Shin Megami Tensei: Sonata of the Collective

Demons About

    I felt a strange sensation come over me. It was as if l just woke up from a long sleep. I looked around my cell, and it felt as if the world was completely silent for a moment. I finally came back to my senses and ran to the bars.
   "Hey! Are you guys okay?" I frantically asked. 
   "Did you feel that too?" Keiji grimly responded.
   "Sure did." Umeko responded. They both seemed to feel sick. The same feeling as waking up, but they awoke much less well-rested. I looked down the hallway to try and see the guard. I could see into the main room, and on the desk was my bag.
   "Hey!! Guard! What's going on out there?" I asked. He entered my line of sight and looked just as off-put as us. He walked over and unlocked each of our cells, looking stern and not saying a word.
   "What's going on?" Keiji asked. He turned his back and picked up a shotgun.
   "I don't know what's happening, but looking outside I know things aren't alright. You three aren't under jurisdiction of the police any more, we've all got much larger problems." He responded cooly. Before we could question further, he barged out the door. I ran to the desk and grabbed my bag. I let out a sigh of relief once I saw my comp was still there. I put it on and booted it up.
   "Oh my god-" Keiji said. I'd never heard him so distraught. I turned around to see them both standing in front of the open door. Outside the police station was not the world I knew. Instead of the little cafe and the little book store that stood across the street from the police station, there was nothing. Outside were the barely recognizable ruins of a building, buried by sand. Beyond it was no familiar skyline of our small city. Just a desolate wasteland dotted with crumbled buildings. The world we knew was gone. 
   "L-Look!" Umeko shouted. She pointed outside to the officer. He blasted his gun at a small creature flying around him. It blew the small creature into bits, but there were others still remaining. They appeared to be small humanoid creatures with wings like a moth. The little creatures raised their arms and pointed at the officer. The man screamed, as a bolt of lightning sprung from the creature's fingers and struck him. He fell backward into the sand and the creatures circled around him.
   "Demons-" Umeko said under her breath. We all looked on in horror. Suddenly I remembered the program, and almost without thinking I ran towards the door. Keiji stood in front of me. 
   "Are you insane?? You just watched him die!" He said. 
   "But the program! Let's all get armed first, but I have to test it." I said. They reluctantly agreed and we all went back into the station. We each grabbed guns, all small pistols. Umeko found a small stash of weapons seemingly taken from the incarcerated. She gave each of us a knife. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing, and we needed all we could get. We all exited the station. We were all nervous. Soon we drew near to the officer's body, and those demons were insight. They were exactly as we previously thought. Small feminine human-like creatures with insect-like wings on their backs, wearing blue leotards. Keiji raised his weapon and fired. The bullet shot through one of the demons and it fell from the air. The other two noticed and in a panic lunged toward us. Umeko shot and killed another. The last one stopped in its tracks. 
   "Don't attack us! We won't harm you if you don't harm us." I said to it. Her tiny face looked at us in fear, but she knew what I was saying. 
   "I- I don't believe you!" She responded. I was shocked. I could understand her. The program really worked. I looked back at Keiji and Umeko.
   "Lower your weapons." I said. They both looked on in confusion.
   "Trust me." I said. They looked at each other and both lowered their weapons. I reached out my hand. 
   "We're not gonna hurt you." I said. She contemplated for a moment.
   "Hm... I'll come with you for some money!" She said. I reached into my bag and pulled out a 2000 yen bill.
   "Is this enough?" I asked. She looked on in confusion. 
   "I've never seen anything like that! It's not macca, but I bet its rare! I guess I will come with you!" She said, and a blip showed up on my comp. It read Pixie.
   "So you're Pixie. And what's Macca?" I asked. 
   "Ohhh- This is that yen stuff right? Nobody's used that for a long time! Macca is the currency you'll need!" She said. I looked back at Keiji and Umeko. The program was real, undoubtedly so, but that was the smallest of my questions so far. What had happened while we were in the station??