Chapter 15: The Magician And The Fool

Makoto taped up a photo and personal information sheet above a patient bed in Dr. Maruki's mental shutdown ward. Since the failed attempt to get Akechi to help with Dr. Maruki's work, Makoto had figured out a safe way to get into the hospital: through the Metaverse. She could enter the Metaverse any place she wanted, then simply walk right in through the unwatched door.

It was so simple she was slapping herself for not thinking of it sooner. As far as the real world was concerned, she never went near Dr. Maruki or the hospital. Until Maruki's mysterious benefactor/string-puller figured out how to post a guard in the Metaverse, she could come and go as she pleased.

"Thanks for your help, Makoto-chan," Dr. Maruki said, consulting a clipboard and directing her where to post the next photo.

"It's no trouble. I feel a little better putting faces to their...faces," Makoto replied.

In the Metaverse version of the ward, the patients had no identifying features. Although they were men and women of all ages, from all walks of life, here they were all exactly alike. It would be inspiringly egalitarian, if it weren't so spooky.

"I've never seen anything like it," Makoto murmured, not for the first time.

"You said real people usually seem heightened in the Metaverse, yes?" said Maruki.

"That is accurate, yes. Though the kind of people we encountered in Palaces might have had...er, an exceptionally strong sense of self." Makoto smiled, remembering how Maruki acted in his own Palace.

If he felt self-conscious about her comment, he didn't show it. "Exactly...let me run a hypothesis by you. What if the sufferers of Mental Shutdown Syndrome have been robbed of their sense of self? Does that sound right to you?"

"It makes a lot of sense," Makoto agreed. "There's just one problem. We know that people whose self is destroyed in the Metaverse die. That's how Shido was able to murder people without a trace."

"Ah, but what if the self isn't entirely destroyed? Akechi-kun's heart was torn in half, but since the pieces were intact, he was able to put it back together. If these people's sense of self is merely subdued, we might be able to devise a therapeutic intervention to restore it. Like…kindling a flame, perhaps."

Makoto thought that over. If he was correct, and there was a way to bring people's sense of self back to them, it could have benefits for all sorts of other mental conditions as well. Including, perhaps, the catatonia suffered by Maruki's former fiancee, Rumi.

"It would be helpful if Akechi-kun were willing to tell us more about how he did what he did," she said, annoyed at Akechi all over again.

"Maybe, but he's made his feelings clear." Maruki didn't sound particularly concerned, which irritated Makoto even more.

"He didn't tell you everything, you know. He has a unique power in the Metaverse."

"A unique power?"

"He can stimulate people's Metaverse Shadows to make them go berserk. Remember all the headlines about people acting crazy last spring? That was him. He also used it on regular Shadows to make them more powerful."

Maruki raised his eyebrows. "That's a new one on me. Those people eventually recovered, didn't they?"

"They did, yes. I've seen him use it on himself, too. It's just a temporary effect, but…." She shivered, thinking about how wild Akechi got. How much he enjoyed inflicting pain on Shadows.

"So he changed their personalities, but he didn't do any permanent damage. That's a point in favor of my research." Maruki fell silent, thinking.

"He said he didn't change their personalities, per se. Only removed their inhibitions. He called it unchaining their hearts," said Makoto.

"Removed their inhibitions…you mean, like having too much to drink?"

Makoto smoothed her skirt primly. "I wouldn't know…but yes, I suppose it could be something like that."

"Drugs!" said Maruki suddenly. He scribbled the word in his notebook and underlined it. "Great idea, Makoto!"

"I'm not sure I want to take credit for that," said Makoto, pinching her eyebrows together the same way Sae did when she was worried.

"In therapeutic dosages, of course. It's not something I experimented with before. I considered Metaverse manipulation to be safer than drugs, which can have side effects…but what if you used them in tandem?"

Makoto peeked at his abandoned clipboard and posted more photos while he thought and jotted down notes.

Finally, Maruki's pen slowed and then stopped. "Makoto-chan…can I give you a homework assignment? Feel free to say no, of course. I know you have a lot on your plate."

"What kind of assignment?" she asked, thinking of the piles of homework she already had.

"Could you read a bit on Sigmund Freud? Not a deep dive, but there's a particular concept I believe might be fruitful."

