Chapter 31: Stairway to the Stars

As Ren, Goro, and Jose were leaving the hospital, they ran into Sojiro Sakura going the same way.

"Hey, kid," he greeted Ren, sounding weary. "You busy? I was just going to the cafeteria to get a bite to eat."

Ren looked questioningly at Goro. Goro was really looking forward to spending the evening with Ren, but he felt pressured to shake his head and say that of course he didn't mind.

Ren went with Sojiro, and Goro was left with Jose.

"Huh. That was…" said Jose.

"Stupid?" said Goro, feeling irritated.

"I think the word is 'generous'?" said Jose. "You let Ren go with him even though you really wanted Ren to stay with you. Right?"

Hearing it described in such stark terms made Goro feel even worse, so he hung onto the word 'generous.' Growing up poor, that word got applied to the people who interacted with him sometimes, but it was something he never got to be. Maybe Jose was right, though. You could be generous in spirit. Even someone who had nothing else to give could do that much.

"Generous…sure, I'll take it. Speaking of which, is it okay for you to be outside the Velvet Room so much?"

"I think so. If you aren't there, why would I need to be there?" Jose said.

They walked in silence for a while, until they reached the hospital doors. The sun was sinking lower in the sky as they headed out onto the sidewalk.

"Do you have any other ideas about curing these people, Jose?" Goro asked as they walked.

Slowly, Jose said, "I don't think I have the right tools. There might be better tools, but I don't know what they are. Maybe…I could make them?"

On the next block was a little park. There were college students throwing a Frisbee, and a young mother on a bench blowing bubbles for a delighted toddler. Several kids walked by with helium balloons bobbing behind them. Jose watched all the toys and games intently.

The scent of takoyaki with some kind of savory sauce wafted over from a food cart. Goro said, "Mmm, I'm hungry. How about you?"

"I've never eaten anything. I don't think I get hungry, though."

"Never eaten anything? What about ice cream?"

"What's that?"

Goro grinned. "You're in for a treat, Jose."

A few minutes later, Goro watched with amusement as Jose noisily munched on an ice cream cone.

"You asked a while ago about why human thoughts don't become reality," said Goro, around bites of takoyaki. "Do you understand now?"

"Because — om — if they did, people wouldn't do anything — nom — but eat ice cream all day?" Jose asked.

"You saw what happened with that crowd in Kichijoji. People went nuts, even though they could see the wishes didn't last. Just the idea that they could get something for nothing turned them into animals."

"But Sae-san looked so sad tonight," said Jose, a little crease appearing between his eyes. "Wouldn't she be happier if you could have made her sister better?"

"Of course, and I'm still going to do everything in my power to make it happen. I'd be happier if I could see my mother again, too, but the price is too high. Loss is a part of our lives, Jose. Anyone who loves another person experiences it sooner or later. You can't respond by cutting yourself off or living in a dream world. You might as well die yourself at that point."

There were some small crunching sounds as Jose ate the last of his ice cream cone. The weight of what he'd just said settled onto Goro's shoulders.

As soon as he finished the last bites of his cone, Jose said, "Can I have another one?"

Goro didn't pause before answering, "You sure can, buddy."

Back at his apartment, Goro stretched out on the couch and put some jazz on the stereo. Jose hopped up on the couch next to him.

They listened to music for a while, Goro occasionally offering commentary. After a while, they heard the sound of a key in the front door.

"I'm back!" Ren announced. He and Morgana came into the living room. Morgana hopped up on a chair, while Ren took a seat next to Jose. There was a ping on Ren's phone, which he ignored.

"Fata Morgana, you've returned. Did you see my Master?" Jose asked.

"Huh? What did you call me?" said Morgana, sounding slightly offended.

"Fata Morgana. It's your full name," said Jose.

"Like the mirage! Of course," said Goro to himself, resisting the urge to smack himself on the forehead.

"Oh. I knew that," Morgana said quickly. "Just Morgana is fine, though. Anyway, yeah, I saw Igor. He's with Lavenza and some others I'm not allowed to name."

