The rest of the day went by without much else to speak of. Naoko was sort of expecting to be pulled away for something important, but it seemed as though that wasn't the case. He was just sort of left alone, and was able to enjoy a fairly mellow rest of the day.

The morning of the next day seemed to go fairly smoothly as well. He met up with most everyone, and though people weren't exactly ecstatic, things were looking up compared to yesterday. People were speaking fairly casually, and didn't seem particularly perturbed by anything. It all seemed pretty inconspicuous…

Well, for the most part. After a while, he noticed that Eryu and Yori were sitting next to each other, and were speaking in a low voice, not seeming to want to bring attention to themselves. He wasn't far away, so he was able to pick up a little bit, but what he picked up didn't sound particularly secretive from the outset. Still, he knew what that secret cant of theirs sounded like, and that's what their conversation sounded like to him. Whatever it was they were talking about, it must've been important.

There was a free spot next to Yori. He figured he'd join in the chatter.

"Mind if I butt in?" Naoko asked casually, sitting down next to them.

"Naoko, buddy," Eryu greeted him happily. "I was wondering when you'd join us."

"Sorry, I just didn't realize," Naoko apologized. "I'm guessing since I kinda had a free day yesterday, we're gonna have to get down to business today?"

"More or less," Yori supposed. "It's good to know you're as savvy as ever."

Naoko chuckled. "Well, thanks. I just feel that way since I kinda went off on my own yesterday while the rest of you were searching. Did you find anything while I was gone?"

"Not much," Yori said. "The only thing that was unexpected was what appeared to be a large folder full of research papers. We aren't entirely sure why they're there, but IMONO didn't seem to have a problem with us going through them."

"Really? So, was there anything odd about them?" Naoko asked.

"We're afraid nobody we've talked to can understand more than a little bit of what's in them," Eryu replied. "The closest thing we got for an actual explanation was from Mareo, who said they seem to be 'only partially related to medical science'. Not sure what he meant by that."

Naoko tried to give some thought as to what that would imply, but…well, his knowledge of science was fairly limited in its scope. He was decently knowledgeable in some fields, sure, but what were the odds that those papers would include anything he really knew about?

He shook his head. "I guess I could take a look at it, but I can't promise anything."

"That's fine," Eryu said understandingly. "Honestly, that's not what we've really been interested in anyway. After this, we're gonna head down to the fourth floor and see what we can do with what's in it."

Naoko's eyes widened. "Really. But I thought we didn't really understand a lot of what's in the laboratory and the distillery. What can we do?"

"Science and shit, probably," Kimi interjected from nearby.

"Kimi," Ishi replied derisively, "what the hell? They're having a private conversation. You can't just butt in."

Kimi looked at Ishi next to her. "Hey, don't act like you're not listening in, too. Just 'cause you're staring at your phone doesn't mean you can't hear."

"I'm not-!" Ishi began, only to stop herself. She proceeded to put down her phone. "Okay, I guess I am listening in. But it's only 'cause I wanna, like, know what's going on."

"If you really want to stay on top of things, then you can help us out," Eryu offered. "We're going to be investigating the contents of the distillery, so we'll need some ethanol. It's in my room. Would you be okay going in and picking some up?"

"Oh, yeah, I can do that," Ishi said, suddenly seeming rather eager. "You got the key on you?"

"Well, yeah, I got it right here," Eryu replied, taking out his room key. "Once we're done here, just-"

Before he could react, Ishi reached out and grabbed the key from his open hand. "Got it! Should take just a minute!"

Ishi got up and headed out the door before any of them could say anything in protest. The remaining four were left looking rather baffled and, in the case of Eryu, frustrated.

Kimi glanced over at him. "Wow," she said as if impressed, "twice in two days? Talk about embarrassing."

Eryu sighed wearily. "Just shut up, Kimi."

They left the cafeteria sooner than they would have otherwise, just to ensure that Ishi was doing what she was supposed to. They went by Eryu's room, and it looked like Ishi had already locked the door behind her, since they couldn't get in. It seemed like the only place they could expect to find her was downstairs. They headed down to the fourth floor without finding any hint of her presence, up until they actually went into the distillery. Turns out Ishi had decided to poke around in it herself.

Things weren't too different from when Naoko last saw it, but she'd clearly rearranged things a bit. The cabinet in the room had been emptied quite a bit, with much of its contents placed across the counter, alongside what appeared to be at least four bottles of ethanol. Ishi herself was closely examining the equipment, to the point where she was practically bent over. Was that intentional? Knowing her, maybe. Then again, she didn't seem to notice them coming in.

"Uh," Naoko said, "Ishi?"

