[ Moving so he can lean back against the table, ever-so-slightly. ]
The Metaverse was made up of all the thoughts and desires of humanity - the distorted and warped ones, to be exact. [ a brief hum ] I'll give you an even bigger example...
[ He taps his chin with the plastic blade a couple of times, his gaze resting on the wall across the room. ]
When someone's thoughts and desires became powerfully distorted enough, they formed what we called a Palace. The Palace existed in the Metaverse and functioned as a... home base, essentially. Their Shadow became the ruler... [ holding a blink for a second ] and other Shadows and Demons became drawn to the Palace. They all worked to defend it at all costs. Because whatever the ruler had latched onto and possibly obsessed over, in the real world, took form of what we called the Treasure.
Which is something that rested in the center of the Palace.
[ He glances to Naoya, giving him a few seconds to process all of that, if needed. ]
As the wild card, who was code named Joker... it was my job to lead the team into those Palaces, infiltrate them, so we could then send out a calling card to the person in the real world. Knowing their "heart" was in danger resulted in the Treasure taking a solid form inside the Palace. And, after that... we'd go in and steal it.
[ His gaze shifts back to rest on the wall. For some reason, he feels... strange, saying the next part to Naoya... ]
Without the source of distortion, the Palace crumbled, forcing the person in the real world to undergo a Change of Heart. They were left to face their truest feelings and desires... and were ultimately weighed down by guilt for all their crimes...
[ His gaze lowers. He genuinely can't leave it off at that - not with Naoya. ]
... In the end, almost all the Shadows of the former Palace rulers wound up locked away in what turned out to be Yaldabaoth's Palace, their will to fight completely gone. [ jawline briefly tightening ] It was all part of a game. And taking down all the former Palace rulers had been doing Yaldabaoth a solid, since we were getting them... out of the way, really. [ a soft 'tch' ] That asshole even had the nerve to try making a deal with me, in the end. So...
[ One corner of his lips lifts, ever-so-slightly. There's a spark in his eyes for just a moment. One hand lifts as he does the cliche "gun" gesture with it, pointing it towards that wall from earlier. He looks right at Naoya, the flash of a grin given. ]
I took pleasure in that final shot. [ "bang" gesture ] ... In short, the Metaverse had become like Yaldabaoth's playground, and we kicked him out of it.
P5 endgame spoilers
[ Moving so he can lean back against the table, ever-so-slightly. ]
The Metaverse was made up of all the thoughts and desires of humanity - the distorted and warped ones, to be exact. [ a brief hum ] I'll give you an even bigger example...
[ He taps his chin with the plastic blade a couple of times, his gaze resting on the wall across the room. ]
When someone's thoughts and desires became powerfully distorted enough, they formed what we called a Palace. The Palace existed in the Metaverse and functioned as a... home base, essentially. Their Shadow became the ruler... [ holding a blink for a second ] and other Shadows and Demons became drawn to the Palace. They all worked to defend it at all costs. Because whatever the ruler had latched onto and possibly obsessed over, in the real world, took form of what we called the Treasure.
Which is something that rested in the center of the Palace.
[ He glances to Naoya, giving him a few seconds to process all of that, if needed. ]
As the wild card, who was code named Joker... it was my job to lead the team into those Palaces, infiltrate them, so we could then send out a calling card to the person in the real world. Knowing their "heart" was in danger resulted in the Treasure taking a solid form inside the Palace. And, after that... we'd go in and steal it.
[ His gaze shifts back to rest on the wall. For some reason, he feels... strange, saying the next part to Naoya... ]
Without the source of distortion, the Palace crumbled, forcing the person in the real world to undergo a Change of Heart. They were left to face their truest feelings and desires... and were ultimately weighed down by guilt for all their crimes...
[ His gaze lowers. He genuinely can't leave it off at that - not with Naoya. ]
... In the end, almost all the Shadows of the former Palace rulers wound up locked away in what turned out to be Yaldabaoth's Palace, their will to fight completely gone. [ jawline briefly tightening ] It was all part of a game. And taking down all the former Palace rulers had been doing Yaldabaoth a solid, since we were getting them... out of the way, really. [ a soft 'tch' ] That asshole even had the nerve to try making a deal with me, in the end. So...
[ One corner of his lips lifts, ever-so-slightly. There's a spark in his eyes for just a moment. One hand lifts as he does the cliche "gun" gesture with it, pointing it towards that wall from earlier. He looks right at Naoya, the flash of a grin given. ]
I took pleasure in that final shot. [ "bang" gesture ] ... In short, the Metaverse had become like Yaldabaoth's playground, and we kicked him out of it.