Q: Tell me about your parents, please.
BW: My parents? The fuck you asking about them for?
Q: Would you prefer not to discuss them?
BW: 'Prefer not to discuss.' Oi, look at the big man pulling his psychology shit on me! Listen, I 'prefer not to discuss them' in the same way I 'prefer not to discuss' a ciggie I just finished. It's done what it was ever gonna do. It's nothing but smoke now.

As Monokuma appeared from nowhere and pranced around the room in delight, I just felt myself sinking down to the floor. This was all so useless and stupid. Monokuma's voice announced something over the PA, but I wasn't listening.

People started to trickle in to the murder scene. I barely noticed. I was remembering what Nicole had said: from going to this school, Barrett was just going to turn in to someone who protected the system, who demolished poor people's neighborhoods. I didn't realize it at the time, but I'd felt a weird set of emotions from that. I wanted her to be wrong, but I thought she probably wasn't, but I had hope he'd prove himself. And now, it was all just for nothing.

A cold feeling lingered in my stomach as I looed around the room at my gathered classmates (suspects). No one looked shocked, by this point; there was just a universal expression of grim grief on everyone's faces.

Lucina and Katy huddled together, and I found myself just grateful they each had someone to comfort them. Lucina's hair wasn't in her usual ponytail; it draped over her shoulders, held in place with a headband, and I allowed myself just a moment to appreciate her loveliness.

Rocky had his hand on Rodrigo's shoulder. Juliet was standing oddly, one hip out to the side, and I realized she was posing for Jane, who was pale and shivering, but who seemed to be successfully distracted. Bepi stood alone, glaring at Monokuma with such contempt, I could suddenly get a glimpse, for the first time, of what he'd be like on a battlefield. He wore his uniform, like usual, and standing among most of the rest of us in our pajamas or sweats, he looked kind of terrifying.

And Barrett… Barrett just sat against the wall, as if he was relaxing. Across from him was an odd, pieced-together contraption, like the one I'd seen outside, which had launched the pizza tray. Blood was all over this room and the next room, but I remembered there hadn't been anything outside.

Suddenly, beeping went off around the room. "Aha!" Monokuma announced cheerfully, "your Monomail has arrived! You'll find all the details…"

"We fucking know how it works by now," Bepi snapped. Monokuma didn't seem to mind: apparently a murder was good enough news for him that he could tolerate being disrespected.

I pulled out my tabled and beeped it on. Opening the new message, I found the starkly dry information:

BODY ANNOUNCEMENT

The deceased is Barrett Wood, the Ultimate Demolitionist. Time of death: approximately 11:15pm. Cause of death: Impalement through the eye with a metal table leg. No other injuries are present on the body, but he had high levels of valium and oxycontin in his system at time of death.

I blinked. Valium and Oxytocin? But before I could say anything, Monokuma clapped his paws. "All right, kids, better hurry! As you know, you only have ten minutes before it's time for the trial!"

There was a loud uproar, and Monokuma just giggled. "Oh, I may have forgotten to tell you that after all the hubbub yesterday! Yes, for this murder you'll only have ten minutes to investigate! I hope you make it count!"

Jane put her hand on her chest, as if trying to control her breathing. "We… we have access to that machine, right? The lie machine?" Monokuma nodded, and she looked grimly at everyone. "Then that's what we have to do. I'm sure there's some stupid word game the killer can try to play, but we'll get more out of that than just looking around randomly for ten minutes."

"Nay, we cannot trust that vile machine!" Rodrigo argued. "Our own senses are more than enough! The bear is clearly trying to force us to use the machine!"

"Yeah, because it's there to help us!" Jane snapped. "To make the murder more interesting for the mastermind, the sick fuck. We can trust it to do its job."

Rodrigo opened his mouth to reply, but Katy's voice cut him off: "Let Saya decide."

There was a pause as everyone looked at her. She blushed but continued. "We don't have time. Saya's the detective; let her decide."

Everyone looked at me. I expected some sort of conflict, from Jane or Rodrigo or Juliet, but jesus christ did they all seriously trust me to protect them like this? I'm just a nerd who plays chess. But all I said was, "The Cricket." Rodrigo didn't look happy, but they all nodded and we just all filed out toward the exit.

SOUTH QUAD: THE CRICKET

Monokuma stood in his place in the center, tapping his foot impatiently. I went to my old seat from before and started to strap myself in, keeping an eye on everyone else. Suddenly, there was a form in front of me; I froze and looked up to see Bepi.

He held out a pen and a piece of paper, blank on one side and with a personality test on the reverse side. "Here, to take note," he said. "Keep track of shady wording. Remember, this machine is pedantic as shit: it doesn't care what people mean, it only cares what people say."

