Danganronpa: Algorithmic Alteration Chapter 22: Misalignment in the Stars (Part 2), a dangan ronpa kibou no gakuen to zetsubou no koukousei fanfic

Chapter 3: Misalignment in the Stars (Daily Life Part 2)

Warning: This is a Danganronpa fic. Things can be pretty bad, especially regarding gore and the foul language used. Although, if you've made it this far, I don't think that kind of stuff bothers you anyways, sooooo…

It was quiet around this part of the city.

Mostly because the people who were here would much rather stay hidden.

Especially someone like Hae-Won, who didn't want anyone to know she was here in the first place.

And yet, here she was anyway.

What was she even doing in a place like this?

The only thing she could reasonably be doing! Giving someone a tattoo.

She was currently sitting down, leaning over someone's arm. Slowly inking the dog tattoo which was reaching its completion. "How does it look so far?"

The girl took a glance at it, still feeling a bit of pain from the tattoo needle. However, a smile formed on her face when she saw the current result. "Oh, I love it. It looks just like him."

The tattoo Hae-Won was giving today was the dog of the customer. "Pretty cute dog, heh."

The girl seemed pretty eager to hear that. "Yeah, I know…!"

As Hae-Won was finishing up the tattoo on the client she had, she sat up a little bit, hearing the door open up behind her.

Taking a glance behind her, she noticed that one of her friends, Raven.

A small grin tugged away at Hae-Won's lips as soon as she saw him. "What brings you here at this hour?"

"Oh, the usual." Walking over to the table in the corner, he placed down his bass case, before glancing over at the customer who was getting the tattoo. She was cute. "Hey there." He winked at her, before Hae-Won got him to buzz off.

"I'm just putting up the final touches, don't get in the way." At this point, though, she was used to it.

Moving back over towards the table, Raven shook his head in amusement. "You always ruin my fun." Then, he stopped. "Oh, hey. Eagle said he's going to stop by today. Said he found a letter in front of the door here."

Now that the tattoo was fully finished, Hae-Won stepped up, getting some more supplies, just to make sure that the tattoo was fully cleaned up. "Why did he bother taking it?" After she asked the question, it almost felt like such a stupid thing to ask.

"You already know, Crow." Raven let out a humorous laugh. Now, his bass was out of the case, and he was setting himself up to play.

Soon, Hae-Won was done with the tattoo, and the customer had left. "Why a letter here, though? This could be just one of Eagle's pranks, y'know."

"Your guess is as good as mine." Now the customer was gone, Raven began to play a tune. "Maybe your family found out where you go."

"Don't joke about them." Hae-Won frowned slightly, before glancing to the side. "They're already always on my ass all the time. I don't need to give them more reasons to yell at me."

Shaking his head, Raven found that amusing. "Hey, just a couple more years, and you can move out, right?"

That was the difficult part. "I know the moment I do, they might not want to see me again." Which meant that…

No, get your heads out of those thoughts.

Back to having a smile on her face, Hae-Won continued. "Once I turn eighteen, we should move in together officially." No more staying here when she didn't want to be home.

Raven tilted his head to the side. "Would make affording rent a non issue." With three reliable sources of income, they'd be fine.

"Heh, then it's a plan." Hae-Won hummed out.

And, for a moment, the makeshift tattoo parlour fell to silence.

That is until the door banged itself open.

"Finally here." The new man called out, stepping into the room. "Ah, I knew you two would be here." He began rummaging through his stuff.

"Hey Eagle." Hae-Won said softly, before shooting a glance towards Raven. "Raven said you had something for me."

"Sure do!" He kept trying to find things in his bag, taking out a large amount of questionable things out of his bag.

This went on for almost a minute.

"Ah! Here it is!" Eagle pulled out a letter. "You aren't going to believe what kind of letter has found fortune with you."

Reaching over towards it, Hae-Won took a look at it.

It only took a moment to discard it to the side. "Nice try, there. I'm not going to believe something like that."

"Wah?" Eagle ran over to grab it. "Hey, I know I'm one to pull out pranks and left and right, but you should really read i-"

"We all know Hope's Peak has been closed for a decade and a half." Hae-Won didn't feel a need to give any other reason.

Raven shook his head. "You're going to have to try harder than that."

"Wait! Wait!" The one time Eagle was choosing to be serious, and nobody believed him. "You see, I thought that too." He pulled out his phone, looking through some of his search history. "But look."

Raven narrowed his eyes, trying to read the article from a distance. "That's not just something you made up, isn't it?" He let out a small laugh. "We're smarter than that, after all."

"Duuude…" Eagle genuinely was getting annoyed by all of this.

Deciding to play along with his prank, Hae-Won looked over at him. "What's the name of the article?"

Showing off his phone, she was able to rewrite the article name.

"If nothing shows up, I'll know you're-" The cocky smile quickly faded away from her face. "What…?"

It wasn't just the article that Eagle had found… In fact, there were countless others.

"No way…" Raven was now leaning over her shoulder, looking at the article. "In America?"

Still, there was some doubt in her mind. Quickly, she started looking through more sites, until eventually finding a homepage for the school itself.

Only to confirm… That yes… This was true. Hell, her name even appeared on one of the pages.

Now that it was all but confirmed, Hae-Won quickly reached out for the letter, ripping it open. There was a sense of urgency in her movement that even she didn't take notice of.

Once she had finished, the letter fluttered to the ground. "No… No way…" Hae-Won couldn't believe what she was reading.

She had seen letters online before from the past… But to actually hold one in her hands right now…

It all felt like some elaborate prank. Her eyes kept looking over at Eagle, waiting for him to reveal the truth…

But it never came.

There was no prank.

"Hey, what talent?" Raven leaned over her shoulder.

Right, Hae-Won hadn't even bothered to look at it. "Probably an Ultimate Artist…" However, looking at it, she quickly changed her stance. "Ultimate… Tattoo Artist?" Now her parents really couldn't find out about this. They'd lose their minds.

"Hey, you think I'll be the Ultimate Bassist?" Raven stroked his chin a bit, a smirk on his face.

"As if." Hae-Won wasn't even going to humour him. "You're much too old to attend Hope's Peak."

Frowning slightly, Raven shook his head. "I'm only two years older than you."

"Dude, you aren't even in school." Eagle pointed out. "Not to mention they'd probably go for someone else."

Leaning his head back, Raven let out a sigh. "Knowing my luck, yeah, you're probably right."

But not wanting to let that dampen the mood, Eagle came up with an idea. "You want to know what we should do now?"

Hae-Won knew exactly where this was going, but decided to let him have his fun. "And what would that be?"

Somehow pulling out even more things from his bag, he pulled out a bottle of alcohol. "Come on, I managed to grab it from the store."

Now, Hae-Won wanted to point out the obvious, that he clearly wasn't old enough to drink. At least not for another few months. But, she was feeling pretty happy anyways. "Maybe."

"Ah, come on!" Raven placed his arm around her to rest his hand on her shoulder. "Today's a day to celebrate."

"If it's not to your taste, I could go fetch another one." Eagle was eager to break some laws or whatever.

Letting out a small sigh, Hae-Won definitely didn't want that. "Fine, fine." It was just for one night, so it shouldn't be bad. "But you have to remember I have a curfew, so I can't stay up too late." Even if she really wanted to.

Good, good, just what he wanted. "Then let's make sure we celebrate tonight!"

Hae-Won shook her head, letting out a small chuckle. "Yeah, we'll make sure to celebrate…"

…

After such a wild time, Hae-Won had finally returned home, albeit a little later than she would have wanted.

Slowly sliding the door open, she peeked around, spotting that all the lights in the house were closed.

Perfect… Maybe they didn't even realise she was out this late.

Sneaking around the hallway, however, Hae-Won soon found herself face to face with someone.

She held in her breath as the person walked out of the shadows… And…

"Sis…?" Her brother, Hyu-Jin, mumbled out as he stepped forward.

Given that it was only him, Hae-Won let out a sigh of relief. "Hey…" She said in a hushed tone.

Looking at her for a few seconds, he shook his head. "Mom and dad were really mad that you didn't show up till now… Why were you out this late anyways?" It was unlike her to get home this late.

Thinking about it for a moment, Hae-Won had to make a decision. "Hey…" She opened up her bag, reaching out for a letter. "This is why… But you can't tell mom and dad, alright?"

Given that it was too dark, Hyu-Jin took the letter, before moving over to his own room.

Once a light was on, he quickly read along, before his eyes went wide. "Hope's Peak?" He had heard that before, but he always thought they shut down.

Hell… The one in Korea hadn't been open for fifteen years, before he was born.

Quickly, Hae-Won brought a finger to her lips. "Shh… You can't let them know…"

"Why not?" However, taking another look at the letter, it was easy to figure out why. "Tattoo artist…?" Huy-Jin knew that she drew a lot, but he had no idea about that other part.

"Shh…" Hae-Won hummed out again. "That's why I don't want them to know… If they found out I had that talent, they'd freak out."

Quickly, she grabbed the letter, placing it back in her bag without closing it. "But if I take this, I'd have to go across the sea to America." Not like the thought hadn't popped up in her head at least once.

For a moment, Hyu-Jin remained silent, thinking about what to say. "You'll visit, right?" He said in such an innocent tone.

Ruffling his hair, Hae-won nodded her head along. "Of course I'll visit. Why wouldn't I?"

Moving away, she took one look at the time. "You should go to bed, we might get yelled at soon. See you tomorrow, kiddo." Hae-Won offered him a smile before leaving his room.

For once, things were looking pretty good. An Ultimate… Heh…

As soon as she arrived into her room, she tossed her still open back onto her chair, angle slightly towards the ground.

Slowly, the letter fell out, fluttering down towards the ground under her desk, when finally, the lights in her room turned off.

Ultimate Tattoo Artist Station

Despite normally always going down to breakfast as soon as it opened up, Hae-Won had decided to go somewhere else today.

There were definitely a few conversations she wanted to have, but right now, she just needed to ease up her mind a bit.

