After I unexpectedly stumbled across a new power on Thursday, Ashley is now considering the idea I had to use the Metaverse to help save Nova from being returned to an abusive parent. However, she understandably has some reservations about jumping into it blind, so we’re making some basic preparations. First of all, we need to get Nova up to speed about what the plan is, so he has a better idea of what type of intel we need in regard to Pavia’s cognition. Second, we need to do some digging into Pavia’s record, to find out if this one incident reflects a broader pattern of behavior. I’ll bet you $20 it does, but we still need to find proof first.

I park next to the tiny building at the front of Nova’s apartment complex to pick him up, since I can’t go through the gate. I message him to let him know I’m here, and a few minutes later he comes dashing up to the car.

“I thought you didn’t have your license yet?” He asks me, as he climbs into my car.

“Yeah, I’m not really supposed to be driving without an adult,” I explain, backing out of the parking lot. “But as long as I don’t leave town, I should be fine.”

“Better not get pulled over.”

“I won’t. Don’t you worry, I’m a very responsible driver.”

“Why does that not reassure me?” he asks, and I have a hard time determining if he’s teasing me or not. He gets his DS out and says, “Anyways, so what’s the big idea you guys have?”

“Well… let’s wait until we get to Ashley’s to discuss it. You probably won’t believe it until you see it.”

“Oh man. It’s one of those things?”

“Yes. But if this judge is guilty of what we think he is, this may be the only way to help you out of this situation with your parents.”

“And what if it doesn’t work?”

“Well, I guess in the worst-case scenario, you’d only have to be with your mom until you’re eighteen. And most custody settlements allow for some visitation with the other parent.”

He shakes his head. “No way I’m staying with that bitch. Four days would be too much.”

“That’s… quite a strong way to talk about your own mother.”

“I never fully told you about what she did.”

He lets out a hefty sigh. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him jabbing the buttons a little more angrily than before.

“She… really hated how much I play video games. Sometimes, when she had a bad day at work, she’d get home and just scream at me about it. She told me that I was wasting my life, that I was ‘socially inept,’ that I was going to be on my own after high school and would probably end up homeless…”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah. Also, when my grades were bad, she’d sometimes go into a rage and break one of my game discs. I never got to finish Paper Mario for the GameCube.”

“Oh no! That’s a good one. I’ll lend it to you sometime so you can finish it.”

“Thanks, Anja. She yelled at my sister too, though not as much. She stopped playing games with me for a while because she was too afraid of being yelled at. She yelled at my dad the most. Hit him, too, and threw stuff around. She blamed him for both of us being horrible children, and also for not getting a high-paying job. Not like we needed it, she makes so much as a lawyer for Vermillion Oil.”

I find this interesting for a few reasons… But for now, the only question I can ask is this. “Nova, if you don’t mind me asking… why did your parents get married?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll ask him sometime for you.”

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that. It’s normal for parents to want their children to succeed. My dad gives me extra allowance if I get all As and Bs. But that is just… horrible.”

“Well, maybe. But my mom wasn’t entirely wrong about me, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

He’s silent for a moment. “Can I tell you something that you have to promise to keep a secret?” He asks in a softer tone.

“Of course. My lips are sealed.”

“Several years ago, some doctor I was seeing said that I had… this thing called ‘Asperger’s.’”

“Oh! Yes, I am familiar with that.”

“Oh, you are? Well, Mom really wasn’t happy about that diagnosis. She thinks that I’m just gonna use it as an excuse to be mediocre and get out of doing work. Dad always defended me by saying that it wasn’t my fault that I have it. But Mom was kind of right in the end. All I do is play video games, and my grades suck. I am pretty much doomed once I become an adult.”

“Don’t say that about yourself! There’s no reason why you can’t do whatever you set your mind to.”

“Yeah, that’s what they always tell me. But you know what? I try to do things the way other kids do it, and it doesn’t work. It’s like my brain is defective. I’m never going to be like everyone else.”

“You’re right; you won’t be.”

“Yeah… wait, did you really just tell me that?” He responds, jolting in surprise once he realized what I said.

