Shortly after the revelation regarding the existence of Rintaro Okabe's Palace, yet another vital piece of information was discovered by mere circumstance. Namely, the location keyword: Akihabara. With this, only one final keyword stood between the Phantom Thieves and entry to Rintaro Okabe's Palace. Naturally, several people immediately began talking about what to do next. However, Akechi reasonably suggested that given the late hour, discussions should wait until tomorrow. Many were reluctant to wait, but ultimately they agreed. Concluding their business at the Yanabayashi Shrine and bidding farewell to Mayuri and Luka, everyone headed home to prepare for tomorrow's meeting.

Once everyone had arrived in Akihabara the next day after school, the process of deducing Okabe's final keyword began. With the background information they had acquired from Mayuri, many suggestions were made including things such as "laboratory", "university" or "evil lair", but to no avail. Hours passed, and yet their brainstorming session had unfortunately yielded no results. As the sun began to set, it was clear a new approach was necessary.

"Maybe we need to meet with him in person after all. That could give us a better idea, no?" The one to make this suggestion was Haru [Codename: Noir]. "Makoto, you said that you exchanged numbers with Shiina, right?"

"That's true... Alright, I'll see if I can set up a meeting. Although, based on her description, I highly doubt that we'll be able to get anything from him directly." Makoto replied. Just as she was beginning to type out a message on her phone-

"THE HELL!? It's gone!" Ryuji exclaimed, causing everyone present to recoil.

"Don't yell like that, Ryuji!" Ann responded with a frustrated look. "What are you even talking about? What's gone?"

"The Palace! It's not showing up anymore!"

His next words took the rest of the Phantom Thieves by surprise, prompting everyone to check their own phones to see for themselves. Just as he had said, the previously confirmed Palace no longer appeared within the MetaNav app, and entering the name "Rintaro Okabe" no longer produced a result.

"Th-That's never happened before... What's going on here?" Futaba asked. The answer was silence, as it seemed that everyone was equally stumped. In their experience, a Palace would only disappear once the core of it's ruler's distorted desires, or "Treasure", is removed. However, the Phantom Thieves were the only one's capable of performing such feats.

"Could it be that... someone else entered the Palace and took the Treasure?" Haru hesitantly suggested.

"Someone else? Are you suggesting an unknown Metaverse user?" Akechi clarified, seemingly quite unnerved by the prospect of a rogue agent capable of using the Metaverse.

"Oh, um, that was just the first thing I thought of..."

"Hold on, let's not jump to any conclusions yet." Morgana interjected. "This is definitely weird, but honestly, it's been weird from the start if you ask me. First this Okabe guy's cognition apparently changes in the blink of an eye according to the client, then his Palace vanishes just as quickly? This whole thing's just a mess from top to bottom... I think we need some expert advice." he concluded, looking up at Ren who returned an understanding nod.

"In any case, there doesn't seem to be anything more we can do today. We should head home and get some rest. We can reconvene tomorrow, hopefully with a better understanding of the situation." Akechi said. Naturally unsatisfied by the way the day's meeting had concluded, everyone reluctantly agreed and went their separate ways.

Before heading home, Ren made a slight detour. Standing before a deep blue door, seemingly attached to nothing, he reached out and touched the handle. Feeling a familiar pulling sensation, Ren's surroundings quickly changed to that of a large blue room consisting of several containment cells with a wooden desk at it's center. This "Velvet Room" was home to the expert Morgana had mentioned, the ones who were responsible for giving Ren and his allies the Metaverse Navigator app.

"Welcome back, Trickster." A calm and cheerful voice greeted Ren as he entered the Velvet Room. "I take it you aren't here for Persona fusion, correct?" The girl before him with striking yellow eyes and long white hair was Lavenza, the Velvet Room attendant. She, as well as the long nosed master of the Velvet Room, Igor, were absolutely vital to the Phantom Thieves operation.

