A/N: Here it is as promised. The beginning of our new Danganronpa game. Introducing the Ultimate Detective, Kogoro Akechi, and the Ultimate Forensic Psychologist, Eliza Abbott. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I'm going to try to do weekly posts on Friday, so look forward to next week. But for now please enjoy the beginning with narration by Akechi.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.
Prologue, Part 1 – The genius detective is forced to babysit a spoiled little rich girl
The world is black and white as far as I'm concerned. There is innocence and there is guilt. There is no gray, there is nothing in between. The world is really simple. There is no higher purpose for us. We were born on this planet and we will die on this planet. What we choose to make of our lives here, that's for us to decide. But we're very stupid creatures. And so we decide to hurt each other. We steal, we fight, and we kill. Human beings are really so stupid. We've lived on this putrid mud ball for thousands of years and we're still just as barbaric as our ancestors, the only difference is that now we know it's wrong to behave like that. We find new ways to hurt each other every day. The violence, the killing, it never stops. It will never stop. Human beings are flawed beyond comparison. I sometimes think that it's a miracle the human race has survived this long without wiping itself out completely.
I see it every day, the hopelessness of mankind. Each and every year more criminals appear. More thieves, rapists, and killers come out of the woodwork. They're almost like termites gnawing away at what's left of the rotten tree trunk that is the world. I wonder why nobody has bothered to chop the tree down and put it out of its misery yet. The world clearly isn't going to get better. Human beings have been on this path of self-destruction for decades now. We contaminate the world just by living on it. Mankind is almost like a disease in that aspect. And if that's the case, maybe the ever rising crime rate is just a fever the world is creating to get rid of the infection.
But then again, why should I care what happens to mankind at all? I lost faith in humanity a long time ago. Not sure when though. Maybe it was when my mom died from the exhaustion that working three jobs forced upon her, and no one besides me seemed to mourn her loss. Maybe it happened when I saw my first murder victim, a man who had been stabbed twenty-seven times by some junkie who wanted his wallet. Maybe it was when that same junkie got away with murder because the courts ruled that he wasn't legally competent to stand trial due to his drug addiction. Maybe it happened when a month later that same junkie killed again, this time an innocent mother and child. Or maybe it was some other despicable thing I witnessed after I turned ten years old.
I've been around so much death. More death than any one person should have to bear witness to in their lifetime. And not one of them, not a single one didn't make my stomach churn in some manner. How many bodies have I seen up till now? Somewhere around two-hundred? Maybe three-hundred? Just kidding. I remember exactly how many. Four-hundred and sixty-three, counting my mother whose body was found by me. I've grown numb to the feeling of shock and awe. I don't even bat an eye anymore when I find a body. Why should I? It's not going to change anything if I show emotion. People die. People die in horrific ways all the time. By another person, by their own hand, even by the world itself. I used to pray for those people who become wrapped up in tragedies. But soon I realized, what's the point? What kind of God would allow this much suffering? What kind of God would allow criminals and murderers to walk free? What kind of God would leave a ten-year-old kid all alone in this Him forsaken shit hole we all call home?
There's no point. And considering my line of work, I'm bound to join my body count one day real soon. But enough of my depressing soliloquy for now. Introductions are in order. The name's Kogoro Akechi. That's right, like the fictional detective, go on laugh it up. Everyone I meet does. And yes, it's written the same way. My mother was real into Edogawa Ranpo, and her last name just happened to be Akechi, so I got stuck with my name Kogoro, named after the main character in Edogawa's novels. But it's not so bad, truth be told I love Edogawa Ranpo too. And it feels me with pride to know that my name connects me to the great Kogoro Akechi. Which is why I guess, it was no surprise that I wanted to become a detective when I grew up. Little did I know, I would make my dream a reality way earlier than anticipated. It happened about the time that my mother passed away from exhaustion, my dad wasn't in the picture and I had no other living relatives to speak of, so I was placed in foster care. Unfortunately, I was never adopted by a nice, loving family. They all thought I was too weird. Why? Because I was cursed. Ever since my mother died, every other day I would stumble upon another body. It soon got to the point where seeing death was a normal everyday occurrence for me. And everyone around me tried to distance themselves from me out of fear that I would bring death upon them as well. You see in some of those cheesy detective manga and anime how the protagonist always seems to be in a place where a murder will happen, you laugh at the peculiarity of it and say that would never happen to anyone in real life. Well it does, at least for me it does. And just like those cheesy detective protagonists I would try and solve each and every one. And I did, I solved every single case I came across.
