#Cognitive Spirit (During/Post Persona 5)

[oraclememehacker]

Voices from Beyond

There was an individual who found themselves stuck in the realm of the living despite having died, their spirit refusing for whatever reason to go to the afterlife, whatever that would be anyways. This person wandered around and was trying to figure out what was preventing them from moving on. In this case, it was none other than former esteemed researcher and cognitive psientist Isshiki Wakaba. She had been killed in order for her research to be stolen and used for nefarious purposes, and now was stuck as a cognitive ghost.

At first, she was unable to recall much aside from her name and the fact that she was apparently dead. But overtime she was able to remember a bunch more, and was looking over Futaba as her poor daughter was hating herself. She had watched her daughter cry and accuse herself of what had happened, and while she still didn’t know for sure what had caused her death, she knew for a fact that it wasn’t Futaba’s fault, and wanted nothing more than to assure her that wasn’t the case.

However, over time it seemed that Futaba received the help that she so desperately needed and now was surrounded by friends. Something that she remembered wasn’t really the case when she was a kid. It would bring a tear to her eyes if she was still capable of crying. She thought that maybe this was the reason why she was still around; to see her daughter get better. However, despite that, the afterlife didn’t call for her. And now she was hanging around the cafe, as Futaba was waiting for someone.

“Yamagishi-san said she’d be around soon. Hopefully she brought her laptop with her.” Futaba felt a little chill in the air, the chill coming from Wakaba’s spirit cooling the air around her unintentionally. She just took that as feeling a sudden bit of cold air from the door or just a random cold chill. The familiar ringing from the door would be heard and Futaba’s attention was immediately fixated on that. There she was. She just waved and motioned for the older woman to sit down at the booth with her, pointing at her laptop and other stuff she brought. It was gaming time.

@tacitusauxilium

[magiclad-ty]

Persona 5 Palaces/Bosses (SPOILERS)

The 9 Deadly Sins

1) Lust - Suguru Kamoshida

Former professional athlete and Olympic volleyball champion who later became the volleyball coach of Shujin Academy. He also began sexually harassing his female athletes and subjecting his male athletes to brutal "training" that was labeled as torture. Despite the blatant abuse happening, the students could not speak up against Kamoshida as the principal hushed any attempts of reporting Kamoshida. With no way for anyone to stop him at Shujin Academy, by the students, staff, and even the parents, Kamoshida began to see himself as nothing less than a king on campus.

2) Vanity - Ichiryusai Madarame Over the years, Madarame mentored many students, many of which lived with him in his humble shack near Shibuya. However, many found themselves ruined from their time there, losing passion in the arts or simply being casted aside once their artistic drives were depleted. One of Madarame's most famous paintings is the art piece titled "Sayuri", who inspired his most recent protégé, Yusuke Kitagawa, an orphaned boy, into entering the artistic world.. The painting in its original condition depicted a mother holding her newborn child. Shadow Madarame informs the group that it was Yusuke's mother who painted the original Sayuri and the baby is Yusuke. Madarame coveted the painting so much that when Yusuke's mother had a seizure, rather than call an ambulance, he simply left her alone to die, allowing him to take the painting with little opposition. To cover the picture's true intention, Madarame modified it into the Sayuri painting that he released to the public.

3) Gluttony - Junya Kaneshiro Kaneshiro is a Yakuza oyabun (the equivalent of a Mafia boss) who rose in the criminal underworld through clever use of blackmail students. Makoto risks herself by asking Kaneshiro's henchmen of his whereabouts, prompting the Thieves to follow her. This leads Kaneshiro to blackmail them by taking their pictures in his club and threatens to leak it to their school unless they pay him 3 million yen within 3 weeks.