So why here of all places?

Well, there was nothing that made Hae-Won feel better than drawing. And given that she had been blessed with such a large canvas in her station, it would be criminal to not fill it up.

She had moved the chair from the desk over to the blank wall, where she had begun to draw up some scenery. From the looks of it, it seemed more like a forest.

She had started off in the corner, trying her best to line it up with the drawing on the other wall, the one with the raven.

"Hmm…" Hae-Won had to pull back her pencil to get a better look at what she was doing. "This might just take forever…" She hummed out.

At least it would keep her distracted, at the very least.

That was, until the door to her station opened up, and her time of solitude was over.

"Hae-Won? Are you here?" It was Edison who had gone looking for her.

Turning towards her, his neutral expression changed to a smile. "Ah!" Edison adjusted his goggles. "You didn't show up for breakfast, so I got worried about you."

Then again, it was Edison, so Hae-Won couldn't stay mad at him. "I just needed some time to myself. My station opened up and…" Well, to say she wasn't feeling a bit nostalgic about better times would be a lie. "Thought I'd do some drawing to clear my mind."

Edison got closer to her, choosing to spend some time watching her art. "What do you want to take your mind off of?"

"... Honestly, the entire trial. It's been on my mind since the body dropped, and…" Hae-Won was trying to find the right words to say. "It's been eating me up, is all."

For now, she just wanted to distract herself with her art.

Now, Edison wasn't good at this type of work. He wasn't a therapist or anything. "Huh… Well…" Ah! He had a great idea. "You said that these people represented your friend group. Why not talk about them a bit?"

A small smile slowly formed on Hae-Won's face when he suggested that. "I'd be more than welcome to do that."

All while she continued her drawing.

"Actually, out of the three of us, I'm the odd one out."

"Oh?" That didn't sound good. "In what way?"

Standing up, so she could reach a higher part of the drawing, Hae-Won continued. "For starters, the two of them already knew each other. And second, they were both three years older than me. Probably shouldn't have been hanging around with people like that, but young me didn't care, and they ended up being great people."

Alright, she knew saying great people was misleading. "Great friends, that is." They were still pretty bad in their own ways. "Which one do you want to know about first?"

Looking over at the two images, Edison had so many options to choose from. "Huh… Raven!" Ravens are smart birds.

"Heh, he was the less problematic of the two." At least legally, that is. "He's more of a ladies man, flirting any chance he gets." Which came with his own set of problems. "When we first met, he tried to flirt with me, but I immediately shut it down. Since then, he hasn't tried." Telling this story caused her to smile a bit.

"He's a musician, hoping to make it big as a bass player." A brief pause. "Well, that's not entirely true. His real goal is to have girls fall for him." Couldn't blame him.

Edison crossed his arms. "Why do musicians always get the girls?" Or like, the jocks.

Nobody wanted the nerdy guys.

Common Edison L.

Letting out a small chuckle, shaking her head. "Hey, I'm sure a ton of girls like nerdy guys." Probably.

The reason they don't like you Edison is because- :boom:

"The music he played was pretty good." Hae-Won decided to continue her explanation. "I have no doubt that by now, he's made it big."

"Huh? You're not sure." Edison frowned slightly. Was there a falling out?

Slowly, Hae-Won shook her head. "My memories about Hope's Peak are a bit foggy. I know time has passed, but everything surrounding it is unknown. Not to mention that Raven and Eagle stayed back in Korea. They were planning on moving to America."

"Huh?" Edison hummed out, tilting his head to the side. "Why would they move to America?"

Shrugging, Hae-Won let out a chuckle. "Well, I wanted to move to America because there wasn't much for me left in Korea."

But now she felt like she was getting off track here.

"Stop distracting me." Although, she said it in a playful tone. "Lasty, Eagle. He's… certainly something. He prides himself as a comedian, but he mostly just liked pulling pranks whenever the opportunity arose." Not that they weren't bad pranks.

"Were they harmful pranks?" Edison hummed out.

Hae-Won shook her head in amusement. "If they were harmful pranks, I wouldn't still be friends with him." Although, that wasn't exactly true. They were harmless to herself and Raven.

The same could not be said about the law.

"He's definitely dabbled in a few illegal activities here and there, but nothing terrible." Despite saying that, Hae-Won seemed to still be nostalgic about it.

"H-huh…" Edison adjusted his goggles, scrunching his face slightly. "They seem like a really bad influence."

"Who are you? My parents?" A smirk on Hae-Won's face. "Although, I can't quite deny it. They're the reason I began dressing the way I do. So I do owe it to them for that, at the very least."

However, realising she had spent the entire time talking about herself, Hae-Won looked over at Edison. "What about you? Did you have any close friends?"

"Ah! Well!" Edison turned away, trying to think of what to say. "I had friends… But… Huh…" Now he was just losing confidence. "Nobody I would consider close…"

Hearing that put a frown on her face, realising she might have hit a short spot. "Sorry…" Hae-Won glanced away.

Despite that, Edison put a smile on his face. "Don't be! I wasn't alone! It's just difficult to consider a teacher a close friend."

"Heh…" Hae-Won closed her eyes, a smile tugging at her lips. "You spoke to your teachers a lot?"

"Mostly just the science one." Edison began swirling a flask around. "He's the one who always encouraged my work. I wanted to be a teacher like him, and well…"

"Yeah, I can see you as a teacher." Hae-Won nodded her head along. "In fact, you would probably be one of the best teachers. If I had you for a teacher, I probably would have paid more attention."

Almost sounded like she was taking pity on him.

Luckily, his mind was far too distracted by something else to notice.

"Hey, Hae-Won." Edison hated that he interrupted his own conversation, but he made an observation.

"Hmm…" For once, she had stopped her drawing, looking over at him. "What's wrong?"

Adjusting goggles, Edison frowned slightly. "This is the second time I've seen you draw a mockingbird. Is there a reason why?"

Blinking for a few seconds, she finally looked over at what she was drawing. "Heh… I guess I just let my mind take over." To the point that she didn't even realise she was drawing one.

But Hae-Won couldn't leave that as the answer. "I kind of just like birds. I've drawn enough of the other three in my life, so it's nice to draw a different one." She didn't want to mention the real reason it was this one.

"Alright!" Seems that Edison bought it. "But are you planning on having this drawing take over the entire wall."

"Heh, mine did, so I don't see a reason why this one can't." Hae-Won moved away from her chair. "Getting the colour in the wall is going to be a bitch, though." But, that was part of the fun.

After a few more lines, however, Hae-Won was ready to call it quits. "You said you came to find me?"

"Oh! Yeah!" Edison had been so distracted, he had forgotten the basic reason he was even here. "Factually speaking, I was looking for you."

"Then let's go. Wouldn't want to keep anyone waiting." Not that she figured the others would care about her absence, if Edison was the only one to go look for her.

It seems Hae-Won and Edison grew closer.

Cafeteria

Finally, Edison returned with Hae-Won from their very meaningful conversation.

"Sorry I'm late." Although, Hae-Won didn't seem very sorry when she said that.

"Alright." Seira was happy to see that almost everyone was here now. "I think that means we can figure out what we do today."

"Ship." Thank you Edison.

Losing the smile on her face, Seira shook her head. "Yeah, I know we're going to the ship. But it would be best to figure out who wants to go."

"I'll go." Hae-Won was at the ready.

Hearing that, caused Gigi to glance the other way. She'd stay out of this time.

"I… Could go too…" May hummed out. "Might not do much, but the ship was nice…"

"Let me! Let me!" Dolly cheered out. "I want to be on the ship. Never been to space before."

Edison began to swirl his flask around. "Well, we are-"

Cutting him off was Seira. "Then it's decided, right? Just the five of us?"

After a bit of silence, Dae-Hyun finally spoke up. "I'll go too." He didn't really have any major reasons to go. He just wanted to make sure there wasn't a way out with the ship.

That was a surprise, but a welcomed one. Then, Seira gave a look to Gemini. "Are you coming with us?"

"Nah, I want to mess around with the escape pods a bit today, see if I find anything."He had a grin on his face when he said this. "I might check it out later, though."

That was fine with her. Letting out an amused sigh, Seira stood up. "I guess that's the only plan for today-"

"Actually…" Dae-Hyun spoke up again. "I do want to check out something after the repair ship… In Tatiana's room, there was a room I didn't have time to explore. You're free to come with me while I explore it, or you can do whatever else you want."

"Pass." Atlas didn't want to do anything today.

"I'd love to accompany you." Melody smiled at him. It was in the Pi Sector, so she'd be in the area.

Standing up was Tatiana. "Obviously I'm going to explore my own station some more." She pointed over at Dolly. "Am I correct to assume you'll be joining me?"

Looking around the area, Dolly pointed to herself.

"Yes! You! Esteemed friend!"

Then, Dolly pointed over to Benjamin. "Him? No? Me? Yeah! I'd love to go. Sorry master, she just wants me."

"Then…" Dae-Hyun hummed out. "The two of us will join up with you after that."

Standing up, Melody seemed pretty happy with that arrangement. "Then that gives me time to do some other things."

Judging from the fact she was getting another tray of food, it was obvious exactly what she was doing.

Oh well.

Don't need to say that again this part :D

Now that plans were in order, Seira stood up. "We could probably go there now, if everyone feels like it?"

Pushing his tray aside, Edison stood up. "I'm ready to go."

One by one, the group all left, leaving behind seven people (Melody also left) alone in the cafeteria.

Slowly, Gigi turned to look at Gemini. "I'm surprised you would prioritise the escape pods over the repair ship."

"Heh…" Gemini let out a small chuckle, shaking his head. "That repair ship wouldn't be built to sustain the Earth's atmosphere. But the way these escape pods look, they are more likely to help us get back home."

"But, weren't there only a few of them?" Gennosuke pointed out, a grin forming on his face. "I don't think we could all leave."

"Right…" Gemini frowned slightly. "They were much too small to fit two people safely." Still, he didn't want to give up hope yet. Standing up, he flashed a smile. "I'll be back."

