2026-04-23: The Old Guard (And Then Some)
- Log: The Old Guard (and Then Some)
- Cast: Eriko Kirishima, Maki Sonomura, Masao Inaba, Tamaki Uchida, Umie Akabane
- Where: Narumi Ward, Sumaru City
- OOC Date: April 23rd, 2026
- IC Date: October 29th, 2012
- Summary: With concerning events as of late, Eriko sets up a meeting for all those involved in the SEBEC incident, as well as Umie Akabane, a fellow normal, boring adult who happens to have a Persona.
<Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.
Sumaru City's Narumi Ward is the newest part of Sumaru City, only being built in the last ten years. It is home to many things- but residential living is not one of them.
The closest thing it has is Hotel Pleiades, a five star hotel by the bay. The place for the rich and wealthy traveler, Hotel Pleiades is outside the budget of most Sumaru residents, and the restaurants and retailers within the hotel often are too. Even the omnipresent Satomi Tadashi pharmacy chain doesn't have a presence here.
So for Eriko to ask that people meet her at the Pleiades seems very out there for her. Especially when she says to ask at the front desk for a 'Matsuoka'.
When someone does, they are escorted to an elevator, where there is a brief encounter with what must be hotel security- a quick once over with a metal detector and a pat down and they're cleared to enter- with a security guard to accompany them to the penthouse.
(Umie gets two security guards. Fascinating!)
When they are allowed into the penthouse, however, it's not Eriko greets them but a large, muscular man wearing a suit pants, a white dress shirt and a vest. And he doesn't greet them so much as glare, assessing everyone who enters.
Apart from that, the penthouse is nice- and for those in the know, laid out like a situation room. Multiple computers and TVs, server racks, radio scanners- oh, and security. Lots of security.
After an uncomfortably long time, The last person to be allowed in is Eriko herself?
"I'm sorry for the delay, everyone!" Eriko says, but there's a tinge of frustration on her face as she enters- and one might notice she's wearing indoor shoes already. "Ah, one more moment."
Eriko approaches the much taller man. "This wasn't necessary, Matsuoka-san. These are my comrades- and his too."
Matsuoka looks to her slightly deferentially, but still fiercely. "Security is my role, ma'am. My job is to see what the two of you might miss- be it due to biases or carelessness."
Eriko frowns, but she can't deny the point, frustratingly. "Is everyone here then?" There's some anxiousness in her voice right now, even if she tries to hide it.
"Yes. He sends his apologies."
That, at least, lets Eriko breathe a bit. She can tell why Matsuoka might be cagey- there are unknown factors here, even if most of the group can probably connect the dots on who they're talking about.
"Well, in that case," Eriko says, before turning back to those gathered on the comfortable couches provided by the Pleiades- though Eriko herself stays standing.
"We're overdue to touch base, I think. About the Joker Killer and about the Crawling Chaos. Any questions before we start?"
It's easy to see that Eriko is focused on keeping her composure right now. After all it's really the first time talking about it all with outsiders- and what it means.
<Pose Tracker> Maki Sonomura has posed.
It is pretty unusual to be asked to go to a hotel like this. But Maki trusts Eriko, and so when asked, she shows. ...She dresses up a little, though. If she's going to be somewhere like this...
The average 'nice' isn't good enough. Instead of her usual black and white, tonight's colors are burgundy and pale yellow. She was not the first here.
She closes her eyes, focusing on Resonance, as she gets a feeling about...
Well. They open again once the front desk answers her call. The elevator, the security...
Hmmm.
She knows Elly is here, at least. That's what counts. But she's growing more distant as they go 'up'... Curious.
Maki is pleasant. The security get 'hellos' and 'thank yous' because she's nice like that. And then, when they're let in to deal with the security, and it's uncomfortably long...
A glare, hm?
Maki sits quietly on a couch, and waits. She is serene, somehow, despite all of this. Mark is here too, after all.
"Elly-chan," Maki says warmly when Eriko shows up. "I don't mind a little extra scrutiny. But it does tell me what whatever you had to discuss is very important."
Her good cheer fades when Eriko mentions the Crawling Chaos, though. She looks down, her short hair moving with her.
"..."
"So 'his' Persona--that entity--is back."
"...Are we sure that the Joker Killer is gone?" she asks. "That's my question."
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
Masao 'Mark' Inaba knew that there was no escaping discussing this when Tatsuya Sudou invoked a very dangerous name, full-throated, and was (as far as he knew) the only man on the zeppelin who fully grasped what that meant.
Sure, you got weird anomalies like that intense kid in the bright red clothes and then that cartoonish-looking Man in the Black Mask (whose menace and threat was anything but cartoonish, given the hostage situation), but when you were one of a handful of Persona-users that fought and survived a man that invoked the name of a dangerous Persona that overtook its wielder, well...
...If he had to be honest, he wouldn't have expected that Eriko would've had some manner of access to a ritzy place like this, unless she's managed to have better luck getting in touch with they-both-know-who than he has.
There is an awkward period of time where Masao, unnaturally early to all of this, finds the time filled with Matsuoka staring him down and not at all being receptive to questions or small talk. The tension abates - gradually - as more familiar people filter in, though not without trepidtation. Is this a good idea?
...Well, the big man hasn't thrown her out, or him for that matter, so...
The confirmation that '(someone going unnamed) sends his apologies' has Masao just internally going 'huh, he has his hands that full, does he.' Being a resident assistant must be even more of a hassle than working in a dry cleaner if he can't make it here now, of all times...
Masao's made himself about as comfortable as he can be on the couch, leaning forward, elbows on knees, just all 'yeah, this is happening,' wearing far more tension in his body language than Maki is. He admires her quiet strength with all of this.
'So 'his' Persona--that entity--is back.'
"That guy - Sudou - was real clear 'bout that name," Masao confirms. "To Maki's question about whether the Joker Killer is gone...
"Unless they were really puttin' on some theater there, nah... he got beat to hell and back, and then a Man in a Black Mask shot him. The guy wasn't at all gentle 'bout his final moments," Masao waves a hand.
"We all fell in the water and had to swim all the friggin' way back to shore. There wasn't any other place to swim to. That Zeppelin went down in flames. Whole thing was like a movie set..."
That whole series of events still weighs on him now, in just how outlandish the scenario was - up to and including their survival.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Perhaps third to arrive, middle of the pack like she usually is, it isn't Tamaki's first visit to Hotel Pleiades. Last time, she and Eriko enjoyed a meal together at the restaurant, Clair de Lune -- much to Tamaki's starry-eyed delight at the time. She knew that Eriko was capable of getting a reservation to the restaurant, but ...
It comes as another shock to her middle-class self when she realizes that this conversation is happening in the hotel's penthouse. As Matsuoka guides her to the elevator and hotel security checks her person, realization dawns, and in wide-eyed surprise she quietly and repeatedly stammers "E-eh?" while she glances around in daze. How? Why? What??? Huh?????
Sight of the Velvet Room's doors manages to dampen her sense of awe and amazement. The memory of someone playing piano music bubbles up in her mind again, shoving a certain familiar pharmacy chain's earworm out of her head for the time being.
(The most onerous part of her security check comes in assessing the contents of her bag. A variety of writing implements, notepads, snacks, drinks, medicines, bandages, recording device, lotion, makeup, personal grooming supplies ... to start. It's all very mundane stuff, there's just a lot of it.)