4) Sloth - Futaba Sakura Futaba is a genius in computing, programming and hacking. However, a car incident that cost her mother, Wakaba Isshiki, her life causes Futaba to become a shut-in. Her relatives who have an eye on Wakaba's legacy blame the prodigy programmer based on a forged "suicide note," particularly after agents of the Conspiracy used it to bully her and manipulate Wakaba's family, hoping to keep her research for themselves. This, combined with abuse from most of her guardians before Sojiro, in particular her uncle Youji Isshiki refused to treat her as even a person, not even allowing her to bathe or have a proper bed. This caused her to develop post-traumatic stress disorder and extreme social anxiety. She has not attended school ever since graduating middle school. Her depression has worsened into outright suicidal impulses, and a delusional subconscious belief that her death would bring Wakaba back to life. Her desire for her own death causes a Palace to form in which the Sphinx, the representation of her self-loathing and belief that her mother's spirit hates her, fights Shadow Futaba for control of her mind.

5) Wrath - Cognitive Wakaba Isshiki Wakaba Isshiki was Futaba Sakura's mother and a prominent cognitive researcher focusing on a supernatural phenomenon about the cognitive world within the human's mind. Futaba thought she was a benevolent mother, until Wakaba died being crashed by a car on a crossroad before Futaba's eyes, but in reality was killed by Goro Akechi. Out of spite and to seize her research data secretly, his employers forged a suicide note and announced it aloud before Futaba and her relatives, in which Wakaba claimed she regretted giving birth to Futaba and as a result, she had destroyed all of her research. This revelation devastated Futaba and caused her to develop paranoid delusions of Wakaba's face overlaid on other people, constantly telling her how disappointed she was."Cognitive Wakaba Isshiki" is formed from Futaba's false belief that her mother resented her for being an obstacle to her career.

6) Greed - Kunikazu Okumura Kunikazu Okumura is the third president of Okumura Foods succeeded from his great-grandfather, he also has founded the fast food chain, Big Bang Burger. Kunikazu only has one daughter, Haru Okumura.His Palace is a spaceport formed from his desire for wealth, to manipulate his employees and his childhood memory of enjoying sci-fi shows and toys, but also his refusal to acknowledge how much he is hurting Haru with his greed, tacitly oblivious to what kind of person her arranged fiance Sugimura is due to the promise of Haru marrying into wealth. His stepping stone to political power is done by sacrificing Haru's happiness, he desires to exist in complete ignorance of every negative consequence of his actions, despite the fact that he is fully aware of how miserable his employees are and violent Sugimura is.

7) Envy - Sae Niijima Sae is a Public Prosecutor of the Tokyo District Special Investigation Department responsible for the Phantom Thieves of Hearts' case. When the incidents of mental breakdown in Tokyo has begun causing casualties, Sae begins looking for research about mental diseases, a search that leads her to the now deceased cognition scientist, Wakaba Isshiki. She visits Sojiro Sakura's cafe for investigation, but in order to protect Wakaba's daughter, Futaba, from any harm, Sojiro refuses to cooperate. Sae informs Sojiro that if he refuses, he'll likely end up in family court due to concerns about Futaba's living situation, and will almost certainly lose custody of her. When Akechi forces himself into the Phantom Thieves, he suggests that the gang should steal Sae's heart to stop her investigation, otherwise the Public Prosecutors Office may hold them responsible for the deaths of Kunikazu Okumura and the Principal Kobayakawa. Her Palace quickly shows just how jaded Sae truly is, with Makoto shocked at how bitter and spiteful her sister's Shadow Self is, and how she views her career as a rigged casino where only the corrupt thrive.

8) Pride - Masayoshi Shido Masayoshi Shido is a politician who has been a metropolitan assemblyman and a representative in the National Diet of Japan. He is now a cabinet minister who split from the ruling party to form the United Future Party. He is now running for election of the next prime minister of Japan. Secretly, however, he is the founder of a Conspiracy to obtain power by any means necessary, and is backed by Yaldabaoth, as Shido's ascent to power would cement authoritarian control over Japan and possibly the world. Shido's Palace which takes the shape of a luxurious cruise ship sailing across the sunken Japan. Shido turns out to be at the center of a conspiracy to rig the election for Prime Minister in his favor, allowing him to put his highly draconian and ultra-nationalistic political beliefs into effect, uncaring of the misery this would cause to Japan in general. He is also revealed to be the father of Goro Akechi, who is his illegitimate son. Shido uses Goro's fame as detective and desire to be acknowledged by him to force him to get rid of those who are opposing him to become the next Prime Minister by destroying their Palace, which results in severe mental disorders and ultimately kills them, framing the Phantom Thieves for these assassinations in the process.

