#kasperov

“...I see...”

“But it was nice of you to offer! Really!”

“Well, I do believe it is part of her job as the SHSL Nanny to–”

I give Trisha a look that quickly makes her stop talking.

“What I mean to say is...yes, it was very kind of you.”

“Wait! That gives me an idea! We should have group breakfasts! I can prepare food in the morning for everyone to eat and we can have it together! That’s a sure fire way to build bonds!”

“Are you equipped for the task of making food for 17 teenagers every day..?”

“That’ll be child’s play compared to the whims of a group of toddlers! Trust me!”

“I think it sounds like an amazing idea! We should totally do that!”

“Well, I suppose a handmade breakfast can help a little. If Brenda thinks she can handle the workload, I’m in agreement.”

“Then it’s decided! I’ll leave notes for everyone and they can join in if they want!”

Brenda got up from her seat and hurriedly made her way out of the room, looking excited.

“Certainly an odd girl. Still, unwavering optimism such as that is very good in a situation like this.”

“...you don’t think someone will actually...kill, do you?”

“...”

“I think I’ll be retiring to my room.”

Trisha got up from her seat and left the room silently. I wasn’t dumb. I knew she didn’t hold as high of expectations in everyone as I had hoped.

DING-DONG BING-BONG!

“Hello, students! It is now 10:00 pm and is officially nighttime! Some rooms may be unavailable during this time and students are expected, but not forced, to retire to their rooms for a good night’s rest! So sleep tight!”

“Oh...guess it’s time for bed then.”

I make my way out of the room and toward my own bedroom. I get myself plugged into the charging port of the wall and power down for the night.

I just hope everything turns out well for us all.

[PREVIOUS]

“...so do the rest of us?”

“That is enough, Monotwoma.”

“But I haven’t even gotten to the best part! Like how dancing is the only thing that’s even made you happy! Or how you feel so miserable all the time that even mustering up a smile can be a chore! Or that you plan to give up nearly every dollar of the wealth you’ll one day inherit because it just means so little to you, just like everything else in your life!”

“No, please, stop!”

“Joyce..?”

Joyce was now beginning to cry, her body shuddering.

“Dancing is her therapy and it’s the only thing that matters to her in the entire world! Otherwise, she’s just a useless sack of depression that struggles to get up and face the day.”

“STOP IT! STOP TELLING THEM!”

“Joyce?!”

“What the hell is your problem, Monotwoma?! The secret motive ended last week!”

“Hey, I promise this all has a happy ending! Because I can give Joyce exactly what she wants! See, we have this new drug guaranteed to help Joyce feel a million times better! Great stuff curtesy of the Hope’s Peak Academy students that worked hard to produce it!”

Monotwoma produces a bottle and shakes it, letting us hear the rattling of pills inside.

“All she has to do is kill someone and I can make all her problems disappear. This is all Joyce Heartswell wants in life.”

“NOOO!” Joyce shoves past everyone in her way as she runs out of the computer room.

“Joyce, wait!”

“Guess that’s the end for today! See you all tomorrow!”

Monotwoma leaves as well.

“I need to go after Joyce...”

I speed out of the room, not waiting for anyone to do or say anything. My friend needed me right now and that’s all that mattered.

[PREVIOUS]

“Ah, Kasperov, have you seen Joyce today?”

“Huh? You haven’t seen her?”

“Normally, she is in her lab, but I did not see her there and she did not answer her door when I knocked.”

“Do you guys think something happened to her..?”

“Maybe we should check on her?”

“A good idea, Noodle. There is not a lot of school to hide in. Perhaps we should split up?”

“Hold on, aren’t you all getting a little worked up? I know the thought she could be in danger is scary but...I haven’t seen Hunk today, either. Or Webby. The Great Guardian hasn’t shown up, either. And J isn’t around.”

“She makes an excellent point. If she is not here, perhaps she wants to be alone? We should not force her to do what we desire.”

“Well, I have her breakfast here. I will go check her room again and leave it there.”

With that, Valentina got up and walked out of the room.

“I’m still a little worried...”

“She’s probably just sleeping in, Kas. It’s really not a big deal.”

“Look, if she’s dead, we’ll know ‘cause the motive won’t happen. Long as we get an announcement for that...”

“Hey, you all know the drill today, right? Come on up to the computer lab! I’ll see you all there!”

“And that answers that.”

“Wow...you’re pretty smart, Itsuki.”

“What..?”

“Well, we shouldn’t keep ‘I'm waitin’...”

We all got up and made our way to the computer lab. Joyce, as well as everyone else not in the cafeteria, was there. That at least calmed one of my nerves.

“Welcome, welcome, everyone! It’s so good to see you all again! Are you excited for the motive today?”

“No!”

“Yes, tough crowd...”

“Well, you’ll still be dealing with the motive either way! And today’s lucky winner is...Joyce Heartswell!”

“...huh?”

[PREVIOUS]

Being woken up by the announcement was becoming far to familiar already. I guess it’ helpful, it’s not like I want to miss the breakfast meeting we always had, even if I didn’t really eat food.