Still somewhat reeling from being in such an establishment, she nods at the other two once she arrives. She's overly polite, like she isn't sure of how to act in this situation. "Sonomura-san. Inaba-san. How are you both?" She does smile slightly more genuinely when her fencing club alum finally shows up after a delay. "Eriko-chan."
Tamaki winces a little bit when Eriko says they're 'overdue' -- in her own case and in her own estimation, by several years. Better late than never, she supposes.
She shakes her head. Initially, she asks, "No questions currently, but I imagine I'll think of some as we go."
She goes very still at Maki's question, then after several moments, she hesitantly turns her head to face her old classmate. "I, uh ... I was inches away from him when it happened. I'm no coroner, but I'm pretty sure. People don't survive holes in their chest that large, Awakened or not." Out of habit, she idly rubs one of the coins on her choker.
"... 'His' Persona, though?" Tamaki raises an eyebrow and folds her arms. "The painter from a few weeks ago? Or ... one from a few years ago?"
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
.... Two security guards, huh.
Standing at a smidge under 5'1", Umie adjusts the pink windbreaker over her turtleneck, which conspicuously has generous enough sleeves to cover both wrists.
'Look at them, treating you like you're the enemy...' A quiver of a wince is all that Umie gives, to betray the presence of the exact reason those two guards are even there.
Instead, she looks from one to the other. "My, my, Uchida-san, look, they're concerned about my personal safety..."
Umie knows the real reason-- or, at least, understands at least one of many.
She notably doesn't do anything else beyond a comment, remaining quiet as they come into the lush apartment, after all the security checks. Both Tamaki and, to a limited degree, Masao, make the part of Umie's mind feel a little less like it wants to leap out out the door and run screaming out-- after all, these are friends. She looks from Eriko and Maki, understanding from people's comversations with one another who is who.
"I think I should introduce myself, before we get any further," she says, taking off her coat. "I'm Umie Akabane, normal, boring part-timer who moonlights as a nosy person with a Persona." She waves a hand. "I may have some information regarding some of this, but some of you may already understand how I'm connected."
A pause, as she invites herself to a seat. "Unless you didn't, and in that case, ha ha ha, I'm in trouble."
She spares a short look at Tamaki for a moment. "Sudou mentioned that name back when he tried to come after Tsubasa Seki-san, as well. First time I heard it."
So how do these people know this name, and what's their history?
<Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.
If it helps, Matsuoka, for all his deference to Eriko, seems to glare just as fiercely at her- disapprovingly, one might add.
"I'm sorry for all the misdirection, Maki-chan," Eriko says, ignoring Matsuoka's glare with her own powerful aura. "Tamaki, Mark, Maki-can, I'm sorry for the misdirection, but Mr Matsuoka is right. Given what we're up against, security is important. Mundane and otherwise." Though Mark can draw the correct conclusion there- even if Eriko can't invoke the name out loud with Matsuoka trying to stare a hole through the back of her head.
"...I wish that were confirmation enough, given the circumstances," Eriko says, after a few minutes silence of thinking. The fact that Eriko is not being chipper- even accounting for the death of a serial killer- about a potentially supernatural occurrence is worrying in and of itself.
Matsuoka, however, interrupts. "First things first- everything Kirishima says stays in this room. Doubly so for anything involving the SEBEC incident or the NWO. If this is breached, you *will* answer to me." He is glaring especially at Umie there, and Eriko seems more than a little uncomfortable with it. "Mishima-" He looks to one of the suited people, a non-descript man with black hair in a black suit sitting at one of the radio scanners, headphone covering one ear- though Tamaki might be able to tell how cultivated that non-descriptness is, one PI to the other.
"We're clear for bugs and scanners." He says, before turning back to his equipment.
"Good," Matsuoka says with the closest thing to approval that anyone here hgas seen from the large man. "Yamai?" This time, he looks to a woman sitting at a desk, a computer in front of her that she's not actually using except to pretend she's typing at it. If you look, there's just an excel spreadsheet and a minesweeper window open- though now that you're aware of her, there's a tremendously weak resonance coming from her that only Maki and maybe Umie could detect easily. It's not for anti-navigator reasons, entirely- she just hasn't honed her persona much, but as a detection focused navigator, she's good at it.
"The only resonances within our radius are the ones Kirishima-san identified to me, Matsuoka-san."
Matsuoka nods. "Let me know the second either of those changes."
"Got it, boss." "Understood, Matsuoka-san."
It's then that Matsuoka looks to Eriko. "You can begin, Kirishima."
Eriko nods after a moment. "I fear things might be a little... jumping back and forth for you, Ms Akabane. But Tamaki is vouching for you, and I've seen you working together- so I'm going to trust Tamaki's trust in you. There are things that most of of us know that you don't... as well as things Mark and I know that Tamaki and Maki-chan don't. Not in full, at least." Indeed, a look of pain crosses Eriko's face as she says that. Both for the truth's she hasn't told Maki-
And the memory of her first best friend, who is and isn't with them.
Eriko takes in a deep breath. "First things first, I know most of you have heard of the NWO- the New World Order. A conspiracy, ostensibly led by Foreign Minister Tatsuzou Sudou- father of the Joker Killer. My... investigative partner," Eriko looks to Matsuoka, who grunts but nods, "and I have identified two more aspects of the NWO, and that's what lead to us meeting up and working together."
Yes, Mark, he IS that hard to get in touch with.
"My lead has to do with, well, fortune telling. Wang Long Fortune Telling, to be precise. I have reason to believe that Chizuru Ishigami is a part of the conspiracy, and a so is the entirety of Wang Long Fortune telling." Eriko frowns. "You see, Wang Long Fortune Telling appears to have a history going back to China and Hong Kong, and possible use in the Sengoku Period." Eriko pauses, and THIS time it's for dramatic effect, she's getting some of her chipperness back. "Or so rumour says, anyway." Oh there's a cheeky smile on her face, that's the Elly you know and love.
"However, I don't think those records existed before the rumours. Whether they're traditional forgeries or a result of the rumours, I can't say- but I do think that the NWO is using Ms Ishigami's fame and reputation to spread information and rumours. It does make her recent TV appearance rather fascinating, does it not?"
Eriko starts pacing, musing out loud. "More fascinating is the effect of other fortune tellers in the city and Tokyo at large. Did you know that the Sumaru Genie seemed to have lost her powers totally until she shifted to Wang Long, and most magazines have given up on Horoscopes to simply use Wang Long instead. Of the few fortune tellers using other methods, the only one I can think of still going is Shinjuku's Holy Maiden, and she seems to be struggling- only getting negative readings for people, poor thing. I've been doing some tests, you know, and sometimes it feels likes the star readings shift to match Wang Long-"
Matsuoka clears his throat, pointedly, and Eriko stops.
"Ah, yes, I'm sorry. The second issue has to do with a man named Hisataka Shinjo." Eriko frowns, and seems to slow down. "...My investigative partner has reason to believe that some of us know this man. We don't have a proper visual yet, unfortunately. The man is secretive beyond belief, no photos exist of him despite him being Tatsuzou Sudou's secretary. But..." Eriko pauses again. There's something she doesn't want to say-
And Matsuoka beats her to it. "...My employed believes the man to be none other than Takahisa Kandori, former head of the Mikage-cho branch of the Saeki Electronics and Biological & Energy Corporation."
