surgeworks

22 - December 2 | Table of Contents | January 1
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Alternate Title: Dour Denouement... of DEATH

Chris: Last time, we went through most of December after being given apocalyptic news by the person we strain to call our friend. The end of the game is right around the corner. Shinjiro isn’t here yet, as he’s getting some medication, but he’ll be here soon. Tristram is here with me.

Tristram: Yo. Sadly it’s gonna be a bit of a shitshow, given what time of year it is in-game.

Chris: 12/24, Christmas Eve, and we’re at school. Eesh, do kids in Japan not get a winter break before now? Yikes... Anyway, Ms. Terauchi talks about it, and explains to us that Christmas Eve is more like a pre-Valentine's Day, where couples spend time together and exchange gifts, explaining what Akihiko was saying on the walk about being jealous of those who had someone special as a kid.

We get messages from Yukari inviting us to a girls-only Christmas party after school, which we accept. Well, girls only except Mitsuru, who won't be present. She and Fuuka pick us up after school to go by the mall, where lights and decorations have been put up all over. After enjoying that, we end up in Yukari's room, where there's a cake. It has candles, and Fuuka calls it a Buche de Noel with chestnuts—no, she didn't make it, she bought it. She cuts it, and we eat, and generally have a good time.

Tristram: Honestly this scene is way better than most of the dates. I assume Shinjiro’s date would’ve been the best, because it’s Shinjiro, but we’ll never know because certain writers are HACKS.

Chris: Bleh, now I’m bitter. We fade out, and when we fade back in, Fuuka is marveling that Christmas is over already, and about how much fun she had. We cheerfully say to wait til next year, and Yukari agrees we should do this every year, but with Aigis and Mitsuru, too. It's late, but that doesn't mean the party's over: time to share embarrassing stories.

12/25. ...Err, we cut to the next day. We do, however, experience "great luck" in our fortune draw with Mitsuru, finding a lucky charm accessory, 10,000 yen, and being boosted to Great condition. Nice!

12/26. Today is the last day of the second semester. We spend time with Mitsuru today.

This time, we watch a movie with her. She had fun, getting so absorbed in the movie and the good popcorn that she ate half of ours. She says she appreciates the relaxation of a movie theater; you can have "bored" written all over your face and not need to worry about others seeing or caring—when we ask, she assures us the movie wasn't boring, she just meant generally. She then asks if we aren't the type of girl to feel uncomfortable watching a movie by our self, and says we might...be more suited to riding a motorcycle than her. We inquire, and yes, she's talking about the one we saw way back before the Priestess fight. She purchased it for the freedom: to go where she wants, when she wants, and do so by herself. As she describes it, it was a modest attempt at rebelling against her heavily restricted life.

She was going to get rid of it after it was damaged, but decided to repair it instead, as she enjoys riding when she has time.

> "Motorcycles are dangerous." (??? Who answers this after all of that...?)
> "Can I ride with you someday?" (!)

Hey, she's down. She thanks us for taking her out today, and we RANK UP.

Tristram: I have a motorbike – well, motorscooter, my ankles can’t do the gear thing – and she’s absolutely right about the amazing feeling of freedom you get from having one and the sheer number of options that suddenly open up for you. Of course there’s also the danger of dickheads on the road, but from what I’ve seen it’s a lot safer in Japan than it is here in semi-rural Australia!

Chris: Just being able to go where you want is so freeing, honestly.

12/27. We get a scene at TPI station. Fuuka's there, and sees Junpei. When asked, Junpei says he comes here when he's feeling down, and he's holding Chidori's sketchbook. This is where he first met her. You know. Where she ignored him and used him. He asks what she's doing here, and she says she went home for a bit. She's been going back there a lot lately. Junpei says she’s really changed, so timid when she first arrived, and look at her now. She says he’s changed too, but he doesn’t think so. He admits he’s still scared, but he doesn’t want to lose his memory. If he forgets everything, it means he’ll forget Chidori, too.

