We just stared down at the passage in silence for a few moments, Monokuma's oddly lilting song drifting out. After a few moments, Nicole suddenly stood up and raised her eyes to the ceiling, calling out, "Youuuu need toooo get done done done done at work come over..."

"Agh!" Monokuma yiped simultaneously from the room below and from the loudspeaker above us. We heard him scampering below as the voice from above continued, "What! How are you... what!"

"Do you have secret doors all around?" Rodrigo asked. "Is this how you appear seemingly out of nowhere?"

"No! Ignore any secret passages you may or may not have found! They are not meant to be part of the killing game college experience!"

I examined the panel. My head would fit through, but it was way too small for my shoulders to make it; Monokuma would be a tight fit, but if he was squishy, he'd go through easily. "That makes sense," I said to Rodrigo. "He just dashes over to wherever the escape hatch is and the door closes right behind him, and unless we're looking right at it, we wouldn't see."

"Oi, what the fuck are you doing down there?" Barrett called into the passage.

"I'm not down here!" The Monokuma below called, waving his little arms at us from the room below. "I don't live in this body; I live in the cloud!" He shook his fists. "Wait there!" And he darted away.

"Are those computers down there?" Barrett asked, trying to look closer. "Looks like mainframes. High-tech big-business shit." He smirked and glanced at the ceiling. "You live in the cloud, do ya?"

"Ack, no!" the voice called from the loudspeaker. "I live in you! I'm the evil in your hearts!"

Barrett glanced up at Nicole. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" he grunted. "A.I. like that needs lots of storage space. Big mainframes." He chuckled. "I fuckin' knew this army building was important."

"Stop theorizing!" Monokuma's voice called from down the hallway. He rounded the corner and dashed forward towards us, panting. "Move, children!" He ran up to the panel and began pulling at it and whacking the side with his paw.

After a few seconds of vain struggling, he glared back at us over his shoulder. "Well, you broke it!" he snapped. "I should have known your idiot generation was never taught to respect other people's secret passages!"

"So it is a secret passage?" I asked.

"No!" Monokuma snapped. "It's a necessary pedagogical tool, and also shut up!"

He pointed a threatening claw at us. "Don't think about anything!" he snapped. "Stop! Just murder!" He jumped into the passage and, indeed, squished his body so he slid through quickly. He landed on the floor of the room below, shook a fist at us, and ran off.

Barrett just laughed loudly. "That science building got a chem lab, right?"

"Uh, yes," I replied. "But Jane's always in there."

"Fuck 'er!" Barrett yelled. "She's gonna have to make room for me. I got to whip up some goodies." Grinning maliciously, he walked off down the hall.

"I think he means explosives," Rodrigo said.

I started to reply quickly, then I stopped and sighed. "Thanks," I said.

DORM: SAYA'S ROOM

I deliberately spent the rest of the day alone, trying to relax. It didn't work.

That night, Murderer's Theater was largely unchanged, but this time, Monokuma wasn't even anywhere to be found. JP leaned against the wall, crying; I could hear his sobs clearly and it was almost more than I could take. Therion ignored him, staring straight forward at me.

Nothing happened for a long time.

Finally, Therion just sighed. "I'm really worried you're not very smart," he said.

I instantly shot awake.

STUDENT UNION: CAFETERIA

Breakfast was again lightly attended... even Bepi, who had suggested daily check-ins, was absent. I found myself sitting with Rodrigo, Lucina, and Katy, which was fine. Rocky sat alone, though Lucina went over to try to talk to him. I didn't hear what he said back, but he looked pretty mad, and he stomped away soon after.

"I fear he's getting worse," Rodrigo said sorrowfully. "I know not what to do... he is a child of the modern age, and thus a mystery to me." He looked around at us hopefully. "Do any of you have insight? Could his fairy tale be affecting him negatively?"

"I think it's mostly what happened with Emily," I replied, nodding to Lucina. "His big outlet is music, and he loved that studio, but now he can't go there without being reminded. He watched those awful videos Juliet made."

Lucina held up a note that said, We should keep an eye on him and try to reach out more. His story indicated he has violence in his past. I'm concerned he may lose control.

Rodrigo nodded. "The messages in Juliet's fairy tales are obtuse indeed, but I have the same feeling. I myself cannot make hide nor hair of my own story." He glowered. "Insolent, indeed. Trolls and madmen."

"I actually thought the troll thing made sense," I ventured hesitantly. "I know 'insolent' is wrong, but from what you've said of the monks, they did seem like a bunch of trolls."

"'Tis nonsense!" Rodrigo snorted. "Trolls are heathen nature-dwellers, hulking and brutish. The monks indeed stole me away as a babe, but they are educated, civilized Christians! It is no comparison."

"Well uh, I think it might be kind of a pun," I explained. "But you wouldn't have the context. Um, so do you know what the internet is?"

"I have heard the term! It is when a person possesses neither a tinderbox nor a longplum, but something in-between, yes?"