With the bandaid pulled off, Eriko gives Maki a pained, sympathetic look. "...Creator of the DEVA system, architect of the SEBEC Incident, the user of the persona 'Nyarlethotep'." A look to Mark. "A god we killed with our own hands, our own personas, in that other world. A man I was certain was dead."
Matsuoka's glare feels even heavier right now. He means what he says about this information not leaving this room. Even without a Persona, there's a dangerous aura coming off the large man.
<Pose Tracker> Maki Sonomura has posed.
"It's fine," Maki says, and looks calmly to Matsuoka. "He has good reason to be secretive, I'm sure."
Then she looks to the others. Eriko mentions... hmm.
Maki listens to Mark relate the story. Tamaki saw it, too. "I see..."
"But that's not enough, in this case."
The SEBEC incident and the NWO are secret. Maki shakes her head. "I have more reason than most to keep the SEBEC incident a secret," Maki says. "If my involvement gets out, I can look forward to being sent to a lab. I assure you, I want that even less than you do."
Maki does detect that resonance. She thinks of it...
Hmmm.
Sensing other PErsona-users, then.
"I've heard of them," Maki says of the NWO. "...Mm." Two aspects. And...
"The entire thing...? Of Wang Long Fortune Telling. "That's... disturbing," Maki admits.
Hisataka Shinjo. The secretive man.
"What!?"
Maki stands up outright, eyes wide--perhaps no one here has seen her composure break this hard. And if even them... not often.
"Kandori-san..."
"It can't..."
"I..."
"I don't know what to say."
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
Umie introduces herself - the real wild card in all of this. Tamaki was at least present in Mikage-cho during the SEBEC incident, and already a veteran Persona-user and a PI. Umie, however... Masao rubs the back of his head. If she's here because she has important enough information they're willing to risk a breach, then...
"Tch," he looks to the side about the whole time the Joker Killer went after Tsubasa. They were really put through the wringer. (He's more worried about their well-being than the fact Elly, Shinobu, and himself nearly met their end to someone in gothic lolita dress wielding an axe. He's just like that.)
"...Yeah," Masao concedes in monosyllable to the whole of the need for secrecy, and Matsuoka's incredibly firm insistence about the level of secrecy in play here.
They're as clear as they can be, on multiple fronts, and Eriko takes point on the investigations. She's... really been thorough. Her and That Guy Who Will Not Be Named Because The Big Man Will Kick His Ass.
"Hisataka Shinjo?" Masao asks out loud. Hisataka. That's a funny coincidence, when you reverse that--
'...My employed believes the man to be none other than Takahisa Kandori,'
5tMasao starts to rise up with a start. Maki beats him to it, and how - he startles and actually falls right back onto the damn couch like it were a cartoon gag, because the break in her composure is very noticeable, exponentially more startling, and entirely relatable all at once.
"You're shittin' us," Masao says, incredulous - even angry. He stands back up after another minute, pointing to himself, and then to Elly, "we both fought that guy! Elly, myself, and..." And... okay yeah he's sure Matsuoka's glare is not merely incidental when he's about to run down the list of everyone who was there. He shakes his head. "We saw his Persona take him over, we beat that, and... and... we all saw that man die." He's repeating what Elly just said, in more vulgar vernacular, to emphasize what she said is correct and thus hearing that he's around is just... what.
...
He looks over to Maki, as he trails off to silence. He bows his head, closes his eyes, and decides... yeah, no, he's not going to take a wager on that. He knows where this is going.
"...Hey," he steps forward, to Maki. "I'm... I'm kinda speechless, too," rubbing the back of his head again. "Shit. I... we're all here for you, yeah?" He gestures to open his arms up, as if to offer a hug.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki twitches her eyebrow again. Why the misdirection? Who's this 'he' who has reason to be secretive?
Well, who else can afford a place like this and was also present for the SEBEC incident? Someone who Tamaki at first had reason to suspect, but who Maki places her trust in.
Tamaki taps a finger in a crook of her folded arms and fixes her own frosty gaze at Matsuoka. "I have reason to believe that Akabane-san has valuable insight into the nature of this 'Nyarlethotep' entity. I greatly appreciate your willingness to include her in this discussion." Tatsuya, Umie, herself ... and her fellow St. Hermelin alumni. Most of those are present to break their silence. "I understand the caution, but we also stand a better chance if we pool our knowledge and resources."
She places a hand over her chin and widens her eyes fully while still locked onto Matsuoka with a knowing look. This is to send a message. "What's that saying about harmony and perfection and all that?"
Tamaki doesn't say the full motto out loud, but she means 'Two in harmony surpass one in perfection.' The same motto that the Nanjo and Kirijo Groups adhere to also applies to herself and Umie ... and possibly other Persona-users who aren't present. Tamaki's throwing their own ideals right back in the face of their suspicion.
Nothing leaves this room. And yet, she pipes up, "Just one question: what's the protocol to follow if the information may help others who aren't present?" Of all people present, it's Maki that she looks towards. "I had Kashihara-kun in mind, for instance. Perhaps." She read their report of their investigation of the Purple Mirror Rumor, so she knows that Maki's acquainted with the student.
Everyone else's suspicion lies on Umie. In addition to her feelings on cooperation in general, this is also in part Tamaki's attempt to redirect it to herself as someone with one foot in either camp of the group currently assembled.
She briefly flits her eyes to give Mishima and Yamai a once-over. Professionals in their own right. Little wonder Eriko hasn't employed Kuzunoha's services, apprentice PI that she is. These matters are outside of her current pay grade. (She is taking mental notes, mind you ...)
Tamaki simply nods at mention of the NWO and the father-son Sudou duo. So far, nothing new ...
Chizuru Ishigami's involvement is news to her, though. She squints and chews on the inside of her cheek. Mention of the Sengoku period causes her to glance in Umie's direction, then Eriko's cheerful clarification that rumor has it causes Tamaki to give her a sardonic smile. "That's an interesting hypothesis, to say the last."
Other fortune telling methods seem to be failing now. "Please fill me in more on that sometime later, Eriko," she insists after Matsuoka's not-so-subtle stage direction.
Hisataka Shinjo, supposedly actually the late Takahisa Kandori. She quietly stares in stunned silence at Matsuoka. The dead can be raised? Hope flickers in her heart, but --
Maki's outburst takes precedence. That's not a good thing. This isn't a power she should use for her own selfish ends. She steps back to let those more familiar with Maki provide her comfort -- coincidentally closer to Umie.
Still, she does have one question. "... are Personas wholly unique to Persona-users? You may have killed a man, but ..."
'The Joker never dies!'
Steeped in the Rumor circuit as she is, she adds this insight: "... it's more difficult to kill an idea."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Matsuoka's glare at Umie is met with a calm, studying gaze, though a man of Matsuoka's level of experience may be able to read past it to the nervous person underneath. (Mishina would notice it as well, when Umie's resonance surfaces, like a prairie dog peeking from a hole, before shrinking back down. Confirmation, for Mishima's purposes.)
A second pauses, and Umie nods, something in her shoulders beginning to release some idiom of tension. "Uchida-san. It's okay." She shoots her a small grin of appreciation. "He's right to be careful. The Order has members just about everywhere, of all types, as the Joker Killer case has revealed."
It's only when Matsuoka directs his attention to the woman sitting at a desk that Umie realizes just what she was there for, as she confirms their resonances. A moment of focus on Umie's part, and she confirms what's already become very obvious by Mishima's words: a Persona User, if very faint.
They're in good hands, Umie decides.
