Persona 5: Daywatch

Friday, 10 June 2016
Afternoon
Television Studio

The crew rushed about as everybody brought things to their proper place for the recorded show. Lights blazed down on the glittering set, leaving the audience in comparative darkness. One of the men with a clipboard checked his watch, then made a swinging motion at the cameramen with his free arm and counted down from seven seconds.

A busty woman with a matching navy blue skirt and coat smiled into the camera when the countdown ended. "After two calling card incidents and a huge police sweep through Shibuya, we're proud to bring you Senior Political Analyst Hashimoto-sensei, who taught Psychology at Hitotsubashi University for eleven years and consulted on more than thirty criminal profiling cases."

A wrinkled man with snow-white hair and a wiry moustache gave a brief bow in his seat. "Please, I'm not a teacher anymore. It's my honor to provide my psychology expertise to police investigations."

The cute announcer smiled. "And our returning young guest is Akechi-kun, a high school senior and consultant for the police. He's famous – or maybe infamous – for disputing the cause of quite a few mental breakdowns, and claiming links between mental disturbance cases and Apathy Syndrome." She paused to look straight into the main camera with a smirk. "Let me tell you, girls, the junior detective's even easier on the eyes in person than in photos. It's not just his work with investigations all over Honshu that's made him stunningly popular."

Akechi Goro brushed his hair away from his brow, catching the light just enough to leave a glint. "Oh, how embarrassing. I'd much rather be remembered for my investigation linking the train conductor breakdown in April and an almost identical mental shutdown in Chief Financial Officer Nakamura of Duckburger. And I would like to point out that Apathy Syndrome, despite its regression ten years ago, has been documented prior to the more infamous outbreak in 2001."

"Talk of the Phantom Thief"," the announcer interrupted, "has taken the internet by storm. The yakuza boss Kaneshiro turned himself in shortly after calling cards were left by the Phantom Thief."

Akechi nodded, his posture relaxing but something about his gaze into the camera sharpening. "Indeed, a very theatrical move indicative of a need for public attention. I have to wonder why they would resort to such grandstanding if they really are capable of stealing 'distorted desires' as the calling cards claimed."

The professor crossed his arms, his dark, striped business suit creasing. "When a yakuza boss is dethroned, he is most often pushed past the point of no return by a rival yakuza clan. It isn't even unexpected for neighboring yakuza to keep quiet about their involvement in it as they move in to seize territory for themselves."

The announcer straightened her coat. "So you're saying that Kaneshiro turning himself in was motivated by encroaching rivals instead of the mysterious Phantom Thief?"

Hashimoto scoffed. "Ma'am, I am a rationalist. The notion of being able to steal a heart is simply absurd."

Akechi let a faint frown slip through his cheery façade for just a moment. "It is unusual, but is it not the same claim made in the calling cards targeting Kamoshida Suguru in April?"

Hashimoto kept his eyes on the center camera instead of turning his head to Akechi. "Perhaps, but if some locals spied Kamoshida and learned of his recurring abuse and sexual misconduct, they could have simply been lucky about posting those cards before he broke down."

Akechi pursed his lips, gears whirling behind his eyes. "I cannot falsify such a hypothesis with the limited evidence we have, but neither should we dismiss the possibility out of hand. It is a mistake to theorize before you have data. That fosters the temptation to twist facts to fit theories instead of theories to facts."

The announcer beamed a bright, fake smile into the cameras. "There's been a lot of debate online about whether the Phantom Thief is real. And who he is." She shot a sly look at the center camera. "Or if it's a mysterious she."

Several males in the audience hooted.

Ann leaned back in her chair, a smile on her face as she clasped her hands over her knee.

The announcer turned back to the show guests. "The Phantom Thief caught quite the imagination of the internet even if the mainstream populace has yet to come to any conclusions."