"There are more? Why aren't they helping us?" Goro demanded.

"The Keepers of Power aren't allowed to interfere directly. I don't know the details, but they're just facilitators for humans. They would be helping you prepare, but they have their hands full right now." Morgana sounded weary, like he'd had this argument before, more than once.

"Doing what? Myojo could turn Japan inside out, and then what? Do you think he'd stop there?" Goro pressed.

"Probably not," Morgana admitted. "But imagine that it wasn't just Myojo. Imagine it was him, Azathoth, Yaldabaoth, and all their armies all at the same time. Think of the damage that could do to reality itself."

"Should we be helping Igor, then?" Ren asked.

"Not unless you want to leave Tokyo to Myojo," Goro pointed out.

Ren growled in frustration.

Morgana said, "The situation isn't ideal. Goro-kun, Ren-kun, you each should have had an attendant to help guide you and develop your powers. Instead, I guess what you have…is each other."

"And me!" Jose put in.

Goro glanced over at Ren, mollified. Ren didn't have a proper attendant either, and he still made do. Goro had no intention of coming in second. Ren caught his look and, as if he were reading Goro's mind, grinned impishly.

Changing the subject, Ren said, "How was your day in the human world, Jose? Did you learn anything new?"

"I sure did. I can't believe the world is filled with so many things!" Jose exclaimed.

"There's a lot more to see in Tokyo than you can fit in a single day," said Goro. "This guy was here a whole year and barely saw anything."

Jose's eyes widened. "You mean there's more?"

Ren and Goro chuckled.

"Lots more. Not to mention everything in the rest of the world," Ren said. "You could…ride a reindeer in Norway. Dance the flamenco in Brazil. See an opera in Vienna."

Goro added, "Go on a safari in Kenya. See the Grand Canyon or the pyramids of Giza. There's so much more than we could ever do and see, even if we had the resources to try everything we wanted to. You're lucky, Jose. You aren't limited to a single lifetime."

"Oh, I couldn't do all that. I'm here to support my guest. That's my job."

"What if I want you to?" said Goro. "See the world for me, because I can't."

"Why can't you?" asked Jose.

Goro looked away. "I already traded in my life."

Ren frowned at him. "Not your whole life, just…a piece."

Jose looked from one to the other. "What do you mean, traded your life? I didn't know humans could do that."

"He means he'll go to prison. He'll lose his freedom, but not forever," said Ren.

"I took people's lives, Jose. It's only fair I lose mine, too. That's the price," said Goro.

Jose said nothing, but stared as blankly as a doll.

Ren looked concerned and raised a hand to shake Jose gently, but Goro stopped him. "Don't interrupt him. He's thinking."

"I think I understand," said Jose finally. "When a person loses their life, they lose all the experiences they might have had. That's why if a person takes a life, they lose part of theirs in return."

"It's not just the one person's experiences…it's all the things they would have done, all the things they would have shared with their family and friends. Every life that touched theirs, all missing a part," said Ren.

"But there's no way a regular human could pay for all that," said Jose.

"No. I owe more than I can repay, that's true. Some would say I should die, because that's the highest price I can pay," said Goro.

"But that would only create more debt. That can't be right," said Jose, furrowing his little brow.

"He has a way of cutting through the Gordian knot, doesn't he?" Goro observed, raising an eyebrow at Ren.

"Justice —" Ren began, but Goro didn't get to hear what he was going to say, because he was interrupted by another ping on the phone.

"Who's got all the news for you?" Goro said, trying not to sound jealous.

Ren rolled his eyes. "It's Mishima. Something about the game we've been playing." He took out his phone and skimmed the messages. "Hmm. He says there are so many Way of the Starlight cultists that it's hard to play, so he started a PvP guild to argue with them and harass them into leaving. They're called FANTOM: Fans Against Nefarious Tricks and Oppressive Misinformation."

"Mishima's a griefer now?"

"Not to everybody, just Myojo's followers. That brings up another thing we need to discuss with Hifumi — we should expect that Myojo will summon his followers. He's done it every time we've fought him so far."

