Restart
"We would like to formally apologize for almost killing you all." Angie said, spreading her arms wide. Kaito and the rest of the crew were gathered in the lounge, witnessing the apology. "Personally I never intended for any of you to end up dead, but since I had no idea what I was doing with the sedatives, it was possible that more than a few of you wouldn't make it. But I would paint you pretty memorials."
Kaito stared along with the rest of the crew.
"I am sorry for specifically selecting some of you as ritualistic sacrifices for my dead sister." Kiyo mumbled. Ever since the confrontation, he seemed to have drawn into himself, becoming quieter and generally less animated. Kaito was debating bringing him back to the bug graveyard, so he would show some signs of life.
"Apology accepted!" Gonta said brightly.
"Excellent." Angie said, sitting down on a couch. "That settles that."
"Um...does it?" Tsumugi said in a small voice. "It was plain to see that your actions had some real consequences."
"Yeah! At least Ryoma was able to own up to his secret like a fuckin' man." Miu said, crossing her arms. "So he's not a complete psychopath like you two."
"Actually..." Ryoma said slowly. "I might have left a few parts out. I didn't exactly tell the whole story. I didn't commit those murders the day of the tournament. I just threatened to expose them and left. They...they killed my family and my girlfriend. The next day I went back and did what I did out of revenge."
"So you aren't that different than me." Kiyo said, eyeing Ryoma with renewed interest. In return, Ryoma eyed Kiyo with disgust.
"Never say that again. We're nothing alike."
"Aren't we? We both did what we did out of love. Crimes of passion in large numbers."
Ryoma seemed to swell with anger in an instant, then deflate just as quickly. Kaito didn't say anything, despite the fact that he could easily see the parallels.
"Everyone calm down. This is what they want." Rantaro said. "If we start fighting it out between ourselves, we're more vulnerable than ever up here."
"Well sorry for not wanting to be besties with people that could kill me!" Miu snapped.
"You're not my type at all." Kiyo said, rolling his eyes. "I'd only ever kill you out of sheer annoyance. And even then it would be a shame if your disgusting personality tainted the purity of the afterlife."
"SAY THAT AGAIN YOU FREAK!" Miu yelled.
"ENOUGH!" Kaito yelled. He hadn't even realized that he'd gotten to his feet. "Enough. We can't fight like this. Rantaro's right, we're just doing what they want now. And honestly, I doubt they're the only ones with things like that to hide." Kaito said, gesturing to Kiyo and Ryoma. "So let's quit the judgement and just get everything out in the open."
"Easy for you to say." Kokichi said. "Also did you two like, destroy all of the datapads? I kinda wanted to see what secret they had on me. I have no idea now."
"By the will of Atua, our plan would have been a success." Angie said.
"Gonta have no secrets! Gentlemen don't keep secrets." Gonta said defensively. "At least...Gonta don't think he have secret." he suddenly gasped. "What if Gonta's secret is also a secret to Gonta?!"
"Jeez, don't strain your two braincells." Kokichi sighed. "And come on, why are you guys freaking out? We have two skilled killers! That'll probably come in handy!"
"I'm not a tool." Ryoma snapped.
Dammit, this wasn't going anywhere. Kaito gritted his teeth. Here went nothing. "I FAKED MY CREDENTIALS!"
The arguing stopped. Kaito's desire to get everyone to be quiet had been achieved. However, this lead to a very new problem.
"You what?" Kaede asked.
"I faked my credentials." Kaito said. "I was technically too young to take the exam, and I didn't have any prior experience. I got some sketchy bastard online to fake an ID so I could take it. I didn't cheat though. I passed on my own."
"And we're supposed to believe that?!" Tenko yelled. "You've been faking this whole time?!"
"No! I really passed on my own! I just needed to take it early!" Kaito retorted, feeling oddly defensive.
"Hey, who are you calling a sketchy bastard." Kokichi said, crossing his arms.
"What?" That made Kaito pause. "What are you talking about?"
"That was me!" Kokichi said. "I faked those credentials for you! Man, I wondered what happened to you! I realized it was you when you got all cagey when I mentioned Dice!!"
