Life Will Change

Chapter 23: Modeling

Begin!

~Normal POV

They'd hopped the fence and snuck their way into the building through the courtyard. The Shadows patrolling around them were dressed as modern security guards, befitting the museum aesthetic. Once they'd snuck in, via an open skylight, they saw the inside was colored mostly blues and greys, with fine carpeting and various paintings all over the walls. Oddly, the inside was quite empty, despite the large crowd trying to get into the building, there didn't seem to be a single cognitive person in here. And there was no sign of Madarame's Shadow.

The paintings were strangely similar; making them immediately suspicious. Akira had seen that Madarame's works were known for their variety. But the paintings here were all the same, except for who was in them. They were all portraits of people of varying age ranges, mostly young adults to even teenagers. Under the paintings were various names and ages instead of titles, which only added to how odd it was.

Delving deeper into adjacent rooms, they found two more of note. One was of Nakanohara, the man who tipped them off to Madarame in Mementos, and the other was of Yusuke...

Morgana tapped his chin in thought examining the images. "These must be pictures of his students, former or otherwise... What do you make of it, Joker?"

Akira thought for a moment. "In Kamoshida's castle there were cognitive copies of people he knew, based on how he perceived them, yet there's nobody here. The only indication of his students are these paintings..."

"I feel like if his Palace were a demented art school, then we'd have seen them," Ann commented, thoughtfully.

"You might have a point there, Panther," Akira replied, "But let's keep going for now."

They pressed onward into the next room over. It looked like they'd found the entrance area of the museum. There was a gold reception desk, and a few chairs and couches around. Even the stand holding welcome pamphlets was gold, and the papers themselves were dusted with gold. How could one man have such affinity for the stuff?

Behind the desk was a path into an open circular room, at the center was a huge gold statue that resembled a fountain of water rising upwards with people standing in the waves.

"The sign says it's called 'The Infinite Spring,'" Ann read aloud for them, "'A conglomerate work of art that the great director Madarame created with his own funds. These individuals must offer their ideas to the director for the rest of their lives! Those who cannot do so have no worth living!'" She gaped at the plaque as she finished reading.

"That sounds like proof to me," Akira said.

"Shit, if Yusuke saw this, it'd crush him..." Ryuji said. "What a phony!"

"That must be why the only evidence of his students' existence in his mind are those paintings back there. The pictures are his cognitive copies of them." Morgana said. "He doesn't even view them as people, which is why they're just paintings. To him, they're just property. Damn, he doesn't even come close to qualifying as an artist..."

"He takes their work in exchange for giving them food and shelter. What a fucked up piece of shit." Akira grumbled.

"And Yusuke has to stand back and take it because he has no other options," Ann said softly.

"You're absolutely sure that he couldn't possibly be defending him willingly," Ryuji said, quizzically.

"I'm positive." Ann replied, "When we were at the exhibit, I complimented one of the paintings, and he got really touchy about it. This statue confirms that the plagiarism is real, so Yusuke must have been the one who painted that."