"Rin! Kaede! Is it true that you've found another flashback light?" Keebo asked us when we entered the dining hall.
"Yep! I've got it right here!" Kaede cheered as she took out the device in question, causing me to wince a bit at the sight of it.
"Wait, so Kokichi wasn't lying! I'm stunned! Startled! Shocked!" Tenko exclaimed, a look of pure disbelief on her face as she did.
"See? I told you I wasn't lying. Good thing, too, cuz I don't want my pants on fire." Kokichi said with a wide grin. "By the way, Keebo, I bet you don't know yet, but there's a computer room on the fourth floor that Kaeyayday and Rinny opened up."
"A computer room?" Maki questioned.
"Yeah, it was pretty amazing. There was a large Supercomputer or something like that in the middle of the room. The Monokubs said it could create a new world, though the device still needs work on it. They told us that they would work on it." I explained. "Of course, I'd rather not trust the Monokubs with that, but that's the only choice we have. The computer is far too complicated for any of us to understand. Luckily, I feel as though Monodam is at least sort of trustworthy."
"If that's the case, then perhaps Keebo could figure something out with it." Kaito suggested.
"I'm sorry. I'm not very computer savvy." Keebo immediately claimed.
"Wait...really? That's...unexpected…" Himiko mumbled in confusion.
"You know, Keebo, I have to ask now after that, but…" Ryoma began to say with a raised eyebrow. "What exactly is your talent?"
"Well...I can do all sorts of things." Keebo responded. "Oh yes! I'm pretty good at one-man comedy shows, if I do say so myself!"
"I...don't think that qualifies…" Rantaro gave a dry chuckle.
"Kee-boy's existence is the only Ultimate thing about him. Other than that, he's got no talent." Kokichi quipped.
"I just told you I'm good at one-man comedy shows!" Keebo argued.
"Just because you're good at something doesn't make it your talent. I'm apparently good with machinery, but I'm not an Ultimate in the mechanical field like Miu." I added my own-two cents in a blunt tone. Keebo went to say something, before pausing and lowering his finger sadly. "W-Wait, Keebo! That doesn't mean you're not talented either! You're an incredible robot! One that's never been created before! You're one of a kind!" I tried to cheer him up.
"Yeah, I guess that's true, but every person is already born as one-of-a-kind, making Keebo, who's pretty much like us, no different in reality." Kokichi sighed, causing Keebo to lower his head even lower. If robots could look downtrodden, then I can only assume that's the kind of face Keebo was making.
"I guess that means we have no choice but to wait for the Monokubs to finish their work on the computer." Maki sighed.
"Then how about we get started with why we've all gathered here. It's because of the flashback light, isn't it?" Rantaro asked.
"Yes… So, have we all decided what we're going to do?" Keebo asked.
"Use it, of course! We might be able to remember something new!" Tenko exclaimed.
"Like the true purpose of the Ultimate Hunt…" Himiko suggested.
"Well...we don't know for sure if it's got anything to do with why we're trapped here…" Shuichi added.
"But it makes sense if the Ultimate Hunt does have something to do with all of this." Ryoma noted.
"Hey, instead of just talking about it, it'd be way faster to just use it, y'know?" Kokichi butted in.
"Yeah… Gonta worry, but we gotta do it." Gonta nodded.
"But but, no matter what we remember, you can't think about wanting to leave this place." Angie chimed in. "If you think like that, we'll just be repeating ourselves!"
"I-I know that! And we can't go around repeating ourselves!" Tenko shouted.
"Then let's give it a try. Kaede, go for it." Keebo said. But before Kaede could turn the device on-
"Hang on, I'd like to state my own opinion on the matter." I stated a bit nervously.
"Huh? What's up?" Kaito asked.
"I don't think you should use the flashback light." I told them.
"Huh? How come?" Gonta asked.
