Q: Tell me about your parents, please.
EM: Oho! A pair of fine people, honorable and loyal!
Q: Hm. What was the most important thing they taught you?
EM: The importance of being a man! Through them I learned to have pride in steadfastness, sureness, and aggression, but never to have pride in coldness, cruelty, or anger! Many men fall victim to the darkness of being a man; I have seen them many times in my army trailing. But I learned, if dark manhood is a minefield, then valorous manhood is...
Q: ...a tank?
EM: [laughs wildly] Correct, my friend! The most important tank of all!

EAST QUAD

Everything was chaos and horror and and noise, and I don't know how long it lasted. I felt like I was going completely insane. Up on the roof of the science building, the jagged cloud where Earl had been standing slowly bulged outward. There were little strands leading out from it where... burning pieces... had flown out, leaving trails of smoke behind. And through it all, the alarm blared from the ROTC, and smoke swirled around the quad.

Very suddenly the sound stopped. The alarm cut off, and even though the roaring fire and Juliet's frenzied laughter were still quite loud, the sudden change made me think I was deaf for a second. I slowly felt myself able to think again.

The ROTC was behind me, still burning. The science building was in front of me, the roof blackened. I realized Lucina was hugging my arm, her face on my shoulder, either crying or trying to block out the horrible sights. Barrett looked up at science building roof with what I hope was awe and not sexual arousal, though I wasn't sure. Next to the tank, behind me and to my left, Juliet had fallen over and was rolling on the concrete.

Earl had been standing on the roof of the science building, grabbing the railing, raising a fist, and calling down to us with his usual authoritative confidence. And now... now he was all around me. I looked down at my clothes, at the new splotches. He was on me.

FACT 1: EARL'S DEATH
Earl was on the roof of the science building and he exploded, right in front of us. Bepi, Lucina, Barrett, and I were in the quad when it happened.

And Bepi...

Bepi knelt over Ashley's body, a look of grief and disbelief on his face. Leading Lucina along slowly, I walked over to him and put my hand on his shoulder. He didn't move.

FACT 2: ASHLEY'S DEATH
Just before Earl exploded, Ashley fell off the roof of the science building. It looks like she must have fallen from right where Earl was standing.

"I really thought she was just immortal," he said. He looked up at me. "Go ask Barrett about the explosion. I'll search her."

I nodded. We went back to Barrett, who still was gaping speechlessly up at the roof. He made a soft squawking noise, then looked over to us with amazement. "Did you see that?" he asked, which was maybe the most ridiculous question I'd ever heard. "He just... boom. I've never seen a person blow up. I've seen buildings blow up with people in them, but never just... a body. Fucking shit."

"Do you know how it happened?" I asked.

He laughed almost distractedly. "No. I wish I did." He pointed up to the dissipating cloud of smoke. "It was powerful, but not big. Lots of heat... a lot of him burned up, probably. But the range of the explosion didn't go too far, so not a lot of damage around him."

I raised an eyebrow. "Could any of your chemicals do that?"

"If I made 'em right. It's perfect for demolition. Whatever it was, it was good shit. ...Surgical." He laughed again. I felt sick.

FACT 3: ROOFTOP EXPLOSION
According to Barrett, the explosion that killed Earl was destructive, but it didn't have a wide range. He says his explosives could create that kind of result.

I pointed up to the paths of smoke leading out from the cloud. "Did you notice that there were, like, trails leading out from the explosion? What could those have been?"

"Pieces," he said simply. "Force propels burning pieces out, leaving trails of smoke behind. Hmm." He stood up, tracing the biggest of the trails up and away from the center of the explosion. "But that one's weird, right? Bigger than the others." The trail he meant was more solid and less ephemeral than the others; it stretched out away from the roof of the science building over our heads before getting lost in the smoke from the ROTC fire. "Something blew out, pashow, right over our heads."

I frowned. "What would do that?"

"Not sure." He rubbed his chin, an evil smile on his face. "Something bigger and more solid than a human body, to go that far and so fast and leave that strong a trail. Like, if he had a big piece of metal with him, it might get blown out real far like that."

FACT 3: ROOFTOP EXPLOSION (revised)
According to Barrett, the explosion that killed Earl was destructive, but it didn't have a wide range. He says his explosives could create that kind of result. There was a big trail of smoke leading away from the explosion; Barrett says that might happen if Earl was carrying something solid with him, like a piece of metal.

"Saya!" I glanced over to see Bepi there, kneeling over Ashley. He was beckoning us to come over.

Lucina and I walked nearer, Barrett still staring with amazement at the destruction around him. When I got to Bepi, he had his hand pressed against Ashley's hip. "I found something," he said. Frowning, he reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of notebook paper, folded four times. He stood and unfolded it, considering what was written there.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's... a letter," he said, crinkling his forehead in puzzlement. "But... like, it doesn't make any sense."

"What does it say?"

"It..." He suddenly whipped his head towards Juliet. "Shut up!"

Juliet instantly fell silent and just lay on the ground for a moment. Then she sat up like the goddamn Undertaker or something, just bending at the waist, and stared at us.

Bepi looked back at the paper, rubbing his temples in confusion. "Okay, it's... 'Dear Romeo, Do you remember the time you saw me and you told me that life is just an echo? I remember. It was snowing, and we lay together on the sofa under our favorite quilt, and we watched Treasure of the Sierra Madre. You finished the bottle of Merlot, and you stood up and stretched and you told me straight out: 'Life is just an echo.' We were alone, but not alone. The future and the past dance a cruel tango, and my hopes will never be free from my cruel memories."

I just looked down at him for a moment. "What?"

"I have no fucking idea."

I squinted in thought. "'Romeo.' Maybe... it has to do with Juliet? Like, someone planted it to frame her?" I frowned. "Also... there's an alumnus named Romeo, right? A playwright?"

Bepi shrugged. "Couldn't tell you."

FACT 3: "DEAR ROMEO" LETTER
Ashley was carrying a bizarre letter describing a night someone spent with someone else.