"True. It's too bad Mishima's nerd platoon isn't a real army. If we had another group to counter Myojo's, we could focus on the real threat." Goro turned the idea around in his mind. "You know, that's not a bad idea. I wonder if we could…?"

"Even assuming we could figure out how to get normal people into the Metaverse, it would be dangerous for them. We'd have no way of ensuring their safety," said Ren.

"To play the devil's advocate, people are already putting themselves in harm's way for Myojo. Seems pretty stupid for us to ask our supporters to stay home."

"Is it stupid, or is it what separates us from the bad guys?" said Ren pointedly.

"I see your point," Goro admitted, pouting a little. Then he perked up. "Wait — what if we could get them to grief Myojo's followers ahead of time?"

"You mean, in the game?"

"Exactly. Maybe Mishima's gang can convince some of them to stay home."

Ren nodded slowly. "Let's get together with Maruki and craft a message. He knows a thing or two about persuasion."

"Sure, but I've got a lot of planning to do. Why don't you get Maruki and Mishima together to talk it over?"

"You mean…two of my confidants?" said Ren.

"Yeah. Didn't you get Dr. Takemi to take a look at Togo's dad?"

Ren blinked. "I never even thought of that."

"Mm-hmm," said Goro, enjoying Ren's bafflement. "Let's put that on the list of things to do if the world doesn't end."

"Oh!" Jose exclaimed suddenly. "I almost forgot — I wanted to tell you something important about your power."

"Great. I'll take whatever help I can get," said Goro.

"The silver threads that I used have a special property. Because they connect you to an arcana, you can use them to borrow that person's power. I think you could even use more than one at a time."

Morgana, who had been curled up into a little black furball, perked up his ears.

"'Borrow'?" said Goro skeptically. "What does that entail?"

"Taking it and then giving it back. Like Ren did with your shirt this morning."

Goro's eyes slid over to Ren, who was doing his best to look like he was shocked to find that the shirt he was wearing belonged to someone else.

"These are the threads that Myojo gave you, right?" Morgana asked, raising his head. "Can we really trust that they'll work how he says they work?"

"No, we can't," said Goro flatly. "They also give me access to the entire Persona Compendium. I'm already planning my roster to avoid relying on any bond I didn't form myself. I don't want my heaviest hitters disappearing or turning against me mid-battle."

"What if you fused a Persona from one of those arcana? Would that disappear too?" asked Ren.

"Fuse?" said Goro.

"I don't know how to do that," said Jose sadly. "I couldn't help out Goro the usual way, so that's why I did it this way. Even though it didn't really work out."

"It's still an extra ace up your sleeve," said Ren, with a devious grin.

"That ace is going to stay there," Goro told him.

But even as he said it, he thought of Jazz Jin, of the ruined town of Souzencho, of Makoto in her hospital bed. Maybe defeating Myojo would fix all that, but…what if it didn't?

Ren brewed some tea and he and Goro took it to the kitchenette, leaving Morgana and Jose on the couch watching TV.

"Have you heard anything from your parents?" Goro asked.

Ren shook his head sadly. "Not a thing. In fact, some of my other relatives have asked about them. I just said they took a spontaneous vacation, so don't call or come visit."

"And Sakura-san?" asked Goro. "I have to admit, I have a bit of a soft spot for him. I miss Le Blanc's atmosphere."

"He's had ups and downs with Futaba, but this is…a lot for him," said Ren.

"What do you mean 'ups and downs'?" Goro asked.

"Didn't you know? After her mother died, people came to Futaba's house and told her it was all her fault. She believed them and locked herself in her room until we got her out. Two whole years."

Goro busied himself sipping his tea and burned his tongue. "I didn't know," he said at last. "Why do that, I wonder?"

Ren shrugged. "Maybe to keep Wakaba's relatives from looking into her death?"

"Shido did say that he needed her silenced. She was planning to quit the project, but she knew what I could do…she knew all of it. She would have known who was responsible as soon as I started using the abilities I learned in her lab."

