So, first and foremost, I have a bit of an apology to make. I was originally hoping to get this out before the end of 2019, but on my birthday I became seriously sick and couldn't make any progress at all. So, sorry about that.

This time I got one review, from AV:

Again with the ridiculously fast update, who hacked your account?

This aged poorly.

Also speaking of Christmas, it's most likely Christmas in Australia by the time I post this review, so merry Christmas I guess.

At the end of the day on Christmas the last thing I did before falling asleep was check for new reviews. This was a nice little surprise.

(and the sword that's can supposed to cut steel with ease, and no I haven't forgotten that)

You can literally look up videos of Katanas doing that. I can't paste urls in here but if I could I could provide some very clear examples.

I still don't get how this whole thing works, or is supposed to work.

I'm not the first person to think of this, and no the thermal sensor's ballistic characteristics wouldn't matter, no more than the aerodynamicness of a pilot's head inside a jet aircraft. It's a little hard to explain.

since my current plans lean more towards AMD fanfiction than Death Note fanfiction.

I'm surprised you still have FF plans.

I guess it's not an option for him but he should recognize it as an if, not a when.

And it's around here that you may notice a certain unique trait in this FFs four main villains. Well, so far the fourth has only been mentioned once or twice so you wouldn't know, but anyway, it's not a spoiler so I'll let you know now: I've designed the four main antagonists as such that, when combined with the three main antagonists from the original Death Note, they each kind of symbolize one of the so-called "seven deadly sins". You can probably already begin to imagine which one is which.

And also, shoutout to Code Lazarus for following and favouriting 私は、キラ/I, Kira. Recently I've been wondering, do people do that because they genuinely like the story or just to get a shoutout?

(Alice's POV, 04:01, September 5)

'So, Indy, I went through the blood test analyses, to make sure nothing dangerous from the bullets got caught in Chris or Lauren's bloodstream. They're safe. I double-checked.'

On the screen I can see her face instantly relax a little.

'Oh thank god. Anything unusual at all?'

'Well, it looks like Lauren's pregnant.'

'Wait, what?'

'What the fuck?! She's pregnant?!' Tom screams from the other screen.

'No, don't worry, she isn't. She just looks like she is.'

'Are you calling her fat?'

'Comfort eating isn't a rare method of dealing with stress and trauma caused by extreme experiences. She's probably been at it bit by bit since she was released. The anxiety of regaining her memories but still losing her ability to make any contribution, and the anxiety of being constantly watched over by Luci and his thugs, and the absence of any family members around the house… it's not a great combination for her.'

'…I should've seen this earlier. I'm a shit brother, aren't I?'

'How could you have noticed earlier? Don't blame yourself, Tom! You're not a shit brother. If Lauren could speak to you again, she would go on and on about how proud she is of you, constantly putting yourself at risk so we can all save the world together!'

'Oh, Alice, remember you were going to tell Indy and Katashi about that idea you and Tom had, about how Shinigami work.'

'"Work"? Like, how they have so many unexplainable powers?'

'Yeah.'

'I'm listening.'

*sigh* 'Couple hundred billion brain cells in your skull. You got more synapses than stars in the galaxy. You are a fancy hand terminal, with a lot of buttons. Now, I push a few trillion of them buttons in exactly the right way and, ta-da. You're talking to Rugo, or Dimina, or any shinigami. The sound of their voices, the clothes they wear.'

'So it's a magic trick.'

'So is our whole damn reality. Just different buttons being pushed.'

'Okay, small problem with that theory. Take a look here, tell me what you see.'

'I see… you holding a slice of pizza next to Tom?'

'Exactly. Rugo and I can interact with the physical world, so we must be within it.'

'Alright, then it's just the other way around. Everyone else on the planet is being meddled with, and we're the only exceptions. Rugo?'

'It makes sense. Are we all happy with that hyp-'

'No.'

'What now?'

'I can interact with stuff, and it certainly feels like I'm here, but then how is it that I can just float through walls and ceilings whenever I want?'

'Fuck.'

'It could just be a very well-perfected usage of quantum teleportation,' Tom objects.

'Except that would involve the direct manipulation of random probabilities on a quantum level, which is probably impossible.'

'Katashi, after everything we've learned about Death Notes and Shinigami, the word "impossible" shouldn't even be in your vocabulary any more.'

'But if the technology that keeps Shinigami ticking bends quantum probabilities to its will…'

'Then that would explain how the Death Note can untraceably kill anyone in such a variety of ways, and how the Shinigami eyes can predict the end of someone's lifespan decades in the future down to the minute. That being said, I still prefer your hypothesis, Katashi.'

'Wait, what's his theory?'

'Well, imagine for a moment that the Earth's hydrosphere, lithosphere and atmosphere are filled with tiny nanomachines, with a size and appearance designed to be disguised as some kind of common microbe. If there are only a few tens of thousands of them in every cubic meter of water and soil and so on, they can remain undetected long enough that they wouldn't have been discovered yet, or at least not public knowledge.'

'And you think that the Death Note acts as some kind of, what, a control panel for these millions of machines?' Rugo asks, clearly both intrigued and clueless.