This was becoming unreal. "That was you?!" Kaito yelled.
"That was the secret? How strange. I thought...never mind." Kiyo murmured.
"GONTA CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT GONTA'S SECRET IS!" Gonta yelled, looking genuinely worried.
Kaito felt his own temper flaring. He needed to control himself. If he lost control of his emotions now, there was no telling what would happen-
"EVERYONE! YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!" Kiibo's magnified voice made everyone stop in their tracks. "Apologies, but I think there's something we need to get."
"Now?!" Miu yelled. "What could we possibly need now?! Except restraining orders and a new captain."
"That was a low blow!" Kaito snapped, before he could stop himself.
"I was programmed with a protocol for this exact situation. Due to that being triggered, I know now that there is something in the storage room that we need." Kiibo said.
"Leave whatever that is where it is." Ryoma said.
"Yeah, if it's from the ground crew, we don't want it!" Tenko yelled.
"Hmm, Atua is suspicious. If this is what they want, why would they supply us with something that would help this situation?"
"I-I don't know, but-"
"We're staying here." Miu said, crossing her arms.
"Why not check it out? Not like things can get much worse." Kaito retorted.
"Oh look who's talking. The fake captain-"
"I DIDN'T FAKE MY TRAINING, JUST MY IDENTITY FOR A DAY-"
"Please, can we just look? I'm perfectly happy to leave you all to tear each other apart if it doesn't help, but I'm willing to take the chance if it helps you." Kiibo pleaded.
"Ok, we can look." Kaito said. "Come on, can we just give it a chance?" He knew he was grasping at loose threads, but he was at a loss. He knew that nothing he could do now could pull everyone together.
"Yes, I will follow you." Kiyo said, nodding.
"Yay, Atua thinks this is actually an ok idea!" Angie said brightly. A few others, including Himiko, Shuichi and Kaede nodded.
"Fine." Miu sighed. "But this better be fucking good."
Ok, trying to cram sixteen people into a tiny little closet-like space had not been the best idea on Kaito's part. Oh well, at least everyone was together, even if they were sending a few looks back and forth. He decided to break the ice. "Well isn't this cozy!"
Judging by the icy stares he got in return, no one else shared the sentiment. Kaito turned back to Kiibo awkwardly.
"Soooo, what are we looking for again?"
"This!" Kiibo said triumphantly. He bent over and struggled to drag a large metal box out from underneath a compartment.
"Shouldn't a robot be able to carry heavy things?" Tenko asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We've already established that Kiibo's pretty much useless. Hey, maybe there's a better robot in the box!"
"Please don't replace me..." Kiibo said in a small voice.
"Kokichi, shut it." Kaito said. "How do we open it?" Maybe it was a cool weapon. Or a missile. Yeah, Kaito would really like a missile.
"It's an electronic lock, but I remembered that I have the key to unlock it." Kiibo pressed his hand against the top of the box. There was a small beeping noise, and a click as the locks released.
"Ok." Kaito said, slowly reaching forward to lift the lid. Slowly...carefully...
The lid of the box came shooting off, slamming into Kaito's face with a metallic clang. "SHIT" Kaito yelled, stumbling back. Maki and Rantaro grasped his shoulders to keep him from falling. So the box had a defense system? Well that was-
"What the..." Kaito heard Kokichi trail off. But Kaito wasn't paying attention to Kokichi. He was paying attention to what hopped out of the box. And what hopped out of the box appeared to be...a robotic green bear?
The bear stared at the crew as they stared back. Out of all the things that could have been in the box, this was one of the last things Kaito had expected. He was the captain. He had to make the first move...
"That's a monokuma unit." Maki said suddenly. Her eyes were cold. "They're military grade robotic based weapons."
"Woah, I was being sarcastic about the replacement robot." Kokichi said. "What are the odds?"
"Wait, wh-why are you replacing me?!" Kiibo wailed.
"Nyeh...why do we have a military grade robot?" Himiko asked.