"As soon as Shido started using you," said Ren.

"I said what I said. Don't make excuses for me," Goro snapped.

"I wasn't trying to —" Ren began, exasperated. Making an effort to calm his voice, he continued, "I wish you would value yourself more, that's all."

"What, by playing the victim? Give me a break. Don't you know me better than that by now?"

Ren sighed and slumped back in his chair. "That's not what I meant." There was a long pause while Goro sipped his tea and Ren fidgeted with his teacup. Finally, Ren said, "What is it that you're fighting for here?"

"Why do all the Metaverse business and danger and all that? Because it's fun, I suppose. More fun than jail."

"You just said you weren't trying to dodge responsibility," Ren pointed out.

"Fine. Would it be too cheesy to say it's for you?"

Ren gave a half-laugh. "Yes. Hey, can I see your tarot deck?"

Intrigued by the request, Goro fetched the deck without argument and handed it over.

"You said before that I was Justice for you," Goro recalled. "Why was that?"

"Let's make a deal. A question for a question. I'll answer you as honestly as I can, and you do the same."

Goro smiled slyly. "Like Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter."

Ren raised his eyebrows, but still held out his hand. Goro shook it, sealing the deal.

Ren shuffled through the major arcana and turned Justice reversed towards himself, upright for Goro. "You're Justice because when I first met you, you were against the Phantom Thieves. I wanted to talk to you and see if I could convince you otherwise. The truth is…I was kind of hoping you could talk me out of it. Give me an out so I could go back to my normal life, even though that sucked."

Goro couldn't help himself. His eyes widened and he sat back in his chair. "Really. That's surprising. I never thought you had any doubts."

"The more we talked, the more convinced I became that I was right," said Ren, turning the card around so that it was upright to him. "What card am I, for you?"

Goro took the deck from him and found Lovers, which he placed upright in front of himself. "Lovers. The meaning is obvious, although I never even approached another guy before you, since we're being honest. Who was your Lovers?"

"Ann. I dated her, but more than that…when she said I saved her life, that was the same day I decided that I couldn't live with how things were. Lovers represents a crossroads, where choosing one option means you leave behind the other. I had to fight, no matter what it cost me."

"Are you saying I'm giving something up to be with you?" said Goro, not really following.

"That's two questions, cheater," said Ren with a smile. Then his face grew serious as he said, "I don't need an answer right now, but give it some thought. Do you think I'm the kind of person who would fall in love with a remorseless killer whose only joy comes from spreading misery?"

"Hmph. I thought you knew what you were getting into," said Goro coldly. But he was still thinking about the question long after his tea went cold and Ren went to bed.

The next day, all the Damn Brats gathered at St. Luke's to share what they'd learned. Maruki was already there, writing in a notebook. Shido was looking rumpled and helping himself to some coffee. Goro wondered where Shido had been holed up. Maybe he was sleeping on a couch in the hospital, sneaking around and eating out of vending machines when nobody was looking, like a rat.

"Those wishing spots are a huge problem," Takamaki announced when they had all arrived. "We saw a girl wish she was prettier and her friends were uglier…then they caught on and started counter-wishing her wishes. You can probably guess how that turned out."

"If it didn't end with three bridge trolls in a deathmatch to decide which one is prettiest, I'm disappointed," said Goro.

Suzui said, "That's almost exactly what happened. Eventually a few guys got together to drag them away from the wishing spot. Once they were outside it, they all went back to normal. Their friendships will probably never recover, though," she added sadly.

"You never know. Friendships can withstand some pretty dumb stuff," said Ren, twirling his hair around a finger.

"There's a wishing spot near Kanda," said Togo. "I saw a number of people in matching clothes surrounding it, keeping everyone else out. They called themselves the Way of the Starlight."

"Way of the Starlight?" said Ren. "You mean the online group?"