'Possibly, yes. But just like the quantum randomness thing, it's just a hypothesis. And there's little reason to prove or disprove either thought right now. What do you think, Alice?'

'Hmm, my field is biology, and this is theoretical nanoscale microengineering… let me think about if for a bit.'

(Chris' POV, 17:20, September 6)

'One, two, three… this is Luke Rudowski of WeAreChange . org and today I am joined by Christian Atarashimono, Lauren Blackheart and Connor Summer. Now as you all know these three teenagers were locked up, by L, for pretty much the entirety of August. So, first of all, thank you three for coming on this show.'

'No, you're the one who should be thanked for this.'

I can't say I'm a little nervous about this, but way more excited than anything else.

'So, first of all, and here's something a lot of us have been wondering, what was L like in-person?'

'Well, we usually don't actually call him L, we call him Luci, since that was his alias at our school.'

'Yes, yes we've already heard a lot about his infiltration… and if it's okay to ask, what exactly happened when he kidnapped you three?'

Connor replies before I can.

'Well, for one thing, he shot my friend dead right in front of me! I mean, seriously, a nation that kills its own children is a nation without hope. And then things got worse…'

[Two minutes later]

'If you want to understand the psyche of our generation, take a good look at the stories we tell ourselves about the future. Because it isn't driverless cars or clean energy, it's faceless government surveillance and militarized police brutality and overt fascism and the last remnants of humanity struggling to survive. Our generation isn't self-centered, or lazy, or whatever else you people say about us these days. We're young, we're here, and we can see what's coming unless some massive changes happen, which they may not. And this here is a direct manifestation of…'

[Ten minutes later]

'The average high school students today have the same levels of anxiety as people put in mental hospitals in the 1950s. Over a quarter of my grade has self-harmed at some point. Some of my best friends at school cry themselves to sleep because of the pressure of school. I've seen people having mental breakdowns and considering running away – or worse – because of all the work they have to do and everyone's high expectations of them. So don't you dare say that there is nothing wrong with our education system. But for the Elitists who support Luci, this kind of system is perfect because it keeps us distracted from…'

[Half an hour later]

'We as a species have the opportunity to continue to develop our bodies and brains in a healthy upward trajectory, or we can follow the western example in recent decades and intentionally poison our population with genetically altered food, pharmaceuticals, and fast food that should be classified as a dangerous, addictive drug. And I already suspect that the Kiras…'

[One eternity later]

'Yes, I know that some cultists have done some pretty nasty things in the name of Kira. But the history of organized religion isn't exactly strife-free to begin with…'

'Alright, it looks like we're just about running out of time, any closing statements before we wrap this up?'

The camera aims at Connor first.

'Well, Luci, if you're watching this, just know that a victory won through dishonest means is no victory at all. You may disagree, and the future history books may disagree if Kira loses, but that's what I think.'

Now it turns to Lauren.

'And even if you win, you can't undo what Kira has done for the world. Just as a coin is very difficult to "un-flip", the people of the world will not forget about the Kiras no matter what you do.'

'And finally, Chris?'

'…Kira, if you're listening, here's a little bit of advice I've learned from my experiences with Connor and Lauren. Trust your team, and have faith in them. Whether that includes just the Second Kira or an entire secret squad, be careful and kind toward your comrades. The biggest human flaw is that we're so pitifully fragile in our bodies, our hearts, and our relationships with each other. Don't make the same mistakes Light did.'

'…Aaaaand cut!'

'Wow, that was… I liked that.'

'So did I, hearing you three talking about your experiences with Luci was very eye-opening.'

Being even more famous from now on, as my secret non-Kira identity, is going to feel weird.

Luke shakes each of our hands, and a minute of discussion and miscellaneous negotiations later us three teens begin to walk back home.

'So, any updates on what Kallet's been up to?'

'Haven't seen her.'

'Connor?'

'I encountered her the other day at the shops. She asked me how I was doing and I couldn't decide whether I should say "I'm good" or "I'm okay" so I accidentally said "I'm gay".'

(Luke's POV, 18:12, September 6)

*ringtone noises*

-Beep-

'Hello, Luke Rudowski here.'

'Glad to see those three are recovering.'

'Who is this?'

'Return here at midnight. I believe it's time for us to discuss a possible agreement.'

This voice sounds familiar. Could it be…

'Kira?'

…

'Hello?'

He hung up on me. Dammit.

(Rugo's POV, 10:02, September 6)

'Rugo, the real Kiras are still out there, right?'

'Ja.'

'Then why did they stop killing and leave it to someone else?'

'I can't tell you. But you can stop now if you want.'