"Right, I actually had a question about the app." Ren said, proceeding to explain the entire situation in detail to both of them.

"I see... I'm afraid I don't have the answers you were hoping for." She explained. "All I can tell you is that an individual's cognitive world, or "Palace" as you call them, is unique to their perception. If this one has disappeared, it can only be a result of some change within the mind of the individual themselves. As for the nature of that change, I simply cannot say."

"...Understood. Thanks anyway, Lavenza." Ren was disappointed there wasn't a more useful answer, but he still made certain to express his gratitude before leaving.

"Of course, my Trickster. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors." She bid Ren farewell with a kind smile.

Upon returning to the real world, Morgana wasted no time in asking how it went and was just as disappointed upon learning. "So, even Miss Lavenza can't tell us what's going on... This is definitely a problem."

Ren began to make his way back to Yongen-Jaya, but as he did, he couldn't help but feel an incredibly unsettling gaze upon him. The sensation gave him chills, it felt almost like a viper preparing to strike...

Having gone their separate ways, Akechi considered getting some rest as he had suggested to the others, but ultimately chose not to. Lately, he had been plagued by terrible nightmares that had made going to sleep a less than appealing prospect. Instead, he decided try and make progress with his other investigation while Ren and Morgana were inquiring about Okabe's disappearing Palace. He opened his phone and messaged Futaba, who had been helping him look into it during their free time.

Akechi: "Any updates on Titor?"

Futaba: "Still no, unfortunately... Any info on this guy's identity is basically nonexistent, it's seriously crazy!

Akechi: "I see... I'm still looking on my end, I'll let you know if I come across any leads."

Futaba: "Hey, I wanna find this guy as much as anyone else, but I gotta ask... Why do you? I mean, most of the other hackers I know gave up on Titor a while ago. It's basically a dead meme at this point."

Akechi wasn't sure how to answer the question. If he were to say it was curiosity, that wouldn't technically be untrue, however the spark of that curiosity also happened to be located within in his phone.

Akechi: "It's... difficult to explain, I can show you tomorrow."

Futaba: "Fiiiine. I guess I'll keep asking around for more info. I'm pretty sure DaSH was still looking into the Titor thing, so I guess I'll start there."

With that, Akechi scrolled down his received messages list until he came across it and sighed. Pressing "open", he read through the enigmatic messages once more.

"Three days F"

"ind Titor Ma"

"ke contact"

While he had initially disregarded these messages as some kind of spam, it wasn't long before he succumbed to his curiosity and felt compelled to look into them. Given the fact that they shared the same untraceable sender and were received all at precisely the same time, it seemed obvious these messages were intended to be read together. When done so, the meaning appeared to be quite clear. "Find and make contact with Titor within three days."

"Titor" likely referred to John Titor, a self proclaimed time traveler from the year 2036 who had been posting his story to an online message board, becoming something of a curiosity across the internet. As for why it was formatted in in such a bizarre way, that still eluded Akechi. Fortunately, Futaba was more than happy when asked to help discover the identity of the mysterious John Titor. However, even with her online connections, she was seemingly no closer to Titor's identity than he was.

"Ha, some "Detective Prince" I am..." Akechi muttered self deprecatingly. It had been nearly three days since he had received the messages. Given the timeframe specified, he figured it would likely be too late to find him once that time had expired. With night now completely fallen, Akechi wracked his brain in an attempt to prompt one final breakthrough.

"Hmm, perhaps..." Just then, something occurred to him. This whole time, he had been approaching things as if he were searching for any other anon, using the same investigation techniques anyone in his line of work would. But what if he were to take Titor at face value, as a time traveler? Reasoning from an assumed conclusion, especially one as preposterous as this, went against everything he knew as a detective. Akechi, however, wasn't just a detective. He was also a Phantom Thief, and preposterous was par for the course in that line of work. With that in mind, he decided to go all in on this new line of reasoning, scouring the web for anything potentially consistent with the appearance of a time traveler, no matter how cliché. Anything from reports of suspicious persons asking what year it is, to people or things materializing out of nowhere.