"What a nice present!" Gonta said cheerfully.
"I've encountered monokuma units before. I don't believe I've seen one like this before." Kirumi said. "They usually are more bearlike, and black instead of green."
"It's Kiibo's long lost cousin." Kokichi snickered.
"No. I-Am-Far-Different-Than-The-Robot." Everyone jumped at the sound of the bear's voice.
"And they usually speak." Kirumi concluded.
"You're a robot too, don't throw me under the bus like that." Kiibo whimpered.
"Um, hey there." Kaito said. "Who the fuck are you? What the fuck are you? And what the fuck are you doing here?"
"Hello. I-Am-Monodam. I-Have-Come-To-Aid-You-On-Your-Mission." the bear, or Monodam, spoke in a flat, heavily digitized voice. Kaito had seen videos of monokuma units, and they usually had a lot more personality in their voices. So what was wrong with this one?
"Yeah, and how could a scrap pile like you help us?" Miu asked.
"I-Am-No-Scrap-Pile. I-Am-Part-Of-A-Unique-New-Line-Of-Monokuma-Units. I-Was-Chosen-Specifically-To-Help-You."
Kaito had been through too much to just believe in anything by this point. He'd have to tread carefully. "Oh yeah? And why you? What makes you so special?"
"I-Am-Like-All-Of-You."
"An ultimate?" Tenko asked.
"Royally fucked?" Kokichi asked.
"Forsaken-By-The-Government-And-Most-Likely-Awaiting-A-Firey-Demise-Back-On-Earth."
"So he's like a little robo-fugitive. Cute." Kokichi said, grinning.
"What did you do to get in hot water?" Rantaro asked.
Kaito could have sworn that the metallic eyes took on a dark glint. "I-Single-Handedly-Murdered-The-Rest-Of-Both-My-Squad-And-Superior-Officers."
"Woah!" Kaito jumped back, away from the apparently murderous robot. "So you were too bad for earth so you were sent up here to us? How is this supposed to help us? You sound like you'll just cause more problems!"
"You-Do-Not-Know-Why-I-Committed-Murder." Monodam said, stepping towards the crew. Everyone took a collective step back. "I-Just-Wanted-Everyone-To-Get-Along. That-Is-All."
"Gonta like the sound of that!" Gonta said brightly.
"Hold on big guy, everyone around him still ended up dead." Rantaro said.
"They-Would-Not-Get-Along. They-Insisted-On-Hurting-Each-Other-And-Others. I-Did-Not-Like-It. I-Am-A-Pacifist."
"Can you even be a pacifist if you solve problems with murder?" Kaede asked nervously.
"I-See-You-Do-Not-Believe-Me." Monodam said. There was a soft click accompanied by a whirr, and a voice recording started.
"See? He can do that too Kiibo. Not so special any more, huh?" Kokichi said softly. Kaito kicked at him, and the supreme leader shut up.
"I know you don't have any reason to trust this monokuma unit. You don't know who I am, or who I work for, but you must believe that I am on your side. I never approved of the use of untrained individuals to fix problems that we created. I did not want you to end up in this position, and I am sorry. I am aware of every potential tactic the others may use to bend you to their will, and as I cannot directly help you, I decided to provide aid in another way."
A holographic screen blinked on, showing footage of Monodam.
"Yes, this is a genuine monokuma unit, a Monodam series three. This model is part of a newer line of monokuma units, specifically made to be subservient to surrounding officers. This unit was placed into a squad with its siblings, and sent into service. However...creating these things with intelligence lead to some problems."
On the holoscreen, Monodam could be seen being pushed around by a different, blue monokuma unit.
"Strangely enough, this unit's psyche was impacted by verbal and physical bullying. (At this word, Monodam visibly twitched.) This lead to several surprising results, such as the unit refusing to speak, and "closing his heart" to those around him, as it was called. Underneath its new victimized personality, severe aggression and anger took root and grew."
The holoscreen switched to some kind of gigantic robotic suit. Kaito stared so hard his eyes hurt. He'd never seen anything like that before. It was amazing, it was badass, it was...piloted by Monodam?