"Uh." All three of us turned bright red from that, and Katy clearly was trying to keep from bursting into laughter. "...No, that's something else. The internet is a... well, just think about it as a way for people to communicate across long distances, immediately. I can write something, and someone way across the world can read it."

"Hmm." He frowned in thought. "Like the messages we receive from Monokuma?"

"Yeah! Exactly. That's the internet." He smiled in understanding, and I smiled back. "So, there's a thing people do on the internet which is to just... screw with people. Lying and saying ridiculous things just to upset everyone. And that's called being a troll. And, uh... it kind of seems like that's a lot of what the monks were doing to do. I can't think of another reason they'd do half the things you've said, like teach you English and say it was Spanish."

Rodrigo paused, then sighed. "Indeed, much of their behavior appeared to have no true theological backing, upon examination. I often assumed it was a test, or that I misunderstood the scriptures. I'm unsure if I find this a relief or a horror."

Katy looked like she wanted to say something, but she was distracted by Ashley strolling into the cafeteria. We all found it pretty distracting. That's because Ashley... was smiling.

She was coming frighteningly close to skipping as she moved towards the food and grabbed herself an apple. She looked to us, beaming, and gave a friendly wave. Then she glided back out of the room.

We sat in shock for a moment. Eventually Lucina scratched out a note: That was the scariest thing I've ever seen.

"Uh, yeah," I agreed. "Anyone know what that was?"

"No," Katy replied hesitantly. "But that reminds me that I have something I probably should tell you all about." She blushed slightly as we all looked at her, but she kept going. "So, apparently Rocky told Earl that Barrett and Nicole gathered all of you to have some secret meeting. So last night, Earl and Ashley got all of the rest of us together... me and Jane and Rocky... and they looked at the passage Rocky found and talked about what to do."

"Just you three?" Rodrigo asked. "What about Friend Giuseppi?"

"Giuseppi wouldn't come," Katy said. "Earl seemed kind of annoyed about it, actually."

I couldn't help rolling my eyes. "They're like overtly trying to form sides now. This is awful."

"Yeah, I mean." Katy looked down at the table. "They were making a lot of sense. I am afraid of what Barrett might do. But the whole thing puts me really on edge."

Lucina held out a piece of paper, giving me and Rodrigo a stern look: Barrett and Nicole say they want to make things fair, but they were more excited about destroying the ROTC. They think the secret passage means Monokuma's A.I. is stored there.

Katy took a deep breath. "Do you think so, too?"

Lucina held up a new paper, I'm skeptical. But I won't miss that building.

Katy nodded. "Yeah. Earl just got really excited and aggressive about his tank. He said it was really important that he get it running, and once he did, we'd be able to escape. He just wanted us to promise we wouldn't let anyone stop him from fixing it, and we'd support him, as our leader."

"Do you think the tank will indeed be our key to freedom?" Rodrigo asked.

"...No," Katy said. "I don't think Rocky or Jane did, either, but why not let him try? But Earl was acting... weird. Kind of stern and... I don't know, just weird." She shuddered slightly. "Rocky took him off to see that secret panel, and when they got back, he was all fired up about the tank. I think knowing about that passage spooked him somehow."

"What about Friend Ashley?" Rodrigo asked. "This does not explain why her mien would be so changed."

Katy shrugged. "Don't know. They stayed together after the rest of us left, to make a specific plan about the tank. Maybe something happened then."

I took a deep breath, putting a hand through my hair. "Earl's going to have a tank and Barrett's going to have all sorts of explosives. I don't know how to stop either of them."

And there's still the weapons in the armory, Lucina wrote.

Katy held up a hand. "Well... okay, so we're all in danger, but none of the weapons on the table are very, uh, subtle, right? How could you kill someone with a tank and people won't figure it out?"

"Friend Earl is very clever," Rodrigo said darkly. "As is Friend Barrett." He looked around at all of us, setting his jaw firmly. "The explosives must be developed in the Sciences building, and the tank is nearby. I suggest you all stay away from that area as much as possible, and you tell the same to Friend Jane and Friend Rocky. I will defend my classmates to the death, but I fear our four... leaders are courting terrible risk. I could not abide if any of the rest of you were in danger as well."

"Rodrigo..." I began, but he stood up and placed a fist against his chest.

"I must go do what I can do maximize the safety of all involved. I will show them the good that can come of trolls!" And ignoring our protests, he stormed out of the room.

FRAT HOUSE: MAIN ROOM

I checked the schedule for Juliet Duty, and I saw that I was supposed to bring her lunch, and my partner was Katy. She smiled bashfully at me when we met up to gather the food and we waved goodbye to Lucina. I felt like I hadn't seen Katy one-on-one in forever, which wasn't deliberate but probably wasn't accidental either. I liked Katy... she was sweet and friendly... but something just felt complicated with her. She lived so openly, in a way I couldn't help but envy, but (and I cursed myself when I noticed a very Barrettesque thought) she just had so many arbitrary, weird rules.