"Out of nowhere... Could it be that!?" With a bolt of inspiration, Akechi quickly pulled up a news report regarding the Radi-Kan satellite, and checked the date of appearance.

"Just days before Titor's first post... Unbelievable..." With a sigh of what felt like a combination of exhaustion and relief, Akechi pulled out his phone and sent Futaba a message.

Akechi: "I think Titor may be related to the satellite in Akihabara! I'm going to check it out now!"

He waited a moment, but his message was met with no response. "That's strange, did she fall asleep?" Knowing Futaba, it was certainly possible, but he had hoped to get her thoughts on his hypothesis. Somewhat disappointed but still excited by this potential discovery, he quickly made his way to the door. Before he could reach to unlock it, however, the knob began to turn.

Someone was trying to get inside.

Startled, Akechi's instincts kicked in, and he quickly began looking around for another means of escape, then made his way to the bathroom window as quietly as he could. Just as he climbed outside and closed the window behind him, he heard a loud crash. Whoever was trying to get inside had knocked down the front door. Trying his best to stay calm and silent, Akechi heard a deep, masculine voice from inside the building.

"This is C7, target isn't here. Continuing surveillance." He felt a chill run down his spine. Did that man just say "target"? It was at that moment that the strange message flashed in his mind once more.

"Three days".

This whole time, he had considered the time limit as some kind of challenge, but could it have actually been a warning? Trying his best not to panic, he considered his next course of action. If this truly was related to that mysterious message, then perhaps it would be best to see this search for Titor through to the end. Without a second thought, Akechi was already moving as quickly as he could toward the station, trying his best to remain undetected by any other potential pursuers.

Now standing before his destination, he looked up to see the large metallic object still embedded within the building's roof. Pushing aside any remaining hesitation, Akechi snuck past the barricades, as trespassing was hardly his biggest concern at the moment. Managing to find an unshuttered entrance, he stepped inside. Naturally, his surroundings were completely dark, and the air was stale and stagnant. Nonetheless, he was able to find the stairs and began his ascension to the 8th floor. With his destination now directly ahead, he took a deep breath and opened the door.

As he stepped into the completely destroyed room, the rubble at his feet illuminated by the moonlight shining through the collapsed wall opposite him, his eyes were drawn to the source of the destruction, the satellite itself. At it's base, he could make out a clear silhouette. Trying his best to maintain his composure, he spoke.

"Are you John Titor?"

No response. He warily stepped forward, slowly closing the distance between himself and the mysterious figure. As he approached, he saw the person next to the device was a young girl wearing an athletic jersey and bike shorts, her hair tied a pair of braids. She simply sat and stared at the floor in some kind of stupor. Now directly in front of her, Akechi repeated his question.

"Tell me, are you John Titor?! Did you send me this message?" He held his phone out to the girl's face, displaying the instructions to locate Titor.

"Huh...? This is... a D-Mail?" While this did seem to catch her attention, it was only for a moment before her eyes glazed over once more. "...It doesn't matter. It's too late. I failed..." She muttered.

Akechi found himself growing somewhat frustrated by the distinct lack of answers. Taking another deep breath, he tried to level with her. "Listen, I'm being targeted by someone. I don't know why, but I think it may be related to that message. You clearly know something, please tell me!"

"...Rounders." The girl spoke in a subdued tone, still not moving from her position. "You called me Titor, didn't you? Then I assume you've seen what I posted."

"That's right. I'll admit I was initially looking for you out of curiosity, but it's clear to me now that there's something far bigger at play. Tell me, what are these "Rounders"?"

With a heavy and resigned sigh, the girl acquiesced to Akechi's desperate request for information. "Agents of SERN. With Rintaro Okabe incapacitated, they've started to make their move." Akechi's mind began to race upon hearing that familiar name. Could this just be a coincidence? He found the very idea to be absurd.

