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It all began ten years ago.
An eccentric history teacher by the name of Akinari Kashihara had wondered for a long time about the nature of his history, and what it might mean for their future. He plumbed the legends of the ancient Mayans, constructing a theory of his own that explained the nature of things. He might have been written off as a crackpot if not for his use of the tempestuous son of Tatsuzou Sudou, Japan's newly-appointed Foreign Minister. Tatsuya Sudou spoke of compelling and strangely vivid occurances, causing Akinari to believe that he was a channeler of great power. Together with Maya Okamura, a popular fellow teacher, and Tatsuya Sudou, Akinari created the book 'In-Laquetti', which foretold the coming of the end of days. Soon after, however, Akinari died in a terrible accident in Seven Sisters High School, leaving Maya and the demented Tatsuya to their own devices. Tatsuya set fire to a shrine in anger, and was committed to a mental institution.
At the same time, the Kirijo patriarch had begun a project to harness the powers of human consciousness. With this power, whoever held it could possibly find a way to triumph over space and time itself. It was kept a great secreat, but the Kirijo Group's greatest foe came not from without, but within. There was a promising manager within the Group by the name of Takahisa Kandori. He was assigned to the project due to his exceptional performance. The keen mind of Kandori quickly determined the potential impact of the research, and he made his own plans to take advantage of the research for his own ends. It didn't take long for him work with another scientist in the project who had similar feelings to himself, Keisuke Komatsubara. Their mutual greed led them to formulate a plan to cause a great scandal to oust the Kirijo patriarch and take control themselves. They presented evidence to Eiichiro Takeba, a well-meaning and brilliant scientist, that the Kirijo patriarch wanted to end the world.
They expected a scandal. They didn't expect Eiichiro to sabotage the project, causing the release of a massive number of Shadows and the destruction of the project. Time and space warped, forming the Dark Hour. The released shadows gathered into great and terrible creatures, wreaking havoc. Few survived the fallout, and the most powerful of the Shadow creatures were only sealed away with great sacrifice. The others fled into the darkness, hiding. But the Dark Hour remained ever since, with Gekkoukan High School transforming into the enigmatic and ominous Tartarus every night.
The confusion and supernatural influx spared the Kirijo Group the majority of the potential for a scandal, especially since almost all who were responsible died in the incident. There were some who were able to discover the truth, however. Over two years, Tatsuzou Sudou discovered the reasons for what happened and was intrigued. This kind of power could possibly return Japan to its place of glory in the world, as well as allowing him to purge the corruption and weakness from his nation that had caused it to fall from its former position. Using his connections, he contacted Takahisa Kandori, one of the survivors of the Kirijo Incident. Kandori had gained a lower managerial position in the Saeki Electronics, Biologicals, and Energy Corporation, and was most interested in the elder Sudou's proposal. Together, they formulated a plan to create a New World Order, one which between Kandori's technology and Sudou's political clout, would allow them to achieve their mutual aims. The deal struck, Kandori soon began to move up in the company, gaining a regional manager's position in the burgeoning town of Lunarvale. They also began to draw others to their banner, slowly but surely.
It was not without incident, however. Three years later, a public prosecutor by the name of Kaoru Saga and his assistant, Miki Asai, began an investigation into the Taiwanese Mafia which threatened to expose part of the NWO's organization. There was only one possible response. The Mafia attempted to kill Kaoru and his assistant. Kaoru escaped, but his assistant did not, dying despite his efforts to save her. In anguish, Kaoru abandoned his job, turning from legal means to illegal ones in an effort to bring down Tatsuzou Sudou. He became known as Baofu, an accomplished wiretapper and rumormonger, as he created the website 'Darkside of Sumaru' in order to spread his findings and rumors. The site became extremely popular, especially among the more rebellious of Japan. The site resisted being quashed by the NWO's best efforts, and Baofu remained at large.
Two years later, another survivor of the Kirijo Incident, Shuji Ikutsuki, approached the now-teenage Mitsuru Kirijo and asked her if she was interested in trying to determine the truth of the Dark Hour. Wracked by guilt over the Incident due to her family being involved in it, she readily agreed, and they formed the Special Extracurricular Extermination Squad. Akihiko Sanada and Shinjiro Aragaki also assisted, and the three began to tenatively explore Tartarus with the power of their Persona... Until a fateful night where Shinjiro lost control of his Persona, slaying a woman on accident. In guilt, he quit SEES, and the group began to stall out without the necessary manpower.
Time turned on. Another year had passed, six since the formation of the NWO, and Tatsuzou was no closer to realizing his goal despite the promising reports from Kandori about something he called the 'Dimensional Variance Accelerator System'. Using his information, he turned from scientific means to occult ones in order to further his goals. He consulted a famous fortune teller, 'Wang Long' Chizuru Ishigami, and armed with her assistance, summoned a powerful spirit named Gozen to advise him, a famous samurai from Sumaru's history. He became obsessed with the figure, learning all he could from it. Among many other secrets, it told him of a hidden work in the hands of Maya Okamura. It was not hard to gain access to a copy of In-Laquetti from her, as she had become obsessed with trying to ensure that the prophecies within come to pass. She was, by then, too unstable for Tatsuzou to recruit, but the book was invaluable. With book in hand, Tatsuzou saw that the information within could very well assist him with his goals. Gozen, with Chizuru's help, assisted Tatsuzou in performing the ritual of Kotodama, which is said to allow rumors to become reality. The influence of the NWO spread even farther with surrepetitious use of rumors to their advantage, though the effectiveness of Kotodama appeared to drop off dramatically outside of Sumaru itself.
Over the next year, a new website appeared on the Internet, called 'Revenge Request'. It promised revenge for anyone, on anyone. Those who availed themselves of the services of the website were soon found to be in debt to a widespread cult that had arisen around the Dark Hour. Some proclaimed that it was the sign of the coming of a new age of Man, free of sorrow and pain. Others said that it was the herald of disaster, that which would cast down the sinners and corrupt. But the disparate voices were nonetheless united under one name: 'Strega'. They were generally considered a bunch of lunatics, though their nominal leader, Takaya Sakaki, proved to be very charismatic both in person and over the Internet.
This backdrop only made more current events even stranger by comparison. A new rumor of televisions showing one's soulmate at midnight spread through the public's consciousness, and a pair of bizarre murders occurred in the sleepy rural town of Inaba. The Kuzunoha Detective Agency, famous for its work investigating the increasingly common strange paranormal phenomena that had been occurring, dispatched the famous 'Detective Prince', Naoto Shirogane to the site under the cover of the police requesting his presence. He found there a group of inquisitive students who were also investigating the situation, and after some time recruited them into the group to assist in their efforts. SEES, too, became active once more as a number of Persona-users appeared, quickly bolstering their ranks to the point that they could begin researching once again. Kandori reported to the NWO that the DVA System was almost complete and that his tests have proved fruitful. Rumors flew on the streets of increasingly strange happenings every day.
Now, in the year 2009, it has been ten years since the Kirijo Incident. Everything seemed poised towards a great struggle to determine the fate of mankind amidst their day to day lives.
The hearts of mankind are in turmoil. Will you reach out to the truth? Or will you close your eyes amid the comforting fog?
Will you fight for tomorrow? Or will you allow humanity's final fall?
Will you seek out the light? Or will you allow darkness to control your destiny?
Many paths lay open before you. Some will lead to tragedy. Others, to grand rebirth. But whichever you may choose...