"I assure you, they aren't only online," said Togo. "They were there to give a demonstration of Myojo's powers. One of them blew some bubbles into the wishing spot, and each bubble turned into something different, according to the different wishes of the people in the group. Then they all agreed not to wish for anything. They said they were sacrificing their wishes to Myojo. They did the bubbles again, and all the bubbles vanished. Then one of the people stepped into the center, and…" she trailed off, looking disturbed.

"And?" Goro asked.

"They said he was supposed to sacrifice his self to Myojo. At first I thought I misheard, but they went on: his desires, his decisions, his identity…he was supposed to give them all to Myojo. Then his face disappeared. All his features were just…gone. I don't know how else to describe it. I — I'm sorry, I couldn't watch after that."

"I don't blame you at all," said Suzui. "I have goosebumps just hearing that story!" She held up an arm to show them.

"No features?" said Ren, looking at Sae and Maruki. "Like the Mental Shutdown patients?"

"What did this faceless guy do then, Togo?" Goro asked.

"He just stood there, like a robot waiting for orders," she said. "He didn't collapse, not like the people in the ward here."

"Excellent observations, Hifumi," said Maruki, scribbling in his notebook. "It does seem like the phenomenon you described might be related, but it's hard to say how right now. I'll go take a look myself later on."

"Oh!" Togo fished around in her pocket and took out a little vial of bubble soap. "They were handing these out so everyone could try it." She tossed it onto the table and shuddered.

"An empty vessel for Myojo," Goro said thoughtfully, adding that to his mental file on Myojo's abilities. He picked up the vial of bubble soap and turned it over in his hand. It looked perfectly ordinary to him. He put it in his pocket absently. Maybe it would come in handy.

"Maybe that's where he gets all his soldiers," Ren suggested. "When I fought the tank, there were more soldiers no matter how many I destroyed."

"We saw the same thing at Dome Town and Kanda," Goro said. "I think you've solved that mystery for us, Togo. The foot soldiers are people who have chosen to give up on making their own decisions, at least temporarily. Joining a mob, joining a cult…they both have that in common."

"You said killing a person's Shadow would cause a mental shutdown, though," said Togo. "What about all the Shadows we've been destroying?"

"It may depend on how deeply the Shadow is tied to a person's sense of self," said Maruki. "For most of these people, it's probably not that deep. In that case, it'd be more like destroying the Shadows that wander around Mementos. They aren't attached to a particular person, so nobody is harmed."

"Some still would be. The ones who are most invested," said Goro. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "We can't possibly avoid fighting them all; there are too many. We'll have to count on being able to restore them later."

"In any case, it sounds like we need to shut these wishing spots down," said Takamaki. "But where do we even start?"

Goro shook his head. "The wishing spots are basically places where the Metaverse has taken over the real world. Just like in Dome Town, Kanda, Souzencho, the press conference. It's the same root cause of all the problems we've seen thus far. If you look at it that way, everything points in the same direction — Myojo."

Ren said, "If we can take him out, then we have a good chance of putting the Metaverse back where it belongs. That might also cure the Mental Shutdown patients."

"That seems like the best lead we have right now. Besides, even if we could treat MSS, Myojo will just continue to create new victims until he's stopped," said Maruki.

"Exactly, so let's get into it," Goro said. "Part one: Ren, what's the situation with the missile launcher?"

"My contact says it'll take about a week to come in," said Ren.

"Missile launcher?" Takamaki repeated, eyes wide. "Do you think we'll need that to beat Myojo?"

Ren said, "Actually, we need it for the tank." He slid his eyes over to Shido. "Are you aware there are a number of conspiracy theories about what you've been up to?"

Shido threw his hands up. "Can't get away from it. It'll settle down once I turn myself in and set the record straight."

"And when will that be?" Sae asked.

"When the time is right," said Shido.

Before Sae could retort, Ren said quickly, "The point is, one of these rumors has it that you're riding around on a tank blowing up your enemies. Like at the press conference."

Shido looked incredulous. "Really? That thing on the tank was supposed to be me?"

"It's called a Cognition. It's how your followers see you," Goro explained. Then added with a smirk, "Well, maybe not your followers anymore."