Given that the amount of people continued to dwindle down, Atlas was next to get up. "I'm going to my station. Only thing that's worth doing around here." Nothing had caught his interest in the new areas, so back to what works!

Watching him leave, Gennosuke couldn't help but watch him. "I should go too. I have things to get done." He lied, making his way over towards the elevator.

Psi Sector

Now, because Atlas didn't want to do anything the others were doing, he was making his way back over towards his own Ultimate Station.

However, on the way there, he realised just how annoying this was starting to get.

Balancing himself, he was able to slam his leg right into the scanner that blocked the Omicron Sector from the Psi Sector.

"You know… It's always amusing seeing you struggle." A voice called out to him.

"What did you say?" Atlas quickly turned to see who it was, only to see Gennosuke. "The hell do you want?"

Flashing him a smile, Gennosuke glanced the other way. "Well, since I'm not too interested in what the others are doing, I thought I'd head back to Ian's station. You know, pay him a bit of respect."

Narrowing his eyes, Atlas didn't believe that for a fucking second. "Yeah right, asshole. You voted for him to die."

"Hmm? You also did, didn't you?" Gennosuke pointed out. "At least, that's the look you had on your face."

Turning to look the other way, Atlas mumbled something under his breath.

"Sorry, what was that?" Gennosuke leaned forward a bit.

Feeling a bit of rage boil over, Atlas chose to raise his voice. "So what if I did? Bastard deserved it for fucking with us at the soccer game. And I happened to be right."

God, out of everyone here, he didn't think Gennosuke would show up to annoy him. "Why are you bothering me anyways?"

Shaking his head, it was clear Gennosuke didn't have any particular reason. "Was just bored, I guess." He pulled out a lollipop from his pocket. "There's not much to do on this station except for maybe poker."

"Speak for yourself." Atlas turned to walk into the Psi Sector, only to run right into the door. "Fucking ASSHOLE!" The door had closed while he was distracted. "You're just making me waste time." This time, he slammed his leg against the scanner with zero hesitation.

"Heh… Like I said, it's always so amusing." Gennosuke shook his head.

You know what, Atlas wasn't going to stand for this. He looked ready to beat the shit out- "Monokawa!" He yelled out.

what

After a few seconds, Monokawa showed up, from the direction of Ian's station. "What do you want? Don't you know it's rude to call people's names out."

"You know what you did for my watch…" Atlas mumbled out.

Oh right, it's Atlas. He's just going to complain, which sucked out all the enthusiasm that Monokawa could have had. "Yeah. The voice recognition."

This would be a dumb request, but it would make it so he never has to scan his watch again. "Can you do that for the doors as well?"

Gennosuke let out a small chuckle. "Really? You think Monokawa is going to-"

"Yeah sure, why not."

The smile on Gennosuke's face quickly faded away. "What…?"

"Ha!" Get fucked Gennosuke. This is Atlas' time to shine.

After messing around with the scanner a bit, Monokawa moved back. "Alright, I think it should work now. But to get it to work, you have to say the secret word."

Now, it was Atlas' turn for the smug look on his face to go away. "What… What fucking secret word is there?"

"Open sesame!"

"That's two words, asshole." God, this made it easier, but now it felt almost humiliating.

"Surprised you waited this long…." Gennosuke took the lollipop out of his mouth. "You were doing fine, why change it all of a sudden."

"Because it was getting annoying…" Atlas walked over to the door. "Open sesame." He felt like an embarrassment. But… Like he wanted…

The door opened.

"Now, you can only have one door open like this at a time." Monokawa crossed his arms.

Which came with its own realisation. Atlas narrowed his eyes. "Wait, if I open a door with my voice, it stays open."

"..." Monokawa was beginning to understand a flaw in the system here. "Well… I mean! The secret word to close the door is "close sesame". Shouldn't be too hard."

Deciding it was best to test it out, Atlas took a deep breath. "Close sesame."

As told, the door closed.

"Heh…" Gennosuke chuckled. "Guess you won't be able to sneak up on anyone like that."

"Sneaking is for cowards." However, a question popped up in his head. He glanced over at Monokawa. "Does this work on my room scanner?"

"It works on all doors, yes." Monokawa said, nodding his head. "Now, if you need me, I'll be working my 9-5." With that, he floated back over towards the casino.

Once Monokawa was gone, Gennosuke began to talk again. "Isn't it nice, always being helped out like this?"

"Tsk… Hardly." Atlas took a step forward. "Open sesame."

With that, the door opened, and the two boys were allowed through, with Atlas making sure the door closed behind him.

"Hardly?" Gennosuke hummed out, putting the lollipop back in his mouth. "Now I wonder why you think that… If people catered to me all the time, I'd be delighted."

"That's because you're fucking lazy." Atlas stopped outside his Ultimate Station.

Shrugging to the response, Gennosuke turned to lean on the wall. "That may be true, but why exert yourself when someone else can do all the work? Sure, they'll get all the credit for it, but I don't really care about that."
Despite wanting to get away from Gennosuke, Atlas found himself standing in front of his door. "People never stopped to cater to me before, so they shouldn't start now."

"Yeah, I can tell by your excessive anger." Gennosuke frowned slightly, but it was only for a moment as his smile returned. "Yet, sometimes it feels like you try and push anyone away."

"Well, for one." Atlas tilted his head back to get a better look at Gennosuke, a rage filled expression. "Most people who try to talk to me are annoying as fuck."

Letting out a small chuckle, Gennosuke shook his head. "I'm just trying to get a better grasp at how you think, is all." Putting the lollipop back in his mouth, he turned to face the wall. "You seem the type who feels like they always need to stay angry, for any reason."

"It's kept me alive for now, so why bother changing it." Atlas seemed to have one outlook on life with how he was talking. "I've survived everything life has ever tried to throw at me."

"Haven't we all?" Gennosuke shrugged. "I mean, everyone here is still alive." Brief pause. "Discounting the people who have already died, that is. Either way, it doesn't make you any special, you know."

What the hell was this psychic guy even trying to do? "It sounds like you want to pick a fight with me." Atlas took a step towards him.

Gennosuke did not flinch at this sudden movement. Instead, staying right where he was. "No, not really. Just making some observations."

"Well, your observations piss me off…" Atlas turned his attention back towards the door, intent on heading inside now.

Letting out a small chuckle, Gennosuke stopped leaning on the wall. "If you say as much. I just find learning about people like you fascinating. I thought something else would motivate you besides anger, but it seems I was wrong."

"Open sesame." As soon as the words left Atlas' mouth, the door opened up. "Fuck off…" He stepped in before closing the door behind him.

Shaking his head, Gennosuke began to make his way over to the casino.

It seems that Atlas and Gennosuke have grown closer.

Control Room (Repair Ship)

The gang's all here!

Edison, Hae-Won, Benjamin, Dae-Hyun, Seira, and May.

And… Huh… Nova.

Adjusting his goggles, Edison turned to look over at Nova. "What are you even doing here?"

Clapping her hands together, Nova nodded. "Well, it would be bad if you crashed the ship, so I'm here to offer some pointers."

"Wah!? You're turning this into driver's ed?" Dolly raised her arms in the air. "Master almost failed that!"

Shaking her head, Nova seemed amused at her antics. "I can assure you that piloting this ship is much easier than a car."

"Oh yeah!?" Dolly wanted to challenge that. "Give me one good reason that it's safer!"

"Well… For one…" Nova glanced out the window. "There's no cars to hit."

Edison nodded his head. "So anyone can pilot this?" He moved over to try and take control of it.

Quickly stopping him, Nova shook her head. "Now, I wouldn't say anyone could."

"I think someone more responsible should be the one to do it." Dae-Hyun interjected, approaching the console. Not that he wanted to pilot this thing. He just really didn't want the others to. Big difference!

Nova got closer, standing beside him. "I could just be the one to attempt to try it."

As much as he did not trust Nova, Dae-Hyun knew she wouldn't do anything to risk her own life. "Fine, go ahead." He took a step back.

Now that she had full range of the controls, Nova pressed a red button. With that, it started off the entire ship, as felt by the low rumbling.

"Hmm…" May had been taking a nap while the noise started. "Are we moving now…?"

"We sure are!" Edison had moved over towards the window, where Seira had been standing for the past while.

"Will we all take turns to try it out?" Seira turned to look over at Nova.

She quickly nodded her head along. "Yes, that would be for the best. If everyone knew how to operate this thing, it would be excellent." Which also meant she wanted people to watch her do it.

However, the only three people in this room who were actively paying attention were Benjamin, Dae-Hyun, and Hae-Won.

"Edison…" Hae-Won let out an annoyed sigh. "Didn't you want to see how this was done?"

Oh! Right! He had gotten so distracted by everything else. "Coming."

Now that she had more people watching, Nova was eager to show it off. "To increase your speed…" She trailed off as her hand gripped onto a handle, before pushing it forward. (look, I don't remember the name for this, so shut up)

When she pushed it forward, the space ship began to pick up speed, but not by a large margin. "Next up…" Nova hummed out, moving over towards the control stick. Pulling it towards her caused the ship to move up, as evidenced by the stars in the back. Pushing it forward caused the ship to go down-

"Just like a plane." Dae-Hyun hummed out.
Of course, while nobody else had noticed, May sure as hell did. "This ship has its own gravity, doesn't it…"

Nova let go of the controls, allowing whoever to go next. "Yes, it does. It would be awkward if you put the ship upside down, and everyone fell."

Now that she had stepped up, Edison put himself in the seat. "My turn! My turn!" Almost like a kid. The first thing this highly intelligent man tried to do was increase the speed, only to find out that the speed was maxed out.

Nova couldn't help but feel amused by this entire thing, evident by the joyous expression on her visor. "You can't go any faster. If you did, you could cause serious damage to the space station by ramming into it."

Understandable! But still disappointing. "Fine…" Edison seemed a bit sad, but it was taken away after he began to pilot the ship again. "I could spend the rest of my life here."

