Apartment Building, Tatsumi Port Island

Kaito breathed out, clearing his mind a bit and glanced at the ring, dagger, and mirror on his desk, then looked back to his computer monitor. Progress had been made on deciphering how to use the relics. It was certainly easier than using his robot to break into the police station and recover the relics in the first place. He took a drink from a nearby glass and smiled.

Just a bit more and I'll have the answers I need.

Big changes are coming, and they're long overdue.

Kirijo Estate- Evening

Sam, Clover, and Alex exited the sedan before the large three-story mansion. Beautiful landscaping surrounded both the building and the driveway which ended in a circular roundabout in front of the stately residence. They gave their thanks to the chauffeur and climbed a few steps to the large oak double doors. A moment after Alex rang the doorbell, it was answered by a maid. She looked to be in her twenties, with shoulder-length hair of a surprisingly purple hue.

"Good evening. I'm Kikuno, Miss Kirijo's head maid. Please come in," she said warmly, and gave a short bow.

"Hello, I'm Clover. Thank you," she replied with a short bow, and entered.
Sam and Alex gave their own greetings and short bows before entering, followed by Kikuno closing the door behind them. She then took the lead to guide them from the foyer through the high-ceiling main hall. Paintings and framed photos lined the walls, and occasional end tables held what appeared to be valuable vases and other antiques. Large potted ferns were set in corners of the large room, and a grand staircase drew one's attention to its impressive construction.

"Wow, this place is amazing," Alex said, looking towards the chandelier, then back to where they were being led. Sam and Clover assented as Kikuno came to a stop near a large doorway on a side wall, gesturing for them to enter.

"Good meeting you," Kikuno said to the guests, as they walked through the doorway.

"Likewise. Take care!" Alex said with a smile. Sam and Clover nodded to her as they passed through.

The room was decorated similar to other rooms, and there was a door on the opposite side of the room, presumably to the kitchen. A dark mahogany table, long enough to seat 12 people, was occupied by Mitsuru and a number of strangers roughly their age. Mitsuru, who was wearing a tan turtleneck sweater, was seated at the head of the table. She'd been chatting with an athletic young man, surprisingly with white (presumably dyed) hair. He wore a long sleeved dark blue shirt, and had eyes an unusual shade of grey. They both nodded when the guests arrived, and gave polite smiles.

The other guests noticed this and finished their talks as well to focus on the foreign guests.

"Thank you for coming," Mitsuru greeted them, as they found vacant seats. The large chairs had high backrests, and they opted to simply slip into them, rather than try to move them.

"Thank you for having us," replied Sam. "And for the ride," she added happily.

"Of course," returned Mitsuru. "This is Akihiko Sanada," she announced, subtly gesturing to the man on her right she'd been talking with.

"Good to meet you," he said in a confident tone.

Alex and Sam blinked, then returned greetings. Then glanced at Clover.

"Yes. Very good to meet you,"Clover said, smiling broadly, struggling to keep composed.

Akihiko gave them winning smiles in return.

"Yukari Takeba," Mitsuru continued, gesturing to a brown-eyed young woman seated to her left.  She wore a warm-looking green long sleeved top, and her brown hair was styled around her head in a unique windswept sort of style.

"Hi! Nice to meet you," she said politely, with a curt nod.

Sam, Alex, and Clover politely returned their greetings.

"Junpei Iori," Mitsuru said, gesturing to a tall, broad-shouldered young man seated next to Yukari.  He wore a black sweater, had unruly black hair, and a goatee.

"Heya ladies. Good meeting ya," he said lightly with a broad smile.

Alex returned his smile in equal measure, and the girls gave their greetings to him.

"Aigis," Mitsuru said with a gesture to a young woman with short, unruly blonde hair seated by Akihiko. She had surprisingly bright blue eyes, wore a metal headband, and had unusual metallic disks over her ears. She wore a white long sleeved dress, and seemingly a white high-necked undershirt.

"A pleasure to meet you all," she enunciated formally.

"Ah! Nice to meet you!" Sam said, realizing that this woman was an android; more human-like than she imagined could exist outside of a few enemies on missions. Alex and Clover also greeted her.

"Labrys," Mitsuru continued, and indicated a young woman with a long grey ponytail and an odd knight-like visor perched on her head. She surprisingly had red eyes, and wore a school uniform.

"Hey, good ta meet ya," Labrys said with a heavy northeast U.S. accent.

The visitors replied with polite greetings after the initial surprise of meeting a second android, this one with such an unusually endearing accent.

"And Koromaru," Mitsuru ended.

Not seeing any other people, Sam, Alex, and Clover looked puzzled for a moment, until Aigis lifted a strong-looking albino Shiba dog from the floor briefly to show to the guests. He barked once heartily at the girls, looking towards them with his unusually red eyes.

"Oh, good to meet you, Koromaru!" Alex said happily, followed by Sam and Clover. Aigis set him back down next to her seat, and gave him a fond pat on his head.

"Two of our friends; Fuuka and Ken, couldn't make it tonight," Mitsuru announced. "Everyone, this is Sam, Alex, and Clover," she said, gesturing to each in turn. "Despite the size of our group, we don't specialize in investigation. And Naoto Shirogane, a detective, is currently unavailable," she directed to the spies.

