|Mechanical Angel|

She shook her head. Fuuka gets too determined when it comes to working on Aigis or anything dealing with technology. “I will–I promise. I want to make sure you are finished first.  Just don’t want to leave anything behind on you.” Fuuka gave her a smile as she screwed on a new plate for her arm.

Even though her eyes were red, she couldn’t stop. This was something that motivated her to do something good. “I want to be able to–*yawn*–do something that isn’t too demanding.” She reached for a bottle of water, staying hydrated, as she just had to screw one more screw into her new plate.

“I promise, Aigis. Once this is done, I’ll polish you up and–*yawn*–get some delicious food from you. I’d love some scrambled eggs!”

Aigis didn’t say anything else at first, and instead just watched Fuuka when she yawned. Once...twice...

Finally, the android gently took Fuuka’s wrist.

“What I mean is… What do you and Koromaru talk about?”

“ Hmm, what’s wrong with crepes…? “ 

Anne watched her, sweatdropped a bit as she blinked back, wondering what Aigis was doing, exactly… was she right? Was the other blonde not human? And if so… what was she? A Shadow? No, those couldn’t come to the this world… right? 

“ …. huh? Wait… persona…? “ 

Eyes wide now, the model stared at her, wondering…. did that mean that Aigis was involved, somehow? Did she have something to do with the Black Mask, the only other Persona-user they knew was out there…? Anne could feel herself freeze a bit, though her words were mostly nervous yet somehow she didn’t stutter much at all, wondering what she could find out that might help her group…

“ Carmen… “ 

Aigis’s eyes slowly slid closed--and she motioned forwards towards a quiet space, where they would not be disturbed.

Once they were there, Aigis began to explain,

“...January 31, 2010; the world nearly ended. The people of this planet collectively wished that all life would burn and start again anew--that death would come and claim them all. Corrupted by this wish, the undying goddess Nyx descended at midnight, and began enacting this ‘reset’ of mankind--which she referred to as The Fall.” There was a pause, as Aigis took a deep, shaky breath.

“...She was halted by one group of Persona Users and friends--a group called SEES, that was made up of Mitsuru Kirijo, Akihiko Sanada, Junpei Iori, Fuuka Yamagishi, Yukari Takeba, Ken Amada, Shinjiro Aragaki, Koromaru, myself...and Minato Arisato--a boy who became a god in his own right, and who put himself between humanity’s corrupted wish and Nyx to protect her--and us. Since that day, we have been trying to find a way to undo humanity’s corrupted wish for good, so maybe, even if He cannot come back to us--at least he may find rest.”

There was a long pause, before Aigis continued.

“WHAT IS IT LIKE?”

“Oh, I’ll definitely be there! Is he still at Port Island? Because showing up there might be a problem, but I guess I can always disguise myself, huh?”

Minako wanted to believe that enough time had passed, that everyone who could recognize her was gone, but she couldn’t take chances. There was just no way to explain how she was back six years after her ‘death’ and not a day older. She definitely didn’t want the Kirijo Group to have to try and explain that one. 

She’d just…have to find a new home. It would sting, more than moving ever had since the last time she left Port Island, but she’d done it before, and could do it again.

“If you’re looking for your sister, count me in.” She reached over to give Aigis’ hand a squeeze. “With the group back together, we can definitely get you some answers. Plus, I’d love to meet your family!”

“I’m sure we could find some way,” Aigis laughed, “Maybe they would accept that you went into a coma, and that none of us had the strength to pull the plug? Finally, one morning, you woke up?” The mechanical maiden laughed softly, thinking to herself for a moment.

“O-oh! The dorm is still there! Gekkoukan had a massive influx of students, so even after it was closed, the school was forced to re-open it; though...the Kirijo Group isn’t really involved with the school anymore. They do have enough power to make sure your room is kept vacant, however.” 

“ Hmmm… yes, I am. “ Anne blinked, curious to know what they were really like then but…. not wanting to be a bother, either. “ Alright, then we have some time for some crepes, yes? I’d love to chat with you, too, you seem to be quite interesting, Arisato-san! “

The blonde blinked in confusion, wondering what Aigis meant…. it couldn’t be, right? This was where Kaneshiro’s Palace was in the Metaverse but no one should be able to see or sense that normally, so….

“ Ehm, what do you mean? Everything is okay, unless you are worried something might attack us…? “

… the look Anne gave her from under her sunglasses spoke volumes… 

“Ah, about that, you see I ah--” Aigis began preparing a normal excuse for not eating food, before catching Anne’s stare. The moment the two connected eyes, Aigis halted.

