Itâs the third morning since the return of Nono, Satoshi, Subaru, and Yukiteru. That makes it nearly an entire week since the last trial, the longest amount of time that has passed without a motive in effect since you all got here. Perhaps the delay has made you hopeful, has the cycle been broken? Has the Devil become bored? Or perhaps it has simply made you anxious, apprehensive about the respite, dreading its end. Whatever the case, when you wake up to find a familiar card summoning you to the theatre, you know the wait is over.
Nightmares, secrets, mazes, loved ones... what next? Thereâs only one way to find out. You arrive at the theatre, your classmates gathering around you. Although it was said that the motives wonât be affecting the returned âdeadâ, no one prevents them from attending the announcement if they choose. However you donât have much time to scan those assembled, because the Smiling Devil is already waiting on the stage for you when you arrive.
âIâm so glad to see all of you, I think youâre really gonna appreciate what I have to tell you today. Iâd apologize for the lateness, but I figured itâd have more of an impact if youâd adjusted to your new distractions first.â She pauses to glance at any of the returned kids in the crowd, thereâs at least one since Nono had made an appearance. âLetâs just get right to it though, shall we?â
âBy now yâall shoulda realized that youâre missinâ memories. Was pretty obvious since you first woke up, right? A year of your lives, just gone poof, right outta your heads, like it never happened. Iâm sure that must be strange, it probably bothers you a lot, the wonderinâ, the sense of a gap. But itâs just a year, ainât it? And yâall have managed to carry on, makinâ new memories, connectinâ with each other. I gotta say, itâs downright admirable how youâve adapted, formed little support groups and whatnot. Be a real shame if somethinâ were to ruin that, wouldnât it? Somethinâ like...â
âLosinâ all your memories. Hey, we could do that, not like itâd even be hard. Actually itâs easier to wipe someone blank than to isolate a specific time period like we did, even one as large as a year. Now this might sound like a great idea to some of you, a fresh start, a clean slate, all that. An' if you wanna look at it that way, well, I ain't gonna stop you. But I reckon most of you would prefer to keep your memories. They're what make you who you are, after all. Imagine it... all the training and studying to learn your talents, all the people you've met and cared for, your families, your friends, even the relationships you've formed here... gone forever from your mind. The very person you are now, permanently erased. You would lose everything. Wouldn't that be fun? Of course, if you don't agree, one a' you is gonna need to step up to the plate and commit a murder. So look around, decide who you can live without... or get used to the idea of bein' a full amnesiac, I guess. Your call. Iâll give you... letâs see, three days should be enough time. Have fun."
Without waiting for a response, the Devil steps back, and leaves the stage. She canât be serious... can she? And yet she's never lied before, never bluffed, never failed to follow through. You are missing memories, you know that, so you must also know she's telling the truth when she says it can be done.