The police, they thought of me as a nuisance, still do actually. But the government soon recognized my amazing talent of deduction, and then when I turned fifteen and emancipated myself, they decided that they would do the very cheesy manga and anime thing and make me an honorary detective of the state. That's right, a real life high school detective. It's been three years since then, and there hasn't been a single case that's stumped me yet. Now then, that's enough about me. Since you're here listening in, I know what you really want is to get straight to the action. I'm with you, I hate it when detective novels take too long to get to the murder. I get they're trying to build up plot, but still having to read every other nitpicky detail gets a little boring after a while. Though unfortunately, we're going to have to take things slow as well. Trust me though, the story I'm about to tell you will be well worth the wait.
Now first off, let's start at the place where all good stories start at. The beginning. Lame joke, right? Forget it then, let me just tell you about the day that life as I knew it changed forever. It begins the way most stories do, the appearance of a girl. Don't get confused though, this isn't a romance story. But this girl is very important. Why? Because she's the reason I got wrapped up into this craziness in the first place. It had been about a month since I had received a new case from my superiors, they only usually asked for my help whenever big things came up. Serial killings, business scandals, high profile kidnappings, you know the usual private detective clichés. But whenever my case load was empty, I would take to the streets and do some menial public services like helping elderly people cross the streets, and helping cats who get stuck up in trees. It was a real quiet, peaceful life.
Then came the day where I would receive yet another high profile case from the government. My assignment was a girl, or more accurately my assignment was to guard and assist this girl with whatever she needed. In other words, I was being hired on by the government to play babysitter to some foreign brat. Eliza Abbott, that was her name. Apparently she was the daughter of some British multi-millionaire who had close ties to some of Japan's government officials. Meaning, Eliza was a spoiled little rich girl and I had to watch over her the whole time while she was in Japan. Lucky me.
Of course, I refused this case at first. Babysitting some foreign heiress didn't sound appealing to me at all. But apparently, the spoiled brat asked for me by name. She threw a fit to her daddy and said that she wouldn't accept anyone besides me as her bodyguard. I had assisted in private security before, so I was no stranger to playing the role of a bodyguard. But the fact that she had to throw a tantrum to her daddy and in turn make him throw a tantrum to my superiors just confirmed the reason why I didn't want to babysit her in the first place. This girl would be the death of me, I knew that without even having met her beforehand. But my superiors threatened to suspend my consultant status if I refused to take the case, which would mean no more interesting cases for me to work on, and maybe even the end of my detective career in the process. And I just could not allow that, so I reluctantly agreed. And about a week later, the bratty heiress arrived in Japan.
Which brings me to the day I first came face to face with the royal pain in my ass. I had rented a limousine at her request and even hired a chauffeur to drive us to where we needed to go, which cost a lot of money, money that I was forced to spend out of my own pocket mind you. Hopefully, I would be reimbursed when my services were no longer needed. Though I doubted the bratty heiress would care about my financial concerns even a little. "It's just for one month, it's just for one month, it's just for one month," I kept repeating the words my superiors told me over and over again in my head.
Our chauffer parked the limousine in front of a luxurious hotel where my bratty client was intending to stay until her business in Japan was concluded. I pulled out my cellphone and checked the time. It was almost 9:00, we were supposed to leave half an hour ago. I sighed in exasperation. "Of course she's late. What was I expecting?" I said to myself. Then a wicked idea crept into my head. "Maybe I could just leave her here and make her take the subway by herself? Gropers love foreign girls, especially ones with blonde hair. That would teach her a lesson about keeping me waiting." Then reality sunk in. "Of course if anything does happen to her, I'll be fired for sure. Her dad might even try to kill me," I said to myself. I shook those thoughts out of my head. "Fine, I'll give her a few more minutes."
