Private/Closed Cold Steel

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon sighed as he looked at the gambler. “Look, like I said, I’m not forcing you. I just think we need to work together. If you want to work on your own, that’s ok. If you feel that I'm barking orders, then my apologies. I wanted to give a suggestion of what we could do... That's why I asked you all if it's alright.”

Paeon walked over to the gambler and placed his hand on his shoulder. “You know the risk. Just... stay safe Mr. Whiskey.”

 

[RhythmThief]

Arata sat on the floor, and simply bore witness to all that was occurring around him. He was never really the silent type, but what was he supposed to say in a situation like this? Compared to everyone else, he and his talent were utterly useless, and that was the cold, hard truth he had to accept.
But having to kill each other to escape? What kind of sick game is this? And what twisted mind is behind it all? He thought.
He now rose up from the floor, and dusted himself off, now looking toward the new table that arose from the floor (which honestly didn't surprise him at this point), and approached it. He searched around for the tablet (apparently called a 'Monopad', but Arata had so much contempt for that dumb bear and whoever was behind this that he didn't dare use any nickname created by either of them) labelled '10', which, if the list on the monitor was any indication, his number.

When he spotted it, he cautiously picked it up and investigated it, making sure it was safe to use. After deeming them safe, he began flicking through the rules, briefly reading over them to get a general idea of what the rules were, before listening to Paeon ordering them in groups, and the following protests of 'Mr.Whiskey'.

"...Then let's get to it. The more we unearth about this bizarre stronghold, the greater our chances of escape become." He announced.
"No matter how many inconveniences or obstacles we may face..." He continued, this time shooting glances at Ophelia and Parker.

He had remained quiet for the most part of the last few hours, which gave him a lot of time to study his companions from afar. He knew who the biggest threats were to the plan. It wasn't very hard to figure out, after all. While Arata was usually an easy-going, calm individual, the whole scenario definitely brought out another side of him, another side that hadn't reached the surface for a very long time.

 

[_obsequious]

Ophi stared warily at Jason, the... Therapist, apparently, approached her, commenting on her lie and her bad impression.
“I see I’m a bit of a sloppy second choice, hm?” she responded dryly, a tiny smirk tugging at the corner of her lip, the girl gesturing to the Linguist.

It wasn’t that hard to tell that she’d been an uncomfortable afterthought when he’d failed to approach the potential ally he wanted, having settled on the Gang Leader instead.

She’d opened her mouth to continue, when Whiskey crossed over to her, practically purring a response, placing a hand on her head and making the ill choice to call her short and cute in the same sentence, daring to suggest a truce.

Her muscles tensed in annoyance, her face darkening as she reared back and drove her elbow into the kid’s stomach, pushing him away and backing away towards the other side of the room.
“Do me a favor and never do that shit again,” she grumbled hotly, an icy stare set on him, crossing her arms as Loverboy practically jumped to her rescue, advising Whiskey to lay off. “I don’t need your help or your protection.” She huffed loudly, not appreciating the second “compliment” she received. For the love of God, Loverboy and Whiskey really knew how to piss her off, huh...

“Can you guys stop with that?” She snapped bitterly, shoulders tense and her face vaguely red. Her arms were crossed and her glare was cold as she distanced herself from the group.

 

[Generation Sect]

Jason stood in silence, unreactive, trying his damndest not to reach up and scratch his chin and give away his thinking. It seemed as if the SHSL Gambler and Film Editor had both managed to simultaneously anger her. Great, there was a useful potential ally going... although, the film editor’s plan had been pretty good.
He looked to Paeon and Parker, his glare all but screaming ‘You’re not helping’.
Jason figured he was quickly running out of time to redeem the situation, so he spoke up, deciding to move on a path that would anger the girl less.
“I wouldn’t say second choice. Your skillsets are very... different. But both useful, nonetheless. I don’t think you need protection per say, but help? As the Ultimate Gang Leader, I assume you know the importance of teamwork. I’m... aware of Hellfire, to say the least.”
That last part, surprisingly, was not a lie, but had it been it would have served the same purpose.

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon turned towards the girl with a confused expression as the therapist glared at him. “Umm... did I do something wrong? My mother and father told me to tell the truth...”

Paeon approached the Gang Leader with worry in his face. “Ummm... If I did something wrong... I’m sorry. I just thought I was supposed to say the truth so... if I did something wrong... crap I’m rambling...”

As he looked for an escape he noticed the perfect out. “Well... I’m going to check on Ice Queen and Quiet Girl with the remote. See ya there if you want to help out Buttercup. See ya Mumbles.” Giving one last grin, Paeon ran over to the two with the remote.

 

[Retro Master]

Joseph was a bit concerned how no one but himself seemed too consider the remote a threat. Had he missed something? Last he checked, the remote didn’t seem all that damaged. That meant the remote could still be used too harm someone. Maybe even harm Monokuma. ‘No, rule number four says violence against the bear is prohibited.’ This meant the remote’s only usefulness would be for harming one of them. The two girls had too know that. His suspicions peaked when he saw Honoka whispering something too Hoshi, who held the remote firmly in her grasp. They had to be planning something.

Joseph began walking over the girls, but not before noticing Paeon running to their direction. Had he noticed something as well? It was more likely that Mr. Whiskey and Gang Leader has sent him running after denying his plan. However, the last thing any of them needed was the one holding the remote to click on a button because someone was running into them. “You girls figure anything out yet?” Joseph asked before Paeon could reach them, standing only a few feet away himself. His tone was was calm, hiding away any suspicion he had with only his eyes glancing at the remote. Joseph carefully made sure not to make mention of the remote directly only because of Monokuma’s presence.

