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

[BadassOverlord]

The first thing you feel when you wake up are the gentle vibrations under your seat. The regular hum and clatter together with the faint sense of inertia lets you know you're on a moving vehicle. You open your eyes gradually and carefully, bracing against the warm sunlight coming through the window. Raising you head slightly to look outside, you're greeted by the sight of a verdant and picturesque countryside, with broad rice paddies flanking the tracks of the train you're riding. Even though the seats are worn and the padding is thin, you feel incredibly comfortable, your limbs heavy and sluggish. A sense of peace surrounds you. Coupled with the cradling motions of the train, it's almost enough to lull you back to sleep.

You resist the urge and try to focus. You're not in the City. That is painfully obvious; the landscape crawling lazily by looks as alien to you as the surface of the moon. It also looks nothing like the empty wasteland where the Library was banished. This disconcerts you. You are not really human; you could only exist within the confines of the Library due to Angela's usurpation of the Seed of Light. And yet you're sitting here, no worse for wear.

You try to recall what might have led you here, but your thoughts are still muddy. There's the sharp, familiar sound of fingers snapping, a flash of purple light, and then... you're here. Try as you might, you can't recall anything else. Not where you came from, not for what purpose... With sudden horror, you realize you can't even remember your own name.

Your breath hitches and your vision swims. Panic threatens to drown you, but you clamp down on it. You feel as if your sense of self is sinking in an undifferentiated sea, but something still keeps you tethered. You recognize what this is. You are a part of the Seed of Light. You are inextricably tied to it, ten thousand years in purgatory crystalized into a virtue that anchors your identity.​

You are:

- [] The Will to Stand Up Straight
- [] The Rationality to Maintain Discretion
- [] The Hope to Be a Better Person
- [] The Fearlessness to Keep On Living
- [] The Expectation for the Meaning of Existence
- [] The Courage to Protect
- [] Those who are Faithful and Trustworthy
- [] The Eye Facing the Fear; Breaking the Cycle
- [] The Eye Embracing the Past; Building the Future

 

[BadassOverlord]

[X] The Eye Embracing the Past; Building the Future

You are Benjamin, a researcher and A's right hand man. You are Hokma, the Sephirah of the Department of Records. You are the Patron Librarian of the floor of Religion. All of these experiences together make up who you are at this moment, your sense of self.

You quickly regain your composure. Now that your mind has calmed, you can pay closer attention to your body. It feels healthy and strong, despite its aged appearance. You dig your nails into your palm experimentally, and are rewarded with a sharp pain, a sensation both familiar and foreign. After all this time, you are back in your body of flesh and blood. It feels as if you never left.

"Excuse me sir, are you okay?"

A voice startles you from your introspection. You look up to see a tall young man with grey hair, wearing a black uniform with a checkered collar. He is looking at you with a worried expression, a hand half outstretched as if to shake your shoulder. A quick glance around reveals you two are the only passengers on this section.

"I am fine. Thank you for your concern." You reassure him, but he lingers. "I must have nodded off and the shaking of the train woke me. It is nothing."

He doesn't look convinced, but before he can insist you both hear a chime followed by a monotone voice over speakers. "Yaso-Inaba. Now arriving at Yaso-Inaba." Immediately, the train begins to slow down, and the youth hurries to collect his belongings. Since this appears to be the last stop, you follow suit. There is a heavy leather briefcase resting on the seat next to you, and you don't seem to have any other luggage. You stop for a second to glance at your reflection in the window. You're dressed in the same attire you remember wearing everyday in the Library: white shirt, gray vest, suit pants, and tie, with your spotless white coat resting comfortably over your shoulders. Satisfied that you are presentable, you step off the train and onto the station.

Off to the side, you can see the gray-haired kid talking to a broad-shouldered man and a little girl. From atop the short flight of stairs, you take in the mostly empty station and the adjacent parking lot. It appears to be at the edge of a small town; the buildings vary greatly in shape and design, most of them have only one floor, and they are interspersed by wide roads and stretches of greenery. A wide, slow river cuts through it, hemmed in by flood barriers and criss-crossed by old-looking bridges. It reinforces your earlier conclusion: its layout is wholly unlike the tightly packed, claustrophobic construction of the Backstreets or the perfectly manicured architecture of the Nests. Moreover, nowhere in sight can you see any sort of concession made towards defense: there are no walls separating the districts from one another and none of the edifices appear to be reinforced. Like before, there is an intangible sense of quiet that feels disconcerting to you. You are incredibly skeptical that such a laid-back settlement could ever last in the Outskirts. As absurd as it may seem, you are forced to admit the possibility that you have been sent to a different world entirely.

If that is the case, the first order of business is to examine the resources at your disposal and gather information. You pick up a pamphlet from a stand by the station's entrance and skim through its contents as you make your way towards a nearby bench. You are in Inaba, a town in the country of Japan with around fifty thousand residents, once a coal mining spot and nowadays best known for its hot springs and beef steak. You take note of the fact that you have no difficulty at all understanding the local language, but you set the thought aside along with the pamphlet to focus on a more pressing matter. From the moment you touched the handle, you've felt something coming from the suitcase, a subtle tugging of your attention.

When you open it, your senses are immediately drawn towards a collection of books you are intimately acquainted with: Burrowing Heaven, The Price of Silence, Blue Star, and White Night. These are the abnormalities you were responsible for safekeeping, and uniquely dangerous ones at that. Brushing your fingers along the covers sparks a tingling sensation, but the books cannot be opened; the abnormalities inside are dormant, even more so than usual. This is not surprising; even during receptions you would always need to inflame the guests' emotions to a certain level before they could be called to battle, and unlike the Library, which was bathed in the Light, this place seems wholly bereft of it. You surmise there is little danger of any of them escaping in their current state, but neither will you be able to call upon them until you find a source that can empower them.