Once I had powered back on, I make my way out of the room only to find something going on in the hall.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Cody! Open your fuckin’ door!”

“Itsuki? What are you doing?”

“The hell’s it look like I’m doing? I’m trying--BANG!--to get--BANG!--Cody--BANG!--up!”

“Is he really still asleep? Do humans always sleep this much?”

“No.”

BANG!

“CODY, GET YOUR STUPID LARD ASS OUT OF BED ALREADY!”

Instead of Cody’s door opening, another one did.

“What’s going on out here..? I was trying to get back to sleep...”

“You’re still asleep, too, J? You guys should be getting up.”

“I need to conserve my energy. If another murder happens and I don’t have the energy to investigate, we could all die.”

“All you did last time was withhold important information until the last minute. Go back to bed, I’ll be done once I get the lard ass up.”

“Whatever...just make it quick.”

J slips back into his room, softly shutting the door behind himself.

“Wait, shouldn’t we be trying to get J up, too?”

“Don’t give a shit.”

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“CODY, GODDAMN IT!”

The door finally opens.

“Oh...hey, Itsuki. Wereya calling..?”

“Jesus Christ, did you just wake up? You look like shit!”

“Mmmngh...maybe...”

“Why the fuck are you--”

Itsuki cuts himself off and he looked like he just got an idea.

“...hey, you wanna go make some candy?”

“Oh, yeah, that sounds nice. I’ll go get started and meet you there.”

Cody suddenly seemed wide awake. Or, well, as awake as he normally looks. He even moved faster than he normally did, going right for the kitchen.

“You two must be good friends if you can figure him out so easily.”

“Huh..?”

“I’m not friends with that stupid lardass! I’m just trying to make sure he stays alive so he can die before I do! Don’t be fuckin’ stupid, Kas! Fuck you!”

Itsuki stormed off, moving to his kitchen and pulling his hat down a little to obscure his face while he grumbled.

“Uh...sorry..?”

[PREVIOUS]

“Hey, so are we like...gonna talk about today or...”

“Wait, what happened today..?”

“Jesus Christ, Cody, I’m talking’ about the damn motive!”

“There is also the comment of the so-called traitor one must keep in mind. They seem rather close to Monotwoma to be discussing the motive ahead of time.”

“He’s gotta point. Darn trait’r gotta be all snuggled up t’ the bear. Bet they get a real kick outta this.”

“We don’t know that yet. For all we know, the traitor could be blackmailed or threatened into doing this.”

“Brenda has a point. We don’t have the full story. Monotwoma could even be lying about that.”

“Look, I don’t care about the traitor thing right now. I wanna talk about the motive. It’s freaky, yeah?”

“How so? Compared to the last, this seems rather average.”

“It’s just...secrets are one thing. Enough digging and investigating and you can probably find anyone’s past. But this? Our greatest desires in life? No way they could just find that kinda stuff.”

“Well, so far, only Kas has gone and he’s pretty hackable.”

“Hey...”

“But that does remind me. I’m not that hackable. In fact, only my parents really know how to get into my database. And the desire they showed today is fairly recent. I never told anyone about it.”

“Gary thinks that maybe the force we are dealing with here is stronger than we might have anticipated.”

“What are you going on about?”

“Well, if what everyone is saying is true, that means that whoever put us here has a lot of information on us. Stuff they can’t find out from going through Twitter feeds and asking friends and family.”

“It’s all deeply personal stuff! Like what everyone wants in life! And if they can hack into the toaster over there--”

“That’s not very nice.’

“--who’s to say they can’t get info...out of us?”

“What? What are you trying to imply, Gary?”

“Gary just thought you’d all like some food for thought!”

“Seriously, what are you trying to say?!”

But Gary wouldn't answer, no matter how many times we asked. He was just done talking. Dinner crawled along after that, with all of us finishing and moving along as the day drew to a close.

DING-DONG BING-BONG~!

“Hello, students! It is now 10:00 pm and is officially nighttime! Some rooms may be unavailable during this time and students are expected, but not forced, to retire to their rooms for a good night’s rest! So sleep tight!”

And nighttime soon followed. We all went to our rooms for the night, not ready for tomorrow but being left with no choice.

[PREVIOUS]

What Valentina had said was bothering me because she was right. There was no way Monotwoma could have gotten that desire without looking through my database. But how would he be able to get to it? Only my parents knew how to do that.

And then there was the issue of the traitor. How much were they keeping tabs with Monotwoma? It sounded like they had discussed the motive before it actually started. Was the traitor being involved that heavily in the killing game? Why would someone here be doing something that awful?

“Mm...this stuff is really stressful...”

I can’t get it out of my head, though. Maybe I should just do something else. I bet there’s plenty of people around who will want to hang out with me!

[Brenda in the kitchen]

[Cody in the break room]

[Yamada in the boy’s bathroom]

[Joyce in her lab]

[PREVIOUS]