Kero-stion + Answer || Trial 6 || RE: Chouko, Shinobu
âI mean, yeah, sure, whatever. Y'might as well give yerâ monologue. Not like we got much of a choice right now, right?â
FrogBot pouted at Choukoâs question. âYouâre no fun, kero! You always have a choice. The choice here is whether you want to die or have a chance to live, kero!â
âWhat h-happened to our families? All of them. Hers, mine, the ones on the ships, and the ones not on ships.â
Then, they heard Shinobuâs question, and their exaggerated mannerisms fell away. They looked at them with an expression that was almost⊠sad.
âI wouldnât know, kero, what happened to your family, Matsuba-kun. Yours or anyoneâs not on the ships, kero,â FrogBot said. âI wouldnât know for sure, at least.âÂ
They glanced at WellnessBot, and they said, loudly, with all their usual affectations, âBut WellnessBot would know, kero! Wouldnât you?â
WellnessBot stilled, facing the class with a steely, clinical resolve; they had no guilt, no shame, and no pity.
âMany of your families are likely dead, beep,â WellnessBot said, their chipper tone a stark contrast to their unsmiling expression and dour words. âAs you all put together, the world you all know is dead.â
âKero-trastrophic climate change!â FrogBot chimed in with a shrill bitterness. âNuclear war will do that to you, kero!â
âYes,â WellnessBot continued. They clasped their hands behind their back. âBefore your boarding, the world above was caught in a new arms race, beep.Â
[Dear Diary] In the Lab Hallway is a journal containing a personâs thoughts on everything from action movies to political dramas as well as speculation on international tensions and⊠coldâŠ. warts? The handwriting is pretty terrible.
âAnd then the cold war turned hot, and the earth was destroyed. There was nuclear winter, mass extinctions, uninhabitable land, unbreathable air, beep.â They smiled, sardonic. âWellnessTip#000: Donât blow your neighbors up.
[Itâs Always Snowing In Posidonias] On FrogBotâs desk is a snowglobe with what could be the Empire State Building if it were up to its pits in ashy snow.
[Un-bear-able Conditions] A pair of taxidermied polar bears have been put on display in the Bedrock Floor below the Subsoil Floor. According to the accompanying digital plaque, their natural habitat has been destroyed and this species is now extinct.
âPrior to that, beep, Hopesâ Peak Academy had developed cutting edge submersibles, including the Posidonias Atlantica, meant to hold expeditions of scientists and researchers. The Posidonias Atlantica, beep, specifically hosted a group of scientists meant to study the feasibility of sustaining long-term life underwater and the efficiency of extracting and producing certain necessities such as breathable air, beep.Â
[Hacker Voice: Iâm In] On the Lichen Lab computer is a folder labeled âIMPT; send to HPA.â In it are three subfolders: AQ_ALL, PLNA_COS, IMPCT.
âAware of the imminent appocalypse, they also developed technology meant to suppress memories of trauma and preserve people for years so that they could sleep throughout the danger and wake when the world was alright, again, beep.â
âAs selected students of Hopeâs Peak Academy, you were sheltered on the submersibles just before the world was, essentially, destroyed, beep. Furthermore, anyone who had the funds or connections to pay for safety was also allowed to live on the submersibles.âÂ
They stopped, having said their piece.
âBut thatâs not all, kero!â FrogBot said urgently. âWhat WellnessBot isnât saying is that anyone who couldnât pay was left to die and suffer, kero! Who cares about anyone besides the top percentage? The richest of the rich, kero! Not Hopeâs Peak, kerohoho!â
âAnd thatâs not all either, kero,â they repeated savagely, clutching their own shoulders. âHow did they survive on the surface without any resources? Without arable land or breathable air, kero? Spoiler alert, my cute, little tadpoles: they didnât! People died in droves, suffering, choking, starving â there was so, so much of it, kero!âÂ
âAnd what did Hopeâs Peak Academy do?â they said this time, screaming, almost. âTell them, WellnessBot! Kerohoho!â
WellnessBotâs demeanor was a stark contrast to FrogBotâs unhinged mannerisms. âHopeâs Peak Academy provided for those above, beep, for a price. Each of the submersibles was equipped with massive farming areas.Â
[Like The Amazon! But Not On Fire! Anymore!] The Greenhouse is a massive, two-tiered floor with climate-controlled chambers, allowing a vast variety and quantity of crops to be grown under the sea.
âEach of the ships was equipped with the ability to extract large amounts of oxygen from the surrounding waters.âÂ
[Diagrams] Pinned up one one of the walls are several diagrams of the ships and sketches of additions to the exterior. According to the notes, the apparatuses allow the ship to extract oxygen from water quite efficiently and should be a white color.
âWhat was the price, kero?â FrogBot said, interrupting them. âHow did stupid, awful people do it back in the good âole days, kero? Work, kero! Youâre worth as much as you work, and if you canât work, then you donât deserve to live! If you canât be exploited, then you arenât worth keeping alive, kero!â
[Special Delivery Incoming!] A delivery log on a tablet in the Cargo Hold reveals that the PA received materials and human labor from locations on the surface in exchange for unnamed shipments.
âHopeâs Peak Academy would provide people with fresh food and air in exchange for labor, beep,â WellnessBot confirmed. âNot all resources the ships needed to continue functioning could be found underwater, but all the resources needed for people to maintain their wellness could almost only be found underwater, beep.â
[Apples to Apples] Some of the empty crates in the Cargo Hold have been stamped with labels like âAPPLESâ or âVEG.â On one tank is a sticker label; though most of it has been ripped off, the remaining scrap says âXYG.â
[Shipping: Donât Like, Donât Read] In the Cargo Hold are logs tracking the delivery of unspecified shipments to various locations around Asia and Oceania.
âSo there you have it, kero! Esperance-chanâs family is living in luxury and safety â for now. As for the rest of you poor, little tadpoles, theyâre long dead, or hopping along at Hopeâs Peakâs command, kero.â
âSo donât,â FrogBot said sharply, still beaming with off-kilter energy, âdonât blame Akatsuki-chan, kero. Or blame her, but canât you see why she wouldâve done this, kero? If youâve lost everything, everyone â if everyone you loved was either dead or suffering because someone decided they werenât worth keeping alive, because someone decided their lives were lesser and useless, then wouldnât you be angry, kero? Wouldnât you want them to hurt?â