Suddenly, Katy ran through the large archway to the main quad, panting. She appeared to have broken a heel on one of her shoes at some point, so she limped lopsidedly over to the middle of the quad, facing the inferno that was the ROTC. She held a fire extinguisher.

She looked up at the burning building. Then she looked down at the fire extinguisher. The frantic energy in her eyes dimmed, and she sighed. She glanced over at us and laughed with embarrassment... but then she saw Ashley. She dropped the fire extinguisher, bringing her hands to her mouth in horror.

FACT 4: KATY'S ACTIONS
Katy ran into the main quad to get a fire extinguisher, and at some point on the way she broke a heel. This apparently happened before we saw Ashley fall.

I touched Lucina on the arm softly. "Could you explain to her what happened?" I asked. "I want to go talk to Juliet." She nodded grimly to me, squeezed my arm one last time, and disengaged herself to walk over to Katy.

Juliet just sat casually as I approached, a slight smirk on her face. I had gotten pretty good at ignoring all her bullshit, though.

"How did you get out?" I asked.

She giggled girlishly. "Someone unlocked the door. I just left."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Who?"

"I don't have the slightest clue. I didn't see anyone." She slowly pulled herself up to her feet. "I heard something as I was leaving. Some kind of scuffle. But I didn't care enough to investigate."

FACT 5: JULIET'S ESCAPE
Juliet says someone unlocked the freezer door, allowing her to escape. She claims to not know who did it. On her way out, she heard a scuffle, but she didn't see anyone.

"What did you do after that?" I asked.

"Sneaked around for a while, and then I came over here," she replied, still eerily calm. "Maybe half an hour ago, I saw Barrett go into the ROTC... and a minute later I saw Ashley come out of the ROTC and go in there." She pointed at the science center.

FACT 6: JULIET'S TESTIMONY
Juliet says that a half-hour before Earl exploded, she saw Barrett go into the ROTC. Soon after, she saw Ashley leave the ROTC and go into the science building.

I frowned thoughtfully. "And you just stayed here in the quad the rest of the time?"

"No," she replied, shaking her head. "Ashley looked happy, so I wanted to kill her. I tried to follow her upstairs to the roof. But on the top floor, there was a ladder leaning up to a hatch, and I couldn't open it."

FACT 7: TRAPDOOR TO ROOF
Juliet says she tried to go to the roof of the science building, but she couldn't open the trapdoor at the top of the ladder.

"Are you taking a look around now? Juliet asked, daintily clasping her arms behind her back and tilting her head at me cutely. "I'm going to investigate with you."

"No, you're absolutely goddamn not," I said.

"Okay, then! I'll just wander around, doing whatever I want, and you'll just have to not let that distract you from investigating! Your friend Giuseppi looks nice and vulnerable right now."

She turned, and I growled in frustration. "Stop! Gah. Why do you want to come with me?"

"Maybe I'm falling in love with you," she answered, shrugging casually. "Lots of girls experiment in college, right?" At my angry expression, she suddenly went blank, instantly cutting off her coyness. "You're going to solve this case," she said. "I want to help. My life is on the line, too."

I glared at her. "Stay ahead of me where I can see you," I said.

Juliet grinned and I worried she was going to say something awful, but suddenly, with a comical shriek, Monokuma appeared in our midst, raising a fist in the air. "Yeah!" he yelled. "Go bear cubs! Defense! Defense! Defense!"

Then he suddenly froze. He shivered for a moment and then turned to us, clasping his hands behind his back with a gentle and serious expression. "Greetings, investors and donors!" he announced. "My name is Monokuma. That's Japanese for "Monobear!" Or Greek for "One Kuma!"

He seemed to finally notice where he was, and he jumped in surprise. "Holy shit, a dead body!"

We looked around at one another; Lucina's grief and fear appeared to be overtaken by bewilderment as she joined us in gaping.

"I'm fine," Monokuma said. "I know what's going on. I'm... wait." He rubbed his temples as if suffering from a headache. "What?"

"It's a fucking murder," Bepi hissed angrily; he had walked over and seemed quite unamused by whatever was going on. "We have to have a trial, because of your fucking game."

Monokuma nodded slowly. "Killing game. Yes. Okay. I know that one. Yes!" He whirled on us, hands on hips. "Greetings, students! I hate you all, and 1.9999999999999..." He stopped. "Ahem. I hate you all, and two of you are dead! You will have a trial soon to determine the killer of Earl Morale!"

"Hold on, that's not right," Bepi argued. "You said a while ago that if two people die, then only the first murder will count for a trial."

"That's true!" Monokuma agreed. "And according to records and recordings, Ashley Coelho died at 10:08pm. Earl Morale died at 10:17pm. Therefore, you will investigate the murder of Earl Morale!" He paused, rubbing his head with a paw. "Wait. Because 10:12pm comes before 10:17pm, Ashley Coelho died first. And the trial is for whoever died first. So, the trial will be for the killer of Earl Morale!" He paused again. "Wait..."

Barrett suddenly burst into uproarious laughter. "I fucking got you!" he cheered. "Look at you, you're all fucked up! I fucking knew that army building was important."

"That's impossible!" Monokuma argued! "At the very worst, you could only have damaged half of my primary servers and... I mean, you could not have damaged any of my primary servers! I'm fine! F-I-N-N-E fine!"

FACT 8: MONOKUMA'S STATE
Monokuma is not fine.

"You seem confused," I observed.

"I am not confused!" Monokuma barked. "You will investigate the murder of Earl Morale! Gaahhhh!" He jumped around in a circle, stomping his little feet. Finally, he just pointed at us. "Screw it, do them both! Just do them both."

"What? But..."

"Boogedy boo!" he yelped, and disappeared.

FACT 8: MONOKUMA'S STATE (revised)
Monokuma is not fine. He insists we have to solve both murders.