The actual feeding process was easy and uneventful. Juliet apparently had not moved a muscle since I'd seen her last; she just hunkered in the corner, mumbling. We didn't try to talk to her.

When we got out to the party area, we paused for a moment, feeling oddly tense. I prepared to very awkwardly say goodbye, but suddenly her hand darted out and grabbed mine. "Um." She said, blushing and looking down at the ground. "Could we... talk?"

oh my god is she going to

"Sure," I said, very badly feigning comfort. She led me over to the couch, the same one I saw on with her head drunkenly splayed in my lap, and sat primly. I saw next to her, more conscious of my kneecaps than I had ever been before.

She took a deep breath, and I watched her do it. Katy was extremely attractive, obviously, but if she was going to do what I thought she was going to do, the likelihood that I would just scream and run from the room was pretty high.

She looked at me very directly with a shy smile, and she said, "Hey, so, can we friend-zone each other?"

I blinked, feeling both extremely relieved and heartbrokenly disappointed at the same time. "Uh?"

"Look, you're..." She paused. "I know girl-tension, and I think we have girl-tension. And that's great; girl-tension is my favorite thing. But right now, I need a friend. Just a simple friendship with someone I can trust, or I'm going to go completely insane."

I was in no place to plan what I was going to do, so I just asked the first question on my mind. "Why do you trust me?"

She tilted her head. "What?"

"No... I'm glad! It means a lot that you trust me, it's just... why? I'm kind of learning I might not be the most trustworthy person."

To my surprise, she laughed. "Angel, I have no idea why I trust you! I just do. Intuition. Maybe that's dumb, but it's dumber to use all my energy fighting my own impulses, right?"

I blinked. I realized I had filed her away as someone unlikely to surprise me, and it struck me what a bad idea that was. "All right. Yeah. Friends."

She let out a breath. "Oh, good. Thanks." She put her hands on her hips, instantly transforming into someone confident and certain. "Yeah! My first college friendship!" she declared, nodding to me. "So, listen, these fairy tales we all got? Someone is really definitely going to get killed, and it's because no one's talking about them!"

"Hm," I replied, uncertain. "What do you mean?"

"Saya, please." Her gaze was serious. "Don't play dumb. I tried to talk to Lucina about it and she played dumb. These stories are really, really personal and uncomfortable. I don't know what yours means, but I know it means something. Barrett and Earl and all the rest wouldn't be acting like this if something wasn't setting them off."

I frowned. "Okay. Yes, it touches on a sore spot."

"Right! So... so this means the mastermind... and Juliet!... know the stuff that hurts us." She idly brought a hand up to the locket around her neck; I don't think she was even aware she was doing it. "And we all have this really sharp reminder of bad history, and it's going to make everyone just lose it." She looked away for a moment, distracted, then focused back on me. "So I want to tell you about it. Get it out, so it's not so huge."

I nodded, biting my lip. I really did want to support her, but I was also very much not hoping this was meant to be reciprocal.

She took a deep breath. "Okay. So, my story was right: I have been lonely. I've had friends, and my parents were always supportive. But... it's one of those things where I always knew I was different, even if I didn't know why. And my dad encouraged me to write about it, because he knew I liked reading, and... that was my first story. I was ten, I think."

She smiled down at her lap. "And so I wrote and wrote and wrote, and it was great. But then I got a letter and... it was like the Italian Renaissance, or something: this rich person loved my work and wanted to sponsor me. I'd go live with her and write what she wanted. And my parents would get a stipend, too. It was amazing." She paused, shuddering a little. "So I went there and... it was the biggest house I've ever seen! A hedge maze in the back of it; you think I'm making that up, but I'm not. Suits of armor lining the entrance hallway, the whole deal. And this middle-aged man and woman opened the door and they told me my sponsor was waiting to see me."

She clicked open her locket and held it out to me. There was a photo of an ethereally beautiful girl, looking almost like a phantom. "Mackenzie. She was the couple's daughter, just a year older than me. And she was sick, really really sick. They let her sponsor me because my stories made her happy, and she probably wasn't going to..." Katy stopped talking for a moment. She snapped the locket closed and rested her hands in her lap. "Anyway, she was actually pretty cold to me at first. I still went to school in the area, but I spent a lot of my time writing what she wanted. I was worried it'd be stifling, but my work just got better and better."

The tears began then. "I was there for a year. And it was really slow at first. But over time, more and more, I came to realize that my heart was singing when I was with Mackenzie. When she opened up, she was so kind and smart and delicate. We collaborated a couple of times, and one night, I was sitting on her bed, and she just put her hand on top of mine and my heart was beating like crazy! And she said 'I have something I have to tell you, sensei..."

I held up a hand. "Wait, sensei?"

"Hm? Oh, her parents were Japanese." Katy settled back into the rhythm of her story. "Anyway, her hand was on top of mine, and she said, 'You're so cool and strong, like a prince! Even though we're both girls, I can't control my feelings for you, sensei...'"