"Freud…? The Father of Psychoanalysis?" Makoto recalled the name from one of her classes.

"Exactly. Freud conceived of the human mind as consisting of three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. The interplay between the three is known as the 'psychic apparatus'. Could you read about that idea, and think about whether it applies to Akechi's power?"

"Yes, I suppose I can do that. Do you have a theory about it?"

"I do. But I'd like to hear what you think first."

"Oh. I'll be sure to give it some thought, then. It seems like a promising lead," Makoto said evenly.

Inside, she preened. She'd been right about the mental shutdowns, her investigation was helping to locate all the victims, and now Dr. Maruki was asking for her opinions as he researched a cure. The last time she'd felt so useful was when she first joined the Phantom Thieves.

Maruki scratched his chin. "It may be the key that unlocks these people's minds." But privately, he wondered, Are they still in there, or are we struggling to open an empty room?

Goro stood in front of the wall behind his bed, looking over the maps he'd arrayed there. On speakerphone, Ren and Morgana were poring over the photos he'd sent of his setup. From the sound of it, they weren't having any more luck than he was. Then again, these things were just visual aids to help him think - there wasn't any reason to expect that anyone else would understand them better than he would himself.

He frowned at one in particular, a map of Tokyo with the recent mental shutdown incidents marked by pushpins. There was no pattern that he could see, just a field of dots all over the city. Surrounding the map, he'd added notecards with things he thought were probably elements of the case: Shido, Myojo, Maruki and his mental shutdown ward, even the Velvet Room and Jose. There was little evidence that they were related, so he hadn't connected them, simply left them as islands floating around the map of Tokyo.

"Hey, Akechi," said Morgana, over the phone. "Isn't there something really, really obvious you're overlooking here? Like, the one thing that connects every single one of these cards together?"

"I haven't overlooked it. There's simply no connection," said Goro, shaking his head.

On the cards, he'd jotted notes and questions. "Metaverse" was on almost all of them, but there was no particular connection he could see. Shido appeared as a military commander in the Metaverse, but why? Maruki used the Metaverse for his research, but he wasn't driving events, only reacting to them. Myojo somehow leveraged the power of the Metaverse to bring whole crowds of people in briefly, but how?

"Why not try putting the Metaverse in the center?" suggested Morgana. "Start there and work out, instead of starting from the mental shutdown incidents."

Taking the phone over to his desk, Goro sat down with a fresh sheet of paper and started sketching.

"C'mon, point the camera at the paper. I want to see the master at work," Ren complained.

"If this is your idea of entertainment, we desperately need to get you out of that town."

"You have no idea," muttered Ren.

Goro set up the camera so Ren and Morgana could see. When he was finished sketching, he had the Metaverse and its occupants - Jose, Tank Shido, Maruki, the Phantom Thieves, and the MetaNav - in the center and an orderly set of spokes leading out to their real-life counterparts: Prison Shido, Myojo, Maruki again, and the mental shutdown incidents. He added Makoto on Maruki's card, along with the guard she had encountered.

"Doesn't that look better?" said Morgana, sounding pleased.

Ren said, "Sure, but what does it mean? That there's an unknown force pulling strings in the Metaverse - again?"

"There's Shido," Goro pointed out. "He killed Maruki's research, remember? That's a link."

"Maybe it's Shido's change of heart," suggested Morgana. "Maybe he's restarting the research to help people instead of using it to control them."

Goro scoffed. "I'll believe that man had a change of heart when I see it for myself. Anyway, we've already dealt with a lot of these people. The only real new element in the mix is this Myojo, whoever he is."

"I might just have something on that," said Ren suavely, as if he'd been waiting for the opening. He paused, letting the drama build.

Goro didn't want to give him the satisfaction, but he was too curious to wait. "Well?" he demanded.

"I spent last week in deep cover," said Ren with relish. "I made a new avatar in that MMO game I play with Mishima and infiltrated Myojo's We Are The Starlight group."

"You 'infiltrated' a public group with thousands of members?" said Goro dryly.

"They have an app," said Ren, ignoring the jibe. "It's supposed to be able to send alerts, but I haven't gotten any yet. I figured it might be useful to keep on top of what Myojo's sending his minions out to do."