 

[Fire Mana]

Parker held an arm over his stomach. The girl could certainly hit, not to mention she caught him off guard with a hit he normally would have been able to counter. Although... he had been hit by much stronger fighters in his time, including a certain someone he had promised to pay back in full in the future.

Cough

"Listen here short stack... I'm not the type to pull my punches against a girl, and I can promise you I've beaten significantly tougher opponents than you. This is a warning. Try something like that again and I'll make sure you're not able to use that arm for the rest of your life."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The archer completely shrugged off Paeon, already accepted that he couldn’t add anything to the group other than another body to save in the long run. While giving a sigh, his conversation interrupted by a fight between a rather small girl and Parker. He fired an arrow at their feet, not even looking at their direction. It hit an inch between both of their feet, Ralphie grunting as he did so.

“If you want to settle your squabble, either fight each other in physical combat or don’t do anything at all. We need you alive to not trigger the rules. Either way, settle it.”

Upon doing this he cleared his thirst and turned back to the ultimate medic herself, awaiting a response.

 

[Crimson Sun]

(Pretend Jane and Nathan reacted the same way as the majority of people did to what happened, I missed to much to RP all the way back there)

Jane turned her head towards the archer, who Jane assumed as Ralph as it said on the handbook given from the teddy bear headmaster, as she heard the latter had singled her out for a bit. He had a proposal of the two working together to keep each other safe. Jane felt a bit suspicious about it, as Monokuma did just say that murder is for survival within the school. For all she knows, working with Ralph here would prove to be better than nothing she supposed. But it really did seem out of nowhere. "Thanks, I suppose," Jane said, not really sure what to say next. "Sorry I can't compliment back, we don't get much news from my camp." Jane's been in war for practically the second half of her life already, she doesn't really know a lot of news.

Nathan on the other hand was still freaking out, no expressing it of course, but he's literally panicking on the inside. Why were these popel so calm about this? Most of them were going to die, how can they all just accept this? Nathaniel Bonanno still had much to live for. But he didn't express his opinion, because it 'could' be likely that, with his outburst, he could be the first victim for all he knows. He decided to go along with whatever plan that one guy had and go with the flow for now. That guy was Paeon, comparing his image and name to his real life self. That guy seemed to be taking charge here. "What group am I exactly in," Nathan asked no one specifically, still not caught up with the nicknames given.

 

[The Kitsune]

With some measure of calm returned to her heart, Hoshi turned her attentiom back to the device. And it seemed their investigation had not gone unnoticed, others were starting to converge on them. The time for indecision had passed.

As Honoka's own observation and warning reached her ears, Hoshi made up her mind with a firm nod. "OK." Standing, she took her own numbered tablet from the table and backed up, away from the rooms center, looking pointedly at Honoka. "Stand back," she said, raising her voice to repeat it to the room at large (though her voice still sounded meek with disuse). "E-Everyone be ready. ...Not sure what this might do."

She waited a few moments, giving everyone time to comply, before letting her index finger sink into the topmost active button. She looked hopefully toward the elevator wall.

 

[Riverrunner]

The image on the monitor flickered away from the student roster. In its place was a screen filled with noise, four words glowing red amidst the static:

PLEASE ENTER ADMINISTRATOR PASSWORD:
________________​

Honoka breathed a sigh of relief. Good, not a death trap. "A step in the right direction, but… I don't remember seeing any sort of keyboard on that remote, or any indication of what the password might be," she noted, looking at the screen as she spoke. "And even if there was, I doubt we can simply brute force our way in, nor can we tamper with the screen's machinery to hack our way in." She paused for a moment, before turning to Hoshi with a look of concern. "Not to mention… what would happen to all of us if we got it wrong?"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Understandable. In fact, I was quite surprised hope’s peak even found out about my covert operations.” He said in passing. “But regardless of that. I know I can trust you. A doctor gives an oath to do no harm. I shall protect you from anyone who seeks to take your life. I believe we need the best expertise in all three fields: Tactical, medical, and engineering. Im tactical, your medical, and as far as engineering goes...”

Ralphie looked over to ryuu, who seemed to be utterly lost in what he was supposed to do. He gave him a up-down look before turning back to the medic.

“Him. Ryuu tachibana. He is the closest thing we have to an engineer. I’d say with the best in all three fields, it would make the death of any of us impossible, and our effectiveness absolute. What would you say about making an formal federation?”

He was putting all his chips in, as he needed to establish order in this hell-hole of a prison. With the three best of all specialities, it would only be natural that they would be on top of the food chain, and synchronized. It was for the best.

Meanwhile Percy continued drawing, taking a good sketch of starboy, his mind drifting off. When exactly would they get out of the starting zone? He couldn’t be sure.

 

[Generation Sect]

As he waited, Jason thought of the makeshift “team” Paeon had assigned him.
Starting with the Film Editor himself, his heart and mind both seemed to be in the right place, even if his mouth wasn’t. Jason would be fine with him, although he knew that he was already grating in some others eyes.
The Gang Leader had a reputation, and seemed to be certainly very easy to anger. She would make a good ally, and he figured treating with the respect she would expect was the best way to avoid getting on her bad side.
The Taxidermist seemed... simple enough. Reserved, serious. No problems there.
The Linguist seemed to be overly nervous. Her talent would definitely be more useful than it seemed, but he could tell her nerves were getting the better of her, and she was most likely going through a lot in her head.
However, it didn’t seem to him as if everyone else was that interested in following by these orders...

