With the examination of the areas done, the group reconvene back at the lunchroom at 8:45. Inside, they found Mixmaster, Scavenger, and Jazz talking amongst each other, the Combaticons hanging together, and Blurr looking like he's getting over a hangover. "Ah, hello- uh, a whole lot of people," Jazz said in surprised as the horde entered the area. "Why are you grouped together?"

"We were exploring the new building," Ratchet took the lead as they all took a seat at the table.

"Ah, so, what type of place is it?" Jazz asked them.

"Not a places, but places," he informed him. "A med-bay, a repair-bay, and a casino."

"Right, so more death traps for people to- wait, did you say a casino?" Jazz asked, surprised.

"Oh yeah, and it's legit too," Smokescreen told him. "Won some monocoins from it."

"I didn't get anything," Wildrider said grumpily.

"Told you," Dead End said, continuing to read his datapad.

"Why would they even have one in the school?" Mixmaster asked them.

"Dead End says they're to make a profit off students back when this wasn't a killing ground," Skywarp told them.

"It makes the most sense. Gambling is one of the most addicting things around, so they could make quite a lot of money off it," Dead End told them.

"Students are invited here for free," Onslaught murmured in assent. "They would need another source of income to make up for everything else."

"Me, Mirage and Bludgeon explored the repair-bay. Lots of potential weapons and a partially finished behemoth in there," Hoist told them.

"We also found a datapad containing information on an event I participated in," Bludgeon told them, showing it off. "A fighting exhibition in which me, Drift, and Brawl were teachers to the students."

"Where was that?" Swindle asked.

"In the glove box," he told them.

"Huh, strange place to put it," Swindle commented.

"What about the med-bay? Any useful information in there?" Blast Off questioned.

"Well, we figure out that if anybody is dying, but hanging close to life, we might be able to prevent their death," Ratchet told them.

"That would be a miracle," Dead End muttered. "A murdered will finish off the victim before leaving them to be found."

"Most likely, but a small comfort anyway," Ratchet explained. "If you're close to death and you live because I was able to perform the necessary actions to save you."

"Do you think I would care if you save my life?" Dead End asked him.

"No, but I would feel better if I did."

"Tch."

"Don't 'tch' me."

"Man, you guys are giving me a serious headache," Blurr told them, sounding tired.

"Drank some high-grade?" Knock Out asked him.

"Yeah. Can you blame me?" Blurr asked them. "This place is seriously screwed up."

"No duh," Beachcomber said. "People are dying no matter what we do and we can't stop it. It's like the war never stopped."

"But it did," Scavenger pointed out, "so why haven't they rescued us?"

"No matter the defenses around the school, it was still built in Iacon. They should've broken through by now," Onslaught told them. "No strategy is good enough to withstand being attacked at all sides in Iacon."

"Perhaps it is for political reasons," Mirage said.

"What if they're all dead?" Dead End mentioned.

"What? That's-"

"Possible. Considering the missing years we can't remember, anything might've happen," he pointed out.

"But we were getting along. We were rebuilding Cybertron. Why would we devolve into killing each other again?" Mirage asked him. "And don't say that it's some prophecy that dictates that the world will end at blah, blah, blah because of some great, evil being. I want a realistic one."

"I don't know," Dead End answered. "I'm just pointing out possible outcomes."

"Outcomes which are worst case scenario. You seemed to think the worst must always happening instead of something different," Mirage badgered the nihilist.

"Well, excuse me for thinking that all your ideas for what's happening outside to be too wishy-washy to be a good reason to believe," Dead End chastised.

"Enough!" Onslaught shouted, slamming his fist on the table. "We have to work together, not argue with each other. That's exactly what the damn bear wants." At that, Mirage went quiet, but Dead End was undeterred.

"So, you expect all of us to work together, even though the scenario we are in guarantees that only one person can leave this place alive? My, you are an exceptionally foolish one," Dead End chastised.

"Hey!" Swindle shouted, glaring at him. "Since when can only one person get out of this place alive?"

"That is the rule of the game. Only one person can live," he reminded him.