'No… I need the criminals to die. Especially corrupt businessmen who damage our economy. Even though writing "accident" will kill the person through an accident in the shortest amount of time possible, it's suspicious if too many business leaders die like that. And killing them by disease can take as long as it takes for a person to naturally die of that disease. But if I write down a situation where it's not possible for the disease to advance that quickly and kill them, they die of a heart attack instead. Meaning, with this notebook, you use "accident" on those you want to kill quickly and "disease" when the time isn't important. However, unfortunately, there's a limit to how many guys from rival companies I can kill off with accidents and diseases while still making it look natural. That's why it's best if I extend "Kira"'s interest into white-collar and financial crimes. Everyone's doing it, plus I can control to make them commit a crime before dying. And if it makes sense for Kira to punish them, then a heart attack is fine. Kira has already become something that is needed in our world. If the real one won't do it, then I will. A peaceful world is better for our company's business.'

(Luci's POV, 11:58, September 7)

'Well, Kallet, looks like you were right. The concentration of deaths in the middle of the United States is more than just a statistical anomaly.'

'See? I told you I was right.'

'I'm surprised you found it first.'

'Well, the big wall-screen in your room makes it hard to hide. So, since some of the criminals were only reported in Missouri, that means that Kira must be getting his information from there, which means he must be there.'

'Well don't pack your bags just yet. The Kiras may just be using someone in Missouri to feed them information in order to get us off their trail. We need something bigger to be sure that there's a Kira there. Something like…'

'Luci, come here for a second.'

As suggested I push off the wall in my swivel chair and glide to Pearl's spot on the other side of the room. She doesn't move her eyes off her screen, but acknowledges my arrival by pulling my chair right next to hers and sliding the Mac from her lap onto mine.

'Take a look at this. Look at the change here. And look at this sudden growth.' She isn't wrong, these charts are showing a very clear pattern for... stock values? Corporate profits? Other buisnessey nonsense?

'Pearl… If this is connected to the Kiras, then they may have goals we didn't anticipate.'

'Yeah, it's possible that everything their doing is just camouflage while they kill for monetary reasons.'

'I remember once thinking, if an adult had this power, they'd use it for their own benefit or to make money. This would fit that. Though, this doesn't seem like the Kiras at all. This could be an entirely new Kira from the ones we know. A weaker and less well-prepared Kira, from whom we could take the power more easily. Very impressive research, Pearl.'

'I helped a lot with this too, Luci.'

'Shut up Okada. Pearl, please continue.'

'It's all thanks to this system that allows us to access police, public and media data from all over the world. At first I didn't know what to look for but… I started with Kallet's idea that a Kira was in Missouri, based on our new statistical anomaly, and started my search based on that. Comparing the deaths with media coverage, it's clear where Kira, or at least this Kira, gets his information from. The old Team Kira didn't leave such a clear footprint. Now, since the Kiras so far have killed with heart attacks, I thought there may be some victims that we haven't been able to pin on them yet. So I searched for all the people who have died in Missouri of heart attacks recently, including non-criminals. That would usually be an incredible amount of work, but this system made it relatively fast.'

'I helped a lot on that, Luci.'

'Shut up Okada! …Now, what did you find?'

'I planned to carefully examine every heart attack victim since the start of August, but I quickly noticed three suspicious cases. Two could be a coincidence, but not three. All three were in important positions in the American business world, in particular the agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology industries, and all died of heart attacks. So then I researched the three corporations they were part of. Monsanto's stock has been rising steadily, while its competitors have plummeted.'

'So then you did further research into other deaths involving people in these industries?'

'Yeah, and look… thirteen deaths that were beneficial to Monsanto from the start of September until now. From all the other companies' point of view, only three or four could be considered beneficial for each. Besides those earlier three, the rest died in accidents or by disease. One committed suicide and two were killed through heart attacks after being indicted for corruption.'

'This all started after we set those teenagers free… that intrigues me…' I slide the laptop pack to Pearl and reposition into my thinking pose.

'That's true. What do you think? I'm tempted to conclude that the Kiras are supporting Monsanto. But if that's the case…'

'Then it confirms what we've always suspected. That Kira can kill in ways other than heart attacks.'

More importantly, this is all exactly like what happened in Death Note. It's obvious, the truth serum failed because Chris or Lauren or Connor or some combination of the three lost their memories. But there's no evidence, no break in the killings after they were detained, and Kira himself showed up during that failed execution… all the evidence points to them being innocent, but all the similarities with Death Note point to them being guilty. There's only one way to know for sure. In Death Note, when the notebook made contact with Light's skin and he suddenly got his memories back, he completely freaked out for a moment. Once I have whatever device the Kiras use to kill, I'll simply find a way to subtly tap each of them on the skin with it, and test their reaction. And while it's still in contact with their skin, we can use more truth serum for a more conclusive interrogation. It's a perfect plan, if and only if Kira's device literally has these same properties as a real Death Note. Either way, watching the three teenage suspects isn't going to do anything useful for us. Even with just Okada going through all the footage, it's a huge waste of time. Whatever is going on in the United States, that's where the real treasure is.

Behind me, Kallet is already furiously typing up a list of things to bring on the trip.

'You seem rather excited.'

'Yeah, so, here's my idea. Once we're on the plane I'll open my laptop, write something random in Arabic, add a countdown and wait for the other passengers to see it.'

Pearl clearly isn't impressed.

'…Luci, does that girl really have to come with us?'

'Yes.'

'But… why?!'

'Because I said so.'