"I'm just saying," Paris said, swerving the van through another yellow light. "Even if he learns the truth about Danganronpa, that doesn't mean his feelings for you are gonna change."
Himiko crossed her arms, sinking deeper into the passenger seat. "He doesn't have any feelings for me." she sulked. "Just like I don't have any for him. That's what I keep telling you."
"Yeah, yeah," Paris smirked. "I watched the fifth class trial with everyone else. I saw how you looked when he said he liked you."
Himiko stiffened, the mention of that impossible case igniting traces of fear and confusion still lingering in her heart. "That was just Kaito pretending to be Kokichi," she muttered. "And anyway, I bet Kokichi only put that in his script to mess with me." Himiko lowered her hat over her eyes, grateful she had thought to grab a spare uniform from the Academy's remains.
Paris glanced at Himiko, but said nothing more. The patter of rain against the windshield filled the silence as the Ultimate Hacker navigated the grey city streets, taking sudden turns and back routes every time she could. "Defensive driving," she had called it. The small, boxy jammer on the dashboard kept the vehicle cloaked from the drones hovering around the city, but Team Danganronpa wasn't above using good old-fashioned tails to track their enemies.
Himiko hazarded a glance over her shoulder. The back of the van was crammed with wires and monitors, a loose collage of tech Paris had turned into a mobile base over her years on the run. On a futon in the thick of the mess sat Kokichi, his indigo pupils lit by the tablet in his hands. Though Himiko couldn't make out the screen, she knew what he was watching: a playlist of news reports, behind-the-scenes footage, and recorded broadcasts of the 53rd season, all picked by Paris to bring the Ultimates she rescued up to speed. It was a devastating montage, one that laid bare the truth about Team Danganronpa, Killing Entertainment, and the sterile society they helped maintain. Even though Himiko had already known the Killing Semester was a lie, she was still almost reduced to a sobbing mess the first time she saw those videos.
So why was Kokichi's face completely blank?
Paris sighed, pulling Himiko's attention forward. "Sorry," the Hacker murmured. "I know it's annoying when I get all mushy and...matchmake-y or whatever. But I can't help it. That's how Team Danganronpa wrote me." She laughed ruefully. "It's a good gimmick, right? 'The genius hacker obsessed with romance, hoping to escape the Killing Game and reunite with her one true love...'" her smile dropped. "'Course, that love turned out to be a lie. Just like everything else."
Himiko was taken aback. Paris had never really talked about her experience as a contestant before. At first, Himiko had just known her as the mysterious voice that piped into her hotel room, urging her to escape and helping her dodge security. Then, when Himiko met Paris in person, she became that pushy, pink-haired girl who wouldn't shut up about the Magician's love life. Now...
"Nyeh..." Himiko said, meeting Paris' apologetic gaze. "That sounds hard."
Paris shrugged. "I dunno. It's kinda poetic when you think about it. A romance lost forever...an lifelong quest to find real love...as purposes go, that's not so bad, right?"
Himiko smiled. "Yeah. I guess it's kinda pretty when you look at it that way."
"So it was all a lie," Kokichi said.
The two girls exchanged a startled look. Himiko turned in her seat, and saw Kokichi placing the tablet down, his expression still completely unreadable.
"Not just the Gofer project," he stated flatly. "Our lives, our memories, even our talents...none of them were real?"
Himiko swallowed and nodded, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Would he scream in anger? Cry in despair? Lie and say he saw it coming all along?
A smile slowly spread across Kokichi's features. It was a smile Himiko knew well; a smile shining with innocence, yet dripping with malice; a smile that seemed to suck the light out of the room, until all you could focus on was that horrible, diabolical grin.
"That's brilliant!" The Overlord cackled.
Chloe woke in her bed with a start. It was that same dream again: the nightmare that had invaded her sleep since the end of her 53rd season. A vision of herself back in the streets of New Munich, alone and abandoned, all power, influence, and talent stripped from her body. Chloe ran her fingers through her hair, forcing herself to calm down. It was okay. She wasn't going back.
No matter what happened, she would never, ever go back.