I walked over to Lucina and grabbed her hand with mine, and she hugged herself to my arm. Juliet stood nearby, eyeing Katy, who took a step back from her and glanced over at me. "Saya, I don't think I can do this. I can't deal with her and with bodies and..."

"It's okay," I said as reassuringly as I could. "Go rest. We'll see you in the trial." She hesitated, but after glancing over at Juliet again, she nodded. She ran off back to the main quad.

I noticed Bepi wasn't where he'd been, and I looked around in confusion. He has gone over to Ashley's body and was kneeling over it again. We walked over to him. "Are you all right?"

He ignored my question. "She died almost ten minutes before he did. Which means the fall didn't kill her. She was already dead." He began feeling her head, still tightly covered with her beret. "Hmm." He pulled her beret off and touched her scalp just above her right temple. He raised his fingers to show me: blood.

"She landed on her back," he said. "This wound here is near the front of her head. It had to come from something else."

I pointed down to her chest. "Her jacket is unbuttoned. I don't think I ever saw her do that."

"Me neither," Bepi agreed. "She probably wouldn't open her jacket under normal circumstances."

FACT 9: ASHLEY'S BODY
Ashley died almost ten minutes before falling off the roof. She had a wound on her temple; she appears to have been hit with a blunt object. Unusually, her business jacket was unbuttoned.

"How could this happen?" Bepi murmured. "She was so careful. She wouldn't let herself be alone with someone who had a weapon." I remembered her altercation yesterday with Nicole... Ashley did seem to have some sort of sixth sense for danger.

FACT 2: ASHLEY'S DEATH (revised)
Just before Earl exploded, Ashley fell off the roof of the science building. It looks like she must have fallen from right where Earl was standing. She was killed despite her ability to discern when she was alone with someone else who was armed.

I looked down at him compassionately. "I need to go investigate the roof. Do you want to stay with her?"

He glanced around the quad; it was almost impossible to even see the far walls. "It's getting really smokey out here. I'm going to stay here another minute then go try to track down everyone who's missing." He held out a small, shiny item. "Take this."

I took it and examined it; it was a small key. "What's this?"

"Ashley had it. It'll probably come in handy."

FACT 9: ASHLEY'S BODY (revised)
Ashley died almost ten minutes before falling off the roof. She had a wound on her temple; she appears to have been hit with a blunt object. Unusually, her business jacket was unbuttoned. She had a small key on her body.

I nodded. "Wish me luck that Juliet doesn't kill me."

He looked back at me very seriously. "Good luck Juliet doesn't kill you."

SCIENCE CENTER: CHEM LAB

As I expected, Barrett's tableful of chemicals was empty: the white fuel, the black flame retardant, and the three glasses of clear chemicals were all gone. But surprisingly, Jane was still in the chem lab, closing a cabinet over on her side of the room.

"Did someone die?" she asked us.

"Earl and Ashley," I answered. "And we can't find Rodrigo, Nicole, or Rocky."

She thought for a moment and then shrugged. "Shame it's not Barrett. Oh well." She stood up and regarded us haughtily, hand on her chin. "I suppose you want to know my whereabouts tonight?"

"It'd help."

"I don't think it will, actually. I've been here since the early afternoon. I took a look outside when that awful fire alarm started, and I went upstairs to investigate about... five minutes ago when I heard an explosion. I just got back a minute ago."

"Hmm." I glanced at Juliet, then back over to Jane. "What was up there?"

"I don't know." Jane lifted some cleaned vials out of a nearby sink and placed them up on a nearby shelf. "The trapdoor to the roof was blocked."

FACT 10. TRAPDOOR TO ROOF (revised)
Juliet says she tried to go to the roof of the science building, but she couldn't open the trapdoor at the top of the ladder. Jane says she also tried to go to the roof just after Earl's death, and she independently also said she couldn't open the hatch.

I nodded and indicated the table next to me. "Do you know who took everything that was on this table?"

"Barrett took the white, fire stuff," she replied. "Made a huge goddamn deal about it, too. The rest?" She shrugged. "No clue. I took a fifteen minute lunch, and I think they were gone when I got back, but who knows? I was focused on my own project."

FACT 11: CHEM LAB
Jane says Barrett took the white substance used as fuel for fires. She also claims the rest of the chemicals were gone when she returned from lunch today.

"Yeah," I said skeptically. "What is this project of yours, anyway?"

She glared at me. "It was something I finished up today. And you should know what it was." She sighed. "Of course you haven't figured it out. I shouldn't be surprised."

"I know what it was," Juliet said.

"You shut the fuck up." Jane finished restocking all the containers and walked closer to us. "Ugh," she grunted, wrinkling her nose. "You all smell like ashtrays. Is the bear going to clean up before we have to go outside? I don't want to die of smoke inhalation on my way to the trial."

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "Monokuma is... broken, or something. I think Barrett may actually have damaged him with the fire."

"Broken... or something?" Jane asked, raising an eyebrow. "Eh, whatever, darling. You little Nancy Drews keep on investigating; come get me if I'm needed."

She turned away and began fiddling with some nearby equipment. I don't think she was actually doing anything, but it was clear she was disinviting us from any further conversation. Glancing at my compatriots, I led them away to the staircase.

SCIENCE CENTER: STAIRWELL

As we entered the stairwell, Lucina held up a note, I think this is the only set of stairs. Is that right?

"Yeah," I answered. "Just one way up and down." On the ground floor, the stairs were off the central lobby. "And I think I remember that the doors for the middle floors are all locked." As we passed the door to the second floor, I tested my guess; as I expected the door would not open.

FACT 12: LAYOUT OF SCIENCE CENTER
There is a single, central staircase in the science center, connecting the lobby on the ground floor with the big computer room on the fifth floor. The doors on all the middle floors are locked.

Juliet skipped ahead up the stairs, and I started to follow, but Lucina squeezed my hand. I stopped, and she handed me a message: I know you want to keep an eye on her, but how do we keep her from damaging evidence or murdering us?

