After Monokuma's motive, everyone was uneasy, but it seemed unlikely that anyone would snap and murder somone. Several days passed in what had come to be normal life for these students. They continued wandering around the school in pairs, investigating and making use of the various rooms. Kyoko was especially careful not to let Celeste out of her sight. She didn't want Celeste to have a chance to scheme something with Alter Ego without her knowledge, and she didn't want anyone else to have a chance to attack Celeste to get the hidden laptop. Celeste seemed fine with this, but Kyoko thought she could detect flashes of hidden resentment behind her eyes whenever she, say, insisted on accompanying Celeste into the bathroom, though Celeste was careful to school her expressions quickly.

In any case, it was a few days before the next interesting thing happened. Celeste woke Kyoko up in the middle of the night, dressed in the same gothic lolita outfit as always - even before it had been used as a hiding place, she would never take it off to sleep, only to bathe. "Kyoko," Celeste whispered. "I had a nightmare. About an earthquake, the ground vibrating under me. I need to take a walk, but I don't want to go alone. Can you come with me?"

It only took a moment for Kyoko to push the fog of sleep out of her head, remember the security camera pointed at them across the room, and realize what Celeste was really saying. "Of course," she nodded. "Maybe we could head to the locker room? I believe I forgot something of mine in there earlier."

"Very well," Celeste agreed.

…

Alter Ego had indeed finished decrypting and analyzing the files on the computer, and shared its results with the eager Kyoko and Celeste.

"This laptop belonged to an administrator of Hope's Peak Academy, and contains thousands of school files," Alter Ego explained. "Everything from emails to student records. Way too much to possibly fabricate. Most of it is useless to us, but some of the more recent data is very interesting. It seems that the administrators of the school planned to isolate their students and create a communal life for them, a communal life that could be sustained for the rest of their lives."

Kyoko's mind reeled.

Celeste recovered first. "So, you are saying that this really is Hope's Peak Academy, and this plan really was put into place by the school's leadership?"

"Yes," Alter Ego confirmed. "Although I can find no mention of the killing game or Monokuma. However, they do mention something called "The Tragedy" a lot. They don't go into detail about it though, except one guy who calls it the 'Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History.'"

Kyoko and Celeste shared looks. "An exaggeration?" Celeste inquired.

"I hope so," Kyoko said. "Or else the outside world is far more devastated than the motive videos suggested. Large portions of the world would have to be in shambles. Was there a nuclear war, maybe? That would explain why it is so difficult to get outside, if the building had been shielded from radiation."

Alter Ego shook his head. "I can find no mention of the effects of nuclear war. Whatever the Tragedy was, the school was caught in the middle of it for some time. It took them a while to close down the school and turn it into a bunker."

"Hmm," Kyoko considered for a moment. "Celeste," she turned to her partner. "What's the last date you remember before arriving in this school?"

Celeste paused, brow furrowed. "August 19th, 2010."

Alter Ego looked confused at that, while Kyoko nodded knowingly. "And what's the most recent date when a school file was created or edited on that computer, Alter Ego?"

"August 23rd, 2011," the A.I. answered hesitantly. "Which according to the laptop's internal clock was several months ago."

"And the date of the prime minister's signature on the pardon Monokuma showed us was also in 2011," Kyoko continued sadly. "So… that proves it."

"Proves what, exactly?" Celeste asked nervously.

"We've all lost all of our memories from a whole year of our lives," Kyoko explained, her voice full of melancholy. "We didn't just arrive at the school when the fifteen of us woke up in this boarded up place. We'd attended the school for a year. Then the Tragedy happened, we stayed in here for safety, only then the bear took over and somehow erased a year's worth of memories. Presumably so that we'd forget each other and be more willing to kill each other."

"That's… that's crazy," Celeste protested weakly.

"Yes," Kyoko confirmed. "But if everyone else can also only remember dates up through August of 2010, and if we assume that these files were not forged but genuinely created in 2011, or that the laptop's clock is accurate... well, then it is the only possible explanation."

Celeste's face went through multiple emotions quickly, barely noticeable on her well-schooled face. From disbelief, to wonder, to rage, to resignation. "It would explain the photo Makoto found too," she said finally.

Kyoko nodded. "And I am slightly taller than in my most recent memories. I had thought that was a product of my amnesia, or perhaps the mastermind doing something to my body, but it seems I've simply grown since then."

"Yes," Celeste commented, frowning, "Now that you mention it, I noticed my nails and hair were both slightly longer when I woke up than in my last memory, though I had forgotten about that among all the other oddities of this place."