"You know, I've always thought I'd make a good cult leader," said Goro speculatively. "There are a lot of perks, but there's one major problem: you have to spend all your time with the kind of people who join cults."

There was a long pause, and Goro had to check to make sure the connection hadn't dropped.

"That's it," said Ren at last. "I've had this feeling that I can't get over...that Shido may not be connected with all this."

"Why?"

"Just what you said. Shido's yacht was filled with society's elites, not...well…."

"Not the kind of detritus that clings to this Myojo. Well, beggars can't be choosers. What's this app called?"

On the phone screen, Ren grinned as he said, "You need an invite from a member. Sending...now."

Goro accepted the invitation and installed the app. It came with a hefty list of permissions that he had to agree to: Permission to see the phone's location. Permission to use the camera. Permission to use the microphone. Permission to access contact lists. Permission to access files. Permission to send push notifications.

That kind of data was worth its weight in gold, not to mention all the things you could do with the email addresses of known idiots. The data mining was probably just gravy, though – with the cameras and microphones of thousands of phones, an unscrupulous person could have eyes and ears just about anywhere they chose. With location data and push notifications, they could send messages to everyone in a targeted area.

That was probably what the group leader had been doing at Dome Town: sending instructions straight to the crowd that was gathered there. Could that have been Myojo himself? Goro wondered. At least the question of how Myojo was manipulating the Metaverse was answered.

He poked around the app's interface. It seemed to mostly consist of a wrapper around a simple message board, plus an extra advertising banner.

"Did you look into this Morning Star Software Applications?" asked Goro.

"Huh?" said Ren.

"Here's a detective tip for you: if you're interested in the creator of an app, try the About page. It says the app was created by Morning Star Software Applications."

"You're kidding. Why would a criminal group put an About page on their app?"

"They might if they weren't afraid of getting caught," suggested Goro.

He ran a quick search on the name, but the company appeared to be a shell. No surprise there.

"Maybe I could get Futaba to look into it?" suggested Ren. "She found out who was behind the fake Medjed last year."

"You mean Kaede Wada? How did she figure that out?" said Goro, surprised.

"She says code is like fingerprints. If you know how to read it, you can tell who wrote it."

"Wada," said Goro thoughtfully. "I wonder if he's still running around free…. He's our prime suspect, if so. This is right up his alley."

He added Kaede Wada to both boards. No known Metaverse connection. Hmm.

A light beeping alerted him to the time. He glanced at his watch and said, "Excuse me, but I have to head out."

"Where to?" asked Ren.

"Mementos. I need to show Suzui and Sae the ropes."

The look of naked longing on Ren's face was so pathetic, Goro had to pinch his thigh to keep from laughing.

"You could always run away from home," Goro suggested, only about 30% kidding.

Ren sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I'll get Futaba to check out Morning Star Software Applications and see what she can come up with. Talk to you soon."

"Thanks for coming, Makoto," said Sae, fidgeting in a way that she almost never did.

"It sounded urgent," said Makoto. "What's going on?"

"Urgent? Ha ha," said Sae stiffly. "No, it's nothing. Just a...sister thing."

"You said you were being attacked," said Makoto, starting to get annoyed.

"I am. Just look at all this!" Sae waved her arms at the sea of clothes racks surrounding them.

"Sis. I have classes. I thought you were in trouble!"

Makoto stared at her sister, willing her to have a reasonable explanation for this.

Sae's eyes wandered all over the room before settling back on Makoto's face.

"I have a date," she said at last.

"Oh. But you've never had a date before," said Makoto before she could stop herself.

"I've had dates," Sae objected. "It was before dad…but I had some. Things have changed a bit since then, is all. I just need some pointers."

"Well...okay," said Makoto, not adding that she herself had never had a real date, only a series of fake double-dates with Ren to cover a fraud investigation. "Who's the guy and where are you going?"

Sae took a deep breath. "Takuto Maruki. Dinner."

"Dinner where? You need to know the relative formalness of the venue - wait. Did you say Maruki?"

Sae nodded.

Makoto stopped cold to stare at her sister. "Dr. Maruki? Of all the guys in Tokyo, why him?"

"Of all the guys in Tokyo, he's the one who asked me," said Sae breezily.

