"No!" Naegi pounds on the desk with both fists. Togami glares at the rapidly scrolling text on the screen. Kirigiri does her best to figure out the source of the virus. "I can't believe it! This was supposed to... work." He sighs, falling to his knees and laying his head on the desk. "It was supposed to work..." Hagakure pats Naegi on the back awkwardly.

"Naegi-chi, you need to like... chill out. I'm sure Alter Ego will find a way to fix it." Naegi groans. Hagakure grimaces when Togami throws him a glare. He wants the fortune-teller to shut him up. "Naegi-chi. C'mon man." Naegi stands up and takes a deep breath. Kirigiri turns to him.

"Makoto." She lays a hand on his shoulder. Naegi just sighs.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. It's just... how did this happen? Monobear? I thought we finally got rid of him. And Enoshima." Naegi presses a hand to his temple. Alter Ego pops up on the screen, looking rather upset.

"Um... do you mind if I trouble you real quick?" The AI looks rather upset. Kirigiri nods.

"Go ahead."

"Um... well... I was going over some of the data files we had including video recordings and sensor information detailing the events of the last few days and..." Alter Ego glances around. "It seems... there was a period of time about three days ago where the security cameras were set onto a loop, effectively disabling them. They were down for a few hours. The hidden weight sensors in the containment cells indicate that one of them, the most high security one, was also empty for that period of time. I'm sorry I didn't find this earlier... The virus scrambled a lot of data..." Kirigiri strokes her chin in thought.

"Thank you Alter Ego. It would appear that one of the Remnants of Despair escaped and infiltrated the system somehow." Togami clenches his fist. He's clearly angry, and he takes it out by shouting. At Hagakure.

"It was Izuru Kamakura! I told you we needed higher security for him! Hell, we should have killed him!" The fortune-teller cowers.

"Y-you know it Togami-chi!"

"Shut up!" Kirigiri shushes both of them.

"Quiet. There's just one problem. There were no computers that Kamakura could have reached without causing a ruckus. We had ten guards at every computer that wasn't in a heavily populated area. And how would he have known which one to put the virus into anyway? There's no way it could have been him..." Naegi freezes up with realization.

"Kyouko-san... you've got that wrong." The three others in the room turn to him, confused. "There was one computer that he could have accessed that would have not only kept him incognito, but also was certain to be linked up to the New World Program." He grips the edge of the table, his knuckles turning white. "The laptop in the beta tube testing room." Kirigiri's hand flies up to cover her mouth, shock evident on her face. Togami and Hagakure share a confused glance.

"Naegi-chi... weren't you in there though? With those three guys we saved?" Naegi groans.

"Yeah. Which is why it would have been an optimal place to go. There was a small window of time between us leaving and the guards coming back. Plenty of time for someone as... talented as him to upload a virus." He sighs, and the room shares a moment of solemn silence. Alter Ego carefully chimes in.

"Uh... I'm sorry... I'm not sure if I can stop the virus... I can only maintain the structure of the program. I'll keep trying though." Togami grunts and glances back at the fifteen screens connected to a huge mainframe. This mainframe in turn connects to the fifteen alpha pods holding fifteen sleeping people. Togami turns away.

"Well then we'll just have to hope they all survive to graduation, don't we? Alter Ego, initiate the Time Trial Project." Naegi faces Togami.

"Togami-kun... are you sure?" Kirigiri places a hand on his shoulder.

"It's the only way, Makoto. We have to get them out somehow." Naegi looks at the fifteen horrified faces displayed on the screens.

"Yeah. I know."

In the middle of Jabberwock Park, Monobear stands, angrily staring at the new problem facing him. A giant, ornate clock sits on the pedestal that used to hold the Monobeasts. Despite the old design, it hosts a variety of complicated technological parts. The bear watches as the dial reading '25 days remaining' rolls over into '24 days remaining'. The display that held a bunch of zeros rolls over as well, starting at '23:59' and counting down.

"Upupu... what's this? An attempt to kick the students out early? Upupupu..." Monobear raises his arms, but the clock doesn't explode. Or disintegrate. Or anything really.

"Did you weawy think that would work?" Monobear groans, turning to face his annoyance of his little sister and her dopey sidekick.

"Monomi. How many times have I told you to leave your big brother alone? Shouldn't you and your friend be sleeping? It's past your bedtime." Monomi just stands angrily. Nanami watches quietly.

"You can't destwoy this! It's pawt of the game now! You'll just have to weave it awone."

"Hmm..." As much as he hates to admit it, Monomi is right. He can't change it. Or wait. He can't destroy it. "Okay then. I won't destroy it. I'll just make it more visually appealing. And don't worry sister dear. I'm a bear. And bears have great fashion sense."

Monobear jumps up onto the pedestal and pulls out some tools, mainly for show, and begins working on the clock, a cloud of opaque dust appearing around him. Monomi stares on in fear and Nanami gazes in disinterest.

"Tadaaaaa!" Monobear finishes, proudly displaying his work. He changed the appearance, making the timer resemble his head. It's completely black and rests upon a pole. Said pole is covered in a multitude in spinning gears. Every once in a while, the edges pop out, spinning on some sort of rotor, and the device lets out a burst of steam.

"It's okay." Nanami looks it over with a yawn. Monobear angrily flails his arms, his face red.

"Well who cares what you two think! Get out of my sight." The bear stalks away, pouting, and the AIs leave as well, heading back to the hotel. The clock whirrs ominously in the darkness of the night as an unseen figure walks back towards the hotel as well, moving surprisingly fast for a fat person.

24 Days Remaining