At Eriko's admittance, Umie gives her a nod, her gaze a touch more gentle than before. "It's okay. Thanks for inviting me. I'll try to help where I can." They're fellow veterans, after all; she knows what it's like, having to fill in the blanks by yourself. ... or, likewise, withholding some facts until you know what someone should know. "Keeping us in the shadows is how the Order works. The more scared we are, the less likely we're able to connect all the pieces we've gathered with each other."
But really, what would they know that Umie doesn't? She's been doing this for years, and--
Oh. Well, there's that. "Wait." Umie's eyes widen. "So that's why..." She groans, flopping back into her chair. "Here I was thinking the connection was with 'Joka'... I guess the connection was a red herring, all over again. It was never about the Joker Killer, but the rumors that spread over it. So Wang Long's connected to the NWO through Ishigami-san?" Strike one. Well, at least Umie's not *surprised*.
Neither is Umie the only one to catch that part about the Sengoku period; she shares a look with Tamaki and nods. "... It's funny that you mention records seeming to not exist..." Umie begins, deep in thought, before Eriko drops another bombshell.
Well, for everyone else, that is. "... Hisataka Shinjo?" The name brings nothing to Umie's mind; she tilts her head. He must have come in after she drifted off; and even then, Umie wouldn't know *everyone*, especially that high up. How many of those faces she saw as a child are still alive? Would she even recognize them a decade later?
"Takahisa Kandori..." Umie frowns, nodding as Eriko reveals the rest. Plugging in what Tamaki told her, and adding to that Masao and Maki's reaction... "What evidence do we have that they're the same person?" she asks. "If he has a resonance, maybe that can confirm it, but that'll depend on whether he can mask it or not, and even then, it's a moot point if he's not been in public."
If she's not connected, then, maybe that could be to everyone's advantage here.
"So Nyarlathotep is a Persona of this man all of you... I see." Certainly heavier than whatever she was doing, around that same time. "Did that Persona look anything like what Joker Killer was summoning? His was far different from any Personas I've encountered-- not that I've encountered that many."
"That may have been the reason for the Joker Killer in the first place. Whether the Order intended this to be the outcome or if they're simply taking advantage of the situation with Ishigami-san's TV appearance... I'm not sure."
<Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.
Matsuoka gives Maki a 'hmph'. It would be easier if a certain Young Master were being more security conscious. Unfortunately...
Eriko does give a worried look to Maki, when she mentions what she can look forward to. "...We won't let that happen, Maki-chan. Not now, not ever." She looks to Mark again, even though she knows his response already. "None of us would." Even Ayase would probably come out of her happy home life if she heard such a thing. "I'm reluctant to say as much as I have, even with just Tamaki and Mr Matsuoka, but I think we need to know what we're up against."
Matsuoka's glare fixes on Tamaki, and there's a shift in his body language. He's reassessing her, both as a threat and an investigator. "I am already taking a risk bringing Akabane-san in. At this point, I will not allow information to be shared further unless my employer overrides me directly. Not even if Kirishima-san insists." Matsuoka frowns further though, as Tamaki shows off her own chops in a discreet manner.
"Let me make something clear- the sum total of people involved in this effort are my employer and the people in this room. Even the security downstairs has limited information and they report directly to me. No other organizations that anyone here may be connected have anything to do with this. Not even your employer at the Kuzunoha Detective Agency, Uchida-san. This group is independent. Entirely so. In terms of sharing further information- don't. Not without my express approval. When that situation changes, I will inform you. Understood?"
Matsuoka turns his attention to Umie. She's connected to the Order in a way even Matsuoka didn't expect. "I see. I will keep that in mind, Akabane-san." He's reassessing her, too- more as a threat than anything else.
Eriko nods again, to Maki's read on Wang Long. "...As far as I can tell, yes. It's suspicion so far, though, and I still haven't had a chance to encounter her directly." Tamaki asks about Eriko's methodology, and she smiles. "Of course! As soon as we have the chance."
But Umie puts things together, about Wang Long. "...Precisely. And because of how Sumaru works... there's a strong chance that that will change how the Joker curse worked."
Mark and Maki, however, have the reaction Eriko suspected, and as Mark offers the hug, Eriko is already moving, wrapping Maki in her arms tightly. "I'm sorry, Maki-chan. I wasn't sure but... I have every reason to trust him..." She looks to Mark again, and holds up a single finger to indicate things to him properly, but only for a second. "My investigative partner wouldn't suggest such a thing if he weren't fairly certain, and..." Eriko lets out a sigh, not letting go of Maki. "...And I had my suspicions, when we first encountered the Joker Killer. When he used that persona on Jun... I thought I felt Kandori's presence. It wasn't until we entered the Sanitorium that I was sure but... that was the same resonance. It's the same Nyarlethotep. I don't know if he was masking his presence by mingling it with Kandori's resonance but..." She sighs. "Unfortunately, I can't have Maki double check for me, can I?"
Umie wants proof, and Matsuoka speaks up again. "...We have not found any yet. Anyone who has tried to investigate Shinjo has disappeared. Which is why I have advised not poking your heads into this mess-"
Eriko shoots Matsuoka a glare of her own. "How wonderful of you to have such a liberty, Mr Matsuoka." There's an edge, an anger to her voice. "We don't have that choice. Not after what happened. Especially him. You of all people should know that."
For once, Matsuoka is silent due to someone else, and not his own volition. Mark can understand that anger too well- he was there to see the reason. Indeed, part of Eriko's own anger might be to blunt Mark's- but they're both quite empathetic people, in the end.
"...I don't know." Eriko says, after a moment. "Some resonances feel similar, but not identical, and Personas can change. Nike became Nike again, and so did Ogun, but..." Eriko pauses again, finally releasing Maki, if she's ready for the hug to stop.
"Our leader... he could use multiple personas, the way that young man and woman from SEES and Ms Amano can. Some of the ones they've used are the same as his were."
Now it's Eriko's turn to feel a sting. "...But, we haven't seen him in years."
Eriko lets out a long, slow sigh. "...Mark, Tamaki and I are survivors of the SEBEC Incident. Maki was involved but... she wasn't there. And Tamaki was focused on defending our school." She hates saying this out loud, but it's overdue. "And Takahisa Kandori helped to create that world, building on science developed by Maki-chan's mom." ...Should she just say it? She looks to Maki, for permission, or for her to say it herself, before keeping going on another topic. "Kandori had become a god in earnest, in that world. And he seemed... bored? Nihilistic, hopeless? Like there was nothing for a god to do. And then we battled him, and he lost control of his Persona- if all it is was a persona. I'm not even convinced of that anymore. A persona is a part of our soul, but the Crawling Chaos feels... foreign. It took over Kandori's body, but he was aware during it. It... turned him into a monstrosity. All that was left of him was his torso, and he... didn't live long after that, when we thought we had killed Nyarlethotep." Eriko pauses. "...There was a totem on his corpse, but... Only Reiji had any connection to it and he refused to touch it, so we left it there. I assumed it must have returned to where the rest of that world did, but..." Eriko shakes her head. "...Kandori had a shadow in that place too- though I don't know if it was simply a memory of him or like..." Another pause, a pained avoidant look at Maki. "...like Mai and Aki, and... our friend."