"Security feed, main entrance," she commanded into the air. Instantly, a screen on her wall blinked to life, illuminating the rest of her bedroom. It was an expansive, yet sparse space, the furniture and decor unchanged since Team Danganronpa had first given her the space. The Psychologist had made only one addition: a long painting at the head of her bed, depicting one of her favorite optical illusions. To a casual observer, it would appear to be a print of a gorgeous bed of wildflowers. Yet upon closer inspection, one would instead see a field of carefully arranged body parts instead. A reminder that not everything was as it seemed.
Chloe's eyes narrowed as a live camera feed of the Monokuma Hotel appeared on her screen. She had viewed this stream easily one hundred times since Lady Hope had sentenced her to indefinite suspension, pending investigation. Chloe would call it her compulsive check-ins a coping mechanism, but the video she saw brought her absolutely zero comfort.
On the screen, she could make out the clustered protestors outside of the hotel gates, standing vigil even in the pouring rain. She could also make out the huge transport trucks parked in the wall's interior, each bearing the logo of Odafe's tech company.
It was as Chloe feared: the Programmer was using her absence as an excuse to take over the security of the hotel, probably with the goal of proving her obsolete. She knew Odafe had his own opinions on how best to keep Danganronpa safe, but this was more than an experiment. This was a naked power grab. Of course Odafe wouldn't be satisfied with just one title and talent, the arrogant, aristocratic piece of...
Chloe clenched her fist. It took every ounce of will she had just to stop from marching over to the hotel this instant and throttling the Programmer with her bare hands. But Lady Hope was very clear: Chloe was a de facto prisoner on the company campus until the investigation was complete. If she...WHEN she got her job back, there was gonna be hell to pay. She swore it.
Chloe blinked. There was new movement on the security feed.
Hold on...was that...?
Maki paused as she was re-racking the dumbbells, listening carefully to the air round her. She tuned out the hum of the hotel gym's fan, focusing on the hallway just beyond the entrance.
No footsteps. That wasn't right. There should be a patrol passing any second now. Maki had memorized the routes and schedules of the guards on her floor months ago, and the pattern had held until now. Were they delayed by some emergency? Maybe some of the security team had been sent after Himiko, leaving gaps in their defenses. Whatever the reason, the Assassin had gone through her entire nighttime training regimen without detecting a single presence outside.
And that meant she had an opportunity.
Maki moved to the mats in the corner and began her cool-down routine. It was the same as every night: 100 sit-ups, 100 push-ups, and a series of stretches carefully orchestrated to block the view of the security cameras. As she finished, she reached into a a concealed tear in the mat, and withdrew the steak knife she had stolen her first night in the hotel. It was hardly an ideal weapon: the balance was all wrong for combat, and the blade wasn't honed to inflict the quick, decisive wounds the Assassin favored. Cutting down targets with this would be like trying to eat spaghetti with her hands: messy, but it would get the job done. As Shuichi had guessed, Team Danganronpa would likely exhaust every option before execution. If she was fast, she might be able to fight her way to freedom before the guards were cleared to use lethal force. It was a long shot, but she had to take it.
The impossible was possible. All she had to do was make it so.
Steeling herself for war, Maki stormed over to the gym door and threw it open. An empty hallway greeted her on the other side, blood-red carpet running in either direction. Keeping the knife at the ready, Maki dashed down the open corridor, feet barely making a sound as she ran. Her heightened senses detected no threats in the immediate area-no clack of shouldered weapons or whiff of cheap deodorant. So far so good. If she could make it to the stairs without a single encounter, her chances of success skyrocketed. From there, she could make her way down to Shuichi's room without drawing too much attention, and then the Detective could help her avoid the remaining security blocks on their way to freedom. It was all falling into place. She just needed to...
Maki rounded the corner and froze in her tracks.
Two hulking creatures were waiting for her several yards away, standing motionless beside the stairway entrance. Within a split second, Maki recognized their hunched forms and blinking red eyes.
They were Exisals.
Or, more accurately, a new, more compact version of the metallic beasts, with an extra set of limbs and no room for a cockpit. If Maki had to guess, she would wager that these were what had replaced the usual, flesh-and-blood soldiers. Perfect. Just perfect. She had brought a knife to a robot fight.
Before Maki could turn back, the Exisals' red eyes lit up. They started forward, articulated claws clicking to life, limbs extending into a combat stance.
This was bad. All of Maki's expertise was in the art of killing humans. Taking down opponents that didn't bleed, didn't feel pain, and had an extra set of limbs to boot-the Assassin was at a serious disadvantage.
