"So, let me get this straight," the male detective was flabbergasted, swiftly flipping through his notepad, "The mastermind had you and the others eat different kinds of tampered food, just so that they could test out their handmade poison concoctions? Is that right, miss Hoshinori?"

"Y-Yes!" the shivering girl shrieked out, almost falling out of her chair, "T-T-That monster forced us to…...he forced us to…." she started sniffling loudly, her eyes welled up with tears, "My best friend Yoko….she s-sacrificed her life….she wanted me to live for her I…."

The young woman was in tears before she could finish the rest of her sentence, heaving deep breaths as the other male detective in the room handed her a box of tissues. The devastation in her eyes was an emotion worthy of an academy award, but I could tell she was genuine from the way she talked about her former friend. I had wanted to step in, but as I was viewing this from the one-way window, someone walked into the interrogation room.

"Hey, sorry to disturb you, I just had to talk to one of the officers from earlier. Have they found out anything yet?" my detective partner asked, "Dammmmn, they made her cry already? Shit, if I didn't know any better, I'd think Hanasaki just doesn't have the best luck with women hehe."

"Now's not the time to be cracking jokes, Watanabe," I didn't waste any time reproaching him for that offhand comment, "And unfortunately, they've not gotten much out of her. Looks like she didn't catch the mastermind's name, face or true identity for that matter."

"Seriously? That's disappointing," he crossed his arms, an exhausted sigh escaped his lips, "And none of the other survivors got anything on the mastermind? Not even an inkling of doubt or a suspicion of who it could be?"

"Well, the other three haven't been as cooperative either," I massaged my eyes with two fingers, "Shuhei Yamada refused to talk unless he had his lawyer present and that was a hassle and a half, he was still belligerent with us the entire time and his lawyer kept interrupting us the entire time. Neneko Umesawa is still at the hospital and is currently suffering from post-traumatic shock and refuses to talk to any of us. And Kajirou Tsuruoka has not really told us anything new other than what Sayuna here has already said, so at least their stories aren't contradictory at the very least, which is not really much to go on."

"God dammit! This is not looking too good for us," he rubbed the sides of his temples, I could almost see the veins forming around the sides of his forehead as we speak, "The chief's already struggling to keep the press vultures at bay, more victims' bodies are unearthed by the minute and we keep getting more and more phones calls by the minute from concerned family members wondering where their relatives, friends or children are. It's a fucking nightmare I tell ya!"

"And yet here we are," I tried to rationalize this line of thinking, "You're free to leave this case to another detective if you so wish. Meanwhile, I'll be doing my job and trying to find out anything about these killing games, complaining won't get us anywhere."

"Don't be like that, Azusa," he called me by my first name, something I'm still not used to, but I won't push him on it, "I want to get these criminals just as much as you do, but let's just let Hanasaki and Kimura handle this one and we can go check on the other detectives in the meantime."

"Good idea," he looked at the two men, failing to calm down the crying girl, "Personally, I think we're in over our heads with this. These cases make no sense and don't have much connection to each other."

He's right, we're getting nowhere with the "Poisoner Victims" so we might as well go check up on the others while we're still at the station. I didn't believe we were wasting our time with these individual cases, but I do have to agree that things were getting worse by the minute, even if I felt there was some invisible string tying these cases together.

We left the room, he opened the door for me while I scanned the very frantic and busy police station, noticing how chaotic it almost was. All the available detectives were either in interrogation, questioning witnesses and survivors or walking back and forth between their desk and the captain's office with files and paperwork scattered all over their desks. The other police officers were attending to concerned and grieving people sat in the waiting room, a few prisoners were inside holding cells and giving us death glares so intense it could turn you to stone, and the phone lines were ringing nonstop on top of all the busy chatter in the room creating a whole load of white noise.

"Yo Watanabe," a grumpy male detective hailed out to us, "Got another emergency call about a killing game somewhere out in the woods. I'm gonna head out with Arakawa to see if it's legit and not another prank call for once."