What does come as a surprise is the fifth book, buried beneath the rest. It is completely blank, save for the title on the cover: "Book of Sagiri-no-Kami".

It seems likely to you that this is the purpose of your presence here. The logic appears sound: after losing most of its books and being exiled from the City, the Library must obtain new powerful books before it can hope to challenge the Head once again. This means that despite its unassuming appearance, this town must surely hide something greater behind the scenes, and you doubt it will be easy to find.

With this, you turn your attention to the more mundane contents of the briefcase. You find a modest sum of currency, alongside a stack of documents. The first is an identification card, bearing your image under the name "Benjamin Hokma". You find this a bit amusing; you'd never have thought of simply putting together both of your previous lives as an alias. It should work well enough, however. Since it identifies you as a foreigner, it should aid in disguising your lack of familiarity with this worlds customs. It seems Angela, or whoever put you up to this mission, was quite thorough in providing you a suitable background. This further solidifies your hypothesis that this will be a long-term assignment.

The next set of papers all but confirms it. It is an application form, already filled, for the position of:

[] Professor of Religious Studies at Yasogami High
[] Assistant Manager at Junes Department Store
[] Bartender at Shiroku Pub
[] General Practitioner at Inaba Municipal Hospital
[] Something Else? (Write-In)

You suppose finding an occupation will be necessary, both as a way to blend in as well as to secure a source of income, since you can't expect your initial funds to last indefinitely. You should also consider the matter of lodging. As if responding to your thoughts, you turn the page to find:

[] A reservation at Amagi Inn
[] A lease agreement for an apartment near the shopping district
[] A key and an address on the edge of town
[] Something Else? (Write-In)​

 

[BadassOverlord]

[X] Professor of Religious Studies at Yasogami High
[X] A key and an address on the edge of town

The address written on the paper turns out to be a good distance away from the station; coupled with your unfamiliarity with the area, you end up walking around the town until sundown. By the time you find the right location, it has begun to rain rather heavily.

You find yourself staring at a boarded-up storefront hidden in the shadow of a warehouse. It is surrounded by a handful of plain houses, and it is just a few blocks away from where the homes peter out and the mountain's slope begins. The front of the building is shut tight, but with a quick look around you find another door around the back; you need to give the key a few tries before it opens with a squeak. You quickly step inside, shaking the water from your hair as you feel around for a light switch. You find it, and thankfully the light tubes above your head buzz to life after only a few sputters. It appears to have been a convenience store or something similar, judging by the counter and the rows of shelves, now empty of any products. You take a moment to examine it. It is fairly cramped, with narrow aisles, but if you were to toss out the shelves you would have a decently spacious workspace; something to consider later. As you would expect, it is also very dusty, but none of the furniture seems excessively rusty or worn. You would wager it hasn't been vacant for more than a couple months at most. Checking the back area reveals a bathroom and kitchenette, fortunately with running water. Unlike most of the surrounding buildings, this one is not made of wood but concrete, so it should be decently soundproof, and with the front boarded up nobody will be able to see whether the lights are on from the outside.

Satisfied, you take the narrow staircase behind the counter up to a small attic. The only furnishings are a double bed with a bare mattress, a wardrobe and an old television. You take a closer look at the screen; it is a bulky thing, boxed in wood, relying on primitive light emission technology. From what you've observed thus far, even putting aside the singularities, this world's level of technology appears to be significantly inferior to the City's. You turn it on, finding it set to a news program. It seems to be covering some sort of political scandal, but since you lack the context to place any names, you quickly grow disinterested and turn it off. Instead, you decide to just dry yourself off and go to sleep early; tomorrow will be the first day of your new job, as well as the beginning of your investigation proper.

April 12th, Tuesday

You make sure to rise early and arrive to your new workplace with plenty of time to spare. The morning is again rainy, but luckily you manage to procure an umbrella from a street-side vendor on your way there. Yasogami High School is located on the west end of Inaba, somewhat removed from the noise of the town. The only path to reach it is a wide paved road, flanked by rows of trees and leading all the way up to the metal gate. The school itself consists of two stone buildings, three stories for the front one and two for the back, linked by covered hallways and enveloping a central courtyard. Overall, it is a little plain, but not too dissimilar to what you might find in a Nest. However, unlike those institutions filled with desperate individuals willing and eager to trample one another for the privilege of becoming a Feather, Yasogami High hosts a much lighter atmosphere. From the moment you cross the entrance, you can see and hear students conversing, laughing together and gossiping about the most frivolous topics. Once again, it seems you will have to reexamine your expectations if you are to blend in successfully.

You make a quick visit to the principal's office to receive your assignments. Apparently, one of the school's faculty members has recently resigned in, from what you gather from the old man's demeanor, unsavory circumstances, and this is how your application was fast-tracked with so little scrutiny. Aside from teaching your chosen subject, you will be responsible for taking on the role of homeroom teacher for class 2-2.

---

"I'm telling you, it was that announcer chick from the news, I saw her!"
"Seriously dude? The Midnight Channel? you believe in that crap?"
"It's totally real, I turned on the TV after twelve and there she was! It was kinda spooky..."

You overhear some of the students chattering excitedly. A couple of heads turn your way when you enter the classroom, but most remain absorbed in their conversations. You walk over to the desk and drop your briefcase heavily on top of it, snapping the class to attention.

"If I may have your attention for a moment" you begin with an even tone. "My name is Professor Hokma. I regret to inform you that your homeroom teacher Mr. Morooka has stepped down due to personal reasons. Therefore, I will be fulfilling that role from today forwards. I will also be teaching Religious Studies, beginning with today's first and second periods."