"I just…he just… He knows a lot about me. And about you, if I'm being perfectly honest." Makoto drew herself up and squared her shoulders, expecting Sae to get angry.

Sae just gave her a sideways glance and said, "I'm pretty sure I have a few surprises left."

Makoto pressed her lips together, trying to marshal a reasonable argument. But she didn't have one. It wouldn't be any different if it were another person, Makoto realized, deflating. She was just feeling a little jealous of Sae's new relationship. I'm such a kid sister, she thought glumly.

Sae waited while she gathered her thoughts. "In all seriousness, Makoto, do you have an objection?"

Makoto shook her head. "No, not really. I hope…I hope everything goes well."

"Thank you. I mean…he's good-looking, isn't he?" said Sae with an uncharacteristically silly grin.

"So said every girl at Shujin," said Makoto, struggling not to laugh.

Sae pulled a form-fitting red dress off the rack. "What do you think of this? Too much?"

"You want him to live long enough for a second date, right?" said Makoto dryly.

"Maybe I'll save this one for a special occasion," said Sae mischievously. She tossed it into her cart.

"How about this?" suggested Makoto, holding up a flower-patterned maxi dress.

"We're not going to churn butter, Makoto," said Sae, making a face.

They moved through the racks, bickering and laughing. Makoto wasn't sure how she felt about Sae dating Maruki, but she did know she hadn't seen Sae so excited in a very long time. Maybe even since before their dad's death.

Sae took her selections into a dressing room to try on. Makoto waited outside, smiling to herself. This was fun. She could see why girls might go together to do this for entertainment. Still, she was her father's daughter, and she couldn't help glancing around the store. Always be aware of your surroundings, Makoto. Don't forget that. One of his life lessons.

At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There were shoppers, looking at things. Moving...no, not moving. That was strange. And they weren't looking at the items for sale, they were looking at their phones.

"Sis?" said Makoto, knocking quietly on the dressing room door.

"What?" said Sae, stepping out in one of the outfits she'd selected.

But when Makoto looked around again, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Sae looked around, then back at Makoto with concern.

"What is it?" Sae asked again.

"N-nothing, sorry," said Makoto. "Uh…that one's not really your color, Sis. What else do you have?"

After their shopping trip, Makoto and Sae took the train to Shibuya station together, meeting up with Shiho Suzui and Ann Takamaki. Goro was already there waiting.

After using the MetaNav to enter Mementos, Goro gave Suzui and Sae a moment to look around and get their bearings.

Ann and Makoto, who were old hands at Mementos-spelunking, took a look at the other girls' outfits.

"You know, Sae-san's phantom thief costume isn't that different from the Shadow one we saw in her Palace, don't you think?" Ann said.

"Yeah. Now she looks even more like a witch," said Makoto, trying to hold back a snicker.

"Excuse me," said Sae sharply. "What did you just say?"

"Nothing, Sis," said Makoto briskly, though she couldn't completely hide the amusement in her voice.

"Are you all quite finished?" said Goro, crossing his arms. "Don't get careless. Just because the Metaverse feels surreal doesn't mean you can't really get hurt. That's why we're here. I don't believe your awakenings are an accident. Having these powers means only one thing: you'll need to use them."

He let those words sink in for a moment, then added, "Queen, Panther, thank you for filling out the forward team. I'll be navigating today."

"Did you call her 'Queen Panther'?" asked Sae, looking at Ann.

"Ah, it completely slipped my mind," said Goro. "We use code names here. Mine's Crow. Suzui is Spike. Takamaki is Panther. Your Persona is Morrigan, the Phantom Queen, so…."

"Queen!" said Spike immediately. "That's a good code name, isn't it?"

"It's great. That's why we gave it to her sister," said Panther, gesturing at Queen. Even under the mask, Makoto's grin was unmistakable.

"How about Empress?" said Sae, frowning at Queen, whose eyes narrowed underneath her mask.

Crow shook his head, immediately seeing where that was going. "Clever, but no."

Sae stroked her chin. "Crow won't work either...what about Kuro?"

"Sounds too much like Crow. Besides, all the other code names are English."

"Except for Noir," Panther pointed out. "We already have someone named after the color black."

"Technically, this is my team, not Joker's team," said Crow testily. "You could have a different code name if you wanted, Panther."