Akechi's eyes narrowed and he looked into the camera. "Many of his supporters claim he is a hero of justice. I would like to believe that, but the Phantom Thief is engaging in vigilantism where he acts as judge and jury without oversight. The fact that he has not overtly killed anybody yet is possibly the only reason the police have not mobilized a manhunt."

Hashimoto gave one sharp nod. "Quite. We have a criminal justice system for a reason. It is not just to punish offenders, but also to have people accountable. Even the police and judges are subject to review. But a criminal skulking about in the dark?"

The announcer settled on the professor. "Some people, especially the victims of Kamoshida, claim the Phantom Thief helps the confessors abandon their evil ways."

Hashimoto's dark eyes narrowed. "The human mind is not a switch to be toggled, it is like a city. Complex and ever changing, but built on a firm foundation. The only means of changing a person's behavior over such a short period of time is some very brutal form of coercion."

Ryuji, sitting next to Akira, let a low growl rumble out of his throat. "Those shit-heads don't know nothin'."

Akira snapped a Shh! at him.

The announcer gave a fake smile. "So tell me, if you met the Phantom Thief, what would you do?"

Hashimoto sniffed. "You can't meet something that doesn't exist. You might as well ask what I would do if I met Santa Claus."

Akechi steepled his fingers together on his lap. "Based on the similarity of the calling cards and the change of hearts of the two known cases, it does seem more likely to me that there is a Phantom Thief. However, especially with my current contract with the police, I would have to arrest him for trial in a court of law. He would face far less consequence than Kaneshiro, but justice is over everyone or it is over no one."

The crowd stirred, but before the murmurs could grow to shouting a 'quiet' sign beside the camera lit up.

The professor gave a brief, subtle nod. "Quite, quite. If somebody is coercing those people. It's retribution, not justice."

"Still a smaller measure than any one of the hundreds of crimes Kaneshiro has committed." Akechi's eyes narrowed, his face animating for the first time as he said, "However, both the freedom to choose their own actions as well as the responsibility to own up to the consequences rest on every member of a healthy nation. Programming makes robots, not people."

The announcer clapped her hands over her crossed knees. "What a charismatic philosopher. Kaneshiro was suspected of participation in many crimes in Shibuya. Even the earlier detractors of the Phantom Thief seems to think he is a hero of sorts, if a dark one."

Hashimoto waggled a finger as if he brandished a dangerous weapon with the gesture. "But we can not let whimsy dictate our actions. In the unlikely event a Phantom Thief exists, he is certainly a criminal just the same as the victims so far."

Murmuring spread through the audience, one voice standing out from the others, "He's got a point. Who's got more to gain by goin' after a criminal than another criminal?"

Ryuji clenched his fists.

Akira slapped a hand over Ryuji's, his fingers clamping down even as a faint growl leaked out of his own throat.

The announcer brandished another expected smile at the camera. "I could listen to you for days, but now it's getting to the time for our audience participation. Everyone, please press your button if you think the Phantom Thief is just!" Clicking proceeded for several seconds, before an on-stage LED screen lit up. "Twenty-five percent. Your thoughts, Hashimoto-san?"

"I think all this Phantom Thief mania is only distracting the already burdened police department with the search for the culprit who is actually behind these suspicious 'changes of heart'."

Looking down from the on-stage screen, Akechi focused on the announcer. "I'm surprised the response is that high, given the number of adults who share Hashimoto-san's hesitation to even believe he exists."

The announcer picked up a microphone and walked into the aisle through the audience, stopping at the second row. "What do you think of the Phantom Thief?"

The snaggle-toothed man looked surprised for a moment. "Well, it makes sense that he's a criminal just like those two men. I mean, criminals wouldn't hesitate to bribe or blackmail, right?"

The announcer gave an obligatory nod and paced near Akira before stopping and holding the microphone out to him. "What about you? What do you think of the Phantom Thief?"

Remembering Makoto's words in the bank, Akira straightened. "They bring justice where even the law can't reach." He glared at Hashimoto in particular. "Or fails to."