Whispering breaks out among the students. There is confusion at your announcement, as well as relief, which you did not expect. You give them a moment before you continue. "Now, I believe we have a new transfer student joining us today. Narukami Yu, would you mind stepping forward?"

You are amused at seeing the surprised look on the face of the same grey-haired teenager you met at the train yesterday. As soon as he joins you at the front of the class, however, your own eyebrows shoot up in shock. Standing this close to him, a sudden sensation makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Instinctively, you place your hand on top of your briefcase, where your Books reside. It feels slightly warm to the touch.

You quickly school your expression back into neutrality; fortunately, it seems the class was mostly focused on his introduction. You watch him closely as he returns to his seat and resumes talking quietly with a girl in a green jacket sitting next to him. He does not give any indication that he has noticed anything amiss. Whatever has made the abnormalities react, maybe he himself is not aware of it? It certainly was not present yesterday.

You are forced to put aside those thoughts and focus back on the class; it would not do to tip your hand and invite suspicion this early. You clear your throat, cutting off the chatter.

"With this matter taken care of, we shall begin with today's lecture immediately. I will be assigning you the mandatory reading material for the introductory syllabus. I expect you to be well acquainted with its contents before next weeks lesson."

You pay no attention to the wave of dismay that passes through the class as the relief from earlier evaporates in an instant. Your position as a teacher might just be a temporary cover, but you are a man of principles, and you will educate these children to the full extent of your abilites.

---

"This concludes today's lecture. You are dismissed."

Around twenty sighs of relief follow your declaration as various students slump over their desks or complain of aching wrists. Before either you or your students can finish packing, though, the school's public announcement system comes to life:

"Attention, all teachers. Please report immediately to the faculty office for a brief staff meeting. All students must return to their classrooms and are not to leave the school until further notice."

Frowning at this unexpected turn of events, you pick up your briefcase and step out into the hallway. As you make your way to the faculty office, you pick up the sound of sirens in the distance. You try to look out one of the windows to find the source, but find no luck: the rain has stopped, but now a thick fog has risen, stopping you from making out anything useful. The meeting is short, and similarly uninformative. Apparently, a 'violent incident' has taken place nearby, and police are now investigating the area. The principal was contacted and there is now a squad car standing by at the school's entrance, presumably out of concern for the students' safety. Most of the faculty devolves into pointless worrying and conjectures. It perplexes you that just one event would warrant this level of reaction, but you once again remind yourself that you are not in the City; this sort of thing must be unusual for the people of this town. The decision is made to send the students straight home, and a few minutes later the PA system delivers an announcement to that effect. Soon, the student body begins to trickle out of the school, with more excitement than trepidation.

The principal dismisses the meeting shortly after. Now, you are free to act as you see fit. You decide to:​

[] Investigate the transfer student
- [] Check the school's records on him
- [] Attempt to follow him
- [] Talk to him directly
[] Investigate the incident
- [] Talk to the police
- [] Attempt to investigate on your own
[] Something Else? (Write-In)​

 

[BadassOverlord]

[X] Investigate the town to familiarize yourself with it and the people who live there
-[X] study local myths and legends as well
-[X] While investigating, buy some cleaning supplies for your newly acquired house

Your first impulse is to jump on the leads right in front of you, but you dismiss it. Your knowledge of your new environment is still too limited, and acting too rashly might risk exposing your status as an outsider. Therefore, the prudent course of action is to continue gathering information and improving your base of operations while retaining a low profile. Haste makes waste, after all. Thus, while the majority of students and teachers alike file out of the school grounds, you instead head back inside to your first stop: the library. With all of the students sent home early, the place should be empty and quiet. Though it is rather small and humble, it shall serve your purpose.

You begin your research by selecting books on world history, aiming to gain an overview of major events before moving onto Japanese history and finally local records. Most such information should be common knowledge to the people around you, and while you suspect your status as a foreigner will give you some leeway, you would rather not be perceived as a fool. What you find fascinates you—thorough records spanning thousands of years. You recall how Malkuth would often complain about the City's lack of historical records. Although it is known that many nations existed before the City, not even their names have remained, and its people have no interest in their past, too caught up in surviving their present. By contrast, the government of this country considers this knowledge important enough to form part of their children's foundational education, end even use it as a vehicle for the formation of a national identity. Turning the pages, you find name after name of those who left their mark behind, and the further back you go, the more the line between history and mythology begins to blur. In the City, names don't last—Colors, Stars of the City, even Wings rise and fall and are forgotten about after just a few years. But here it is different: prophets, kings and heroes, gods and monsters, all are embedded in the people's imagination.

You lose track of time as you immerse yourself in the familiar rhythm of research. It is several hours later when a loud grumbling sound breaks the silence of the library. Much to your embarrassment, you realize the source of the sound is your own stomach—you have not actually eaten any food since you woke up on the train. You had completely forgotten the sensation of a body that required such things to function; even after leaving behind your metal body for the one Angela gave you, you had never felt the inclination to indulge in it, despite Chesed's repeated invitations for coffee. You decide to cut your research short for the day and return to your home, quickly grabbing some food from the school's store before it closes.

April 13th, Wednesday

The next morning comes with yet more rain. Your second day as a teacher goes much the same as the first one: more lectures, more faculty meetings, more inane gossip. You make sure to keep an eye on the transfer student, but find no insights—aside from that strange reaction, he seems like a perfectly ordinary student. Once classes are finished, you decide to spend this afternoon visiting the town's central shopping district so you can avoid repeating yesterday's mistake.