"It all fits," Kyoko frowned too. "And that means we are most likely in the real Hope's Peak, and the reason no help has succeeded in reaching us…"

"Is because of the Tragedy," Celeste finished. Then, a demure smile appeared on her face. "Well, this is disappointing. But I suppose there's only one thing for it. We shall simply have to accept our life here."

"Maybe," Kyoko admitted. "Though I would like to learn more about what exactly the Tragedy was, and the exact state of the outside world. Unless all of civilization is somehow destroyed, being out there has still got to beat being trapped in here with that murderous bear."

"It is not worth the gamble," Celeste declared. "Considering we know this place at least has water, food, and air."

Kyoko stared at Celeste quizzically. Her poker face was perfect, but Kyoko had a hard time believing this was truly how she felt.

"I don't mind if you're upset about this," Kyoko finally said. "I am."

Celeste scoffed. "You don't look it."

"I've never been very good at showing my emotions," Kyoko confessed. "Unlike the Ultimate Gambler, who is instead very good at hiding them."

A light smile appeared on Celeste's face. "Well, in any case, we should avoid worrying the others, when we tell them."

"Indeed," Kyoko agreed. "Share that lie with them when we tell them what we've learned, and I'll back you up."

"Very well," Celeste nodded. "Is there anything else we should know?" she asked as she turned to Alter Ego.

"Well, I did learn that the headmaster of Hope's Peak is a man in his late thirties," said Alter Ego. "And that he intended to lock himself in the school with his students. But when Chihiro described everyone he had seen in the school, he didn't describe anyone like that, so I thought, maybe that's the mastermind, the one controlling Monokuma?"

"The headmaster...is here in the school!?" Kyoko repeated, shocked.

"Huh, it seems that got an emotional reaction out of you," Celeste commented, staring at Kyoko's shocked face. "What's so special about that little tidbit of information?"

"I.." Kyoko stammered, considering her words carefully. Among the few fragments of memory she still possessed, the identity of the real headmaster was one of them, as well as her hatred for him. She hadn't thought he was capable of something like this, but maybe… in any case, she thought it unwise to let slip to Celeste that she had any connection to the man. "I can't explain why," Kyoko finished lamely. "I just know that I have to find him."

"Is that so?" Celeste cocked her head. "Well, good luck. In the meantime, shall we stick you back under my skirt, Alter Ego?"

"Sure," said the A.I. "I'm pretty tired after all that decrypting and analyzing, anyway, so I'll just enter sleep mode. Wake me up if you need me."

"Buzz if you learn anything else," Celeste instructed, before carefully sticking the laptop back up her skirt.

"Cover story?" Kyoko inquired when Celeste returned her attention to her.

"I broke down crying and you spent some time comforting me," Celeste answered matter-of-factly. "One sec." She turned around and rubbed her eyes for a while. When she turned back, her eyes were red and puffy, and she looked for all the world like she had been sobbing. "How's that?"

"Perfect."

…

It was a bit more difficult to come up with a cover story to share the news covertly with the other students. Eventually, Kyoko settled on inviting the girls in for another bath, and afterwards pulling in an embarrassed Makato and explaining the situation 1-on-1, hoping the Mastermind would assume they were just making out or something, then making him invite the rest of the men in for a bath and explain it to them.

The results were a predictable mixture of anger, fear, and disbelief, and when they all met up again for dinner and talked about it covertly, with Celeste imploring them all to accept their fate, and Kyoko imploring them all to remember their pact, many still seemed very disturbed by Alter Ego's revelations.

Kyoko couldn't blame them. At this point, the most likely explanation seemed to be that she'd been wrong all along, and Monokuma had told nothing but the truth, his motive videos accurate and the outside world too devastated by the mysterious tragedy to rescue them. She didn't want to believe that, she still preferred to think it was all a lie, but they had all confirmed that their last memories were from 2010, and she knew she had to follow where the evidence led. Even when the evidence led to a disturbing place.

Toko and Byakuya had been included in this round of explanations, but Taka was still practically unresponsive, despite Makoto's best efforts, and the boy had given up on dragging the Ultimate Moral Compass around with him. Instead, Taka spent all his time in his bed, coming out only to eat and taking no notice of the others when he did.

A couple days passed with a pervasive feeling of unease, but thankfully no murders. Still, despite Kyoko's efforts, it was clear the group was splintering. They were suspicious of one another, unsure of their own memories, worried about the outside world, and tired of living in this glorified prison. In addition to the difficulties faced by the pairs of Makoto and Taka and of Byakuya and Toko, Hifumi and Hiro had apparently decided they were done trying to keep tabs on one another, and Kyoko frequently ran into them separately. Kyoko chastised them a bit, but she couldn't bring herself to be as disapproving as she thought she should be - if she were paired with either Hifumi or Hiro, she'd be trying to escape too. Still, that meant the only ones staying together at all times were her and Celeste and Hina and Sakura.