"Remember what we talked about yesterday? Kiyo's motive video had properties similar to flashback light, and that's why Kiyo killed Miu." I explained. "So if remembering something caused Kiyo to be full of murderous rage, then shouldn't we avoid the flashback lights entirely?"
"Hmm...you do have a point." Shuichi said as he put his hand on his chin, thinking deeply about the flashback light now.
"But that was a motive video. That's completely different from the flashback lights." Himiko argued.
"Is it though? The result was the same. Kiyo remembered, so he killed. Who's to say this flashback light won't be the same to one of us?" I gave my rebuttal.
"I suppose that is a possibility…" Ryoma noted with slight concern in his voice.
"But we already used the flashback lights before. Twice, actually if we count what you told us happened on our first day here." Kaede said.
"And that story of yours actually strengthens the flashback light's authenticity. You told us that before, we couldn't remember our talents, right? That must have been the result of us choosing to forget our talents to try to escape the hunt." Shuichi stated.
"Well, yes, but-"
"Then there isn't anything to worry about, is there? The flashback lights themselves haven't caused anything bad to happen yet. And remember what Kaito said before? About how we need to be a little reckless if we want to win? We should keep doing that, riiight?" Kokichi cut me off. "Maybe you're just nervous since the flashback lights don't work on you."
"Oh that's right. Rin has immunity to the flashback light's effects." Rantaro noted.
"Which is complete bullshit considering they work on Keebo." I muttered.
"You're still saying that? That's robophobic!" Keebo exclaimed once again.
"But it's true! If anyone should be immune to this stuff it's you! Memory loss is a result of something with the human brain! A robot with data storage instead of a brain shouldn't even have memory loss, and if you did, the information would have been deleted. The flashback light shouldn't be able to do anything to fix that!"
"That's actually a good point that Rin brings up." Angie agreed.
"I noticed that as well after Rin commented about it last time we used a flashback light, so I actually asked one of the cubs about how these things work a few days ago." Rantaro then said. "They didn't give me specifics, but they mentioned how the light it emits stimulates parts of the brain to awaken memories. If the light affects the brain, then it does raise the question as to how Keebo is affected and Rin isn't."
"Then maybe Keebo's AI gets affected in the same way our brains do." Kaito suggested.
"I wouldn't doubt that. Keebo does forget and remember things like we do. He's a lot like us, so he must have something that gets affected like how our brains get affected." Shuichi then said. "I mean, whether or not it should or shouldn't work on Keebo, the fact remains that it does, right?"
"Of course! I remembered the Ultimate Hunt when we used the first flashback light after all." Keebo said.
"I...suppose you're right about that. Whether it makes sense or not, the fact is that it does work on Keebo...and doesn't work on me." I admitted with a heavy sigh. Okay… Let's try again, but without my anger making me lose focus. "Still, I don't think we should use these things. They're far too suspicious."
"But they're the only things we can go on. They're the only way we can get information that might relate to our situation." Tenko said.
"We already acknowledge the risk these things might have before, so it should be fine shouldn't it?" Kaito said. "Let's just hurry up." And with that, I was outvoted. With nothing else I could do, I sighed in defeat and turned towards the door.
"Well, if you all are going to use that, I'll be waiting for you to finish up outside. Can't exactly stay and let it affect me, since all it does it make me feel like puking. Call me back once you're done."
"You got it, Rinny!" Kokichi smirked as he waved me goodbye. I then exited the dining hall and leaned against the hallway wall. I should have expected this outcome. After all, even though those things didn't work on me, I also believed in them and trusted in their abilities after they remembered the Ultimate Hunt. Argh… I can't convince them to not use them, can I? If we get our hands on another flashback light, they'll want to use it, no matter what I might say. How troublesome. Sigh… Nothing I can do about it though. I just got to pray that my concern and worry is just misplaced when it comes to these lights. After a few minutes of waiting, I suddenly started to hear some kind of commotion coming from inside the dining hall. Before I could enter myself, the door opened, revealing Kokichi with his signature smirk. "We're done! C'mon, we've got to inform you about what we saw!" Kokichi said as he dragged me back into the dining hall. As soon as I entered, I could piece together what exactly they saw in this new memory.