"Thanks, Okuchi," Watanabe waved to him, "Make sure to let the paramedics know you're investigating the killing games and also take some backup with you to check the forest grounds as well."

"Got it!" Detective Okuchi grabbed his coat and headed out, dialing someone on his phone, "Hey Taiyo, meet me in the car, we gotta go to Aokigahara! I don't care that you're on break right now! Just get off your ass and take your lunch to go, idiot!"

"Oh dear, there's a killing game in the suicide forest," I tensed up a little, "We should have left some patrols out there as I suggested. Are you sure the forest rangers cleared it of any hostile activity and didn't find anything noteworthy?"

"A thousand percent sure," my partner gave me a thumbs up, "They searched those woods from top to bottom, even had helicopter support come in to investigate the trees in case someone had climbed up one. They didn't find anything; this perp must have done it after the search was finished or maybe hid the bodies so well that you couldn't find any evidence with a fine-tooth comb."

It was no surprise how crafty these former remnants were with their killing games. Frankly we've gotten more reports than we could handle, some prank calls and similar hijinks, and even had to request help from a few police departments to assist us with this case. These things were like cockroaches, no matter how many you snuff out, they always managed to find a way to come back, and we were nowhere near figuring out who was the true mastermind behind this resurgence of orchestrated death games. Sooner or later the FBI or Interpol would have to get involved and that's another bag of issues in of itself, even if their involvement is inevitable at this point.

"Shizutani! Watanabe! In my office now!" a loud man's voice interrupted my train of thought.

"Oh boy, cap's gonna tear us a new asshole for sure," Watanabe's groans couldn't have been any louder, if not for the cacophony of noises fluttering about the entire department overshadowing it.

"Keep your chin up, Watanabe," I readied myself for the impromptu meeting.

We headed directly to the captain's office, and we were also surprised, if not anxious, to see the chief of police there as well. The captain's office was more organized than it was usually, police awards for his time as an officer and detective were on display alongside photos of him shaking hands with the chief and other city officials inside. His desk had some unfinished paperwork set to the side, a picture of his wife and two kids resting on the desk next to his computer monitor and some miscellaneous office supplies here and there, some currently in use and others inside a pen holder.

The captain sat in his leather swivel chair, a neatly presented older gentleman donning a worried look on his face and who was accompanied by an equally disappointed police chief with a furrowed scowl and his badges decorating every inch of his police uniform at his side, looking at the two of us as if we children about to get punished for breaking the family's priceless antique China plate collection.

"Have a seat," the captain gestured to the two chairs opposite his desk, "The chief would like to have a word with you two."

"What's this about, sir?" My partner was the first to respond, his hands on his lap as he looked both at the captain and the police chief, "Have we done something wrong?"

"Well then, thank you for asking," the sarcastic tone in the police chief's voice told us everything, "The captain and I would like to hear about your progress on the killing game cases. And for one, I'd like to know why the hell you two haven't found anything yet! Why the hell are you pussyfooting around with these blabbering children and not arresting someone yet?!"

"Sir, if I could explain before-" I had composed myself to say something, but the chief put up his hand before I could finish.

"I don't want to hear any of your tepid excuses, Shizutani!" It seemed he was more irritable than usual, not that his concern was unwarranted, "I need to see results now, I don't need you to explain anything away! You two have been on this case for months now, we're still at square one and the media is having a field day slandering our department! What's the goddamn holdup?"

"We've….had a lot of cases coming in, sir," my partner replied back, a tinge of bite to his words, "It was hard to even touch the surface of these cases when we've had a lot of people to interrogate and question. We've just been juggling too many things at once, sir. We promise not to screw this one up."

"Heh, you better not or you can kiss your badges goodbye!" he scoffed, taking a bit of pride in that statement, "Maybe I shouldn't have assigned you two to this case after all!" he was becoming more agitated by the minute, I hope he's not going to wear his heart out over this case, "I have half a mind to hand this over to Isono and Miyauchi. Those two can get the results I want and fast too!"