"And the rules can be defied. We just have to figure out how," Swindle told him.

"Oh, you think the person who has put us here haven't prepared for that?" Dead End asked him. "Something this complicated requires a lot of work and I doubt he would let it all go to waste because of a crack in his system."

"Bingo!" Monobear shouted, coming out of the woodwork. "Nice to see someone appreciate the amount of work I put into it."

"I don't appreciate it, I despise it," Dead End said, unaffected by his appearance. "I just acknowledge that you wouldn't let a simple mistake like a crack destroy you entire scheme."

"Aw, you don't like me?" Monobearsadly asked.

"No. I don't think anyone does," Dead End told him. That got a rise out of him.

"Upupupu, no one loves me? Hah, plenty of people follow me. They listen to my every command. I am-"

"A terrorist with delusions of grandeur," Dead End shot him down, going back to his datapad. "You bore me."

"What?" Monobear said, trying to get in his face. "Say that again!" Dead End didn't react, just silently read his datapad. "Hey, I'm talking!" Nothing. "Hey!"

"Why are you here?" Skywarp asked, causing Monobear to turn his attention at him.

"Well, I came to personally see how you're doing, considering everyone has left their rooms," he told them.

"Huh? But, they're not here," Jazz said looking around. "We're missing Rewind, Hound, Perceptor, Drift, Nightbeat, Bumblebee, and Nautilator."

"They must've decided not to come to the group meeting today," Beachcomber said.

"Scrap," Jazz muttered. "Alright, let's go find them."

"Aw, you're just going to leave me?" Monobear asked, disappointed.

"Fine with me," Ratchet said, getting up. "If Hound and Rewind are up, I need to go find them."

"Oh yeah, how is Rewind?" Monobear asked just a tad smugly. "He sure wasn't very… stable after the punishment, yesterday."

"Why you little…" Ratchet growled out before controlling himself. "I'm leaving," he said, walking out of the room. Slowly, but surely, everyone else did as well, leaving the bear by himself. Monobear gave a slight humph before speaking to himself.

"It's working. Taking longer than usual, but some didn't come for the meet this morning. They are losing trust with each other," he chuckled. "Oh, breaking them is so much fun."

Hound sat in a chair in the A/V room, watching Rewind watching videos of himself and Chromedome projected on a screen on a wall. Right now, it was of Chromedome and First Aid taking care of Rewind after he got hurt in an explosion caused by Whirl during Reconstruction. Hound, for good reasons, found this utterly depressing. "He will be fine, right?" Chromedome was asking First Aid.

"He should be. He may have lost a lot of energon, but it's resettling just fine and the fragments didn't hit anything any of the major organs," the medic replied with sympathy.

"Okay, good," Chromedome murmured, watching over his unconsciousness form. Rewind may have been knocked out, but that camera always records everything.

"Hey, don't worry. Rewind may be small, but he's durable," First Aid said, trying and failing to put a hand on his shoulders before putting it back to his side awkwardly.

"I know, but I've had this happened before and I don't want it to happen again," he said.

"Hey, calm down. The war's over and Whirl is being severally reprimanded for it," First Aid tried to comfort him.

"Yes, but, I always have the worst luck," Chromedome muttered. "Him and Brainstorm both made me actually accept their deaths and Rewind dying would just be the worst thing."

"Yes, well, everything's fine. Nothing bad will happen again," First Aid told him.

"I hope so."

"Why did we have to be wrong?" Rewind asked the footage, emotionless. Hound flinched at hearing that, but didn't say anything. He wasn't very good at the sentimental stuff. He really wanted to just leave him alone, but there was always the risk of Rewind doing something… terrible by himself. "Why did you have to die? I can't do this by myself?"

"Yes you can," Hound immediately said, before realizing that he talked. Scrap.

"What…," Rewind asked, turning to him, the footage on the wall following him.

"Look, why did Chromedome die?" he asked him.

"Because of Monobear,'" Rewind answered immediately.

"No, why not who," Hound asked him again.

"Because of Monobear's rules."

"Let me specified, why did he killed Counterpunch?" Hound asked him.