LET’S FUCKING DO IT. ANYTHING THAT MAKES YOU FORGET THAT BITCH IS GOOD. WRONG WORDS, ATLUS.

Tristram: *slams the Forget button repeatedly* I! Am! So! Sick! Of! This! Plotline! Chidori was horrible! She made you horrible! And now you’re literally not yourself because she fused herself with you! THAT’S NOT A GOOD THING, JUST LOOK AT THE SMT GAMES!

“...So I say “f” that.”

Chris:

If you’re not brave enough to say “fuck”, just say “screw”.

Tristram: Oh, so that’s where the precedent for Ryuji never saying Fuck comes from. And at least with Ryuji you get the feeling that he’s holding back because he doesn’t want to disappoint people by swearing.

Chris: Fuuka says there’s no shame in being scared, and that she wants to protect everyone. They want to be true to themselves, and they want to fight.

The scene ends, and we’re handed control. And with it, we go to see Akinari for our final rank-up. He looks cheerful as he asks us to talk with him, as he has something important he wants to tell us, though he warns us it’s a little depressing.

He’s been waiting, he says. He finished his story, and he wants to show it to us. Though he was having trouble with the ending, he figured it out.

“Since the alligator ate his friend the bird, he cried and cried for a very long time. In fact, he was so sad… that he drowned in his own tears. His tears became a beautiful lake, around which grew beautiful flowers and a tree with delicious fruit. The other animals in the forest came there often to relax… but none of them knew the alligator had created it or that he was gone. The end...”

That’s… still horribly depressing, but better. We still have to award it its point, though.

DEATH IS INEVITABLE: 60

Just reaffirm Shinjiro and Chidori’s passing, why don’t you, Atlus? If you come to be responsible for a disaster, the best thing you can do is die for others’ benefit.

Anyway, he says that’s the ending he decided. Even though the alligator did not find meaning in his life, the residents of the forest did. They just didn’t realize it…

“Because… the meaning of my life is not something I should worry about. It’s really what others think of my life or what I was able to do for them.”

I’m not sure that’s any better, Atlus. That’s edging less towards the upright and healthy “be gracious and do for others anything you can” and more towards the unhealthy “your life is not about you, it’s about what you can do for everyone else”.

He says that for him or us or anyone, the meaning of our lives is something we make, but don’t see. People can’t survive without help from others, and we all depend on one another to some extent.

Much better, Atlus.

He doesn’t know if that made any sense, and he asks us if we get what he’s saying. We do, and he’s glad. That understood, he gives us the notebook he wrote his story in. It’s all he has to leave behind.

“I wanted you to have something… since you shared my last moments.”

He stands up, saying his body feels lighter. He thanks us for coming to see him, talking, and even discussing the meaning of life. He can be glad that he was born. Feeling his kindness, we reach MAX Rank. The music plays, and we’re informed we can now fuse Asura, the Grand Being.

He says he has to go now, and hopes that maybe someday, we can meet again. There’s a noise, and—

> Akinari disappeared into the afternoon sunlight…
> You gripped the notebook tightly and decided to head back to the dorm.

Were we just talking to a ghost? Holy shit, we were, weren’t we?! He died before we could finish the damn Social Link!

DEATH IS INEVITABLE: 61

Tristram: And yet the theme still works better here than it does in the main story, because we get to see Akinari struggling with his impending death and trying to find meaning in a life cut way too short. Plus I have to admit that I like the idea that some part of him held on because he wanted to say goodbye to his friend and let them know he’d found the meaning he was searching for. It’s sad but in a much better way than most of the other ‘sad’ moments in the game.

I’m not going to lie, Akinari is my favourite Social Link in this game, with Shinjiro and Bebe a very close second and third.