Despite the previous day's agitation, it seems business in this part of the town continues as usual. Since the rain has abated, you take your time examining the disparate and colorful storefronts lining the street. Aside from groceries, you make sure to buy cleaning supplies and basic furnishings for your base of operations—If you are expected reside here for any length of time, you will not tolerate a disorderly environment. In truth, if your only objective was to obtain these, you would have probably been better served by visiting the Junes department store. However, this method allows you the chance to get better acquainted with the layout of the town and take the measure of its inhabitants. Most of the shopkeepers are friendly and chatty, and respond readily to your questions. It seems the opening of the major store chain is a recent development, and already it has driven several locals out of business. You also learn some more about the earlier incident—it seems a corpse was found hung from an electrical line in broad daylight, belonging to some TV personality or other. Apparently she had recently been involved in some manner of scandal, and the town is now abuzz with rampant speculation on the possible culprit and their motive. The people here unguardedly regale you with such worries and gossip without much prompting on your part, to the point you end up needing to excuse yourself lest you are kept there until midnight.

By the time you reach your residence, you are already feeling the accumulated fatigue from the day dragging at you, but you do not give into it quite yet. You diligently dust and tidy every surface of the shop, and make sure to apportion your meals for the next few days. You have little experience in cooking, so you opted to buy mostly canned foodstuffs and ready-made meals; this should save you from pointless busywork in the future as well. Even so, it is almost midnight by the time you are finished. The rain has now resumed, and developed fully into a thunderstorm. As you make ready to retire for the night, you are startled as your television suddenly comes to life. Amidst the static, you can barely make out the outline of a girl, with shoulder-length brown hair, and wearing a familiar uniform. Before you can get a closer look however, the image fades and the screen goes dark like it was before. You feel as if you have heard about something similar recently, but examining the device reveals nothing out of the ordinary. Without anything else to go on, you are forced to dismiss it as an unusual malfunction and go to sleep.
​

April 14th, Thursday

Once again, the school day goes by without much of interest. You have been paying attention to the student body, but you have not noticed any other anomalies. This time, you decide to spend your afternoon visiting the department store. It is much more expansive and orderly than the local shops, and you find no shortage of students hanging out around the food court or window-shopping. While there, you take the opportunity to purchase some additional sets of clothes—while you are very fond of your coat, it would be strange to others if you never wore anything else. You also consider the idea of obtaining a communication device, since these appear to be pretty commonplace, but your funds are rather sparse and you do not really have anyone you would want to call at the moment anyway.

You pass the evening in quiet study, going through the books you have borrowed from the school's library. You would have expected them to guard such knowledge more jealously, but this arrangement works in your favor. The more information you gather, the better prepared you will be.
​

April 15th, Friday

Halfway through the morning, classes are interrupted, and all students are gathered in the auditorium to be addressed by the school's principal.

"I... regret to say that I have a terrible announcement for all of you" The old man begins, "one of our third year students, Konishi Saki of class 3, has passed away." He waits for the reactions of surprise and dismay to pass before he elaborates, "Ms. Konishi was found deceased early this morning. The reasons behind her passing are currently under investigation by the police. If they ask for your cooperation, I urge you, as students of this school, to provide only the facts."

The principal continues speaking for a while longer, but the frantic whispering has already taken over your interest. Standing off to the side, you can easily hear the students talking.

"She was the one who found the first body, she appeared on TV and everything..."
"I heard she was hanging from the power lines, just like that announcer lady."
"They say the police haven't found the cause of death yet. It could be some sort of poison..."
"Does this mean there's a serial killer on the loose?"

You take note of how the reaction has changed. Now that there is a second victim, the people no longer see it as a freak incident, but as a pattern. There is now a cloud of unease and fear hanging about the school population, with some students visibly more affected than others. The teachers are affected as well, but they do their best to mask it and continue with classes as normal, and you follow them in trying to assuage the children's worries.

During your last homeroom period, three of your students are absent: the transfer student as well as two others.

There is still no proof that this strange case is related at all to your presence here, but neither do you have any other leads at the moment. For now, you should:

[] Investigate the mysterious deaths
- [] Talk to the police
- [] Talk to the students
[] Continue to observe
- [] Continue your research
- [] Work on a personal project
[] Something Else? (Write-In)​

 

[BadassOverlord]

[X] Investigate the mysterious deaths
- [X] Talk to the students

You are no fixer, but you are still confident your investigative skills are up to the task. Your first step should be interviewing the people who might know something about this recent events. Although the authorities are likely to have a better grasp of the relevant facts of the case, they are unlikely to take kindly to a mere school teacher poking his nose in. The students, by contrast, can barely contain themselves, and the sound of whispered conversations saturated the halls and classrooms. There is a kind of nervous energy driving them; there is fear, true, but also a morbid curiosity that expresses itself in furtive glances and eager tones. In this environment, your own inquiries do not draw any attention.

You gather from her classmates that Konishi Saki was not the most popular of students. She had no true friends, on account of spending a lot of time on her part time work at the Junes department store. A lot of people took an ill view of her working for the direct competitor to her family's business, a small brewery, and one of the many local businesses struggling recently. The fact that she had been the first to discover the announcer's body on her way home led many to speculate that the person responsible might have targeted her in order to silence her. You, however, are somewhat skeptical of this conclusion—for one, the public placement of the body meant that its discovery was inevitable, Ms. Konishi was no more likely than anyone else to be the first to stumble upon it. In fact, there is a compelling argument to be made that whoever went to the trouble to hang the body from an antenna must have wanted it be found. Moreover, the girl had already talked to the police before being found dead, and even been interviewed by the media, so unless she had withheld some information there was no use in silencing her after the fact.

Aside from that, you again hear about this 'Midnight Channel' rumor, where some people supposedly saw the first victim appear on TV after midnight before her body was found, and now some are claiming to have seen Ms. Konishi as well. You do remember the television coming on by itself the other night, but as to whether that ghostly image was the girl herself or not it is impossible for you to be certain. Nonetheless, you make a note to look into this again when you return home.