"If you don't die during your time here, you might have to." Nova told him, ominously.

Even that wasn't enough to get Edison's mood down. Nope! He was having the time of his life-

"Let me try." Seira had been seeing all of it, and she wanted to test it out for herself. She wanted to see something.

"Oh… Huh…" Edison didn't exactly have a reason to refuse it, so he stood up from his chair. "Here you go!"

Sitting down, Seira took a deep breath. She lowered the speed, because she didn't want the ship going too out of control.

Slowly, Seira turned the ship around until it was facing the station. Then… She approached it, raising herself above it.

Despite being told this very fact, she wasn't sure how much she had believed it.

But… There it was… Undeniable…

The moon, bigger than she had ever gotten the chance to see. "We really are…"
All the people who were here could only look on in awe.

"The moon is really pretty up close, huh…" Hae-Won had never been interested in space related things, but even she could admire this.

Dae-Hyun crossed his arms, not saying anything, but his eyes were locked onto the moon.

"Woah!" Dolly raised her arms in the air. "Master! We could go visit the moon."

"Isn't it wonderful…" Nova took a step forward. "I was always fascinated by space related things. One of the reasons we're here of all places, after all."

"Oh yeah?" Dae-Hyun turned to face her. "Mind sharing with us some of the other reasons?"

Slowly, Nova shook her head, taking a step back. "I'm afraid I won't be able to do that."

Given that she got the answers she wanted, Seira stepped out of the seat. "Anyone else is free to go." She just wanted to see the moon herself.

"Oh! Me! Me!" Dolly called out as Benjamin sat down in the chair.

Despite the conversation from earlier, Benjamin didn't have too much of a hard time. Then again, the controls were pretty safe in the first place.

"Heh…" Hae-Won let out a small chuckle, watching everyone else eager to try it out. She wasn't too interested. Especially since they had found out what they wanted to know. "Shouldn't we be worrying about the last part of this entire thing."

"Oh right!" Edison had almost forgotten. "The shuttle. We never got to try it out."

"There's one more thing we never got to figure out…" Seira mumbled out, looking down at the four buttons she had found. "There's one with a hook here, and she never mentioned what it did."

Well, Nova could leave them lost, she wasn't that type of person. "That hook is to recall the kevlar ropes. It's an easy way to call back someone who is exploring outside."

"Really?" Seira glanced out the window, before another realisation happened. "But… From this angle, we wouldn't be able to see where they are."

"I suppose not, but there are actually two airlocks." Nova hummed out. "Although, nobody actually explored the second one. It's located directly above us."

"Oh…" May hummed out, realising that it was partially her fault. "I assumed that Hae-Won and Edison might have explored that side of the ship already…"

That reminded Dae-Hyun that he had to return to Tatiana's station to finish exploration there. "Is there a reason to explore this second airlock?"

"Nope!" Nova was very eager to say. "They are both identical."

That saved them the effort, at the very least.

"Still…" Seira mumbled out. "I think it would be best to see this in action."

Picking up on her actual intent, was Edison. "You just want to be outside the ship."

Quickly, she crossed her arms, looking away. "So what if that's the reason why…" It would be an experience of a lifetime. "I still want to do it."

"Still… I don't think it would be wise to go alone." Dae-Hyun frowned slightly. "Should someone else go with her?"

Silence.

Edison slowly raised his ha-

"Anyone else?" Seira was growing slightly desperate.

"Fine." Dae-Hyun took a step forward. He wasn't going to enjoy it, but he could sense some animosity amongst the two.

"We could probably save on time, actually." Edison adjusted his goggles. "You two go check out the airlock, May and Dolly can stay here. And lastly, myself and Hae-Won can test out the shuttle." He adjusted his goggles. Ah yes, look at all the efficiency!

"For that, we'd need to reconnect the repair ship." Nova pointed out. "We can't access the shuttle without doing that."

"In which case…" Seira began walking over towards the next room. "It would be best to wait here."

Following her, Dae-Hyun turned to look at the others. "We won't be gone for long."

Airlock (Repair Ship) (Upper Level)

Seira was the first one to arrive, eagerly entering the room. "From what Gigi said." She hummed out, looking around until she spotted exactly what she wanted. A square fabric.

Following her advice, she was able to put on the suit rather easily. "Wow." She hummed out.

Shortly after, Dae-Hyun stepped into the room. "Someone's excited." His voice lacked enthusiasm as he reached over to grab one one the fabrics.

Seira pouted slightly, seeing his apathy at the moment. "You're about to go into the wonders of space. You have to at least be a little excited."

"Space seems like a dangerous place." Dae-Hyun mumbled out before putting on the suit. He glanced over and grabbed one of the helmets, twisting it on. "Can't say I'm very eager."

Following suit, Seira placed her own helmet on. "Atlas and Gigi were fine last time, so nothing wrong will happen here."

Still, Dae-Hyun didn't like the idea of being ejected out into space, while only relying on their suit, and a hook.

Now that both of their suits were on, Seira opened up the next room. It seemed pretty simple. She grabbed one of the hooks, using it on her own suit. "There's a lot of safety precautions, so you don't have to worry."

Or she was only hoping so. This was a killing game, so it's likely Monokawa disabled any type of safety precaution.

Once the two of them were hooked up, Seira looked around the various buttons. There were several, all identical… But the ones she was pressing didn't seem to do anything.

"Huh…" Why was it like that?

Moving closer, Dae-Hyun attempted to get a better look. "Don't know why there's multiple buttons." Slowly, he brushed his hands against all the buttons, until…

By barely touching one of them…

The airlock opened, and they were ejected out into space.

While Dae-Hyun did panic for a second, it was quickly replaced with annoyance. "Why was that so easy…" He mumbled out, but Seira wouldn't be able to hear him anyways.

Seira on the other hand, seemed lost in her own world, looking out at all the stars she could.

For once in her life, she had almost full unrestrained access to the entire night sky. "Woah…"

Although, the one thing that seemed to bug her was the silence around her. The only sound she had was her own. She couldn't even hear Dae-Hyun.

Space really was an empty abyss.

However, before she could even say anything else, she began to feel a tug at her suit, and she was quickly reeled back towards the ship. It was slow, but it got the job done.

Soon, the duo found themselves back in the airlock, with sound returned to them.

Taking off the hook, Seira looked pretty happy. "Wasn't that the best feeling ever?" Even with the parts that were a bit uncomfortable."

Moving over towards the second room, Dae-Hyun shook his head. "I'd rather not experience that again." It was a weird feeling, after all.

"Ah…" Guess not everyone could share in the same passions as her.

Now that the two were out of their suits… "We should probably head back to the control room." Seira suggested. "We finished what we needed to do, so we should probably let the others do what they want."

Nodding his head along, Dae-Hyun followed behind Seira.

Docking Zone

Given that Edison had pretty much volunteered to try out the shuttle, he had returned to this area once the repair ship had arrived again.

Accompanying him was Hae-Won, who just wanted to make sure he was safe. "Are you sure you're fine with this?"

Edison nodded his head along as he approached the shuttle. "If the shuttle controls itself in a similar manner to the repair ship, then hypothetically speaking, I'll know what to do."

He sounded pretty confident, so Hae-Won had no choice but to believe in him. "Heh, if you say so."

After opening the door, Edison stepped into the shuttle.

The first thing to note…

It was small.

"Heh… Only a handful of people could fit in here at once." Hae-Won noticed, glancing out the window. They could see the repair ship from here.

While she was busy looking out the windows, Edison had moved over closer to inspect the controls. As he had correctly predicted, it was the same system that the repair ship used. "Ah-Ha!" That means he could easily pilot this ship. "Could you detach the shuttle for me?"

Moving her attention away from the window, Hae-Won glanced over at the door, where the button was. It was exactly the same as the one found in the actual repair ship.

Once pressed, the shuttle shook a bit, before slowly drifting forward.

Now that Edison was free to take as much control as he wanted, he began to move the shuttle towards the repair ship.

Although, he was a bit paranoid of crashing it, so he took it at a leisurely pace.

"From the looks of it, you'll need to back up the shuttle to connect it to the repair ship." Hae-Won mentioned as she moved over to stand next to Edison.

"A-ah!" He did not make that connection. No matter! He wouldn't let something like that hinder him. "That should be easy."

Hae-Won, on the other hand, felt like this is where he would struggle. "Are you sure about that?"

Edison glanced behind himself, nodding his head along. "There's a small window on the door. I just have to align that, don't I?"

Shrugging, Hae-Won moved out of the way, that way that he would at least have a clear line of sight.

"Alright…" Edison mumbled out to himself as he began to approach the repair ship. Slowly… He managed to turn the shuttle around. "Now… just gotta align myself…"

It was difficult to do, given that the repair ship was constantly moving, bit by bit.

However, Edison was determined to do this in one try. Slowly… And slowly…

It finally latched on. "Yes!" He called out, raising his hands in the air.

"Heh…" Hae-Won was a bit impressed by all of this. "Let's go meet up with the others…" She moved over, opening the doors for the two of them.

Control Room (Repair Ship)

As soon as Edison stepped into the room, he seemed pretty happy with himself. "That's right, factually speaking, I know how to pilot a spaceship."

"First try." Hae-Won hummed out as she stepped into the room after him.

Nodding her head along, Seira turned to look at the others. "So, from what we've learned, anyone can pilot these things."

That was a blow to Edison's ego.

"This is perfect." Nova had a joyous expression on her face. "With the information you've gathered today, you should be able to tell the others about it, no?"

"Wait a second…" Dae-Hyun wasn't quite ready to leave yet. "I want to test out the limits on this ship…" He moved over, setting himself in the chair, before taking control.

Nova walked over to him, looking down. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I doubt you'll find the answer you want."

At first, Dae-Hyun didn't answer. Instead, pushing the spaceship forward. "I just want to know what the range for this ship is…"

"I doubt we'd be able to get far." Edison shook his head. "Fuel would be an issue, as Earth is still far away."

