"Hewwo, evewyone!" Monochio chirped as it strutted into the dining hall.
"… Dafuq?" For once, Muni wasn't the only one alarmed and amused. Monochio's voice was gender-ambiguous again, but only because it sounded so young, like a child not even old enough to be in school yet. They heard a glimpse of this voice at the end of the last class trial, but to hear it now, a few days later, meant that it either didn't see the issue as worth fixing, or it didn't know how. That piqued the students' curiosity and interest…
The Headcatster was also now wearing a glass mask over the half of its face that sustained the most damage from Noa's weapon. Behind the scenes, MM3 used her fire power to glass-blow it for the whiny Headcatster.
"Hey, Aoi, how you feewing?" Monochio asked earnestly as it reached its seat at the head of its table at the head of the dining hall.
"I'm alive," Aoi replied flatly, face and voice unreadable. In the days since the trial, Aoi had indeed returned as ALTER-EGO promised. At first, Aoi was mortified when she found out that everyone else had found out about her alter. Hiiro and Tsubaki were quick to comfort her, though, reassuring her that all of them were willing to work with ALTER-EGO, no matter how coarse his personality was.
Really, ALTER-EGO hadn't been more than a surly, entitled classmate. Not a pleasant person to be around, but hardly the worst. But just because of how deeply Aoi had kept him hidden for so many years, she hated thinking that now the whole class knew almost the whole story. ALTER-EGO honored their vow to keep the exact incident of trauma private, but almost everything else—even down to Aoi's gender—was now on the table. Aoi was mad about that, too, but it was just about the only silver lining in the entire, messy affair. Aoi now used they/them pronouns.
Tsubaki rested a protective hand on one of Aoi's, frowning up at Monochio. Aoi's one eye widened in surprise—they still wore bandages, but the bandages didn't have to be changed as often as in the earliest days of the injury—then a moment later, a small, soft smile flickered across their face. Then they, too, remembered that Monochio was still watching, and their expression went blank once more.
"Also. Fine." Esora bit out both words, waving her handless wrist bitterly. What was even more painful for her, more unspeakable, was the loss of Rei Togetsu. And it was a lonely time of mourning, because although some of her unit-mates were warming up to her again, she was still mostly left to her own devices, her worst fear. Only Rinku had come to her, open and willing to grieve together. Maho had given her several polite and understanding nods, but she kept her distance. Meanwhile, Muni seemed to almost revel in Esora's pain. Almost. She wasn't quite that cruel.
"Y-y-yeah, just, f-f-fuck off!" Towa interrupted, trying to sound brave. "I don't know what kind of act you're pulling, but you ain't cute!" She and Miyu sat together, having grown close over being the sole survivors of their respective units. The night after Noa's execution, Miyu, Yuka, and Rinku all went to Photon's dorm to comfort and watch over Towa, just as Rinku, Saori, and Tsubaki did for Miyu after Haruna's execution. It seemed to be a grim tradition of theirs, though the sentiment was sweet despite the dark context.
The three survivors of Hapiara said nothing, Maho resting a hand on both of her unit-mates', silently imploring them not to take any bait. Muni's lips tightened and Rinku's eyes narrowed, head sinking even lower, but with Maho calmly ignoring Monochio, they were able to follow suit. Maho and Rinku, in particular, were wracked with guilt, still blaming themselves for failing to spot the dangerous mushrooms sooner. Already, their unit, their little family, felt a little bit emptier without Rei at the table too. It wasn't a brave, brand new world anymore without their Ultimate Pianist.
"Awww, dats good to hear, I'm glad!" Monochio said to Aoi and Esora, taking their words at face value and ignoring Towa, much to her indignation. Then the Headcatster raised its paws to its eyes as if to cover them, then spread apart its two middlemost "toe-beans" around its eyes in a strange "cutesy" pose as it grinned at the student body. "It's my… Cutesy Kitty Paw-er Pose!" it cried. The students could only stare.
"Ok, just cut to the chase already and tell us what you need to tell us!" Esora sighed. Some of the students winced, worried that Monochio would have a hissy fit and throw a temper tantrum, but instead, it only nodded cheerfully.
"Oki-doki! I's just gonna tell you dat da fird and fourth floors of the academy is now… OPEN! Hooray!" It struck the "Cutesy Kitty Paw-er Pose" (CKPP) again. The students were still silent. "Sheesh, tough crowd!" Monochio sighed and shook its head. Then it swished its tail and the students' PheFos switched on, once again opening up to the map app. Exactly as promised, two new floors were now accessible. The third was a high-end technology/computer lab, the crown jewel being its virtual-reality simulator. The fourth was a library and archive, with surrounding study rooms and classrooms, including the darkroom Yuka found, and the display cabinets Miiko found, all the way back in Stage I.
As it explained the two floors, Monochio also finally explained the Stage IV motive. Unlike all the other ones before it, this one was a mission. For as long as humanity had been alive, questions about death had plagued it, but at no point in history were they closer to a breakthrough than now. Thanks to a group of impossibly powerful, Talented Ultimates, it was now possible to resurrect the mind via AI, but what of the body…?
"Pfft! What?! This isn't some kind of Extra Life video game, you know?!" Shinobu interrupted and crossed her arms with a snort.
"I know, Shinobuwu!" Monochio teased, and Shinobu recoiled, face red with rage and embarrassment. As fantastical as its claims were, though, Monochio stuck by them resolutely. "But I pwomise it's all twue! After all, remember ghost stories when you were widdle? Strange presences you can feel in the dark, or in holy and religious grounds? Maybe da dead aren't as far away as you tink!"
Even if one thought that it was all a load of hogwash, one could not deny that the concept of resurrection had been deeply intertwined with life for as long as it had been around, touching religions from across the globe. Maybe there was some merit to the idea despite what it at first seemed… After all, there used to be a time in history when the thought of flying would've made people scoff. Then the airplane was invented.
While the others looked among themselves, silently asking how much they ought to believe, Dalia shuddered. Ghosts? No thanks…
"Why not do like DJs do and remix it up a little? Do some mishing and mashing, mixing and matching!" Monochio asked, as if life and death could be compared to mere music discs on a set of turntables. "It will be… a Monochio Mix! An Ultimate Mix! A remix of reality, resurrection, and revival! A mix of Past, Future, Life, Death, Hope, and Despair! The choice to open floors thwee and four was not random, ya know?" it added.
It was not at all surprised when the students still seemed too afraid and wary to believe it. Oh well, I have SOME proof already…
The Headcatster smirked to itself as its retractable tail slithered up behind it. Resting around the red tip of the long tail was a small, white bracelet. After squeezing it once, the bracelet began to glow a bright, light blue, and a hologram of the same color suddenly appeared, hovering over it.
The entire class gasped, but none louder than Towa. "Ibuki Niijima!"
The hologram turned to face the students slowly and silently, and then… "Hello. Towa. Hanamaki."
