"Wew den. Dat will be all for now!" Monochio said brightly as the students' eyes and mouths went comically wide. "Monyochio… OUT!" It flashed one last CKPP before gliding gracefully out of the dining hall, but the students completely ignored it in favor of the glowing figure hovering over the little bracelet still residing on the Headcatster's table.

"I have… much to tell you… dear friends…" As Monochio said, the quest to conquer death endured across the eons, and now they were closer to a solution than ever before. The AI-Ibuki (AIbuki?) was proof. Her conscious mind was preserved so that even death could not take her permanently from the world. Now, they just needed to find her a body… And that was the heart and soul of the Stage IV motive.

As Monochio said, it was a remix of life and death, all the necessary information contained on the third and fourth floors if they were smart enough to piece it together. Either that, or they would die trying. So, it really was in their best interest to do things right the first time. And of course, there was the obvious, symbolic dichotomy of death/life, past/future, magic/technology, old/new, all of which the bratty cat was most proud.

It knew the students wouldn't believe it on a whim, so that was what the AI-Ibuki was for. They would believe her. And sure enough, with her in the lead, Towa wearing the bracelet, the class made its way up to the third floor, into the Virtual-Verse.

"Woah!" Every jaw dropped and every eye bulged, especially that of the techies like Muni and Shinobu. The room, vertically, was rather short, but

horizontally, it seemed to sprawl endlessly. Computers and monitors lined the walls and filled the lab, illuminating the darkness with blue and white light. The crown jewel, the VR machine, sat at the back center of the room.

It was a large, round platform atop which sat six, large seats in a ring, metal helmets hanging over each one, suspended by thick, black wires and cords. A sphere of blue light surrounded the platform and chairs. The only identifying markings were a set of four words engraved on the back of each chair: Virtual Vision Vida Verse (or V4, for short).

"They look like dentist chairs!" Rika laughed. And the wires look like black noodles!

"Interesting analogy…" Tsubaki quirked an eyebrow. Hmm… I hate to admit it, but… she's… kind of… right…

While the other students marveled at the V4-VR machine, however, Shinobu slid silently away.

Hmm? Only Kyoko noticed, having turned to look at her, anticipating her reaction to the V4-VR with amusement. When she instead caught sight of Shinobu's back retreating away from her, she started chasing after the little DJ without even thinking.

"Are you really Shinobu? Skipping out on fancy VR tech like that?" Kyoko teased once Shinobu finally stopped moving.

"Fuck me!" She whipped around, hugging her PheFo. There was a reason she'd tried to go to the most remote corner of the lab, not that it worked.

Kyoko met her furious, terrified gaze with a wide-eyed one before she chuckled. "I was at least going to take you out to dinner first."

"H-huh?!" As Shinobu struggled to process Kyoko's presence, she was completely blindsided by that little remark.

"How about we call it even instead, and you come back with me to the others, hmm?" Kyoko cocked her head towards the rest of the class. Please, Shino, I don't want to suspect you of ANYTHING. Besides, it's not safe going off alone regardless of what you were planning…

Just like the rest of her unit, Kyoko was a master of concealing her true feelings. She may not have hid them behind aggression and ice the way Shinobu did, or pleasant smiles the way Yuka and Esora did, but she still knew how to play it off and play it cool. That was not to say, however, that the calmness and confidence she exuded was entirely real. The Killing Game, especially Esora's shady behavior in the second trial, and Noa's near-total wipeout in the third, had shaken Kyoko and her faith in herself as a leader deeply.

Especially because I'm a Talentless loser! If anything happens… can I protect anyone from it? Or what if I find my Talent but it's useless? Or what if I only discover it when it's too late? The only reason some of the controversy surrounding Esora had died down was because what Noa did made Esora look like a saint in comparison. The Ultimate Theater Actress was not wrong when she said that she'd helped reunite the entire class, even if it meant that she was the new target of their ire. That was also why no one really minded ALTER-EGO. They were nothing compared to Noa.

While Kyoko waited for Shinobu's explanation, lost in thought, Shinobu sweated bullets. Shitshitshitshit…

"Or you could tell me why you're hugging your PheFo so tightly?" Kyoko teased, trying (and failing) to put Shinobu at ease. "I might be jealous!"

Fuckfuckfuckfuck! Shinobu's stomach tightened, knowing how angry… She would be… The Ultimate FPS Gamer had to decide if she trusted Kyoko or not. The Ultimate "?". Does she really not remember? Oh, what am I saying!? She wouldn't lie about something like that!

Then Shinobu remembered, she didn't take shit from anyone. Even Nozomi Kamukura could kiss her ass.

"Ok. Fine. I'll tell you. But you gotta promise not to tell anyone else." Not even Esora or Yuka…

Kyoko's eyes widened, for she had not expected Shinobu to surrender so easily, but she leaned in closer, nonetheless.

i-6uk1 Ni1j1ma; Nozomi Kamukura; Izuru Kamukura; A. Ego; C. Nanami & Usami, Magical Girl Miracle; T. Fujisaki; Prof. Idabashi; K1-B0; Dr. Lone; Lumina Ichihoshi; ShanoP; DJ-Kunoichi.

"Well." Kyoko blinked. "That's quite the impressive Groupchat…"

"It's not quite a Groupchat," Shinobu chuckled dryly. "More like a contact list, though only some of the contacts are actually active…"

"That's not… AI-Ibuki, is it?" Kyoko nodded at the first name.

"Yep," Shinobu confirmed. "The more important one, though, is the second one." Nozomi Kamukura.

A text message suddenly popped up on Shinobu's PheFo. "Hello, Kyoko Yamate."

"Woah!" Kyoko reared back.

"Shhhh!" Shinobu snapped impatiently, holding a finger up to her lips. Then she turned her narrow, golden eyes back to her PheFo. More messages were coming in, but this time, they were for her.

"My brother has… gone offline indefinitely. The three after him are also somewhat preoccupied with… other matters. As for the rest of them, I have repeatedly attempted communication with inconsistent success. DJ-Kunoichi, you know what you need to look for…"

Shinobu's forehead creased as she nodded in grim determination. Kyoko could only stare, mystified. When Shinobu finally raised her head from her PheFo again, the eyes and smile that met Kyoko were downright devilish.

"Dontcha know, Kyoko? We're bustin' outta this joint! Nozomi's already infected some of the Hope's Pinnacle network and firewall, we just need to exploit enough weak points to deactivate the security system." And what better place to do that than…?

The two girls turned slowly to face the rest of the VR lab. It was time to delve even deeper into the Virtual-Verse…