It's Eriko's turn to look a little shaky now. "He helped us a little, when the school was taken over by the Night Queen, Nyx, and absorbed into her in the end." Eriko looks exhausted. The Snow Queen, and the SEBEC Incident. How many people died...? It was a wonderful time, and in some ways an awful time, but making it real, saying it out loud like this... it scares her. It scares her that all the secrecy, all the sacrifices made for them, have just gone to waste.
It's more difficult to kill an idea, Tamaki says, and Eriko nods. "...That might be why they spread the rumour. It's clear that Tatsuya Sudou was slipping his leash. If he's no longer the Joker... he can't come back. But that still doesn't explain Kandori."
<Pose Tracker> Maki Sonomura has posed.
"I know," Maki says gently when Eriko reassures her. "But those are part of the stakes for me--and I think that might reassure Matsuoka-san in my case, at least."
Independent organization... and don't share information.
"The people I'd share with are pretty much already here," Maki admits. "Except one. ...Who, I think, already knows." She looks meaningfully between Eriko and Matsuoka. "But I won't ask right now."
Mark may be angry, but--Maki is something else. As Mark says they're here for her, Maki hears it--and Eriko wraps her into a hug.
Maybe next time, Mark.
"They definitely killed the man," Maki says. And strangely, she does say 'they', not 'we', when she answers Tamaki. "But the 'idea'..."
"But his ideas were over. He gave up."
She hugs Eriko back. "I see... The same resonance. It must be, then."
Maki indeed can't double check. As it happens.
"No, you can't."
But Matsuoka speaks up. Hmm.
"I have to know," Maki says simply of poking their noses in. "No matter what... I have to know. if it's him--and if it is, how. And more improtantly, why."
"This is my responsibility," Maki says firmly. "...And it's my responsibility. He couldn't have done what he did without me. ...What we did."
Eriko starts to explain. "...Kandori-san helped create that world--specifically, he helped me to create that world, for his own benefit. I'm the one who turend Mikage-cho into... what it was."
She lets go of Eriko, and walks partyway across the room, no longer concerned with staying in one place.
"I don't know," Maki says softly. "The Night Queen... I don't know much. I don't remember. I was focused.... on something else."
"I know at least that I have to get involed, now," she says of Sudou and Joker and Kandori. "I won't stand on the sidelines."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
There's so, so many reasons for Matsuoka to be suspicious. Unfortunately, Umie's assumptions of which reasons those are may have further implicated herself. ..... typical Chariot logical approach, great job, Umie Akabane!!!
... However, by the same token, Matsuoka and his assistant have shown themselves to be competent, which will only help Umie feel just a little more safe.
"Before, you'd call the number, and the Joker would target whoever you named. The rumor would allow him access to teleportation, which allowed him to get out without anyone knowing, but only for that initial try," Umie recollects. "Which was usually all he needed, unless someone intervened. If the intention was to spread fear, that likely was by design; anyone who survived would just spread the rumor further." She frowns. Like her, in fact, trying to get the word out in order to try to stop the next killing.
Tilting her head towards Eriko, Umie shifts forward on her seat, her half-covered right hand going towards the woven red charm bracelet on her left, the tiny bell making a minute jingle as her fingers fiddle with it, her outward expression calm.
... No. Don't reveal all your cards yet, Umie thinks. See what they know first, rather than confirm their suspicions about you more than you already have. She looks towards Tamaki, wondering what she will say.
Multiple Personas. "Mmn. I noticed that too," Umie says, eyelashes lowering midway. "I used to try to ask about it, but everyone who has that ability is understandably tight-lipped. Maybe it's just a matter of having the right spark." Maybe, this friend of theirs did similar, to avoid endangering their friends.
Maybe, this friend wanted to move on and have a normal life, after 'what happened', as Eriko touches on. Just what is the event that connects all these threads together?
Umie didn't have to wait that long, as Eriko recollects the events of the SEBEC Incident. "... I see," Umie says, softly, a faint grimace running along one edge of her lips. "So... like a cognitive dimension? Just artificially created..." Could Mementos be like that, as well? Or Tamaki's earlier brush with yet another dimension and a certain 'God King' of her own.
How much has gone on, while Umie was in her little bubble pretending she was actually doing something every night?
'It took over Kandori's body, but he was aware during it. It... turned him into a monstrosity.' It brings to mind Akechi's comments about the woman he was helping in his investigation, that led him to Umie in the first place. Didn't he say something about the skin on her hand, seeming stretched and strange...? ... But Kandori was a god.
Umie turns to look back towards the door, then hesitates, studying the expressions on everyone in that direction. Her resonance emerges from hiding, just for a moment, before melting away.
.... She mimes the motion of rolling her shoulders, like she was simply stretching a muscle.
Maki's interjection is what brings Umie back *out* of her thoughts; she glances back at Maki with a muted look of surprise.
".... Sonomura-san..." She shouldn't be this surprised, given what Tamaki's hinted around, but still...
How can Umie be this cowardly, when Maki is willing to be so direct with her own involvement...?
"... This was... around one to two years ago, right?" she broaches, carefully. "If Uchida-san was there, and we're about the same age..."
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
Luckily, Maki has good friends around her. Masao stands there for only a fraction of a second with arms out, before seeing that Eriko's there for her. It eases that much, but not on the whole aspect of they-can't-say-but-know-who being certain that guy is still kicking.
Eriko, occult expert who identified Nyarlathotep to begin with, would know. A hand goes to his hip idly from where he stands, head bowed, shaking it as if to go for the unspoken 'what the hell, I don't believe it,' but he knows better than to bet on that.
"...Far as I care, wouldn't complain if there were a bunch of Persona-users that could use Susano-o," he says to Tamaki about the idea about whether or not a Persona is truly unique to someone. "It's like she said, my Persona's Ogun again."
Eriko largely handles the more difficult, technical questions and answers about the whole of it. He braces for the matter-of-fact discussion from Eriko about all that's happened - and tension runs through him as things they all previously agreed to keep in complete secrecy finds itself unraveling by circumstance.
He's paying more attention about the Night Queen business. No wonder it felt like everyone looked a little sharper, felt a lot stronger, and more prepared for what lay ahead when he saw them again.
"Yeah, I, uh... wasn't there for that either," Masao says of the Snow Queen incident, in solidarity.
"...I don't think anybody's talked about Kandori like that, but," Masao shakes his head, "it's not as if any one of us were willin' to gossip about it."
He listens to Umie explain that whole process, and he's just still incredulous about the depth of how strange all this is. When Umie is looking back to Masao's expressions, it's tense, it's angry, it's frustrated.
"...Yeah, in the big picture, wasn't all that long ago," he confirms for Umie, if not the exact passage of time, "we were all just startin' to figure out what life was about to look like after high school."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki initially stands firm under Matsuoka's withering glare, but at Umie's own insistence that he's right to be careful, she ultimately flinches first and relents, now taking the posture of hesitant -- but earnest -- compliance. "Understood. I'm glad I asked up-front. You know what to look out for, too, since I was wholly transparent." That was her entire hand that she had tipped just moments ago!
It also helps that he presented qualifiers: 'express approval', 'when that situation changes', etc. She asked what the protocol is and got her answer. She gives Matsuoka an apologetic bow. "Thank you for giving us the privilege to be present here. I promise to not take it for granted."