And yet, Dae-Hyun didn't listen, only propelling the ship forward… Until…

"Ship leaving maximum allotted range, returning to station."

It was from the same voice that always spoke during the elevator ride for the trial.

Without Dae-Hyun even doing anything, the controls moved on their own, forcing the ship to face back towards the station. "Hmm…" That wasn't the result he was hoping for, but at least they know.

However, an idea did pop up in Edison's head. "What about the shuttle?"

"That one has a much larger range, however I would not test your luck with that aspect." Nova began to explain." It carries less fuel, and it needs to be docked to gain more. I would only use it in emergencies if needed."

From the looks of it…

That would be all the information they would be able to gather today.

That was, until Seira had a question. "Lorelei only briefly described this button." Her hand was hovering over to the exclamation point button. "But what purpose does it serve?"

"Oh? That?" Once again, Nova was eager to explain things. "That's used to indicate an emergency is happening on this ship. It could help people get ready to avoid doors closing and such. Normally used in the chance a window or wall breaks. It also helps cut out power from the lights that could be used for maintaining the ship."

That makes sense. "I see!" Edison adjusted his goggles. "That's pretty helpful."

Letting out a sigh, however, meant that there was more to it. "Unfortunately, this model seems a bit faulty. It's supposed to allow a low energy red light to appear, that way not to obscure anyone's vision."

"But…" May hummed out. "That's exactly what it did."

Nodding her head along, Nova continued. "Yes. It works like that on the lower floor… However, the upper floor seems to lack that restriction, making it so that the upper section is pitch black in every room besides the core."

Ah, that would be because… "The room emanates its own lights…" May reasoned.

Clapping her hands together, Nova nodded. "Exactly. It's something to keep in mind when things go wrong." Moving away from the group, she headed towards the group. "Now, I think that's all I have to say. Thank you for letting me explain."

NOW they could finally leave.

Standing up, Dae-Hyun frowned slightly. Nova was right, the answer he found wasn't the one he wanted to hear. "Alright… You can all go back. I have to meet up with Tatiana and Melody now." He eyed Dolly, who walked over to him.

"Yeah! Have fun doing boring people things." Dolly crossed her arms, with a look of superiority.

How a doll could have a look like that was still unknown.

Dae-Hyun shook his head as he left.

They better find something worthwhile…

Ultimate Knife Thrower Station

Now that they had the time, Dae-Hyun had one thing on his mind. "Hmm…" He hummed out as he walked into the station.

While he would have preferred to have done this alone, a few people did follow up.

"Woah." Melody hummed out as she stepped into this circus.

"Isn't it magnificent!" Tatiana hummed out, extending her arms out. "A place like this is truly befitting of me!"

"Why… We could hold a show here." Melody approached the stage.

Tatiana had a huge grin on her face. "That exact thought crossed my mind too. Alas, we'd only have two performers."

"Three!" Dolly raised her arms in the air. "Master still counts as a person!"

Turning to face her, Melody matched her energy. "Have you forgotten my talent? I will dance for them all."

That is true! She was mostly just thinking about circus acts, but how could she forget other talents. "Finally! We have our three performers! Now, all that's left to do is set the stage."

"Hey…" Dae-Hyun mumbled out, getting onto the stage. "We didn't come here to set up a stage. There's a lock I want to check out."

Oh right! That was a thing. "Allow me to accompany you!" Tatiana bounced after him.

Despite saying that, the entire group followed him.

Kneeling down, Dae-Hyun inspected the lock. "Hmm…"

However, Tatiana was quickly able to recognise it. "Ah-HA!" She moved closer. "Yes, our circus used to have a famed magician, and this is simply one of his little tricks he liked to pull." She moved over to begin fiddling with the lock. "While it may look locked, just messing around with it a bit should…" It was hard to see what she was actually doing, but soon, a click noise could be heard. "And voila!"

"Any idea what's behind there?" Melody looked over at her.

"Hmm…" Tatiana had to take a moment to consider the possibilities, but one felt more apparent than the others. "If I had to guess, it's where all the circus gear is. That's normally what's backstage, after all."

Not wanting to waste any more time than was needed, Dae-Hyun took off the lock, and opened the door.

Tatiana was proven right in moments.

Jumping into the room, she raised her arms triumphantly. "As you see, I am never wrong!"

"Huh? Weren't you wrong in the trial?" Dolly pointed out.

Quickly, Tatiana began to discard knives to the side. "Oh! Well! We do not count that!"

However, now that this room was opened up, it meant that they had to do some exploring again. Letting out a sigh, Dae-Hyun took a step forward. "Let's see what we have around here…"

From a cursory glance, he could spot several main stays in circus acts. There were animal tamer gear, magic sets, all sorts of things. "Hmm…"

The first place Tatiana went to explore was all the animal tamer equipment. Most notably, the large cage. Empty, of course.

"What's the point of having a cage without an animal?" Dae-Hyun approached her, looking into the cage.

"Haha! I have no idea." Tatiana placed a hand on her hip. "But we could still find some use for it."

"Oh! Oh!" Dolly had an idea in mind. "We could lock Laki up here!"

Long silence.

"For legal reasons, that was a joke."

Dae-Hyun slowly shook his head. "Was there a cage like this in your circus?"

"Not this small, no." Tatiana had a smile when she was talking about this. "We treated our animals quite well. A rarity, from what I'm told."

Thinking for a moment, Dae-Hyun realised something. "You said your father was the animal tamer?"

"Yup! The greatest there was." Tatiana said with absolute confidence. "Of course, because he's the greatest there was, I must be the greatest there is."

"... And you didn't follow in his footsteps." Dae-Hyun raised an eyebrow.

"Haha… Animal taming is not as flashy as knife throwing. My mind was already made up from the start."

But enough of that, Tatiana still wanted to take a look at some of the other equipment this place had to offer.

"Hoops." Tatiana said, nodding her head. There were several different sized hoops on stands. "More animal tamer stuff."

Seeing this, Melody frowned slightly. "Aren't those the hoops they light on fire?" Just thinking of it made her sad.

"Yes, yes! However, our hoops are specially made." Tatiana began to explain. "I am not sure if the same can be said for these ones, but we have a trick flame to our hoops. That way they only look dangerous. The animals are perfectly safe."

Hearing that, it seemed to put Melody in a better mood. "Ah, that makes sense."

"Wouldn't someone notice that there's a trick to this?" Dae-Hyun pointed out, crossing his arms. He felt like he at least would notice something.

"True!" Tatiana placed her hand on the hoop. "If you saw it up close, however… Most of our audience sit a bit away, so they never catch on."

"I see…" He wasn't sure if that made it better or not.

The only other thing part of the animal tamer stuff, were just general stuff like collars and leashes. "What did you guys find…?"

He turned over towards Dolly and Melody, who had been exploring the magician stuff.

"Handcuffs!" Dolly raised them up.

"..."

"Ah-Ha!" Tatiana grabbed them. "Fake handcuffs, used for magic tricks."

"Huh-uh…" Still weird to have them here. "Anything else here?"

"We found a water tank." Melody called out, trying to push it into view, but she wasn't able to.

"Yes, yes!" Tatiana pointed towards it, posing slightly. "You know, for the old underwater magic trick, where escape seems near impossible."

None of this really related to Tatiana herself… Then again, some of the stuff didn't relate to Benjamin, yet his station was like that too.

"There were also these." Melody raised up some cloths.

Nodding her head along, Tatiana continued. "Yes, those are also used for magic tricks, to obscure the audience's view. These will do nicely."

Dolly let out a small sigh. "The rest of it is just useless junk…"

"Useless junk?" Dae-Hyun raised an eyebrow. "How do you figure?"

"Just posters." Tatiana shrugged. "And other trinkets. None of these will be useful for me."

"You know… The way you are talking, it's almost as if you have a plan for something." Dae-Hyun pointed out, crossing his arms.

Content with herself, Tatiana began to explain what was on her mind. "With our three stations opening up here, I think it's time we try and run a show."

"Would people even want a show?" Dae-Hyun raised an eyebrow.

"Yes! The people always want a show!" Dolly cheered, raising her arms in the air.

Slowly, Melody nodded her head. "I think it would help put people a bit… at ease."

Now, Dae-Hyun had no idea how this would put people at ease, he wasn't about to deny the idea completely. "And why are you telling me this?"

"Well, isn't it clear?" Tatiana had a smug look on her face. "As a talent manager, you should-"

"Are you trying to make me your boss?" That's what it sounded like.

Coughing a few times, Tatiana looked the other way. "W-well! You could say something like that. You know how to manage people, so wouldn't it make sense. That way, we all get to use our talents." She crossed her arms.

Despite normally being fine with doing nothing in this station, for once, Dae-Hyun had a bit of a spark in his eyes. Not that anyone could see, given his hair. "Fine… I'll help you out with your show." This way, it allowed me to work with Melody and Tatiana. Benjamin was also there too, but that wasn't who he was going to focus on.

The two girls quickly cheered.

"Let's get everything ready today, then!" Tatiana was excited to start this out right now.

Shaking his head, Dae-Hyun decided to throw in his own thoughts. "On such a short notice, we should push this back a day. Nobody knows about it. Besides, I'm not about to help get everything set up for tomorrow. This kind of thing takes time." Besides, he's never had to deal with circus work before. This was mostly out of his league.

Honestly, this entire thing was out of his normal range of work, but he was just somewhat happy to be doing something.

"Then!" Dolly began to say. "I'm going to head over to my own station to get ready!"

Watching them leave, Dae-Hyun slowly turned towards the other two. "... I'm going to head out to his station too." After all, he's been wanting to talk to Benjamin and Dolly alone.

"Alright!" Melody had no problem with that, as she continued to sort through all the things they found.

Tatiana took a bow. "Yes, yes! Do return shortly, so we can continue planning our show."

Without saying any further words, Dae-Hyun left the room.