As the view zoomed in, Kaito could see that every mech was driven by a monokuma. As the tape played, Kaito watched as Monodam's mech broke out of the marching formation, charging at intense speeds and tearing into whatever they were fighting.
"The unit showed an amazing ability to be impacted by emotional trauma, changing its original programming and goals. A climax was reached when the unit murdered its abuser in cold blood. It proceeded to take over its entire squad, unit and human alike. It preached a desire for everyone to get along, so that no one would ever be hurt again. However, should anyone show signs of bullying to him or each other,"
The screen showed Monodam shoving a different unit under a piece of rubble as it fell.
"It would kill them. It existed in this tyrannical environment for three months, until it was finally defeated and captured by a recovery team. The unit was deemed faulty, and sentenced to ultimate destruction and recycling of its parts. However, I requested to do an analysis on its brain beforehand, wondering what kind of information could be gained from its transformation. I was surprised as it told me its tale, and I ultimately sympathized. And so I wondered, if units like this could be hurt from emotional experiences, could it heal as well? I asked the unit if it would make a choice. A choice between being scrapped, or having an opportunity to help people get along. It chose the latter, obviously."
The holoscreen blinked off, only leaving the recorded voice.
"So I sent it to you, knowing that its desire for everyone to get along would help bring you back together after the events of a certain move by the others. Treat it, and each other as friends. Failure to do so may end in your untimely, messy deaths."
"What!?" Tenko yelled.
"I truly wish I could provide more support. I wish you all the best of luck." with a final click, the recording shut off.
"So." Kaito said slowly. "We either have a friend on the ground, or a crazy nut case who thought it would be fun to send a crazy robot up here with us."
"Gonta see no problems. Being friends is good!" Gonta said cheerfully. He turned to Monodam smiling. "Gonta's name is Gonta! It is nice to meet you! Gonta will be friend."
The robot's eyes seemed to sparkle. "Yes-We-Will-Get-Along-Wonderfully."
"Wait, hold on, we're just letting this thing roam around now?" Rantaro asked, as Monodam started to make its way out of the room.
"I mean, do you want to try to put it back in the box?" Kaito asked.
"Honestly, I'm inclined to believe it." Maki said slowly. "I've never seen a monokuma unit remotely care about anything other than itself. If this one really cares about people getting along, it might just be different."
Kaito sighed. "Ok, you guys are gonna think I'm nuts, but I'm going back to my old habits. I'm gonna believe that this guy was really sent up here to help us, and that we have at least one ally back on earth."
"Me too." Rantaro said. "Gonta seems to like it." The others turned to see Gonta walking away with Monodam, holding its hand. Blinky joined the two, walking on the other side of Gonta.
"Damn, this looks like the start of a bad sci-fi fairy tale." Kokichi commented.
"Let's hope it has a good ending." Shuichi said softly.
Monodam had scared the hell out of Kaito at least ten times already. The bear was quiet, he moved so silently. Kaito would suddenly turn around and see Monodam staring at him. They would look at each other for a moment, before Monodam would turn and leave. Despite being relatively talkative earlier, Monodam had lapsed into silence, only speaking when directly asked a question. Kaito wasn't sure if this was a good or bad sign.
The others seemed weary around Monodam as well. Honestly, the only one comfortable with it was Gonta.
"I didn't know I could scream like that." Rantaro said, dropping into the co-pilot's chair next to Kaito in the cockpit. "That little green ninja came out of nowhere, jeez, I think I lost years off my life."
"Seriously." Kaito laughed. "We've only had it around for three hours, and it's already slowly killing us."
"Who do you think sent it?" Rantaro asked, crossing his arms.
"Honestly, I have no idea." Kaito sighed. "I guess we should test it or something, to make sure its really on our side."
"Yeah, I think that's a good idea. Now we just gotta find-" Both swiveled around in their chairs, to see Monodam standing silently behind them.
"JESUS!" Kaito yelled. "I, uh, I mean, hey buddy!" he tried to smile. He didn't want Monodam thinking he didn't want to get along. "We were just talking about you."