"Oh, no way. One extra name is enough for me," she said, shaking her head so her ponytails flipped around.

"Following the Celtic theme...how about Banshee?" suggested Sae.

"Ban-she? What does that mean?" asked Spike.

"A ghostly harbinger of tragic death," said Crow. "I like it."

"Creepy," said Panther.

"Terrifying," said Spike.

"Done," said the newly-named Banshee, with a satisfied smile.

Crow nodded. "Good. Then let's do a warmup. Spike and Banshee, you'll do most of the fighting. Panther and Queen already know the basics, so they'll just back you up."

They didn't have Morgana to drive them around, so they walked down a single level into Mementos. While they walked, Crow and Queen filled in Spike and Banshee about Mementos being the public's shared cognition.

After a while, they came across a swarm of twittering Pixies. Too easy even for beginners, thought Crow, deciding to hold out for something slightly more formidable.

As they approached, a high pitched voice called out, "Hey, Crow!" from inside the swarm.

He found that odd; Shadows didn't normally call him by name. He turned his head quizzically to peer at the Pixie.

"Where's your boyfriend?" said another Pixie. The whole group started giggling and asking, "Where? Where? Where?"

"Shut up," Crow advised them, forgetting the strangeness of the situation.

"Look at all these girls," cried yet another Pixie. "We want Joker!"

"Joker! Joker! Joker!" the others echoed.

"You know what, let's start here," said Crow, teeth gritted. "Destroy them in any way you see fit."

As he expected, the Pixies were too weak to require any actual strategy. Spike and Banshee fired away and cleared them all out, testing each of their attacks.

"Well? Any thoughts?" said Crow when they were done.

"It seemed like my attacks weren't landing as well as Spike's," said Banshee.

"Correct. Pixies have resistance to electricity. At this level it doesn't make much difference, but it's something to watch out for. Later on you might encounter a Shadow that turns electricity into health, or even reflects it back on you."

"That's an important tip," said Banshee, pulling a notebook out of her pocket and jotting it down.

"Where did you get that, Sis?" Queen asked, astounded.

"I always carry a notebook."

"But your clothes…."

"Are full of pockets. Aren't yours?"

"No," said Queen defensively, patting her form-fitting catsuit. "I didn't know that was an option."

"I never thought it would be so satisfying to punch a fairy in the face," said Spike. "Should...should I feel bad about that?"

"No. It doesn't hurt anything to destroy Shadows, except in certain circumstances," said Crow.

"What exactly are Shadows?" asked Spike.

Crow hesitated a moment. "A Metaverse researcher once told me they're strong emotions that have developed into creatures. That's why they all have different personalities."

"What was that they were chanting at you?" asked Banshee.

Flustered, Crow said quickly, "Nothing. Now the etymology of the Pixie begins in the British Isles not unlike -"

"Who knew Shadows could be shippers?" marveled Panther.

"Must be the strong emotions," said Spike, and the two girls giggled.

"It. Was. Nothing. Sometimes Shadows talk shit to rattle you. Don't fall for it," said Crow firmly. "Anyway, now you know why we use code names down here."

They fought a few more battles before Banshee and Spike ran out of stamina. It had been so long since Crow had that problem he'd forgotten all about it. They agreed to head home and try again another day.

"They'll build up their stamina just like we did," said Panther, lingering behind as Spike and Banshee talked volleyball several steps ahead.

"You're right," said Crow pensively. "It does take time, though. The Phantom Thieves would be ideal for the task, but I can't involve them."

"Why not?" said Panther, tilting her head. "You've already got me and Joker. You could ask the rest of the gang to help out."

"You said that back on Shido's yacht, too. I wonder how your friends Oracle and Noir would feel about you volunteering them for a team led by me."

"We all worked together to fight Dr. Maruki," she pointed out. "If this – whatever is going on – threatens our world, they'll be there fighting. You can count on them if you need to."

Crow sighed. He knew she was right. Even though he had killed Oracle's mother and Noir's father, both girls had always been willing to work with him for the greater good. Their magnanimity irritated him, though. He would almost rather they tried to settle the score.

"Anyway," Panther continued, bridging the awkward silence, "you should know that I'm sticking with Shiho no matter what. You get her, you get me too."