I nodded and felt myself smiling in relief: someone else was taking the lead on an important thing, here. I took a paper and pen, and he went around the circle, offering his implements to everyone.

I didn't notice any shenanigans with people not fully attaching themselves to the Cricket, and we were all pretty quickly set up. Monokuma pushed the power button and we lit up with blue lights again, just like before.

"Okay, go nuts, kids!" he chortled. "Don't worry, I'll let you know when your time's almost up!"

For a moment, we all looked around at each other, apparently hesitant to start talking. Finally, Bepi spoke, clearly and loudly. "Saya, did you murder Barrett?"

I felt the pain begin in my head, but I was still grateful for the direct way he'd begun things. "No." He caught my gaze and nodded. "Giuseppe, did you kill Barrett?"

He stared down at his lap and took a deep breath; he apparently couldn't resist the chance to milk the moment for drama. But he looked up, confident and stark: "I did not kill Barrett."

I heard a tearing sound and looked over to see Lucina holding out a page with large, dark magic marker: I didn't do it, either.

"I… I didn't kill him," Katy said.

"I killed Barrett," Juliet said, and red lights lit up all around her.

"Ugh," Jane muttered. She crossed her arms over her chest. "You are much less amusing than you think you are. And no: I did not kill Barrett Wood."

"I did not and would not kill Friend Barrett," Rodrigo said.

Rocky rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Uh. Me neither."

There was a pause, and we all looked around at one another. Juliet grinned. "Oh, thank goodness," she said. "I was afraid this would be too easy." Again, red lights lit up all around her.

Jane shook her head impatiently. "Goddamn word games," she muttered. "All right, the killer figured out some way to cheat the machine so far, but if we get into the details, I'm sure they'll slip up." Despite her confident tone, her lights turned red. She ignored it. "What do we know?"

"He was drugged," I spoke up. "The message we got said he had valium and oxycontin in his system."

Rodrigo raised a finger in the air. "Friends, I'm afraid I don't know what that means. Could someone…"

"They're downers," Rocky interrupted. "They make you all sleepy and dopey."

"Oh… oh, was that why he was acting like that?" Katy asked hesitantly. "Oh god, I thought he was just traumatized!"

"He was," I said. "Even if he was drugged too, he still suffered here. And he still wanted to be better. I believe him when he said that."

"Well, but who drugged him?" Rocky asked. "Should we go around like before? I did not…"

"Oh, don't bother," Juliet interrupted. "I did it."

That one surprised me. "What?"

"I drugged him," she repeated. "Several times."

Lucina held up a note, Why?

Juliet shrugged. "Because I thought he was probably the person who smashed up the cafeteria, and I was worried he was going to try to kill someone. And I figured if someone wanted to kill him, well… it might as well be the most expendable person left, right?"

"He was quite vulnerable," Jane mused. "I imagine he'd be easy to lead anywhere, in such a state."

"No one is expendable," Bepi suddenly snapped, harshly. "Everyone who dies here is a tragedy, no matter what." Juliet just smiled blankly back at him.

I heard a tapping noise, and I looked over to see Lucina trying to get everyone's attention (and probably avoid a distracting tangent). She wrote something out quickly and then held up: He died around 11:15. Katy and I were together then. We have alibis.

"Oh, really?" Jane asked, looking back and forth between them suspiciously. "Where were you?" Lucina started writing, but Jane cut her off, "No! I'm asking Katy. Where were you?"

Katy was staring at Lucina, but she quickly blinked herself back to the present. "Uh…" she stuttered. "My room. In my room."

"Mmm-hmm," Jane grunted. "Is that true, Lucina?"

Lucina held up a message, Yes. We were in her room, together.

I realized I was nervously holding my breath every time Lucina wrote out anything, and I closed my eyes to refocus. I remembered how she had written that lie, I am afraid of Juliet. It had surprised me how the machine had turned red when she was done writing, before she'd even shown us the note. I needed to not be a nervous wreck, terrified to see that red light, every time she wrote anything.

Jane glared at them and then sighed. "All right, well, does anyone else have an alibi? If so, please raise your hand and then state it clearly."

Rocky's hand went up hesitantly. "Uh… I was alone, but I was making music out in the middle of the quad. People must've been able to see and hear me from the dorm."

That did make sense to me. "I did hear the music pretty consistently after it got dark," I said. No one else spoke up, so I asked a question he'd reminded me of: "Rocky, you were in the quad all night until the murder, right?"

"Um, yeah." Red lights went off around him and he jumped, startled. "What? But I was!" Red lights flashed again. "I'm not lying!" Red lights.