"...What happened to Rintaro Okabe?" There were a myriad questions he wanted to ask, but in the end that was the one that escaped him.

"His mind collapsed. After Mayuri Shiina was killed, I'm guessing he became dependent on their lab's so called "Time Leap Machine"." Titor explained, her tone flat and devoid of emotion.

"Wait, Mayuri Shiina is dead?" That certainly wasn't something he was expecting to hear. Makoto and the others had just spoken to her the day prior, after all. "And what do you mean "Time Leap"!?"

"Rintaro Okabe and his allies have developed a device capable of sending a person's memories up to 48 hours into the past. He probably tried, and failed, to use it to save Mayuri Shiina. It seems likely that her death is a point of convergence within this attractor field. However, the human brain can only hold so much information. If one were to use the machine continuously... the mind will eventually break."

"I... see. If these "leaps" only occur from the perspective of the leaper, any effects from cumulative use would appear from the outside to happen at once as the result of only one." Akechi reasoned.

While skeptical at first, he was beginning to see how the larger picture connected, particularly regarding Okabe's sudden change in cognition. If he were in fact repeatedly sending his memories to the past, any cumulative experience throughout that looped period of time would naturally change his cognition, and it would certainly appear to happen instantaneously from an outside perspective. As for the equally sudden disappearance of his Palace, this too would be explained by the mental collapse Titor had mentioned. As surprising as it seemed, her explanation so far was completely consistent with the facts as Akechi understood them.

"Right. My mission was to enlist the help of the one man who could escape the convergence of SERN's rule and reach a future free of their dystopia." Akechi heard a tiny spark of passion in her voice as she spoke these words, however it vanished as quickly as it appeared. "But... I failed. I couldn't reach him, and now it's all over..."

Initially worried that Titor might end up being a dead end, an entirely new worry began to form in Akechi's mind... What if what she was saying was true? Pushing that fear aside, he turned his attention to the most pressing issue at hand. "You said these Rounders are agents of SERN, right? Why would they be after me?"

"Rintaro Okabe's fall was the trigger. Now that their operation has begun, the Rounders will find anyone SERN has deemed a possible threat to their rule and either eliminate them or... use them."

It was then that a grim realization dawned upon Akechi. What if he wasn't the only one being pursued? He hadn't checked his phone since heading to Akihabara, so he quickly opened his messaging app to find the Phantom Thieves group chat flooded with panicked messages. Apparently the Sakura residence had been ransacked, and Futaba herself had gone missing. Ren and Morgana were also unable to be contacted it seemed. His blood ran cold, his mind racing for solutions.

"Wait. You said you failed to convince Okabe to help you, but couldn't you use this "Time Leap Machine" to try again?"

"Theoretically, I could. The program it runs is basically a predecessor to the machine I came here in, after all. Difference is, that machine works by sending memory data to the past in the form of a phone call. Your past self needs to answer the call to complete the process." With that, Titor gave a dry, bitter chuckle and continued. "I lost my phone a little over two days ago, just outside the maximum range... Heh, it's like a bad joke, right? Like the world itself is mocking me. Hell, even if I could, I don't know what I could do differently. It was like trying to reason with a dead man..."

Silence hung in the air for a moment, as Akechi thought back on everything he knew. Rintaro Okabe did, in fact, have a Palace. Could that be why he was unable to be reasoned with? If that was the case...

With a single possibility at the forefront of his mind, Akechi made a decision. "What if I go?"

For the first time, Titor lifted her head and looked him in the eyes. "...What?"

"What if I were to use the Time Leap Machine?" Akechi repeated himself with clarity.

"But, why would you...?"

"The truth is, I think my friends and I may be able to help you break through to Okabe. But if what you've told me is true, I believe they're also be targets for these Rounders. In fact, they may already be..." Unable to bring himself to finish that sentence, he continued. "In any case, I can't just leave things as they are. I won't."