"Masahide, I think they got your message loud and clear," the captain interrupted his diatribe, "I'll deal with these two. You should focus on handling the politicians and reporters."

"Hmph, then I'll leave the rest to you, Takanosuke," the chief walked out of the room, the icy cold feeling petering out as he closed the door behind him, "Don't fuck things up, you two," his words were laced with venom, but I couldn't help but think he's not wrong for doubting us.

The two of us collectively looked at each other, the captain blinking at us as the awkward silence lingered in the room for a few minutes before Watanabe spoke up.

"Thanks a lot, captain! We owe you one for keeping him at bay," he relaxed himself a little, "Chief's really stressed out ain't he?"

"More than you know…" the captain took off his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes, the dark circles were more apparent than before, "Please tell me you two have something? I took most of the brunt of that stern lecture earlier, so you better be thankful for this."

"We are very grateful for your faith in us sir," I bowed my head, "We've just been swamped with a lot of cases as Watanabe had said. If you could give us some more time, I'm sure we could field your questions when the time is right."

"Shizutani, I know you're doing all that you can," the captain continued, "But right now, I have to deal with upset parents, orphaned children and concerned family friends in trying to help them figure out what's going on too. I'll try to send more officers and detectives your way to help decrease your workload, but that's about all I can do for now without stretching the department thin. You should know I'm using up all my connections to help you two solve these cases."

"Thank you so much, Captain!" I was about ready to combust from all the pent-up emotion brewing up inside me, "My partner and I will not disappoint you!"

"I know you won't," he stretched out his fingers, his knuckles cracking a bit, "Now get outta my office before I make up a reason to kick you out," a wry smile lined his lips.

"See you later, captain!" Watanabe beamed a reassuring smile, "We'll update you when we have something."

I arose from my seat, my partner already ahead of me as I dusted off my pants and approached the door, gripping on the handle.

"Are you doing alright yourself, Shizutani?" the captain stopped me, "I know this particular case was one you've been following for a while now, but are you sure you and Watanabe can handle it?"

I pondered over the right words to say, I took a small breath in and affirmed my resolve, "I'm definitely certain about this one, sir. I need to figure out why these games are happening again. I also need to find someone…. I think they're somehow involved in all of this."

"This is the first time I've heard of this," he leaned back in his chair, his gaze focused on me, "Do you believe they have any connections with the real puppet master behind these games?"

"I believe that to be the case, though it's unfounded as of right now," my calm demeanor almost slipped for a moment, "Call it intuition, I just know they're involved somehow."

"Well don't let this old dog keep you from your investigation," he chuckled, turning his attention to the paperwork in front of him, "You're dismissed."

"Thank you, Captain," I left his office, closing the door behind me as I sighed deeply.

I knew it was nothing more than a hunch but given what I've found out over the past few years and with some help from a private eye, I think they really are crucial to this case, even if it's a sore subject for me to think about. How did I not see this sooner, I should have done something, maybe stepped in to help them before it was too late? Would they even know who I was or care if I suddenly turned up in their life? The more I mulled it over, the more it kept turning and twisting in my brain as if there was some nagging missing piece calling for me to notice it.

"Detective Shizutani," a female police officer said to me, "We've found another group of kids who were also victims of a killing game. I think it best you come meet with them first, it might help with your investigation."

"I see, thank you Officer Yonamine," I nodded, following closely to her side and getting the urge to run ahead of her, but restrained myself.

We arrived at the main lobby of the police department, it was just as hectic as in the homicide division but a lot more hustle and bustle. Officer Yonamine directed me to the officer who found the group of people who claimed they were survivors of a killing game and out of all of them, I was rather shocked to see such a large group, as opposed to the two or three people who were battered, bruised, emotionally fragile or a mix of the three. This one had about eleven people in total, a rare number of survivors for these kinds of games.

"I've found her," we approached a stocky looking officer, who seemed a tad disgruntled, "This is officer Kadowaki, he was the first on the scene when he received the emergency services call from dispatch."

