glad to hear it. Do you know - are the others doing alright?"

"They're fine," said Makoto, allowing a small smile. Despite all that had happened, Makoto had always felt Maruki's intentions were good.

The doctor let out a relieved puff of breath. "I admit, I was a bit worried after that Dome Town incident - that was you guys, wasn't it?"

Makoto shook her head. "Only Ann, Ryuji and Akechi. Ann texted us all about what happened. Aside from the Metaverse angle, the Dome Town incident and the mental shutdowns don't seem to have any relation - yet they must be connected somehow, don't you think?"

"Yes, I was thinking along the same lines," said Maruki. "I only wish I had more useful information to tell you."

"Start at the beginning," Makoto suggested.

Maruki sipped his coffee and gave a little "agh" as it burned his tongue. Looking chagrined, he set the cup down. "I guess this all starts with St. Luke's. I did my residency there. My mentor contacted me and asked me to come back to medicine to see what I could do for the mental shutdown patients."

"What exactly did he ask you to do?"

"Oh - nothing sinister, I promise. I'm supposed to look after the patients and see if I can find a cure, that's all."

"If that's all, why the secrecy? Who was that man at your lab?"

"I don't know," said Maruki, looking troubled. "It was strange, of course, but I thought he was just there to make sure nobody...unauthorized...came in. Okay, okay, it's sketchy. I've been focusing on the work," he admitted.

"How's that coming along?"

"Slow. I think Akechi-kun might be able to help but he's not answering my calls."

"Akechi? Why?"

"A while ago he had a dissociative episode, but he managed to pull himself out of it. I'd like to know how."

"Dissociative episode…" Makoto murmured. "You mean when he lost his memory?"

"Precisely. Whatever happened to him, it happened in the Metaverse and it was undone there too. It made me think...perhaps my mental shutdown patients are also experiencing an extreme dissociative fugue. Akechi's experience may hold some clues to how to help them."

"And he's not answering, huh? Well, I know where he lives," said Makoto dryly. "Meanwhile, take a look at this. This is everything I could find on the mental shutdown victims." She took a scrapbook out of her bag and handed it to him.

Maruki's eyes widened as he looked through it. "This is incredible," he said. "Names, dates, locations, news articles - fantastic work, Makoto. Did you do any data mining?"

"Kind of," she said, sitting up a little straighter. "I put all the information in a spreadsheet, but all that clarified is that these people have absolutely nothing in common."

A smile spread slowly across Maruki's face. "Oh, but they do. People collapse or faint and get taken to the hospital every day. What these particular people have in common is that they're notable enough to rate a newspaper report."

"Do you think so?" said Makoto doubtfully. "Not just because they're mental shutdown cases?"

"No. This only represents around half of my ward. There are far more mental shutdowns than have been covered in the papers."

"If that's true, then...is someone covering them up?"

"How about I take this with me and see what I can glean from it, and you set up a meeting with Akechi-kun?"

Makoto readily agreed.

On the other side of the thin divider, an average-looking middle-aged salaryman was typing into his phone. Little Sis met with Dr Death. They knew each other. They think they can cure the Incurable.

It took longer than usual to get a reply. He dipped a biscotti into his coffee as he waited. Finally it came: Nobody can cure the Incurable. Keep me updated on their progress.

"Sounds like things are moving fast," Ren observed. "I got a few days to rest up between being introduced to the Velvet Room and being targeted by Shadows."

"You had no experience. I'm practically a Metaverse elder statesman," said Goro. He was chatting on the phone while strolling along a street filled with storefronts that looked like they hadn't been changed in decades. He passed an antique shop with sun-faded furniture in the window, a boutique clothing shop with outdated clothes displayed, and a tiny restaurant with no one tending the counter, before finding the shop he was looking for.

"Is it a prison?" asked Ren.

At the same time, Goro opened the door, jingling a set of bells. "What?" he said, thinking he'd misheard.

"The Velvet Room. Does it look like a prison for you?"

Goro paused for a fraction of a second before responding with a crisp, "No."

"Maybe you'll have better luck with it than I did, then."

Goro looked around; this was the place Chihaya had recommended to him. It was darker and dustier than he expected, but then again, it would be strange for an occult bookstore to be clean and modern. He found the tarot section and started looking at decks.

As he browsed, Goro said, "You said Lavenza was there. I just have Jose, that weird little muppet from Mementos."

"She wasn't quite herself at the time, though…." Ren lapsed into a thoughtful silence. "What about Igor?"

"No clue. I didn't see anyone but Jose. He told me that I 'unlocked' some extra powers by making friends. He said I gained the powers of four arcana." He sighed dramatically. "That sounds even more absurd when I say it out loud."

"If you were wondering how I got so powerful so fast, that's how I did it," said Ren matter-of-factly.