Anne knew. Somehow, some way, Anne knew what she was able to do--and that could only mean she had seen--and likely fought--the Shadows, herself. For a long moment, Aigis’s human visage, and for that time, Anne was being stared at by a piercingly-powerful machine, scanning the other blonde over with a kind of cold, electrical efficiency.

Aigis gently--as coolly as she possibly could, put a finger over her lips. If she had a heart, it’d be beating against her chest violently right now. But instead, she asked, in a most-quiet tone,

[~☪~] “…”

Shinjiro stood where he was silently as Aigis was bringing up that they had seen him die… Minako crying over his fallen self in the hospital. And the blond android was beginning to tear up as well while asking where he had been before they had encountered each other again.

“When I woke up, nearly everything was over… and the first I learned above everything is that Minako had passed away on the roof… I wanted to disappear after all that… so I don’t think I was in the best mindset… to announce to everyone that I had survived somehow…” 

“I...” Aigis’s hands dropped, and she just started sobbing again, even falling to her knees. 

They had all suspected that Shinji’s voice had been with Minako when she battled Nyx, but none of them had the strength to truly confirm his status. And now it had dropped on her like a bombshell--Minako was all alone as the Great Seal. No one and nothing to comfort her as she slept. 

“ Seriously? That’s awesome! But no, I wouldn’t want to bother her… “ Anne blinked when she began to list off some pretty famous names. “ … you went to school with all of them? That’s amazing! I can only imagine what a cool experience that was! “

She wished she could say more about her school experience but how do you explain something like Shadows? Just the thought of explaining something like the Reaper made a headache come along faster than she could say ‘Persona’ … but what Aigis didn’t know couldn’t hurt her…

“ Oh, nice to meet you, Arisato-san! “ Anne did notice the light stop before she said her last name, only making her more curious. “ Hope we can be great friends! I’m not keeping you here or anything, right…? “

“As long as you’re sure,” Aigis shrugs, “A-ah, yes, they’ve all been wonderful since then. They’re...a lot different than their TV-appearances would suggest...” she rubs the back of her head, though at Anne’s reaction, Aigis shook her head.

“N-no, no! Mitsuru doesn’t expect me to come in for a few hours, so we have time to talk.” As the two walked, Aigis could almost taste the Shadows in the area; this whole place seemed very close to one of the other planes. It made Aigis’s machinery start to tense a bit, and she even warned Anne.

Minako laughed as well, completely swept up by the other girl’s happiness. “Yeah, I bet! He’s probably taller than me by now, huh? Now that will take some getting used to.” 

Come to think of it, he’d be going into his third year of high school, wouldn’t he? God, they could be classmates. In a way, it was a nice thought- she wanted to be on equal footing with him, and it was clear how frustrated he had been with his relative youth- but at the same time, it was a little sobering. The world really had changed.

“Guess I really did miss a lot, huh? Looks like I’ll be counting on you to fill me in!”

“Oh, you have no idea,” she laughs, “Thankfully, it isn’t too late for you to be at his graduation--he truly would have missed you then.” Aigis is laughing for a long while, until she finally runs out of steam, and looks about--only to see that Elizabeth is gone. She had said that the moment Minako was free, she would have to return to the Velvet Room to inform Igor, but...Aigis expected her to at least stay around and chat.

Oh well.

“One moment.”

ostentatious - characterized by pretentious or showy display; designed to impress.

“Thank you! Ibuki think’s you look very cute, those headphone are adorable!”

“...” Aigis wasn’t even going to touch the fact that this “Ibuki” spoke in the third-person. She was just going to take the compliment.

“I’m human…part squid. Nothing to really be confused about…I’m just a normal human like everyone else can be.”

@mechalus​

Fuuka couldn’t believe how much damage Aigis really accumulated after the whole situation in Inaba. On top of having to fix Labrys, she was slightly exhausted, having only eaten applesauce (since it was easy to access and quick to eat) a couple times today and a bottle of water. She was determined to get the dents out of her armor.

“Aigis…did you have anything else that feels wrong to you? I mean, I checked most of your software and everything seems fine. But, I might have missed something.” She rubbed her eyes, letting out a small yawn.

Aigis felt awful.

Not just physically--the damage itself stung like hell, but that wasn’t anything new, she’d be able to deal with it just fine. No, what hurt her worse than that was the fact that, between her and her sister, Fuuka had been deprived of both a decent meal and a good night’s rest. She hadn’t made her concern known to Fuuka yet, but when the girl let that yawn out...

@mechalus started following you

“Is it true that you talk to the dog?”