She hugged herself, a sad smile on her face. "The next two weeks were... wonderful. We just sat together... I wanted to kiss her, but it was her first kiss, you know? She was so pure and innocent and..." She sighed. "Anyway, one afternoon, I was in school, and I got a call from her mom. Mackenzie... wasn't doing well. I left school immediately and ran to her house and... she was really pale, but she just brightened up when she saw me. Her parents left us alone, and... sitting there next to her, I knew it was the time." Katy was fully crying now, tears streaming down her face like rivers. "I leaned in and we kissed, and... and then she told me she wanted to rest. So I left and the next morning..."

Suddenly Katy lunged forward, throwing her arms around me, sobbing. "Saya, I miss her so much! I loved her and it just didn't matter, she's gone and I couldn't..."

I held her for a couple of minutes as she just wept. I thought I'd feel awkward comforting someone like this, but the way she held on to me, it felt normal and natural.

Eventually, she pulled away, sniffling and wiping her eyes. She laughed awkwardly. "Um. Sorry."

"It's okay." I felt warm. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

"Well... that's the thing though," she said. "That's what my fairy tale is about. That was over a year ago and... all I want is to go back and live forever in that moment, in our kiss. It was so perfect, and I feel like nothing else could ever be real to me ever again. And reading about it... that really scared me. The mastermind is even better at manipulating than I thought."

"Wait, you think this story could make you kill someone?" I asked, frowning.

"No. I don't think that was the point. But... it kind of feels like it might make me not care if I die. It could make me an easy target." She took a deep breath and gave me a sharp gaze, makeup streaked but still looking absolutely gorgeous. "So that's why I had to get it out. I had to say it out loud. Saya, I'm mourning and I'm broken and I'm sad, but I don't want to die." She glanced up to one of the video cameras and raised her voice. "You hear me? I don't want to die! And I'm not going to let it just happen here."

I nodded. "I don't want you to die, either. You're my friend."

Her smile was the most genuine facial expression I'd seen in days. "Thanks, Saya." She paused slightly, looking down at her feet, then she glanced back up at me. "...What about you?"

I froze. "Uh. Me?"

"Yeah. Your fairy tale. Anything you... want to talk about there?"

"No," I answered instinctively, and then I forced myself to take a deep breath and try to relax. "I mean. Mine's not really as clear as yours." She just kept looking at me expectantly, so I swallowed down my apprehension and continued. "My dad never really understood me, and he kinda started to think I was being confusing on purpose, like... to mess with him or something. And after my parents got divorced six years ago, he fought for partial custody, but when I stayed with him..." I trailed off; this was harder to discuss than I'd thought. "He would just pretend he didn't know me. I'd talk to him, and he'd just get up and walk out of the room."

"What?" Katy's voice was surprisingly appalled. "How could he... why?! Why would he do that?"

I shrugged. "He thought I was trying to make his life harder. I eventually just told my mom he didn't want me there anymore, and he never said anything about it." I looked down at the floor for a moment, then I sighed. "I mean, I do make things harder on everyone. No one here has really noticed, because there's murders, but under normal circumstances, I'd just be confusing and boring everyone." I forced myself to humorlessly chuckle. "I'll talk about chess for hours. I drive everyone away."

A shockingly loud and sharp sound startled me, and I looked at Katy. She had stomped her enormous stiletto heel on the floor, and she was pointing at me furiously. "No!" she snapped. "This is the whole point! This is exactly what the mastermind wants!" She leaned over and wrapped me in an anaconda-like embrace. "I won't let you fall for it. You're saying dumb things you know aren't really true, and I won't let a friend just keep hurting herself!"

My cheeks felt cool... was I really crying about this now? "The first day he acted like that, he... took me out to ice cream, which was something we did when I was a kid. And he ordered and sat down and brought me the ice cream and then just left." I was nearly in sobs by this point; why was I so upset? "He just drove home and left me there and he never talked to me again."

I suddenly noticed my arms were wrapped tightly around Katy, and I tried to talk but couldn't, my chest was heaving and I almost couldn't breathe. I don't know how long we stayed like that, but it was a long time.

MAIN QUAD

As we headed back to the dorm, we were intercepted by Nicole, who waved us over. However, when we got up to her, she just smiled at me. "Hi, Saya!"

Katy and I glanced at one another uncomfortably. "Uh, hi Nicole!" she ventured.

"Hi, Saya!" Nicole repeated.

Sighing, Katy waved goodbye to me and walked off. We were on "opposing teams," after all.

When she was gone, Nicole smirked at me. "Hittin' that, huh? Awesome! Don't trust her, though."

"Ack!" I waved my hands in protest. "No! We just..."

"Hey, got something to show you." Nicole began walking away even as she spoke. "Meet you in the chem lab, okay? It's stuff you gotta know if you want to stay safe."

I tried arguing, but she was too far away.

SCIENCE BUILDING: CHEM LAB

Remembering what Rodrigo said about staying away from the new quad, I was hesitant about doing what Nicole suggested. But, I reasoned that ignorance wasn't any safer, so after a few minute's thought, I decided to follow her.