"Hey, calm down," Bepi said, not unkindly. "Listen, this thing cares a lot about technicalities. Think if you were really in the quad all night."

Rocky scratched his head. "Um, I did go in the dorm to take a piss at like 11:30?" His lights stayed blue. "Ohhh," he said, "right. So no, I left to go take a piss, but that's all."

"Did you see anyone while you were in the quad?" I asked.

"Yeah," he answered. "You and Juliet, around 1:00. And before that, maybe around 10:30, I saw Jane go from the dorm to the gym."

Jane raised an eyebrow. "I'm doing weight training," she explained.

"Yeah, but I never saw you come out," Rocky said.

"Oh, how can that possibly be?" Jane asked, rolling her eyes. "I used the underground tunnel, darling."

I frowned but looked back to Rocky. "Was there anyone else?"

He rubbed his chin in thought. "Maaayyyyybe I saw a couple people walking around in the shadows at the edge of the quad? But I'm not sure."

"Could someone have gotten from the dorm to the South Quad without you seeing them?" I asked.

"I dunno." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Huh, that's a good question. Could I have seen anyone? I…" His eyes widened and he suddenly shouted. "Agh! No! Yes! I don't know!" His light turned red, and he relaxed, panting. "What the hell just happened?"

Jane smirked at him; ideally she was not amused by the mere existence of his pain, but I couldn't rule it out. "You asked yourself a yes/no question. You should probably not do that."

"Ughhh, this thing sucks!" Rocky groaned. "I didn't think I lie all that much, either." He shook his head, refocusing. "Uh, anyway, Saya, what were you asking me? If I could see anyone in the quad?"

I thought to be sneaky, to say that no, I was talking about something else, but I realized the machine would count that as a lie. So I just said, "Yes. I think the killer… and probably Barrett himself… had to get into the South Quad tonight, and the only path is through the main quad. But it was pretty dark around the edges, so it'd be easy to sneak by."

He shrugged. "Probably?"

"What about the murder weapon?" Katy asked suddenly, sounding nervous. "Does anyone know what it could have been?"

"It was a table leg, according to the message we got," Juliet answered.

"I think it was from the computer lab," Bepi clarified. "Someone must have sharpened the end into a point, though."

"Was that the full weapon?" Rodrigo asked. "There was a confusing set of machinery at the murder scene, was there not?"

"Oh shit, booby traps!" Rocky yelped. "Booby traps, booby traps!"

"Ugh, stop saying 'booby,'" Jane muttered. "Someone less annoying: what on earth is he talking about?"

"There was a trap out in the South Quad tonight," I answered. "Rocky set off a trip wire, and then some kind of weird, amateur-looking machine launched off a pizza tray, which… I guess could have been intended as a weapon?"

"It was a very shitty booby trap, if it was a booby trap," Juliet piped up.

"Yeah, but maybe the killer made a good one!" Rocky said. "That coulda worked, right? Barrett walks in and sets off the trap, and kapow, table leg through the eyeball!"

"It'd be a very lucky shot, but I guess that's possible," I replied. "Who could make something like that?"

"I probably could," Bepi said. "I've done improvised weapons before. Uh, let me say very clearly though: I did not have anything to do with Barrett dying."

"I'd like to think anyone could construct a simple machine," Jane remarked, "but I suspect most of you could not. Needless to say, I could make an excellent murder trap. But I did not make anything involved in this murder."

Lucina tore off a message and held it up, I don't know anything at all about traps. But why would the killer have a bad one and then one that works so well?

"Misdirection?" Katy suggested. "Or maybe the one outside was supposed to just make a loud noise to be a warning."

"Wait," Juliet said, glaring starkly at Lucina. "Someone made those traps, and we shouldn't just move on past figuring out who. Giuseppe and Jane already answered, so let's keep that going." She primly placed her hands behind her back. "I can make booby traps, but I didn't make the ones that were in the South Quad tonight." She looked at Lucina expectantly.

Without once looking down at her lap to the paper she was writing on, Lucina wrote her response and thrust it out at Juliet: I've never made a trap or anything like those machines in the quad in my life.

I spoke up next. "Um, me too. I didn't make those traps, and I couldn't if I wanted to."

"I am trained in the art of building simple machinery," Rodrigo announced, "but I have never actually done so."

"Uh, yeah," Rocky said. "I can't change a tire, much less make the machines I saw tonight."

Katy still sounded odd and hesitant; I couldn't really put my finger on what was going on with her. "I didn't make any traps, and I don't know how to."

Jane raised an eyebrow. "Well," she mused. "Again, our killer has somehow outsmarted the machine."