"Wh-Why? Why was I...at my own funeral?" Shuichi asked with a deathly confused expression.
"You too, Shuichi!? You remembered a funeral as well!?" Kaede exclaimed.
"So we all remembered a funeral. And not just any funeral. It was a funeral for all of us." Ryoma stated with a worried look.
"But what could it mean?" Maki pondered, not looking quite as bothered by the new memory as most of the others. Actually, Rantaro, Kaito, Angie, and Kokichi don't look too worried about it either.
"Why was I at your guys' funeral?! And why was the funeral also for me!?" Tenko cried out in a panicked voice.
"The only thing I can remember is seeing that funeral. Nothing else…" Keebo sighed.
"So you all remembered a funeral? And it's for all of us?" I asked. That's a bit concerning, but if I think about it logically, I can make a guess as to what it could mean. Of course, having not gained this memory makes it harder to speculate, but hey, speculation is the game and I'm still a player.
"Actually Rin, the funeral wasn't for all of us." Rantaro told me. "You weren't there. The funeral was for all of us except you."
"Huh?"
"That's right! There wasn't a picture for Rin!" Himiko exclaimed.
"But what could that mean?" Shuichi questioned.
"Maybe we...already dead!? Rin only one alive?" Gonta exclaimed in terror.
"Ahahahahahahaha! No way!" Kaito laughed. "Geez...this is so stupid, I couldn't help but laugh. I mean...there's no way that was our memory of our funeral…"
"Then what was it?" Maki asked coldly.
"It was probably...a memory of our school festival or something." Kaito mumbled in an unsure voice.
"School festival?" Kaede repeated. "School festivals have mock funerals for their students?"
"It was probably a memory from a play we did for the school festival or something." Kaito suggested. "I mean, isn't it obvious if you just think about it? That would also explain why Rin wasn't there. He's older than us. He isn't a high school student like us, so he wouldn't be a part of it. Besides, if that funeral was real, there's no way we'd still be alive!"
"Nyeeeh...that's true." Himiko nodded.
"But aren't we all from different high schools? Why would we have a school festival together?" Tenko asked.
"Th-That's...we'll probably remember something else about it later." Kaito mumbled. "Anyway, there's no way that funeral was real! There's no mistaking that!"
"You're right… If we think about it logically, that's clearly out of the question…" Keebo nodded.
"Okay...good. Gonta think everyone was already dead." Gonta gave a sigh of relief.
"Stop saying stupid stuff! Look at me, I'm alive! Hale and hearty!" Kaito cheered with a big grin.
"..." Kokichi just plopped back into his chair where he was sitting before and gave a blank, neutral stare to all of us before sighing. "Aw maaan, what a disappointment…"
"A disappointment?" Kaede repeated.
"Nyeeeh...it's true. This flashback light was a real letdown." Himiko said. "We didn't find out anything about the Ultimate Hunt. Just some weird memory."
"Yeah, seriously. Talk about a disappointment…" Kaito added.
"No, I'm not talking about the memory. I'm talking about you guys…" Kokichi then said as he stared at his hands with a bored expression, as if he had already figured things out and was watching a bunch of idiots try to wrap their minds around something simple.
"What…?" Shuichi mumbled in response to the leader's statement. Kokichi then switched to a smile as he turned to Shuichi happily.
"Oh, no! It's nothing! I'm just lying again, so don't worry about it!" He waved his hands dismissively. The way he's speaking...he probably has an idea of what the memory could be and its significance. At least that's the impression I get.
"Hmm…" I hummed softly as I pondered what the others said about this memory. I don't trust those flashback lights, but they still give us information, so I might as well play around with it and try to figure out what it all means, right? Might be important.
"I know that look. What theory have you come up with Rin?" Rantaro asked me with his casual, laid-back smile.