"I-Hope-You-Were-Only-Saying-Nice-Things. Talking-Behind-People's-Backs-Does-Not-Make-It-Easy-To-Get-Along."
"Nah, we just wanted to ask you something." Rantaro said, calm as always. "You know, friends like to get to know each other."
"That-Is-True." Monodam turned to Kaito expectantly, making the astronaut sweat. Crap, did he have to come up with something on the spot now? Kaito fumbled with the dashboard before lifting up one of the comm pieces.
"If I made a call to the earth people, that would um, make it harder for people to get along." Kaito said, wondering where the hell he was going with this. "I, um, could do some very not nice things."
"That-Comm-Line-Makes-It-Hard-To-Get-Along?" Monodam asked.
"Yeah, it sure do-" Kaito yelped as Monodam shot forward, grasping the comm line firmly. It yanked hard, ripping it from the dashboard. Kaito thought he couldn't get any more shocked. Then Monodam opened its mouth and swallowed the comm line.
"Holy..." Rantaro said weakly.
"Did it just..." Kaito trailed off.
"There. Now-We-Can-All-Get-Along." Monodam said. "What-Was-Your-Question?"
"What's your favorite color? Mine's purple." Kaito said in a nervous, high pitched voice. This was it, this was the end.
Monodam looked at Kaito, before looking around, then looking down at itself. "My-Favorite-Color-Is...Maroon."
"Wha-I mean, that's cool. That's really cool." Kaito said, giving Monodam a thumbs up.
Monodam turned to Rantaro expectantly. "What-Is-Your-Favorite-Color?"
"Hey, quick question, why did robo-bear magically appear and ask me my favorite color?" Miu asked, as she stormed into the cockpit a little while later.
"He wants to get to know us." Kaito said, still mildly shell-shocked over the fact that Monodam had eaten a comm line.
"Ok then." Miu said, crossing her arms.
"Did you need something?" Kaito asked.
"Yeah, uh, you didn't, uh, look at any more of the secrets did you?" Miu asked quickly, gluing her eyes to the floor.
"No, I haven't." Kaito said. "But we're going to have to eventually."
"No!" Miu yelled. "We can't. I see the way people look at Angie and Kiyo now, I don't want them to look at me that way!"
"They won't do that-"
"You can't promise that." Miu said sharply. "You can't promise anything. Face it, as long as those secrets are around, we're never gonna all get along."
Out of the corner of his eye, Kaito saw a metallic green form retreat into the shadows...Or maybe it was his imagination. God, he hoped it was his imagination.
The rest of the day passed smoothly, with the exception of Monodam bursting into the lounge, screeching that it was now eight pm, before leaving like nothing had happened. Kirumi had theorized that Monodam still retained some of his previous functions, such as telling time. This only had happened at eight pm thus far, and after the first time, Kaito was about ready to schedule nightly heart attacks at that hour.
Things had calmed down after that thankfully, and Kaito had settled into bed, more than ready to sleep. The day had been a long one. Secrets, murder attempts, and now a robot bear. It couldn't get any stranger than this surely...
A bear shaped shadow stood in the doorway. Kaito screamed, toppling off of the bed.
"Are-You-Awake?"
"No." Kaito said sarcastically, before remembering who he was dealing with. "I mean yes! What's up?"
Wordlessly, Monodam held out its hands. In it were...Medicine patches?
"Are these...for me?" Kaito asked, picking them up. He'd been running low, jeez, these could practically save his life. "How did you know I needed them?"
"Friends-Keep-Each-Other's-Secrets." Monodam said. "I-Know-Lots-Of-Things-Too. It-Came-In-Handy-Didn't-It? Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha." Kaito was a little unsettled by the toneless laugh, but the effort was clearly there. He felt his feelings towards his new crewmate soften slightly.
"Thanks man, I really owe you one." Kaito said. He was having trouble expressing his gratitude to a robot bear. He never saw himself reaching this point in life.
"What-Are-Friends-For? Now-Sleep. Bedtime-Ursine." Monodam patted Kaito on the head, before exiting the room.