 

[The Kitsune]

While Honoka’s face fell at the password protected screen before them, Hoshi remained reserved, hiding her quiet triumph behind a small smile. Taking a moment, she glanced over the rules again; her eyes lingering on the precise wording of #4. “…we won’t get it wrong then.” Her voice was surprisingly calm, with none of the quiver of her prior uncertainty as she looked up again. Her hands moved to her pocket, pulling out her phone and charging cord to prepare even as she took the few steps forward.

If this had been a simple screen, a ‘dumb’ TV as they were called these days, they would have been as stuck as Honoka seemed to think they were. But if it had been a simple box of lights and circuits, it wouldn’t have the interface capabilities required to program password protection. No, that meant this was a Smart TV and all Smart TVs had…. Hoshi’s slender fingers ran around the edge of the screens, until she found the tiny rectangular port she’d been searching for. …a USB Port.

USB were universally unguarded, an inherent flaw in modern technology. In order to accommodate the instant charging and the plug-and-play effect that was commercially expected in today’s world, these ports accepted access with little scrutiny. With the default keyboard program masquerading as benign intent on her phone, Hoshi connected her cord. The password input on the TV screen fluttered for a moment and continued to blink accordingly, awaiting input. Without sparring a moment to enjoy the small success, she tapped the side button on her phone and her charge light glowed accordingly as the background Poison Tap program took effect. It would take only a matter of seconds for the intricate program to siphon the necessary information.

By emulating a Ethernet device, a default DHCP request and response would leave the entire IPv4 space under Poison Tap’s spoofed network; force-caching backdoors and remote access even as it siphoned cookies from the connection. It was these seemingly harmless historical keystrokes that would provide the password they needed. But as Hoshi’s eyes scoured the influx of code, her brow creased with concern. There were passwords stored here, many in fact…far too many for one simple door. And there were other programs here she didn’t recognize; complex systems and intricate codes, many encrypted in languages that even she didn’t recognize or comprehend… She had tapped into something of a far greater scale than she’d realized, outstripping her school's mainframe in complexity by far. There was enough coding here to run…an entire fortress of systems.

....this would take weeks to decrypt, perhaps even longer considering she didn't recognize half the symbols presented to her. Hoshi’s eyed one familiar section amidst the chaotic code, one of the many indications of a saved passcode and its context was the most promising.

encodedPwd = []
for 1 in range (0,23):

encodePwd.apprend(list(keyboarddict.keys())[0])​

random.seed()

#funct > OPENWELCOMEDOOR​

if hash > 0x3FFF:

return “invalid hash code”
​

There was nothing to suggest malice in this code, unlike many of the [TRP] labeled others. And it shared the tag of the current active system, which suggested the screen in front of them... She knew all of this would be near impossible to explain to her less than tech-savvy fellows and besides they didn't have time. Biting her lip and sparring a glance back at Honoka, Hoshi swiped the passcode keystroke into the waiting field and pressed ENTER.

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon watched as the others went about their own business, which left him defeated. "*sigh* I guess nothing's changed..."

As he walked back to the red couch in a bit of a somber mood, he began to look back at his career. Once he sat down, he remembered his first film... and why he was who he was. Paeon remembered his mentor, a kind older man who never looked at him with disbelief like others. For you see, even though he wanted to work in film... no one believed in him.

When he was a young boy, he noticed how disconnected the world was from him. His classmates and teachers pretty much forgot he was there. However... it was his family that hurt the most. To his older brother and younger sister... they thought he was adopted and hoped that he would be taken away. Paeon never understood why they disliked him, but it was better than his parents.

With the others, Paeon stated on occasion that his mother said this or his father said that... but to be honest, they didn't say anything. He would hear them say it to his siblings. His mother was heartless and usually ignored him for basic needs like food and clothing. The only reason he had a room was so no one thought he was mistreated. But his father... was the worst in his mind.

His father never beat him nor ignored him. Rather, his father constantly reminded him of how the world would be better off without. 'You're a waste of space, boy.' 'Mistakes don't deserve food like this, boy.' 'So... you planning on jumping soon boy?' ...And that was it. Paeon began to become disconnected from the world. He was tired of being alone, being forgotten... being that f*cking mistake his dad saw him be.

But, it was only a single day and a single man who saved him from such a life. His mentor showed him cinematography, editing, directing, producing and sound work. His mentor showed him his happiness. And it was his mentors dying wish for him to make a name for himself... to prove the others wrong. And with that, the Paeon Kanetsu today was formed.

However, he was getting tired of this. He tried to stand out, but now the others are either annoyed with him, angered because of him... or have mainly forgotten about him. Paeon had one goal and one goal alone within his mind. 'I will try to get them out of here. Unlike me, they have something to return to.'

 

[Riverrunner]

"Hm? Are you talking to me?" Ryuu asked, definitely utterly lost in what he was supposed to be doing. "An alliance sounds great, even though you're kind of making it sound really serious, that's fine." Quite frankly, he wasn't quite sure who exactly they were allying against, but if the rules were any indication... this had to be some sort of game, right? Like mafia, almost, except on a larger scale. To quote-on-quote kill someone, he assumed that he just needed to take their flag or something. Why this was playing out at Hope's Peak, Ryuu didn't know—perhaps it was some kind of experiment in how they all handled team bonding? Then again…
"The bear in the corner sure seems to have a lot of arrows sticking out of him, and that cut across your cheek…" he paused for a moment, turning directly to Ralphie. "What exactly is happening here? I really don't remember much of anything. Is this… real?"

———
Meanwhile, Honoka waited with bated breath as Hoshi expertly operated on the screen.

