While it was a key part of the whole event, Shaun didn't appear concerned about the Theatre Therapy - nor the implications that it imposed. No, not implications; it said them right out loud. They were to commit the perfect murder and get away with it - causing the others that were participating to die so that the perpetrator could leave. It was a simple enough concept.

To the boy, it seemed quite the experiment. Perhaps he was wrong with his first analysis? Maybe it wasn't a single person who enacted this, but the entirety of the Infinite Initiative? To be fair, he wasn't sure of most of the details surrounding the group, and their reason for existing was about as ambiguous as they could make it. To help people reach beyond their talents was quite... Vague, to say the least, and who knew in what ways they would attempt to develop them. Even going so far as to dump them into an environment where only the most cunning, and most capable of murder will improve?

He flicked through the E-handbook, memorising each rule down to the letter. It appeared that they wished for people to take advantage of the "Night of Carnage", however there was nothing against killing outside of those times. As much as it was against his will, Shaun found himself running through a variety of ways to kill, whilst making it seem like complete... "Carnage", as Monokuma might put it.

---

With the theatre ended, they made their way back to their rooms in silence. It may not have been obvious, but it appeared that their host had already managed to sow the seeds of despair into the participants. Well, some, at the very least; it didn't really affect Shaun. Not on the outside, at the very least.

Inside, he was scared. He may have been pretty tall, but he was quiet and he was weak - a pretty perfect target, especially considering he opted to stay away from people if possible. Who knew how many people would wish to take a crack with a steel bat at him? As he opened his room, Shaun noted how... Normal, it looked. In fact, it almost looked like a simple hospital room. He'd guessed that they wouldn't allow him a computer, simply because of the risks to the safety of the project that was at hand, but he at least expected something besides a book on a bedside table labelled "Advanced HTML". He already knew how to code; how else would he have gotten his label as an Infinite?

Next to it sat a DVD case with the name bearing "Trinity of Laughs". Its titled imposed quite the predicament, as Shaun looked over it and noted nothing especially funny about it. It was about models, not that he remembered which of the players liked modelling. One of the girls, evidently. He'd have to make find that out.

He looked around for a bit to see if there was a case or anything that contained personal belongings, but there weren't. That was right... he didn't come to Axis Mundi voluntarily, but was taken their unconscious. Was anyone else here the same? Most likely. There must have been some that were in the same boat as he, but they probably had better items than a crappy TV sitcom.

Shaun sighed, and climbed into bed. There wasn't much point thinking about it, anyway.

---

Through the night, the boy slept soundly - somehow. Much to his surprise, he never once stirred. Or, if he did, he couldn't remember. The fear that came with the prospect of being killed should have caused some kind of unrest, yet it did not. It seemed strange, but he refused to dwell on it.

Outside, he could hear the shouting of Davis, the Infinite... Conquest, that was it. Something about swords and ending battles quickly, not that it concerned him. A slight part of Shaun hoped someone might actually snap soon, so the place would be livened up beyond Davis's infinite hilarity matched only by that of the bandaged girls tape recorder 50% at your local ToysRUs.

Climbing out from the bed, he felt an overwhelming urge not the leave the room lest he be dragged into the infuriating nonsense of the other participants of killer charm. Killer? The place was already getting to him to the point of making insensitive puns in his head. To distract himself, he took the book from the cabinet - a rather hefty book - and began to read his way through; making it a personal mission to block out the sounds from everyone outside of his immediate vicinity.

It was late into the night, yet the lights were still on in Mary's room. She was sitting on her hospital bed, talking to the expensive video camera on a tripod stand that she brought with him to Axis Mundi, like she always did. She could have used the device Monokuma gave them all to record the video, but she found the routine of recording her daily video log with her trusty camera a lot better. It gave her a sense of safety and predictability after what transpired in the theater.

Mary did expect a death game, but it was far worse than she could have imagined; instead of solving puzzles or escaping rooms by performing challenges, you actually had to commit a murder. And based on what Mary read from the rules, it seemed like it had to be a secret one as well. Still, she kept up her cheer for her audience, as she always had.

"Hi everyone, It's MaryPie here. Well, here I am in Axis Mundi, after I was seemingly drugged and left in an elevator, and now stuck like a prisoner thanks to a talking horror game mascot. What do I think of this place? Well, considering I'm forced to kill other patients to even leave, I can give this place a 0/5 on my Resort Rating."
The jokey nature of her statement helped lift her mood, even if for just a little bit.
"Well, it's not all bad, as the good doctor Killgood gave me a gift, so we'll have a surprise unboxing right now! Yay!" She lifted her hands to the air, but they soon fell back to the bad in a tired fashion. She tapped the box that was next to her, and read the letter out loud, as she always did when handling fan mail and presents they sent to her.