“Yes. You won’t ever be like everyone else. You can’t do things the same way that other people can. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t succeed in life in your own way.”

“Uh… Anja, I don’t think being good at Smash Bros counts at succeeding in life. I guess I could try entering tournaments…”

“No, I don’t mean that. I mean, you can do things that other people do, and be good at them. But the way you do them will just be different. With the right strategies, though, you can do whatever your heart desires. And you know, in some ways, being on the autism spectrum is a gift! You may be bad at some things most people are good at, but it works in reverse too; you’re also good at some things most people are bad at.”

“Huh. It doesn’t feel like it.”

“Well, I guarantee that you are. But… we probably need to talk about this later, we’re almost to Ashley’s house.”

We’re pulling onto her street then, and I see Ashley waiting for us on the front porch, serious as ever.

“Oh boy. Here we go,” Nova groans as I pull into the driveway.

We hop out of my car and head over to the porch where Ashley is. “Hey there Ash!” I greet.

“Hey. Now that you’re here, follow me,” Ashley tells us simply.

“Yes ma’am,” I reply teasingly.

Ashley starts leading us to the Methodist Church where I met Ted the Armadillo.

“You’re taking us to church?” Nova asks incredulously. “I haven’t been in a church for years now.”

“We’re not going inside, we just need to hang out behind it,” Ashley explains. “This isn’t even the church we usually go to.”

“Why wouldn’t you just go here?” Nova inquires. “It’s literally a two-minute walk from your house.”

“Because, Nova…” She sighs. “Religion is complicated.”

Eventually, we reach the picnic tables. Ashley, without any further ado, pulls out her phone and hits the app.

I hear someone screaming as soon as we reach the other side, for a terrifying moment I think we are being attacked. However, it turns out the screaming is just from Nova.

“WHAT… WHAT THE F…”

He seems utterly at a loss for words. He’s turning around wildly and looks like he’s about to start ripping his own hair out.

“Oh yeah…” I say, “Sorry, Nova. We probably should have warned him.”

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?” he finally stutters out, glaring at Ashley with tufts of hair still in his hands.

“Will you calm the fuck down!” Ashley commands him.

“NO! I WON’T!” Nova yells. He finally releases his hair, and instead kicks a nearby picnic table in frustration. Impressively, he’s actually able to knock it straight over.

“Just quit acting like a child and sit down!” Ashley snarls, taking a seat at the now-velvet picnic table closest to her. I follow her.

Then, from out of the woods comes Ted, dashing on all fours and then making a leap with surprising agility up on top of the table. “Is everything alright?” he asks. “Your friend is very distressed.”

When Nova sees Ted, it breaks him. He instantly freezes in the exact position he was in, as if paralyzed, and just stares at the little cowboy armadillo in front of him.

“DID THAT THING JUST TALK?” Nova shouts.

“Don’t call him a ‘thing,’ Nova,” Ashley chastises him. “Just sit down already.”

Ashley’s harsh attitude does absolutely nothing to calm him down, as he is now yanking his hair again. I feel as if it’s time for me to intervene. I walk over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey Nova. I know that this must be really confusing, but…”

“Anja… what’s up with your outfit?” Nova asks curiously, staring down at my front. “I’ve never seen you dress up like that before.”

“Oh, this is my Persona!” I explain to him.

“Your Persona?” he questions with a somewhat horrified expression.

"Basically, once you awaken one, you can fight and use magic and stuff.” Ashley explains. “Anja and I already did ours.”

“Awaken one?” Nova asks, turning towards her. “How do you do that?”

“By necessity,” Ashley replies. “They awaken during really dangerous situations.”

“It requires… coming to terms with your inner shadow,” Ted explains. “During dangerous situations, we call upon our inner strength to accomplish things we never knew were possible. There are other means of awakening Personas as well, but that is the method these two have experienced.”

“Yeah, when I awakened mine, I was being grabbed by a bunch of vines and shit!” I explain. “They were like, lassoing my limbs and stuff! I couldn’t move.”

“Wow. I’ve seen enough hentai to know where this is going.”

Both of us break into laughter at this. Ashley seems unamused.