Akechi clasped his gloved hands, a lightening of his posture. "What surprising conviction."

The announcer turned back to the stage and spoke into her microphone. "Quite a turn away from your opinion that the Thief should be charged and tried."

Hashimoto pointed a finger at Akira's general area. "And if that friend next to you had a sudden change of heart, would the Thief still be a hidden hero?"

Akira's fists clenched and he fought to keep a snarl off his face since the two wing cameras held on him. "The Phantom Thief targets criminals, not casual citizens."

Akechi smiled, and Akira could've sworn he saw sorting and filing happening behind those bright brown eyes. "No hesitation."

Hashimoto sneered. "The innocence of youth." He looked to the junior investigator. "Before we discuss whether the Phantom Thief is just or not, may I bring up another point I believe has received too little attention?"

Akechi nodded as the announcer returned to her seat on the stage.

"How does he change hearts?" Hashimoto paused to straighten his dark sleeves. "If a hardened yakuza boss can overnight decide he has wronged the city, what happens when the Phantom Thief decides that the president of the local bank is being too selective when choosing who to approve loans for?"

Ryuji's lips bared his teeth and he snapped not quite deep enough under his breath, "Who the shit cares how we're doing it? Ain't makin' two bad guys confess proof enough the Phantom Thieves are just?"

Akira took off his glasses to rub at the bridge of his nose and sighed.

Akechi straightened his gloves. "As I have already brought up, the Phantom Thief only appeared to target well-known criminals. How can we be sure the Phantom Thief is just when he only targets publicly convenient criminals and makes grandiose public claims like a needy actor? If his aim is truly justice, why hasn't he targeted somebody behind a ring of fraud or some such hidden activity that strikes hundreds of vulnerable people every day? All we have seen so far is public grandstanding."

Hashimoto gave a sharp nod. "Even Kamoshida appears to have been an open secret maintained through fear. The only question is how much the faculty cooperated to hush things. Their principal received ten years for a mountain of conspiracy and obstruction charges. And the claims that Kaneshiro had a change of heart instead of fleeing from rival yakuza. Ha!"

The audience burst into muttered speculation. Ryuji curled his fists and started to stand before Akira clamped a hand on the runner's nearest wrist. That 'Quiet' sign lit again.

Akechi said, "Extracting a confession was used by people who thought they were doing good things – going back to the magistrates under Toyotomi who tortured Christians into confessions of sedition because they were afraid of losing the Japanese way of life. They showed the world how weak and fearful that Japan was. We cannot let ourselves go back to that. Forcing a confession is not justice."

Akira settled his glasses, his mind lost in thought to the end of the filming. It wasn't until Ryuji stood that the transfer student realized the audience was dispersing.

Ryuji led the transfer student and Ann to the side. "Hey, buddy, I'm sorry about that back there. I know I'm s'posed to keep a low profile. I just couldn't stand how those two jerks made us sound like baddies."

Ann crossed her arms and shifted her weight to the foot closer to the transfer student. "Hashimoto-sensei might be like most adults out there, but Akechi hit kinda close to home."

"Yeah," Akira said. "I haven't even been in the Catholic Church for long, but one of the most sacred things that exists is free will. God doesn't manipulate human free will, even when we do wrong things. We act and have to pay for sins."

Ryuji crossed one foot over the other. "C'mon. If we hadn't gone after Kamoshida, he'd still be abusin' kids at Shujin and playin' creepo at Ann. Nobody stood up for you, and if it wasn't for us nobody'd have stood up for Suzui-san." He elbowed the transfer student. "And you'd have been kicked out just 'cause he didn't wanna give you a chance. Now it's like Shujin's alive."

Morgana looked out from the satchel hanging on Akira's shoulder. "Right, Reaper. He can say all he wants about justice from the outside, but he wasn't there to see how bad Kamoshida was, or how things improved after his change of heart." When a beat of silence passed without response from the transfer student, he batted at Akira's ear to make him twitch. "It's not like we killed anyone. Even Kaneshiro chose to turn himself in."