"Thank you, I can take it from here," I gave her a smile and another nod, "Could you please inform detective Watanabe about this new development?"

"Right away detective," she headed off to find him.

"So, tell me, what's the situation?" I kept the conversation curt, didn't want to make things confusing as it probably was, "Where did you find these people?"

"As Yonamine said, I received a dispatch call and was enroute to the abandoned Ichizaki orphanage, ma'am" he said, the name rang oddly familiar to me, "These kids were outside waiting by the front entrance, and apparently all of them are former Ultimates from Hope's Peak who said they were trapped there for weeks and were suddenly let go by the mastermind."

"Oh? Is this true?" the notion of a mastermind letting a large group like this go free sounded rather unorthodox, "Have they given a reason why?"

"Yeah. They said that this bear mascot named Monokuma was holding them hostage and put them in these death trials or whatever it was they called it," he continued, though he seemed slightly cagey on the details, "Apparently, whoever was running the show got cold feet and just let them leave with no strings attached, can you believe it."

"To be honest, no I don't…but I can't deny the possibility either," this sudden revelation piqued my interest, "Has anyone investigated or canvassed the orphanage or the surrounding area for clues? Did you find anything?"

"Not yet. We actually figured the perp was still hiding on the scene so we had a few officers drive these guys over here while the rest are currently sniffing out the dive for clues, but that's about all I have to report."

Alright, so we're off to a rough start, but it's something to shake up the stagnating pace of the case. I acknowledged his efforts and gestured for him to give me some space to question this new group of survivors and he left soon after. I looked at the group, still shocked to see so many alive given how disastrous the previous games have been. Other killing games left no one alive, some survivors were too scared to speak or think straight and others didn't want anything to do with helping us, so to witness something of this caliber is definitely alarming, if not potentially helpful for our case.

"Good evening, everyone," I cleared my throat and approached the group who stopped talking and their attention turned towards me, "I'm detective Shizutani and I'm one of the head detectives on this killing game resurgence case. I know all of you must be in shock right now, that's understandable, but I just want to start off by saying that we're here to help you and we can keep you in police custody for as long as you'd like if that makes you feel safe. My partner will be here soon, but if you don't mind, we'll need to ask you some questions first."

For a few minutes the group was hesitant to say anything, not that I blamed them. I would probably be cautious too if I had just escaped with my life out of a horrible situation such as a killing game. I may not know what it's like to be in, but the looks on their faces told a puzzling story, and I needed to know what they're hiding.

"Excuse me ma'am," a girl with bright orange long hair spoke up first, "If you don't mind me asking, but can we call our families and friends after this? Some of us are not in the mood to talk and would like to get home as soon as possible."

"Understandable, what's your name miss?" I asked.

"Chiharu Edanaka," she answered with a sincere tone, "I'm a former graduate of Hope's Peak and I'm the mangaka for a popular shojo series called "Sweetheart Suckerpunch."

"Oh, you mean that popular slice of life romance series?" I recognized the book title when I was perusing a Yarnes and Foble bookstore last week, "I've seen it around, so you were one of the survivors of the orphanage killing game?"

"Yes, I was," she nodded, "Though in all honesty, I'm surprised we survived at all, given how things played out. It's not something I want to remember right away if that makes any sense?"

"Hmph, I don't have time for this drivel," a dark-haired guy wearing a faded blue pinstripe suit snorted, "Can I skip these formalities? I have a lot of work deadlines I need to meet, and this is frankly a waste of my time."

"Dude relax," a young man with red highlights in his blonde hair wearing a superhero t-shirt responded, "I don't know much about what you do, but I think your bosses would cut you some slack, at least that's what I think?"

"Once again you prove how much of an uncultured imbecile you are, Tetsuya," the pinstriped suited guy rolled his eyes, "I don't know how things work on those ridiculous movie sets you assist with, but in the business world, time is money and the weeks I've missed would cost any future business owner millions of dollars. Unlike the replaceable asset you are, people actually rely on me, so would you mind shutting up for me."