I just shook my head helplessly at Lucina. I leaned in and whispered, "I don't think we can. But I just don't want to be anywhere she can sneak up on us."

"Hey, lovebirds!" Juliet's voice suddenly cut through the quiet from above us. "I think I found a clue!"

We ran up the stairs to the third-floor landing. Juliet knelt in front of the up staircase, examining a black shape in front of her. "It was just lying here," she said. "But you probably shouldn't trust me. I probably put it here."

With an annoyed sigh, I walked up to the thing she was looking at. When I got closer, I saw that it was a black hazmat suit. Next to it, there was a hooded mask of some kind, also black except for the clear goggles, with an odd-looking mechanism right where the mouth would be.

I picked up the mask to examine it more closely. "Do either of you know what this is?"

Lucina put an unsualy tense hand on my shoulder. It's a respiration hood. Firemen wear them.

I almost asked her how she knew that and then thought better of it. Instead, I focused on the clues. They were the kinds of things I saw hanging up in the store room in the ROTC. "So, if someone wore both of these, they'd be covered head-to-toe." I set the mask down, then glanced at my hand. "Huh, I said. "It's... slimy."

"So is the suit," Juliet said. She stood, wiping her hand on the winter coat she was wearing. "Gross."

FACT 13: HAZMAT SUIT AND MASK
In the science center stairwell, there was a hazmat suit and breathing mask, which together would cover someone's whole body. Both were slimy when we found them.

As I paused to consider the possible meaning of this clue, Juliet looked over her shoulder at me. "'I'm bad and awful, but I didn't do it,'" she said.

I looked up at her. "What?"

"You asked me if anything I said at the trial was real. That was. When I told you, 'I'm bad and awful, but I didn't do it.'"

I was very much unwilling to engage in whatever game she wanted to play, so I just scoffed and tried to walk past her up the stairs.

But as I passed, she touched my arm lightly with her fingers and it was as startling as if she'd grabbed it in a firm grip. "You shouldn't be afraid of me," she said. "I might try to mess up evidence, but I'll never do it very well. That'd be basically trying to commit suicide, and I don't think it matters how often I try to do that. The evil in me just won't die."

Her eyes were weirdly hollow as she looked over at Lucina and then back to me. "And I won't try to kill anyone, either. Because you can't imagine the relief I feel here, cut off from the world. I'm finally contained." Her face instantly shifted to a smirk. "Can't say I won't try to torture anyone, though, so watch out for that."

"Ugh." I had put up with this for too long. I pulled Lucina up the stairs with me, leaving Juliet behind. After a few moments, I heard her plodding feet following us.

But as we reached the top floor landing, I stopped short and gave a little shriek. Rodrigo sat there on the steps, his head down in his hands. when he heard me, he jumped to his feet, staring at us in what looked like terror. "F...friends!" he gasped. "The foul beast is behind you!"

Juliet indeed stood behind us, staring blankly at him. I stepped forward. "It's okay! Well... not okay, it's awful. But we're keeping an eye on her while we investigate."

Rodrigo's breath was shallow, but he nodded. "Tis wise."

Juliet raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you hear us talking before?"

"N...no." Rodrigo's expression was like nothing I'd seen on him before. "I apologize for my inattentiveness. I was... distracted by my thoughts and feelings. I have been here for several minutes, attempting to regain my bearing."

I took a step closer to him. I noticed that he looked terrible: he was sweating and panting. He also stood... oddly, his left arm held close to his torso, and he seemed to not want to put weight on his right leg.

FACT 11: RODRIGO'S STATE
Rodrigo looks upset. He hugged his left arm to his body oddly, and he was standing off-balance.

"Are you all right?" I asked.

He looked like he tried to relax himself but failed. "I am ashamed to say I'm not. At the sound of an explosion, I came here from the main area to intervene, but... ah, the hatch to the roof was blocked and could not be opened. I then came here, shamefully regretting my helplessness."

FACT 12: RODRIGO'S TESTIMONY
Rodrigo says he came in from the main quad after the explosion and immediately tried to go to the roof of the science building. After discovering that the hatch was blocked, he came into the stairwell and has been there ever since.

FACT 7: TRAPDOOR TO ROOF (revised)
Juliet says she tried to go to the roof of the science building, but she couldn't open the trapdoor at the top of the ladder. Jane says she also tried to go to the roof just after Earl's death, and she independently also said she couldn't open the hatch. Rodrigo also says he was not able to open the trapdoor, and he tried just before we arrived.

Lucina squeezed my hand. I glanced over to her, and she handed me a note that said, His neck, right under his left ear.

I just regarded her a moment, then smiled innocently at Rodrigo. "Oh, yeah. Lucina says she's upset, too. This is all so horrible." I pointed behind him meekly. "Um, we're going to go up to try to investigate."

"Ah... yes." He nodded. "Please do. Greater minds than mine need to be engaged on this puzzle."

We walked up past him, and I tried to smile reassuringly as I passed. When I did, I took note of his neck: there was a stain there, a blotch of dark schmutz that stood out compared to the rest of his face and neck, which were generally kind of surprisingly clean for how sweaty he was.

FACT 11: RODRIGO'S STATE (revised)
Rodrigo looks upset. He hugged his left arm to his body oddly, and he was standing off-balance. He had a dark smear of something on his neck.

As we walked up to the top floor, I felt a weird shiver.

SCIENCE CENTER: FIFTH FLOOR

The big computer room probably took up the entire top floor of the building, and there were big, wall-like computer modules everywhere that reached almost all the way up to the ceiling. It was very ominous to be in mazelike place on such a gruesome night, but luckily I remembered where the ladder was: there was a pretty clear, wide path, and even though dead-end paths branched off, it was pretty hard to get lost in here.

As we walked, Juliet sidled up next to us. "Isn't it odd he just let us all pass?" she asked. "I expected him to insist that I stay behind so he could protect everyone from me. Curious."

