The slowly lowering walls of the chamber revealed two side metal pillars with strange magnets on their sides. They were holding something truly breathtaking between them: A levitating silver skeleton of a female-looking robot with an uncountable amount of details, especially around the face area.
The view made the Ultimates speechless.
"Two thousand two hundred megapixels per eye, which translates to 64k resolution. Three lenses: regular, ultra-wide, and macro. All with an optical zoom up to five hundred times. Her hearing is thirteen times better than the human ear's, her nose can detect twice the substances humans can. Almost every part is made of titanium, which makes her extremely durable and light at once. Overwhelming strength and instant reaction time. She can jump eight meters high and run at the speed of seventy-four kilometers per hour. I would explain the details of her processing power but you wouldn't understand anything so I don't see the point. All you need to know is that she can think fast, very fast. Finally, let me tell you about the most important part, that is her heart. It is superior to the reactor that I put in my previous project. Should last approximately four times longer which is around three hundred years, even with the newer more power-hungry hardware. That's it in a nutshell, any questions?" The scientist asked.
"This is all my fault..." Kyoko thought.
"..Give me and my partner a moment, will you?" Naegi grabbed her shocked friend's hand and pulled him a few meters away from the chamber.
"This is absolutely terrible." Kirigiri whispered.
"On the contrary, this is our best chance." Makoto told in a silent tone.
"Huh? What do you mean?" She questioned.
"Imagine if we could heal him and get him on our side. His robots could safely pacify the despairs." Naegi assumed.
"I honestly can't imagine that, not in our current situation." Kyoko replied. "For now we can't let Junko be reborn."
"Do we have a plan?" He asked.
"..Not yet. But as soon as-"
"Hey you're gonna miss the cool part, come back already." The stranger interrupted while messing with the control panel.
The Ultimates listened and calmly headed back to the open chamber.
"What now?" Kirigiri questioned.
"You didn't think this was her final look, did you? He chuckled and stepped back from the panel. "This might take a while, I'll bring us some chairs."
"But what-" Makoto didn't finish his sentence as he saw many robotic arms coming out from the top and bottom of the chamber. "Now what the hell is this.." He brought his hand up to his chin.
The Ultimate Detective stepped forward and kneeled down to take a closer look at the bottom arms. "...It's printing skin."
"That means he doesn't want a robot Junko, he wants robot Junko disguising herself as a human.." Naegi deduced.
"She won't be a robot, but a human living in a god's body." The four-eyes unfolded three steel chairs and sat down.
"Human? Enoshima is dead. Her personality you apparently downloaded from my mind is an artificial intelligence." She stated.
"Answer me then, could you tell that she's an AI? Could you tell that she's any different? That she's just a program?" The man asked.
"...It doesn't mean that-"
"You couldn't see the difference because she uploaded her mind with a brain reading hardware. That's right, your school had breakthrough technology and didn't even know about it. Gathering so many talents in one place is a huge risk that was apparently underestimated by your father... Funny how there's such a thin line between Hope's Peak and Despair's Peak, isn't it?" The scientist smirked.
"There's no more, not on my watch.. Anyways, what's your name?" Makoto questioned and sat down with his friend on his right side and the stranger on another.
"I was a good friend of Jin, it's a shame he never introduced me to his daughter... He once told me that family conflicts are another Kirigiri tradition. That would explain why there's only one of them left... One person, with detective knowledge gathered for hundreds of years, risking her life so recklessly. I don't quite get why would you do that.. Oh let me guess, you're a couple?" He questioned.
"N-NO, no of course not." Naegi chuckled nervously with a blush while his friend cleared her throat.
"Uhuh, yeah I see." The man smiled. "It looks like Kirigiri bloodline is in good hands."
"Enough chat. There's no point in this, he's a remnant." Kyoko told to her friend while trying to keep her usual cold voice.
"Such a pity that you're not talkative Mrs. Kirigiri. To be honest, I'm quite a fan. Because what I truly believe is that every generation should be superior to the previous one, not only when it comes to hardware, but with people as well. And after watching the killing game I am sure to say that you're a perfect example of that theory. If Junko lets you live, I'll be more than curious to see if the next generation will be even better." He told.
"I don't remember telling you my plans for the future." The Ultimate Detective replied.
"Those are just my assumptions.. Anyways, if you're not up for talking that's alright, I still have many topics to go over with Mr. Naegi." The scientist stated.
"I'll have to pass as well, at least for now. I promise that we'll hang out after you'll recuperate." Makoto assured with a friendly grin.
"I don't need any treatment, I feel better than ever. In fact, I never made so much progress in such a short period of time!" He shouted happily.
"Yeah, it looks like you really did. I am- w-we are already impressed and she's not even turned on." Naegi told.
"Save the compliments for later, he'll most likely forget this anyway if he gets healed." Kyoko whispered to her friend.