“You know, Nova… you’re saying that as a joke, but honestly that is kind of true,” I admit. “The situation was very rapey…”

“Oh shit, you’re serious?” Nova asks, looking as if he now feels bad about laughing.

“Don’t feel bad. It was still pretty funny. But yeah, it wasn’t funny when it was happening.”

“Right. I guess it’s not fun when it happens in real life.”

“I’m sorry, what exactly are you two going on about?” Ashley asks, frowning.

“Well, you know. Haven’t you ever seen those hentai videos where there’s a bunch of tentacles and…”

“No, I haven’t, actually. Is that a real thing people watch? I thought it was just a weird meme.”

“Well, it is a meme too. But yes, it’s real. You see, tentacle porn actually has roots in Japanese history. Back in the post-WWII era, the government had strong censorship laws, so to get around them…”

“Okay, I don’t really care,” Ashley cuts me off. “I’m not having this conversation with you when we’re supposed to be planning for something serious. Remember, this was your idea!”

“Yes, yes. My apologies, your highness...”

Ashley glares at me so hard that I feel like I’m about to spontaneously combust. It was totally worth it, though.

“Okay… are you two ready to take your seats now?” Ashley asks.

“Fine,” Nova says begrudgingly. “But this is still weird as fuck.”

“Yeah, well, get used to it,” Ashley states bluntly.

Nova very slowly sits down at the table, and I follow him. Then, without further explanation, Ashley pulls her phone out again and starts… calling someone?

“Uh, Ashley?” I have to question. “I don’t think we’re going to get any service here.”

“Shut up.”

To my shock, after a few seconds, I hear someone speaking from the other end.

“Hello again, Ashley. So, it is time now, is it not?”

“Who the fuck are you?” Nova asks.

“Ah, there’s a new voice! Hello, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Lucy!”

“Uh… hi. I’m Nova.”

“Nova, huh? That’s an unusual name.”

“It’s for an unusual person,” Ashley jabs. For this, Nova gives her the middle finger.

“My name is Anja,” I say.

“Anja… is that a Polish name?” Lucy asks.

“Uhh… I think?”

“So Ashley,” Lucy says, “Anja’s your girlfriend, right?”

“No, she’s not,” Ashley says quickly. I swear I can almost see a shadow of a blush on her face…

“Well, when am I gonna meet the special girl then?” Lucy continues to inquire.

“Probably never. Also, Ted is here. Say hi, Ted,” Ashley says, clearly trying desperately to leave the subject.

“Howdy. Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Ted greets.

“Same to you. I’ve heard good things about you,” Lucy replies cordially.

“So, you’re the one from the book, huh?” I ask Lucy.

“The book?” Nova asks, annoyed at yet again being left out of the loop. “What book?”

“I’ve been in contact with Ashley here using a special artifact of my own invention,” Lucy explains.

“Yeah, it’s confusing. We’ll figure it out as we go,” I assure Nova.

“Okay, enough lollygagging around,” Ashley cuts in sternly. “Lucy, we have found our first target. We just need to know how to proceed in changing his heart.”

Lucy giggles very loudly. It’s sort of creepy, like the giggle of a serial killer. “Ah, very good! Who’s our first customer?”

“Our local Justice of the Peace, Timothy Pavia,” I explain.

“Going after politicians already!” Lucy says, impressed. “I was expecting you to start with your neighborhood drug dealer or something.”

“His crimes: trying to force Nova and his little sister to move back in with their abusive mother; classism; probably corruption, though that part is pending investigation; possibly racism? Aren’t you mixed?”

“Uh… my dad is black, my mom is Hispanic,” Nova explains.

“Okay. So definitely classism, not sure about the race part.”

“Can he really do that?” Lucy questions. “In most states, the child is allowed to pick which parent they go with once they’re about thirteen.”

“Yeah, well, you can thank Gov. Schneider for that one,” I explain. (Because in some alternate universe where someone else had been elected governor in 2002, the laws probably wouldn’t be as bad as they are.)

“It’s also worth considering that the courts are rigged in favor of women when it comes to this stuff,” Ashley comments. “You can thank feminism for that.”

“Hey! Don’t blame feminism!” I shout at her. “Feminism is about gender equality!”