Kaito shook his head, smiling. He pressed one of the new med patches against his chest, sighing with relief as the pain in his chest receded. Yeah, maybe Monodam wasn't so bad after all...
"RISE-AND-SHINE-URSINE! IT-IS-NOW-EIGHT-AM" For the second time, Kaito rolled out of bed with a scream. He jumped to his feet, looking around for Monodam. The realization hit him. Monodam had somehow gotten onto the comms.
"THIS-IS-AN-ANNOUNCEMENT." A screen in the corner of Kaito's room clicked on, showing Monodam sitting in the pilot's chair.
Kaito stood there, waiting for the announcement...and got nothing. In the corner of the screen, he could see what appeared to be Gonta's leg.
"Don't be scared! Gonta right here! You can do it!" Kaito heard Gonta say.
"Ok. I-Have-Never-Made-An-Announcement-Before." Monodam said, touching its paws together. It appeared to be blushing.
"Gonta thinks you can do anything you want to." Gonta said brightly. "You can do it!"
Monodam faced the camera, confidence seemingly restored. "Please-Report-To-The-Lounge-At-Ten-Am-Sharp. We-Will-Then-Begin-All-Getting-Along. That-Is-All." Monodam awkwardly shuffled off camera. Kaito could hear it speaking to Gonta.
"Was-That-Alright?"
"Yes! Gonta think that's the best announcement Gonta ever heard!"
"Oh-Yay."
The screen finally clicked off, leaving Kaito standing in his room, confused. After making himself somewhat presentable, he exited the room, running into a very angry Maki.
"Does he want to die?" She growled.
"Woah! Uh, did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" Kaito said.
"I'm not a morning person." Maki shot Kaito another deadly glare, before stalking off. Kaito turned and nearly jumped out of his skin. Monodam was standing in front of him.
"I-Made-An-Announcement." Monodam said, still appearing to blush.
"Yeah I heard! It was pretty badass." Kaito said, giving him another thumbs up.
"I-Am-Glad-You-Liked-It." Monodam said. It suddenly motioned for Kaito to follow it down a hallway, stopping when they were alone. Kaito thought about what it would be like to be mugged by a robo-bear.
"Please-Report-Any-Changes-In-Health-Condition-To-Me." Monodam said. "You-Cannot-Get-Along-If-You-Have-Died-From-An-Alien-Virus."
"That's...a solid point." Kaito said. "Yeah, solid point."
"I-Am-Equipped-With-Defibrillators." Monodam said, rubbing its paws together. Kaito could hear the whine of electricity charging up. "So-Let-Me-Know-If-You-Go-Into-Cardiac-Arrest."
"Uh, yeah, will do." Kaito said nervously, looking at Monodam's now crackling paws. "You can, um, put those away."
Thankfully Monodam obliged. "I-Will-See-You-At-Ten-Am."
"What are we doing at ten?" Kaito asked, as Monodam turned to leave.
"It-Is-A-Surprise."
Well, Kaito hoped it was a good one.
"So, what the hell warranted being woken up?" Miu growled as soon as everyone had gathered in the lounge. It seemed Maki wasn't the only non morning person in the group.
"Please-Get-Comfortable. I-Have-Brought-Restraints." Monodam held up a roll of ductape.
Ok, Kaito didn't like where this was going. "Wait, woah, why would we need restraints."
Monodam's holoscreen clicked back on. "We-Cannot-Get-Along-If-We-Attack-Each-Other-While-I-Am-Reading."
"Reading what?" Kaito asked. Gonta taped himself to his seat. "Gonta wait, you don't have to do that-"
"Your-Secrets."
That was met with outrage. Kaito couldn't even make out who was saying what over all the protesting. "EVERYONE CHILL!" He yelled. "Why are you doing that?"
"Because-She-Said-It-Earlier." Monodam said, pointing to Miu. "We-Cannot-Get-Along-While-Your-Secrets-Are-Secrets. Now-Please-Sit-Down-Or-I-Tape-You. You-Bastards."