"Ey fuck you too, Junichiro!" a taller and more muscular man wearing an orange construction safety vest barked out, "You ought to apologize before you get a deck in the face, pal. That's not cool at all, Tetsuya's job is just as important as yours."

"Bro, it's fine," his friend tried to dissuade him, "Please don't get worked up over a jerk like him."

"Sorry man, I can't help it," the big guy deflated his anger, "He just has one of those punchable faces. Doesn't help that his attitude stinks…"

"Heh, resorting to brute force and physical intimidation as usual, Katsuhiko?" The man named Junichiro crossed his arms, a displeased look adorned his face, "How typical of an ape like you. All you're good for is lifting heavy objects and wondering which porn magazine you're gonna read next after working in those pigsties you call construction sites."

"Take that back you little sh-"

"Gentlemen!" I shouted almost straining my voice, interrupting whatever screaming match was about to ensue, "I would appreciate it if you would not pick a fight inside the police station," I adjusted my badge a little around my pants hem, "I know you must be exhausted and frustrated right now, but I hope none of you wish to stay here in a holding cell for aggravated assault, now would you?"

This ultimatum seemed to get through to Junichiro and Katsuhiko clearly enough. The former huffed and fixed the lapels of his pinstripe jacket and the taller man pouted, his friend Tetsuya patting him on the back as I addressed the others in the room.

"Hey, sorry I'm late! I was busy helping a lost girl find her parents," Watanabe's voice chimed in, he sped walked to where I was, "Are these the group of survivors who just came in?"

"Yes," I turned to face him, "Though you missed the fun bit where I prevented a fight from breaking out. Just another day's work."

"Haha, I'll bet," he chuckled, "Now what's the damage?"

"I-Is that? Uncle Ryouto?" one of the boys from the group who had been quiet, a dark blue haired boy wearing round framed glasses and a sweater vest, spoke up.

"No way! Lil Masa?!" Watanabe immediately made a beeline for the boy, "What the hell!? You were kidnapped as well, Masaru?" He hugged him tightly.

"Y-Yeah I was….I was so scared," the boy was stifling tears, hugging Watanabe for dear life, "I d-didn't know if I would see you or mom ever again…." the waterworks were threatening to let loose, it didn't even seem to matter that the others were looking at him with pity either, "I don't want to die…I-"

"It's alright bud, you're safe now," my partner's inner fatherly side kicked in and he patted his nephew on the head, "Sorry about this Shizutani, I have to call my sister and let her know about this. She's not going to be happy at all."

"Go right ahead," I understood completely, letting him attend to his skittish nephew as I addressed the others, "I'm going to make this brief, so you all can take a break and rest up. Do you have any idea who the mastermind behind your game is? Or at the very least, do you have an idea of who it could be?"

"I'm not really sure who it is…" A girl with velvet purple hair, her bangs covering her left eye and wearing a ballet outfit, mumbled, "I tried to put a lot of what happened out of mind…Do you remember anything else, Miho?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Arisa," the taller short haired blonde girl next to her wearing a basketball jersey added, "Detective, my sister and I aren't really in the mood to talk right now, with all due respect, we don't have a fucking clue who the mastermind was, and we'd like to keep it that way."

"I see, thank you girls for your input," I resisted from asking more, holding in an impatient groan, instead turned to the next person, a young man wearing a maroon business casual outfit, paisley ascot and suspenders, "How about you? Mr…."

"Naofumi Sato, at your service," his polite greeting caught me off guard a bit, "Unfortunately, I'm in the same boat as the others, we've not a clue who our captor was and if I may be frank, I'd rather not know and just be done with this nightmare as well."

"I also agree," a bespectacled brunette wearing a sophisticated private school uniform commented, "As much as I'd like to see whoever put us in harm's way get their just desserts, I will leave that job to you and the authorities, Detective Shizutani."

"And you are?" I asked, getting a bit disoriented with how fast this conversation was going.

