Haru smiled widely. "Alright! Let's unveil it, why don't we?"
Haru turned around and began to reach behind the other side of his bed. It turned out that there was actually something besides it that Naoko hadn't yet noticed, that being an opaque, blue plastic storage container. Haru had to use both hands to grab the container, it being around 4 feet long and looking like it had as much storage space as the majority of the plastic containers in the primary storage room. In fact, it was likely that he got it from there at some point. Naoko was pretty sure, among the large amount of large containers, that he had seen one much like the one that Haru had in his room.
Once Haru had lifted the container off the ground, he unceremoniously plopped the container onto his bed. He stood beside Naoko and adjusted it so that it was right in front of both of them.
"Nice, eh?" Haru asked.
"I don't know. You haven't shown me what's in it," Naoko pointed out.
Haru sighed. "Alright, alright, I get it. It's not like you have x-ray vision or whatever. Still, I put it in a pretty big box. That's how you know I made somethin' pretty damn sweet."
Naoko looked between Haru and the container. "You made what's in there?"
"Shit, I guess I didn't mention that," Haru muttered, placing his hand on his neck. "Yeah. Remember I made those frames for those paper things you made? That shit ain't all that I made."
"Well, why are you keeping it in a container?" Naoko asked.
"'Cause," Haru said, "like a lotta the details 'bout the party, Eryu didn't want IMONO knowin' about this. 'Course, this was just stuff that needed to be made 'n case we needed it...or need it later." Haru gave Naoko a knowing look.
"That's interesting," Naoko said. "So this is pretty under-wraps, then?"
"Oh, totally," Haru replied. "IMONO ain't gettin' a peep inside this box, if I can help it. Now, just take a peek inside. Otherwise, the inside a' the box might show up on camera."
Naoko nodded in understanding as he stepped forward a bit and began to open the container slowly. His intent was to do what Haru wished him to do, and that was to unclamp the lid, lift it up, look inside, see the container's contents, and close it up again. Said plan didn't involve gasping, of course, but that didn't stop Naoko from doing so as he saw inside the container.
The objects inside of the container were arguably quite mundane, but what they meant was certainly interesting. Both of the objects were metal tools with wooden handles, and were fairly large, but not large enough to be unable to fit inside of the container. The first item was clearly a shovel. Alone, it may not have seemed very useful, but in conjunction with the second item, its true purpose became clear. The second item was another tool with a metal head that, with the handle, formed a bit of a T shape. One end was rather long and had a sharp point, while the other was shorter and had more of a chisel-like end.
A shovel and a pickaxe. Digging tools. Naoko had both thought of and penned the idea that they could brute-force their way out of the facility they were trapped in so long as they had the necessary tools and the opportunity to do so. And, if what he was seeing was any indication, they had the first part figured out.
Naoko shut the lid and looked at Haru. "You made these?"
"Yep," Haru replied. "Y'see what I mean? These are some 'just in case' items, y'know?"
Naoko nodded understandingly. "Yeah, I see what you mean. Just…" Naoko stopped for a moment as he realized something quite worrisome. "Actually, since you're not going to be here, I guess this thing is just going to be out in the open."
"What, you think IMONO's gonna take a peek inside?" Haru asked. "Eh, I dunno 'bout that. After all, the damn thing's lettin' us do all sorts a' shit behind each other's backs. Machines may be takin' our jobs, but they ain't gonna be takin' away our privacy just yet."
Naoko laughed at this statement. Perhaps doing so could be considered a bit rude, but he felt like, realistically speaking, it wasn't the truest statement he'd heard.
Haru grimaced a bit as he saw him laugh. "What's so funny?"
"Sorry," Naoko replied, his laughter dying down. "I just think that what you said's kind of funny."
"Funny? Why the hell would it be funny? I just said that fancy tech like-"
Haru stopped suddenly as he went wide-eyed, and soon began laughing uproariously.
"Aahahaha! Oh man, that is funny!"
The two then shared a nice laugh together. All in all, it wasn't the worst experience one could have while visiting a prisoner. By no means did Naoko think what Haru did to end up a prisoner (well, of a sort) was excusable, but he didn't really think that Haru was a bad person either. They just needed time before they could all trust him again.