It was stupid to treat her as a reasonable person, but I found myself nodding. "Do you think it's possible he really did get from the main quad to the science building without any of us seeing him?"

"Yes," she replied, oddly certain. "There wasn't much smoke at first, but by the time Monokuma showed up, it was getting pretty bad. And with us distracted by the deaths, it's not implausible someone could have run past us without anyone noticing, by that point."

FACT 13: SMOKE IN THE QUAD
The ROTC's fire spewed a lot of smoke into the quad. At first it wasn't too bad, but by a few minutes after Earl's death, there was a lot of it.

"But one thing about the timing is curious," she continued. "If they're telling the truth, he managed to just miss Jane. She was coming back the other way just a couple of minutes ago."

I started to say something, but we rounded the corner that led to the ladder and I stopped. There was a wide, clear puddle around the base of the ladder, with shards of broken glass scattered all through it.

Juliet sniffed the air and frowned. "Does anyone else smell chocolate?"

As we walked closer to the ladder, I smelled it too. The puddle was emitting an obvious chocolate smell.

FACT 14: PUDDLE AT THE LADDER
A clear puddle of liquid was at the base of the ladder leading up to the science center's roof. Shards of glass were scattered through the puddle. The liquid smelled like chocolate.

Juliet grinned thoughtfully. "Very interesting. If I even need to say it: no, this was not here when I attempted to go to the roof earlier."

I leaned over the puddle, looking closer. The ladder appeared to be mostly untouched by the liquid, but unfortunately, the puddle itself was too wide to get to the ladder without stepping through it. I hesitated, but luckily Juliet just walked right through the puddle, crunching through glass with her elegant flats, and climbed up the ladder herself. When she reached the top, she pushed up on the trapdoor... and it opened. With a shrug, she headed on up.

I looked at Lucina seriously. "You know the other two smells, right?" She nodded. "I don't think Juliet does, though."

Lucina wrote out a response, Me neither, but Ashley knew.

"What?! How did she find out?!"

Jane told that whole "group." I heard Ashley talking about it yesterday.

I sighed. "Okay, that might change a lot. Thanks for telling me."

FACT 15: BARRETT'S CHEMICALS
Jane told Ashley, Earl, Katy, and Rocky about Barrett's three chemicals and what they smelled like.

I started to go up the ladder, but she held my arm. I looked up at her quizzically, and she handed me a note: I have very good hearing. When we were in the stairwell, I'm pretty sure I heard a door open and close from above us.

She kept my gaze and handed me a second note: Twice.

I tried to wrap my mind around this. "When?"

Once not long after we went in. Then again right at the end of talking to Juliet.

I squeezed her arm gratefully. "You may save us again," I said. She blushed.

FACT 16: SOUNDS IN STAIRWELL
Lucina says she heard a door open and close twice while we were in the stairwell.

Unable to put it off any longer, I stepped through the puddle, trying to avoid as much broken glass as possible, and headed on up the ladder. Lucina followed behind me.

SCIENCE CENTER: ROOF

The first thing I noticed when I got to the roof was the destruction: there was a giant, black scar where Earl had been, the hand rail next to it bent and broken. Most of the telescopes had been knocked over. It looked like someone had blown up here, which made me feel stupid for expecting anything different.

The next thing I noticed was a computer terminal, about the side of a suitcase, lying on its side next to the trapdoor. Juliet examined it thoughtfully. "Do you know where this came from?" she asked.

I looked closer, then nodded. "There's computers in those little rooms," I said, pointing at the clear-glass structures that were surprisingly thick enough to withstand the explosion. "It looks like someone got one of those."

Juliet hesitantly kicked it with her foot. It didn't budge from where it lay. "Very interesting," she said, probably with deliberately annoying mysteriousness. "It's... very heavy. I don't think I'd be able to move it by myself."

I tried giving it a little shove myself; she was right. "Who'd be able to move it? Rodrigo and Earl, for sure. Maybe Barrett?"

Lucina held out a message, Probably not Rocky. He's pretty small. I think Katy's the strongest of the girls.

FACT 17: COMPUTER TERMINAL
There was a heavy computer terminal lying next to the trapdoor on the roof. It looks like it was taken from one of the nearby small rooms. It was heavy enough that not all of the students would be able to move it by themselves.

We walked over to the explosion site, but frankly there weren't a lot of clues there. But I did remember Earl turning around right before he died, and I turned myself to mimic his motion. I realized he must have been looking right at the telescope dome, where we'd gathered to have Emily's little funeral. There were black spatters from the explosion all over the side I was facing. There was an open shutter near the top of the dome, about ten feet up... presumably this is what the telescope was meant to be pointed through, when it was used.

FACT 1: EARL'S DEATH
Earl was on the roof of the science building and he exploded, right in front of us. Bepi, Lucina, Barrett, and I were in the quad when it happened. Just before he blew up, he looked back at the telescope dome.

I walked over to the door leading in to the dome, but when I got there, I was surprised to find a chain and padlock wrapped around the handle, rendering the door completely impossible to open. I glanced over to Juliet, who almost certainly could tell this was very similar to the set-up that had left her trapped in a freezer the past few days.

Glancing at the padlock, I took out the key Bepi had found on Ashley's body. It fit perfectly. I opened up the locks, removed the chains, and opened the door.

FACT 18: DOOR TO TELESCOPE DOME
The door to the telescope dome was sealed from the outside with a chain and padlock. The key found on Ashley opened the padlock.

SCIENCE CENTER: OBSERVATORY DOME

As before, I was momentarily distracted by the size and complexity of the telescope in the middle of the dome. But I quickly noticed something else: a tall ladder leaned up against the wall leading up to the open shutter.

FACT 19: LADDER
A ladder was set up inside the observatory dome, leading to the open shutter.

With an admonishment from Lucina to be careful, I climbed up the ladder. When I reached the open shutter, I had an excellent vantage point of the spot where Earl had been killed. The shutter itself was pretty big; I could lean my whole torso out with plenty of room to spare, and I examined the side of the dome, trying to ignore that the stains there were the remains of a human being. On impulse, I also examined the top of the ladder, sticking up over the rim of the open shutter. It, too, had Earl spatters on it.