Chris: We go to the Velvet Room that evening and check, and Asura is a hexagon spread, sharing that space with Thanatos and Beelzebub. We have to put together all of the Sun Arcana Personas, so we fuse the missing two (Jatayu and Suparna), then fuse him. I have to say, it’s odd that Asura would be above Vishnu in the Arcana they share. Asura is another Persona with a unique skill, Unshaken Will, which protects from all ailments. He’s yet another along with Vishnu, Sandalphon, and whoever else, that’s fond of Akasha Arts. He’s also the first Persona we find that learns Megidolaon, the strongest spell in the game short of monstrosities like Morning Star. He gives Unshaken Will as a skill card, which we’ll want, but it doesn’t come until level freaking ninety-three.

I should mention that Megidolaon costs your arm, your leg, and your kidney to cast at 85 SP. The Megido spells are pretty expensive, considering their use—Megido and Megidola both cost more than twice as much as a ma-la or ma-dyne that would do the same damage.

We also fuse Helel, the angelic form of Lucifer that we got from Akihiko’s Social Link, which has its own unique skill—Morning Star, which is a fancier, more hardcore version of Megidolaon that does more damage. That, along with Mind Charge, Primal Force, Maragidyne, and Salvation.

Tristram: Mind Charge and Morning Star are a hilariously broken combination. The Charge skills still haven’t quite reached the point of being true game destroyers yet, that comes in Shin Megami Tensei 4 and Persona 5. You can break those games over your knee with the right combination of Charges and follow up skills.

Chris: They’re still a useful enough combo, when they aren’t putting you in SP bankruptcy.

12/28. We drop off Asura at the antique shop. While there, we see that we can fuse a sword that, while weaker than Laevateinn and Masakado’s Katana, grants Junpei an extra 100 HP. Not worth it, because it wouldn’t affect how much his physicals, which are percentage-based, cost. We also pick up our reward for the missing person rescue, which is eight diamonds. We also buy an Armageddon with our collected drops, which does 10,000 damage to everything on the field.

12/29. Nothing happens.

12/30. Yukari knocks on our door in the morning, and she has good news: Aigis is coming back today. Which reminds me, who exactly was fixing Aigis? Someone at Kirijo Group, I assume? It can’t have been Ikutsuki or Takeharu, they’re dead. We’re meeting in the lounge tonight to welcome her back.

Tristram: I keep forgetting how short her departure truly is. And fuck, that means we’re gonna have to start her Social Link soon, dammit!

Chris: A squeeze indeed. We pick up the Vajra for Koromaru from the antique shop, and get great luck again at the shrine today.

At the dorm that evening, everyone is gathered around Aigis. She apologizes for having worried anyone, and when SEES say they feared the worst, she responds that as a machine, even total destruction wouldn’t stop her being rebuilt. Technically, another full week should’ve been used for recovery, but Mitsuru made them speed up the process, as tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, which Aigis needs to be present for. Aigis again apologizes for everything being, you know, her fault. She turns to us personally, and asks if we’ve been well, considering, yanno… It should be noted she’s using a lot of contractions and not being entirely literal and specific with her speech, the way she usually does. Another apology, saying that if she hadn’t done that to us (sealing Death inside us), we wouldn’t be suffering like this. When we tell her it was the only way, she instead turns her attention to the choice we’ve been presented by Ryoji, and asks if we’ve made a decision, and we say yes. So she has a favor to ask of us.

Shinjiro: *beeps in* Wait! Wait, I’m here!

Chris: Good to see you here, Shinji.

Aigis wants us to kill him. Contrary to what everyone else has decided, she wants Ryoji dead. She can’t bear to see everyone hurting like this, she says, and wants them to forget. They ask what’s up, saying this isn’t like her. In response, Aigis questions her reason for being here, saying that she can’t accomplish her sole purpose: defeating shadows, and finds herself to be useless. Why fight a battle you can’t win? She’s distressed as she asks why we’d waste our lives like that. In the face of everyone’s resolve, she can’t understand, and wonders if it’s because she doesn’t possess a “life”. Junpei laughs and says it has nothing to do with having a life.

I was under the impression that was exactly what all this was about.

Tristram: Look, Aigis, I absolutely 100% understand wanting to shoot Ryoji at this point, but if your priority is to protect us like you’ve spent the whole time you’ve been here telling us it is, then killing him shouldn’t even be conceivable to you. But nope, Hashino’s decided the robot is a real girl now, and thus she completely contradicts everything she’s said beforehand.