"O-Oh, well, if you don't mind me giving my opinion on the matter, I'll be happy to share. Just remember that I don't have this memory myself. I'm just going off what I'm picking up from you guys, so correct me if I get something wrong." I told him.
"Of course. By all means, go ahead. I'm interested in hearing what you think of this as well." Shuichi told me.
"Well, alone this memory seems pretty random, but when you take into consideration the previous memory, then it adds up to something bigger." I told them.
"Something bigger?" Angie questioned while squishing her face together with her hands.
"The Ultimate Hunt, remember? You all were running away from some group that was chasing after you for some reason. And if there was a funeral with all 16 of you guys, then I feel like there's a certain conclusion we can make." I then turned to them with a serious expression. "Now, don't panic when you hear this, but that funeral was probably a real funeral."
"R-Real?" Ryoma repeated with slightly pale expression.
"S-So Gonta right before!? We all dead already!?" Gonta cried out.
"No, that's not what I meant. The funeral was probably real, but you guys aren't dead. That much is obvious. So, what do you think that means?" I threw the question at them. "The Ultimate Hunt is chasing you down to the ends of the earth, and nothing you do seems to keep you safe from them. So in the end, you erase your memories of your talents and the memories relating to your talent to live as a normal high school student. A different person, if you will. With that in mind, what do you think that could mean for this funeral?" I posed the question to them and waited. I could just come out and tell them the answer, but I'm starting to feel like I should make sure they can figure out this stuff by themselves. After the recent deaths, I'm starting to feel as though my life is more at risk. If I end up dying, I want to make sure they can still think logically and come to these conclusions without me. The others thought about it for a bit before a few of them seemed to get it.
"If we erase our memories...then…" Shuichi began with clarity in his eyes.
"We must have faked our own deaths along with erasing our memories." Maki finished.
"We faked our own deaths?" Kaede asked.
"It makes sense. Just erasing our memories wouldn't get rid of the Ultimate Hunt that was chasing us. We would need to become new people so they wouldn't discover us after we changed." Rantaro stated. "Faking our deaths would certainly get them off our backs. At least for a while."
"Exactly. That funeral must have been for you guys after you faked your deaths." I nodded. "This would also give us an explanation as to why I don't show up in this memory too."
"Oh? How come?" Tenko asked.
"Simple. I must not have been targeted by the Ultimate Hunt." I said.
"You weren't targeted?" Ryoma asked.
"I doubt it. If I wasn't a target, then I wouldn't need to fake my death. Thus, no funeral for me." I said.
"But your memories were erased. Couldn't that be a result of wanting to escape from the Ultimate Hunt?" Kaito asked.
"Maybe, but I think I must have lost my memories for another reason. Perhaps that different cause of memory loss is the reason the flashback lights don't work on me."
"Wow, Rinny! You've done it again! You always do something that proves that you're not as disappointing as the others!" Kokichi chirped happily.
"Oh really?" I asked him.
"Yep! You are most certainly not boring! You are something else!" Kokichi nodded with a wide smile. "Yep yep! I agree with Rinny. That memory was definitely us faking our own deaths."
"It's not very often that Kokichi praises someone and then agrees with them, so we must be on the right track with this." Rantaro chuckled.
"So we faked our deaths…" Shuichi pondered on the thought for a bit longer before standing up from his seat. "I think we should save further speculation for later. Perhaps we'll find more evidence to help us remember more details about the Ultimate Hunt and that funeral."
"Or perhaps we'll find something regarding Rin's appearance here." Angie said. "After all, if we are here because we were captured by the Ultimate Hunt, that would explain why Monokuma and the cubs weren't expecting him when this all started. But then why is Rin here if he's right about not being one of their targets."
"That is the question, isn't it?" I gave a dry laugh.
"Either way, we've discussed it as much as we can today. All we can do is keep searching for more clues." Kaede said as she raised her fists to the air. We all nodded and left the dining hall to enjoy the rest of the day at our leisure.