Crow stopped and looked Panther over. Her face was set in determination, her stance unwavering. She was formidable in battle, and better yet, she could support Spike so he didn't have to.

"Agreed," he said. And as she nodded, he felt the now-familiar stirring of a bond being formed. The Magician floated into his mind.

"Since this is a different team, we should have a new name. How about Crow's Angels?" said Panther with a grin.

He scowled. "Can't you be serious for one minute?" How did Joker deal with this nonsense all the time?

"Aww, don't be grumpy. You're gonna get wrinkles," she said, waggling a finger at his forehead.

The Magician arcana had better be worth it, he thought, frowning harder.

"What about you, Queen?" asked Panther. "You in for another adventure?"

"Actually, I'm quite busy at the moment. I'm willing to pitch in, but...you've got Banshee now." With Queen's expression hidden under her mask, it was hard to tell what exactly she was getting at. The moment stretched out awkwardly until she grinned and added, "Good luck with that."

After saying goodbye to the girls at Mementos' entrance, Goro glanced over at the Velvet Room door. It had been a while since he'd last visited, not having made much progress on the "friendship is literally magic" project that Jose had given him. Though now he had a new bond, so a new arcana should be open to him.

In the Velvet Room, things were as he had left them, but Jose didn't seem to be there. Goro made a circuit of the room, just in case he was hiding or somehow out of earshot. He looked around for something he could use to write a note, but found nothing.

The Persona Compendium was lying around, so Goro picked it up and leafed through it. The Magician Personas were all still dark, just black shadows on dark charcoal backgrounds. He wasn't sure if he could summon them without Jose, but he thought he might as well try.

Choosing Surt — always one of his favorite mythological figures, as the wielder of Laevateinn and destroyer of the world during Ragnarok — Goro placed his hands on the page and closed his eyes. He summoned an image of the Persona in his mind and channeled his will through his fingers, just as he did when he was using his unique power. He thought he felt a bit of a spark and screwed his eyes shut, trying to focus on that feeling.

"Hello."

Goro's eyes flew open. It was Jose, standing on the other side of the book. He looked somehow scuffed, like an old shoe. No…not just scuffed up. Jose wasn't quite right. His ears were now boxy like his nose, and his eyes had lost some of their roundness. His hair, which previously had the texture and stiffness of a plastic helmet, seemed droopy, as if it had melted a little and then rehardened.

"Hi, Jose. I was wondering if I could summon a Persona by myself."

Jose's eyes moved to the book. He seemed less energetic than before. "No. That's my job. Do you want one now?"

"Yes, I'd like access to the Magician arcana. I made a new bond today."

Jose smiled and a golden glow rose up through the Magician pages, suffusing them with color. "Good. That's very good. Very, very good. Do as many as you can. I'll help, too."

"Help how?"

Jose didn't touch the book, but the pages started flipping back to the beginning. The Fool arcana was suddenly unlocked, as if it always has been. Goro blinked. He had just flipped through those pages, and he was sure they'd been dark just seconds ago.

"You unlocked this for me? I don't need to find this person?"

Jose nodded, looking tired but pleased with himself.

Goro ran a hand across one of the pages, not quite believing his own eyes. Suddenly he felt a burning in his fingers, like the book had caught fire. Startled, he jerked his hand away. The page was alight with an intense red aura.

He looked up at Jose for an explanation, but Jose didn't seem to have noticed the aura. He looked back down, and the page was back to normal.

"What the hell was that?" demanded Goro.

Jose just shrugged, but a nervous look flitted across his face. "Is that all you wanted?"

"I guess so –"

Without so much as a warning, Goro found himself back outside the Velvet Room. It was so abrupt that he stumbled and almost fell backward, although he knew he hadn't actually moved anywhere. So all that stuff with doors, choices, the sense of transitioning, that must all be for the benefit of the puny mortal mind experiencing it. Jose just dispensed with the show and tossed him out, as he must've been able to all along. Just how powerful is he? Goro wondered.

Now Goro was sure something was wrong with Jose. Still, he didn't want to bring nothing but his detective's intuition to Ren. He'd need some evidence. But how, exactly, could one prove that there was something wrong with a situation that made absolutely no sense to begin with?