Part 9: Sector Bootes

Nothing left to do outside of Bootes, so let's head on in.

A Frivolous Nation



How would you describe it? Creepy? Tacky? Whatever it is, it sucks.



(A) ...Then again, I've known my share of humans who love places like this, too.
(B) You'd almost expect to see humans living here, but... there aren't any, huh?
That's right. The only things here are those goddamned demons.
(C) This must all be a trap they set. Careful, guys!
It's time we got to it! Begin the mission!



Right out the gate, Bootes is showing us how its different to what came before. Not only do we have the obvious stuff, but there's also this creepy red-ish pink floor tiles. That we're going to ignore for now.

...Oh right, and while I remember, you may have noticed during the Antlia clean-up that Hitonari's name changed to having a light blue color just like it does here. Morax kind of serves as the plot gate that lets you change your own alignment, based on dialogue choices and such. They follow the same color scheme as the normal demons we can pick up; red is Chaos, white is Neutral and blue is Law. I wouldn't take this as a sign of anything at this stage, really. It has minimal impact outside of Co-Op stuff until much, much, MUCH later. Besides, we can adjust and manipulate our alignment with minimal hassle and fuss later on too.



Anyway, if we look directly left of those strange tiles there's a wall we can examine. Bootes is VERY different to what we've seen before...



Portal inaccessible with installed applications!

There's a "portal" (door) in the wall, huh? But we can't open it yet so this is something we need to deal with later I guess. Once we tried to open it, it got added to the map which is useful.



We're gonna follow the path around to the south for now. This lets us grab this easy Assist Forma and we can continue to ignore those weird lookin' floor tiles for now.



The path is pretty thoroughly linear for a little while but we'll quickly get to a few branching options. We'll go left here first.



This beings us around to a Melchom waiting, hidden in an alcove.

They say humans are a lazy race, but I suppose I have no choice other than to ask...
Ah, pardon me for not introducing myself sooner. I am Melchom, the paymaster of Hell.
I provide demons with various tasks to complete, but we're short on demons and I have jobs undone.
Would you be a gentleman and hear my request?



Yes.
I'm glad you know how to follow orders.
I expect results.

Well, the good news is this is doable at just about any moment because of how ubiquitous Chakra Drops are.

...And we already have a few on-hand, so!





I look forward to working with you again.

Since we only got a couple thousand Macca out of this, I didn't see much of a need to put it off until later. Also we had it done already, that helps too.

The dot will remain on our minimap though. We've finished the quest and don't have a new one active. How odd...

Anyway, we'll turn left on our way out which leads further on into Bootes. We'll immediately hit another branching path and turn right to go south.



From there, we can continue on further south or we can check out this new door first.



It's not super obvious at first, but that weird gem-shaped thing in the center is our visual shorthand for Unlock required here. As you might remember from before, Blue means Unlock A!



The actual doors here are weird and creepy. They stare into your soul...



Beyond the door, we can go west quite a ways but we've got a door that leads back up north. We'll check that out firs--



Oh, it's you, Hitonari. Don't scare me like that...
Hm? Ah, it's nothing. I was just checking one of the Demonica's functions...
Have you messed around much with the Records function?



They're achievements. We almost certainly won't get all of them (the 100% Compendium and 100% Analyzed ones are insanely tedious), but most of them are easy and don't require much extra effort at least. I'll keep a log of them in the 2nd post, in the order they appear in-game, for those that care.

Guess the Joint Project figures a little competition between the men will get us motivated, huh?
Man, they got it all figured out. They know us grunts too well...

> The strike force member left while looking at his Demonica...

Okay, NOW we can go through that door.



Your present location is believed to be sufficient for purposes of observation.
You may launch the Signal Beacon.



This is Arthur. Beginning the capturing of the beacon's signal.
Continue to search for suitable locations for observation.

The Fear of God



Since the door that led towards our first plot token was a one-way door, we need to walk the long way around. That gives us chance to actually see the demons here, instead of random unknowns.