And then as if on cue, the bratty heiress herself finally appeared from the hotel's double doors. She waved goodbye to the hotel doorman and then made her way over to the limousine. Even the way she walked was like that of a rich girl, slow evenly paced steps. It was like she thought she had all the time in world. I also took notice of the brown leather satchel that she was carrying over her shoulder. When she reached the limousine she looked at me and smiled in a demeaning way. "Akechi-kun, I take it?" Eliza asked. To my surprise she spoke pretty fluent Japanese.
"Yes, that's me. And you're Abbott-san?" I asked. I already knew who she was, I had seen the photo submitted in her profile too many times.
She nodded. "That's me, yes." Her eyes examined me thoroughly. "You look just like you do in the photos I've seen of you. You're even dressed the same way."
"I don't really like change all that much. I've never changed my hairstyle and I have multiple copies of the same outfit," I replied with a matching demeaning smile.
"Is that so? How peculiar," she said with a snooty giggle.
I glared at her. 'If only she knew the truth behind my slovenly appearance,' I thought to myself. The truth was, I hardly ever slept. I've been an insomniac since I was a child, but I never let it interfere with my work. Whenever I couldn't sleep I would work on a case, I put my insomnia to good use. However, due to that fact that I usually only got roughly four hours of sleep each night, I always seemed to look exhausted. My sandy brown hair was always messy and disheveled, so much so that it looked like I had a bird's nest in it. My brown eyes always had dark bags under them, that would never fade no matter how hard I tried to get rid of them. And my skin always seemed to be pale and oily. I showered every day but it just took an hour for me to become greasy again. My clothes were frequently messy as well, because sometimes I would fall asleep while wearing them. I wore a brown trench coat which was stained in several places, over a sloppily worn white dress shirt and a loosely hung red tie. I also wore a pair of dark black dress pants which were held up by a simple belt with a silver belt buckle, a pair of matching black socks, and a pair of brown loafers.
"Those particular clothes of yours look a little old though. Let me guess, you've been wearing them for a couple of days haven't you?" Eliza asked.
I tried to keep my composure. "Yes, it's been about two days. I've been so busy preparing things for your arrival that I haven't had an opportunity to go home and change."
"Is that so? Well, I apologize if my demands have inconvenienced you in anyway. Please, don't neglect to inform me if I continue to do so in the future. I promise, as soon as we're done with our work for the day I'll give you a much needed break," Eliza replied.
I smiled. "Thank you, Abbott-san. That would be much appreciated."
"Now then shall we be on our way?" Eliza replied.
I moved out of the way so she could open the door and get into the limousine. "Sure, let's go."
"Umm, aren't you going to get the door for me?" Eliza asked in a demeaning way.
"Oh, sorry my mistake." I quickly grabbed ahold of the door handle and opened the limousine door for her. Then I motioned for Eliza to step inside.
"Thank you, Akechi-kun," she said in a smarmy tone. Then she stepped into the limousine.
I sighed in exasperation. A few minutes with her was more than enough, and unfortunately I had to spend the entire day with her. And then the rest of the month as well. "It's just for one month. It's just for one month," I kept repeating those words over and over again like they were my personal mantra. Then I took in a deep breath and entered the limousine as well and closed the door behind me. Once Eliza and I were comfortably seated in the back of the limousine, I called out to the chauffer, "We're both ready to go."
"Yes sir, same destination as yesterday?" the chauffer replied.
"That's right, and go as fast as you can because we're already late," I replied.
"You can count on me," the chauffer replied. "Oh and please take a complimentary water from the refrigerator back there. You too Miss. Your business is much appreciated."