You also take note of you absent students. You quickly leaf through the attendance roll to double check: Narukami Yu, the transfer student, as well as Hanamura Yosuke and Satonaka Chie. Of the later, it looks like the boy also moved here recently, while the girl is a local. Neither of them has stood out particularly during your classes; Mr. Hanamura makes a poor job of hiding his disinterest, while Ms. Satonaka gets easily distracted. After asking around the school's entrance, you hear from one of the groundskeepers that they saw them leaving early, talking about visiting Junes. You had considered the idea of asking around Ms. Konishi's place of employment for more information, and you might not have been the only one to come up with such an idea. It could just be a coincidence, the place is supposedly very popular with teenagers after all, but it is also possible the children are just playing at being detectives. Whether it is that same morbid curiosity or a search for closure you cannot judge, but you would rather they did not endanger themselves unnecessarily.

After briefly considering your options, you decide to head there as well. It is a long shot, but they may have some knowledge that you do not, something urgent, rather than typical teenage impatience. The Junes food court is as lively as before, meaning you will probably have a hard time interviewing any of the staff until the end of the shift, which leaves you wandering the department store looking for your students. You do find them, but not in the way you expected—while looking for computer parts you could use, you turn a corner and spot a familiar green jacket, belonging to Ms. Satonaka. The usually energetic girl is kneeling on the floor in front of an electronics display while holding a frayed length of rope with a despondent look on her face. When you approach, you can see tears barely hanging onto the corners of her eyes, and when she spots you, her voice comes out an octave higher than usual.

"Wha- Professor? Wait, this isn't... I mean, I wasn't..." She jumps to her feet and briefly loses her balance—she catches herself on the edge of one of the display screens, before recoiling away from it as if it had burned her.

"Ms. Satonaka, please, get a hold of yourself" you say, and it comes out more authoritative than you intended. Regardless, it seems to stop her runaway emotions for a moment, allowing you to interject. "Is everything alright? Where are your friends?"

"They went back into—" she says before cutting herself off, and you can see worry warring with something else as she hesitates. Before she can say anything else however, you feel a sensation of warmth from your side, and the briefcase you've been carrying begins to emanate a soft golden light. At the same time, the large display TV you are both standing in front of comes to life in a burst of static, and you can barely make out the image of a fog-covered street. The girl immediately lunges for the screen and places both hands onto its surface, but whatever she was expecting does not happen, and her expression falls again. You step up next to her, and the reaction grows stronger. You begin to sense faint, familiar whispers in the back of your mind, like you did when receiving guests in the Library. You reach your hand up to the screen, and it wavers, like the surface of a pond.

Ms. Satonaka sees it and lest out a gasp. "You can go in there too?" she blurts out, and her slip does not go unnoticed.

"What do you mean by "too", Ms. Satonaka?" you say patiently. She hesitates anew, and you give her space. It doesn't take long before she seems to come to a resolution.

"I know this sounds crazy, but Yosuke and Yu went inside the TV a short while ago. Yosuke was convinced it was related to what happened to Saki, and we didn't want to leave him alone. They left me a lifeline, but then the rope snapped, and I tried to go in after them but I couldn't go through the screen, and I didn't know what to do..." she trails off and gives you an unsure look, as if expecting to be laughed at or reprimanded. You do neither. there is clearly a strange phenomenon here that warrants further analysis, but as you speak, the lives of two young men might be in danger.

You should:

[] Examine the TV and the reaction from the books
- [] Attempt to wake up one of the abnormalities (which one?)
- [] Focus on the image on the screen, see what you can make out
[] Force your way inside
- [] Bring Chie along with you
- [] Go in alone
[] Something Else? (Write-In)​

 

[BadassOverlord]

[X] Force your way inside
- [X] Bring Chie along with you

Your indecision lasts only a moment. Putting your weight behind it, you slowly push your hand into the screen, feeling as if you are straining against a fleshy membrane. You are briefly startled as you feel a pull on your arm and turn around to see Chie clinging to your side with a determined look on her face. For a moment, you consider making her stay for her own safety, but you have too little information to go on, and she is the only source you have. Moreover, her expression tells you she will not allow herself to be left behind a second time. So instead, you meet her gaze evenly, and give her a curt nod. Turning back to the TV, you bring your foot forward, and push with all your might. The tension breaks, there is a flash of light, and you both tumble through the threshold.

You are falling. You have only a few seconds to react before your feet meet a hard surface, but you manage to turn your momentum into an awkward roll, bleeding away most of it. You straighten up to see Chie land much more nimbly beside you, and you take a moment to examine your surroundings.

Fog. Thick, yellowish fog surrounds you in every direction, such that you can only see a few meters in front of you. Large stage lights cut hazy beams through the gloom, giving the scene a diaphanous, dreamlike air. Under your feet, there is a stage painted with black and white circles, with the prone silhouettes of countless people scattered around haphazardly, like a parody of a crime scene. The briefcase at your side pulses softly, like a beating heart, and the fog seems to ripple in time with it.

"This... this is the same place as before" Chie says, looking around as well. You give her a questioning look, and she elaborates. "Yesterday, we came here by accident. We all watched the Midnight Channel the night before; Yosuke and I only saw some spooky figure, but Yu said he stuck his hand through the TV. At first we didn't believe him of course, but then when we came to Junes he showed us and it actually did! We uh, we all kinda fell in and landed in here." She pauses, looking around. "Last time we met some weird talking bear thing, but I guess he's not around this time."

Again, she gives you an awkward look as if she expects you to mock her or call her crazy. In a different situation, you might be tempted to do so, but given where you are and what you are seeing, you have no choice but to discard your preconceptions and take events as they come. So you nod along with her explanation as you continue to look around you. "I see. What happened next?"