Looking at an information sheet helpful pinned to a bookshelf, Goro said, "There are 22 major arcana. Are you telling me you made 22 friends in under a year? How did you find them?"

"No particular way. When I met someone I liked, I spent time with them. That's all."

Goro's eyes narrowed. He put the call on mute and waved it around in fury. "Unbelievable! You! Are! Unbelievable!" he growled at the photo of Ren's face. After that outburst, he took a deep breath, composed himself, and took the call off mute. "What if you never met anyone you liked?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

Ren laughed. Goro did not join him. His eyes narrowed again as he waited in stony silence for Ren to finish laughing at his perfectly reasonable question.

"I thought you were kidding," said Ren, finally.

"I'm not leaving things to luck," said Goro, spitting out the word with mild distaste. "I'll be taking a more structured approach. I'm buying a deck of tarot cards and I'll use it to fill in the blanks. The...eighteen...blanks." He resisted the urge to complain that this was the most impossible task he'd ever been set to.

"Am I one of the unlocked ones?" asked Ren.

"Of course you are. You're represented in my psyche by the Lovers."

"Just like Chihaya said, right?"

"Aside from the obvious, Chihaya told me the Lovers represent a choice. A crossroads. Was I the same for you?"

"You were Justice for me," said Ren.

"Really? How peculiar."

"I didn't choose it, but...no, I get it."

Goro wasn't sure he did, so he simply said, "Interesting," and made a mental note to come back to this point later.

He compared two decks, a modern one and a more traditional one. Besides that basic dichotomy, there were all sorts of different themes - fantastic and real places, artistic movements, animals, even various religions. He picked up a cat-themed deck and wondered if it would make a good gift for Ren, before shaking his head at the ridiculousness of the whole concept and putting it hastily back on the shelf.

"Can I help you?"

Goro jumped. The store owner had somehow snuck up behind him and was standing there with a cheerful smile. He was an older man wearing a vest that pulled a little too tight around the belly and a pair of half-moon glasses on a chain around his neck. He was rumpled and his hair was thinning on top, but his eyes twinkled with enthusiasm.

Recovering, Goro said, "Just looking at the tarot decks. You don't have any more, do you?"

"None of these suit your fancy, eh? It's important to get just the right deck, you know. Your deck should attract you - that's the first step to drawing its energies to you."

"Oh, I don't really need that," said Goro. "I'm just going to push pins in them anyway."

The store owner looked grievously offended for a moment. But then he pulled back the cloth of a nearby table and took a box out from underneath. He paused a moment before opening the box, sizing Goro up.

"These are overstock," he said. "You may find your deck in here. Just please -" he held up a hand. "Please don't harm them. That would be exceedingly bad karma. I can't be held responsible if you do something so reckless."

The owner busied himself at a nearby shelf, pretending to sort books, while Goro looked through the box. It was obvious why these had been shoved under a table. They were even more ridiculous than the ones on display. A Christmas deck. A Shonen Jump deck. A deck promoting some long-gone brand of liquor.

"Who was that?" asked Ren, still on the phone.

"Nobody. Store clerk," said Goro tersely.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about! A chance meeting! That guy could be one of your confidants," said Ren excitedly.

Goro looked briefly at the old man, who was peering suspiciously over his shoulder. When their eyes met, the man quickly turned back and started pulling books off the shelf and putting them back. The action kicked up some dust and he started coughing. Goro lifted a skeptical eyebrow.

"I don't think so," said Goro.

"Are you even trying?" said Ren sternly.

"If you really want to help, why don't you give me the names of your confidants?"

"I'm pretty sure there are more than twenty decent people in Tokyo," said Ren.

"You're a hopeless optimist. Anyway, I have to go. Let's talk later," said Goro, ending the call and turning back to the box of tarot decks.

He paused at a Phoenix Featherman deck. It was utterly ludicrous - what kind of warped mind would even conceive of putting together occult fortune-telling with a low-budget kid's show? - but it was executed with utmost sincerity. The artwork was hand-painted, each card's subject clearly chosen with care. It even had a companion book.

"This'll do, I guess," he said to the old man.

"Why don't you take a minute with the deck?" suggested the man, taking off the plastic wrap. "Make sure it's really the one for you."

Goro hesitated, not knowing what to do with it, but also not wanting to admit that to the store owner. Thinking back to Chihaya's reading, he picked up the deck and shuffled it. Then he dealt three cards in a horizontal row in front of him.

Justice, reversed. Temperance. Death.

"Interesting spread," said the old man, peering at the cards through his half-moon glasses. "Reversed Justice suggests a situation that is unknowable or unresolveable right now. Logic and reason are taking a backseat."

Goro grunted in disgust. "Sounds about right. You heard about that mob that attacked a man at Dome Town the other day?"

"Indeed. Hidden influences at work," said the old man, laying a finger on his nose. "Now, Temperance in this position suggests to me a marshalling of resources. A bulwark between the situation fomenting here -" he waved his hand over Justice "- and the upheaval suggested by the Death card."