"To… protect me," Rewind answered, "which means it's all my fault."

"No, it isn't," Hound immediately said, trying to commit damage control. "It means he cares enough about you that he's willing to die for you and I know that you are willing to die for him. When he was being sent to his execution, he asked you to live on. Now tell me, are you doing as Chromedome asked him?"

"No… but I don't think I can," Rewind told him.

"Rewind, please, Chromedome had this happen to him before-"

"And he solved that by injecting himself," Rewind shot back, glaring at him, turning the footage off and walking closer to him. "He's only just been able to accept it and that was during Reconstruction, not being trapped in a building where you're forced to constantly watch your back because someone might kill you at any point, and if you want to escape, you have to kill someone and get away with it, sacrificing everyone else at the same time. Now tell me, how are me and Chromedome's situation in any way comparable?" he asked him, now in his face. Hound was near speechless as Rewind spoke with rage and heartache. "I can't handle it!"

"Uh…," Hound barely breathe out, realizing that talking was a really bad idea.

"He shouldn't have died. I should've. He should've just done nothing and let Counterpunch kill me, then he would've been executed and Chromedome would still be alive. That's what should've happen!" Rewind ranted, letting the tears creep down his optics. "He should've live."

"Look, Chromedome was just doing what was right and letting you die wasn't the right thing to do! He had to save you, not let you die. He wasn't like that," Hound argued against him. "Besides, if Counterpunch killed you, what would've kept him from killing Chromedome as well?"

"That's… irrelevant. I still should've-"

"No, you shouldn't, now shut it! It's because of him that one of you made it out alive. If it wasn't for him, both of you would've been murdered and Counterpunch would've been executed. Because of him, you made it out alive instead of all three of you dying," Hound told him, getting up and staring down at him. "You said he died because of you… fine. Maybe he did, but it doesn't change the fact that if he didn't do something, both of you would've been dead. So stop thinking about how he died because of you and just be happy that he was willing to give his life to save yours and know that he always loved you. Fight through your despair and live for him," Hound finished, sitting back down in his seat.

"But-but-but-"

"Rewind, please quit your self-guilt trip. Yes, it could've been better, but it could've also been worse," Hound said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We've all loss loved ones, probably not as closed as you and Chromedome, but we've suffer just as you have. Please, just recognize what happens and continue on," he said, staring at him sentimentally.

"I-I don't know. Maybe," Rewind muttered, looking away.

"You said that last night you would try, so please, do that. Life is wonderful and you shouldn't throw it all away," Hound continued. "Chromedome wanted you to stay alive and it's best to honor his final actions. There's a reason why he gave up so easily at the class trial. It's because, along with the rest of us, you would die as well and he didn't want that. Please, stay alive for him," Hound finished. Rewind stayed silent, not knowing what to say. Finally, he looked back at Hound at said:

"So, am I just supposed to forget about Chromedome?" he asked.

"Of course not, but you can't let it control you. Just live on in his memory and survive," Hound finished. Rewind focused on his every word, thinking all of it through, the look of anger giving way to acceptance.

"…Fine. I will," Rewind agreed, his voice calm now.

"Rewind?! Hound?! Are you around?" Ratchet's voice came out from outside the door.

"We didn't meet at the table. Guess they're worried about us," Rewind said, pushing Hound's hand off his shoulder and headed out the door. "Best not to keep them waiting."

Hound stared at the doorway before he said, "Damn, I should be a motivational speaker," and got up and headed out the door.

"Alright, so, what are we doing?" Bumblebee asked Perceptor as him, Drift, and Perceptor entered the mall.

"I want to conduct the experiment," he told them, entering the area. "I want you to ask a cashier a question and inspect him when he's answering a question," he told them.

"And what question is that?" Drift asked him.

"Ask him what rules he has to follow," he told him.

"Rules?" Drift asked.

"Yes. A VI generally has a set of rules to follow so I want to know it and I want to know if each cashier and bartender and whatever is controlled by the same VI," he told them.

"Okay, so you want to see if each of them react the same to the question if asked at the same time," Bumblebee said, figuring it out.