Ryuji crossed his feet over left over right. "Yeah, man." He crossed his feet right over left.

Akira looked at Ryuji's footing and sighed. "Dude, just go."

The track star scrambled for the bathroom.

Ann shifted her weight away, a frown on her face. "I can't say Ryuji's wrong, but I notice you've been quiet too. What's on your mind?"

Akira uncrossed his arms and straightened his school jacket sleeves. "I was just thinking about what Akechi-san said about extracting confessions. I remember Father Motoori mentioning that in Europe, they had inquisitions that were about as bad as the forced confessions Akechi mentioned. Free will is a sacred thing in the Church, and with Kamoshida and Kaneshiro… how different is what we're doing?" He glanced to the team leader poking his head out of the satchel. "We may be fighting in a battle in the center of the mind, but isn't it still fighting them until they say what we want?"

Morgana's ears curled around like he wanted to hiss. "I don't think so. When we were down in the vaults in Kaneshiro's bank, didn't you say that you saw a bunch of his memories?"

"Mm-hm." Akira nodded.

"Didn't you say there was something weird in there with him?"

Akira held his chin, thinking for a moment. "A voice talking to Kaneshiro. Can't figure out who it was, though, because most of the memories had all different people."

Ann checked the time on her phone, then slipped it back into her purse. "Well, it's getting about time to get on the bus." She trotted away through the fast deserted studio room.

Akechi, still in his formal button-down dress, stepped down from the stage and slipped around the camera to close on the transfer student.

Akira smirked. "Well look at the little ambusher, springing to the attack at last."

Akechi gave a show smile. "Same as during the show. You certainly didn't hold back."

"To hell with walking on eggshells to play politically correct." Akira crossed his arms, scanning the junior investigator for signs of his real motives. "If I see it, I call it. Good or bad."

Akechi's smile faded, though his stance loosened. "You're rather blunt, but nobody could accuse you of not being genuine. I'm glad I was able to catch you today. I wanted to thank you face-to-face for the debate you gave." His smile vanished and he let out a brief breath. "I was expecting a little more actual debate and less steered conversation. Advancement cannot occur without both thesis and antithesis."

Akira's face twisted in thought. "Richard Fenyman?"

Akechi chuckled, hints of a real smile about his eyes. "You are well read. I was thinking of Hegel, myself, but I suppose Fenyman said essentially the same thing even if his focus was on physics." He let out a heavier breath, his shoulders falling. "So few people are willing to consider the possibilities and grapple with a problem."

Akira shrugged. "Managers are used to being listened to, and workers are used to being told what to do. For all the praise of duty to society, when that gets out of hand we have a society of living dead."

Akechi let out a mirthful chuckle, but there was a piercing quality to his gaze. "That's certainly one way of putting it. I realize we may sometimes be on opposite sides of an issue, but would you mind if I stopped by a little more often for some coffee and conversation?"

Adjusting the satchel straps, Akira stretched out his shoulder. "I would say yes, but I'm trying to get out more and find a better-paying job. A few of my friends have been asking for help, and I try to be there to help them out of trouble spots when I can."

Akechi held an analytic gaze for a moment. "A noble sentiment." He reached into his pocket and handed over a business card. "If you have a moment, feel free to give me a call. Or maybe I'll see you over a cup of that fine coffee."

Flipping the card over, Akira turned it back and pocketed the card. "Hm. You did point me to a good investigative journalist. I suppose I can lend an ear a few times."

Akechi beamed a convincing but still show smile. "Glad to hear it." He turned and paced through a door against the back-stage area.

Morgana stuck his head out of the bag, watching Akechi's retreating figure. "I still don't think we can trust him."

Akira headed to the door out. "Who ever said anything about trusting him? There's a difference between leaving the door open and leaving the porch light on."