FACT 19: LADDER (revised)
A ladder was set up inside the observatory dome, leading to the open shutter. The top of the latter, which stuck up over the rim of the open shutter, was marked with dark stains.

"Found something!" Juliet's voice announced from below. "It's gross!"

'One second!" I called back, not even responding to her weirdness anymore. I gave one more look over the roof... and I'm glad I did, because I noticed something shiny off to the side that I hadn't seen before. I resolved to investigate later and descended the ladder, thanking Lucina for holding it steady for me.

I walked over to Juliet, who was examining what looked like trash near the door of the room. As I got closer, I realized it was two piles of wadded, white gauze.

"It's my brand," she said. She held up the bandages proudly. "Recognize these?"

It took me a moment, but I did. It was the same kind of bandages that I'd found in JP's dresser: the ones Juliet had used when torturing Emily.

"These have been used," Juliet observed. She pointed to one of the piles and I saw that yes, a circular stain of blood had soaked through the gauze in several places. "Hmm," she muttered, "circular blood stains. Only a clean puncture wound would cause those."

"What about those?" I asked, pointing to the other pile and trying to not acknowledge I was just fully treating her like an ally now.

She turned them over and showed they were smudged with a dark stain. "It looks like someone used it as a rag," she said. "Like they wiped something off with it." That was a bit of an odd observation, but I couldn't disagree.

FACT 20: BANDAGES
There were two wadded piles of bandages in the telescope dome. One looked to have been used on a wound and had circular stains of blood. The other was dirty, as if it had been used to wipe something off.

Judging by the way Lucina was gripping my arm, though, she was less unaffected by Juliet's presence and behavior. I gave her a solid nod. "Okay, let's keep investigating. I want to check a couple more places before we run out of time."

SCIENCE CENTER: ROOF

After leaving the dome, I immediately went to find the shiny object I'd noticed before. I assumed it wasn't a clue, just an unimportant piece of shrapnel. I was not correct about that.

Lucina showed me her reaction, That's a gun.

It was indeed. It was a rather large handgun, covered in sooty remains but its steel-silver color coming through.

"That's a gun!" Juliet observed from behind me. She sounded way too happy about it.

I picked up the gun; it was surprisingly heavy. I poked at it a little bit, but didn't get very far.

"Uh, what are you trying to do?" Juliet asked.

"I'm trying to see if it's loaded."

"Oh. Hold that tab on the side there, and then pull that piece there." She grinned. "See, aren't you glad you brought me along?"

I followed her instructions and tried to ignore the rest of her. I successfully opened up the handgun and saw it was empty: no bullets.

"It also hasn't been fired recently... if at all," Juliet remarked.

FACT 21: HANDGUN
There was a handgun on the roof, covered with remains from the explosion. There were no bullets in it, and Juliet said it's probably never been used.

I looked around. "Monokuma?" I called. "Hey! Monokuma!"

"Aaaghghg!" Monokuma suddenly appeared, panting. "What?! What?! I'm busy!"

I held out the gun. "You said you'd show us footage of anyone who took a weapon out of the arsenal."

"Oh right!" He seemed relieved. "That's easy. That's a whole different system." He pressed his paws against his head like a phony psychic and mumbled something. "All right, done!" My tablet buzzed and he started to run off.

"Hold on!" I called. He grudgingly stopped. "Was only one weapon removed from the arsenal? This is the only footage we need?"

"That's all, and it clearly shows the person's face!" he said. "Stop bothering me!" He disappeared.

I started to reach in to my pocket, but I noticed Lucina give a tiny, silent cough. "Let's go inside to watch this," I said. "The smoke's getting worse." Lucina smiled gratefully and Juliet did not react at all.

SCIENCE CENTER: FIFTH FLOOR

Unfortunately, we had to walk back through the puddle and broken glass to get away from the ladder: it was too far to jump clear. "Okay, actually, first thing?" I said. "I think we all have to sacrifice our shoes. I don't think it's safe walking around with that stuff on our feet."

I worried Juliet would protest, but she didn't seem too bothered. We all slipped off our shoes. Satisfied we weren't a third of the way toward exploding, I took out my tablet. The three of us gathered around it and I turned it on.

I played the black-and-white video Monokuma had sent me. It was short and silent, almost like a gif, but he'd been correct: it did clearly show me the identity of the person who walked into the arsenal, took the handgun I'd found, and then left. It was the very last person I had been expecting.

Lucina held up a note, Ashley?!

It was indeed Ashley Coelho who took the gun. She wasn't even trying to be sneaky about it; just in and out, totally casual.

FACT 20: HANDGUN (revised)
There was a handgun on the roof, covered with remains from the explosion. There were no bullets in it. Ashley is the one who took it from the arsenal.

Lucina scribbled out a message, trying not to let Juliet see it: Why would she get a gun with no bullets, and how did it end up on the roof, nowhere near her body?

"Good questions," I said.

SCIENCE CENTER: LOCKER ROOM

There were two more places I wanted to search, so we headed down to the locker room where Earl had kept his spare equipment and clothes. But as we stepped inside, Juliet stopped us. "Hey," she said, looking around surreptitiously, "I remembered another clue."

We both glared at her with intense skepticism. "You just remembered a clue," I said.

"Yes. I can tell you or not; it's up to you if you want to believe me."

I glanced at Lucina who clearly was not a fan of the idea, but I just sighed. "Fine."

Juliet placed a hand on her sternum. "Oh, I'm so touched by your trust, Saya, thank you. I was thinking about that chocolate smell you were so concerned about, and I realized: when I was by the tank tonight, right when the fire started... I smelled the same thing."

"You smelled it outside, by the tank?" I asked.

She nodded. "I'm certain."

FACT 22: SMELL NEAR TANK
Juliet claims that she smelled chocolate near Earl's tank, just before the murders.