"Next we uh, we ran away from it and wound up in a strange apartment building, there was a room with a chair and a noose hanging in the middle of it, and it was plastered all over with pictures of that singer lady, y'know, the one from the TV scandal? After that we somehow found our way back, and the bear thing summoned a TV from somewhere and let us out." She looks around her again as she finishes her story. "I don't think the fog was this thick last time. How are we gonna find Yosuke and Yu?" she asks, and a bit of the worry and fear from earlier creeps back into her voice.

You take a moment to consider the situation. As you recall, the first victim was also involved in that political scandal like the singer, and she was found dead the day before. There is definitely a connection there, but right now it will not help you find the two missing students. Groping around blindly in this fog will likewise do you no good. As you go over your options, you are again distracted by the rhythmic pulsing coming from the briefcase, like an insistent pulling of your sleeve. On an impulse, you open the latch on it, and a fountain of pages bursts out from it, scattering around you before being caught by a nonexistent wind and carried away, all in the same direction.

Chie and you trade looks; she appears just as confused as you and simply shrugs. Considering what you just witnessed as well as what happened at the store, it seems clear that something inside this space has attracted the abnormalities' attention. Whatever could do that is likely to be dangerous, but that is all the more reason that you must investigate it. Lacking any other leads, you set out to follow the trail of paper, and Chie quickly runs up to follow you.

The fluttering pages lead you down familiar but twisted streets, lined on either side with decrepit and closed-up store fronts and choked with the ever present fog. Chie tries to prod you for information a couple times as you walk, but you have no insights you can share with her. All conversation dries up when you run into the first of the creatures.

Pitch black masses of shadow crawl and slither around the empty town, dragging themselves forward with clawed fingers and staring at the blinking streetlights with empty masks that float up to the surface. They vary greatly in size, and where the floating pages land, they quickly gather around them and bask in their glow, like moths to the flame. One of them briefly spots you, and lets out an inhuman growl before you duck out of sight into an alleyway.

"What the hell are those things?" Chie asks breathlessly, but you have no answer to give her. Could these be what attracted the abnormalities? No, looking above you, you can clearly see that the trail of glowing pages keeps going deeper into the town. "Whatever they are, they are likely hostile" you say, peering around the corner again. "But we have no choice but to get through them, if we wish to continue forward." Worst comes to worst, you could try calling one of the abnormalities to defend yourself. Given how active this place has made them, you are confident you could do it.

"We could try going around them?" you hear Chie say from behind you, and you turn around. "We are in the commercial district right? It's not exactly the same, but I know my way around town. There's lots of alleyways we can take to avoid them."

You give your student another considering look. The fear is still there, but it is being held back by determination, a strength born out of worry for her friends and their well-being. The sight of it brings you warmth, but it is tainted by discomfort—after all, you saw many guests who had escaped throw themselves back into the Library following similar emotions, and dooming themselves and others in the process. You even struck down some of them yourself. In spite of that, or maybe because of it, you cannot bring yourself to deny such heartfelt feelings.

"Very well. Point the way forward, and I will follow."

It is slow going, but between the creatures' fascination with the pages and the obscuring fog, you manage to skirt around them without drawing their attention. Chie's familiarity with your surroundings leads you true—as a lifelong resident of the town, she is able to lead you down side-streets and through backyards to avoid the largest concentrations of them. After several minutes of tense sneaking, you exit back onto the main road and stumble into a scene of chaos.

Through the slightly-thinner fog, you can see a panting Yosuke, frantically waving a golf club around as he tries to fend off a trio of floating, bulbous creatures with large human mouths and long, slobbering tongues. Looking past him, you spot a round, colorful silhouette cowering behind him. You cast your eyes around for the other boy, but quickly find him as there is a crackling sound and a huge, lumbering creature bursts out of one of the stores, reducing the front of the liquor store to dust and scattering bricks and splinters across the street. It is a green, four-legged creature with a golden smile full of teeth and wide, amphibian feet. From its back grows the upper half of a person, swaying and flopping bonelessly in the wind like a puppet. In front of it you can see Yu, wreathed in blue flames and flanked by an inhumanly tall warrior holding a spear.

"Yosuke!" Chie shouts by reflex, and two of the floating-tongue creatures turn your way; already, you can see more of them flowing into the street, attracted by the chaos. You take a step forward, and all of a sudden you feel as if you are back in the Library. Your body shifts into a ready stance, made natural from the experience of many receptions. Behind your eyes, you can feel a building pressure, and your ears ring with the familiar, restless whispers of the abnormalities reaching out, offering you their power, begging you to take it.

So you do.

You reach into the briefcase and pull out:
[] A long, blood-red spear ending in two twisted prongs (Heaven)
[] A jet-black scythe, with a wildly spinning clock where the haft meets the blade (The Thirteenth Toll)
[] A floating blue heart with an endless void at its center (Sound of a Star)
[] An ornate, bone-white staff enveloped by a snake and crowned by an apple (Paradise lost)
[] A cross-shaped mace with a skull on the head, wearing a crown of thorns (Penitence)

As you brandish your new weapon, you focus on:
[] Rescuing Yosuke and the colorful creature
[] Helping Yu against the giant Shadow

Guests:
Slipping Hablerie - Threat Level ZAYIN

Shadow ??? - Threat Level TETH
​

 

[BadassOverlord]

[X] Rescuing Yosuke and the colorful creature
[X] A cross-shaped mace with a skull on the head, wearing a crown of thorns (Penitence)

Your hand stops an inch away from reaching into the briefcase. The abnormalities clamor in the back of your head to be released, but you hesitate—you need a way to fight these creatures, but you have now idea how this strange environment will affect the abnormalities. If the worst were to happen, any of the abnormalities escaping could cause far greater harm than you could feasibly contain on your own. The power is right there, begging you to take it, but you just cannot do it; there's too many unknown factors at play.