Then he rolled up the window that separated the back of the limousine from the front to give us some privacy. And then a few moments later we were off to our destination. Eliza collected two water bottles from the refrigerator as instructed and passed one to me. Then we both drank our water in silence while we enjoyed the ride. I couldn't help but notice that Eliza's mind appeared to be somewhere else. I glanced over at her a few times out of curiosity, and I took my time to observe her carefully. I was a detective; it was a bad habit of mine to observe the mannerisms of every single person I came across. She had long blonde hair which flowed down to her back, a pair of bright green eyes, snow white skin and light freckles that littered her cheeks. She wore a blue blazer dress jacket, which was unbuttoned, over a sleeveless, orangeish cardigan sweater. The cardigan sweater was worn over a white dress shirt and a periwinkle colored tie. She also wore a blue skirt which matched her blazer dress jacket, a pair of periwinkle knee-high socks, a pair of black dress shoes, a periwinkle hairband, and a pair of pink glasses. Her satchel was now laying down on the seat between us, whatever she was carrying inside must have been important.
It was a half an hour car ride from her hotel to get to our destination, she barely spoke a word to me in that entire time. She mainly stared out the window and watched as the scenery around us passed by. I could see in the window's reflection that she was wearing a serious look on her face. But upon further observation, I found that her expression wasn't serious, it seemed almost sad. She looked depressed and troubled about something. It seemed like she needed someone to talk to, and unfortunately I was the only person there.
I sighed and then began to speak. "Hey, Abbott-san? Can I ask you something?" I thought at the very least that I could satisfy my curiosity.
"You want to know why I wanted you to be my bodyguard, right?" Eliza replied. She hit the nail on the head.
"How did you…?" I began to reply before she interrupted me again.
"You read my file, you know I'm no ordinary girl. If anything, I'd say I'm the female version of you. If you must know, there wasn't any special reason behind it. I've heard about you through my line of work and since I was coming to Japan anyway, I thought I would satisfy my curiosity and put a face to the name. Kogoro Akechi, the famous high school detective. Don't you know, you're a living legend around the world?" Eliza replied.
"So that's all, eh?" I replied. It turned out that we were more alike than I thought.
"Well not exactly, the people we're going to interview today. Didn't anyone tell you? A few of them are people you helped put away," Eliza replied.
"What?!" I exclaimed in surprise.
"Don't be alarmed, only a few of them have a checkered past with you. As for the others, they're only there so I can study them. I want to know exactly what makes them tick. Aren't you curious about the reasoning behind their crimes as well?" Eliza asked.
I shook my head. "No I'm not. When I close a case that's the last interaction I have with it. I don't get emotionally involved in any of them, it's not healthy. But still, what's the purpose of doing all this? Even after being briefed on the situation and visiting the place myself, I still don't understand your motive behind all this."
"There's no motive of any kind. My father made his fortune in private security, and one of his many businesses is privately owned prisons. He's not the only member of my family who is involved in the legal system though. My grandfather was a judge for over fifty years, and my great grandfather was the warden of his own prison for even longer than that. My mother's a high profile lawyer and even my brother was a police officer. My family's always been interested in these kinds of things, for generation upon generation. It's only natural that I would follow in their footsteps and pursue a career in the legal system as well," Eliza replied.
That's right, along with being a rich, spoiled heiress, Eliza was apparently involved in the same business I was. However, whereas I would catch criminals and expose their crimes, Eliza made it her mission to discover the motive behind the criminal's crimes and probe their brains to use as reference material. She had apparently studied profiling and advanced interrogation techniques since she was little and now she was currently studying to become a full-fledged forensic psychologist. For those of you who don't know, forensic psychologists are psychologists who specialize in applying psychological knowledge to legal matters, both in the criminal and civil arenas. Basically, their job is to determine the mental state of a criminal and find out what exactly makes them tick.
And the reason behind her arrival in Japan was just that, an opportunity to study several criminals who had been transferred to a newly built corrections facility. Icarus Juvenile Detention Center. Appropriately named due to the nature of its current inmates, juveniles who have accomplished more criminal acts in their teen years than most adult criminals could accomplish in their lifetime. Basically, these juveniles had talents ranging from a wide variety of skills in the criminal underworld. But like Icarus, the winged boy from Greek mythology, they flew too close to the sun by committing more criminal acts than they could possibly handle. In the end, each and every one of them ended up with a life sentence somewhere around the world. And now they were all supposedly being transferred to this newly built corrections facility which was built on its private rules:
1) Any inmate who committed a crime during their preteen or teenage years is eligible to be transferred to Icarus. Because of its privately run status it is allowed to decide the cutting off point for inmates sentences there. In other words, there was no rule that they had to age out when they turned eighteen or twenty-one. The inmates are allowed to stay at Icarus and carry out the remainder of their sentences.