As I walked into the lab, I noticed Jane was standing on one side of the room, looking into a small vial of murky liquid, while Barrett and Nicole were on the other side. I was heartened when Jane turned to acknowledge me instead of just ignoring that I came in, but she squashed that quickly. "No," she said, pointing at the door. "Lab coat, goggles."

I paused. "Um."

"Lab coat, goggles!" she iterated sternly. Still confused, I walked to the door she was pointing at.

SCIENCE BUILDING: LOCKER ROOM

I found myself in a fairly large locker room, like I'd see at a gym. I noticed Jane's trench coat hung up on a wall, near an open locker that contained her high-heeled shoes. Barrett's own patch-covered jacket had been casually tossed onto the floor.

I saw a row of lab coats hanging up next to large, clear goggles. I took down one of each and slipped them on, noticing that two nearby lockers were open, both of which contained clothes that didn't look like they belonged to anyone in the lab. Leaning closer, I realized they were both identical copies of Earl's uniform: the elaborate top, the dark pants, and even the heavy boots.

That seemed odd, but I didn't want to snoop, so I just headed back into the lab.

SCIENCE BUILDING: CHEM LAB

I stepped out of the locker room and presented myself to Jane, who just snorted and got back to work. I cautiously stepped closer to her. "...Hey."

She looked down at me, somehow intimidating even with her goofy-looking goggles. "Yes?"

"Um." I felt like I was a foot tall, but I kept going. "Just wanted to come say hi."

"Hi." She refocused on her work.

I stood there awkwardly. "Um, and..."

She raised an eyebrow. "And?"

I couldn't help looking down at the floor. "And, well, to check up on you. I don't think you've talked to anyone really since the trial, and I wanted to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine," she said coldly. "I've been working."

"Oh. What... is your project?"

"Something really important," she replied. "Something for me."

"Oh." This was not going well. "Are you..."

"Saya." She glared at me, terrifying and tall. "I literally just said this was important, and you keep trying to talk to me?" She literally turned her back on me, pointedly focusing on her liquids.

I wasn't sure what to do for a moment, but luckily I heard Nicole's voice calling. "Yo, Saya, over here. Come over to the human being side of the room!"

I walked over to them. Nicole somehow looked amazing... I think she had altered her lab coat so it fit her better, and her goggles were decorated with little flower-shaped designs. I noticed something else as I got closer.

"Huh. Does anyone else smell that?"

Nicole looked around, sniffing. "Smell what?"

"It smells like... flowers and sulfur."

"Oh! That's us." Nicole held her arm out right in my face, which was alarming, but I was able to catch a quite lovely whiff of springtime flowers. "Fashion isn't just about looks! It encompasses all the senses. Your odor should fit your whole presentation." She gestured over to the middle of the room, where there was a box of strange-looking plant life. "I got Jane to make those and extract the essence for me! Don't you think she did a great job?"

"I did it so she'd go away," Jane called out, not looking over at us. "It didn't work."

I actually did notice that the flowery smell did match Nicole's style, and I couldn't argue with the appropriateness of Barrett smelling like sulfur. "Hm. What should I smell like?"

Even before I finished the question, I knew I shouldn't have asked it. Nicole regarded me carefully for a moment, then snapped her fingers. "Oh, you know that smell you get, like, when you're in a parking lot in the summer and it just barely starts to rain? That smell."

That actually wasn't as bad as I'd thought, but I decided to change the subject before she started commenting more about my style choices. "Um... so, why are you two hanging out in the chemistry lab?"

"I'm making some of my little treats," Barrett answered, grinning. "Wish the creepy bird wasn't here, but can't make her leave."

"You're a nightmare and I hate you," Jane said, not even turning around.

Barrett gave a two-finger salute to the back of her head, then looked back at me. "I can finally get some work done here. Before I was only able to make little cherry bombs. But now? It's all-you-can-fucking-eat for destruction." He waved his hands over the table in front of him, which contained numerous vials and flasks of liquid.

I took a step backwards. "Uh, that's all explosives?"

He paused then snorted. "It's safe," he snapped. "I'm a professional! Look, the hard part of demolition ain't blowing shit up. It's easy to blow shit up; any idiot can make an unstable chemical. The hard part is not blowing up everything else. You gotta make something you can set off easily, without making something easy to set off. Get me?"

I blinked. "...No."

"Aggh." He slammed his hand on the table in frustration. "Like C-4. You know what C-4 is? The plastic explosive? Putty; you shape it and plant it and boom. But if it went off easy, you couldn't shape it without blowing your fingers off, yeah? It'll blow up, but it takes a lot. So you trigger it by setting off a really unstable substance protected by a complex trigger. Start the trigger, small amount of unstable shit explodes; that's enough to set off the much bigger amount of C-4."

"Hm. I think I see," I replied, nodding slowly, my mind racing to catch up with the fact that Barrett was Bill-Nye-ing me.