The two floating creatures barrel straight towards you, and you have no more time to think. Both Chie and you throw yourselves to the side; the first of the monsters whistles right past you and crashes through a display window, while the second manages to slow down enough to turn and take off after you. You roll to your feet and scramble away towards a general store, shards of glass and debris sloughing off your white coat. The creature crashes in after you and you duck behind a shelf. The shadow slams into it, scattering its contents all over the floor but narrowly missing you. However, before you can regain your distance, its tongue lashes out and catches you ankle, pulling you to the ground. You land heavily on your back, and immediately, the creature is on you, opening its cavernous mouth to bite you in half. You scrabble back on hands and feet while desperately feeling around the floor of the wrecked store for something you can use. You feel your hand closing around something long and straight, and without time to look, you thrust it upwards.

You jam the broom's handle into the roof of the shadow's mouth, and it lets out a gurgling wail. You brace against the floor and push, managing to lever the creature off you. You try to force it even deeper to hopefully finish it off, but it slams its mouth shut, snapping the wooden handle and leaving you with less than two feet of splintered wood in your hands. You jump over the overturned shelves and quickly rush back out into the street before the monster has time to reorient itself.

This isn't working. You can't hurt these things effectively, but the abnormalities are too risky to use. You need something more reliable, something you can control...

A pained cry pulls you back into focus, and you turn to see Chie falling to the floor nearby, covered in cuts and scrapes. She tries to stand up and keep moving, but her right leg falters when she tries to put weight on it. The other creature approaches her slowly, bobbing up and down while letting out a guttural, uncanny approximation of human laughter. Behind you, you can hear its sibling shaking itself free of the general store's wreckage.

This isn't right. This is your mistake, you shouldn't have brought her here. This is your fault. You let your instincts guide you. Three steps put you between your student and the creature, and when it lunges, you lift the broken broom handle in a defensive stance. You know it will not hold. That's fine. You just need to buy time. Even if you were to fall here, so long as the students can get away...

The shadow crashes into you, and to your astonishment, your guard holds—and the creature backs away, as if suddenly cowed by your broom handle. No, that isn't right. The wood in your hand has been replaced by dark iron, and as you follow its length your eyes meet the gaze of a skull, set on a cross and wearing a crown of thorns.

You bring both hands to hold the familiar piece of EGO. The first, most basic piece of gear granted to agents of L Corp, extracted from the most benign abnormality. Already, you can feel the knowledge of its use flow through you, alongside an ethereal presence that feels both harsh and comforting. You step forward, and again the creature floats back away from you. You follow it until its backside hits a wall, and before it can regain its composure, you bring the cross down onto its bulbous body, sending it bouncing down the street. A rush of air from behind you heralds the arrival of its brother as it charges straight at your back, but you sidestep it, then slam your weapon into it horizontally, crushing it against the wall. It falls to the ground, twitching feebly before melting into black smoke. Quickly, you move to finish off the injured one, who suffers the same fate.

You turn a brief look back to see that Chie has regained her footing, leaning on a streetlight for support, and is now staring at you with eyes as wide as plates. Looking past her you see Yosuke, his golf club now lost, running towards you and screaming, with several of the creatures hot on his heels.

By now, you've gained the measure of these creatures. They are strong, but clumsy, and with little battle instincts beyond slamming bodily into their pray and biting into it. You rush forward to meet them, striking the lead one with a two-handed blow and sending it crashing into the second one. The two behind it halt, gingerly hovering outside your reach. Yosuke nearly collapses at your feet, panting heavily and mumbling incoherently.

"Mr. Hanamura, snap out of it!" you pull him to his feet by the collar and force him to look at you. He stops hyperventilating, and his panic begins to give way to confusion. "Wha—The teacher? What's going on here?"

Disregarding his question, you push him behind you and point your EGO at the shadows once more. "Go help Ms. Satonaka, and stay close" you tell him, and your commanding tone seems to snap him out of his fugue enough to clear your way to the remaining creatures.

They make a clumsy attempt at surrounding you, but you have no intention of wasting any more time on them. You dart forward with two swift strikes to finish off the two wounded ones before waving Yosuke and Chie through while you cover the retreat. The remaining two creatures back off into the fog and don't pursue you.

With the weaker shadows out of the way, the three of you start moving towards where your last student was fighting the larger monster. The fight seems to have moved further up the street while you were preoccupied. Was it a coincidence, or a deliberate move on Yu's part? You advance into the thickening fog while your ears struggle to pick out any details from the chaotic sounds of battle coming from ahead.

Just then, you hear a loud thunderclap, and you emerge from another patch of fog in time to see the creature from before stumble, knocking over a streetlight as it attempts to right itself. Yu himself looks the worse for wear; the back of his jacket has been torn to ribbons, his glasses, which you hadn't noticed he was wearing before, are cracked on the right side, and he's breathing heavily. He doesn't take his eyes off the shadow as you step up next to him.

"How's Yosuke?" he prompts, sparing a sideways glance at you, eyes focusing on your weapon. "Mr. Hanamura is uninjured" you reply. "He appears to have regained his wits. Now we just need to do away with one last monster."

Yu shakes his head, scowling as he watches the creature finally get its feet under it again. "I've already taken it out twice, but it just keeps getting back up. Even running it through didn't stop it for long."

You don't get the time to process this revelation, as the giant shadow bends its frog-like hind legs and leaps at you. Your group scatters to avoid its landing, which cracks the asphalt beneath you; you try to take a swing at its exposed side, but it rounds on you and lift one of its front legs.