2) Icarus is a minimum security prison. Inmates who reside there are allowed to roam the facility as they so please, and are not under lock and key 24/7 as they were at other prisons. Inmates are also required to get their high school G.E.D if they were unable to graduate before they were caught. So it's basically about as strict as a private school.
3) The last and most important rule. While capital punishment is not mandated, inmates who constantly disrespect the guards and administration of Icarus will be subject to severe punishment. This could range from isolation and psychological punishment to pure torture, depending on the inmate's offense. So even though it was pretty laid back compared to other prisons, it still enforced punishment on any inmate who disobeyed the rules. And at a prison built purely for those prodigy criminals it's hard to imagine just what that punishment might be.
It sounds weird on paper, right? I mean building a whole prison just to house those special teenage criminals? How can that not be weird? "So who's idea was it to build Icarus, anyway? You or your father's?" I asked out of curiosity.
"It was father's idea to build our own prison, but as for the location and inmates assigned here, that was all me." Eliza looked out of her window. "And speaking of location, we're coming up on the bridge." I looked out my window and saw that she was right, we were about to make our cross over the large suspension bridge that led to Icarus. The prison itself was housed on a small island off of the coast of Japan. Apparently the plans to build Icarus had been in the making for several years, as not only was the prison built brick by brick on this small island, but the large suspension bridge leading right to it was as well. The bridge spanned over the ocean for 22.2 km or 12 nautical miles. Meaning, Icarus itself was smack dab in the middle of International waters.
"So building it out here in international waters, that was all your idea?" I asked.
"Since the inmates who will remain here are from many different countries there would be different laws for how we could deal with each individual, so the simplest thing to do was build it out here in international waters, where everyone is equal," Eliza replied.
"You mean where nobody has any rights. You know a lot of people who plan to commit crimes go out to international waters to deal with them because they know they can't be punished for it. Did you know you can even get away with murder if you commit it out here?" I replied.
Eliza giggled. "You have a dark sense of humor, Akechi-kun. There's no need to worry, we're not going to illegally experiment on any of the inmates if that's what you're concerned about. Keeping them out here is purely to avoid unnecessary red tape, or at least that's how I explained it to father."
"Oh? And why did you really want to have it built out here?" I asked.
Eliza shrugged her shoulders. "I like the ocean, and I thought the inmates might appreciate the view too."
"Uh-huh. And are you sure you're also not planning to do anything illegal out here?" I asked.
"I'm not that kind of doctor. Rest assured, Mr. Detective, nothing unscrupulous will occur out here. Not as long as my family has anything to say about it. But tell me are you really concerned for the inmates' well-being? From what I've heard about you, every criminal is scum in your eyes," Eliza replied.
I chuckled. "That's true. I hate criminals, I absolutely despise them," I said with a gentle smile. "But if you were violating their human rights then that would make you a criminal too, which means that I would have to stop you no matter what."
Eliza smiled at me. "You are exactly the kind of person I expected you to be. An extremely high moral standing, but still a down to Earth person that you can aimlessly chat with. There's no need to worry, Akechi-kun. I may not look like it, but I care deeply about my work, and I care about what happens to these inmates. At least here they'll be able to pursue semi-normal lives, which is much better than the lives they would've had back in their former prisons. Icarus is my ideal detention center, we believe in total reformation, and only punish when absolutely necessary. We don't answer to the federal government which means they can't cut our budget left and right like they do for normal prisons, which means our inmates our kept in superb living conditions. In the outside world nobody cares if these people live or die, but Icarus isn't like that. We treat our inmates like people, not animals. And above all else, we work with the inmates and try to get them the help they need, instead of leaving them to rot behind bars. In fact, if most of them had gotten help when they needed it, they wouldn't be in their current situations," Eliza said as she gently patted her satchel. "Society failed them, but I want to help them." She looked up at me. "Aren't you interested in truly making a difference with them as well?"
I looked at her and then I looked down at her satchel. "Just how many perpetrators of my former cases do you have here?"