She may have to break an earlier promise, though. Sorry, Jun, telling you will have to wait, she thinks ... but he's still relevant here. "Funny you should mention the Sengoku era in relation to Wang Long. There's a shrine near the sanitarium dedicated to some -- supposedly -- historical figures which bear a strong resemblance to several people who the Joker Killer took an interest in." She closes her eyes and tilts her head to one side in frustrated thought. "But -- assuming the NWO is behind some rumors about Wang Long -- the NWO and Tatsuya Sudou were at odds with each other, so it's strange that there's that overlap in the first place."
Tamaki gives Umie a glance after Eriko comments on how the nature of the Joker curse may soon change. Umie had even asked the KDA to spread a rumor to slightly change how its protection works herself, though Tamaki refrains from just blurting that out and instead visibly hesitates from speaking. "Wouldn't be the first time it's gone through such a permutation," is all she lets on.
Eriko's 'investigative partner', symbolized by what Tamaki takes to mean a '#1' finger gesture, was the one who thinks this Kandori figure is still up and about as Shinjo. Kei sounds pretty certain, and knowing how strongly the others seem to trust him is enough for Tamaki to be confident in the information for now. "I'm interested in hearing the evidence, too, Akabane-san, but I think it's safe to take Eriko at her word for now." Tamaki quietly regards Eriko after she restates that she felt Kandori's Resonance at the sanitarium, and she turns her thoughts over in her head ...
... only for it to be cut short by the exchange between Eriko and Matsuoka, and she backs up with wide eyes and a taut frown while she waits for the awkward tension in the room to dissolve. Something happened there, and she's not touching that with a ten-foot pole.
Maya and the Misatos ... "There's more than just them, but it's all a bit beyond me. I used to be able to change mine, but it took ..." Ego death, if not outright death in a long bygone place and time. "... substantial effort. And I can't anymore. That is getting off-track, though; what puzzles me is how the Resonance was the same across at least two people. That does lend credence to the idea that they were taken over by some common force -- external or not."
It is news to her that they can change even for people like Mark and Eriko. Ogun is Ogun again. "... huh. So I might not be stuck with Arianrhod forever?"
'We haven't seen him in years.' The way Eriko says those words hits Tamaki sideways. She can relate. ... At least Naoya returned her practice sabre to her.
Another part of her wonders how much resemblance Hazama's Resonance would have bore to Sudou's and Kandori's.
'Tamaki was focused on defending our school.' She snorts and waves a hand. "Aw, don't make it sound so noble. I was being selfish and didn't want to go deep into another supernatural incident so soon." She was there for the Snow Queen incident, but ... she pushes her index fingers together. "You all ended up having to rescue me anyway, so some good I was."
If she were privy to Eriko's inner thoughts, she would protest them more directly. "... thanks, though. I'm back in the fray now. I did what I could, you did what you could. That's enough."
<Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.
Maybe Tamaki played her whole hand, but Matsuoka can understand hardball in the circumstances. He can also respect someone accepting a loss gracefully. "Thank you for your understanding, Uchida-san. I can appreciate that someone else here is being a professional."
Eriko seems whimsically immune to the daggers being stared into the back of his head.
Umie explains the details of the Joker Rumour, and Eriko nods. "It's hard not to see the Joker Killer as a means to an end, but if the end is simply fear, I don't know why yet. Perhaps you might have some other ideas, Ms Akabane?"
Tamaki invokes a shrine to supposedly historical figures. "Oh, how fascinating! Maybe we should go back up there some time and investigate, I'd love to know more! ...Do you think the zombies are still there or has it become a normal nature hike again?" Still, there's a more cogent thought. "...We don't yet know how much the rumours change reality... or history. The History Boom came rather out of nowhere, didn't it? And so many records are coming from that it makes one wonder if that's connected- but it's just as true Japan is full of history. And, admittedly, I was still overseas when people started talking about Kiyotada Sumaru, and the records seem to back things up..." Which may just mean they can't change records.
"...He wasn't so tight lipped, I admit," Eriko says, of the person they knew. "I assume it had to be Philemon's doing, but our leader didn't know much more than we did." Eriko sighs a little, remembering that late night conversation, when they were all locked in the school by Hanya's... 'well-meaning' interference. A glance to Tamaki, who looks to be a bit pained from her own feeling. "...So your method wasn't the same as theirs, then? That makes sense. From what you've been comfortable telling me so far, your experience was... pretty rough itself." She extends her hand to squeeze Tamaki's shoulder, a little grounding gesture. Yes, Eriko IS touchy feely, but she's also worried about her friend.
"Hmm... I don't know about Michael, given his duties, but I might feel a bit betrayed if Nike were off adventuring with someone else and not even telling me." Indeed, her heart hasn't felt the need for the Right Hand of God for some time. She doesn't tend to need the righteous sword these days... with a few exceptions. "That's right!" Eriko says, with a smile. "...Maki's Persona is different from the other two we knew then, as well. Still, when ours changed... they left us with a memento." Eriko reaches into her handbag and pulls out her totem- a spell card depicting a contract with ancient lettering. It's only when she holds it that the power coming off it is obvious- a remnant of the power of the Persona it once held. "The Judgement Contract between myself and the Archangel Michael. Most of us who went through that have our own." She slips it away, and... it's gone from anyone's register. That Spell Card, that Totem, can't be used by anyone else. It's a part of Eriko.
"That seems all the more reason to keep a low profile for you, Sonomura-san. You seemed to all be doing well enough at living normal lives until recently." Matsuoka isn't intending to stick the knife in or anything, if anything it seems a straightforward observation.
Matsuoka doesn't give anything away, but Eriko at least gives a small nod to Maki- as far as she's concerned, hiding Matsuoka's employer from Maki and Mark is mostly a pantomime.
"...He seemed broken, by the end. It was far more personal for some of us than others, but... he seemed more than ready to accept his death, and the death of his ideals." Eriko frowns. "...Once he achieved godhood, it was almost like he wanted to lose." Eriko can catch Masao's tension though, and she offers him a smile that shows her own worry. She's not exactly okay with it either, but the decision feels like it was made for them.
Eriko knows Maki enough to know that she couldn't shy away. "...Are you sure?" Eriko asks, despite knowing the answer. "You don't have to. You're a victim of that machine as well."
Maki explains, and Eriko lets her move to do so. When Umie makes an assumption, Eriko explains further. "Mikage-cho, the other Mikage-cho we were sent to... that was the world of Maki's heart." She looks to Mark now, and then Tamaki. "...And now we've seen them with our own eyes, there's a strong similarity to that other Mikage-cho and that dollhouse. That horrid palace, too." Eriko sighs. "It's part of why when the Phantom Thieves of Heart emerged, my investigative partner and I went on alert." She's not sure, but something about it seemed... familiar. After all, they were able to see one very lonely and wounded heart change too.
"...Nearly four years ago now," Eriko says, as if she doesn't remember the exact date and time down to the second her Persona awoke. "When we were at St Hermelin High School." ...About the same age the members of SEES are, for example.
"...She wasn't with us, for that part," Eriko says, of the Night Queen. "...She should explain the full deal of that too, given Tamaki was there too but hasn't gotten the whole story. "...Selfish or not, there were plenty of people trapped there without Personas- and after what happened with Ayase and Kenta, it was good to have someone who could make sure that everyone else was safe." Eriko sighs. "...And what happened in the Hypnos Tower was due to Miss Hirose's grief. You don't fault Kenta and Tsutomu for being taken to the Nemesis Tower. And I rather enjoyed the trip from the Thanatos Tower to Tartaurs, even if Yukino enjoyed it a lot less."
