In Pursuit of Ego, a Persona 4 and Project Moon Quest

[X] Plan: Faith.

Before speaking, you take a moment to take stock of yourself. Aside from sore muscles and a few bruises, you are no worse for wear. The feeling of fatigue weighing down on you feels unfamiliar; you were not much of a fighter as Benjamin, and in the Library, the end of every reception reset your bodies back to their optimal state. Regardless, you resist the impulse to slouch your posture and dust yourself off. Your white coat, you fear, might be a lost cause—after tumbling through a store and weathering that wind attack, it is torn in several places and beyond dirty. Nevertheless, you do your best to adopt a stalwart posture before addressing your students.

"Now that the immediate crisis has been resolved, which one of you would like to explain to me what drove you three to attempt entering an unknown, dangerous place all on your own?" you start, making your disappointment clear.

Both Chie and Yosuke immediately cringe, the later actually taking a half-step behind Yu unconsciously. The transfer student, for his part, does a better job of hiding his embarrassment. After eyeing both his classmates and realizing no help is forthcoming, he sighs.

"After the school assembly, we got talking—we realized that both Konishi Saki and that TV announcer had something in common: they both had appeared on the Midnight Channel before their bodies were found. And since when we came here yesterday, we found pictures of the announcer, we thought we could find some clues about Saki too" he explains, growing more confident as he goes along. The other two nod along with his explanation.

"I see. But you already knew this place was dangerous, did you not? In that case, why not simply inform the authorities and let them handle the investigation?" you probe.

This time, it is Yosuke who answers. "Yeah, like they'd believe us. A world inside the TV? Hell, we didn't believe it either until Yu showed us" he says, gesturing around him. "And hey, turns out we were right! Someone's been throwing people in here, isn't that right Teddie?"

"Huh?" the colorful creature startles. "Oh yeah, you're right. At first I thought it was you guys, but that can't be, Teacher is a good person after all!" he says, slapping Yu's shoulder. "Yosuke's alright too, I guess."

"What do you mean 'alright'? Also how come you're calling him Teacher all of a sudden?" Yosuke pipes up.

As Teddie and Yosuke bicker, you rise an eyebrow at the bear, but it is Chie who notices your confusion and answers. "Oh yeah, that's Teddie, he lives here. He's the one who let us out last time."

"And he also gave us these sweet glasses" points out Yu, adjusting them just so that they glint in the light. Teddie puffs up with pride, while Yosuke grumbles. "Yeah, I guess they look pretty nice..." he concedes. "Hey! how come I didn't get any?" chimes in Chie. Before you get further off topic, you attempt to bring the conversation back to the important matters.

"So you have determined that both Mayumi Yamano and Saki Konishi appeared on this 'Midnight Channel' shortly after going missing, and were thereafter found dead hanging from cables. Moreover, Teddie here can corroborate that two people appeared within this space in a time frame that matches the disappearances" you summarize. "That is a commendable find, considering the short time frame. Is there anything else?"

"I guess?" Teddie hedges. "The only other thing I know is that when the fog appears on your side, it lifts on this side. When the fog's gone, the Shadows get aggressive, so I usually just hide."

Shadows. Those must be the creatures you fought. So they are native to this place? They reacted to the traces scattered by the Abnormalities, which might indicate they are related to the Well in some manner. But their forms were unstable, transforming from their shapeless state into monsters only when they sensed you. Rather than Abnormalities, they are more reminiscent of the Ordeals that would plague the facility, manifesting as the Qliphoth Deterrence deteriorated and more of the Well's detritus permeated through the space. Except that last creature you faced, the one that mimicked Yosuke. It clearly appeared to be a manifestation of the young boy's mental state. The similarities to the Distortion phenomenon are concerning. Which leads you to the next important question.

"That power you demonstrated" you say, drawing the students' attention once again, but you focus your gaze on the grey-haired boy. "'Persona', you called it. What is it, and how did you acquire it?"

Both of the other students turn towards Yu, clearly curious as well. He looks down, a complicated look on his face. "I... I'm not sure. When the Shadows attacked us, I heard a voice, and I just... went with the flow. The movements all felt natural to me, like I just knew what to do."

You do your best to keep your reaction from showing. The instinctive knowledge of its use points to this being a form of EGO, but somewhat different from what you are used to; a guardian presence, rather than a piece of equipment. However, it is astonishing to think that this young, seemingly ordinary man has managed to manifest EGO of his own. You recall how the abnormalities reacted on your first day of class—there is no doubt something unusual about him, but he does not seem to know it himself. Moreover, that voice he heard... you cannot help a feeling of trepidation at considering the possibility. But questioning him further about it at this juncture will likely be counterproductive. Instead you turn your attention to Yosuke.