"Well since we operate off of the coast of Japan there are probably going to be a few that you recognize getting transported here. You of all people should know how many interesting youths exist in your country. And quite a few of them have been using their talents for purely criminal intentions. So there's bound to be a bit of overlap. But if you're that curious why not take a look for yourself? There's only eighteen being transferred in today. I have all of their case files right here," Eliza patted her satchel again.
"You're baiting me. You want me to take a look at them, don't you? Your little mind games might work on them, but they won't work on me," I replied with an added chuckle.
Eliza shrugged her shoulders. "Suit yourself. But our assignment for today is to have our first face to face with each one of them so it might be in your best interest to satisfy your curiosity now so you aren't so surprised later. Remember, for the next month you're my bodyguard and my assistant so wherever I go you go, whatever I do you do. Are we clear, Akechi-kun?"
I nodded and simply replied, "Yes, Abbott-san."
"Good, now sit back and relax. We'll be there shortly," Eliza replied. Then she went back to staring out of her window.
Then my eyes drifted back to her satchel. My curiosity soon got the best of me and I opened it up and retrieved its contents, eighteen different folders of varying sizes. Each one had a photo of the person that the file was about, paper clipped on the outside of it. And neatly printed on the outside of the folder was the inmate's name and prior offenses. They were arranged in alphabetical order by last name. To my surprise, I knew or at least had heard about quite a few of these individuals. And as for the ones I didn't know, I skimmed through each of their files to get a basic understanding of them. I bet you're interested to know what they said too, eh? Well unfortunately for you that would be spoiling, and I don't believe in spoiling a story. But we're already pretty far in and so far all you've met is me and Ms. Snooty over there, so I'll tell you what, I'll give you their name and one of their prior offenses. And hopefully you'll be able to determine what kind of person they are from that. As for the rest, well you'll just have to find out a little later. Alright, are you ready? Starting in order:
Aiso, Mana
Convicted Priors: Obstruction of Justice – 100+ counts
Redacted…
Blood, Victor
Convicted Priors: Criminal Extortion – 100+ counts
Redacted…
DuMonte, Mireille
Convicted Priors: Criminal Trespassing – 100+ counts
Redacted…
Inai, Taichi
Convicted Priors: Aggravated Harassment – 100+ counts
Redacted…
Kaido, Opal
Convicted Priors: Possession of an Illegal Firearm – 50+ counts
Redacted…
Ketsukari, Yoko
Convicted Priors: Criminal Facilitation in the First Degree – 50+ counts
Redacted…
Kiriko, Koro
Convicted Priors: Mayhem in the First Degree – 20+ counts
Redacted…
Kita, Noriaki
Convicted Priors: Criminal Sedition – 70+ counts
Redacted…
Kojima, Yosuke
Convicted Priors: Criminal Accessory After the Fact – 50+ counts
Redacted…
Kubikiri, Ginrou
Convicted Priors: Murder in the First Degree – 20+ counts
Redacted…
Morita, Lucius
Convicted Priors: Assault in the First Degree – 50+ counts
Redacted…
Otsuka, Hinageshi
Convicted Priors: Grand Larceny – 1 count
Redacted…
Reveuse, Mirai
Convicted Priors: Information Warfare – 70+ counts
Redacted…
Shimizu, Airi
Convicted Priors: Solicitation – 100+ counts
Redacted…
Stavros, Damion
Convicted Priors: Narcotics Trafficking – 500+ counts
Redacted…
Tachibana, Fuyu
Convicted Priors: Counterfeiting – 100+ counts
Redacted…
Takenaka, Kaori
Convicted Priors: Desecration of a Corpse – 30+ counts
Redacted…
Wick, Adam
Convicted Priors: Destruction of Property – 70+ counts
Redacted…
Well can you guess their criminal talent from that? A few of them might be easy sure, but I hope I made a few of them hard at least. After all, what's the point of a mystery story if there's no mystery? Any mystery novel enthusiast knows that it's the little things that make the biggest impact. For instance, a concealed talent could have a bigger impact if it's revealed later on when the story is entering its conflict point. This is my story; I can be as mysterious as I want.