"Yes, exactly," Perceptor agreed.

"Huh, a bit odd, but okay," Bumblebee agreed. "Don't see the point of figuring out how the cashiers work, but if you want that figured out, you got it."

"Same here," Drift agreed.

"That's good to hear," Perceptor thanked, "now get to asking."

"Fine," Drift said, heading off to a random store. Bumblebee gave a nod of his head before heading off to a store as well. Perceptor glanced at them netering the sotres before doing so as well, entering the upgrade shop.

"Ah, welcome!" the cashier immediately said as he entered with a brght smile. "What did you come for?"

"To asked a question," Perceptor answered, coming in front of the checkout counter.

"A… question?" the VI asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. Tell me, what rules do you follow?" Perceptor asked it.

"Ah, that," the VI murmured. "Well, I guess there's nothing wrong about that." It rubbed its hand together before spouting them off. "Rule 1: Always help the customers out with their choices. An unprepared customer is improbably ready for the killing games. Rule 2: Do not interfere with murders and help with the investigation if it doesn't reveal the culprit. Rule 3 and the final one: If the headmaster breaks a rule, interfere."

"Interfere?" Perceptor asked him.

"Yes. Monobear follows all the rule, but he inserted that just in case," he told him.

"You've never interfere?" Perceptor asked.

"Not one time," it answered. "Now, anything else?"

"Very well, have a despairing day. Oh, and before you leave, well done at the trial," he mentioned. "That dastardly killer had you on the ropes, no thanks to the crazy one, but you prevail and continued the games. I know Monobear drops monocoins to your safes, but here's a reward," he told him, producing a bag of coins and handing it off to him. "Be sure to tell your friends so that they can get their coins as well."

"Ah, so you know who has collected their bags?" he asked the VI.

"Well, yes. In case you're wondering, oh wait, you are, I'm one VI connected to several different proxies. If you're wondering how I know, I watch the cameras as well and you asking your frineds to conduct the experiment with you was meaningless as you could've just asked me," it chastised him. "Please, I'm open for all questions, barring information on who the mastermind is, and I will help you as much as I can."

"Oh, uh, really?" Perceptor asked.

"Yes. I know, a shame that you had to waste your time with something that you could've just asked about, but them's the break," he told him. "I'm sure this will teach you about your lack in trust in me, because let me tell you, I'm your only true friend here."

"My only true friend? What kind of lie is that?" he asked them.

"Well, I'm the only one who can't kill you. I literally can't get involve in your death in any way, which makes me the only person you can safely talk to without getting a knife in your back like that poor Counterpunch did," the VI said with a little shake of his head. "He bought a knife to protect himself, but that killed him instead. What irony."

"You seem very… advanced for a VI," Perceptor murmured, looking him over. "Are you sure you're a VI?" At that, the machine paused, his smile going away, before replying.

"The master's says I'm a VI, that is what I am," he told him.

"But what do you call yourself?" Perceptor asked him. The machine paused again before replying again.

"I think… you should leave," he told him threateningly before going back to his fake smile. I have to go to the back and double check the inventory," he told him, leaving the counter and heading to the back so quickly that Perceptor barely had any time to see him. As the door to the back closed, the door to the shop automatically open, indicating that he should leave. Perceptor, intrigued by the new knowledge he obtained, headed out to Bumblebee and Drift, who both look annoyed at having to wait so long.

"Geez, what took you so long," Bumblebee asked, lightly tapping his foot on the ground.

"Yeah, all you had to do was get the rules and get out," Drift told him, "as well as get a bag of monocoins."

"Well, we had a long conversation," Perceptor said, "and I figured that the VI might be more advanced that we thought.

"More advanced? You're taking AI?" Bumblebee asked, ceasing his tapping.

"Well, I'd say it started out as a VI, but as time went on, it became more self-aware. It's probably on the verge of being an AI," he told them.

"An AI?" Drift asked, intrigued. "Those are pretty rare these days."

"I know, which is what makes it really surprising," Perceptor agreed.

"Guys?" a voiced asked and they turned to see Jazz and a small group.