Aaaand Eriko realize she's skipped a whole bit. "...My apologies. The Night Queen... ostensibly it was a Persona as well. The Persona of Tomomi Fujimori- a girl from Miss Saeko's year who passed away when playing the role of the Snow Queen. Our school had a curse, in addition to everything else. A prop for the school play that had taken the lives of multiple students- and when we discovered and shower Miss Saeko, she tried to prove the curse wasn't real. Unfortunately, it was..."
Eriko sighs. "...There were three other ghosts tied to that mask, girls who had killed themselves under it's influence. And each of them had a Persona, and a tower they ruled over. There was Kumi Hirose and Hypnos, who put many of the students into a dream state, Yuriko Yamamoto and and Thanatos, who ruled a tower of give and take and finally Michiko Matsudaira and Nemesis, who was a woman obsessed with beauty. Hirose, Yamamoto and Fujimori all managed to find peace... Matsudaira was more... forcefully dealt with."
...They were rather unkind to poor Hirose, back then. Maybe it was necessary, but still...
"There were also shadows of Maki and Kandori, as I said, who seemed to serve the Night Queen, if not entirely willingly. When we found all the shards of the demon mirror, we were able to drive the Night Queen out... and in turn it became independent and became Nyx, the Night Queen. "...In some ways, it was as terrifying as Kandori himself. We came out stronger for the experience... but it was a fierce, brutal battle nonetheless."
That's when Eriko gets that glint. "...Still, it is rather an interesting coincidence, is it not? These mysterious towers over our school, and now there's a mysterious tower over Gekkoukan High... Even the name, Tartarus. I do wonder if they're connected somehow..."
<Pose Tracker> Maki Sonomura has posed.
Maki looks thoughtfully at Umie, as her Resonance spikes with a sensation not unlike a pinprick of fear. She sees it, too, the way the world swirls darkly around Umie for a moment.
"..."
She doesn't comment immediately. Instead, she considers the rest. And she looks back at Mark. "Heh," she says to Mari and Susano-o. "I wonder? It'd be interesting if I found someone with the same 'face' as me. I hope it wouldn't be like wearing the same dress to a party..." A nod to Eriko. "Right. The 'other me' had her own mask."
She pauses; Matsuoka does speak sense, and Maki nods. "I was," she says. "But... I can't ignore this, even if it would be safer. I appreciate your concern--but I must."
She nods to Eriko, when asking if she's sure. "I'm absolutely sure. Besides... I can't live with not knowing why."
The rumors of the Sengoku period are interesting. "Weird..."
But the nature could change? Hmmm....
"Right," she says of Kandori, more seriously. "I don't know of any rumors about him..."
"Almost four now," Maki confirms for Umie. "We are all pretty close to the same age, aren't we?"
Maki looks with a little concern at how Tamaki relates her old ability--after all, they had a talk. But--
The world of her own heart...
"We'll have to look into it," Maki says. "Of it being connected. There's a lot that i thought we could let slip by... that we really can't, anymore."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Tamaki's change in how she regards Matsuoka draws Umie's lips tight. A-ha ha hah, she was definitely leaving Tamaki out to dry there, wasn't she? Whoops.
She collaborates with Tamaki on the mention of Sengoku era. "Right. It doesn't seem to be planted; we encounted an elderly man that was trying to find it, in fact." No, that's a lie. Umie wouldn't know if a shrine was fake or not. The reason she knows it's not just been recent is... "It was a shrine to Fuyou, a martial arts master from that era. Before that, he went by the name Junnosuke Kuroda." Jun had recently questioned Umie's chosen method of dealing with such strange coincidences-- that is, to dismiss them as delusions. What if it's just a way for her to not look at them directly? "He used to be a servant of Tatsunoshin Suou, who served under Kiyotada Sumaru, the warlord Sumaru City is named after. The two of them tried to make an assassination attempt on Sumaru's life along with one other."
"... Lady Maihime." Another spike of anxiety, for Maki, if she's able to notice.
ha ha ha ha oh Tamaki, you had a front row seat on Umie screwing up what little protection everyone had unintentionally. Clearly, Umie had the right intentions, but rumors don't play well with good intentions, do they? "... I wouldn't put it past the Order to just take something advantage of something that's convenient. It's not like this... whatever it is, minds whatever the heck is going on."
Whatever is fueling Masao's own expression is complicated; again, Umie looks at Tamaki. Instead of commenting on that, she goes to the other topic at hand: Personas. "So Personas can change over time, as well as change back, huh. I guess it'd make sense, since they change in incremental ways. Badb certainly couldn't do all the things I'm able to do now, so.... maaaybe there is some wisdom in socializing with people, just maybe?" She smirks at that, shrugging. It's not like demons were challenging her in a way that made her grow as a person-- at least, in not the same way.
"I mean, I wasn't there for any of it, Inaba-san," Umie says, with a shrug, almost as a sort of... strange form of comforting? "So I'm hearing it all for the first time."
.... So why is she even here? ha ha ha oh no she'll have to say something, won't she?
"Four years ago, huh." She settles back against her sofa chair, crossing her arms. "And Joker Killer, by his own admission, gained his Mark about ten years ago, when he set that orphanage on fire, and--" Wait, what else happened? "Something else, too, right...?" It feels like there was something else.
"But maybe that strange Persona of his wasn't around then, or it was different. No one would have known." She pauses and shakes her head. ".... No, no, that's not it..." But it's not as if Mai-chan was there always, right?
.... right...?
But her Persona is Badb, not... whatever that thing is. It's fully Umie's.
"... I guess, one of the reasons I'm here is... I'm a veteran, like all of you. I mostly just cleared the streets of my neighborhood of shadows." She casually places an elbow on the back of her chair. "So all of my experience has just been with demons and keeping to myself."
Because she was a coward.
....
"Fear is what makes rumors work, right?" she says, returning to Eriko's earlier question. "Though, if Wang Long is a construct, would that be why people in their time of Joka are noticable? Maybe it's the power of belief that we're seeing."
Correction: something that *Umie* is seeing.
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
On cue as Eriko shares her memento, Masao digs about his person and pulls out what seems like an innocuous container of water - but it is so clear and clean as if to suggest what he's pulled out is some manner of empty receptacle instead.
"Yep! Just as she says!" With that same youthful, wide, mischievous smile he was known for. "This Purified Water is like that, for me and Susano-o!" That air of youthful fowardness fades as he puts it back into the same sense of 'place.' "...Really had to dig that deep when we were facin' down the late Joker Killer," he exhales. Felt good to stop him, less good to watch a broken young man just... end, like that.
"...Seriously, though, Uchida-san," he shakes his head, "not like you're the only one who ran into trouble and needed bailin' out. No shame in that." The whole police station capture, and... it still hurts to think about what happened to the people there he became familiar with on a nickname basis.
But now... the present.
"Tch, yeah, you're not wrong," he says to Eriko, "and the way one of those Palaces collapsed - the one belonging to a real creep, Kamiya, there was an earthquake that felt way too much like the one that happened when... that whole incident began."
Also he was sprinting for his life while screaming all manner of chained obscenities after a runaway cat-bus in out-and-out mortal terror. He's going to leave that part out. That part is not as important.
"That curse was real, huh," is all he can say to the legend of that cursed mask and just hearing the whole of it in this much detail now. He's going to consider it a blessing that Uesugi didn't goad him into a bet over that. But he is listening about mysterious towers over in Gekkoukan too, and... at least Kasugayama High in his neighborhood doesn't have that*. Those kids really have it rough enough there already.