"Oh, right..." Makoto said silently.
"What was that? Is there any problem?" The four-eyes asked.
"It's nothing." He replied.
"..You must be hungry. I'll bring you something." The man proposed.
"We won't eat anything from you." Kirigiri told as he stood up.
"Did you already forget that I solved your biggest problem a moment ago? Why would I poison your food?" He questioned.
"You could plant whatever you want in there, not only poison but drugs and nano chips. Besides I don't know if you actually removed Junko from my head, my meds could be still working." Kyoko answered without making any eye contact.
"Forget it then. I'll still go eat something myself, I didn't put anything in my mouth for two days." The stranger told and walked away.
"..He's a remnant but that doesn't mean that you have to be so hostile to him." Naegi spoke while rubbing the back of his head.
"I know, I just prefer to be careful." She told.
"I get it but, who knows how long will we stay here? The printing progresses very slowly." Makoto pointed out.
"When we'll really have to eat, we'll eat." Kirigiri decided.
"Alright... So, you were taking meds all this time.. How often?" He asked.
"..Once a day. Could we, not talk about this?" Kyoko requested.
"It's just, I'm mad at myself. How could I not notice?" Naegi asked.
"Don't blame yourself, people say I'm pretty good at hiding emotions." She told.
"Yeah, to say the least." Makoto grinned to himself.
"..What's on your mind?" Kirigiri questioned curiously.
"I just realized that your approach was originally meant to be a detective trick, but it became a part of your personality." He said avoiding eye contact.
"You don't know what I was like before I started learning my job." Kyoko pointed out.
"I.. I actually do know." Naegi told and lost his smile.
The Ultimate Detective instantly noticed her friend's face expression change. "..So the brain reader really worked didn't it? Tell me then. I barely remember the time when I was a kid." She requested.
"You were just like any other child. Happy and playful, curious about the world. But most importantly, you had a loving family. Just like me.." Makoto said while looking down.
"Yup, but then Jin had to screw it all up." Kirigiri muttered.
"W-what if that's not the case?" He asked.
Kyoko gave her friend a curious look.
"Uh, f-forget it. I'll tell you some other time." Naegi promised.
"Why not now?" She questioned.
"It's a bit um, complicated. A-and we should focus on thinking out a plan." Makoto told.
"..Mhm." Kyoko sounded suspiciously.
"I'm back." The scientist sat down on his chair.
"Oh, well that was quick." Naegi pointed out.
"I didn't actually eat, when I'm busy I just drink meal replacement shakes, that's why." He explained.
"Food shakes? Sounds like something only workaholics would buy. I mean, n-no offense Kiri, and neither to you, since you probably work a lot, looking at this robot." Makoto chuckled nervously.
"About the robot, how long will the printing take?" Kirigiri asked.
"I'll be honest with you, I have no idea. Less than a day, most likely." The four-eyes replied.
"Um, we really admire the masterpiece you've made but, do we have to sit here all this time?" Naegi questioned trying to sound as polite as possible.
"Oh, sorry, I- I totally forgot about the fact that the printing time could be long when preparing for your visit. Don't worry though, fortunately there are free dorms left after my workers. You can spend your time and sleep there, or wherever you want really. Just not outside this building." He informed.
"Great, could you show us?" Makoto questioned.
"Yeah, if you want to leave already." The man answered a bit sadly and got up.
The Ultimates followed him to the end of the big untidy hall and stood in front of a brown wooden door.
"Just a sec." He started searching his pockets.
"What's behind the garage door?" Kyoko asked.
"I-it's nothing." The scientist continued to search for keys.
"Can we go see what's behind it?" Kirigiri questioned.
"No, you can't." The guy replied without hesitation. "..There we go." He pulled out a few keys out of his pocket and put the right one in the door lock.
When the door opened the two friends saw a familiar corridor.
"What the, w-what the hell?!" Naegi shouted in fear.
"Relax, it's not the original. Everyone here is a fan of the first killing game so, I thought it would be cool to replicate the hallway and the dorms." The man informed. "You can pick whatever rooms you want, they're all open. Oh and if you change your mind about the food, come by my apartment. It's the entrance next to the garage door." He took his keys out of the lock and put them back in his pocket, then calmly walked away to the room where the robot was stored.
"It's a trick, he wants to use our trauma. Don't let him." Kyoko looked straight into her friend's eyes.
"We're not going in there, are we?" Makoto asked worryingly.
"We don't have to but, isn't this the perfect occasion to get rid of our fears?" She questioned.
"W-well, maybe.." Naegi replied uncertainly while looking away.
Kirigiri stepped closer to her former classmate and lifted his head up by his chin. "We can do this."
Makoto's eyes widened as he felt his friend's touch on his face. Her cold gaze didn't show any emotion, yet it made him feel courage. "..Well then, let's heal the old wounds, once and for all."
