Prologue: Initiation
"This is a terrible idea. In fact, I would go so far as to say it's abysmal."
The room had been draped in silence, the quiet punctuated only by the swift tapping of Kyoko Kirigiri's gloved fingers dancing tirelessly over a keyboard. She paused now that the peaceful hush was broken yet again, and cut her eyes back at the culprit. The sedation chamber was dark, the pale glow of a mounted monitor silhouetting her slender frame in the gloom.
"You've made your thoughts on the matter known several times now Togami, however, it won't change our course of action. We have the majority vote, which you agreed to abide by."
The room was chilled to prevent the machines within from overheating, and long tubes of coolant snaked around the column-like mainframe at its center. The heir's breath billowed out in a cloud of fog as he sighed angrily.
"Yes, but I never expected you to be so foolish as to agree to go forward with this ridiculous plan of his," he sneered.
"I chose to trust in Naegi's decision, he hasn't steered us wrong thus far," she answered, having already turned back to her work. "Now please be quiet. This is nerve-wracking enough without your interruptions."
Byakuya Togami grit his teeth and cast his eyes over the circle of pods lining the room's perimeter, all but two containing the comatose body of a Remnant of Despair; individuals that comprised an organization of terrorists directly responsible for the world's downfall. Thick bundles of cables connected the pods to the machine in the center of the room, where Kirigiri was still typing, her unblinking eyes trained on the central input monitor. Other monitors were stationed around the mainframe's periphery, one for each pod, all displaying indecipherable streams of code. Data taken from their occupants.
Fifteen pods were filled, and only one remained empty.
Togami stepped over a bundle of cables to stand behind Kirigiri, glancing at the final line of code as she finished typing and her hands stilled.
"Disregarding your blind faith in Naegi, do you have any other reasons for believing this will work, or is that truly the only reason you need?"
Kirigiri turned to face him, her expression was impassive, but there was a certain hard coolness to her gaze that betrayed her growing irritation.
"If you're so opposed to this, why did you bother coming in the first place? I'm sure Fukawa would appreciate your complaints more than Naegi and I." Her voice was clipped.
"Obviously someone in their right mind should be present. If you won't be the voice of reason then I-"
"If the two of you are finished with your dull bickering, I would like to begin." An inflectionless voice sounded from the darkness just beyond the room's entrance, interrupting the heir's retort.
At once, their heads snapped around to behold the figure that had entered the room and approached them without a sound, appearing suddenly, as if he had been waiting there all along. He was quiet and not especially large, but his sheer bearing and presence commanded the attention of the other two ultimates. He stood as still as a statue, clad in an immaculate suit, and his long, dark hair hung lank over his shoulders.
Despite his aloof demeanor, an aura of danger emanated from him. The tension in the room had spiked, and several seconds ticked by as no one spoke.
Izuru Kamukura's crimson eyes flicked over to the central monitor, then to Kirigiri.
"You have finished your task," he noted. He spoke slowly, carefully enunciating each word. No fog could be seen leaving his mouth.
"Yes," Kirigiri responded, although Kamukura's tone had suggested an observation rather than a question. "I've just finished setting her avatar's parameters now."
"And you have followed my instructions to the letter," another observation. "Then we are ready. My own parameters have already been submitted, and the only remaining step is to initiate the program's synchronization sequence once I enter the scanning chamber."
Then, almost as abrubtly as he'd entered the room, their partner in crime was approaching the single empty pod, moving with abnormal fluidness. "Naegi will arrive momentarily, so I see no reason to delay any longer."
By the time Togami got his mouth back under control, Kamukura had settled himself into the pod and begun the process of booting up the receiver helmet.
"Why help us? Why help the Remnants? What is it you hope to gain by doing this?" He didn't understand the enigmatic man's incentive for coming to Naegi and Kirigiri with his plan from the outset, and to the heir it reeked of an ulterior motive.
"Answers." Kamukura's cold voice held a note of assurance, but he didn't deign to elaborate further. He placed the helmet on his head and leaned back into the pod before closing the hatch, evidently finished speaking with them.