"Oh!" Ishi exclaimed, pushing herself upright and whipping to face them. "Naoko and co., huh? I was waiting for you guys."

"Ishi, you weren't supposed to run off like that," Eryu pointed out. "We weren't ready to head out."

"Well, yeah, I kinda figured," Ishi said. "That'd explain why you had me wait for, like, five minutes. I just thought since you were offering to let me help you, I'd put my all into it, y'know?"

"That's good to hear," Yori replied, glancing at the room. "Still, I can't help but feel you were a tad…overenthusiastic. When Eryu said to retrieve the ethanol from his room, he wasn't asking for you to take so much of it."

"Well, I did what he said I needed to do," Ishi shrugged. "What's wrong with that?"

Naoko had a bit of an odd feeling, but couldn't quite place what it was. "Regardless of all that, we should probably thank Ishi for agreeing to help with this."

"Fair enough," Eryu supposed. "Thanks, Ishi."

"No worries," Ishi replied. "So, what's your plan with all this? Do you have something in mind, or do you just wanna see what all this does? Because, uh…Honestly, I don't know this place any better than you do, that's for sure."

"Well," Yori began, "so long as we have access to these rooms, it's only fair that we attempt to decipher some sort of use for them."

"Like what?" Ishi asked.

Yori looked like she was going to try saying something rather secretive, but stopped herself, and instead simply looked towards Ishi with curiosity. She appeared to make a slight hand gesture, which looked to indicate a desire to speak in code, but Ishi didn't seem to notice it. "Hmm…If you'd like an example, I think it would only be fair if we were to try to uncover the contents of the binder we found in the laboratory. That room and this one are almost certainly linked, so this is simply a part of that. If IMONO won't tell us about this floor, I think it's only fair that we try to investigate it ourselves."

"Oh, well…alright, I guess?" Ishi supposed. "But didn't IMONO say something about how we can't get rid of any of the stuff in the lab?"

"We know," Eryu replied. "We're going to try to work around that however we can."

"Oh," Ishi responded, still seeming rather confused. "Alright. Good luck, then. Guess I better head out. See ya, Naoko."

Ishi stepped around them and went out the door. Once she did, Naoko looked towards Yori curiously. "It seemed to me like you had trouble explaining this to her."

"I did," Yori admitted. "I wasn't sure if she would understand. That, and…perhaps my word choices weren't the most eloquent."

"Shouldn't be much of a problem, so long as she understands the basic gist," Eryu reasoned. "We're trying to find a use for what we have here. That's simple enough to understand. We just need a few more things to get started."

Yori seemed to recognize this as true, as she left the room and came back a minute later with some more items, including some protective gear. It wasn't much, but hopefully would be enough to protect them while they were doing what was, in all respects, a rather dangerous task.

Above all else, they just needed to figure out how the room worked, so they could figure out how they could make use of it. What were they hoping to accomplish with it? Well, now that it was just the three of them, Naoko was able to get a more complete answer.

"Eryu still thinks the shutter doors could be destroyed," Yori discreetly conveyed. "This room could be the key to that."

"Really?" Naoko responded. "That sounds dangerous."

"We're just going to have to be careful," Eryu reasoned.

Be careful? Well, yeah, Naoko figured, that was a given, but even then, it seemed like they were traipsing into a very dangerous situation. If they could destroy the shutter doors, then they'd need an explosive or something. But what would happen if they found a way to create something sufficiently powerful? Would it blow up in their faces?

Well, if nothing else, they weren't blowing up just yet. They didn't have much information to work with, aside from what they could scrounge from the laboratory, and even then, a lot of what was written about in there involved things they didn't fully understand or even have access to. They did, at least, learn a bit about how the machinery worked to an extent. It looked as though the giant storage tank in the distillery was connected directly to the machinery, and whatever was inside could be pumped into it and used to create…whatever it was meant to create. Just with a basic, educated guess…more ethanol, probably. Yeah, that insight didn't really help them at the moment. After a while, Naoko began to start to lose hope.

"I don't know if this is working out," Naoko said. "Maybe we should move onto the laboratory."

"That sounds fine," Yori figured. "Still, I should point out beforehand that we may or may not be limited in what we can do there."

"You mean because of what Ishi pointed out before?" Naoko asked.

"We remember what she said," Eryu replied. "IMONO said we can't destroy or dispose of anything in there."

"It's ambiguous at the moment whether or not that bars us from attempting to use them," Yori said.

"You mean to create those compounds?" Naoko asked. "Why don't we just ask?"

"Well, if we're going to tinker in the laboratory, that would make sense," Eryu reasoned. "The question is whether it would be a better idea to ask for forgiveness or for permission."