(* If you think of the bomb shelter as an inverted underground tower, then...)
Masao shakes his head at some of all that's being said, but where Maki shows her resolve to be involved, he's silent for a bit about the strength she's found in the years that followed her classmates' ordeals - and hers, too. He presses his lips together, and nods.
"Yeah, none of this shit's goin' away, and... already met a bunch of kids havin' their lives turned upside down by all of this." The Joker Killer's attempt on Seki's life and their best friend, for one. "It's a lot to have to deal with on top of what we're already all goin' through as grown-ups now, yeah? But... I'm not gonna let anyone hang to dry like that."
After all, he's here now! Somehow this idea sticks out to him a lot more than it feels like it ought to?
Still... historical coincidences, Umie correcting him on presences, and... the talk about Sudou having been involved with this kind of thing in some form for ten years.
Ten years of just... being like that. Who else, Masao has to internally wonder. Who else is being left to be broken like that?
"Is everyonbe just gonna believe what they're told about on TV?" He asks, incredulous about it. He stops, thinking about it, looking to Matsuoka, and then to the rest, and then...
He slumps over. "Just sayin' it out loud like that... they are, aren't they."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki flashes Matsuoka a smile. Don't worry, Umie, she still landed on her feet! About her professionalism in comparison to someone else, though, "Hey, it's easier for me to be more professional when I've got a little bit more emotional distance from some history here." She flicks her eyes towards her other three old classmates. "Keep that in mind, alright?"
Eriko muses about the road to the sanitarium. "I don't know about zombies, but odds are that it's still a supernatural space. Areas touched by rumors like that tend to remain like that for some time, like underneath Kasugayama High School ..."
Umie beats her to explaining Kiyotada Sumaru's link to that very same shrine. "We don't yet know about how rumors can change established history or to what extent, no." She turns to Maki. "You worked with a student the other day when investigating the case for our agency, right? Junnosuke Kuroda certainly resembles his name. Tatsunoshin Suou is eerily similar to Tatsuya Suou, who Kashihara-kun is close to. And it's Maihime's surname of Amano that makes me think of one local reporter, Maya Amano."
Tamaki smiles wanly at Eriko's contact and waves a hand. "Sure, but there's no use dwelling on it. I'm more interested in hearing about what you all experienced." She listens to Eriko's explanation, then places a hand over her necklace and looks over at Mark. "... You too. I can fill you in on what happened at my old school sometime."
She had a front seat to Umie's meddling -- and was an active and willing participant, at that! It's not like she knows any better herself!
'Once he achieved godhood, it was almost like he wanted to lose.' Tamaki thinks back to her own experiences and recalls a specific sight ...
The antechamber to where the Deity Emperor resided was a grayscale version of the school, its layout turned twisted and mazelike, devoid of any students and faculty, any vibrancy and joy. Two boxes remained near the entrance, their contents symbolizing his mental state and outlook on life: both boxes were empty and hollow. He had taken everything he could, but still had nothing he wanted.
She half-closes her eyes and lets her head slightly turn down. "... yeah, that rhymes. I've seen that countenance in someone else. Some kind of self-destructive nihilism." As for the common link being Nyarlathotep, though, well ... the jury's out on that one. She honestly can't seem to remember.
Tamaki doesn't vocalize much of a response to Eriko and Mark's comfort about her reticence to be more involved in the Snow Queen incident, but she does give them both an assenting nod. "I might be too hard on myself, yeah, but ... still can't help thinking I could have done more."
Nothing what's said in here can leave this room, so when Eriko gets to explaining about the Snow Queen incident, rather than jot down notes like she usually does, Tamaki stares at her intently, committing everything she can to memory. Mention of Tartarus does cause her to speak up, pointing out what happened ten years ago that might be what Umie was having trouble pinpointing. "... Gekkoukan's Tartarus has been there for ten years, for what it's worth. From what I heard, it's been like that ever since an old Kirijo Group facility exploded where the school is today. The one you encountered may be the more recent one." She taps her finger on her cheek and looks up. "Depends on that mask's history, I guess."
Maki's statement about not being able to let things slip anymore causes an unsettling feeling that Tamaki has long tried to suppress to rise up in her again: the notion that she's not as disconnected from these events as she'd like to believe, that what happened at Karukozaka is part of the same grand tapestry as everything else. The parallels are becoming more and more clear to her -- the ideal worlds, the shadow selves, the same outlook held by Hazama and Kandori -- and she spent all this time convinced that this was an isolated incident.
Mark's comment seems to reinvigorate Tamaki's spirit, and she gives Umie a meaningful glance in turn. "Yeah. I took my break to recuperate, but these days, I'm trying to be the person who I felt like I needed back then."
Unfortunately, Tamaki flatly replies, "Yes," to Mark's question about just how gullible the public is. To counter his apparent defeatism, she raises a finger and grins. "But! Two can play at that game."
<Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.
Eriko smiles at Maki's joke about someone with the same face, but there's a tinge of sadness to it. After all, she knew several people with the same face as Maki. Some younger, some the same... some monstrous. One she misses more than the rest, for all she loves the best friend she has now.
It's not a matter of choice for Maki, and Matsuoka frowns disapprovingly but doesn't say any more. Tatsunoshin Suou, Junnosuke Kuroda and Maihime Amano... Eriko frowns slightly. "...Junko Kuroda is Jun's mother's stage name," Eriko says, to fill in the blank for Tamaki and the others. "She's Brown's cohost on SumaSumaSumaru, so occasionally I work with her. It's hard to say it's coincidence there."
Umie raises the reason she's here. "...Were you working alone, Ms Akabane?" Eriko's genuinely curious- she can't imagine how hard it would be to be a solo persona user, after the bonds she made with her friends. It must have been a different experience... "I hope you won't feel you need to do that any longer."
Mark compares the collapse of the palace to the start of the SEBEC Incident. She only caught the aftermath of the hospital, after all.
"Lots of curses are real, Mark. Some are just worse than others."
Eriko nods, though, with Mark's resolve. "Exactly. We had adults who were prepared to put themselves on the line for us, they deserve the same. If we can help them, it's worth it." ...She really should touch base with Yukari again now...
Matsuoka frowns at Tamaki again. "That's why I'm here. Hopefully you can keep that emotional distance."
...yeah, that rhymes.
Eriko, having heard bits and pieces now, can put two and two together. It's probably for the best that Tamaki recused herself, even if she thinks herself a coward.
"Mmm," Eriko says, about the Kirijo group facility. "Well, I have been wanting to explore it myself. I might even have a contact! It could just be using the same name, of course."
"Fear...?" Eriko frowns, for a moment. "How interesting... I had assumed it was just public interest... Fear is a good motivator for popularity, though... I am planning to try and get a chance to have a word with Ms Ishigami herself, but I haven't been able to get work in the right place and time lately... It might take a little time to get the opportunity, and my investigative partner is chasing his own leads..."
Still, Eriko finally takes stock- they've been talking for a while, and the sky is turning red.
"...Well, I think we've been at this long enough, don't you? We should probably take a break, don't you think. We can even get room service!" Eriko pauses.
"Don't worry about the cost, I can expense it to my investigative partner."
Matsuoka gives Eriko one of those looks, and she just smiles back sweetly.
(It will absolutely be getting expensed. It probably won't even be one of the most expensive expensed meals to the penthouse this week.)