Trying not to either disregard or believe her too quickly, I decided to focus on searching. I went to the locker where I'd seen Earl's stuff, and I took a look through it.

There was one uniform hanging up in the locker; it looked perfectly pressed and clean. A shined pair of boots sat at the bottom of the locker, a pristine pair of black socks next to them. I rustled through the pockets of the uniform and found nothing. I was just about to give up, when I decided, on impulse, to take a closer look at the boots.

They were totally normal-seeming, but when I picked them up, I noticed something very apparent. The soles of the shoes were clearly emitting a sickly-sweet vanilla odor.

FACT 23: EARL'S EXTRA BOOTS
The boots in Earl's locker had a sweet, vanilla-smelling substance on the soles.

"Your girlfriend likes to smell shoes," I heard Juliet remark behind me. Lucina audibly scrawled something and violently tore out a piece of paper, and I figured whatever response she gave Juliet was appropriate.

I looked around for any more potential information. I noticed a decorated pair of goggles on the wall that I assumed were Nicole's, but I didn't notice any clues with them. Then, I saw a trench coat hanging up on a hook near the door. "It must be Jane's," I mused aloud. "She wears a trench coat when she isn't wearing a lab coat, right?"

Lucina nodded, and she walked over to the coat, patting it softly... then she froze. She reached into a large pocket of the coat and pulled out a clear bottle with a transparent liquid inside. She opened the cap and sniffed, then she pulled her face away in distaste.

She held out the bottle to me, and I took a sniff myself. Pickled ginger.

FACT 24: BOTTLE IN JANE'S COAT
Jane's trench coat had a bottle of spicy-smelling liquid in the pocket.

I heard the door open, and I turned to see Nicole walk in. She froze in fear when she saw Juliet, but of course, despite the chaos of the night, she still looked amazing: hair and clothes just perfectly in place. "What the fuck is going on?" she asked, not coming any closer.

"Earl and Ashley are dead," Juliet answered. "And I escaped. Gonna kill everybody."

Nicole looked to me and Lucina for help. I just raised my hands in the air helplessly. "She's actually been more annoying than anything else."

After a moment, Nicole appeared to accept what I said, and she walked closer. "Earl and Ashley?" she asked. "What happened? Was it the fire?"

"No. There was an explosion and... something else we're trying to figure out."

"Huh. Crazy shit." She smirked. "Makes sense they'd go up together, though." She noticed the bottle in Lucina's hand. "Oh fuck, is that..." She ran over, grabbed the bottle, and smelled it. "Spice. Where'd you find that?"

Lucina pointed at Jane's coat. Nicole rubbed the back of her head thoughtfully. "Well, damn it. If someone's been playing with those chemicals, no wonder there was an explosion." She glanced around at the three of us. "You all know what to smell for, so keep alert. It'd be real easy to set a trap with those."

"Yeah, it would," I said, nodding. "Hey, what've you been doing tonight? We're trying to build a timeline on things."

"Oh, just in my room." She showed off a lacy, light scarf around her neck. "I made this. It's my murderscarf now, I guess. Hot." She grinned, then tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I came over from the main quad, I dunno, a couple of minutes ago, but shit was all crazy outside, so once I saw the tank was still there, I came in here." She shrugged. "I was hoping to run into Earl and Ashley, actually. Not my night, I guess."

FACT 25: NICOLE'S TESTIMONY
Nicole says she was in her room all night, and she came over to the east quad not long before meeting us in the science center locker room.

I tilted my head in confusion. "Why were you hoping to run into Earl and Ashley?"

She smirked sneakily and leaned in closer to me. "Because I overheard they were going to have a secret rendezvous tonight, just before Earl did his tank thing."

I blinked uncomfortably. She was very close; I could smell that beautiful, flowery scent she'd been wearing, and her perfect hair and make-up seemed to mockingly fill my whole vision. "When did you overhear that?"

"Today, with Barrett. They were talking outside, and we heard them make the plans. They were going to meet up at 10:00 somewhere in this building, and then Earl was going to go start the tank." She sighed. "Earl spooked me with his whole 'rule through fear' bullshit, but y'know, I don't think he had killer in him. He was a hypocrite and an idiot, but... I dunno, I wanted to try to get through to him at least once before he drove off and got exploded by Monokuma's defenses." She shuddered. "Ashley was fuckin' dangerous though, so I probably woulda chickened out anyway."

FACT 26: MEETING BETWEEN EARL AND ASHLEY
Nicole says she and Barrett overheard that Ashley and Earl planned a meeting in the science center at 10:00.

Suddenly, a deep shirring noise started; it seemed to be coming from outside, on the quad.

"There!" Monokuma's voice blared from hidden speakers. "The situation has been contained. Now that that's done with, all students must gather in the usual place for the class trial! Be there or die and go to hell!"

His voice sputtered out. Juliet giggled. I don't even want to imagine why.

EAST QUAD

When I got outside, I saw that some sort of huge air-purifier-like machine was set up. It was obnoxiously loud, but it was thankfully already clearing the smoke. Meanwhile, some sort of automated hose on a crane was spraying water impotently into the still-flaming ROTC.

Bepi was standing near the door, waiting for us. I pointed to the equipment that was newly set up in the quad. "How did this get here?"

"I don't know. I went to the main quad and searched around with Katy and Rocky for a little bit, and when I came out, this was all here." He looked away. "Monokuma had something to do with it, but I don't know what he did. He's still all fucked up, but..." He paused for a moment. "Hmm, actually, let me try something." He took his shoe off and then hurled it at the fence at the edge of the quad. A scary-looking machine-gun popped out in response, then receded. "Shit. Yeah, I guess all the machines around here still work. Ashley's body was gone, too. Didn't see what happened to it."

I put my hand on his; I was keeping the horror and chaos of the night at bay pretty well, but Bepi's grief was hard to look directly at. "I'm sorry. I know she was your friend."