"Personally, I wouldn't want to risk having to ask for forgiveness," Yori said. "IMONO doesn't seem to make much leniency when it comes to ignorance. I think it's time we try to find answers."

"From IMONO?" Eryu challenged. "That's not a nice prospect."

Suddenly, there was a knock, and Ishi stepped into the room.

"Hey dudes," she greeted them, "sorry to bother you, but something's, like, happening on the first floor. Just wanted to let you know."

Naoko's eyes widened. "Wait, what? What's happening?"

"It's Kimi. She's acting weird," Ishi explained.

"Weird?" Eryu asked. "What do you…Oh."

"'Oh' what?" Naoko asked.

"Sorry," Eryu replied with a grimace. "I think I know what's going on."

It was annoying having to make the trek all the way back up to the first floor, but it seemed like something was going on, and their business would have to wait until they figured out what was going on. Apparently, Eryu had a hunch, but didn't say what it was as they were heading over. Perhaps he just didn't want to jump to conclusions, but whatever he was thinking, he wasn't happy about it.

They were heading up the stairs to the first floor when they heard the distinctive voice of a very irritated Kimi.

"Hey, don't you fucking touch me, you…You fucking…dumbass, golden-yellow android-lookin' motherfucker."

Once they got up the stairs, they could see into the hallway connected to it, and saw she was smack dab in the middle of the hallway's T-intersection. Her being out in the open like that must've gotten people's attention, since a couple of people were there with her, including Mareo, who was in the process of being clumsily slapped away by Kimi.

"What the hell?" Naoko said aloud as he got closer.

"Naoko," Kimi said, looking over at him. "Naoko, you wet blanket, come over here and tell Mareo to fuck off for me, okay?"

"Why would I do that?" Naoko asked. "And also…why is your face all red?"

"Damn it, I knew it," Eryu cursed to himself. "Kimi, are you drunk?!"

"...Maybe," Kimi replied bluntly.

"Excuse me?" Yori responded, bemused. "How is that possible? I thought all the ethanol was accounted for."

"Apparently, she found a way," Eryu replied. "What the hell did you do, Kimi? Did you get into my room somehow?"

"What? No, what the fuck? Are you an idiot?" Kimi questioned flippantly. "I just…I got to thinking, yeah? I remembered that some people, they actually cook with alcohol. So, no shit, I went to the pantry, and I looked around in it for a while, and I found some cooking wine. S'pretty easy."

"Cooking wine, huh?" Takeshi asked. "So that's what it was?"

"Oh, yeah, and Takeshi's here, too," Kimi said, pointing lazily towards him.

"Cooking wine is for cooking, though, not drinking. It's in the name," Takeshi pointed out.

"Well, obviously, it can be drunk," Mareo reasoned, "but you're definitely not supposed to. It's a health hazard."

"Yeah, that explains why I…" She stopped and let out a hiccup. "I definitely, I…I feel like I'm in a good headspace, but also…I also feel like shit?"

"You certainly look the part as well," Mareo replied.

"Hey!" Kimi snapped. "What the fuck, dude? You can't…" She took a moment to let out an exasperated groan. "You can't just say shit like that."

Mareo looked around in apparent confusion. "...Why not?"

"Kimi, maybe you should go to your room and relax," Naoko suggested. "You don't look well."

"Tha's not it," Kimi challenged. "You're worried about me, is that it? Am I…am I pickin' up what you're tryin' to put down?"

"Well, yeah, I'm definitely worried," Naoko admitted.

"Well, you don't have to worry about me. I'm…I'm gonna be okay, I just…" Kimi trailed off for a bit as she began rubbing on her own forehead. "I just need something to settle my stomach, and I'll be okay. Okay?"

"Um…" Naoko hesitated. "Okay?"

"Should I go get something for that?" Takeshi offered.

"Sure, whatever," Kimi muttered, lowering her voice to what could essentially be described as a mumble. "Piece of shit."

"What did you say?" Takeshi asked curiously.

"Nothing, just…go," Kimi replied, shooing him away. Takeshi didn't seem to see much reason to stick around, so he took the opportunity to go and get something.

"I just don't get it," Eryu began. "The rest of us were in general agreement that drinking alcohol was to be kept off the table."

"That's what you thought, not me," Kimi replied.

"But why?" Eryu asked. "Why have you been so interested in alcohol all of a sudden? It just seems to me like the idea popped into your head and you just…stuck with it."

"The idea was tempting," Kimi said fuzzily. "I didn't really think we could do it before, but-but then I found out we could. Why is that so hard to understand?"

"Why was the idea tempting, specifically?" Yori interjected.