Ultimate Ventriloquist Station

While Tatiana was off to set things up on her own, Dae-Hyun had moved over to check on what Benjamin was doing at this time. There was talk about having a show, so for the most part, he must have been setting up the…

When Dae-Hyun entered the room, instead, Benjamin had been staring at some of the dolls strewn around the station.

He didn't even seem to realise someone else had walked into the station.

"Benjamin…" Dae-Hyun called out, walking over towards him.

Quickly, Benjamin reacted by having Dolly rise up. "What do you want with master?"

Guess having a conversation with Benjamin himself would be near impossible. Letting out a small sigh, Dae-Hyun shook his head. "I was just curious about what he was doing. He went off alone after the exploration."

"He's getting the show ready." Dolly crossed her arms. "Isn't that obvious to see?"

For a moment, Dae-Hyun didn't answer. Instead, only looking around the room. "Really…? To me it looked more like you were just staring at the dolls. I thought you only used one." He crossed his arms.

"Gah!" Dolly turned to look at Benjamin. "Master! Master! He's questioning us!"

Shaking his head, Dae-Hyun took a step forward. "You know, I've been curious for a while." He glanced off to the side. "About how you talk the way you do…"

"Huh!?" Dolly began to look around, trying to find an out from this conversation. "Who cares if master uses me to speak! The point still gets across." She placed her hands on her hips.

However, Dae-Hyun wasn't just going to leave it at that. Crossing his arms, he kept going. "I just want to know if there's a reason for it."

"Nope!" Dolly crossed her arms, defiant. "Never has to be a reason."

Despite this, Dae-Hyun could tell that it was a lie. "So, I doubt I could have a conversation with the real Benjamin…"

"What do you mean the real Benjamin?" Dolly still refused to look at him. "Master and myself are different people."

Something that Dae-Hyun couldn't really believe. "The way I see it, isn't Dolly just a projection of what you think."

"H-huh?" Dolly mumbled out as Benjamin took a step back.

From the looks of it, Dae-Hyun had pretty much nailed it. Even then, he couldn't be too sure.

Taking a step forward, it almost looked like he was going to confront Benjamin about this… Until… He just took a seat to sit down. "Now, I'm not really one to care about this type of thing… It's just… I think it's getting in the way of your true potential."

"Huh?" Dolly couldn't help but think he was talking nonsense. "Master's already an Ultimate! What more true potential do you want?"

Now, Dae-Hyun didn't know anything about his personal life, he could still make some observations here and there. "Yes, you may be good enough for an Ultimate, but that could just be a byproduct of always using Dolly to talk." At this point, he wasn't even considering the person he was talking to to be Dolly.

He only saw Benjamin at the moment.

"You're free to ignore my words, but I tend to like to say it how I see it…"

For a moment, Dolly remained silent, and Benjamin glanced off to the side.

The room had an eerie quiet to it.

Finally, Dae-Hyun let out a sigh. "I'm not trying to be mean here. It's just that I can tell something is wrong…"

Finally, after such a long silence, Dolly spoke up. "It's just better this way!" She crossed her arms.

That wasn't the response he had been expecting. "Better in… What way?"

"Well…" Dolly glanced off to the side. It was getting harder to answer some of his questions. "It's just better. End of the story."

So there was definitely something going on here. "Hmm…" Dae-Hyun hummed out.

Given that Dae-Hyun wasn't going to say anything else, Dolly turned back to look at some of the dolls. "Master can use other dolls! In fact! He's trying to pick one right now!"

Something Dae-Hyun didn't believe in the slightest. "Sure, that's believable."

While he didn't notice the same spark in Benjamin's eyes that Tatiana and Melody had, it was likely due to whatever doll problem he was having.

Credit where credit is due… Benjamin showed no change to his face whenever Dolly spoke. To be able to talk and use emotions while showing none of it on your face. It takes skill…

"Listen…" Letting out a sigh, Dae-Hyun felt like he might have gotten off on the wrong foot. "I have a lot of experience with different people. People that either couldn't talk that well, or were too shy to make their faces known." Well, he's mostly stretching this story to its absolute limits, but they wouldn't be able to figure that out.

"So… Tell me. Why do you only communicate via Dolly?" Dae-Hyun placed his hands into his pockets.

After a while of looking back and forth between him and Benjamin, Dolly finally answered. "Because it's easier to make friends this way." She crossed her arms. "Is that so wrong?"

"Easier to make friends?" Was that really the only reason why? Still hard to believe. "Why don't you think Benjamin would make friends if he was just talking to them normally?"

"Huh! Well!" Dolly began to panic, turning back towards Benjamin. "Master! He's asking me so many weird questions!"

Crossing his arms, Dae-Hyun shook his head. "The questions I'm asking aren't weird like that."

Turning to look back at him, Dolly crossed her arms to match him. "Well, they're weird for me! Shouldn't explaining that it's simply better this way be enough?"

Letting out a small sigh, Dae-Hyun shook his head. "It doesn't work like this at all. If you help me out, I could help you out…"

"..." Dolly glanced away. "B-Because master's personality is a bit out there, so…!"

"Really now?" Dae-Hyun frowned slightly. "And because of that, he feels that he needs to talk through you?"

Dolly began nodding her head. "Yup! Yup! Like I said! This just works better!"

From the sound of it, Dolly wasn't going to budge at the moment. "Fine…" Dae-Hyun felt like he should concede for now. However, he definitely learned a lot for the next time he would talk to Dolly about this.

"Then, I'll leave you to your devices." Turning around, Dae-Hyun began to leave the room.

For a moment, Dolly watched him leave, before Benjamin himself turned to look away, allowing some emotion to show on his face.

A frown.

Dae-Hyun and Dolly seemed to have grown closer.

Cafeteria

It had gotten pretty late in the day now, around dinner time. The repair ship had taken a large chunk of the time of the day.

Now that food was being served again, the fourteen participants (leaving out Michael and Laki), had gathered back up to eat.

Given the silence that took over the room, Edison decided to be talkative. "We were finally able to see the limits of the repair ship." He adjusted his goggles. "As Nova has said, it can't go too far before it gets locked up."

"Did you try with the shuttle?" Seira turned to look at him.

Thinking for a moment, Edison soon shook his head. "Not really, no. I was just trying to connect it to the repair ship."

"Well…" Hae-Won let out a small sigh. "That's just something else we'll need to test out, won't it be?"

"Speaking of which." Dae-Hyun decided to speak up. "I took a look at the airlock… And the buttons to get ejected are rather sensitive. I just brushed my hand against it, and it was enough to launch us out."

"That's exactly what happened to me!" Atlas blurted out. "I barely pressed the damn thing, and next thing I knew, I was flying around helplessly in space."

Gigi nodded her head. "It would be best to air with a side of caution while around those buttons. One wrong move, and you could be lost forever."

"Besides that…" Hae-Won hummed out. "Nothing else to really note…"

"No! Wait!" Seira bounced up. "We got to see the moon with our own eyes. I know Nova told us yesterday, but we had no way to confirm it. But now, we can at least say we saw it."

"Marvellous! Luna next to the moon!" Tatiana stood up, so people would look at her.

Actually, her true intention wasn't to talk about space or anything… She wanted to change the subject to something even better.

Coughing a few times to get everyone's attention, Tatiana spoke up. "While that's fascinating and all, I would like to extend an invitation to everyone here, for a most wonderful show!"

Dae-Hyun let out a small sigh, shaking his head. "Are you really doing that right now…?"

"Now's the perfect time! Everyone I would like to see is already here!" Fuck Michael and Laki, I guess.

"Pass." Atlas had no interest in something like this.

Nonetheless, Tatiana wasn't going to let that damper her mood. "I'd like to extend an invitation to everyone here but Atlas! Myself, Melody, and Dolly will be performing a circus show for all of you to bear witness to!"

"Really…?" Lorelei was less than impressed.

"Heh…" Hae-Won had a small smile on her face. "It might be worth it to take a look."

"What time?" Gemini decided to get the details out of the way now.

Extending an arm in her direction, Tatiana kept her eyes closed. "Tomorrow! At… Some time. Details aren't fully decided-"

Standing up, Dae-Hyun crossed his arms. "In two days. Tomorrow would be too soon, and I don't feel like we should set ourselves up for failure."

Wow, Dae-Hyun really was acting like her manager. "... Fine." Tatiana relented.

"Are you sure that it's just us who have to be invited?" Melody mumbled out. Now the chances are low that the others would want to, but Melody at least wanted Michael to stop by.

"It would be for the best for the others to stay in their room." Hae-Won wasn't having another conversation like this, so she was shutting it down now.

Gigi wanted to say something, but chose to remain quiet instead.

"Then, everything is decided!" Tatiana nodded her head. Not only that, but it was in a timely manner!

"Am I invited?" A voice called out, causing everyone to look around for the source.

Suddenly.

Otter.

Floating down above the table, Monokawa looked down at everyone. "Well, at least if you don't want me there, Nova would be a good inclusion! She loves seeing Ultimates in action, for some reason."

"Huh…" Tatiana wasn't sure of any of that.

"Nova is invited, you aren't!" Dolly called out.

Monokawa narrowed his eyes. "What? Why is she invited and not me?"

Crossing her arms, Dolly had a smug look on her face, despite being a doll. "Because she taught me how to pilot a ship."

"... Is that really all it takes?" Man, Monokawa could have had an army by now if he wasn't so lazy. "Nevertheless, I will be making an appearance anyways."

However, this entire thing still felt suspicious. "What's the real reason you're here?" Gigi could sense that it wasn't to try and attend Tatiana's show.

Letting his limbs droop a bit, Monokawa seemed a bit depressed. "Why is it that everytime I show up, you assume I want something?"

"Because everything you show up, you want something." Pretty solid reasoning from Gigi.

Orbiting around her, Monokawa snickered. "Well, you'd be right! I just happened to show up while you were talking about the show."

Knowing where this was going, Gemini let out a sigh. "Is this about the motive?"

"Wow! You already all know where this is going! You're making my job obsolete. Have fun not getting paid, asshole." Monokawa floated away from Gigi to be above everyone else.