After their meeting, it was only a simple matter of reporting back what he and Haru had spoken of. After speaking with both Bankei and Haru, they could let everyone know exactly what had occurred between them. From their understanding, Haru had threatened Bankei, hoping she would admit to her alleged wrongdoing. She then began to argue back, claiming him to be at fault, only to cause him to snap by criticizing his view of his profession. It was a bit odd, really, but it was what Bankei had said, and Haru wasn't denying any of it, so it seemed as though it was the truth.
Additionally, there was the matter of what Haru had made, which Naoko was surprisingly unaware of. He asked Eryu discreetly why he hadn't told him about it yet. As he expected, he got his reply similarly discreetly, in the form of a hastily-scribbled note.
"Sorry about that," it read. "I was planning on bringing it up soon after the party ended, as we had a lot of business to attend to beforehand. Of course, unforeseen circumstances got in the way."
Oh, Naoko thought. Well, considering how things were just yesterday, not even including what had occurred previously that day, it wasn't like there weren't more important matters. At least learning about it from Haru was a nice surprise.
As for what would happen next, apparently they would have to continue bringing Haru meals and such. In order to do so, they would have to figure out some sort of shift system, where some of them would take turns bringing things to Haru in his room. There was also the matter of Bankei, who was going to need a lot of attention for as long as she was going to be more or less incapacitated, but Mareo had thus far been taking good care of her. All in all, it had been quite the stressful day, and all that needed to be done meant that it was going to end sooner rather than later. And sure enough…
*Dong, Ding, Dong!*
"THE TIME IS NOW 10PM. IT IS NOW NIGHTTIME. YOU MAY CONTINUE YOUR CURRENT ACTIVITIES, BUT I WOULD RECOMMEND YOU RETURN TO YOUR ROOMS AS SOON AS YOU ARE ABLE. SWEET DREAMS."
Yep. That was to be expected. Really, it was kind of strange how used to hearing that Naoko already was. Perhaps that was just what happened when someone heard something like that multiple nights in a row.
"OH, AND ONE MORE THING."
Wait, what? Naoko was confused. Another message sent over the speakers after the nighttime announcement? Was IMONO going to try to "fix" their relationship with each other again, or something?
"APOLOGIES IF THIS IS SUDDEN. I SIMPLY WISH TO LET EVERYONE KNOW BEFOREHAND THAT I EXPECT ALL AVAILABLE INDIVIDUALS TO COME TO THE GYMNASIUM EARLY TOMORROW. THERE, ALL OF YOU, WITH THE OBVIOUS EXCEPTION OF HARU AND BANKEI, CAN EXPECT A DUAL ANNOUNCEMENT, BOTH OF WHICH SHOULD INTEREST YOU. THAT IS ALL."
Well, that sounded interesting. Not entirely in a good way, of course, considering how dubious IMONO was in regards to believability and/or sanity. The fact that it was a "dual announcement" was definitely intriguing, though. Perhaps one of those announcements had to do with something that Naoko himself had thought about previously.
As was expected, not long into the following day, that familiar synthetic voice was heard yet again.
*Dong, Ding, Dong!*
"HELLO AGAIN. I HOPE YOU HAVE ALL HAD A LOVELY BREAKFAST. PLEASE, EVERYONE THAT IS AVAILABLE, COME TO THE GYMNASIUM FOR TODAY'S DUAL ANNOUNCEMENT."
That was something that seemingly nobody was happy about. This could be extrapolated by the fact that among those that were currently confined, and were therefore heading towards the gymnasium, Naoko couldn't find even a single person who looked happy or excited. Then again, that was to be expected. The last two times they went to the gymnasium to speak with IMONO, it went poorly. At least partially because of the fact that those two times were related to some sort of "plan" on its part.
And as they made their way into the gymnasium, the large screen began descending from the ceiling again. Switching on, it was the same image as Naoko had expected.
"GREETINGS. NOW, UNFORTUNATELY, I CAN SEE THAT AMONG YOU, THERE ARE ONLY TEN OF YOU HERE. I WOULD MUCH PREFER IT IF ALL TWELVE OF YOU WERE HERE, BUT FOR UNDERSTANDABLE REASONS, NOT ALL OF YOU CAN BE HERE."
"Well, what else were you expecting?" Mareo asked. "Bankei is recovering from being attacked, and Haru's being isolated in his room."
"THAT IS TRUE. IT IS QUITE UNFORTUNATE THAT THEIR ALTERCATION OCCURRED. IT DOES NOT HELP MATTERS THAT IT MEANS THEY CANNOT BE HERE. I WILL NEED TO FORMULATE A SPECIALIZED MESSAGE TO SEND TO THEM ON THEIR PHONES."