Chris: It doesn’t even really matter to me. At least someone wants to see that kid blown up.

Aigis is distraught, and wants someone, anyone, to tell her her purpose if she can’t fulfill her designated one. Junpei responds that we don’t know that, only she can figure it out. It’s why they’re having such a hard time making a decision, and why there’s no easy answer. He says that they see others hurting, and make it their duty to help. Aigis wonders if it’s really that simple. Fuuka says that after seeing Aigis so wrecked, she wanted to protect her, not forget her. Mitsuru recommends change in the face of an old goal failing, and Aigis wonders if she can do that. Hasn’t she noticed how much she’s already changed, Mitsuru asks?

In the face of everyone’s encouragement, Aigis decides: her purpose is to live, and she’s the one that’s given herself that purpose. She doesn’t know how, but she’ll do it. Then, it happens. With that resolution, the music plays, and Palladion ascends into…

...Athena!

Tristram: Athena (also known as Athene or Pallas), is the Greek goddess of wisdom, warfare, and handcrafts. She was considered to be the patron goddess and protector of a great many cities across Greece, especially Athens. It’s generally believed by historians that she was named for the city, not vice versa.

I’m actually pretty happy with the link between Persona and user this time, as she represents Aigis’ decision to break from her programming (wisdom) and protect the people she cares for (warfare).

Chris: To me, given that the Persona ascends from a Palladion (a statue of Athena rather than a historic or godly figure in that vein) I just figured it was another ham-fisted metaphor for Aigis the Robot becoming human.

Tristram: Fair point, I can’t believe I missed something that obvious! Oh my god, Hashino’s writing is getting to me…

That done, she asks if she’s permitted to join the effort, and she’s in, for which she thanks us.

The scene ends, but I want everyone to think about what just happened. Although it’s not said right here, if we make the right choice tomorrow, the implications will become clear: while everyone else might forget, Aigis, being a machine, won’t.

Hmm…. there’s potential in that.

Shinjiro: A lot of it, in fact. Think about it: we figured earlier that Ryoji was some sorta mind predator, making everyone fall all over him and love him way faster than normal without any effort.

Chris: And we figured that we and Aigis were immune to it…

Shinjiro: Right. And she’s familiar with Death, at least better than the rest of us. We know Ryoji was insisting on how much he loves life and humanity and all that bullshit, so what if it was a ploy? What if he was giving us this “choice” to trick us?

Chris: I said before that the choice was ridiculously obvious. After coming all this way, no one would choose to forget. The obvious choice would be to spare him. And what if he was counting on that? Counting on us not wanting to kill him or forget, both repugnant ideas, to force us not to try attacking him? What if killing him really could kill or at least damage Nyx, but he didn’t want anyone to realize that?

Shinjiro: Aigis, of course, would know better. She’d see past the deception because of her mind-immunity.

Tristram: Goddamn that would be so cool! Much better than what we actually got, too! And Ryoji’s whole ‘you’re special’ thing wouldn’t just be about us being his former host, but more about him realizing that we’re immune to his charms and might even be affecting the rest of SEES to be more likely to see through his bullshit too. And Junpei falling for it would be because he’s been merged with Chidori and our instinctive revulsion making it harder to protect him. Oh man I have so many ideas about this possible version of events!

Chris: Man, if Atlus had actually done the game this way, it might’ve actually been a difficult choice. Or at least more difficult than the blatantly obvious one they’re pushing us towards. Killing Ryoji to damage Nyx sounds way more logical than killing Ryoji to wipe your own memories. ...Shit, I think I’m gonna put that in a rewrite one day.

Shinjiro: Before we move on, I got a question for ya.

Chris: Shoot.

Shinjiro: Except for Koromaru, who’s a dog, everyone in the game has their Persona transmogrify except mine. Whaddya think mine would’ve turned into if it’d had the chance?

