#awdprojections

[DECODED INTERVIEW 4.2.20XX] [PARTICIPANTS: MAKOTO NAEGI, 33, M; KAZUICHI SODA, 35, M]

[0:44 - 1:45]

NAEGI: It just doesn't seem like you. SODA: Well, I mean, she started talking big...about Hajime. D'you remember Hajime? Hinata? From the Reserve Course? NAEGI: [sighing] I do. SODA: When something like that happens, you'd do anything, y'know? Like, anything for a soul bro. NAEGI: You looked the other way... SODA: You get it, right? NAEGI: She promised you an impossible answer. SODA: You get it, man. [Pause.] NAEGI: Yeah. Because it's the Otonashis. SODA: I just wanted to know where Hajime went. And if that meant—I mean, she said it was for research. Mukuro said it was for research only. She gets Ryoko, I get my best buddy... [Pause.] SODA: Maybe I had an inkling, but...does that make me a bad guy? NAEGI: No. I don't think anyone is. SODA: Heh, look at me, still thinkin' about Hajime. But the cops were no help, and cold cases don't really interest anyone except podcasters and stuff. NAEGI: There's a miscommunication here, maybe. I'll speak to Mukuro. SODA: My pops would beat me if he heard me talkin' about another guy like this... [Pause.] SODA: Hey, there wasn't any info on Hajime when you took over, was there? In the headmaster's files or...?

[DECODED INTERVIEW 11.1.20XX] [PARTICIPANTS: MIU IRUMA, 29, F; MUKURO IKUSABA, 31, F]

[0:09 - 1:11]

IRUMA: Yeah, yeah, yeah. The variables ain't even that hard to change if you needed it. I mean, for a golden-brained hot-bod ubergenius like— IKUSABA: And me? IRUMA: Nah, not for flat-chested gun-nut dipshits. It's a contingency, y'know? In case we get commands from on high. But if on high brings his baby dick down here to change it himself, he won't figure it out. You need a certain kinda mind. Ryoko has it, me and the boytoys got it, me ESPECIALLY, but— IKUSABA: Baby...dick. IRUMA: Yo. You've pounded him once or twice, right? What's it like getting taken to plowtown by THE Makoto Na— IKUSABA: We could tweak the variables to attract anyone—anything—we wanted? The Monokumas would follow suit? Obey? IRUMA: Like dogs. Bitch, you could have them pull a fuckin' kaiju outta the water with this motherfucker. [Pause.] IRUMA: But like, don't do that shit. [Pause.] IRUMA: Look, even I have standards. Ethicals. IKUSABA: Ethicals. IRUMA: Moralisms! Fuckin'— IKUSABA: Regardless, there's no way anyone...would be able to tell that you three put the complex together— IRUMA: Bzzt. Wrong. Alter Ego runs the thing. They're a little weird but they got it under control. IKUSABA: [A sigh.] Of course. IRUMA: It ain't about on high knowing or not knowing, anyway, Muku-roach. It's about—the world. It's a good world. It's got me in it, and 'Bluey' re-runs. Let's not fuckin' ruin it, yeah? IKUSABA: On that, we agree. IRUMA: Y—yeah. Yeah. What's with that look on your ugly-ass mug? You look like you OD'd on benzos. [Pause.] IRUMA: To answer your question, since you can't put two and two together, I guess—yeah, you could use the 'kumas to scout whatever student for the school. Down to the real fine print. You could bring in only virgins if you wanted. Or only sluts. Or only fat-titted hoes. But I guess that's the same thing. Hah! [Pause.] IRUMA: But I have it set to only the best. I mean, I assume you wanted only the best— IKUSABA: —or only the worst. IRUMA: Heh! Wouldn't that be rich? Heh! Make all us alumni look good by comparison.

[DECODED INTERVIEW 4.9.20XX] [PARTICIPANTS: MAKOTO NAEGI, 33, M; MUKURO IKUSABA, 33, F]

[1:12 - 2:52]

IKUSABA: And I'm going to ask you again. As a friend. As a...contemporary with shared interests. What would you do if something happened to Komaru? NAEGI: That's...not a threat, is it? IKUSABA: No. Never. I'd enjoy a genuine answer from you. [Pause.] NAEGI: If the same happened to her as to Ryoko, you mean. [Pause.] NAEGI: I'd use all my resources— IKUSABA: And if she held up the world? With her bare hands? With her heart? Her mind? NAEGI: Anything I could...within reason. IKUSABA: No. That's wrong. [Growling. The sound of a chair scraping across a floor.] Don't touch me. I know that's wrong. You and I both know that's wrong. NAEGI: Stay, please. Mukuro. [Heavy breathing into the microphone. More scraping, and the compression of air beneath a cushion as someone sits once more.] NAEGI: I can...ensure your safety and freedom, and give you all you need for Ryoko's care— IKUSABA: Don't you dare twist your face like that. Like it's...like you're pulling out MY teeth one by one. Like it's hurting YOU. NAEGI: What's the password, Mukuro? That's the only information I need. Then I can— IKUSABA: You don't know Ryoko like I do. You don't know what she's been through, and seen in— NAEGI: The password to— IKUSABA: Go ask Soda. Or Iruma, or Fujisaki. You have resources, right, "Headmaster"? NAEGI: I want to hear it from you. [Pause.] IKUSABA: I ought to shoot you where you sit. [Pause.] IKUSABA: The way you're smiling like that— [Pause.] IKUSABA: This is an evil place, Makoto Naegi— NAEGI: The password. IKUSABA: —if it can't save someone like Ryoko Otonashi. If you shut the blood complex down, there's no use calling this shithole Hope's Peak. NAEGI: Mukuro. IKUSABA: There's no hope without her and you know that. You KNOW that. [Pause.] [The sound of stifled, choked weeping.] NAEGI: I'm sorry I suggested you'd threaten Komaru.

[The scanned image of a weathered and ancient thesis paper projects onto the wall.]

HOPE AND DESPAIR: QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENTS OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS IN HUMAN BLOOD BY DR. RYOKO OTONASHI, Ph.D.

[In the margins, someone has used black pen to write:]

[Next to it, in red pen, is a response:]