The first Exisal let out a guttural roar as it swung at Maki's torso. She leapt out of the way with centimeters to spare, springing off the wall and landing on top of her attacker. Before it could recover, she jammed the knife into its shoulder socket, stabbing through the narrow gap between its armored plating. Sparks flew and the beast squealed, its rightmost arms going limp. Perfect. Now all she had to do was wrench the knife free and...
The blade caught with a metallic click, throwing Maki off balance. It was stuck! Before the Assassin could readjust, the second Exisal was upon her, swinging both its left arms into her side. The blow knocked the air from her lungs, and set her careening into a nearby painting, shattering the frame.
She landed on the floor with a pained wheeze, shards of glass raining around her. In their reflection, she could see the Exisals approaching. The tactician inside her screamed for retreat but...but...she couldn't give up now. She had to get out. She had to find Himiko. She had to...
The first Exisal reached for Maki's leg, its iron grip closing around her ankle. Maki spun around and delivered a kick to the robot's elbow joint. The blow would've shattered a human's arm instantly; on the Exisal, it was barely enough to loosen its grip. Still, she managed to slip from the abomination's grasp, and rise to her feet in time to spring away from the follow up. She scooped up a loose piece of glass as she rolled past the first Exisal, and shot the improvised dagger at the eye of the second creature. The projectile struck true, forcing its target back a pace. The way to the stairs was clear. Maki sprinted forward.
Only to have her legs yanked from under her. Before Maki could twist around to counter, she felt herself hoisted into the air, the entire world flipping before her eyes. It was then that she saw it: the first Exisal's tail was coiling up her calves, rapidly restraining her from head to toe. It wasn't long before her entire body was wrapped tight, the metal cable squeezing hard it was difficult to breathe.
With a chirp of approval, the Exisal's marched back the way Maki had come, the Assassin dangling helpless behind them.
So close...she had been so close to freedom.
Now she wondered if she would ever taste it again.
Odafe sipped from his glass as he watched Maki's capture on the monitor, the success of his Exisals only making the taste of wine that much sweeter. He chuckled to himself. What a fool Schwarzblum was, to have trusted the Ultimate's guardianship with mere humans. His automatons may not have much personality or charisma, but they would never fall for the illusions of a magician. Or the combat prowess of an assassin.
The Programmer reclined at his desk, taking in the splendor of the penthouse suite around him. The entirety of Tokyo was visible in the floor-to-ceiling windows in front of him, a constellation of twinkling lights and holo-ads. Yes...Odafe could get used to this view. It was fitting for a genius such as himself, a man with Danganronpa royalty running in his blood. Once he was in control of security as well as tech, it was only a matter of time before the other departments fell under his influence as well. Soon, even Lady Hope herself would have to acknowledge his prowess. Odafe shivered at the very thought.
With a few nibble keystrokes, the Head of Technology ran a diagnostic on the Exisals Maki had encountered. The damage to their systems was negligible; Odafe doubted he would even have to take them in for maintenance until their next scheduled rotation. Still, it wouldn't hurt to play it safe. Complacency may have been Schwarzblum's undoing, but it would not be his.
Before he could authorize the guard change, a notification blipped on the monitor. One of his scanners had picked up abnormal motion. Curious, Odafe tabbed over to the main exterior camera, expecting to find a bird or rodent had stood in front of the lens a bit too long.
What he saw caused him to choke on his drink.
Sputtering, he ran a quick scan of his systems, convinced the feed had somehow been tampered with. But, as impossible as it was, the image was authentic.
Outside the hotel gates, the crowd of protestors had parted around three figures.
The first Odafe recognized as Paris, the Ultimate Hacker-turned-fugitive. She was standing completely still, shivering in the rain, hands clasped on her head in submission.
The second subject was none other the escaped magician, Himiko Yumeno. She was being held as a human shield, a foreign arm wrapped around her waist and a knife at her throat.
And holding that knife...was Kokichi Oma. Back from the dead, and wearing a smile that would chill the Devil himself.
As though sensing Odafe's gaze, the Overlord looked directly into the camera, his eyes sparkling. "Neeheehe," he laughed. "Guess who's back in the game?"
TO BE CONTINUED...