PASSWORD ACCEPTED

The doors slid open, retracting into the walls with a satisfying hiss.

Ding

Wait.

That indeed indicated that the elevator had arrived at their floor, yet no buttons had been pushed to call it down. Perhaps it was an automated feature? Or maybe, just maybe...

"I swear, this had better not be."

Inside of the elevator stood a familiar robotic bear, who was crouched down at an open panel in the back of the elevator. He turned around with a start, quickly shoving the panel back into place.

"Huh? Oh…" Monokuma dusted himself off (clearly trying to appear as if the premature opening of the doors had been entirely intentional), before standing to his feet and addressing the class.

"Alright, so far, you kids have been more trouble than you're worth. Seriously; tearing up the flooring of my beautiful facility, threatening your Headmaster and acting on that threat within the span of seconds—what's next, drawing on the walls in permanent marker? Emptying your bladders on my furniture? I'm lettin' you guys get away with homicide here, why are you guys bothering with petty crime instead?" Evidentially, he hadn't noticed that Hoshi had been the cause of the elevator's premature opening, which was probably a good sign.

As usual, Monokuma wasn't finished talking yet. "Anyway, my point is, you lot are acting like a bunch of wild animals. If you're going to scratch at the walls like a pack of dogs if I keep you cooped up in here, it's a better bet to just let you have free reign of the place. Well, the rest of this floor, anyway. If you want to see any more of this place—or better yet, the outside—you know what you've got to do!" He rather cheerfully pantomimed stabbing his arrow-filled doppelgänger, before picking up what remained of the broken Monokuma and climbing back into the elevator.

"Can't leave this stuff lying around. Also, you're not gettin' your arrows back, otherwise I'll have a lot more individual pieces to clean up." Slowly, the elevator doors began to close once more. "I've updated your Monopads with the map of the first floor—don't get any ideas about trying to get to the rest of this place, I'm parking the elevator far beyond where you guys can get to it, even if you manage to pry the doors open with your scrawny fingers. Have fun looking at an empty elevator shaft if you do! Farewell!"

The elevator doors closed shut once more, the screen returning to normal with its display of the student roster. For a moment, everything fell silent.

Suddenly, the entire room began to rumble. Three sections of the steel panelling lifted themselves up on unseen hinges, retracting back into the wall to reveal three separate hallways. At least the bear was transparent about his intentions… kind of.

The same voice that had become sickeningly recognizable sounded over the announcements moments later. "You heard what I said earlier, go! Shoo, shoo! Out with you! Stop wrecking my stuff and start wrecking each other for a change!"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“It most certainly is real ryuu. And for the sales of your survival and ours, you beat remember that.” The archer put bluntly. “In order to keep your gift you call life I’d suggest you lend us your expertise. An engineer and perhaps pyrotechnics will become useful in many ways. Besides, you don’t want to get murdered outside of our protection group do you?”

.......

Percy scanned the now available halls, eager to get out of the cramped Room they were in before. With his drawing pad in hand, he walked past the bathrooms, making it to the end of the hallway, reaching a dead end. Funny...a dead end. Who was the bear tricking? Who in their right mind would even has a motive for killing their classmates?

Percy sighed, looking to the right. It was the door on the end of the hall, with dark brown linings of the wooden door. Naturally to the artist it had a great visual appeal, so he couldn’t help but open it...

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon examined his Monopad's map with great interest. To him, it seemed like a lot of areas for exploration, but his eyes were focused on one location. As he reached inside himself, he turned to the others.

"Well, I don't know if anyone wants to explore with me but I feel as though we should split up. To be honest... I really want to check out the clinic to see if we have anything for injuries like the one Robin Hood has. Maybe someone like Mumbles wants to go check it out with me?" However, while he stood there, a voice in the back of his mind taunted him. 'Why bother? No one cares about you.' Paeon forced those thoughts away as he waited for a response in fear.

 

[The Kitsune]

Hoshi had a brief moment of elation as the password accepted and the doors opened with a pleasant ding…before terror stole her breath in a gasp. An all-too-familiar monochrome backside was visible inside. Her hand moved instinctively to pull the USB cord from the port, succeeding in concealing most of it in her curled fist before Monokuna turned around. She couldn’t hide her pounding heart quite so easily though and she was sure he would see the guilt in her eyes. She forced herself to keep her eyes downcast to avoid attention while the bear moved into the room among them again. Thankfully the stuffed bear came, spoke and left with little more than a glance in her direction. Hoshi had no religious affiliation to speak of, but she still found herself sending a quiet prayer of thanks as the elevator closed.

As for what Monokuna had actually said, most of it had been drowned out by the pounding in her ears. But the others seemed to me moving off to explore the newly revealed passageways. She slipped her phone and cord into her pocket, intent of perusing its siphoned contents later once she could be sure of solitude. In the meantime, her eyes moved to Honoka again, considering.

Hoshi had never been a good judge of character, human interaction being a low priority in general for her. In truth, she didn’t know this girl any more than any of the others here. And if their headmaster was dead set on this killing game as their only means of escape, Hoshi knew it wouldn’t be long before people started turning on each other. Groups were starting to form already after all. …What had the student reference said was Honoka’s specialty? She couldn’t remember, and she knew it would be blatantly obvious to check now while she was so close. Still, she had been a brief ally while investigating the remote and she seemed motivated to escape rather than harm her others. That was a good sign, right? Either way, she didn’t much feel like exploring this fortress alone, not if the others had their minds set on escaping Monokuna’s way.

