2026-01-04: A Suffocating Shadow
- Cutscene: A Suffocating Shadow
- Cast: Masayoshi Shido, Goro Akechi, Hisataka Shinjo
- Where: Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo
- OOC Date: January 4th, 2026
- IC Date: Wed Sep 05 2012
- Summary: Masayoshi Shido is a mite upset over certain recent events...
It was a rare occasion that Goro Akechi was called into Masayoshi Shido's office, practically unheard of given their arrangement. But today was hardly 'business as usual' given recent reports within the New World Order, "This was supposed to be /your/ responsibility to monitor this!" He said, raised voice and a hand pounding against the desk hard enough to cause even the massive piece of furniture to shake.
"And I have." Goro Akechi replied evenly, on the defensive, "Then how in the devil did this happen!?" Shido snarled. "And the next words out of your mouth better not be telling me it's unrelated to Wakaba Isshiki's research being posted online!"
Akechi was already at resignation, he knew which way this was going and that there was nothing he could do to stop it. "No... I'm now of the opinion that Sakura-san was intimately involved in this. He closed down his business not long ago for a short trip to Sumaru City- and recently returned. Him awakening to a Persona wasn't precisely unexpected, given his ties to Isshiki and her daughter."
"Wasn't UNEXPECTED?" Shido all but howled in rage at one of his assassin's 'deductions', "I knew I shouldn't have listened to you back when you suggested it was harmless to leave them alive. You know how much I dislike loose ends."
"I do." Goro Akechi stated numbly, "Though you can't say it hasn't borne fruit. Futaba Sakura has left Mementos and formed a Palace... just as you intended."
"Hmph." Shido grunted dismissively, "An early experiment, now irrelevant to the grand scheme of things. We should have disposed of her the moment that she did." As he poured himself whiskey, he said to Akechi in a tone that brooked no disagreement, "Take care of them... /now/."
"I'll see it done." Akechi turned as if to leave, right as they both heard it at the door.
Rap.
Rap.
Rap.
It held the quality of a horror film, like the killer was at the door, unsettling enough that even Akechi took a step back and drew his gun, silencer and all in a fraction of a second. "No one was supposed to know I was here!" Akechi hissed at Shido.
"And I explicitly informed security that we weren't to be /disturbed/." Shido said with an undeniable fury and suddenly there was a monster in the room. Energy bled over from the Metaverse, palpable in a way that caused even Akechi, fully used to it by now, to shudder.
When Shido opened his eyes again, they were a sickening yellow hue. "Open it." But as Akechi approached to carry out that command, the door opened itself, with a creak of hinges, causing the firearm to be leveled, ready to fire.
At the smiling man on the other side, lines of darkness were jagged streaks up his face, vanishing beneath the sunglasses. His hands playing with a pair of baoding balls that he was rotating around in his hands.
The hallway beyond him was full of suited men slumped over, unconscious upon the floor. "I'm afraid that while I lack an appointment..." The man in the sunglasses regards them both. "I must insist." Akechi grimaced, and lowered his gun, "What are /you/ doing here?" Akechi growled as Shido frowned at this turn of events, "/Shinjo/! You have some nerve breaking into here. Tell me why I shouldn't have you killed on the spot for this insolence."
He looked not at Shido the man, but past him at the thing beyond. "Heh." He smirked, showing a number of shadowed teeth, unperturbed by the Shadow of Pride or his Assassin being within the room. "That would be a sight to see." As he tapped his sunglasses, causing Akechi to grimace, remembering what lay beneath them. "The Dark Sun casts such a suffocating shadow that you might even manage it... but I'm not afforded indulgence on this stage. I'm in a supporting role for this production, here to make the lion's pride an offer."
"If you're wasting my time-" Shido warned.
"To betray the Silver for the Gold." Shinjo interrupted Shido without a concern, a feat that few men could pull off, "I'll give you the knowledge you covet so much, for a place upon your great ship of state... in exchange for a trifle."
This caused both Shido and Akechi to both look startled, then suspicious. He was supposed to be Tatsuzou's man. And this man's research was everything that Tatsuzou had withheld from him. It could be a trap- of course- but the benefits if they could get their hands on even a fraction of his research.
"Name your price."
"That you allow Sojiro Sakura and his ward a stay of execution. I wish to conduct my own experiment... one that requires both hermit and hierophant. Once I'm ready, I'll make certain they do not threaten your interests any longer."
Akechi had a sudden feeling of emotional whiplash at this change of fortunes, "This again." He muttered. As Shido frowned at his answer wondering if his office was bugged, "How could you possibly know that?" The man chuckled, "He hears all."
"You're asking me to spare the two people closest to Wakaba Isshiki. How do I know you're not after the secrets of Cognitive Psience?" Shido demanded.
Shinjo grinned as a predator might even looking into the jaws of a lion. "You don't- but it hardly matters if I am or not, given the collateral I'll offer you..."