"Maybe Barrett made them?" Rocky suggested.

"I don't think so," Bepi said. "It'd take more concentration than he probably could have been using."

There was a short pause, but before we could pursue anything further, Monokuma stomped his foot.

"You're almost out of time!" he yipped. "Make the most of it!"

"Aaa!" Rocky screeched, pressing his hands against the mechanism on his head. "What do we do? We still haven't solved the murder!"

Feeling myself literally sweating in the autumn coolness, I quickly mentioned the other thing I didn't understand. "There's one other thing," I pointed out. "There was a cube that said it had a secret weapon inside it, and earlier today, someone got in."

"Ay, it's true," Rodrigo spoke up. "But friend Saya, you told me you thought the weapon was electronic in nature, and there does not appear to be anything electronic used in Friend Barrett's death."

"Is that the thing you needed to hurt yourself to get?" Rocky asked me.

I felt the pain in my head again, so I quickly said, "Yeah."

"I attempted to retrieve the foul weapon earlier tonight," Rodrigo added. "Sadly, I failed."

"I can confirm that," I said. "I heard him yelling about it across the quad." I got a red light, and I cringed. "Okay, it wasn't across the quad. I was closer than that. But that pain did make him yell pretty loudly."

"Ay," Rodrigo said seriously. "Twas terrible agony; even one trained to withstand torture could not help shouting to the heavens! But I was hopeful I could withstand it."

"What's it even matter?," Juliet argued. "I doubt the mysterious secret weapon was a table leg from the computer lab or a weird, improvised booby trap."

I frowned. She was right, of course. But what could the secret weapon possibly be? What kind of thing would be a useful weapon, with a student stores that sold cheap machetes? What would a killer especially need now, here?

I froze. I suddenly realized it: I knew what the weapon was. My mouth fell open in horror.

"Ten seconds!" Monokuma suddenly bellowed.

My eyes widened, but I couldn't think of anything to say. Luckily, Jane's voice called out, "Before finding his body, I hadn't seen or heard Barrett since yesterday! Everyone else say when you last saw him alive or it'll be suspicious!"

But she hadn't fully thought it through, because the response was a clamoring mess of everyone talking at once. I managed to see the note Lucina held up: I haven't seen him since last evening. And I caught Bepi say 'today,' Katy say 'didn't see him,' and Rocky say what I think was 'yesterday.' Juliet didn't say anything.

I didn't hear what Rodrigo said, but a second after he finished speaking, his light flashed red.

"Time's up!" Monokuma shouted. "Time for the trial, you brats! Head to the monolith, post-haste!" He switched off the machine and jumped away, disappearing.

"Uh, Roddy, what did you say just now that was a lie?" Rocky asked.

"I did not lie!" Rodrigo yelped, horrified. "I merely said I saw Friend Barrett alive this morning, which is the truth!"

I wasn't sure what to think. I glanced down at my lap and saw the blank personality paper there: I hadn't taken any notes. I suddenly had an idea.

Jane glared at Rodrigo, but then she sighed and started disconnecting herself from the machine. "Well, no point now." She raised an eyebrow at me. "I hope you got what you needed, Miss Marple."

I had already taken my stuff off, and I think I surprised her by marching right over to her. "Not quite," I said. I leaned in. "Please do me a favor, for the investigation?"

She pulled back, apparently startled I'd gotten so close. "Um. Yes, dear, what can I do?"

"On the way back, please go into the module where we found Barrett. Take one of the personality tests and, as fast as you can, fill it out randomly. Then, press the paper against Barrett's hand, and slide it into the slot."

"…Why?"

"No time; I'll tell you later. Take someone with you, it doesn't matter who. Just so you'll have another witness to back you up."

I started to turn, but she spoke up. "No, I mean… why me? You don't… trust me, do you?"

"Of course I do, you're my friend." And I turned away before she had a chance to talk back.

I went to find Bepi. I had wanted to ask him to do me a favor too, but he was a step ahead of me. "Hey, I got everyone's papers to see if they took notes. I wanted to look them over in case I missed something."

I smiled gratefully. "That's exactly what I was going to ask you for."

SOUTH QUAD

As we walked, he showed me the papers he had collected. I couldn't see who had been taking notes during the session, but it looked like the only people were Rocky, Katy, Rodrigo, and Bepi himself.

"That's a good mix of perspectives," I said.

He just shrugged. "I glanced them over, but I didn't see anything I'd forgotten about. I'm not a bad-ass chess genius, though." He held up a finger.

I almost broke into a coughing fit from the compliment, but I successfully kept it together.