Realizing she’d been starring for an awkward amount of time, Hoshi forced herself to speak. “Uhh...It, It looks like the kitchen, or at least tables ‘nd… is over there,” Hoshi nodded toward the hallway opposite the TV screen, where tables and chairs were visible just beyond the opening. “I don’t know about…well, I mean, I haven’t eaten since breakfast…whenever that was.”

 

[_obsequious]

Proud of her work, Ophi watched with an amused eye as Whiskey doubled over, arm crossed over his stomach. Her grin faded quickly at his chosen nickname, dissipating into a pout.
“Oh, no, I’m terrified~” she whined sarcastically, almost menacingly, batting her eyelashes at him. Her face hardened, and she shot him a disgustingly cold look.
“Don’t waste your time on chivalry, kid.”

She looked up as the Therapist seemed to try and cool her down, sensing her potential and maybe even trying to get her on his side. She rolled her eyes, flashing him a teasing smirk.
“Listen; I get that calling girls different may work in some cases, but definitely not here; but I suppose you couldn’t be doing much worse than Edgelord over here,” she replied casually, jerking a rude thumb at Parker.
The girl didn’t flinch when an arrow was fired at her foot, instead she looked up at the shooter.
“Alright, tough guy,” she snickered, picking up the arrow and rolling it between her finger tips. It was smooth, unlike her hands, and was rather cold. She dropped it as it clattered to the ground.
She watched as Loverboy approached her, apologizing and insisting it was the truth. She grimaced at this opinion as he retreated, like a defeated dog, walking as though he had a tail between his legs. She huffed in pity.
It’s a shame he’s such a pushover. Moron’s so open and honest, if he had some authority it’d do him good.
She shook her head at this thought, reluctantly pushing her pride aside and crossing over to the group huddled around the remote, pulling a piece of bubble gum from her back pocket and popping it into her mouth.
She’d been doubting her stance on the situation since she’d arrived; sure, she’d kill for survival if it came down to it, but she would much rather find a better alternative, as murder wasn’t necessarily her go-to (although she wouldn’t mind wringing Whiskey’s neck between her manicured hands right about now).
All these kids, with the exception of Whiskey, seemed mildly decent and she wouldn’t really want to kill them, although sentimentality wasn’t Ophi’s forté, and if it csme down to it she’d do it in seconds.

She stood silently as Monokuma entered, spare the loud noise of her bubble popping midway into his spiel.
Intrigued with the allowance to explore, she looked up, tuning into the other’s conversations, curious as to where they planned on adventuring off to.

 

[Generation Sect]

Jason seemed confused, as he followed behind her to the group with the remote.
“... different? Of course you are. Everyone here is. It’s not a matter of if it works, it’s a fact. Difference is your talent is of slight more use than the others. The word “leader” is right in there. That and, well I know enough about your gang to hedge my bets on who i’d want to work with. That and...”
He gestured to the Linguist as best he could without the student in question noticing.
“Her. I’ve weighed it up. Sadly, she seems a bit too... skittish, might be the right word? Most likely lost her cool after all that’s happened.”
He closed his eyes, opening them again and tapping at his notepad with his pen.
“The way I see it... violence is an inevitability. Handling that is not my forte. However, I am good at reading people. I intend to put that to good use.”

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon stiffened as he heard the therapist's words. Of course, there'd be someone who could read him. For you see, Paeon has hidden a lot from others. 'Oh really? I can't tell. You really are a mistake.' ...Case in point, the voices in his head.

Where he was from, many wanted him gone. This left a voice within his head that pushed him closer and closer to giving up. However... maybe Paeon could be helped by the therapist?

"Umm... Mumbles? Do think we could maybe check out the clinic? I really don't want to go alone." Hoping he didn't make things to awkward or obvious, Paeon ignored the voices in his and hoped he wasn't going alone.

 

[Retro Master]

“I could come with you I guess.” Joseph said as he walked up to Paeon. It seemed that Paeon’s voice had gone unnoticed for the past few minutes. Everyone else had either been forming their own groups and figuring stuff out, leaving the Film Editor in the dust. Joseph himself had felt a bit left out as well. It was a weird feeling considering he was always used to having people around him being an actor and such. When life was on the line, it seemed everyone was quick to flock around those capable of doing whatever it took to survive.

The way things were going now, especially with the rivalry between ‘Robin Hood’ and ‘Mr. Whiskey’, if things escalated, someone was going too end up dead. Deciding against taking part in any future gang war and making enemies with anyone, Joseph chose to just stay neutral for now.

Standing near Paeon, Joseph rubbed his hair as he listened to Paeon call out for Mumbles again. “Wait, was ‘Mumbles’ supposed to come with you?” Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. What if Paeon had already formed an alliance with Mumbles? Maybe if he went along with them, they would kill him. Joseph quickly cleared that thought. He was being too paranoid for his own good and Paeon didn’t seem like the type of guy to do such a thing. Then again, Joseph barely knew anything about Paeon in the first place.

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon sighed in relief as someone went over to him. "No, Mumbles wasn't 'supposed' to come with me. I just figure that it'd be best to check out the clinic with the guy who actually knows them." 'Please... you just wanted some help findin-' Shaking his head, Paeon turned to what seemed to be a forced smile. It was getting harder by the minute.

"If you want to come with me then that's all good me with me Starboy." Paeon internally sighed. He knew the boy's name was Joseph, but his character forced him to go by the nicknames. All he hoped for was the actor to not notice his attempts at acting happy.

 

[Riverrunner]

As Percy pushed open the (somewhat out of place) wooden door, he was immediately greeted by the smell of dust and paper.