"Fuuuuuuuck, c'mon. Is it really that hard to get?" Kimi replied exasperatedly. "Because this place, you guys…You're all just…just boring. Okay?!"

"Boring?" Naoko asked. "Boring how?"

"How?!" Kimi repeated back bemusedly. "What do you mean how? Other than the part where we're trying to figure out who the hell murdered someone, we've had basically nothing to do for weeks! We have no internet, basically nothing to watch, and we have some crazy fuckwad breathing down our throats just on the off-chance we have a little too much fun."

"Well, that's not true," Yori argued. "Just because we lack certain amenities doesn't mean there isn't anything for us to do. It sounds to me as if you've just been ignoring what we actually have to do god knows what."

"Yeah, aren't you an artist?" Eryu asked. "Why don't you just use your time here to be productive?"

"Because I'm really-I-I just," Kimi began, stumbling on her words and looking increasingly insecure. "My work has-Shut up! Just shut up, okay? Don't tell me what to do. Besides, it doesn't matter what I make, 'cause if we're gonna be here forever, there's no way anyone but me and you fuckers are gonna see it."

"What's wrong with that?" Naoko asked. "I think we'd like to see your work."

Kimi scoffed irritatedly. "Fuck that. You think I care what a bunch of fuckups like you have to think about my work? You know what my work's about, 'cause you've seen it already!"

Naoko watched with concern as he saw Kimi become angrier with each passing second. If she wasn't already having a flush reaction from the alcohol, she'd probably be going red in the face.

"And I don't care what you said back then, any of the compliments you gave me, because I know you just wanted to say whatever you needed to to suck up to me, so I wouldn't get pissed! You all think I'm a fucking bitch, but I'm not! You're the ones that keep making those stupid, fucking worthless promises, and those garbage plans, acting like we're going to be okay even after we keep fucking killing each other! You know what I think you've all been doing today, or yesterday? Fucking nothing! Because that's how much you all and your fucking promises are worth! Fucking nothing!"

"...What are you even talking about?"

Naoko whipped around in surprise as he heard Bankei's voice behind him. It turns out, she managed to make her way towards the commotion and they just…didn't notice her. Weird. At least she seemed just as stunned as the rest of them.

"Oh, fuck off, you crazy bitch!" Kimi shouted at her. "Get outta here!"

"I'm just asking a question," Bankei responded, looking legitimately confused. "I'm sorry, it's just that I arrived here a bit late. Something about you all being…boring?"

"Kimi's drunk," Eryu responded curtly.

"Really?" Bankei responded. "Well, that certainly explains why she's not making sense."

"Eryu, if you deck her right now, I'll forgive you for giving me shit," Kimi said quickly. "Just, y'know, in general. All the…all the times you did that."

"Huh?" Eryu responded confusedly. "I'm not doing that. I said it before and I'll say it again: beating people up is a bad idea."

"I meant deck as in kill, dumbass," Kimi replied.

"Nobody uses that word like that," Eryu pointed out. "Besides, I'm definitely not killing her."

"Whatever you say, pussy," Kimi retorted.

That was about when Takeshi came back holding a cup. "I wasn't sure what to get you exactly, so I settled with some tea. Just seemed like it'd work."

"Please don't tell me it was any of the green tea," Bankei said. "We only have so much of it."

Kimi didn't pay her any mind and grabbed the tea from Takeshi, spilling some in the process. "Ah, fuck," she muttered to herself before taking a sip.

Naoko watched with bated breath. Kimi was already acting weirdly angry (more than usual, anyway), and while she didn't seem as angry at the moment, she could certainly find a reason to be.

"What the fuck?" Kimi said aloud. "This shit's lukewarm."

"I wanted to get back to you guys quickly," Takeshi explained. "I didn't have the time to heat it up."

"Yes you did," Kimi argued. "You just got lazy, 's all. Didn't think I was worth the effort, huh?"

"What?" Takeshi responded. "No, that's not it."

"I wouldn't try to argue with her," Yori advised. "She's in a bad state and needs to recover. Kimi, why don't you go back to your room for the time being and rest? We'll reprimand you for this later."

"Sure, I'm open to gettin' the fuck outta here," Kimi supposed, "but c'mon! I'm drunk!"

"That's a good reason to sleep," Mareo pointed out. "Just lay on your side, and you should be fine."

"Lay on my side? How would…" She stopped herself and seemed to space out for a moment. "Y'know what? Fuck it. I'm not gonna waste my brain cells on this. Later, fucktards."

She stumbled out of the hallway and towards the dorms. Naoko felt like he should've been relieved that the commotion was over, but he had a feeling that it wasn't. Sooner or later, they'd have to deal with her again. Hopefully, she'd be less hostile. Hopefully.