"Does that mean somebody's going to die and it will cause disruption?"

"No, the Death card means letting go of the dead weight of the past. Changing to accept the new and reject what isn't working. Many people find it frightening, of course, but it's necessary. Can't reap your harvest without a scythe, after all."

"That all seems...very accurate," Goro admitted.

The shopkeeper smiled a huge, toothy grin. "There it is. These cards have chosen you. Take good care of them and they'll take care of you. Mine have never led me astray."

"Somehow I suspect they won't be as accurate when I'm the one reading them."

The shopkeeper carefully scooped up the deck and put them back in their box, then put the deck into a bag and handed it to Goro.

"How much?" said Goro, reaching for his wallet.

"On the house," said the old man, still grinning. "May it be an auspicious start to your journey."

"Thank you. I'm Goro Akechi, by the way."

"Rei Sutanzu. Drop by anytime. The answer is waiting for your question."

Goro affected his most charming smile and bowed. Why me? he thought as he went out the door.

In a small town several hours outside Tokyo, Ren Amamiya scarfed down his dinner while his parents looked on in bemusement.

"The chicken isn't going to run away, you know," said his mother, lifting one of the thinly-sliced cutlets to her mouth.

"Mmf," said Ren. "So good."

His mother raised her eyebrows. "I'll take that as a compliment, I guess."

His father frowned. "You've been so different since you came back from Tokyo. What the hell did they do to you out there?"

"Don't start," said Ren's mother with a weary sigh. Her husband had been repeating questions like this ever since Ren's return and no answer seemed to satisfy him.

Ren swallowed and said nothing. He didn't want to get into an argument, if only for his mother's sake.

"Shido-san was right again. The Japanese family is eroding right before our eyes," grumbled Ren's father.

Ren gripped his fork tighter. "Dad. Don't talk about that man around me."

"Why not?" said his father, as if they hadn't had this same argument a dozen times since Ren came home. "Shido-san was the only person who knew how to handle this country and now look at it! It's a nightmare!"

"He's a criminal and the country is better off without him," said Ren, even though he knew that it was futile to argue. "Tokyo is not on fire. There were no riots when Shido was arrested. He never had a plan for anything but his own self-interest."

"That's not what they say on the news," said Ren's father smugly.

"Dad, I was there!" said Ren, exasperated. "Shido had me arrested and put in jail. He isn't a good guy!"

His father shook his head stubbornly. "I wish I knew how they'd brainwashed you. I wish I could fix it."

Ren sighed and looked down at his plate, not feeling hungry. Behind them, the TV was tuned to the loud news channel that seemed to be on constantly nowadays. He knew he should pay attention, see what lies his parents were being fed today, but he couldn't bring himself to listen to that channel. It was infuriating, knowing his own parents trusted that garbage more than they trusted him.

I'm not the one who's brainwashed, he thought defensively. Ren didn't feel like he'd changed all that much - he was more confident and happier, perhaps - but his parents were acting like they'd taken in an imposter or a spy or something.

After weeks of this, Ren was starting to wonder if they were right. Maybe he didn't belong here. He hadn't even considered telling them he had a boyfriend. He'd briefly considered telling them about Ann, but he didn't think they would approve of him dating a hafu either. It was hard to tell what would set them off nowadays.

He cleared the table and helped his mother wash the dishes, mind wandering. The actual reason he'd been gulping his food was because he wanted to get back to the MMORPG he was playing with Mishima online - a totally normal, innocent explanation. I should've just said that, Ren thought. Changed the subject. But no matter what he tried to talk about with his parents, somehow the subject always seemed to come around to Shido again.

Safely back in his room, Ren came back to his keyboard to find his idle avatar had collected a number of direct messages. A group in the game that went by "We Are The Starlight" was recruiting again. They had started out as a small clan, but their membership had exploded in recent weeks and they were still gathering more.

It was easy to pick them out by their profile pics - on joining the clan, members were required to change their profile to show the clan's star logo. They also tended to stand around in populated areas and proselytize in some strange code that Ren supposed made sense to them, but sounded like gibberish to anyone on the outside.

At first, Ren had been amused by them. Having a weirdo hanging out in the public square ranting cult nonsense gave the MMO a certain...verisimilitude. Now it was starting to creep him out. It seemed like every time he logged on, more profile pics had turned into that same damn star. He thought back to that time in the Metaverse, when Shido had summoned what seemed to be ordinary people and turned them into soldiers.

"What's up with these WATS people?" he messaged Mishima. "So weird."

"Don't get me started on those freaks," Mishima messaged back. "We'll be here all night."

Ren thought that over. He could let it go. It probably didn't mean anything. This was just a game, not real life. But still, the parallels bothered him. "I've got time," he sent back.