The room was lined wall to wall with wooden shelves, each filled to the brim with stacks upon stacks of various titles. Some appeared fairly new, others seemingly unopened. Amidst this, others appeared to have been printed quite some time ago (or very heavily used, at least), their pages yellowed and their covers hanging lopsided off their spines. Notably, the books all have one thing in common: not a single one provides any sort of context as to where the Stronghold is situated, nor details any of its functions.

The books were seemingly in alphabetical order, unfortunately, there didn't seem to be any sort of catalogue anywhere detailing what books the room contains. Needless to say, it'd be a wild goose chase if anyone was looking to read a specific title.

Similarly to the rest of the Stronghold, the flooring in the library was made up of the same panels that covered the common room and the dining area—not to mention the tiny screen, intercom speaker, and camera in the room's top left corner. Seemingly, any transgressions made here wouldn't go unpunished.

———
Honoka let out a sigh of relief she hadn't realised she'd been holding. What would've happened had Monokuma noticed what Hoshi had done? Could the first casualty have been decided that quickly? She decided not to dwell on potential possibilities, instead focusing on Hoshi who was… how long had she been staring? She brushed it off, instead addressing Hoshi's own observation.

"You're right… how long have we been in here, not to mention the time we all spent passed out on the ground." Honoka nodded to Hoshi, pulling out her Monopad and flipping to the map of the first floor. "It says something about a kitchen and kitchen storage… there's bound to be food in one of those places. After all, the bear wouldn't be so stupid as to force us to kill each other only to have us die of starvation first, right?"

———
Ryuu's face rapidly shifted from confusion to concern. "So… that bear who just came out of the elevator. He was the one who cut you? He's the one who put the rules about killing on our handbooks? That…that's not good." He shook his head, beginning to rapidly drum his fingers against his leg in an attempt to calm his nerves. "Yeah… an alliance is definitely a good idea. I can help with any engineering… uh… problems." He paused, looking Ralphie directly in the eyes. "I-I really don't want to die in here. You kind of scare me, but… I'm in. You really seem to know what you're doing with that, um, bow and arrow. And I don't have much medical experience… at all… so that's definitely good." He trailed off, before giving a quick nod and a smile. "Yeah! I trust you guys… hopefully… I mean, uh, yeah!" Evidentially, Ryuu wasn't taking the situation very well, but at least he was attempting to stay cheerful.

 

[The Kitsune]

Hoshi gave a giggle of agreement at Honoka's last statement, but it was dry laugh and died quickly. Their situation was too grave for real humor to last long, not when the prospect of premeditated murder was there to stifle the mood. Avoiding the urge to glance over at the conspicuous groups being formed around them, Hoshi settled for a friendly nod before saying. "Yeah, I'm gonna go check it out. At least we know no one's in there right now waiting to kill us..." She'd meant the comment to be humorous just like Honoka's but the words felt ominous and chilling even as they left her lips.

She felt no initial harm in turning her back on Honoka as she moved toward the shadowy hall and the kitchen beyond, but even that realization 'caused her to glance nervously back at the dining room threshold, unsure if her companion was going to follow. ...this was awkward even compared to all the other failed friendship attempts in her past. Least none of them had had the motive to literally stab her in the back.

Passing the simple tables in the dining room (enough to seat all thirteen of them at once, she noticed), Hoshi pushed open the doorway beyond, which she assumed would be the kitchen.

 

[Retro Master]

‘This guy...’ Something seemed off about Paeon but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was. Being the Ultimate Actor, Joseph believed he could tell when someone was trying to put on a show. The Film Editor had already exposed himself for being horrible actor in their earlier discussion and his acting right now proved that. Joseph sighed and looked the other way, ignoring his suspicions for now.

He noticed that ‘Mumbles’ had followed the gang leader over to the group huddled around the remote. It seemed ‘Mumbles’ already knew where he was going, unfortunately for Paeon. The girl who had been holding the remote also moved towards the dining room area and according to the map, the kitchen wasn’t that far off. Maybe by the time they had explored the clinic, dinner would be cooked. Then again, how much food was even in stock? Would the lack of food be a factor in the game?

Joseph turned back Paeon, shaking the dreadful thought of starvation from his head. “Yeah, I understand why you would want ‘Mumbles’ too go with you. Should we wait for him?” Joseph asked, not wanting to pressure Paeon into changing plans so quickly. It wasn’t like there was a time limit or anything, but it would probably be best too look around before the late night hours. Looking at one of the digital clocks, the time read 18:50, which meant it was nearly seven.

 

[Crimson Sun]

Jane looked at Ryuu with her eyes, as if she was trying to say 'Don't worry, I don't get this guy either.' Seeing as the 'alliance' was finally built together, by Ralphie over here, Jane asked the latter. "What now exactly,' Jane questioned the archer's thought process. "You've brought in an Archer, Combat Medic, and a Pyrotechnic, what next? More members? Investigate?" As a current, well, former, well, she doesn't even know at this point; as a combat medic, Jane thinks she has an idea of what they can do, but she wants to see what the archer man can think up of. They can't do much without leaving the house, if they can even leave at all. Maybe there's a yard or a field they can explore or some sort of upper level.

