Pieces of electronics covered the library floor in a sprawling circle, almost entirely unrecognizable as having once been part of Monokuma. Togami scowled down at them from his place in the center of the ring, surveying the robot he'd spent most of the night disassembling. He didn't know what he'd expected to uncover by pulling the robot to pieces — but whatever clue to the mastermind's game he'd been hoping for, he hadn't found it.
Not that he'd been entirely unsuccessful, of course. He'd looked through enough of Monokuma's inner workings to have a reasonable idea of how the bear operated. It worked pretty much as he'd suspected it had to — the robot received wireless signals that triggered its different movement patterns. A speaker transmitted the bear's disgustingly cheerful voice, its position embedded in the back of the throat giving the illusion of genuine speech. He'd even managed to unearth the small processor that seemed to serve as the bear's "brain," though he hadn't tried to unhook any part of that delicate piece of machinery. He might not be an engineer himself, but his knowledge of the Togami Corporation's electronics division told him just how complicated and advanced the processor was.
In fact, if Togami was any judge, it looked a little too advanced. Before he'd started taking Monokuma apart, he would have sworn that a piece of technology like that was years away from production. Of course, it was always possible that some upstart competitor might have gotten an edge over the Togami Corporation somehow. That had happened before, annoying as it was to admit. But each time he'd learned of another company advancing beyond expectations, it had been a matter of plans, research, developments — not an actual completed device like this one.
And not only was the processor finished and functional, it had been integrated into a complex robotic creation. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it was possible. Whoever had made this must have been working for years — and in complete secrecy, since they'd avoided even a hint of a rumor about their advances. It really was a shame they'd chosen to waste their talents on a murderous game-playing lunatic — he would have hired an inventor this brilliant in a heartbeat.
Of course, the inventor could easily be just as unstable as the mastermind. The ability to craft a clean, clever design didn't necessarily correspond to an equally well-ordered mind. He wouldn't be at all surprised to learn the mastermind had a cackling mad scientist on their side.
Well, whether the inventor had intentionally been a part of the mastermind's plan or not, they'd certainly managed to keep all trace of it out of their creation. Togami sighed, rubbing wearily at the crease between his eyes in an ineffective attempt at relieving his headache. He really should have stopped earlier, when he'd started to suspect that there might not be anything in the robot worth finding — but after devoting so many hours to the search, he'd rebelled against the idea that the time might have been wasted. He'd carried on in grim determination, fighting past tension and stress and looming exhaustion, and all he had to show for it now were bleary eyes, an aching back, and a mess of too many robot pieces.
How long had he even been in the library working on this? Without a clock, Togami couldn't be sure. He hadn't heard the morning announcement yet, but judging by the dull ache behind his eyes, familiar from other times he'd had to pull all-nighters, he doubted it could be too much further away. He did his best to swallow back a yawn, wishing he'd thought to make himself a pot of coffee when he'd visited the kitchen earlier. After so many hours of painfully intense focus, he'd welcome any caffeine he could get, even if it came in the form of stale room-temperature coffee.
Heaviness dragged at his eyelids, and he had to fight to resist the urge to let them slip closed. He'd been awake too long, and it would be all too easy for a moment's rest to turn into unplanned sleep — and the school regulations very clearly forbade sleeping outside the dormitories. He might have wondered about what exactly the definition of "dormitories" included — but no matter the specifics, he knew the library wouldn't be part of it.
If exhaustion was starting to take its toll on him, then Togami knew he didn't dare try to do anything more with the pieces of Monokuma. He knew he'd managed to take the bear apart without damaging any of its pieces, but mishandling one of the pieces he'd already disassembled would be just as dangerous as breaking it in the process. At this point, his safest option would be to leave the library and the scattered electronics until he'd forced himself into a properly alert state. Sleep would be the ideal method, if he had the time to spare, but if need be, he could make do with false energy from whatever caffeine he could find.
It really depended on what was going on outside of the library. Any number of things could have happened to change the situation without his being aware of it, especially now that he no longer had the option of sending Jill out to the rest of the school on his behalf. And the most likely possibility — the one that presented that greatest threat — was that the mastermind might have resurfaced while Togami was in the middle of taking Monokuma apart.
Initially, it might seem unlikely for the mastermind to ignore Togami's investigation — but keeping silent would make perfect sense if they hoped to trick him into some punishable error. Such a thing wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility. After all, it looked like the mastermind had already targeted Kirigiri, and Naegi had done them the favor of taking himself out of the picture. That left Togami as the last viable threat against them — and letting him break a rule would solve that problem for the mastermind quite neatly.
Of course, he'd known all along that a threat would hang over his head as long as he dared to touch Monokuma. The threat might be sharper now that he considered it in light of Kirigiri's disappearance, but its fundamental nature hadn't changed. He'd been careful not to damage anything he took apart, and he knew that given time, he could reassemble the bear into the same state it had been in when he'd found it.
And now that he considered it… would it be worth trying to reassemble the robot once he was more rested, in case he was called upon to prove that he hadn't damaged it? Or… would it be better to leave it in pieces so as not to risk anything breaking further? There was an argument to be made for both options, and without more information, he wasn't prepared to decide on either of them.
He would have to think it over while he looked into the situation outside of the library. Maybe he would learn something that would put things into a different perspective, or perhaps some rest would give him a new insight. Togami stood, stretching his aching muscles, and carefully picked his way through the electronics towards the main area of the library. He paused at the corner of the row of bookcases, taking one last look at the pieces of the robot to make sure all was as it should be.
And flickering red lightning met his gaze.
Author's Note: Here is my updated posting schedule, as promised. I should be able to finish this week with a Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday schedule. After that, I'll be taking a one week break to deal with my actual move. I'll probably follow up with one more three-chapter week before things are back to normal.