Disapppointingly, our first batch consists of Harpy and Katakirauwa. This'll happen more and more as we go along, for obvious reasons. Harpy's weak to Gun and Elec which makes her easy to take down and has no resistances. I mentioned before her base attack CAN inflict Charm but it's not too big a risk since it's only a base 5% chance.

Katakirauwa is only weak to Expel and is flatout immune to Curse. So, don't Mudo her but do definitely drop a Hama.



Boy, it's a good thing Preta's are actually objectively awful because that first skill sure wasn't there on the ones we had! This'll happen with many demons, where enemy versions have extra skills; usually, these are Enemy Only skills that make no sense for you to get, or Enemy Only skills that Atlus is aware are good and thus you're not allowed them. Sometimes, they're normal skills you will get just not until way later because shut up.

Anyway, Macca Beam is firmly in that first criteria. It's a very good skill... but it's one that allowing the player to use would not make any sense. It doesn't deal damage to anyone's HP or anything. It doesn't inflict an ailment. It just deals damage to you, yes you reading this. It hurts your pride as it targets your wallet and just destroys a couple hundred macca.

Yes, this turns up again later. Yes, it's more annoying then.



Azumi is kind of like an Oni, I guess? It's definitely a relatively smaller threat though. Azumi's weak to Fire and Elec but resists Phys of course. Only has Rampage as his one default skill.

He's also slightly, and I do mean slightly, weak to Sleep. Normally being weak to an ailment gives it 300% chance of being inflicted (so a 3x chance). Azumi's Sleep modifier is a whole... 150%. Thanks Azumi!



Yaaaaaaaay Jack Frost! Jack Frost's of course an adorable little snowman who's also a series mascot. You've seen him. You've seen him a lot. He even has semi-unique Talk dialogue with a unique response! We'll see it later, I'm sure.

Being a snow man, he's weak to Fire and reflects Ice. But! Unlike the previous reflects, Jack Frost reflects Ice as if he was weak to it! Tricksy that, clever Jack. For skills, he has Bufu, Mabufu and a new Phys skill called Dream Fist. It costs 7MP (more on that awful idea later), deals Moderate phys damage and has a 60% chance to inflict Sleep.

Leanan Sidhe is less interesting. Her only offensive skill is Marin Karin which is honestly threatening enough. Worse still, she has no weaknesses! But she only resists Elec and Sleep, so it's mostly a non-issue.



And finally, for now, we have Lilim. Lilim's weak to Ice and resists Elec. All ho hum there, but everything else is a bit more interesting. Her basic attack is Physical elemental and has a 10% chance to inflict Sleep. Skill-wise, she's similar to Jack Frost as she has Zio, Mazio and Charm Strike. Charm Strike costs 9MP for Moderate Gun damage and has a 60% chance to inflict Charm, of course. Lilim herself ironically has no ailment resistances or weaknesses.

A Frivolous Nation



Whew, that's a lot of demons. We'll get to see more later. For now, we'll just follow the path we were on past the door and come to... this. No way around these tiles, so we have to finally deal with them for the first time.



You probably could tell immediately, but they're damage tiles. Thankfully, they deal damage proportional to max HP (it's around, but not quite exactly, 10%) and cannot drop you below 1HP at any time.



In this instance, it gets us to a dead-end with only this one fixed Forma in it. On the one hand, I can't complain about working towards upgrades. On the other hand, not worth it...



Not much to find south of the door that led here though, huh. I remembered this path being longer for some reason.



And, huh, if we took the damage tiles in a straight shot from the Red Sprite before, we sort of could've skipped all that for a while.



North of there is a turn to the right and a door leading north. Door comes first to keep consistency.



Which quickly leads to a turn left and then a T junction.



Taking the turn leads to more fixed Forma. Nothing else though.



The western-most part just leads to another hidden door we can't go through. So that leaves exactly one path.



And this one's really weird. A long stretch of tiles alternating damage-normal-damage-etc. (okay fine, it's like 8 steps) just because.



After that, we get to a door and a stretch leading further north. We'll skip the door for a brief moment.



....Oh. Well then, Unlock A door it is!



