Although Monochio's decision to show the student body the student bodies was meant to motivate them to continue the quest of resurrection, trying to conquer—and even reverse—death was hardly a feat that could be accomplished in one day, even for Ultimates. They still needed time to thoroughly search floors three and four, and to find what exactly they needed to pull off what Monochio was asking of them.

"Especially in a place like this!" Saori muttered under her breath. The library, stacks, and archives were, of course, overflowing with books and papers, but even the tables and display cases dotting the massive room were littered with trinkets and other knickknacks to inspect and explore.

"JESUS! SHIT! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Every heard whipped around as they heard ALTER-EGO's coarse and furious snarl fill the library and race through the rows and rows of towering shelves and stacks of the archives.

The students had gone back to the V4-VR quite frequently, though they were careful to ration their time so that they did not get distracted from their true purpose. Because there were return trips, however, ALTER-EGO was eventually given the chance to speak with Nagisa. Although it didn't show on their face, they'd been genuinely heartbroken to find out that Nagisa was dead.

"You were like my and Aoi's little bro, you know?" they muttered darkly, bowing their head in a rare display of genuine, sorrowful emotion.

"Aww, no worries, man, you were the best big bro a little bro could ever ask for!" Nagisa punched their arm playfully.

ALTER-EGO was still hardly a soft or affectionate, sentimental individual, but meeting Nagisa in the V4-VR was an eye-opening revelation. In the beginning, they cared only for protecting themself and Aoi, but getting a bigger glimpse of the depths to which Monochio would sink to exert its control reaffirmed ALTER-EGO's allegiance to the other students.

At present, though, gone was the dignified and stoic alter. All that remained was startled, alarmed panic and surprise. The Ultimate Explorer, considering herself born for the task and deep-diving through the stacks, had come up behind ALTER-EGO, running excitedly with a box display case of bugs and insects in her arms. Several of the bugs inside were dung beetles, just like her Mama and Papa studied in Africa.

The moment ALTER-EGO turned around and saw them, they cried out and leapt forward, crashing into another table directly in front of them, upon which they'd been inspecting a book titled "On the Art and Science of Artificial Intelligence and the Connection Thereof to Biotic, Sentient Entities" (coauthored, studied, and founded by T. Fujisaki and Dr. Lone). The book was dashed against the floor.

"ALTER-EGO!" Tsubaki was the first to reach out to her unit-mate, then she turned an irritated gaze on Rinku. "Rinku! You simply must be careful! Aoi has a phobia of bugs and insects, and it appears to have carried over to their alter as well!"

"Got that right," ALTER-EGO smirked grimly, dusting themself off and trying to conceal their shaking. "Fucking creepy-ass little motherfuckers…"

"O-oh! S-s-sorry, Aoi—I mean Ego—I mean… Aoi-Ego!" Rinku scrambled over her feet and her words as she raced to set the bug box back down, as far away from ALTER-EGO as possible.

Having spent so much of her life in Africa, creepies, crawlies, and wild animals sparked joy in Rinku rather than terror. Some of her favorites were the monkeys! Even though she was native to Japan, having spent the first few years of her life there with Muni, she was considered a foreign exchange student by all, including herself. The only other foreign exchange student among their ranks was Yuka "Jennifer/Jenny" Sasago, though she'd spent her time more evenly divided between Japan and America while Rinku had spent far more time in Africa than Japan.

"Meh. Whatever, man." ALTER-EGO shrugged, already back to their usual cold callousness. Aoi-Ego? Pfft.

"What book were you looking at, by the way?" Rinku asked as she made her way back over to ALTER-EGO and Tsubaki. She bent over and picked it up, struggling for a good half-minute to read the full, elongated title.

"So, you think this is one of the things we'll need for Monochio's quest?" asked Tsubaki, looking over Rinku's shoulder.

"Open up the front cover," ALTER-EGO replied dryly, and sure enough, there was a red stamp of Monochio's jagged eye.

ooo

Outside the library and archive, several students paced the halls, stopping by every classroom, meeting room, and study room. Yuka went again to the darkroom, but just as before, she was sorely disappointed. "Oh, come on, Monochio! What's the point of having an Ultimate Photographer and a darkroom if you're never going to hide any cool clues in it?" she whined, pouting as stared at the empty table in front of her.

"Well, you were very useful in the class trials!" Esora tried to be encouraging. Time and again, she silently thanked her lucky stars that the girl whose Talent at first didn't seem all that impressive had come into play in helping them distinguish real photos from fake ones. Even though I was one such deceiver in the past… I should've known Yuka would see right through me.

Even then, a tiny part of Esora was dying to ask Yuka to inspect the one photo she did find in the darkroom, though that was the thing about clues—especially Monochio's—they were never in the obvious places. Why would it ever make anything easy for them? The photo Esora found had been taped to the door, which was open, so Yuka blew completely past it without noticing. But after Esora stepped inside, she briefly moved the door just on the off chance that something was hidden behind it. Sure enough, she found a single photograph.

The girl on the left, Esora knew as Mahiru Koizumi from the Implememor-Es, but the girl on the right… It looks like Yuka in a red wig!

She flipped the picture over. The back read, "From one Ultimate Koizumi to another! Love ya, lil cousin! Mahiru Moeka".

There was a red heart around Mahiru's name and a yellow one around Moeka's.

Moeka Koizumi? The old Esora might've asked Yuka to use her Talent to determine the veracity of the image, but after Rei speaking of Hajime Hinata—who again made Esora's heart beat just a little bit faster, even at the mere thought of him—she withdrew further and further into herself. She was not under an oath of silence as Muni and Towa were, and yet she, too, was keeping secrets.

Of course, I want to know just who this Moeka Koizumi is, but honestly, I do not believe that the truth is worth it anymore. More than likely, it is only another lie meant to confuse us… Curiosity will not kill this cat! My secrets are worth far more than a mere temptation such as this, and I would much rather keep everything close to my chest… I will not—cannot—rest until Rei is brought back to me! So much of this was for her… She can't be gone forever! She won't be…