"Out of the way, geezer!" it yells, and you're taken aback for a moment—although slightly distorted, it was identical to Yosuke's voice. It brings its foot down, and a massive wall of wind explodes towards you, pelting you with debris and almost knocking you off your feet; you barely manage to hold on by driving the haft of Penitence into one of the cracks in the pavement and bracing against it. Still, the shrieking wind blowing past your ears is enough to leave you temporarily deafened.

The creature turns away from you and starts advancing on Yosuke and Chie, but Yu emerges from the opposite side; the silhouette of the black warrior is visible for a brief moment as he unleashes a bright blue lightning bolt at the monster's exposed back. The shadow roars in anger and pain, and again you can make out Yosuke's voice, overlaid with a more guttural, bestial sound.

You regain your footing and rush to interpose yourself again between the monster and your students. It rears back and swats its forelimbs at you; you follow the instincts of your EGO and bat both strikes aside, though your arms ache from the strain. With one last effort, you step forward and deliver an upward swing into the creature's face, breaking off several of its teeth and sending it reeling. Seizing on the opening you've made, Yu leaps high into air and shouts, his voice hoarse from the effort: "Persona!" The black warrior appears again, clad in a long, flowing coat and wearing a metal mask. With a precise swing of its polearm, it bisects the humanoid upper half of the shadow, sending it crashing down to street level. Its lower body slumps to the ground, raising a cloud of dust. There is a brief moment of quiet, but right away you can see the humanoid upper half disintegrating into a shadow-like substance and flowing back towards its main body.

"We can't keep this up" Yu says, landing next to you. "We need to find a way to stop it for good." You nod your agreement. However, you don't understand this creatures well enough at the moment to figure out how. The only thing you have to go on is...

"It spoke with Mr. Hanamura's voice" you state, glancing at him for confirmation, and he nods. "It showed up after we entered the Konishi's store; it looked just like Yosuke but... wrong. It started provoking him, then it transformed into that monster and started attacking us" he explains.

You both turn towards Yosuke, who's staring at the creature's rapidly healing body with a look of terror on his face. He notices your stares and takes a step back. "No way" he denies. "That thing's not me. It's got nothing to do with me." At the same time, the shadow's body trembles, starting to stir awake.

"You've gotta talk to it!" All of you turn the face the colorful creature from before, who's just been pulled by Chie out from under the pile of rubble it had been hiding under. It looks like a children's toy, or like an advertisement mascot, shaped like a caricature of a bear. It somewhat reminds you of Happy Teddy Bear, but less worn out. It speaks in a high-pitched, boyish voice, laden with sympathy. "That thing came from you, Yosuke" he says, pointing towards the monster. "You have to admit it, or it'll go berserk again."

His hesitance is clear on the boy's face. Chie limps up next to him, and silently lays a hand on his shoulder. Seeing him like this, you are compelled to speak out.

"You came here because you felt grief at the passing of your upperclassman, did you not? The compassion that brought forth that courage, remember it, for it is all you need to take the next step forward."

Your encouragement seems to work—he breathes deeply and approaches, coming to a stop next to the shadow's body. When he comes close, more of that shadow-like substance emerges from it and starts to gather in front of him. "Whatever happens, you're still yourself" Yu says to him softly, and gives him a gentle push.

In front of him there is now another Yosuke. He is an exact mirror image, save for the lack of glasses and the smug, disdainful sneer on its face. "So you finally got yourself some friends huh? Not gonna run and hide behind them this time?" he says in a mocking tone. "Oh, maybe you think if you act cool in front of them then they'll like you? Wanna try playing the hero? Don't pretend that you suddenly give a shit" he spits, getting right up to Yosuke's face. "You can't bullshit me. I'm you, remember?"

Yosuke doesn't flinch. "So this is what I really look like, huh?" he grimaces. "It really sucks having to face yourself like this." He looks his mirror image straight in the eyes. "You're right. I did feel like that, but I was so ashamed I couldn't admit it." His voice is choked, but he doesn't cry. "You're me, and I'm you. All of this is part of me, when you get down to it."

The shadow only gives a solemn nod, before it dissolves into blue fire. You briefly see the shape of a flamboyantly dressed man with stars in his eyes, before it envelops Yosuke and disappears. "This is my Persona..." he whispers, before turning back to the group.

"'A real pain in the ass' huh? So that's how Saki really felt about me. God, what an embarrassing way to find out." He lets out a self-deprecating laugh, and you can feel the tension leave the group alongside it. "Thanks guys. I uh, I don't know if I could have done that if you hadn't been there."

Chie comes forward and elbows him playfully; Yu as well throws an arm around his shoulder. You let them have their moment—your attention is drawn to something else. As the shadow's body finishes disintegrating, there is something left behind—a piece of paper. You pick it up, and read the first line:

Page of S___n__o

It is obviously incomplete. There are only a handful of lines, all full of holes so as to make them illegible. Nonetheless, you place it in your briefcase. This is an important clue: you have nothing but questions regarding what just transpired, and what little you can hypothesize is worrying. Could this be some sort of remnant? That bizarre monster, if someone had told you it was a Distortion, you would not have batted an eye. The bear said it came from Yosuke, yet it existed separate from him. And the strange black warrior following Yu, it appeared like a form of EGO equipment. Did Mr. Hanamura just obtain the same power? How did Yu aqcuire it in the first place? There is much you need to investigate. The EGO weapon in your hand vanishes, no longer needed.

You look back towards the group, only to find them staring at you. It seems their little emotional moment is over, and now they are all giving you expectant looks. Hmm. You should probably:

[] Explain yourself (what do you say, and what do you keep?)
[] Ask your own questions (like what?)
[] Vanish mysteriously into the fog
[] Something Else? (Write-In)

Multiple options can be picked. All votes must be in plan format.​

 

[BadassOverlord]

[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.​