Looking directly into her eyes, he reached out his hand to her. "Will you help me?"

Titor's eyes, which had been dull and lifeless just a moment ago, began to fill with tears.

"I..." Wiping her eyes with the back of her sleeve, she took Akechi's outstretched hand. "Okay."

Now back on her feet and with a new determination burning in her eyes, she and Akechi made their way toward the stairs.

"Ah, Titor? Where-"

"Suzuha." She interjected, cutting Akechi's inquiry short.

"Pardon?"

"My name." She said, looking back with a small hint of a smile on her otherwise exhausted face. "It's Suzuha Amane."

Making their way through the city, Suzuha stopped suddenly stopped, looking at a building near the end of the street.

"That's it. Going through the front door is too risky right now, but we should be able to sneak through the window in the back from the other building." She said. Akechi nodded, and they headed around to the back.

Following her lead, they arrived at the second floor of the Ohiyama Building, or as she had called it, the "Future Gadget Laboratory". Looking around, Akechi noticed the room was a mess. Scattered items and broken glass were strewn about the floor. Suzuha had immediately headed to the curtained off area in the back of the room, but she still seemed to notice his observation.

"It looks like their first priority was taking Kurisu Makise, rather than the Time Leap Machine. That's lucky for us." Her words were cold, and she spoke them without looking up from the computer connected to the strange, microwave-looking device. "They'll be back for it soon though, so we need to hurry."

"There!" Suzuha hit one final key and turned to Akechi. "The coordinates are set."

On their way to the lab, they had discussed what point in time Akechi should arrive at. Given that the Rounders were likely to notice the activation of the device, they couldn't afford a second chance. Akechi suggested a 42-hour leap, placing him at the morning of that day. Any earlier than that would run the risk of him sleeping through the call. Given the type of person he was, this was quite unlikely, but it was still a risk he wasn't willing to take.

"Here." She put a large headset over Akechi's ears and turned to the front door. "Everything's ready, all you need to do now is power on the machine and hit the "Enter" key on my signal, okay?"

"Wait, where are you going?"

"There's one last thing I need to do before it will work, but it's definitely going to draw attention... Don't wait for me. When you hear my signal, GO." Suzuha didn't wait for a response. She quickly made her way out the lab's front door, leaving Akechi in silence. A moment later-

*BANG*

It sounded like a gunshot, followed by the raising of a shutter. Did she just break into the shop downstairs?

"Now!" Just as he was wondering that, he heard her muffled voice shout from below, and quickly powered on the machine.

"Ah!" The room began to shake violently, as arcs of bright blue electricity flew from the device. Akechi reached for the "Enter" key when-

*BANG* *BANG*

More gunfire. Was that also Suzuha, or was it...? Worried, Akechi reached for the gear on his head to go and check, when the door burst open.

"There's no time! GO!" Suzuha shouted from the doorway, blood running down her arm as she fired her own weapon back at her assailants.

Stunned by the sudden escalation of things, Akechi responded to the wounded Suzuha. "Y-you're hurt! I can't just-" He began to protest, but she quickly cut him off.

"You said you couldn't leave things like this, didn't you!? Was that a lie, Goro Akechi!?" Her voice was a mix of rage and desperation as she yelled. "You can stop this! You can sav- Ah!" Suzuha was knocked against the wall, seemingly shot in the chest. She wordlessly turned her head to meet Akechi's fearful gaze. Not a trace of the resignation that was in her eyes when they had first met remained, and in it's place was a powerful determination that shook him to his core.

Clenching his teeth and fighting every instinct within him, Akechi turned to the keyboard once more. Mustering his own resolve to meet Suzuha's expectations, as well as his own, he brought his hand down and struck the "Enter" key.

"Ah! Aahhh! Aaagghhhh!" Akechi screamed as a terrible pain spiked through his head, his vision becoming completely engulfed by a blinding white light.