The spies nodded in understanding, intent on where the talk was going.

"They've come from an elite group in the U.S. to aid us in our investigation of the stolen relics. And have managed to find a lead thanks to their wits and advanced technology," Mitsuru added.

Various people nodded or smiled at the visitors in respect. Sam, Alex, and Clover replied with shy gratitude for the compliment, when the door to the kitchen swung open, and was fastened in place.  A number of young maids with dark hair and of polite demeanor entered through the door to the kitchen. They served the large group (except Aigis, Labrys, and Koromaru) a meal of salmon, broccoli, and french bread with cider to the profuse thanks of everyone. Clover discreetly moved her fish onto Alex's plate.

"Vegetarian," she said with a smile, in explanation to those that might be curious.

"The results of the tests came in," Sam announced, gaining the attention of everyone. "The scratches on the vent covers were made by some sort of small robot. I'm guessing he used it to access the computer in the room, mess with the security cameras, and even take the goods right back out the vent to the roof," she said, and took a drink of cider.

She looked to Clover, who dabbed her mouth with her napkin, then made eye contact with the others.

Clover removed her X-Powder from her purse and looked down at the screen.

"And we got the info on traces of DNA that were on the piece of cloth we found," she said.  "Guy named Kaito Shirato. We passed on the info to Asahi from Public Safety to see if he can help us get an address," she added.

Mitsuru's friends looked curiously at her studying the metallic high tech purple makeup compact, but soon voiced their admiration with the news. Sam, Clover, and Alex smiled humbly.

"No criminal record. Worked in advanced robotics until recently. Has a father, Yoshide.  A deceased brother named Jin," Alex conveyed the facts on her own X-Powder.

"Jin..." Akihiko quietly said in concern. "A brother..." he trailed off, looking to those around him.

"I'm seeing how someone could actually have a reason to steal that stuff," Yukari said, also sharing concerned looks with her friends.

The table was cleared by a small procession of maids to the thanks of those gathered, and the adjoining door was quietly closed. "I agreed to tell you why those relics could be so dangerous. We should quickly fill you in," Mitsuru stated, then sipped from her glass.

"You may find this hard to believe, but some years ago, we helped save the world from annihilation at the hands of Nyx; the embodiment of Death. Actually, one former teammate was the key to our victory," she said somberly, then looked to Yukari.

"Our leader sacrificed himself to contain that immense power," Yukari said, her voice hitching a bit. Junpei reassuringly put a hand on her shoulder.

"Leading up to that night, we battled monsters called Shadows," Junpei said, his expression serious as he looked to the spies. "They appeared during the Dark Hour; an extra hour that happened every night at midnight, but only for Persona users," he said, then looked around for someone else to continue.

"A Persona is a supernatural entity that a select few, such as ourselves can call forth to battle Shadows," Aigis said, drawing the attention of everyone. "All non-Persona users appeared to us as immobile coffins during the Dark Hour," she said evenly. "When Nyx was stopped, the Shadows and Dark Hour vanished," she said.

Junpei met her eye grimly, and took a drink.

"Few non-Persona users are aware of all this. Asahi, who you met earlier, is one who is. He accidentally used one of the relics at the police station years ago, and it caused a Shadow to appear," Mitsuru said evenly.

Sam, Clover, and Alex nodded, beginning to understand what the relics were capable of now.

"Not all Persona-users wanted to save humanity," Akihiko spoke up. "We had to fight a few that built a movement to welcome Nyx's coming. The second worst was Jin," he said with a slight frown.  "I'm guessing his brother's out for revenge. He might use those relics to summon the Dark Hour, Shadows, or who knows," he added ominously.

"We had a situation with someone tryin' to do the same sort of thing not too long ago," Labrys stated shyly, not used to speaking in front of a group. "He was tough; captured some of us. Controlled Shadows too. Almost ended the world. But we had some help from another team of friends," she said.

"Kikuno even helped a bit, though she's not a Persona-user," Mitsuru said. "Since that first incident, we've called ourselves the Shadow Operatives. So what do you think?" she asked the guests candidly.

Clover made eye contact with her, then her friends. "Can't imagine why you'd make that up. I believe you," she replied.

Sam nodded in assent. "Exactly," she said simply.

"We've been through craziness ourselves," Alex said. "Mummies. Zombies. Even little green men from space," she added evenly. Everyone but Clover and Sam looked at her with mild shock. "The aliens were friendly. I had to fly their spaceship at the end of the mission," she said, taking a sip of cider and gazing off in recollection.

"I think all this is classified on both sides," Sam said. "But honestly, who else would believe any of this?" she mused.

"True. We don't have official support of the police due to the- supernatural aspect of Personas and Shadows. That said, you've done more than enough already. Due to the nature of Shadows, feel free to return home at any point now. We should be able to take it from here," she said.

Sam, Alex, and Clover looked to her in consideration.

A/N: Though it's not perfect, I hope you're enjoying it so far.  Any thoughts?

Feel free to vote as well.  Thanks for reading!