"Those phones you gave us?" Ishi asked curiously.
"YES."
"Hm," Takeshi responded ponderously. "I just thought of something. If you can give us all messages on our phones, why don't you give your announcements through phone messages?"
"I HAVE CONSIDERED DOING THIS. HOWEVER, I FEEL THAT GIVEN YOUR PAST BEHAVIOR, THIS WOULD NOT BE THE BEST WAY TO SHARE INFORMATION WITH YOU ALL. CONSIDER WHEN I GAVE YOU ALL INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ONE ANOTHER TO DISCUSS, AND YOU INITIALLY HESITATED TO READ THEM."
"Oh yeah!" Mine said understandingly. "I guess that really did have consequences, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess I see what you're saying," Takeshi added. "Damn. I thought I might've been onto something there."
"WELL, IT WAS BY NO MEANS A BAD QUESTION."
"If it was an acceptable question, then would it be okay if I asked you a question as well?" Hoshi asked.
"OF COURSE."
Hoshi then took a deep breath, seemingly preparing himself for what he was going to say. "I'm simply curious about what happened yesterday. You've acknowledged it yourself, but...I've been thinking about what I said, and how it inspired Haru to do what he did. My assumption was that Bankei wrote that letter that Yasuo received. Was I correct in thinking that?"
This question caused IMONO to pause briefly before answering.
"YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU IF BANKEI DID INDEED FABRICATED A LETTER?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm asking," Hoshi confirmed.
"WELL THEN. I'M SORRY, BUT I AM NOT GOING TO ACT AS YOUR GROUP'S TATTLETALE. IF YOU WISH TO DETERMINE SUCH THINGS, IT WOULD BE BEST THAT YOU INVESTIGATE FOR YOURSELVES RATHER THAN RELY ON MY OWN KNOWLEDGE."
"What?!" Hoshi asked, taken aback by IMONO's reply. "But you've already-"
"AS FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS MEETING, I SHALL MAKE MY TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS."
Hoshi was initially baffled by being cut off mid-sentence like that, but at the same time, he didn't seem like he was up to talking back to IMONO so quickly. Instead, he simply let out a sigh, before lowering his head despondently. From there, the dual announcement commenced.
"FIRSTLY, IT IS IMPORTANT FOR YOU ALL TO KNOW THAT SOON ENOUGH, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO EXPLORE THE THIRD FLOOR OF THE FACILITY."
This was actually an interesting announcement. Naoko had imagined that they would receive word of the facility's third floor, and, well, they had just gotten it. The group's reactions were notably positive, despite the concern many had previously. Several chimed in with positive responses, such as Ishi, who offered up a "Seriously? Hell yeah!", or Yori, who simply gave a basic "Very good," response.
"AH. IT IS GOOD TO SEE THAT YOU ARE HAPPY TO HEAR THIS. NOW, AS FOR THE SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT. THIS IS IN RELATION TO SOME CONCERNS YOU'VE ALL SEEM TO HAVE IN REGARDS TO THE QUALITY OF THE TIME YOU'VE SPENT HERE."
"What the hell do you expect?" Kimi asked judgmentally. "This place fucking sucks."
"I DISAGREE. BUT, IF YOU ALL FEEL THAT YOUR TIME HERE COULD BE IMPROVED, I CAN PROVIDE AID IN THIS REGARD. YOU SEE, I HAVE DEVISED A MEANS TO NOT ONLY KEEP YOUR SPIRITS HIGH, BUT ALSO ADDRESS SOME SPECIFIC CONCERNS THAT HAVE BEEN RAISED."
"Specific concerns? Like what?" Naoko asked.
"WELL, YOU SEE, I HAVE NOTICED A RECENT PHENOMENON, SO TO SPEAK, IN YOUR GROUP. KIMI HAS REPEATEDLY EXPRESSED CONCERN THAT YOU ALL DO NOT LIKE HER, AND THAT SHE IS A 'PUNCHING BAG' OF SORTS."
"It's kinda true," Kimi shrugged.
"Wait a moment," Yori chimed in. "Is this supposed to be an attempt to...improve our relationship with one another?"
"TO AN EXTENT, YES."