Chris: That’s a good question. I like to think it would’ve come with the decision to live out the remainder of your life looking forward, like Akihiko. Maybe it’s ironic considering how much I hate this game’s death theme, but maybe Hades? Moody, quiet, dedicated—

Tristram: No, I think Sancus, the god of Loyalty who also presided over honour and oaths would be way more suited to you and your character arc. There isn’t a Greek god of redemption or mercy, which makes sense given the culture of the time, or I’d suggest them instead.

Shinjiro: Alright, forget I asked.

And then, the magic day. 12/31. We boost Mitsuru’s Link, then the music starts as we head back to the dorm. It’s evening, and Ryoji’s here as promised. Naturally, he came soon before midnight, whereupon according to him he’ll turn into “something unrecognizable”. The dude asks if we’ve made a decision, and when no one answers, the fucker just invites himself into our room, where he says he’ll be waiting until then.

WISTLH: 75

You can ask, you know. Or just sit in the lounge, or the command room.

Tristram: Seriously, dude, fuck you. That’s a massive invasion of privacy and given your treatment of us so far, a really rapey-feeling one at that. We’re just not that into you, buddy, and this constant assurance of your love while trampling over our boundaries isn’t helping.

Chris: He attempts to coax us into killing him by again saying it’s both meaningless to him and painless for him. He goes upstairs, and Mitsuru asks if everyone’s made their decision, and they all have—no killing Ryoji.

We go to our room. Dude cheerfully brings up the other times we’ve talked in our room like this, and I want to punch him for it. He then whines about our decision before we’ve even said it, yammering on about how preferable it would be to live ignorant and not fight Nyx. When we say he’s going to live (despite how badly we want to fuck him up), he sighs. He then tries to convince us a second time, this time by shifting into his alternate form: Thanatos.

Well, I like having Personas, and I kind of need that one to get Messiah or Orpheus Telos, so no, I’m not killing it. Considering how many times he brings up death, dying, death-ing, killing, etc., I’m giving it a point on principle.

DEATH IS INEVITABLE: 62

Tristram: You know, given our Awakening at the beginning of the game, this has some really unfortunate implications. Like ‘overriding our will when he decides he knows better’ implications. We don’t know that we couldn’t kill the first Full Moon Shadow with Orpheus, because he didn’t give us a chance!

Chris: It fails to convince us. So, he grumbles and heads down to the lounge to tell us how to confront Nyx. Before he does, he says his formal goodbyes. He says thanks, goodbye, and sorry one after another, before saying he wishes we’d had more time together. I don’t, the less time spent with you the better. God, I want him to stop talking. He gives us a ring that was on his finger, which he says is proof that he was human. Didn’t you just try to prove to us that you’re not human, in your own words, no less? We accept it, and receive the final RANK UP for the Fortune Link. The music plays, and we are told we can now fuse Norn, the Three Goddesses of Fate.

Tristram: It really sucks that such a good Persona is linked to such a little dickhead. Norn is very easily the best healing/support Persona in the game and can very easily be made into a killing machine too.

Chris: Once in the lounge, he tells us the predictable answer: Nyx is at the top of Tartarus. On “the promised day” we have to get to there, which is February 1^st. Err, January 31^st, he says. He says exactly one month from tomorrow, Nyx will descend to Tartarus and end the world. Ryoji gives some bullshit ye olde english explanations that is supposed to explain why ESJL called it “the Tower of Demise”.

Calm Down There, Edgelord: 52

He and Aigis go through some bullshit about them having been enemies and friends, despite Aigis never wanting to be his friend at all. He then leaves while he’s still human.

Tristram: Was I playing a different game to the one he’s come from? Because Aigis was not and never has been his friend. From the moment she saw him she was constantly warning us about him being dangerous! And she was right, much as it galls me to admit it!

Chris: We turn to each other, and confirm our goal and our resolve to meet it. We receive our final rank-up for the Fool Link. The music plays, and we’re informed we can now fuse Susano-O, the Raging God. Immediately after, there’s a new Social Link that forms: the Nyx Annihilation Team, of the Judgement Arcana.