"Did anyone not want you to see what they wrote?" I asked.

He paused, kind of oddly. "Um. Katy, maybe? But don't read too much into that, she's pretty stressed.

I raised an eyebrow at him, but I didn't have time to think about it. I glanced over the notes, trying to remember every detail of the session as I did.

Rocky's paper was… not very well organized.

everyone's innocent

suicide—don't forget could be suicide

JULIET DRUGGED HIM

Luce has alibi thank god

BOOBY TRAP holy shit BOOBY TRAP

booby trap boobie trap booby or boobie

boobie looks weird it's booby

now they both look weird

It's someone smart enough to trick the machine. But everyone here is smart! Katy writes, good with words. don't forget SAYA

saya or katy

not Roddy.

Rodrigo's notes were much more detailed, thankfully.

S: No.
G: I did not kill Barrett.
L: I didn't do it either (written)
K: I didn't kill him.
J: I killed Barrett. (lie)
J: I did not kill Barrett Wood.
R: Me neither.

No obvious loophole.

L is less reticent than usual… protecting K.

L: He died around 11:15. Katy and I were together then. We have alibis.
K: My room. In my room.
L: Yes. We were in her room, together.

I see no loophole. Love - honor NOT temptation. Remember: thank god in prayers for classmates' good hearts

J: I can make booby traps, but I didn't make the ones that were in the South Quad tonight.
L: I've never made a trap or anything like those machines in the quad in my life.
S: Me too. I didn't make those traps, and I couldn't if I wanted to.
R: I can't change a tire, much less make the machines I saw tonight.
K: I didn't make any traps, and I don't know how to.
G: I can make improvised weapons, but I did not have anything to do with Barrett dying. (approximate)
J: I can make those machines but I didn't make anything involved with Barret's murder. (approximate)

again no clear loophole.

follow heart. trust. God gave us reason. I am confident we will find the killer

Bepi's was… more esoteric.

note pronouns, pronouns can be ambiguous.

and helping verbs. language! clarity, machine cares about language, note ambiguity

yes

what is a lie?

statement can conflict with belief. a belief is a thought with a certain amount of confidence.

connection to ruined computer lab and cafeteria. Table leg.

INDIRECT MURDER

remember how commanders talked remember the double-speak

Juliet is DISTRACTION ignore Juliet

Rocky was in quad

traps

a lie. no red lights.

Jane's making everyone say they didn't make the traps—good

truth is confidence. Everything is a 'probably.' were there adverbs?

Rodrigo

Katy's was just odd.

Giuseppe Saya Lucina Me Juliet Jane Rodrigo Rocky (each of these names was crossed out)

?

he was drugged!

Lucinq sa (this was crossed out too, and there was nothing else written on the page)

I glanced up at Bepi, the confusion probably showing on my face. "Uh, yeah," he said. "Sorry for the glimpse into my thought process; it's pretty dark in here." He tapped his temple, smiling wanly.

"It's okay," I said. I felt weird, like there was something here staring me in the face but I couldn't see it. "I think… I think I have almost all the information I need. I just haven't put it together yet."

MAIN QUAD

By that time, we arrived at the monolith in the main quad. Monokuma stood, impatiently barking things I stopped even listening to. We were going to get on the elevator, go down, and do it again. We would have to… and for the first time, something hit me emotionally about this whole thing. We were going to go kill someone. We were going to take someone out of the world, and everything they could have done or been was just going to turn to nothing.

A hand touched my shoulder, and I jumped in shock (despite my sadness, I was apparently still so neurotic that I could switch over to fright pretty easily). Jane stood there, unsuccessfully trying to look blasé.

"I did your stupid thing," she grunted. "Monk-man came with me. I put the thing in the slot like you asked. Dare I even ask what the point was?"

"Uh. What did the computer say? After you put the test in the slot?"

"Oh, the same thing it says every time," she answered. "Incorrect personality."

I took a deep breath. "Okay," I said. "Thanks."

She rolled her eyes and strolled over to the elevator. I followed her; we all stood huddled close together, trying to make the place seem more crowded than it was.

For some reason, the only thing I could look at during the elevator's descent was Juliet's face. Her mouth was in a smug grin, but her eyes looked… she looked like she was grieving. I tried not to think about why.

"If it helps, as one or more of us descend to our deaths, I think good ol' Therion is looking down on us and smiling," she said. "We just saw the impossible: someone killed him, but a perfect lie detector said we were all telling the truth when we denied it. It's just such a classic murder mystery."

I don't think anyone even had the energy to tell her to shut up. We just rode down in tense silence.

As always, I am pretty sure readers have everything they need to solve the case now. Good luck!