9) Apathy (Acedia) - Mementos Mementos is the Palace for everyone's hearts. When Yaldabaoth awakes, and the Conspiracy starts invoking its power to control Tokyo directly, it is shown in the city's populace choosing to believe an obvious lie (that somehow, the Phantom Thieves are not responsible for the high-profile reforming of several individuals), rather than a cutting truth (that Masayoshi Shido was a terrible leader, and yet most of Japan still voted for him because of nothing but raw charisma), showing cowardice. As the Phantom Thieves manage to find their way into Mementos' core, it's also revealed that the Shadow Selves that had inhabited Mementos have been willingly imprisoned by Yaldabaoth, choosing to let him dictate the future rather than allowing fallible humans to make their own decisions

10) All the Deadly Sins - Yaldabaoth and Satanael Yaldabaoth, the "God of Control", imprisons Igor in Mementos and impersonates him since the beginning of the game. After being discovered, he then takes the role of the game's final boss. He is the Conductor of the Conspiracy to put Masayoshi Shido into political power, and sponsored the Phantom Thieves as a thought experiment and game to see if their salvation of the world as is or Goro Akechi's desire to destroy and recreate the world was stronger. He is described as being the manifestation of humanity's subconscious desire for order, warped to the point where he no longer cares for the human cost or morality of said order; in his view, humans are little more than livestock and lemmings for him to rule over and command due to their self-destructiveness and stupidity. He initially takes the form of the Holy Grail, which starts off as black before the flow of wishes for him to dominate the world revitalize him and turn the cup gold. Yaldabaoth harnesses the power of the deadly sins as proof of man's self-destructive nature during his boss fight. The Protags Persona, Satanael finishes him using a bullet harnessing the seven sins he condemns yet practices himself, putting a massive hole through his head. Shocked at the fact that he was beaten by a power that exceeded his own, Yaldabaoth realizes the true strength of the Trickster and ruefully acknowledges Igor's beliefs as he dissolves back into the original, mindless form of the Grail.

[oraclememehacker]

The Cognitive Wakaba was overhearing it all, and was stricken with even more guilt. Did Futaba really hallucinate her? And thought it was her fault for her death? If she could feel something in the pit of her stomach, this would probably be when she would be able to feel it. It pained her to see her daughter so distraught like that, even if she eventually got past it.

But when Fuuka brought up the idea of talking to her, that made her feel better. Maybe they could talk to each other? She had so much she wanted to say but no way of talking to her. There was nothing more that she wanted in this moment. "Please...I want to talk to my daughter..." She knew that neither of them could hear her still, but it was something.

"What would I even say to her...?" Futaba wondered. She had saw what she thought was her mom after she helped defeat the sphinx in her palace, but that was just a momentary thing. Maybe it wasn't actually her then in that case. "I have so much to say to her, I just don't know what would be sufficient to say....I love you mom, I always have. You were the best person in the whole world..."

oraclememehacker​:

“Someone I know?” Futaba was a bit confused at that, initially anyways. There was a spirit of someone that she knew around? Her mind was trying to discern this and who it could possibly be. Her family was relatively small, and she was overlooking the obvious answer since it was something she dealt with a while back and she wasn’t even thinking about that possibility. But then it hit her, and hit her pretty hard.

Fuuka would see the immediate shift in her expression. It was like a deep seated fear suddenly was etched into her.

“N-No, no no no no. I can’t go through this again. I dealt with her already.” Futaba was shaking, terror evident in her tone and voice. “S-Sorry, I-I um, I um…” Man, it was hard for her to speak now, the words getting stuck at the back of her throat. It was the fact that her mother could be possibly around again, even if she had dealt with the guilt over it was making her scared and terrified. It was like she was getting punished all over again.