Once we get a take a few steps, this scene just suddenly interrupts.

What's so funny? Stop laughing...!
Is that you, Hitonari...? Are you the one who's laughing?



You don't hear anything, do you, Tadano? Yeah, nope.
Huh? No one's laughing...?
Well what was it, then? Someone was laughing like they were having a blast...
If it wasn't over the radio, it must've been coming from the field...
Hey man, keep it together. You getting tired?
Sheesh, don't start acting up now.

Right, uh, moving on? You may have noticed that scene popped up at an intersection. We'll go further east instead of taking the northern turn.



This... quickly leads to another branch in the path. We'll go right from here, then.



Test subject?



Master... Mitra?



You humans ain't got a hope in hell of finding it. Hwahahahaha...

Palace? Itsumade, slow down. What? You... explained things about this Sector, kind of?

I think the answers themselves became more questions, though.



Anyway, we'll leave Itsumade in his little alcove and head on over to the east. We'll skip this door for now as well.



By doing that, we can find an Unlock door we can't open yet! And a normal door we can.



The normal door was a (not very) deadly trap! It was a one-way door that led to a tiny hallway with no exits save for another one-way door that drops you on damage tiles!



After we get past that inconvenience, we get to a cross junction. We'll turn left here (when you see the map it'll make sense).



This brings us to another door that we'll ignore for a few brief seconds.



Because this hidden door directly south of it? I always forget that this one is here, so I'm tagging it right now before that happens!



Anyway, in the door that isn't an obvious one-way door we find... a small cross-shaped room.



In each alcove we find a different copy of the same demon.

(N) We must suppress it at all costs...
(W) Oh dear... oh dear... How could this happen...?
(S) If this continues, it will be our fate to disappear...

After talking to each one separately, we get pushed into an actual scene.



(W) He seems to be a human... Could he be...?
(S) He appears to be a warrior... Meaning...
(N) The hope I glimpsed with the last of my faded power...
(W) Are we all then agreed that we will ask this man?



We face a grave dilemma.



We suspect the problem lies with the evil energies caused by the disaster in this world.
(S) The better part of our power has bee drained by Yggdrasil...
(N) But can a human stand a chance against Yggdrasil...?
I freely acknowledge that he has the soul of a proud warrior, but...

I keep it in my other Demonica?



(W) A strange warrior in command of demons... He shall provide a thread to our future.
We have told you our story.
Please. Stop Yggdrasil!
Will you accept our task?
Yes.
You will? We are very grateful.
A portion of Yggdrasil's trunk is in this world.
We shall take you there.
Are you ready?

Well, honestly, no, but I think I can handle Yggdrasil. He's made of wood so he probably burns pretty good...

Yes.
Then let us go...!

Silence





Yggdrasil lies ahead. We are certain that you can defeat him.
Please be careful, Tadano...

In The Master's Name



Rooaaaaahhhhhhh!
A human! A human!
Thou parasite who devourest all, thou darest gnaw at my body!?
Begone!

Vehement Rage



Okay, so Yggdrasil is level 44. That's sort of a problem? Maybe? Eh, not really. I mean, we did just beat Lorelei who was 31 so we'll do the sa-



So, uh, yeah, this wasn't a real fight. Just part of a cutscene!

In The Master's Name



As part of kicking us out of combat, Yggdrasil just straight up halves our HP. Oh okay, he's way more takable than I thought. He can't even kill us!

Muhahahaha!



Thou canst not comprehend what I have done!



And then he kicks us back a space and drops our HP to 1. Stupid unwinnable boss fights on invisible timers...



Oh no... Is a human no match for his strength...?

> You started to black out...

But I still have usable Pokémon demons???

Silence



Oh...! You're...!?
Thou again!? Thou art certainly persistent!
But 'twill be no different this time.



　ＺＡ　ＷＡＲＵＤＯ！

What? The power of time hath failed me!?



Looks like Yggdrasil got dragged into a True Man's world...

Accursed human!
Rrraaagh...!
Wh-Who art thou!? How dost thou hold such power...!?
Arrrrrrgh...!