“Yeah, it’s supposed to be. But recently I’ve noticed…”

“Please don’t start this bullshit right now!” Nova interjects. “You’re the one who was trying to keep us focused earlier!”

Lucy chuckles over the phone. “You two remind me of a couple of my old friends. They disagreed a lot, but I know they loved each other deep down.”

“Well… anyway. Let’s get back on topic,” Ashley says sheepishly.

“Alright. If you’re going to change this man’s heart, the first thing you need to do is get into his palace,” Lucy explains. “The process of infiltrating Palaces used to be pretty involved, but I’ve refined the app to make it pretty simple for you guys. All you need to do is find out where the Palace is.”

“Indeed. How about you explain the concept of ‘Palaces’ to the others for me?” Ashley requests.

“Sure thing. Palaces can take a variety of forms. It’ll be located at some location that is important to your target, usually their workplace. You’ll be able to easily tell what’s a Palace and what’s not by the lack of the normal esoteric color scheme and aesthetic.”

Suddenly, I gasp, remembering something. “Lucy… can a Palace take the form of a jungle?”

“It might. Why do you ask?” Her tone of voice has changed somewhat. She now sounds much more concerned than before.

“When we entered the Metaverse at school, we ended up in some weird jungle,” Ashley explains.

“Yeah, that’s how my Persona got unlocked. I was being held in place by a bunch of vines!” I add, shuddering slightly.

There’s a sharp exhale of breath from Lucy’s end. “That is… very bad news. I’ve encountered Palaces like that before, and they are the ones that belong to some of the most sick and twisted people in the world.”

“Do you think that’s Pavia’s Palace?” Nova asks.

“No way, why would his Palace be the school?” Ashley retorts.

“It most likely belongs to somebody who’s teaching there, or maybe another student with an aggressive streak,” Lucy explains. “All I can say is… watch your back while you’re there.”

“So, we just need to avoid entering at the school for now,” I summarize. “And Pavia’s Palace will most likely be the courthouse.”

“Alright, what do we do once we find it?” Ashley presses.

“You will have to make your way through whatever lies for you inside. There will be enemies, and probably puzzles as well. If you persevere, though, you’ll make it to the room of the big boss, where you will fight a monstrous version of your target. Generally, the more evil the person is, the more difficult the Palace is to get through.”

“What kind of ‘monstrous form’ do you mean?” Nova questions.

Ashley waves him off. “A lot of different things. Tell us what we do after we fight the thing, I haven’t heard this part yet.”

“Once you’ve defeated whatever monster is in the final room, you have two options. You may either convince the target to change their ways, which will allow you to fix the target’s behavior in real life; or, you can simply kill the target’s shadow form, which will cause them a rather gruesome death in real life as well. Since this is a pretty low-level baddie here, I wouldn’t recommend killing him. But some people’s crimes… cannot be forgiven.”

There is a brief pause following that rather ominous statement, in which we all sort of look around at each other. Nova is back to drumming his fingers on the table and appears to be thinking.

“So, it’s that simple, huh?” Ashley asks in confirmation. “Thanks for the intel. Anything else we need to know?”

“Yes, one more thing. There are… other beings in the Metaverse other than shadows. Such as shape shifting demons, or even other Persona users you don’t recognize. Don’t worry about it now, as your chances of running into them on your first job are astronomical. But, if you run into something highly unusual like that, let me know.”

“Uh… so what do we do if we run into one of those?” I ask nervously.

“Run away and pray.” Lucy says simply. “But like I said, don’t worry about it right now.”

I bite my lip a little bit. I have a difficult time not worrying about it, if I’m honest.

“We’ll let you know if we run into anything like that,” Ashley says conclusively. “I think that’ll be all for now.”

“Alright then. From here on out, it’ll be up to you lot to do the work,” Lucy explains. “Good luck to you all.” She hangs up.

For the rest of the afternoon, Ashley fills us in on the remaining gaps in our knowledge of this stuff, and then we plot phase two of our operation. Since we have Monday off for Labor Day, we plan to meet again then to discuss whatever we can find out about Pavia’s background. But until then we, uh… Idk. Tune in next time to find out!