Fractured Persona – killer7 #3

Thanks for coming back! This is the continuation of  my killer7 analysis, as well as the second part of the chapter entitled Sunset. The first part ended with the assassination of Toru Fukushima, a prominent politician and bureaucrat behind the scenes in the Japanese government. The Yakumo, an important document that could shift political power on a global scale, is still nowhere to be found. As the world rushes headlong towards the first conflict in eight years, who will survive?

I hope to make these articles interesting for both newcomers to the game and those who have played through multiple times. But, I have one quick warning: in order to make this as detailed and informative as possible, there will be a large amount of spoilers. So, if you aren’t worried about learning the fates of the characters or having the ending ruined for you, keep reading. If you still plan to play this game for yourself and want to experience the plot twists firsthand, stop!

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Target #01 – Sunset (Part 2)
"Laughter is the countdown of devastation."

 

After the events that transpired at Restaurant Fukushima, Garcian returns to his trailer. While nothing of real importance happens here at this time, the man behind the locked door can still be heard screaming. The scene shifts to a coffeehouse in Washington, D.C. where Garcian is meeting with the informant mentioned last chapter, Hiro Kasai. He passes along the next mission from Christopher Mills. The target is actually another assassin by the name of Jean DePaul, the apprentice chef Mask de Smith met at Restaurant Fukushima. Kasai is certain that DePaul is a spy, as he's gained a name for himself as an elite operative by killing a few government officials. He points Garcian to the Kaku building, as it seems to be the hub for syndicates all over the world.

Inside the Kaku building, three men can be seen having a meeting. They mention that it is too late for the fireworks to be launched to save Japan. The two older men, Hiroyasu Kurahashi and Shinya Akiba, have spent 65 years trying to restore their country but all their efforts were meaningless as the United States leaves them to die. They blame the third man at the conference table, Kenjiro Matsuoka, and say that his youth and inexperience led them to this fate. His outrage at their accusations only furthers their mistrust of his generation, and Kurahashi passes him a gun. They antagonize him, telling him to kill himself. They realize that he may want to kill them with the gun but say that they've done it many times themselves in the past, killing their superiors in order to gain a better standing. They continue to belittle him until he can't take it anymore and he opens fire on two men.

But, before he can pull the trigger on himself, Kun Lan intervenes. Matsuoka is surprised at his sudden appearance and has no idea who he is. Across the table, the two dead men lean forward, their brains exposed but their bodies still functioning somehow. They lament the fact that elders are no longer treated with respect but as nuisances, and Kun Lan agrees. He uses his God Hand on Matsuoka's mind, and his surprise soon turns to acceptance. Kurahashi believes that Matsuoka is finally seeing things clearly. Kun Lan tells the three men that they will always be together and, as the camera spins to focus on Matsuoka leaving the conference, it reveals an empty room.

The Killer 7 soon arrive at the Kaku building, and enter through a secret entrance on the first floor. Travis is, like always, waiting for them on the inside. He informs them that the Kaku building is Information Terminal Central, where the world's background players have come to decide Japan's fate. Unfortunately, not a single country spoke up in Japan's favor, each wanting to gain a slice of the valuable territory Japan controls. As things are working out now, Japan is entirely on their own.

A few interesting things are noticed as the Killer 7 make their way through the various floors of the Kaku building. While it's supposed to be a secret meeting place for government officials, many of the rooms have been converted into small gambling parlors. Dice, poker, and horse racing all inhabit the rooms of the Kaku building, as well as a variety of ways to fix these games in one's favor. Iwazaru even goes as far as calling the building a gambler's paradise. Whether he means the actual games or gambling on the world stage is yet to be determined, but it offers a thought-provoking parallel when compared to how the world is controlled and risky actions are taken.

Travis reveals that these talks amount to a sort of proxy war for Fukushima. All talks are done through third-rate bureaucrats, so those seeking to assassinate them aren't the best either. The talks are nothing more than a charade, as the United States has given up on negotiations. Fukushima was the backbone of Japan's UN Party and much more important than anyone could have guessed. Without him, the UN Party is nothing but a toothless organization with no way to enforce their power.

Travis later warns the Killer 7 about heading to the basement. Jean DePaul, who turns out to be an agent of the International Ethics Committee, has already infiltrated the building. Through him, the Committee hopes to disrupt the secret final talks between the United States and Japan. By interrupting this secret meeting, the Committee hopes delay the destruction of Japan. It's imperative that the Killer 7 stop DePaul in time and let the events play out correctly.

Later, Mask de Smith comes into contact with DePaul, and they share a short conversation about wrestling. The battle is nothing much to note as Mask deals with DePaul quite easily. The Killer 7 continue on to the basement while the secret meeting continues as planned in the mah-jongg room. Four delegates sit around a small table, playing a game of mah-jongg. There are two representatives from the United States and two from Japan. The scene that plays out is an interesting one, as the delegates berate each other over the game and over their international affairs. To the Americans, the Japanese are nothing but monkeys who will soon be destroyed by their foolishness. To the Japanse, the Americans are bloodthirsty dogs who can't get enough conflict and destruction.