"Yeah, but it's fucking stupid!" he suddenly shouted. "Stupid and complicated and stupid!" Huffing, he indicated some glass bottles in front of him, filled with transparent liquids. "So I got a better way. My three little buddies." He pointed to each bottle in turn. "I call 'em Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice. Go on, take a whiff." At my very reasonable hesitation, he narrowed his eyes. "It's safe. Oi, you trust me, right?"

I wasn't sure what else to do, so I leaned in and quickly smelled over the Sugar bottle. Indeed, it was cloying-sweet, like vanilla cake. Still making shaky eye contact with him, I sniffed the second bottle: it was sour and sharp, like pickled ginger. Finally, I smelled the third bottle; I paused and raised an eyebrow at him. "...Chocolate?"

"This is fuckin' important knowledge I just gave you," he snapped. "You tell them apart by the smell. And it's really important you tell them apart. Because on their own?" He picked up a bottle, covered the mouth with his palm, and shook it violently. Nothing happened. "...They don't do shit." He set the bottle down and looked over all three of them with paternal pride. "But put all three of 'em together? Slightest little thing sets 'em off."

"That seems... dangerous," I remarked.

"Uh, yeah," Nicole replied, off to the side. "That's the point. Boom."

"Boom!" Barrett agreed joyfully. "Ain't no way to be safe during a revolution. But the closest you can get is knowing everything I'm telling ya, you hear?"

"Tell her about the fiery stuff," Nicole suggested.

"There's fiery stuff?" I asked. "This isn't already the fiery stuff?"

Barrett laughed like I'd told him a clever pun. He stepped over to a new pair of containers: a petri dish filled with a white slime and a large cylinder filled with a black liquid. "Burning and blasting are different. Check it out." He pulled a matchbook out of his pocket, lit one, and before I even could tell what he was doing, he threw the lit match into the petri dish. A stream of blue fire instantly burst out from the black liquid; I could feel the heat from even where I was standing. There was a surprisingly huge amount of smoke for such a small fire; it smelled charred and charcoaly.

"Jesus!" I yelled.

With no response to me but a malicious grin, Barrett dipped his right hand into the black liquid. Then, without another word, he thrust his hand directly into the flame.

I instantly wanted to grab his arm and pull it out of danger, but his smile didn't waver. "Lasts at least an hour, full heat protection, no side effects." He paused. "Well okay, it'll give you gangrene if you don't wash it off." He walked to a nearby sink and began rinsing his hand. "Fire and protection," he called over his shoulder. "Remember this shit, Saya, might save your fucking life."

"We don't know what's going on with that weird passage in the ROTC, but there's something there the mastermind wants to keep away from us," Nicole said.

"This whole fucking show's a military operation," Barrett sneered. "Of course that building's dead important. You want to break the hierarchy, ain't nothing more important than the hangin' army."

Suddenly, a loud alarm started going off, startling me. Sprinklers on the ceiling began spurting water all around. They failed to extinguish the fire on the table, but they did make the flames smaller.

"Ah, fuck," Barrett grumbled. He glanced over at Nicole, who was not even reacting to the water or alarm (Jane, too, I noticed, just kept doggedly working, pretending nothing was happening). "Babe, head to the store room and fetch me a tarp or something, will ya?"

"Sure thing." Nicole hopped off the table she was sitting on. "Come on, Saya, let's get out of the rain." Without waiting for me, she headed out of the room. I didn't mind following her out.

EAST QUAD

We stepped out of the building, both drenched. Nicole somehow still looked amazing, though her flowery smell had been washed off. I felt a little disappointed.

We headed toward the ROTC, where Nicole explained this 'store room' was located. On the way, we passed the tank: Earl was sitting next to it, opening something up with a huge wrench. He was wearing engineer's overalls instead of his usual uniform; I realized he must be using the locker room in the science building to change.

When he saw us, his expression wavered for a split-second before broadening into his typical confident grin. He waved us over to him. "Comrades!" he bellowed as we approached. "It's a delight!"

"Hi, Earl," I said, trying not to react to much to Nicole's rather chilly wave. "Do you... really expect to get that thing running!"

He roared with laughter. "Indeed! I will get it running and more! This will be the key to our escape!" He pointed to the edge of the quad, next to the ROTC. There was just a tall, grey wall staring back at us. "It is just a matter of simply forcing our way through!"

"Uh, no it isn't," Nicole said, rolling her eyes. She picked up an unused wrench next to Earl, took a few steps closer to the wall, and tossed the wrench towards it. Instantly, enormous guns and cannons emerged from the top of the wall like panicked prairie dogs, pointing directly at the wrench, as it lay there, inert. After a few seconds of the wrench not moving, the weapons receded.

"There's no challenge that can't be overcome through army ingenuity!" Earl asserted. "Those security systems will be no match for my tank when I'm done improving it!"

I was very much not convinced, but I decided it was best to just nod. He grinned back. "I will keep you updated! When I am done, we will all escape from this terrible place together. As one unit." There was a very brief pause, weird and uncomfortable.