"Uenuma. Kasumi Uenuma if you wish for my full name," she fixed her glasses, "I'd like to speak with my father after this. I don't really remember much else aside from being kidnapped after my last debate match and the horrid stuff we've been put through."

These two were rather eloquent, but with the lack of any details to go around, I then turned to the last three of the group, the irritable Junichiro and the two others: a small meek looking girl wearing nurse's garb and a rough young man with forest green hair and wearing a boy scout's style outfit.

"Junichiro, was it? Could you tell me anything pertinent? Anything would help."

"I have my suspicions," he rubbed his forehead with two fingers, "But I have a feeling it has something to do with one of us who disappeared earlier….though it's nothing more than a wild guess."

"I'm all ears," I grabbed my notebook and readied my pen, "Who was it?"

"I have a feeling that it was a girl named Eiri Toshiguri. I believe she's the former ultimate criminal psychologist, but I don't remember much else about her."

This announcement seemed to rile up the guy dressed like a boy scout, judging from the way he stared at the pinstripe suited guy, almost like you could see icy daggers aimed in his direction. Junichiro didn't seem to mind, if anything he looked bored with how many times he was yawning during this brief questioning.

"What makes you think that Junichiro?" the scout closed his hands into fists, "Who's to say it's not someone else behind the scenes? Maybe there was a seventeenth person we weren't aware of? How can you say that with such confidence?"

"I said it was merely a feeling, Yusuke," Junichiro clicked his tongue, "I swear you get so intense about stuff like this, it's almost comical. When are you going to face the fact that her sudden disappearance is a pause for concern? You can't be this dense."

"Well excuse me, your highness. But weren't you the same guy who said, "evidence is king?" Yusuke retorted, emphasizing the air quotes as the girl wearing nurse scrubs looked back and forth at the two like she was viewing a tennis match, "Who's to even say Eiri had anything to do with it? Admit it, you always disliked her. Was it because she showed you up in the first trial? "

"Wow, you are far too gullible for your own good, I feel very sorry for you," the passive aggressive comments were starting to boil over into something sticky, "Did you forget your suit of armor at home, Mr. white knight?"

The two men glared at each other, the intensity in the room increased tenfold and the girl in nurse's garb was terrified of being in the middle.

"U-Ummm…ma'am?" the nervous girl spoke up, "I'm Hiroko…C-Can I have something to drink, please? I'm a little bit shaky…I uh…I skipped breakfast this morning."

"Of course, dear," I turned around and hailed a passing officer, "Officer Haikawa will help you with that," I directed her to the female officer by the front desk.

"T-Thank you…" Hiroko shuffled over to the officer, the two heading over to the nearest water cooler.

"Moving on," I scribbled down some notes about the Eiri girl, "Yusuke, was it? What makes you think this Eiri girl had nothing to do with the killing game?"

"Well for one thing, detective, she doesn't seem the type to do so in the first place," he said that with his hand to his chest, almost confident in that assertion, "She had proven to me that she was trustworthy, or at the very least helpful to us in solving the class trials, unlike a certain someone I know," he gave a passing glance to Junichiro.

"Yuu, I know how you feel, but…" Chiharu interjected, pondering over what to say, "I'm starting to think that she may have been a part of it…or at the very least have known about it from the start…..not to say she is involved but….you have to admit her actions were very suspicious."

"I understand but….I just… I just need to know the truth," his conviction was strong, I'll give him that, "Detective Shizutani, I don't care if I'm proven wrong or right, that doesn't matter to me. I just want to know why we were all chosen to be in this killing game to begin with. I…I want to figure out who put us through that hell…. And I need to know why they did it."

The pure and raw emotion dripping from his words were saccharine and made me almost tear up from how sincere it was. It was as if the hero of a fantasy epic was rallying his allies before a big battle was re-enacted right in front of me, that's how earnest his words were.

"I get how you feel, Yusuke," I then looked at the others, "Let me reassure you all that my partner and I, alongside the entire Tokyo Police Department will do all that we can to stop these killing games from happening again and we'll arrest the people behind them all before they can hurt anyone else."