My heart is gladdened to see you safe...



It is all your doing. Thank you.
One day, you will come again to this place.
Please come here when you do.



Now, let us return...

A Frivolous Nation



We are in your debt.



We hope to meet you again some day.

> The Disir left...

Yeah, so, the real reason I bothered doing that is that one (fairly lengthy) scene is the entire sidequest. Since it required no work, I opted to get it done now as well.



Also the Yggdrasil Ring is a great example of what I mentioned before! The Body Ring is +10HP for 1000 Macca and some Forma.

The Yggdrasil Ring is +15HP, immunity to Poison and just requires coming to this one room.



That done, we'll just follow the path around south while we're already here.

One of the humans they say came to this world to snoop around...
That it?
Exactly.
Knew it! Can't fool these eyes.
But look, you been around, right?
I gotta favor to ask, just for you.
Will you do it? I mean, there's somethin' in it for you, of course.
Yes.
Alright, let's get down to it. I don't wanna be turned down later.



And I'll tell you why.
I had him go get me some stuff, and he hasn't come back yet.
I'd go look for him myself, but I dunno where he'd go.

Antlia, B2F.

That's where you come in.
You get around, so odds are you'll run into him sometime, right?
So there it is. You don't have to find him now, you can look in your spare time for all I care.

This one requires some right proper legwork to get done, so we'll put it on the backburner for now.



Back toward the actual main part of Bootes, we'll go through the door at the far right first. This is useful since it shows us upfront where a Terminal is.



At the nortern part of that stretch is a semi-open area, but it's only a 2x3 rectangle so we can't use it for the Signal Beacon. Past there, we get another door that we're gonna skip for the time being.



Just past there is another Unlock door we cannot open and a normal door at the end of the corridor. We'll go through that one, then.



It circles around back to the other branch we could've started on. It also leads nicely to where Arthur will cut in again.

Your present location is believed to be sufficient for purposes of observation.
You may launch the Signal Beacon.



> All the Signal Beacons have been launched.

Depending on the order you do things, you may have to launch 3 Beacons instead of 2!

This is Arthur. Beginning the capturing of the Signal Beacon's signal.
This ends the beacon observation.
Crewman Hitonari, return to the Red Sprite.

We'll do that in a minute, but first we'll check out that one door we skipped over before.



It's a small area with another hidden door that we can't open.

But that Bronze Forma is one we can get right here.



It's a random Rare Forma just lying around. We'll hand this off to Irving once we're done hearing the next update from Arthur.



Speaking of which, the Terminal is conveniently nearby and we need to return to the Red Sprite to do anything of substance...

Malevolence and Benevolence



The beacones are returning very useful data. We have located this sector's quantum tunnel.
Just as in Antlia, it has been observed at the zenith of this sector.
I would like to begin the search for the tunnel's corresponding Rosetta immediately. However...



First, please listen to this.



...Some...one... help me...

...ip 3... I... captured...

...Unknown... life for...

Someone...







The situation dictates that we administer assistance. Please understand.
The signal was too diffuse to pinpoint its precise location.
However, triangulation suggests that it originated in the 2 o'clock direction.
It may be difficult, but I ask that you locate the source of the signal.
I am issuing a new official mission, designated "Emergency Signal Inquiry."



Do we really have manpower to spare on this shit?
Intelligence on the Elve and its disappearance is important to us and the investigation.
We may be able to cooperate with them and find an escape route with our combined forces.



Alright, alright... I hear you. Guess I'll be heading out now.
The chances that the one who sent the signal is still alive are favorable.
Let us pool all of our efforts for the rescue mission.
I look forward to the successful completion of the mission.

Prayer



Before we move on back to Bootes, we'll take advantage of this and chat to everyone again.



Of course, we don't know anything yet about their situation.
If you're going out to help them, better be careful you don't end up in the same boat.



But let's hold off on celebrating until the rescue operation's over.
Those poor guys are literally stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea.

I feel like if they were going to use an alternate idiom here, sure "between Scylla and Charybdis" would've been the more appropriate one.