Then, Monokuma called them all into the gym again one morning. After complaining about how boring they all were and ranting about how ten million dollars wasn't good enough for them, he announced he was sweetening the deal.

"In addition to the previous rewards, the first student to kill someone and escape now also receives all the rewards on this table!" Monokuma declared. "Look, but don't touch!"

The students surrounded the indicated table and chaotically perused its contents. There were many cries along the lines of "What the hell?!" and "Where did you get this?!"

For her part, Kyoko noted ten items. A figurine of an anime girl. A video tape with the label "from Kenshiro." The deed to a castle in France. An expensive-looking crystal ball, similar to the one Leon had destroyed. A sealed folder with writing claiming it contained corporate secrets from the Togami corporation's competitors. What looked like an unlimited access VIP card to a fancy donut shop. A bunch of letters addressed to Makoto. A familiar-feeling lavender book with the label "K's diary." A decidedly unfamiliar black book with the label "Necronomicon," accompanied by a placard that claimed the book contained instructions for a ritual that could bring someone back from the dead. And a glass box containing a bunch of fancy scissors, knives, and cables, as well as a small pool of blood.

The thud of someone hitting the ground followed by the sound of mad cackling audible over everyone else's cries confirmed that Toko had seen the blood and Genocide Jill had seen the tools.

…

For the first time since she got here, Kyoko was not sure what would be the smartest thing to do. Obviously, Monokuma had offered an item for each of them. She knew she wouldn't kill just so she could read an old diary, as much as she wanted her memories back. But she wasn't sure of the others. From his dramatic reaction, she wasn't even sure Hifumi would not kill for the anime figurine. The only one who seemed convincingly unimpressed was Hina, who apparently took the VIP card to be an offensive joke at her expense. Even Makoto was oddly quiet, staring at the letters that were presumably from his friends and family.

Kyoko went over her options. She could assert herself as a leader again, argue that the claims in the items were probably lies. But unlike the motive videos, where the students desperately wanted to believe they were fabricated, here the students clearly desperately wanted to believe they were authentic. She doubted she could even convince Taka, who was decidedly less dead-eyed now, that the Necromonicon was an obvious trick. Words weren't going to help here, it seemed, as evidenced by the fruitless yelling going on around her.

What actions could she take? She could not destroy the items without breaking school regulations. Could she undermine the value of the motives in another way? She racked her brain, but no plausible ideas were coming to her. So it seemed she had to let the items be.

The next question, then, was how to protect the students from someone motivated to murder. She briefly considered tying up Genocide Jill, or anyone else who seemed too suspicious. But that would make them easy targets unless they posted multiple guards all the time, and even that was hardly foolproof. Should she try restricting their movements? No, if she asked people to stay in the dorms or something, she was confident that most of them would refuse or lie. And Monokuma had provided too many potential weapons in this school for it to be feasible to contain all of them.

No effective way to stop the motive, the murderer, the murder weapon, or access to victims. All she could hope to do was make the trial difficult for the blackened.

"...ridiculous," Byakuya was sneering as Kyoko tuned into the heated conversation around her.

"Regardless," she said as though she had been paying attention to their nonsense all along. "There is only one way to guarantee our safety now, should someone prove interested enough in their item to risk everything. We must stay together. Your partner can help keep you safe and provide an alibi. In fact, I suggest we stick to even larger groups for now. All the boys could stay together, and all the girls could stay together."

Byakuya rolled his eyes, and the deluge of protests that commenced showed that, as Kyoko suspected, many disliked that suggestion. Thankfully, Celeste was silent.

"You may go off on your own or in your pair as you wish, of course," Kyoko finally cut in. "But anyone who wishes to stay close to me and Celeste is welcome to."

Kyoko glanced at Celeste as she made this offer, and thought she saw the barest hint of a frown before Celeste schooled her face.

"That sounds good to me!" Hina exclaimed as she sidled up to Kyoko, and Sakura followed her wordlessly.

The conversation petered out after that, and the others began to disperse, until the girls, minus Toko, and a nervous-looking Makoto were left alone in the gym.

Seeing his nervousness, Kyoko spoke first. "Would you like to tag along with us, Makoto?"

"Uh, yes, please," he answered softly. "I'm sorry, I know it's awkward to have a boy follow you around, but it does seem safest. Taka… is not himself."

Kyoko nodded, and after the other girls agreed as well, the five of them journeyed together from the gym.

…

The next body was found that night, in the second floor sauna. And right next to it, there was another body. Two bodies. Taka and Toko.