"C-Can we call our families now?" Arisa asked, raising her hand as if she were in class.

"Of course, just up the stairs there will be a set of telephones on the wall, you can use those to call whoever you'd like," I put away my notebook and pen, "For now, after you are finished with your calls, I'd like you all to stay with us for a while. We just need to ask you a few more questions separately and you're free to leave right after."

I received a few collective nods, disgruntled looks and a few other unsure reactions from the group and gave them some space in the lobby's waiting room. Even though I didn't receive much information, it still wasn't unhelpful. The one mention of the missing girl does give me an idea of who might be behind everything, but I don't want to just jump the gun on that one.

"Hah….sorry about leaving you alone like that," Watanabe rushed down the stairs, "My nephew was in a bad way, I had to coerce him with leftover donuts we had in the break room. My sister is on her way to pick him up and she is furious to say the least, did you find anything?"

"Not much sadly, but I did get something," I waited for him to get a bit closer so I could tell him, "I was told that one person went missing during this particular game. Apparently, she went missing right before the announcement that the game was canceled. Think you can check in on tidbit for me?"

"No problem, what's her name?" he asked.

"Eiri Toshiguri," I repeated, showing him my notebook with her name surrounded by question marks, "She's suspected of working with the mastermind, but that's what some have speculated and I'm not so sure myself. Of course, these are just rumors, but can you confirm them for me, while I prepare the interrogation rooms?"

"Sure, thing Azusa!" Again, he used my first name, which was a bit off putting, but I had a lead, so I wouldn't let that bug me too much, "I'll text you the information when I find out more."

I acknowledged him and he walked back up the stairs, probably to go check up on his nephew or go find the nearest officer to aid him with this revelation. I walked over to the front desk, asked if an officer or two could help gather the new group that just came in, take them to the homicide department and to let me know when they're ready for me to take their statements.

This was going to be a long night, I just hope that I can get something out of these survivors, unlike the other ones. This recent development does pique my interest, especially if it has something to do with what I'm looking for.

I just hope that these kids can help me find them….before it's too late.

A/N: Hello everyone, didn't expect to hear from me again so soon, did you? I have no idea where I got this writing kick from, but I need ten more bottles of it for the rest of the way through, lol. Anyway, all jokes aside, I had this idea for a prologue chapter to introduce more perspectives and I decided to add this one in so that I can establish a bit more of this setting for you guys to help give a bit more context, if that makes sense?

I've been busy with college, trying to find a job, dealing with parental stress and mastering how to drive without losing my mind. Other than that, I'm doing well enough.

I actually had no plans to release a chapter like this, but the writing just came to me, and I thought it'd be a neat one to write, so here we are. I hope you all liked this prologue chapter and found it interesting. I plan to do one more prologue chapter before the deadline and I am thinking of posting it in October, but who knows, for now I hope this satisfies for now.

I just wanted to say how much it means to me that you all are eager for this story as much as I am in writing it. I've received a lot of questions about it and frankly that's more than enough for me, I know a premise like this hasn't been touched upon before, but I appreciate all your love and support these past few chapters. If there's further clarification you need help with, I'm more than happy to aid you in.

I won't be choosing anyone yet, I've decided to be patient for now and wait until the deadline is up, so to anyone scrambling to get their form in, just remember the deadline is November 1st with an extension up to November 7th if you so need one.

That's all I have to report for now, September has been a wild and strange month for me and thankfully I'm glad it's over. I for one am looking forward to it getting cold and windy for a change, hehe. But other than that, I hope you all liked this chapter and post your theories in the reviews below if you have any ideas of what this story could entail.

Happy reading my fellow readers, authors and otaku alike, I will see you all in the next update or whenever I decide to post next. Take care of yourselves out there and I hope your October starts off well!

Have a lovely day, night, holiday or whatever it is you are celebrating, and I will see you all next time. Bye bye!