"We… already don't get paid." Gemini pointed out.

"Oh…"

Well this is awkward.

Quickly floating down to be at eye level with everyone, Monokawa better get on with the show. "Now, this isn't the main motive, once again. This is just the ongoing motive."

"Oh, the one with revelations and stuff, right?" Edison glanced over at his direction.

"Yeah, pretty much. Now it's time for me to reshuffle the motives." Monokawa floated up. "And don't worry about getting something you've already gotten before, they've been removed from the reshuffle."

Hearing that, it disappointed Gennosuke a bit. "So we can't get the same motive again?" His last one he didn't have to worry about.

"Well, if I could do that, I'd just be threatening someone's family every time until they snapped." Monokawa shrugged. "Also, it's hard to know what would make someone snap, or what someone would want. This way, hopefully something different happens."

Slowly, Edison lifted his hand up like a good school boy.

"I…" Monokawa was a bit baffled. "This isn't fucking school you know, you can just start talking."

"Right!" Edison adjusted his goggles. "So I know we aren't allowed to talk about what's on our app, but will the old motive be removed?"

"Yeah, pretty much! Once the motives are shuffled again, your old one is free to talk about." Monokawa crossed his arms. "I can't lock it out of your conversations forever."

That was good to hear. "Proceed." Edison got his answers.

"Now, it's time to randomise!" Monokawa called out, moving over towards the screen. "Spin! Spin! Spin!" The screen remained stationary.

But the words spun around!

Eventually… Landing on the results…

Atlas: Threat

Benjamin: Threat

Dae-Hyun: Threat

Edison: Truth

Gemini: Secret

Gennosuke: Secret

Gigi: Promise

Hae-Won: Promise

Laki: Revelation

Lorelei: Promise

May: Promise

Melody: Revelation

Michael: Truth

Seira: Truth

Tatiana: Truth

Winter: Promise

Once again, everyone had been giving a new personalised motive directly to their watches. Most people didn't seem to react to what they got, however there were a select few.

"Right…" Winter hummed out, seeing that she got promise. "Now's the time to give me that." It was a bit bitter, especially after a promise was already broken two days ago.

Seeing his results, Gemini frowned slightly, before the smile appeared on his face again. Placing his hands on his hips, he shook his head. "Who cares about something like this?" He sure didn't!

"Yeah!" Tatiana called out, before pausing for a moment. "Well, it did get Ian and Laki to act last time."

"And the rules prevent us from even sharing what we have." Gigi crossed her arms. "Not that anyone would show theirs."

Gemini rubbed the back of his neck, shaking his head. "It's probably for the best if we don't show any of our results, yeah." However, thinking about it a bit more, he looked over at her. "Hey, Gigi, do you have a moment to talk after this?"

"Oh?" Well, not often she would be asked for a conversation. "I don't see why not. Is it something important?"

"... Something like that." Gemini glanced off to the side.

Darting between the two of them, Seira began to grow concerned. "Is it something you want to talk to me about?"

"Hmm…" Gemini had to think for a moment before shaking his head at her. "No, it's about something specific to Gigi, from a few days ago."

Although, he seemed to be a bad liar, because Seira clocked that shit right away. However, she didn't want to pry, so she backed away. "You got it."

Still, it made her a bit uneasy.

"Oh, Seira." Winter called out, which took her mind right off it.

"Y-yeah?"

Winter offered her a warm smile. "You remember that thing we spoke about yesterday? If you have some time, I'd be glad to give you a session."

Right… She did sort of ask for that. "Huh…" Sending one last look at Gemini, Seira nodded her head. "Yeah, I'll be there in a bit."

Now that everything had calmed down from the motive reveal, Edison stood up, adjusting his goggles. He glanced over at May, having something to tell her, but she was passed out. "Maybe another time." He told himself with a smile before leaving towards the elevator.

Ultimate Referee Station

It was an odd feeling. Sure, her and Gemini always seemed to get along. He had come to her aid more times than she could count.

And yet… Gigi didn't have any idea what he would want to talk about.

Once the door closed behind him, Gemini let out a sigh. "I think I have a concrete idea of what is going on with this place."

"Huh?" Gigi hadn't expected him to open up with that. "How can… How can you be so sure?"

"This motive proves it." Gemini looked down at his watch, hesitating if he should even open it up. "There'd be no way for anyone else to know…"

Gemini had gotten… a secret. "Was it related to your secret?"

Placing his hands on his hips, Gemini nodded his head. "The moment I saw it, it completely clicked…."

…

"Hope's Peak did this."

Narrowing her eyes slightly, Gigi still held a bit of doubt. "How could you be so sure of that? What was your secret?"
Turning away, Gemini shook his head. "You know I can't tell you what it is. The rules say so. But… Even if the rules didn't exist, I still wouldn't mention it."

"That bad of a secret?" Gigi crossed her arms. It couldn't be-

Letting out a small laugh, Gemini shook his head. "We all have things we'd rather not talk about. I'm sure you're the same way as me."

Biting her lip slightly, Gigi couldn't counter his point. Even she had secrets. "Why conclude that it's Hope's Peak that has to be involved?"

"Because…" Gemini paused, glancing off to the side. "There's no other way to explain it. Hope's Peak is the only one who stumbled upon the information that was given to me on my bracelet." Then, he hesitated a bit. "Because I refuse to believe the alternative."

This whole ordeal began to concern Gigi a bit. "The alternative? Gemini, you're being like May. Stop being vague."

"Being vague is all I can do at the moment." Gemini shook his head. "Just know that a select few people even know about the information, with Hope's Peak being one of the groups that know it. Hell, they even asked me about it during the interview."

Gigi crossed her arms, frowning slightly. "Interview?" She had faint recollection of one, but most of it was missing from her memories, as if that specifically was removed.

Deciding that standing up was getting too much, Gemini took a seat at the table. "They seemed to know all about my past. In fact, when I answered… They… Didn't feel shocked in the slightest."

Now, memories were flooding back to Gigi, and her frown deepened. "Yes, I recall something like that happening during my own interview." She eventually sat across from Gemini. "At first, I thought they might have been a bitter fan… But if you're bringing this up, then perhaps it was more than that."

"Heh…" Gemini let out a small laugh as he shook his head. "I bet you aren't willing to tell me that either, are you?"

"It's rather personal, so I'd rather not mention it." Gigi had a slight nervous expression on her face before she got rid of it entirely, returning to her usual expression.

Sharing this information was good and all, but that just left a question on Gigi's mind. "Why tell me about it? I thought you'd rather tell someone like Seira. You two seem rather close."

"That's the exact reason why I can't tell her." Gemini shook her head. "I'd hate to hold back information from her. If we talked about this, I would probably be tempted to mention my secret." He wiggled his wrist a bit to make the watch move a bit. "Wrong move."

"And I'm the next person you considered?" Still, it felt weird for Gemini to be telling her any of this.

With a small smile on his face, Gemini nodded his head. "You're unbiased in all things, so it feels like you'd judge me by how I am, instead of what my secret might be." That's what he saw when it came to Michael, anyways.

It was nice to have someone see how she saw things, if only briefly. "Most people are quick to turn against Michael because of his talent. However, besides lying, he hasn't done much that warrants the criticism he has received." Mainly from Hae-Won.

"Speaking of which…" Gemini let out a small sigh. "You and Hae-Won have not been getting along at all. It's almost as if she doesn't want anything to do with you."

Closing one of her eyes, Gigi let out a sigh. "She seems to think my method of leadership is faulty. Or at least, that's what I can gather from the way she is acting. She didn't like that I wanted to leave Michael alone, and thus, she's chosen to retaliate."

This whole thing was becoming a mess, wasn't it?

Gemini put his hands on his hips. "Well, I don't see it like that, and I doubt many other people do. So keep doing what you always do."

Still, it was hard to just pretend like nothing happened. "I will try my best."

"Not many people have actually stepped up to be leaders, as of yet. Only really you and myself. And I don't believe I'm fit to be a leader." Gemini glanced away.

On the other hand, Gigi seemed to disagree. "What do you mean? You seem to take charge whenever you can."

"More out of necessity than anything else…" Gemini frowned. "I don't really think I've made any enemies here yet, so people tend to be willing to hear what I have to say." Not that he hated such a thing, but the pressure could be a bit much at times.

Taking a deep breath, Gigi could understand the sentiment… Partially. "I guess that still makes me the best person to be a leader." At least it was someone unbiased like herself. Gemini could be too soft, and Hae-Won… Had questionable tactics.

A grin formed on Gemini's face when she said that. "And I wouldn't have it any other way." However, after a moment, the smile faded away. "By the way, if Seira asks, tell her I just wanted to talk to you about Hae-Won."

He was now asking her to lie for him. "Alright…" Gigi closed one eye, keeping the other one focused on him. "But if she keeps pestering me, I might let the truth slip out."

"What are you talking about?" Now Gemini had his grin again. "We did talk about Hae-Won. It's not technically a lie."

Oh, was that how he was playing this game. "Well-" Gigi had begun to say, but she was quickly cut off.

"I'll be going now. Thank you for allowing me some of your time." Gemini offered a wave before leaving.

That left Gigi standing there all alone. "..."

It seems that Gigi and Gemini grew closer.

Ultimate Love Guru Station

Stepping into the room, it was cast in total darkness, except for the light coming from the hallway.

Which was a stark contrast to what it was like last time… Seira nervously marched right into the room, before the door closed right behind her, casting the entire room in darkness.

"H-Hello…?" The silence was eating Seira alive at this rate.

Luckily, her prayers wouldn't go unanswered…

Soon, a small flame appeared in the center of the room, waving around, before touching one of the candles.

Then, the flame transferred itself over to the second candle, allowing both of them to be lit at the same time.

In the center, Winter was now visible, and she seemed pretty content with her display.

As if on cue, the slow red lights began to turn back on, illuminating the lights in a dark red. "So… You've decided to arrive."

Why did Winter feel the need to do that? "What was… The point of any of that?" Seira slowly approached the table, sitting down across from her.