....But SMT doesn't like to acknowledge Charybdis (she's never been in any game in any way) so I shouldn't be surprised.



I'm curious as to what condition any survivors would be in...



Tch... I wish I could go!





Hey! That there's a new forma! Hmm... I get the feelin' this is gonna be a juicy one!
Sit tight for a sec!

> Irving and Chen started working...

...Awright! I'm gonna need to borrow yer Demonica for a bit, Tadano.



Don't it make her heart jump fer joy to see somethin' new made, Tadano?
Keep bringin' me them mountains o' forma!



Well, no. We can find hidden doors regardless. This lets us open some of them.

Irving and Chen's dialogue doesn't update here so we'll just move on.



But don't celebrate just yet. It's much more difficult to save their skins than your own...
It's at times like that when you need to be positive of the strength of your forces.



I'm up for another battle of wits, but first I gotta think of a game that'll really get you thinking.

If we choose the regular ol' Talk option for Dent we get this. Asking about sidequests mid-Sector just has him tell us he's got nothing.

A Frivolous Nation



So, let's open all these doors in Bootes. One of them is obvious but we'll do this one here first.





Inside is a... 3x3 square room with this in as a fixed forma. Revival Cores are new Base forma but you can probably guess what their main use is.

Oh and, yeah, this is what I was referring to earlier. If you grab the Gate Search forma and come here before using all Signal Beacons, you have to come to this room as well.

The Fear of God



Now is when Jueyuan and Principality both turn up, huh? Principality is way, way more common later in the sector so it's a nice surprise to see her already.

Jueyuan we've seen and know semi-well already. Only thing worth pointing out is that while he DOES resist Phys and Guns, his resistance is lower than normal. Most things calculate at 50% base power on a resist; Jueyuan takes 75% instead.

Principality is the third Divine, can see her resistances here already, very simple. That she has mid-tier Elec already is nice though, I guess. Her source gives Diarama which isn't too shabby either.

Silence



No other demons are in this part of the Sector, so we'll head to the northern door now. While en route, this happens.

He's tempting me... Telling me to leave all this behind...
Go do something fun, he says...
Get yourself to sickbay.
What are you saying...? Hahah... Nothing wrong with me. Why would I need to see a medic?
C'mon now... back to work... work... work...

> Something about Crewman Norris seems strange...

I'm sure it's nothing and he'll be just fine.

A Frivolous Nation



Just before we make it to this door, we can grab these by pure chance. They're used for a fair few items, so we'll see them crop up semi-frequently for status restoratives.



....And we still can't open the door here, huh? Guess we'll be coming back later.



Heading all the way back down south to open the obvious shortcut. This is easily one of the most useful doors because it lets you skip 6 damage tiles singlehandedly.

We'll open the door south of here..



And I'll map it all out right now. It's a small one-way door maze which is weird and out of place at the moment. It'll make more sense much later, but for now all that matters is fully mapping it. It's a very good idea to do that, even.

Now, back to the central corridor we go...

Silence





It... it looks so fun... Everyone at the palace... is smiling...
Yeah... I'm gonna go... Hmhmhm...



I'm going... Hahaha... To the voice...
Hahahaha...!

Crisis



He appears to be in a delusional state, given the nature of his last recorded transmission.
He must be apprehended on charges of abandonment of his post.
I am issuing a new official mission, designated "Search for Norris."
Remote identification of Crewman Norris's whereabouts will be difficult.
You must search the sector on foot.



This is the last thing we needed! Ah, whatever...
Hey Tadano, don't you go crazy on me too!

A Frivolous Nation

We'll just head for the door at the top of this corridor, since it's the closest by far.



The door it spawns looks... pretty weirdly different, huh?

Oh and the only door over on the right? We can't open that one yet, either.



Though it is common to conflate lust with nothing but raw sexual desire, it applies to other things as well. Consider the lust for knowledge or the lust for power. Philosophers such as Saint Thomas Aquinas ignore this aspect entirely and purely consider the sexual aspect. Ultimately, all it is is a strong desire towards, or for, something...