He closed his eye for a moment and then just sighed. "Found something. I want to show you before the trial." He indicated Juliet with a tilt of his head. "Without your sidekicks."

But Juliet didn't seem to care; she just started wandering off toward the main quad. I smiled to Lucina, who nodded, and I followed Bepi across the quad.

He led me over to a spot a few feet from the tank and pointed at something on the ground. "There was all sorts of debris," he said, "but this stood out. Take a look."

I did. Squatting down and poking at the debris, I realized it was a curved piece of metal about the size of my hand, twisted and burned but not hot to the touch. Although it was very distorted, looking closer I could see it was white and black on one side, aluminum-colored on the other side.

FACT 24: PIECE OF METAL
There was a curved piece of metal in the east quad. It was damaged, but I could tell one side was painted white and black, and the other side was plain metal.

"Think it's important?" he asked.

"Not sure yet," I answered truthfully. I pointed back over my shoulder to the main quad. "Let's hurry, there's one more thing I want to check out before we go to the trial."

MAIN QUAD

All the survivors were gathered around the monolith when Bepi and I arrived, even Rocky, the one I hadn't seen yet. He was standing there sullenly, next to Katy, who waved and caught my attention when she saw me.

"Saya," she greeted as I neared. "Did you solve the crime? I ran into Rocky right after I came back, and we searched all around here, but we didn't find anything. Right, Rocky?" She glanced back.

Rocky nodded and mumbled, "Yeah."

Katy looked back at me, er grin very odd and manic. "Hey, could I ask you something real quick? It's about the thing we talked about before... the private thing."

I raised an eyebrow, but allowed her to lead me a few feet away. She looked haggard but generally fine. Her clothes and hair smelled like charcoal, even though she'd only spent a couple of minutes in the east quad when the smoke wasn't even too bad yet, but her eyes were bright and focused.

"I did find a clue," she whispered to me, handing over a small piece of white paper. Then she laughed loudly. "Oh, lesbian humor!" she barked unconvincingly and walked back to the group, trying to stay as far from Juliet was possible.

I half-heartedly faked a laugh and looked at the paper she'd given me. It was a receipt from the student stores, showing that earlier today an icepick had been bought by the Ultimate House Music Producer.

FACT 25: RECEIPT
According to the receipt Katy gave me, Rocky bought an icepick from the student stores earlier today.

I slipped the receipt in my pocket and jogged back over to the group; Monokuma hadn't shown up yet, but I was probably working with borrowed time. "I have one more thing I want to check," I said. "But... it's kind of weird." Everyone looked at me expectantly. "Uh. Rodrigo, I need to look at your feet."

Rodrigo blanched. Nicole put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. "You say shit like that, but then you think you're not The Peculiar Princess?"

"I swear it's not a weird sex thing," I said. "It's just... for clues."

Rodrigo hung his head. "If it is to aid in the pursuit of justice, I will do it," he said. He very gingerly settled down to a prone position on the ground, again, I noticed, favoring his left arm and right leg. I knelt down and picked up his right foot, subtly pushing up so his ankle would bend. Nothing happened, so I lifted his leg up slightly, and he winced. Aha: the hip.

FACT 11: RODRIGO'S STATE (revised)
Rodrigo looks upset. He hugged his left arm to his body oddly, and he was standing off-balance. He had a dark smear of something on his neck. His leg is hurt on the hip.

Satisfied, I finally began legitimately inspecting his foot. It was dirty, like expected from someone who went around barefoot all the time. I looked closely at the sole and saw nothing but grime.

"Uh," I said. "I need..." I coughed awkwardly. "I need to smell it."

"Jesus christ, Saya," Nicole said.

But Rodrigo just said, "If it must be done, it must be done."

I gave his foot a quick whiff. It smelled like a dirty foot: nothing else.

FACT 26: RODRIGO'S FEET
Rodrigo's feet were dirty, but otherwise there was nothing unusual I could discern on them.

"Thanks," I muttered, and I set his foot down. He nodded haltingly and sat up; I couldn't tell if he was phased by the weirdness of my request or if he was still oddly discombobulated.

Thankfully, a sproing sounded and Monokuma appeared. "We are... close enough to ready!" he announced.

"I got you, and you know it," Barrett sneered. "I'm gonna get you worse next time, just wait."

"Students will refrain from promising to 'get' the school mascot!" Monokuma shouted. The door in the monolith opened, revealing the familiar, awful elevator. "Get on! Go! Go!"

TRIAL ELEVATOR

We all stood there in silence as we descended. It was weird, Ashley took up so little physical space, but she left as big a hole as tall, strapping Earl. They were both gone; it was just... unbelievable.

I felt Lucina holding my hand tightly, and I was suddenly immensely relieved for all she'd done for me. I had some sort of weird emotions thing, but she FELT, and she still went around with me all night, helping me investigate all these horrible things. My hand felt like the only part of me that was warm.

The elevator began slowing to a stop. Very suddenly, from the corner, the silence was broken by Juliet's voice.

"Her parents wanted her to be seen and not heard," she said. "So they lied to her, and they told her every sound she made caused others pain." The elevator ground to a halt, and she cast an evil grin around the room. "They taught her that lesson many different ways, but the most effective one was with fire."

It was so abrupt and unexpected, I didn't even realize who she was talking about at first. In fact, the way I found out was from the way Lucina began squeezing my hand so hard, it hurt.

The elevator doors opened. "Trial time!" Juliet sang. As she skipped out of the elevator, she glanced back at the rest of us, who were unable to do little more than gape. "Time for Saya to solve the case!"

My whole body felt like ice.

Q: Tell me about your parents please.
AC: I don't find that question remotely fucking amusing.

Once again, I put in effort to make the mystery solvable at this point.

If you want to try solving it, head here to make a guess and to give any feedback on the story you want: ht(tps): slash slash forms . gle / 3E5CcrTtztFevzyK9 (remove parentheses and spaces and write actual slashes. The url's also on my profile.)