"You're way more gung-ho than you were yesterday," I observed.

He nodded, suddenly thoughtful. "Yes, I was bothered by those stories we received. But then I resolved: the vile mastermind wants us to be bothered, so I looked to my story as an inspiration! It was a reminder that I work best trusting my impulses as a leader and a man! It is better for me to act than to second-guess."

I couldn't keep a smirk away. "Is that why Ashley was in such a good mood when I saw her earlier?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny any responsibility for that!" he replied, but he had a smile on his own face. Suddenly, he brandished his huge wrench. "Back to work! It was excellent to speak with you!"

I noticed Nicole had already started walking to the ROTC. I waved goodbye at Earl and followed her.

ROTC: STORE ROOM

Nicole didn't say anything as she led me to the store room, but I could tell she was fuming. When we got there, she just mumbled to herself and I took the place in. It was smaller than the arsenal, but there was a huge variety of stuff cluttering it all over. I saw wet suits and flippers, seemingly random uniforms, helmets, tools, and esoteric pieces of equipment.

"Goddamn hypocrite," Nicole snapped, whapping a hand out at a gas mask that was hanging on the wall next to her. "Do you believe him? 'We'll all escape together.' After having a secret meeting with just half of us? He just wants to be this big hero, but going along pretending like it's out of some kind of team unity bullshit. Makes me sick."

I frowned. "I... also don't really understand why he had a meeting of his... team, if it's about saving everyone. I definitely don't think that just trusting him is enough to get us out of here. But..."

She raised a skeptical eyebrow. "...but?"

"Well. I'm just surprised you're all up in arms about this."

"What the fuck?!" She glared at me, hands on her hips. "This shit is my life. My family gets fucked over a hundred times a day because of people like him!"

"No, I know!" I said, holding my hands up passively. "I'm just surprised that you're being so... overt. Because didn't you tell me a while ago that your plan was to hang out in the background and not make waves and just survive?"

"Oh." She relaxed instantly and laughed. "Well, yeah! I'm still doing that."

"Aren't you... like, planning a revolution?"

"Psht, I told you, Saya," she said breezily. "I'm good at doing two things at once."

I paused. "It just seems hard to lead a revolution and blend into the background at the same time."

"No way," she replied, waving her hand reassuringly. "Look, Barrett's hot as shit when he gets turned on, and his politics line up with mine, but you think that's the only reason I'm all paired up with him? Dude's nuts. He blows shit up for a living. I can't think of a better way to blend into the background than to stand next to the psycho fire monster."

"Oh." I rubbed my chin in thought. "That makes a whole lot of sense."

"Uh, yeah, you learn how to survive where I'm from." She paused then frowned. "Well, if you're lucky you do. That's why I'm here, you know? All my family knows how to do is survive. With what I was supposed to get here, I was going to put them in a place where they could learn to live. Shoulda known it was just another way to fuck us over."

"Hm," I mused. "Is that what your story was about?"

"Oh, I dunno, I didn't really read it," she said quickly. She turned and walked over to a blue tarp, lying folded in the corner. "Here, gimme a hand with this, will you?"

GYMNASIUM: YOGA STUDIO 1

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with Lucina. We went to the gym and tried to meditate; I found it easier than I ever had before, even though the fact that she was sitting next to me was pretty distracting. Was I really super-closeted, like, five days earlier? I felt like the gayest person who'd ever been born.

However, she was apparently not satisfied with the meditation process for herself. She sighed, shook her head, and held out a note that said, I think I'm too tense. I'm really worried someone's going to get killed.

"Me too," I replied, worried about the fact that I was less stressed out about that than she was. I was afraid there would be a murder, but a brutal and selfish part of me felt pretty confident that my allies, so to speak, would be safe. I wasn't particularly concerned Bepi or Lucina or Katy or Rodrigo was in danger. Of course I didn't want any of the others to die, but they weren't... my people.

I clutched my chest, anxiety and guilt beginning to rise up. Maybe it was just human nature to split people into two groups, the white pieces and the black pieces. I'd totally fallen into the same dangerous trap Barrett and Earl had fallen into.

Lucina noticed my state, and I felt her hand rest lightly on my shoulder. I placed my own hand on hers and smiled gratefully back at her... but then something else occurred to me. My in-group wasn't exactly the same as hers. "Are you worried about Rocky?"

She nodded. I can't get through. He's just stewing.

I wasn't sure what to say to that, so we just sat together. "Maybe try to talk to him about his fairy tale," I suggested. "They're clearly meant to be upsetting." She just looked at the floor, discomfort stretched upon her face. I decided to go for it. "Um... speaking of which, if there was anything about your story that hurt or was on your mind, I'm here. I'd like to help, if I can."

She glanced up at me, surprised. After a moment's hesitation, she scratched out, It's just what I told you before. I wanted to make music, but every sound I've ever made is just ugly. Since I was an infant.

I frowned at her. "I don't... I just can't understand how that's possible. How could every sound..."