"Well, what do you think?" Eliza asked me.
"Six of them I know because I helped put them away, eight I've at least heard of, and as for the other four, this will be my first time meeting them. Tell me, this little experiment that you're planning on running out here. Am I a bigger part of it than you've led me to believe?" I asked.
Eliza smiled. "You're the detective, you figure it out."
I sighed in exasperation. "Before we go further let's get one thing straight. I've been hired to act as your bodyguard and assistant during your time in my country. I am not a guinea pig for you to use in your experiments, whatever they may be, and I am not some doll that you can make behave however you want. Let's keep our relationship purely professional, and at the end of the month I'll leave you to play with your dollhouse of a prison."
Eliza glared at me. "Just what kind of person do you think I am?"
"The kind with a hidden agenda. The dangerous kind. At first I thought you were just some spoiled, pompous little rich girl who had nothing but air in between your head. But it appears I've given you too little credit. You're planning something, and mark my words, by the time we part ways I will uncover what that plan is," I replied.
"…" Eliza frowned and then turned to face the window again.
I sighed again. 'Such a troublesome girl,' I thought to myself. Then I put Eliza's files back into her satchel and leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes. At least for the few minutes we had left in our car ride, I wanted to get some rest.
And then a few minutes later, I felt the limousine come to a complete stop. I opened my eyes and then looked out my window to observe the scenery. The limousine was parked in front of a large white brick-laid building that took up almost all of the island's land. Although I said island just to clarify in the simplest terms. If I had to describe our current landscape it would be more like a large plain on a rock that jutted out of the ocean, which was several thousand kilometers below us. The building itself had a large steel plated emblem which hung over its entrance, a winged figure floating next to a large bright ball. The emblem symbolized Icarus nearing the sun, and nearing his death. An ominous warning indeed. I heard the chauffer get out of the limousine first, presumably he was coming to open the door for us. I turned to my left and saw that Eliza had also dozed off at some point. I tried to nudge her and wake her up. "Hey wake up. We're here." But she didn't open her eyes.
I got out of my seat and gabbed ahold of her shoulders in an effort to shake her awake. "Come on, we're very later. You can take a nap after we're done." But there was still no response, she didn't even so much as make a sound. That was when I first began to worry. "Hey, Abbott-san? Abbott-san?" I called out to her in a louder voice. Still, there was no response. I let go of her for a split second and she immediately fell back in her chair. Her body had gone completely limp. She was unconscious!
"How in the hell?!" I exclaimed. That was when I realized that the chauffer hadn't come to open the door for us yet. He had completely disappeared. I tried to open the door myself but to my horror I found that it was locked. I banged my fists on the window. "Hey, somebody help! She's unconscious!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. And then after a few moments of panicking I noticed that my movements were beginning to slow, my voice was becoming weak, and my eyelids were growing heavy. My eyes widened in realization. "The water!" I hastily grabbed my used water bottle and then sniffed the inside of the bottle. I detected a faint sweet fragrance mixed in with the water. Eliza and I were both drugged!
"The chauffer! He drugged us!" I could barely keep my eyes open at that point. I struggled to stay conscious as I kicked at the side door's window, in an effort to get the door open and get Eliza and myself to safety. But it was no use, the glass wouldn't break. Then soon my movements stopped completely. I couldn't move at all. It was like there was no more energy left in my body. In a desperate attempt to protect Eliza from whatever the chauffer intended to do with us, I grabbed her lifeless body and wrapped my arms around her. Whether I liked it or not, I was her bodyguard, which meant if anybody was going to do anything to her they would have to go through me first. "I'm not going to let anything…happen to you," I said to an unconscious Eliza. It was becoming hard to speak now. I used every ounce of strength left in my body to remain conscious for just a few more minutes, at least until help arrived.
But no one ever came, and soon my eyes started to close and my breathing softened. The last thing I heard was the door suddenly opening and a voice saying, "Finally. Our last two students have arrived." And then there was nothing but darkness and silence.
A/N: How was that for an opening? In the next part of the prologue we meet the rest of the students and begin the mutual killing game. Look forward to next Friday.