1/1, 2010. Yukari knocks on our door, saying happy New Year, and to invite us to the shrine. Mitsuru’s got kimonos for us and everything. Hey, sure. Meanwhile, Ken and Akihiko talk while the latter is feeding Koromaru in the lounge. Junpei walks down, saying he overslept. He and Akihiko don’t feel like going to the shrine...until Ken mentions we’re already there, in kimonos. This immediately gets Junpei’s attention, who claims he’s going to go to the store, and which Akihiko sees right through. He’s going, too. Not wanting to be left behind, Ken wants to go, too.

Shinjiro: Little pervert. At least just be honest, no one here was fooled.

Tristram: Junpei, please stop corrupting Ken. He has enough issues for an army of therapists as it is. Huh, I wonder if Mitsuru ever thought to arrange therapists in the know for SEES after the end of the game? Lord knows everyone needs them, especially after ‘The Answer’.

Chris: Getting therapy would cause Persona ascensions faster than you could imagine, probably.

At the shrine itself, we’re about to make our wishes when they walk up. Junpei is immediately horny and blushy, an actual heart popping up over his blushing face when he looks at Yukari. She blushes back. He notices Mitsuru too, gets the heart-symbol again, and says she looks hot.

...That’s it. That’s all he does, just “you look hot”. And you know what? That’s fine with me. A little blunt, and blurted out, but direct and not dripping with perversion or acting like she’s a model to be judged or a piece of meat to be eaten. Look at him, not acting like an ass. I’m almost proud of you, Junpei.

Tristram: Hey, when did normal teenager Junpei get back and can we keep him?

Chris: Mitsuru gets blushy too and tells him to stop staring. Fuuka does not go unnoticed either, nor does Aigis. Junpei is perfectly polite about complimenting her. Aigis can’t blush, but even she stammers out her answer and feels an “odd sensation”. He notices us last—about time, son. Wish you’d done it back when September started. He eyebrow waggles about the good scenery to Akihiko who, being gay as hell, is thoroughly uninterested. Ken then asks if we’re cold, mentioning that Junpei said before that girls don’t wear anything under kimonos. Junpei = in trouble, and he gets smacked for it.

Tristram: God-dammit. God damn it, just when I was being reminded of the Junpei who was actually nice and fun!

Chris: We’re then handed control. There’s not much to say, except the music is great at the shrine. We finally get to see our own kimono—it’s orange, with Yukari’s being red, Aigis’ being pale pink, Fuuka’s being teal, and Mitsuru’s being black. We do the only two things we can, which is buy takoyaki and then leave.

Yukari asks if everyone made their wishes, and of course Junpei isn’t telling, but Yukari says his is obvious anyway. No, not a chance to score—his wish was the same as everybody else’s: we all wished to prevent the demise, him included.

After the scene ends and we get back to the dorm, we get a call from Theodore. Not only is he reporting that the last blockade in Tartarus has opened up, but another thing.

“I regret to inform you that my sister has expressed a desire to test you...”

Please tell me you mean Elizabeth, and not…her.

Shinjiro: *warily* Who’s ‘her’? There can’t be anyone worse than the pair of them, right?!

Tristram: Please be Elizabeth, please be Elizabeth, please be Elizabeth! Because oh there is someone way, way worse, Shinjiro, and she would absolutely fuck us up.

Chris: *shaking off flashbacks* A-Anyway, he says to go through the new door at the base of the tower if we’re interested.

We’re in the dorm now, and the music has been replaced with another version of Living with Determination. Junpei, when spoken to, begs quietly to know the truth about kimonos and “hot chicks go[ing] commando” in them.

> “Yes.”
> “I’ll leave it to your imagination.”
> “……”

All three answers lead to mildly amusing results.

And here’s where we’re going to cut it off. We won’t be facing any “ultimate enemies” tomorrow, but we will be ascending Adamah, the final block of Tartarus, next post, as well as facing the Reaper and doing some other nightmarishly difficult things.

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