Of course, she didn’t know that Spirit Wakaba was merely wanting to have her final farewells with the daughter she loved, but still. “Back before I awakened to my persona I…well, I was stricken with guilt over my mother’s death and I hallucinated her being behind me often. I would see her, her always yelling at me, blaming me for her death because I b-blamed myself. I got over it when I learned that it wasn’t me, and I was hating myself for no reason. S-So for her to be around again, just reminds me of that, is all.”

Once Fuuka could see Futaba slowly falling into despair, with fear written on her face, Fuuka panicked for a moment and tried to remain calm by reaching out to her. However, she noticed that she was able to bounce back slowly and on her own. And while that made Fuuka happy (on the outside), she feared that she traumatized Futaba unknowingly while she was speaking her mind. 

But, it would make sense as to why it would be her mom. Someone who wanted to watch over her own daughter and still loved her even in death–Fuuka was envious. Just a little bit. To have a motherly figure in her life…well, that was impossible as she became the one for her own group of friends and others. “Futaba…” Fuuka whispered softly, waiting until she was able to explain why she turned pale at the thought of her mother watching her.

“You have every right to be scared and terrified. But, you’ve grown from your mistakes and what you were told. I know your mother will be happy and proud of you.” She stated slowly, knowing this was a very, very sensitive topic for the Hermit. Fuuka waved her hand outwards, sensing Wakaba beside Fuuka, and then holding her hands outwards towards the spirit. “I am glad that you didn’t let the guilt eat you away. We’ve become good friends, right? Besides,” Fuuka smiled at Futaba and laid one of her hands on top of Futaba’s carefully, “I know she’s here. You could try talking to her, if you would like.”

[oraclememehacker]

“Hello? Can anyone hear me? Or see me?” This Wakaba was a cognitive ghost, dead but unable to go to what one would consider the afterlife. The reasons for this she wasn’t sure yet. All she knew currently was that it was just another ordinary day at the Isshiki household, and she awoken suddenly. She found herself phasing through walls and doors, and everyone would just walk right through her, messing with how she looked temporarily. “The only logical conclusion is that I’m a ghost...did I...die?”

[oraclememehacker]

"Maybe..." Futaba had to admit, she was feeling pretty bummed about that. Apparently Wakaba was right around here, trying to contact her but she couldn't do anything about it. It was just a maybe one day things were going to change. Was that a sign that the cafe was going to be haunted from now on? That would be a weird thing if the spirit of Wakaba was just hanging around forever.

In the meantime, cognitive Spirit Wakaba was thinking about things some more and trying to come up with an idea. She was a spirit right? That had to mean something. Hmm, even in death she was trying to figure things out. Then, she had an idea. It was a dumb idea that probably wasn't going to work, but given what she knew...

Fuuka would find that the cold sensation grew stronger as Wakaba approached. She was planning on seeing if she could take over Fuuka's body, possess it, even for just a moment so she could say her final words to Futaba. She would go through Fuuka's body and she would definitely feel a massive and constant cold chill throughout her. Whether this worked or not was another story...

Fuuka looked around, hearing Futaba’s mom voice coming in out, repeating something…over and over again. Fuuka put her hand on her chest, calming her heart the best she could in this situation. She was wondering if she was starting to hallucinate as she thought her mother was saying something about talking and my daughter. 

And the way she spoke so positive about her–Fuuka was envious and a bit broken hearted. Her own mother was alive and while she said small ‘thank yous’ and ‘I love yous’ over and over, they said it back but never with love. Futaba and Wakaba were both in love–one of them dead, even! She could feel chills running down her arms and legs, wondering if it was because she felt Wakaba near by or for something else?

“Sometimes…saying less is more. If your words are true and honest, then I think your mother will love them no matter what. …but,” Fuuka turned her head towards the cognitive Wakaba, unsure if she really there or not (a familiar feeling of sorts), and smiled, “I am sure she has heard them. Maybe, just maybe one day, I will figure out a way for you two to see each other and communicate. Though, who knows what I can do after having Juno for years?”