"Sure, they have a better one now. One that will say anything they want to hear," said Shido bitterly. "But wait. I thought you said Myojo was behind all this. Why try to attack a tank, if it'll just disappear when you defeat Myojo?"

"Who said it'll disappear with Myojo?" said Ren, causing Shido's entire forehead to wrinkle in dismay.

"We need to bring a little bit of order to chaos," said Goro, suppressing a smile. "So far, Myojo has shown up wherever and whenever he wants, catching us off-balance and out of our element. We want to direct him somewhere that we control."

"How does attacking the tank do that?" said Shido.

"Myojo said the tank was 'bringing his message to the masses,'" said Goro. "If we attack the tank, I think that will get his attention."

"Then you'll have two problems!" Shido protested.

"Not if we start by blowing one of them up," Ren said. "So what's the plan, Hifumi?"

Togo said, "I've got some ideas, but we need to do some reconnaissance. You can't just walk up to a tank and blast it with a missile."

"Question!" said Takamaki. "Can you walk up to it and throw a grenade into the barrel?"

"Sounds like a great way to get barbecued," said Goro. "What flavor do you want your marinade?"

Takamaki stuck out her tongue at him, but Togo answered patiently.

"You're not the first to think of it, Ann. A hand grenade isn't powerful enough to pierce a tank's armor, but getting a grenade into a weak spot has been attempted many times with soldiers and even trained dogs. The main problem is that it's too hard to get close enough. Besides which, modern tanks cover all the access points just in case some lunatic actually makes it."

"We've only seen the tank briefly. We don't know exactly what kind it is, or even if it is a model that exists in the real world," said Ren. "All things considered, it's too risky to attack it head-on."

"Our best bet is to lure the tank into advantageous terrain, where our artillery is already set up and waiting," Togo said.

"What about Myojo? Are you going to blow him up with a missile, too?" Shido asked.

"The beauty of this plan is that we can catch both of them with one big trap. I'm going to work out the Myojo part with Jose, our resident Keeper of Power," said Goro.

Jose waved cheerfully to everyone at the table. The color drained out of Shido's face.

"Don't worry about Jose. He can hold his own," said Goro pleasantly. "As for you, Shido-san, you also have a key part in this plan."

"Oh? And what's that?" Shido sat up straighter and tried to smooth out his wrinkled suit.

"You're going to be the lure."

"What?"

The small amount of dignity he had mustered flew out the window. Goro covered his mouth and tried to make a laugh sound like a cough.

"It's the surest way to attract the tank, and therefore Myojo," Goro explained. "If the tank Cognition sees you as a rival or an impostor, it will come after you. Your personal risk should be minimal, though. We'll intercept the tank long before it can get to you."

"B-but…I'm just a civilian! Normal! How do you expect me to stand up to a ghost tank?"

"Not a ghost. Completely solid," Togo murmured.

"If you have a better idea, we'll certainly consider it," said Goro, the picture of reasonableness. "Or you could go back to prison. At this point, it's probably safer there."

Shido pressed himself against his chair as if he wanted to slide through it and run away, never to be heard from again. But he couldn't argue without looking like a complete coward, so he stayed silent.

Goro enjoyed that for a moment before continuing. "Okay, then. The date will be the last Sunday in August. That gives us a little more than a month to plan and practice."

"Ooh, this sounds like good old-fashioned teamwork to me," said Suzui, rubbing her hands together.

Togo nodded. "Absolutely. We all need to pitch in or we'll have no chance. Including you, Shido-san," she added sternly.

Shido's eyes darted around like he was searching for some other Shido-san that she might be addressing, but he didn't say anything else.

Maruki looked over at Sae, who had been silent, with concern. "But if everyone isn't up to it —" he began.

Sae stared at him blankly, as if she'd just noticed he was there. Slowly, she said, "We're going to get a missile launcher, set it up, and use it to blow up a fake Masayoshi Shido on a tank. That's going to bait some sort of god so we can also blow him up. Details TBD. That's the plan. That's what we've got."

Her lips curled up into a sneer, and she said in a low growl, "I can't wait."