Morgana blinked, raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"It's called networking. You need to lay the groundwork for people to want to do favors for you in the future." Akira pushed open the door and joined the formation for last head-count.

Friday, 10 June 2016
Late Afternoon
Train bound for Shibuya

The regular procession of lights and sway of the train over the tracks lent a sense of rhythm in the world around him. Pressing back into the not-padded-enough seat, Akira slid a rook over and hit 'End Turn'. Moments later, a pop-up window informed him the opponent surrendered and it dropped him to the lobby. While Ryuji was in the same train car, the TV station trip still lingering in his mind and Akira wanted to get the whole group on the problem. [Have you guys thought about what Akechi-san said?]

It took a few moments before the class president and Ryuji joined the chat room. The latter let out loud growl sounding over the muted conversations in the train car. [The f, man. I just made myself forget about him and now I'm pissed off again.]

A ding played as Ann joined the room, and after a few moments dancing triple dots indicated typing. [I was more worried about Hashimoto. It's almost worse than being discredited.]

Makoto sent next, [What is worse than being discredited?]

Akira sent a quick explanation. [We went to the TV station for the social studies trip. They filmed a debate about the Phantom Thieves.] He sent her the network and initial broadcast time, which looked to be several hours from now.

Makoto's icon appeared at the bottom, dancing dots there for several seconds until Akira imagined her awkwardly trying out response after response and deleting it. [Well, there's probably no good to come from complaining about it. Plenty of students thanked me for getting Kaneshiro off their backs and there's going to be a lot of people who won't die of drug overdoses now. Those are real lives that we changed in a real way.]

[Thanks, Prez!] Ryuji sent.

Ann sent, [The police are going to be busy for a long time with all those gangers and drug dealers, huh, Makoto-san?]

Trying to keep his topic in the conversation, Akira sent, [I just can't get it out of my mind. Even if Akechi wasn't totally right, he had a lot of tough points. Justice and Free Will aren't things to take lightly.]

Makoto's icon blinked at the bottom of the chat. [I think it's a good thing that you don't take them lightly.]

[Man,] Ryuji texted, [I thought it was going to be awesome getting another chick in the Phantom Thieves, but you two are just party poppers.]

A beat passed before he sent again, [Poppers.]

Then another loud growl from across the train car before he sent, [Dam you, autocorrect!]

Ann's icon blinked at the bottom of the chat. [They've got a point, Ryuji. Kaneshiro forced other people to do what he wanted. Just because they're criminals, does that mean we can do the same thing?]

Ryuji wasted no time arguing. [It isn't the same thing at all, Ann! Kaneshiro had cops in his pocket. Who'd have knocked him down a peg if it wasn't us?]

[Kamoshida, too.] Makoto texted. [I was right here for all those years and buried my head because I was so concerned with living up to everyone's expectations that I couldn't even conceive of disrupting things until you all changed his heart. It happened right under my nose, and I did nothing even after Kiriko-san became a husk overnight. Losing the student council president election to her would have been well worth having spoken up.]

Akira pursed his lips. Lacking anything encouraging to say, he tried to skip around the point. [Time goes forward, not backward, Niijima-san.]

Ryuji popped up next. [F yeah! I think.]

Morgana's claws dug into Akira's shoulder when the train jostled. "Remember what you yourself said at the TV station, Joker. Sometimes, the Law itself isn't enough to reach wrongdoers. We're all doing what we are because of justice that goes beyond law."

Akira mumbled, "We can also act through channels no one else can see, just like Kaneshiro."

The guide trapped in a cat's body huffed. "But we vote. As long as all of us have to agree on a course of action, we won't fall into the same trap as the despicable people we change." He smirked. "Besides, you have my brilliance leading you."

Akira rolled his eyes.

Ryuji sent one last message before leaving group chat. [Don't worry, Ann, everyone. It doesn't matter if it's Akechi or that stuck-up professor. We'll show them all who's right.]