Nathan overheard the little crew within the common room, as he was by himself while everyone else headed off their own way. He wanted to join this little get together for more security, but he ultimately decided that the only person he can trust right now, is himself. Nathan made his way west of the common room, heading towards corridor that leads him to a bunch of enclosed rooms. Passing by a couch that eerily sat there in his opinion, Nathan traversed the halls with each room labeled with a number or a letter. Thirteen numbered rooms and two lettered room. He assumed that these were their room where they will be spending the rest of their lives, literally until they are killed.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ralph nodded, noting that Ryuu’s nervousness in this situation. He had been glad to gain his support out of wanting to stay alive, which was a noble goal at least. He seemed genuine, fear being a great motivator to stay in the group. Be that as it may, you can’t form an effective team off of fear alone. He put his hand on the shaking teen’s shoulder.

“Do not worry, I will keep you save. I will guarantee the safety of everyone in our team with my life. Together we will leave this place. With your brains, Jane’s hands, and my bow, what more could we ask for?”

He gave a ever so small smile on his usual blank face. Jane seemed to seemed skeptical on what to do next. His smile faded, clearing his throat.

“I’d prefer if for now it was us three. I can trust you two, I am certain of that. The others have yet to earn my trust. But for now, I suggest we search for any tactical advantage. Weather it be medical supplies, or any advantage we could achieve. But we must roll as a unit to guarantee our survival.”


.......


Percy gasped at the library, accidentally getting a lung full of dust. He then coughed several times heavily, hacking at the dust particles. It was a mess down there. It was as if no one had ever dusted down there in years. It smelled of wood, almost like termite had infested the place.

“Wow...this place needs a cleaning...”

Taking a loose sheet of paper, he began to sweep off some of the dashes and shelves. In his sweeping he came across several books that seemed somewhat intact. Out of curiosity he peaked at it.

“Biggest book of...!” He gasped. “COMICS! There’s so many pictures here! I. Can. Draw!”

He quickly took a handful of papers that had been scattered about and began to scribble down a plethora of sketches. He was a crazy man with a pencil in a little oasis of heaven on a hell of murder. He would take his peace any time he could

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon flinched a bit before he let out a nervous laugh. "What? Of course not. Mumbles could check it out tomorrow. Let's go!" Paeon then hurried off towards the clinic doors while he ignored the increase of voices.

Paeon knew he needed to find his goal in the clinic before it was too late. But as hurried, he never glanced back to even see if Joseph followed. He was only focused on one thing as he opened the doors to the clinic.

 

[Riverrunner]

The kitchen itself was stocked to the brim with any and all tools one might ever need to prepare a meal. A long countertop, wall-mounted microwave, and a pair of combination oven/stovetops sat at one side of the room. At the back of the room were several units of wire shelving, on each of which rested various appliances and utensils. Plates, silverware, blenders, pots of all shapes and sizes—nearly everything one would ever need rested upon the shelves.

Unfortunately, there didn't appear to be any sign of food. However, if the iron door at the far side of the kitchen were any indication of what lie within, food wasn't too far away.

Even the kitchen wasn't safe from surveillance, however. The same dangerous floor panels made up the ground, and a tiny screen rested in the corner of the room (along with its respective camera and speaker), displaying the current time.

Honoka had followed Hoshi close behind, entering the kitchen shortly after her. Hoshi's suspicion towards her was… understandable, she supposed, especially considering their current situation. Ultimate Taxidermist wasn't really a title that demanded trust, after all. She decided to set that aside for the moment, however, instead focusing on the contents of the room itself. "The food is most likely in the storage room, seeing as all of the tools are in here." She glanced over at one of the shelves, frowning deeply. "All of the knives are on the same shelf, the same shelf that also houses the rolling pins and frying pans: all of the potential weapons have been put in the same spot. He's got to be mocking us, I guarantee it."

———
Paeon's glimpse into the clinic revealed it to be… fairly standard, at least as rooms in the Stronghold tended to be. At the leftmost wall sat a single cot, surrounded by a curtain that could slide back to cover a patient. Along the back wall were a few cabinets stocked with the bare minimum—painkillers, bandages, gauze, ointment, disposable gloves, cotton balls and rubbing alcohol. Anything more advanced than that would likely be located in the room beyond the blue door near the clinic's entrance (if the labelling on the map was any indication).

Not even the clinic was safe from harm, however. The weaponised flooring was here too, as was the screen, camera, and speaker. It seemed the bear had this whole place rigged and monitored in some way or another.

———
Ryuu nodded, still visibly panicking despite Jane's reassuring gaze and Ralph's words of reassurance. "O-okay. I understand," he managed, once more opening up his Monopad. He continued drumming his fingers, this time on his student handbook. "There's probably, well, um, medical supplies in the clinic and… uh, there might be something in that question mark room. I guess we should, uh, stick together though, right? So where to first?"

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon looked around the clinic's cabinets in frustration. While he saw the bare minimum, the thing he was looking for wasn't there. His eyes filled with desperation as his head grew worse and worse. He never cared about the weaponization, he searched all around for a single bottle. That bottle was his mission because Paeon was certain he wouldn't last without it. However, the cabinets didn't have that.

He turned his head towards the blue door near the entrance and rushed over. With the strength of a desperate man, Paeon opened the door.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

"There's probably, well, um, medical supplies in the clinic and… uh, there might be something in that question mark room. I guess we should, uh, stick together though, right? So where to first?"

Ralph listened to Ryuu, stroking his chin. Tactically medical supplies always came first, that way they could heal up and take in any equipment they might need. But having such a variable such as the question mark room remain unknown with questionable allies was too much a risk.

“We need to find out what’s in that question mark room. We can’t afford any unknown variables to be in our 6’. I shall go in first.”

Approaching the door before him, he cleared his throat before pushing on the handle, attempting to make his way inside the unknown room

 

[Riverrunner]

The door to the clinic storage quickly gave way, revealing a small, cramped closet lit by a single bulb in the centre of the ceiling. Even this room was secured as all the others were, despite merely being a closet. Apparently, Monokuma wasn't taking any chances when it came to catching potential rule breakers.