Winter moved her hand to cover her mouth slightly. "Tee-hee, I felt bored waiting, so I thought I'd put on a little show before the session."

Closing one eye, Seira glanced up at the lights. "How did you even control that? We didn't find anything like that…"

"Oh, that?" Winter lifted up her freshly made cup of tea. "I found it tucked away in the back area of the room. Gemini and I mostly spoke instead of looking around. With it, I can change the lights to any colour I want. However, red and pink seem to be the most effective."

Bringing up Gemini reminded her why she was here in the first place. "Right… Gemini." This was going to be an awkward session. Seira glanced away, trying to think of what to say.

"Don't worry." Winter offered her a sincere smile. "Anything you say in this room will not leave it." Long pause. "I have nothing to gain from telling him anyways."

That last part felt wholefully unnecessary, but Seira wasn't going to comment on it.

She needed to talk to Winter about all of this.

Seeing that Seira wasn't going to move the conversation forward, it was up to Winter to begin it. "So, you've come to me for advice when it comes to Gemini, correct? Or more so, if the two of you are even compatible in the first place?"

"H-huh… Yeah…" Seira felt her heart flare up a bit. Even doing this entire conversation wasn't putting her mind at ease.

Especially with what happened earlier.

"We've been… Close these past several days." Seira hadn't ever gotten close to someone that quickly. And yet, Gemini and her stuck together a lot. Hell… When it came to exploration, they had explored together every time. It almost seemed rigged!

Hi, the author here, yes it was rigged- :boom:

Nodding her head along, Winter spoke up again. "So, you believe because of the close proximity, you've grown an attachment."

"Well, attachment is…" Seira wasn't exactly sure how she would phrase it, but it definitely wasn't like that. "It's… Hard to say…" She glanced off to the side.

Ah… Winter had seen this in the past before. "I understand. You think you might have feelings for him, but you think it's much too soon to have those sorts of attachments."

Yes.

That was exactly it.

"We haven't been here for that long, so I shouldn't have these sorts of attachments, right?" Seira was having a hard time looking at her.

Winter slowly shook her head. "That's not true. Love doesn't need to be a long process. At times, you can meet a person that you fall for right away."

Was that really the case, though. Seira finally looked back at Winter. "Have you ever experienced something like that?"

Winter had been taking a sip of tea while she waited for a response, so she coughed a bit when the question was asked.

"W-Winter?" Seira was a bit taken aback.

Once she had recovered, Winter slowly shook her head. "No. That's never happened to me at all."

Frowning slightly, Seira was quick to pick up on just why her reaction was like that. "Was it because of Michael-"

"Please do not talk about that." Winter warned her.

She still had no idea what her thoughts on him were. If she actually liked him, or… what. Hard to tell, knowing what his talent was. "He…"

Winter wanted to say that Michael manipulated her, but she wasn't even confident in her own ways. "It's best if we move on to you and Gemini. After all, you are paying for this. I would hate for your money to be wasted.. Tee-hee…"

"Alright…" Seira knew there was a problem here lying at the bottom, but it would probably be best to talk to her about it at a different time. "Back to Gemini…"

"Yes, yes. You've fallen madly in love with him." Winter teased her. "He seems like a good person, so I can understand why."

Hearing that, the events from earlier began to resurface again. "Yeah… But earlier… I think he was hiding something from me."

Winter had her own things to worry about, so she didn't really notice the behaviour of anyone else. "Oh? What happened?"

"After receiving the motive, he requested to talk to Gigi, and purposely tried to leave me out." Seira rubbed her arm a bit, glancing off to the side. "I… It just didn't make me feel great."

Winter shrugged, not seeing a problem with that. "Maybe there was something he needed to talk to only Gigi with."

"Yeah, that's what he said, but it only happened after he got his motive…" Seira frowned slightly, glancing to the ground. "His motive was a secret, and I feel like he might be hiding something from me…"

Hearing those words, Winter slowly began to feel her emotions boil up…

Hiding something…

Still, she remained calm. "People have things to hide all the time, don't they? I'm sure you're no different from him. If you got a secret as a motive, would you be willing to tell him what it was?"

Seira glanced off to the side. There weren't really any secrets that would cause her to be like that… Well… There was one. But there was a zero percent chance that Nova or Monokawa even knew about it.

And yet… Just the thought of mentioning it…

"I… I think you're right." Seira offered a smile. "I guess I'm jumping the gun a bit here…"

There it was. Winter nodded her head. "See? They are secrets for a reason. I'm sure he didn't want to mention what it was to you specifically because he cares a lot about you." Well, Winter had no way of knowing that for sure, but it was probably exactly what Seira wanted to hear.

Slowly, a small smile appeared on her face. "You know what… I think you're right." She let out a small nervous laugh. "It's probably best if I don't talk to him about it either."

She knew Gemini wouldn't say anything anyways.

"Hmm…" Winter hummed out, tilting her head to the side. "Maybe not now, but eventually you should learn what it is. It could ruin a relationship to have a secret be kept for so long. Trust issues begin to form."

Ah, maybe she was leaning a bit too much on her bitter feelings from earlier.

Which meant Winter had to bring it back up. "However, from what we've seen from Gemini, he's a really nice person. I think you two would work well together."

This entire conversation helped put Seira a bit more at ease. "Thank you…" She let out a happy sigh. "I think that's good enough for today." She stood up, ready to leave. "I'll talk to you again when something new comes up."

"Where do you think you're going?" Winter called out, tilting her head to the side. After a few seconds, she opened up her watch. "I told you that this session comes with a fee."

"O-oh…" Honestly, Seira was hoping that she would have forgotten about all that. Moving back, she opened her app up, transferring 200 coins over to Winter.

Bowing her head slightly, a small smile tugged at Winter's face. "Thank you for your cooperation."

It seems that Seira and Winter grew closer.

Vacant Rooms

Now that nighttime was growing close, most people had returned to their rooms, ready to go to sleep.

Two people were still up, however, that being Tatiana and Benjamin.

"Yes, now that we have everything for a show, it will be fantastic!" Despite how low of a mood she had been yesterday, her spirits have really flared up now

"Are you sure about putting Dae-Hyun in charge of the show?" Dolly had her doubts, especially with the conversation they just had.

Shaking her head quickly, Tatiana retained her smile. "He knows what he should be doing. He's an Ultimate after all. He's probably dealt with tons of people like me in the past." Putting a hand on her hip, her expression returned to a more neutral look. "Besides, maybe he was right. I might be getting a little over my head by having it happen tomorrow."

Although, the fact that Dolly was against the idea did get Tatiana thinking. "Do you not like Dae-Hyun?"

"Huh?" Dolly panicked a bit. "No! Nothing like that! I just thought you'd want to run your own show."

"Haha, even at the circus, I was not the ring leader. I was merely an act for them. Granted, it was the best act we had to offer, but I digress."

Dolly was going to say something, however, she was interrupted by an announcement playing out loudly for all to hear.

"It is now nighttime. And, while I know you are all excited by all the new areas, it's probably best if you retire to your room. A new motive was just given out, and you don't know who's itching to kill someone because of that. Although, I wouldn't mind if one of you guys fell down and died. We're due for a new body soon after all. Goodnight all!"

Leaving them with that haunting goodnight message from Monokawa, Tatiana let out a sigh. "Well, staying up any later than we need to is a bit unwise. Shall we retire to bed."

Dolly nodded her head along. "Yes! Let's wait to see what tomorrow brings us!"

Slowly… The station drew quiet as everyone slowly faded away to sleep…

There's nothing that motivates me more than writing another chapter before Project can catch up. It's by far the funniest motivator I have. And you know what? It fucking WORKS. I spent literally only three days writing this chapter. I wrote like 9k in one day for no reason but just to get the ball rolling.

But that's not the only reason why I'm doing this. Originally, I was supposed to start my new job on the 10th of October. However, they called me a few days ago asking me if I wanted to start a week earlier. With this job, my time to write will be cut very short, so I want to try and make sure that I get as much writing done as I possibly can before I have to go.

My original plan was to release part 2 and 3 before the 10th, but now I'm aiming to get them done before the 3rd. Is it possible? I have no idea, but that doesn't mean I won't try. Besides, this came out on the 27th, so I still have five days to write part 3, and there's almost already 2k written for that one! There's a fun starting scene I really wanted to get to.

As for this chapter, I know not much happened, and it was just a lot of setup for the rest of the chapter. Still, we had some interesting interactions. Been looking forward to the Winter and Seira FTE for a while now.

Now, I'm hoping to get part 3 out by the 2nd, but that's going to be a tall order, so it's highly likely that I will try and finish it up after I arrive at the location I will be staying at. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this part. Much shorter than part 1, so that's a good thing!

See you all next time!

Participants Remaining: 16

Edison Thompton - The Ultimate Chemist [SilverMark16]

Seira Natsume - The Ultimate Astrologist [WolfieRed23]

Winter Hibiscus - The Ultimate Love Guru [Grandma Sue]

Giustina "Gigi" Giulio - The Ultimate Referee [Nekoja]

Gemini Strela - The Ultimate Escapist [secretnobody]

Benjamin Mason - The Ultimate Ventriloquist [NSPunny]

Lorelei Kaiser - The Ultimate Computer Security Specialist [CandleFire45]

Michael Astrophel - The Ultimate Cult Leader [Omakin]

Melody Eleanor Hopkins - The Ultimate Tap Dancer [Prince PokePersona]

Kim Dae-Hyun - The Ultimate Talent Manager [oddlyillregular]

Lakshmi "Laki" Krishna - The Ultimate Lucky Student [Sempi]

May Summers - The Ultimate Academic Prodigy [KadachiNova]

Tatiana Novak - The Ultimate Knife Thrower [ExtraMeme]

Atlas Constande - The Ultimate Soccer Player [ComplicatedYetSimple]

Gennosuke Yagami - The Ultimate Psychic [theotakureader101]

Kim Hae-Won - The Ultimate Tattoo Artist [Weekaro]