"I think it's the barrier between this world and the other one wavering a little as the app does its search."

Akira looks over at Takemi. "If you want more proof, there's a friend of mine I could introduce you to — they're waiting outside. They know more about these things than I do." 

"I...

"Yes. I want to see more."

"I'll be back in just a moment, then."

Akira ducks outside. 

"Morgana, are you there? There's someone I'd like you to meet."

They bound down from a nearby roof and pad up. "Oh? We doing the math routine again?"

Akira nods. "Mhm."

She lets Morgana hop up onto her bag, and goes back into the clinic. 

"Hello again," she says. She gestures to Morgana. "This is Morgana. They are a person in the body of a cat. Only people who've been to the other world can understand their speech, but they're as intelligent as any human: feel free to devise your own test of their intelligence and communication abilities."

"Good to meet you, Morgana."

"Nice to meet you, Doctor Takemi!"

She gazes contemplatively at Morgana for a moment. "That just sounded like meowing to me, but I presume you heard a greeting in response, so...

"Eighty-five divided by five?"

They tilt their head for a moment, hop up onto Takemi's desk to find a paper that will make the noise nice and clear, then thump the paper seventeen times.

She hums and looks up. "That was correct. I have more tests I can do, but I can put those aside if you can take me into the other world so I can understand your non-binary non-cat friend."

"Morgana, you said there was a place called Mementos we could go to do things in the metaverse — can we get there from anywhere close to here, and if we did, would it be safe for Takemi with us two to guard her?"

They nod. "It's everywhere, and there's both an external layer and an entrance area that have no shadows at all. Totally safe, and we could leave from this office even."

"They say we can go to the other world from right here and it'll be safe. Do I just enter "Mementos" into the app and say to navigate?"

"Navigating to Mementos."

And before Akira can say anything, the transition is made.

And after a mind-bending wave of purple, they find themselves... still in Takemi's office. The colors look a little darker, a little grimmer, a little more surreal, though.

Morgana is now in their small anthro-cat shape.

"Hello, Doctor Takemi! Welcome to the Metaverse!"

"Well hello to you too, Morgana. This place certainly feels different." She looks around for a moment.

Akira looks around too.

"This looks remarkably undistorted compared to the personal realities I've seen. Morgana, is there somewhere it'd be more obvious we're in the Metaverse?"

"Definitely. The streets will be deserted, for one, but more importantly it gets very obviously distorted once you get into the subway. As long as we don't go past the entrance layer of the subway, it'll be totally safe."

"It's up to you if you want more proof," Akira says to Takemi. "It's not a long walk to Yongen-Jaya station, though."

She takes a breath and stands up, nodding.

"Let's go."

Akira gets the door, and off they go. She watches the deserted streets warily for any sign of shadows.

The streets are empty, far emptier than Yongen-Jaya has ever been during the day.

"Well, this is certainly another difference. I've never seen Yongen-Jaya completely empty before."

"It's a little eerie, honestly."

In a way, she'd be more comfortable if she had her empowered outfit on. It feels uncomfortable not to have her dagger to hand here.