The game continues, the Americans certain that Japan has no chances left. They assure them that their knight in shining armor will fail. It's unclear who they are referring to here, but it's almost definitely either Kun Lan or Matsuoka, who plays a very important part in the story line later in the game. The game quickly turns sour as the last piece is played. The Americans realize the Japanese have been cheating the whole time and everyone draws their guns. The Japanese delegates realize it's all over and after a short standoff, they all fire on each other.

The Killer 7 arrive in the basement after the shootout to find all the delegates dead. The room is a mess with blood staining the walls and furniture strewn about. Calmly sitting in the corner is Travis, who expands some of the details. Obviously, the talks broke down between the United States and Japan, so the skies will soon rain down on Japan. While this was all according to plan, something doesn't seem right. It would be much easier for the United States to just destroy the UN Party and be done with it, but they seem intent on stopping the whole country. Someone behind the scenes seems to be pulling the strings, and it may be some remnant of Fukushima's power within the political party. Kenjiro Matsuoka, the man from the opening scene, is the Director of the Central Management Office. It's now up to Matsuoka to pick up from where Fukushima left off and lead Japan.

The Killer 7 leave the basement and backtrack to where DePaul was killed. His body is gone but his spirit remains, and speaks to them much like Travis. According to him, Matsuoko has the Yakumo, and seeks to prove Japan can rise from the ashes. He will soon be a force to be reckoned with, and there's no way the war will end while he is still alive. He must be dealt with if peace is to be preserved across the globe.

As they continue on towards the conference room, the Killer 7 come into contact with a frequent visitor of theirs called Kess Bloodysunday. Kess is a small, bloodied boy who shows up just before important battles with strong Heaven Smile or other bosses to offer his advice on how to defeat them. He seems to live inside of his own dreams and nightmares, where he encounters these strong creatures and finds out their weaknesses. An interesting idea he puts out during this encounter is a way to achieve world peace. Kess states that he will one day become the President of the United States and hopes to eradicate all the scum in the world. He thinks this is the only way to really spread peace throughout the world.

Iwazaru expresses some concerns over the actions of the United States. He thinks they are out of control and need to be reined in a bit. He poses a couple of questions to the Killer 7, wondering if a nation can have a collective will and how people can only be seen as units and not as living beings. The United States indiscretion with killing is getting out of hand, and the Killer 7 need to be careful with who they place their support behind. Travis offers a break from Iwazaru's philosophical ramblings, and lets the assassins know that this building is actually the headquarters for Japan's UN Party. The two old men that Mitsuoka tried to kill are still alive somehow. They are incarnations of the greed in the world, and are still as sly and corrupt as ever. Japan is as good as dead after the events that transpired here today.

The Killer 7 enter the board room where the old men were killed. The two Japanese politicians lament over the fact the United States is so large, saying that their voices and the voices of the people will never be heard. They're too old to be taken seriously anymore, and the people are only counted as units in the grand scheme of things. But, as long as they are alive Japan won't go down, at least not without a fight. An incredibly odd battle ensues, mainly involving flying brains. But the Killer 7 eventually stop the two old men and they finally die.

After completing the mission, Garcian meets up with Christopher Mills at the usual overpass. Chris says it's almost impossible to do anything with the eyes of the entire world trained on you, but Garcian disagrees. He says that even though world peace has been achieved, wiping a country or two off the map is an extremely easy task. He speaks of a promise made thirty years ago that started a countdown as missiles appear on the horizon behind them. They shoot across the sky to the opposite horizon, Chris and Garcian watching them with grim looks on their faces. As they speed off to hell, Chris is upset that they no longer fear the sight, that they've become used to events like this. Garcian agrees, but says that they're still human through it all.

The chapter ends with the sound of explosions.

 

Sunset – Complete

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Being the second part of the second chapter, Sunset does a great job of wrapping up a few plot strings, but also leaves everything open ended for the most part. In this chapter we learned of a few new players behind the scenes, namely Kenjiro Matsuoka. A power vacuum was created after Fukushima's assassination, and the responsibility fell upon Matsuoka, as the holder of the Yakumo, to continue his legacy and lead Japan through this current crisis.

Much like the first part of this chapter, the storylines dealt with more real world things like political moves and espionage rather than cosmic forces and deities. We learned that Japan wasn't totally innocent in their dealings with the United States, and their two major political groups were constantly vying for control in the important peace talks. Unfortunately, the United States were already decided on what they wanted to do in the situation, making all the meetings at the Kaku building irrelevant.

This chapter also brought up a few interesting issues dealing with nations and their citizens. While most countries have open elections, the actions taken by those in power are not decided on a majority vote. They do what they want with the approval of others in power, caring less about the average citizen and what they say about what their government should be doing. Many times during war, citizens are nothing but units to be counted as casualties, taking the personal toll and emotions out of the equation so that the atrocious acts governments commit can be done with less guilt.

The other side is shown in an odd encounter with Kess. He wants to be President for the sole fact he'll be able to destroy the scum of the world. With these actions he hopes to create a type of peace across the globe…but is that really peace? If you simply kill the opposition instead of taking their motives into account, are you really making the world a safer place? Or are you only taking choices out of the hands of the citizens?

So, where were the missiles heading at the end of the chapter?  Are they being launched as a last futile attempt to save Japan, or are they only going to add to the destruction of the small island nation? If these questions are burning in your mind, come back next week for the answers! Sure, they may be cryptic as hell…but the journey is the important part. Until then, sayonara!

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