"Well I supposed that's that then," Togami spat. He turned back to Kirigiri. "He's manipulating us, and he's not even trying to hide it. Until the very end, he claims to seek answers, yet he provides us with only silence and riddles, and you still wish to go forward with this?"
Kirigiri was frowning, a rare deviation from her usual impenetrable stoicism. She slowly unclenched her hands as the tension dissipated. "And what do you propose we do? Turn the Remnants over to Munakata for summary execution? No, we've already come this far, and we will see it through to the end."
"For better or worse?"
She paused. "Yes. Kamukura said that we would be able to observe the program's progress from the outside." Her hands began their restless motions over the keyboard once again. "We should start it now."
"I thought you'd want to wait for Naegi to finish."
"I'm here," came a familiar voice. Makoto Naegi was lingering near the entrance with one hand on the doorframe, as if he were afraid to enter. "I could hear you down the hall. Are you two fighting again?"
"We were just having a small disagreement. Ignore it, it's nothing to worry about." The look she gave Togami promised that they would continue the discussion later. Privately.
Naegi's eyes cut away to the pods. "And them?"
She gestured for him to enter. "Everything's ready. I'm running the startup sequence now."
While she finished inputting Kamukura's codes, Naegi slowly, almost nervously, moved to stand near the pod their accomplice lay in.
No... he was going to the next one. Kamukura's neighbor. He stood there silently, staring down at its occupant until Togami joined him. Physically, Naegi hadn't changed much in the time since their ordeal at Hope's Peak Academy, though like his comrades, he now wore the signature suit and pin of the Future Foundation. These days however, he was standing straighter, and he acted with a conviction that hadn't been present before.
Despite that, it seemed that even he was beginning to have doubts about his decision.
"Do you think we made a mistake?"
"Don't lump me in with the rest of you. If you'll recall, I was outvoted, so as far as I'm concerned, this is your responsibility," Togami growled. "Regardless, the program's already being initiated as we speak. It's a bit late to second-guess yourself."
Naegi looked away from the chamber, focusing instead on his fellow survivor.
"But you don't agree with this, do you?"
"I believe I've made that quite clear," he answered dryly.
Kirigiri had arrived, her task done. She took Naegi's other flank. "I'm apprehensive as well, but it's as Togami said, it's too late to stop now."
Naegi relaxed a bit, returning his gaze to the pod, and the trio observed quietly as the comatose body of Junko Enoshima slumbered within the chamber, oblivious to the world around her. It was surreal to see such a peaceful expression on her face; in her sleep, she seemed like an entirely different person. The receiver helmet glowed, and by now her mind and consciousness would be loading into the Neo World Program, joining those of Ultimate Despair.
Strangely, Naegi seemed calmer in this situation than either of his friends. All three shared in the traumatic memories formed during Enoshima's killing game. They had all been victimized by their former classmate, but Naegi appeared to be resolute in his desire to rehabilitate her despite the risks posed by her continued survival.
"If nothing else, this should be interesting," Togami said, arms crossed.
Naegi didn't have a response to that, instead choosing to avert his eyes from the pod again, perhaps unable to look for too long. Aloud, as if speaking to no one, he asked, "Kamukura wouldn't really talk to me about it. How much of her did he have you erase? All of her?"
Kirigiri's answer came with some amount of hesitation. "That would be impossible. As it was explained to me, the Neo World Program requires a foundation with which to build an avatar. If the simulation is going to be successful in rehabilitating her, she will need an identity. Enough of her remains for that, and obviously she'll keep things like general knowledge, but her personal experiences have been stripped away."
Togami, of course, had other concerns. "When Munakata finds out this happened, and he will, do you even have a plan? Please tell me you don't expect him to believe that we did this with only the best of intentions."
"No. I have no doubt he'll brand us traitors, but he has no way of knowing where we are. We'll be safe until things are resolved here. We should wait until then before making any further plans." Kirigiri paused to reflect. "I know it's dangerously optimistic, but depending on the success of the Hope Restoration Program, perhaps she may be willing to help us."
Author's Note:
First of all, thanks for giving this a read! I've had this idea in my head for a while now, and I just needed to get it out. If people end up liking this, I'd love to continue it! Please leave me any feedback that you can! Your comments are very much appreciated!