"Guess we better give our findings to them," Perceptor advised, the three of them heading over to them.

"Why me?" Nautilator complained as him and Nightbeat were investigating a room in the first floor of the maintenance halls.

"You were free and your voice makes me think Megatron is working for me, which is strangely enjoyable," the detective answered as they were clearing a side of the place.

"Stupid voice," Nautilator muttered. "Always gets me into things I don't want to do."

"Not your fault that having the voice of Megatron is your only distinguishing character trait," Nightbeat sarcastically replied.

"Hey, that's not my only trait. I-I'm clumsy… and not very bright," he told him.

"Aright, let me rephrase it then: having the voice of Megatron is your only positive character trait," he told him.

"That's… more true," Nautilator muttered. "That, and my inconsistent luck."

"Yes, well, some people are like that and- is this a door?" the detective noticed, looking at the door that the debris blocked.

"Hey… it does!" Nautilator shouted, quickening himself, Nightbeat doing the same. Within minutes, the debris was cleared away to show a door. "Now where does this lead to?"

"Well," Nightbeat said trying to open the door but completely failing, "I'll have to get Mixmaster to come in here and open it," he told him.

"Sounds fine with me," Nautilator agreed, taking a seat on the ground. "That was pretty tiring."

"And we can add 'small stamina' to your character traits," Nightbeat told him, looking down at him.

"Hey, that's… also kinda true," Nautilator agreed, staring up at him. "Come on, that stuff was kind of heavy. You have to be a little tire as well." Nightbeat glared down at him before gave a roll of his optics and sat down next to him.

"Okay, fine, so what do you want to talk about?" he asked him.

"Uh… I don't know, survival odds?" Nautilator blurted out.

"Hmm, survival odds? How cynical," Nightbeat muttered before thinking it through. "If this was based on real life, you probably should've died by now."

"Oh…," Nautilator groaned.

"However, sense I question how real this place is, I think you just as good amount of surviving as anyone else here," Nightbeat concluded. "You're like one of those generic protagonist in those amateur detective novels."

"Oh, well, I guess that's reassuring," the (un)luckster murmured. "What about you?"

"That, well…" Nightbeat murmured, "I fear my time here will be dreadfully short."

"Uh, but, why. You're smart, you-"

"That's exactly the problem," Nightbeat told him. "I'm the Ultimate Detective. So far, if anyone really wants to take the game seriously instead of just accidently killing someone, they know who to go for to make the class trial easier for them."

"Oh, yeah… that's a good point," Nautilator murmured, "but, we did good in the second trial when you were vocally handicapped."

"Yes, but you sere still about to vote Swindle guilty until I interrupted. If it wasn't for that, we might all be dead," Nightbeat reminded him.

"Oh yeah…," Nautilator murmured. "Man, we would be totally bone without you."

"Quite possible, but I think with my death, you would be more cautious and not believe any sudden conclusions that they come up with. They got plenty of smart people," Nightbeat comforted himself.

"Yeah, they could probably get it done. Perceptor, Mixmaster, the medics, you know. They would be able to get to the truth," Nautilator agreed.

"Yes, but, science and medicine is different from investigating a murder. Yeah, outside the school, it's critical, but with the short amount of time we got here, all we can do is basic medical examinations and cold, hard logical assumptions. Why were they there? Whose alibis check out? Why did they kill him like they did? Motive? This is much different from experiments and operations," he told him.

"Hey, it's like you said, they're smart. I'm sure they can figure it out," Nautilator comforted him. Nightbeat stayed silent before saying,

"Don't rely on them?"

"Huh?"

"One of them could be a murderer and skillfully mislead people from the truth. Look at the crime and make your own assumption and see if it holds up in the trial with the evidence," Nightbeat advised him. "You could be wrong, but it would be illogical to let someone else do all the thinking for you."

"Oh, right…," Nautilator murmured. "Well I'm not the brightest."

"Well, you better learn. This is not a place for the foolish," Nightbeat told him, getting back up. "Now then, let's go find Mixmaster and informed him about the locked door."

"Yeah…," Nautilator murmured, "right behind you."