Having a map of the maze was useful, and probably important, but Hikari wanted to look at a few things close by before sending any of her friends in there. More specifically, she wanted to take a closer look at the gears, which were embedded into the walls of the maze.
The gears came in all sorts of colors and sizes. There were silver gears the size of a small coin, and golden ones as large as Ribbon's head. There was bronze the size of a person's hand, and an odd bluish metal that matched the size of a cat's paw.
All of them were meshed together, as if they were all connected to the same mechanism, though they did not move. Several sections of gears were completely covered in spiderwebs.
"I do not believe you could get those gears to move," Ribbon remarked. "Those spiderwebs are just too thick."
"Dunno how they'd have gotten this way." Shinjiro, too, was inspecting the gears, if not closely. "You'd think someone would have come around to get rid of them before they could get this bad."
"It didn't look like anyone was taking care of the outside, either, though," Hikari pointed out. "Or... maybe someone was supposed to, but... then the webs... those normally come with- come with spiders..." She let herself trail off, not particularly wanting to think about that possibility, particularly given the powerful presences she'd sensed lurking inside the maze.
"Either way, I doubt you could remove the webs by hand. Perhaps if you had a knife..." Hikari had no idea why the little robot would jump straight to wanting a knife, but this probably wasn't the time to ask about it.
Shinjiro gave a short laugh, but there wasn't any humor to it. "'Fraid I'm all out of knives. I know how to use an axe, but... that might just cause more problems." Right. Attacking the webs with something like that would probably damage the gears underneath, completely defeating the purpose of removing them in the first place.
...Also, Hikari remembered reading something once about how spiders could sense when insects landed on their webs, and she really didn't want to deal with a spider that could somehow make webs that were that thick. Assuming an army of them didn't just swarm out from between the gears...
...Okay, definitely time for a new train of thought.
"Maybe... we could burn them away?" She found herself suggesting. "I... know there's some sources of fire in the maze, but it's not really safe..."
"And wandering around a world full of Shadows is?" She had to admit that he had a point. "And you're a Navigator. You're probably the safest person here." This, however, was not particularly reassuring.
"I'm pretty small compared to either of you," Ribbon remarked, as if this could somehow be news when she was so tiny. "And... I believe Shadows prioritize Persona Users? Is that correct?" If it was, it'd be news to Hikari as well. They both looked to Shinjiro.
"Dunno where you would have heard that... but they do tend to ignore normal people if there's someone with a Persona around. Probably so they don't get hit with an Agidyne while hunting, or something..." For a moment, Hikari wondered what an Agidyne was, before remembering the fires that the Flowing Sand had brought with it had been called Agi-something. Presumably, it was the same basic kind of thing, even if it wasn't that exactly.
"It... might not be safe for you to go on your own," She remarked. "But... I guess someone will have to go into the maze." The question was which entrance to send them through... Either path they took would lead them to a flame that was just as good as the one on the other path.
On the north path, there weren't any smaller Shadows to deal with- just strong presences. However, the paths themselves were mostly straightforward, with only a few loops that were placed near to the strong presences. If Hikari sent her friends there, they would have to beware of anything that could wake those presences from their dormancy.
On the south path, there was only one powerful presence, but it was practically swarming with smaller Shadows, and the paths themselves were more twisted- it was obviously a maze where people were meant to get lost in, and never find the way out. If Hikari sent her friends there, she would have to give them help navigating, or they could easily get lost and never return.
This... was not an easy decision. However, a decision would have to be made.
[ ] Hikari would send at least one of her friends through the northern maze.
-[ ] Shinjiro.
-[ ] Ribbon.
-[ ] Both.
[ ] Hikari would send at least one of her friends through the southern maze.
-[ ] Shinjiro.
-[ ] Ribbon.
-[ ] Both.