She suddenly slapped her hand down against the floor, shocking me into silence. With a glare, she held up a new note, I know my own life, Saya.

I stared back at her in legitimate shock. Eventually I just said, "Okay," and we left it at that.

DORM: MAIN LOBBY

Things settled back into a pleasant comfort, though, and we eventually decided to head back to the dorm. As we stepped inside, a sudden shriek interrupted the mood. The sound came from the computer lab, and we dashed towards it.

DORM: COMPUTER LAB

We found Ashley and Nicole standing on opposite sides of the room, glaring at one another. A computer keyboard lay broken on the floor, and Nicole rubbed her elbow, as if it was sore. "Oh my god, what happened?!" I shouted.

"What happened is, this bitch is crazy!" Nicole snapped. "She just whacked me with a keyboard! It hurt like fuck!"

Ashley barely moved; her eyes just trained on Nicole. "Saya. Lucina. I was alone in here, practicing my typing, and Nicole came into the room. She was acting strangely and she began moving towards me."

"I was saying hi!" Nicole yelled. "Goddamn it, you looked different than you usually do! You looked happy! I wanted to ask why!"

I raised an eyebrow at Ashley. "I think... I think we should calm down," I said.

"I'm perfectly calm," Ashley insisted. "She was acting strangely, and she began moving towards me." She finally shifted her gaze over to make eye contact with me. "Also, she has a knife."

Lucina and I turned to Nicole, instinctively taking a step away from her. "I don't have a knife," she insisted. "That's crazy. How would you know?"

"She has a knife in the left sleeve of her jacket," Ashley said, turning to glare at Nicole. "Don't you fucking underestimate me. I pay attention. I know if I'm alone with someone who has a weapon. Just because I'm actually smiling for the first time in my fucking life, you thought I'd be an easy target."

Nicole just looked back at her for a moment then grunted in frustration. "I wasn't going to use it!" She slipped the knife out of her sleeve and held it in her hand. It was a small carving knife; shiny and sharp. "This is defense and not offense, anyway. It's like an inch long! To kill someone with it, you'd have to stab them like a million times. I was worried you were going to try to attack me!"

"Wait," I said, my head spinning. "Nicole, why did you think you needed a knife to protect yourself?"

"Uh, because everyone's going nuts?" She pointed at Ashley, looking more irritated by this point than anything else. "Her stupid boyfriend spooked the shit out of me. Like an hour ago he went and found me and like..." She shuddered. "He was like, 'A poor leader rules through fear, so please forgive me if tomorrow night I have to be a poor leader.'"

I felt myself tensing involuntarily. "That is... really ominous."

"I know, right?!" Nicole threw her arms up in frustration. "What the fuck does it even mean?!"

"It means he's going to get us all out of here," Ashley replied pedantically. "He's almost done with his tank, and he doesn't want you or Bomberman to fuck it up."

"That stupid tank," Nicole snorted. "That's never going to work. The defenses will..."

A sudden and furiously loud crashing noise cut her off. We all spun in shock to see a computer monitor smashed into the wall. DJ Rocky had come into the room at some point, and he stood near the broken monitor, panting.

He put his hand against his forehead. I heard him mumble "Goddamn it," and he just staggered out of the room.

Lucina looked at me, and I nodded. She quickly hurried out of the room after him. The rest of us just stood there, too shocked to speak.

DORM: SAYA'S ROOM

Despite the hectic nature of the day, I didn't have dreams that night. It was just a blissful quiet... until it was interrupted by a knock at my door. I groggily sat up and glanced at the clock; almost 4:00 am.

The person knocked again, and I stood and stumbled over to the door. "Who's there?"

"Oi, Saya."

I suddenly felt much more awake. "Barrett?"

"I told you I'd give you one warning." His voice was raspy but sounded amused and playful. "This is it. Stay away from the ROTC tomorrow night." And then silence.

I stayed there by the door, addled and dazed, for at least a full minute, my heart pounding frantically.

FACT 16: The secret chute in the ROTC appears to be a passage for Monokuma to quickly enter or exit the hallway.

FACT 17: Barrett and Nicole plan to destroy the ROTC tomorrow night, because they think it will damage or destroy the computers Monokuma is stored on.

FACT 18: Rocky told Earl and Ashley about the secret panel, and they gathered the rest of the students (except for Bepi and Juliet) to oppose the group Barrett and Nicole formed.

FACT 19: I told Katy a lot, but I was able to keep from telling her everything.

FACT 20: Barrett has created three clear liquids he calls Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice; they are distinguishable by their smell. Alone, they are safe, but if all three are combined, they become extremely explosive.

FACT 21: Barrett has also created a white substance that burns very easily and a black gel that can be rubbed on the skin and is completely fireproof.

FACT 22: Nicole and Ashley had a confrontation. Nicole has been carrying around a knife, she claims for protection. Ashley apparently can sense when someone's armed.

FACT 23: Rocky is not doing well.

FACT 24: Earl is confident he can use the tank to escape campus safely, despite the security system. He plans to try tomorrow night.