Quite frankly, the entire room was exactly as advertised; it was lined wall to wall with first aid kits, cases labelled "sterile needles", and—rather disturbingly—various poisons.

However, the search wasn't without merit. A wire shelf labelled "Prescription Medication" appeared to be home to a multitude of various pills, one of which was distinctly marked Paeon Kanetsu in permanent marker on the label.

———
Unfortunately, the outcome for Ralphie wasn't as fruitful. Despite Percy's efforts, the metal door refused to budge.

Ryuu, who had followed close behind, quickly pointed at the device on the handle. "It's locked. I guess we can't get in then… not without breaking the rules. I don't know how that bear will try to enforce them but, um, it definitely can't be good."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Is there a rule about moving said door?” Ralph said to ryuu. “If it’s unbolted and moved aside, and then we put it back later its technically not breaking the rules, as it would still be in its original position. I have a feeling Monokuma has a flare for the curious...”

He went to the bolts on the side of the door. He took out one of his arrows and hoped to unbolt the door from it’s hinges, which he couldn’t believe the engineer pyrotechnic didn’t think of.

 

[Riverrunner]

Evidentially, the bolts holding some of the interior walls together weren't considered one of the Stronghold's integral systems, as no alarms sounded when one of them was (rather impressively) shot out of the wall by several well-placed arrow strikes.

"That's… probably not going to work." Ryuu commented, squinting at the lock. "This system here is just the external part of the lock—basically, it's the pad of buttons that need to be pushed in a certain combination in order to undo the door. The actual lock itself looks like it's on some sort of electromagnetic system which makes it so it can slide into the wall like those other doors did in the main room. Basically, the only way to shut it off would be to completely cut its power supply; that's assuming it's a fail safe lock and not a fail secure lock. If it's anything like the doors in the main room, it's made up of more than one piece of metal, meaning that in order to take it off and put it back on, we'd have to completely dismantle it, which would probably be considered destroying it because we don't have the correct tools to set it back up again. We technically don't have the tools to take it apart either, but… you're really good with that bow and arrow." He looked down at the rivet that had somehow just been shot out of the wall, then back at Ralphie. "Um, I think, anyway. I don't really work with locks that often. I just put together rigs and… whatnot." He quickly added. After all, he could be wrong. He was probably wrong, judging by the fact that simply undoing the door had gone over his head... right?

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon turned to the “Prescription Medication” cabinet with raised hope. As he opened it, he grabbed his bottle... Clozapine.

As he took a pill, Paeon heard the voices fade as they disappeared. Finally... for you see... Paeon has schizophrenia. Being alone his whole life made him become disconnected from the world. His mind played tricks on him with multiple voices that pushed him to end it all. Paeon suffered from multiple hallucinations and even dealt with pleasure for everyday life disappearing. Overall, Paeon depended on his medication.

As he sighed in relief, he sat down while his back leaned against the cabinet. For now, Paeon relished in relief, but he knew better since he’d have to explain his situation to the others.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ralph seemed disgruntled at this. Could it be where Monokuma was being held up? The truth was he had no idea what was on the other side, only that it was unacceptable from him...and the others. He turned to ryuu, seeing ryuu’s value pay off.

“Then there’s no use trying to get in there for now. If we cat get in, the others can’t either. I suggest we arm up with all the medications and tools we can get or hands on. To the medical bay.”

He gestured to them to follow him as he made his way into the medical bay, which was already open. Inside Paeon had beat then to it, and was already rummaging through the medical cabinet. He turned to Jane.

“I’d suggest you get what you deem to be the most important first. You are the medic, so this is your playground.”

 

[Retro Master]

Joseph was surprised by how fast Paeon had gone to the clinic and was starting to become concerned. That level of suspicion only heightened when he arrived in time to see Paeon sit down beside the cabinet with a bottle in his hand. Surprisingly, ‘Robin Hood’ and his group were also there which was also concerning. “Uh, what’s up guys?” Joseph greeted as he made his way towards Paeon, looking down at him.

Whatever that bottle contained must’ve been the reason the film editor wanted to get to the clinic. It was also why Paeon been acting strange. We’re they some type of drugs, steroids? Whatever it was, Joseph decided to just ask before making any outrageous assumptions. “Paeon, like you said earlier, you aren’t a good actor. Something’s clearly going on.” The actor glanced at the bottle before making eye contact with Paeon. “So, do you want too explain? It’s alright if you don’t want to do though.” Joseph tried his best to question Paeon in a calm matter, not wanting to make him feel uneasy.

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon stared at the four others within the room with fear. He wanted to tell them... but it was still difficult. Paeon sighed as he turned to the other occupants within the room.

“...It’s Clozapine... It helps with my schizophrenia.” Paeon then sighed out of annoyance and stress. “I don’t want to deal with pity, but I really needed my pills. With them, the voices get too much sometimes... and I’ve dealt with them enough.”

Paeon then turned towards Joseph with a serious look. “Now Starboy... no... Joseph. You need to understand this, I am f*cked up beyond repair. When we all found out this was a killing game... I knew I was screwed. I’ve had so many struggles in my life that at this point, I expect to be the first victim.” As he turned away from the others, he sighed. He didn’t understand why he told some his life story... but it was great to get it off his chest.

“I’d like for you four to keep my schizophrenia a secret, alright? Last thing I want is to be known because of it. I want to be happy go lucky Paeon... not depressed, hallucinating Paeon...”