This answer caused the mood in the room to worsen dramatically. Naoko felt like things weren't too great before. They had gotten some good news, sure, but bad news was still a possibility. And, well, upon hearing that, people weren't happy. Some looked angry, some looked worried, others looked flat-out afraid. Naoko supposed that Yori had a point yesterday. Yet again, IMONO was going to make an attempt to help them get along, and people were not taking it well.
"Oh," Yori said flatly, looking a bit like she herself was worried. "I'm sorry that I asked."
"DO NOT FEEL SORRY. IT IS GOOD THAT YOU ASKED. YOU SEE, KIMI IS AN ARTIST BY TRADE. SHE IS AN ENTERTAINER. AND IT IS MY OPINION THAT YOU ALL COULD USE SOME ENTERTAINMENT."
"Technically, we already have entertainment," Mareo pointed out. "We have games, music,-"
"And we got each other, right?" Ishi added. "We can have a ton of fun together, know what I mean?" As she said this, her voice took on a bit of a suggestive tone, which gave her words a rather obvious meaning.
"Gross," Kimi responded.
"WELL, IN THAT REGARD, I WILL NOT STOP YOU. HOWEVER, NONE OF YOU ATTEMPTED TO GO THAT ROUTE WHILE YOU WERE UNDER THE EFFECTS OF LITA-22, SO IT IS CLEAR THAT THERE MUST BE OTHER WAYS TO ENJOY YOUR TIME HERE. SHOW OF HANDS: HOW MANY OF YOU WOULD BE INTERESTED IN SOME VISUAL MEDIA, SUCH AS A MOVIE?"
Very quickly, everyone in the room had their hand up.
"I SEE. WELL, I HAVE LIMITED ACCESS TO SUCH MEDIA AT THE MOMENT, BUT I DO HAPPEN TO HAVE SOMETHING THAT SHOULD AID IN BOTH YOUR LACK OF ENTERTAINMENT AND YOUR APPRECIATION FOR YOUR FRIEND KIMI."
Kimi's eyes widened as she seemed to realize what that meant. "Oh my god! Are you saying you're gonna be showing everyone my work?"
"YES, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I AM INTENDING."
Kimi pumped her fist in the air exuberantly. "Hell yes! Finally, something decent around here!"
"That sounds fine," Eryu weighed in, "but how exactly are you going to be showing us this work?"
"IT IS SIMPLE. APPROACHING NIGHTTIME, ONCE YOU HAVE ALL EATEN, I WILL SEND YOU A MEDIA FILE THROUGH A MESSAGE SENT TO EACH OF YOUR PHONE'S INBOXES. WITH EACH OF YOUR DEVICES, YOU CAN ENJOY KIMI'S OWN CREATIONS BEFORE YOU GO TO SLEEP. DOESN'T THAT SOUND LOVELY?"
"Sounds cool!" Mine said excitedly.
"Sounds good to me," Takeshi added.
"On the surface, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the idea," Yori said. "Still, I'd like to ask if there's anything you haven't explained to us about this."
"I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS REQUIRES ANY MORE EXPLANATION. I HAVE TOLD YOU WHAT I INTEND TO DO. THUS, I WOULD LIKE TO CALL AN END TO THIS DUAL ANNOUNCEMENT. I RECOMMEND YOU ALL GO AND EXAMINE THE THIRD FLOOR. YOU SHOULD ENJOY IT GREATLY."
Before anyone could speak up, the screen turned off and began to raise back up again. Some of them seemed a bit frustrated by the abrupt ending, but nonetheless, few people stayed long before filing out of the room. Naoko was among those few that lagged behind, as he noticed that Kimi seemed bothered by something. Considering the fact that she seemed really happy about the news they'd been given not long ago, this confused him greatly.
"Something bothering you?" Naoko asked, going up to her.
"Huh?" Kimi asked back. "Don't worry about it. I just thought of something."
"What's that?"
"Eh. Something just sorta popped in my head, is all," Kimi explained. "I don't wanna admit it, but...Well, it's just that IMONO didn't say shit about what work of mine exactly we'd be getting from it. For all I know, it might show us some of my more, y'know, mediocre stuff."
"Mediocre, huh?" Naoko replied. "You don't like some of your own work?"
"Duh," Kimi said, looking at him judgmentally. "Just 'cause I'm proud of my work doesn't mean I think all my work is top-notch. Later."
Kimi then followed everyone else out of the gymnasium. Naoko was a bit put off by how she basically ditched him, but it could've been worse, really. Also, he felt like he didn't want to stay in the room for long, either, so he decided to shrug it off for the time being and follow her.