"And am I correct in assuming that Mr. Hanamura now has the same ability?" you ask him.

"That's... holy crap, you're right! I think... hold on, I got this, I just need to..." His face scrunches up in effort, and he brings his hand forward, a blue light appearing there. "Hnng... Jiraiya!" he shouts, and the light erupts with the sound of breaking glass, coalescing into the figure you had glimpsed before but briefly: a flamboyantly dressed man with stars for eyes. It wears a flowing red scarf and the golden triangles that made up the Shadow's teeth are now emblazoned on its chest in a V shape. It thrusts its arms forward, small blades on its palms spinning like propellers, but rather than the wind blast from before, a gentle breeze envelops you instead. You feel the soreness in your arms and back abate, and even the tears in your coat begin to mend themselves. Although the fatigue is still present, you feel no worse than if you had gone out for a vigorous jog.

"Ohh, cool, it's like some sort of healing power" says Chie, with relief in her voice. "Hey quick, do my leg too!"

"I'm doing it, I'm doing it! Quit rushing me, I'm still new at this..."

Soon enough, Chie is jumping and kicking in the air, testing out her fixed ankle. Yosuke repeats the feat a third time, taking care of Yu's injuries and repairing his uniform. "Thanks" the grey-haired student says. "Do you feel any different?"

"A little winded maybe? Not by a lot though" he says. He tries a few more moves, replicating the wind gust from earlier, before turning to you with a triumphant look.

"See? We've got this! Now that we have our cool powers, we can investigate the murders ourselves. It's not like the police could do anything about the Shadows, plus Yu's the only one that can enter the TV anyways."

"That's not true" Chie corrects him.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Yosuke replies, confused.

"How did you think we came in after you guys? Professor Hokma opened the portal too" she points out, and suddenly all eyes are on you again.

"Hey, that's right, how come the teacher ended up here anyway?" Yosuke asks, his tone accusatory, but not outright hostile.

"And that weapon you used..." adds Yu, giving you a thoughtful look.

You frown. You had hoped to avoid this, but if you are honest, since you decided to intervene it was inevitable that they would seek answers. Naturally, it would be a mistake to be too forthright with the details of you origin and your task, especially so early on. Though you dislike deception, Hod's story reminds you of how dangerous undue openness can be, however well-intentioned. No, you will not burden them with this.

"I was conducting my own investigation on Ms. Konishi's case, and I was looking for you to interview you when I found Ms. Satonaka in a state of distress, so I decided to lend my aid. As for how I was able to open the theshold—although I am wholly unfamiliar with this space and the creatures that inhabit it, I did encounter similar phenomena during my tenure at my previous place of employment."

They stare at you, obviously expecting you to continue, but you have already said as much as you dare. Although you have technically spoken no falsehood, it is clear you are being evasive, and the students are clearly unsatisfied. Chie seems ready to press the issue, but Yu speaks up first.

"We can continue talking later, but we should get back to our side first. We're all pretty tired after all" he says, his tone light. Transparent though it may be, you are happy to accept his offer for peace. With a flourish of his paw, Teddie causes a stack of televisions to appear from thin air, before he turns towards Chie and you.

"Oh, before you go. If you're gonna go looking for clues around here, you'll need these! They'll help you see through the fog" he says, presenting Chie with a pair of glasses with a yellow frame. "And for you!" he offers you a monocle, similar to your own, but rimmed in white. You accept it with a nod.

You say your goodbyes to Teddie, and after stepping through the screen, you find yourselves back in front of the electronics display at Junes. While you were inside the TV, it has become late; the children quickly excuse themselves and head home. You watch them leave with mixed feelings. Though you would like warn them against putting themselves in danger, you know that it would be for naught—you could see it clearly in their eyes that their minds were made up. You decide to follow suit shortly after.

Today has certainly been an eventful day. After organizing your thoughts on what you have learned today, you will need to decide on a course of action. Starting tomorrow, you will:

[] Keep tabs on the three students
- [] Attempt to dissuade them from going into the TV world
- [] Follow them into the TV world
[] Investigate the murders (what lead should you pursue)?
[] Research Something
- [] The TV World: what is it, and how does it relate to this 'Midnight Channel'?
- [] The Shadows: what are they, how they differ from each other and how to best combat them.
- [] The Pages: something about that place has the Abnormalities reacting strangely, how has it affected them?
[] Build Something (Write-In for details)
- [] A Weapon
- [] A Tool
- [] An Assistant
- [] A Workshop
[] Something Else? (Write-In)

Small things you want to do or pay attention to that wouldn't take up significant time (like buying a cell phone or talking to a student) can be tacked on as a write-in.​