"Ok, let's see what's in here..." She said as she professionally opened the box without causing too much noise, and lifted the item out. "Hey, it's a bottle of...Knight's Squire Ale? Is this a souvenir from a medieval fair? Well, I am sure who would like this as a present...Buuuut..." Mary thought hard, before putting it away. "That's what the stupid mascot wants me to do, and I refuse to play into his sick game! So instead I'll wait until we're out of here, and then I'll invite her to my show where she can get the present. Alright, I would ramble a lot longer, but I'm really tired, so I'll be signing out. Bye everyone!" She waved to the camera, shut it off, and then collapsed back on the bed, sighing loudly. "Bwehh, what did I do to deserve this?"

---

In the morning, Mary once again put on a positive show for the others, waving and smiling to everyone as she went down the hallway, passing by Mondatta. The monk was holding what looked like a book of some sort in his hands, and he spoke up to Mary. "Miss Hanson, could I ask you for a favor? Could you tell any patients you meet to head to the break room? I have an announcement to make."
Mary agreed, and she quickly bounced around telling everyone that Mondatta was having a big speech at the break room.

Once word spread to everyone, Mary then herself headed to the break room. There, she saw Mondatta standing next to Kara. "Greetings, and thank you for attending. As we are aware, the so-called 'doctor' has given each of us an item, and claims that we should gift these items for the purpose of false trust. The item I have is a picture book called the Touch-Touch Book Farm. Now, I will give this gift to you, young one," he said, offering the item to the Infinite Chef.

"However, this gift was not given in ill will, but as my gesture of trust to everyone present that nobody succumbs to temptation, and that we can all co-operate for the purposes of escaping this facility. I also encourage everyone else who has not yet parted with their given item to do so. Let us not doubt each other, but work together to achieve mutual goals. That is all."

Mary simply stared at Mondatta, conflicted on the inside; he couldn't possibly think everyone would agree with him? In fact, Mary had her suspicions that some people here would eventually do something drastic. Still, he made a good point about the presents; just because they were intended for the purposes of murder doesn't mean they have to. Feeling good about the idea that the present would spread hope rather than doubt, she went to speak with Shona.
"Hey, Sho-Sho! I got a bottle of ale from the teddy! Wanna get totally crunk? She asked while making a funny face with her tongue sticking out, hopefully making her laugh; laughter was a good medicine for when you're feeling bad, after all.

Before he could get to the break room, it seemed like he was in for some kind of show. The Runner Guy was showing off a sword to some other man in a tie, and they took up most of the hallway, so it seemed too difficult to get by them. The second guy... Davis or something? Was looking really riled up, and Ice wasn't about to get in the way of that. Davis's normal swagger was going down as he stuttered to ask to receive whatever kind of sword it was. Blades had never really interested Isaiah himself, no did any other weapon, though he wasn't too bad with his fists. Honestly, it was probably for that girl in the weird armor, right?

And just when the guy was about to thank the other, that weird bandaged girl showed up with the really agitating cassette recorder. Seriously, she needed to get with the program and upgrade her voice, because hearing it so early in the morning was not doing anything good for the Infinite Blood Donor. She was talk about knights and the like, which probably meant she was in agreement with Ice. It seemed like she was trying to introduce herself after that, only to get talked over by Davis in some kind of emotional rant.

Ouch, even Ice didn't use the C-word. It was vulgar and... just nasty. A new atmosphere swept through the room as Davis swung the sword towards the mummy, Ice's defenses grew up and he planted his feet, ready to get in a fighter's stance. "What the fuck are you doing?!" Again, the words were drowned out by the other guy's ranting. Something about how victory was assured using the blade and how the sword was so wrong for the other chick. Hey... hey! This was not the time to be swinging around weapons, especially after a night like the one with that goddamn bear. He finally went quite and started for his room, not really apologizing, but giving some kind of excuse. Ice was ready to give out a sigh of relief, hit a wall, and be done with it, when the guy pointed at him.

"AND YOU! If you're going to walk between two people while they're having a discussion, you can at least say EXCUSE ME!"

Now, Ice wasn't the type of guy to get intimidated when a weapon was pointed at him, just when it was pointed at someone else. The blade may not have been sharp, but it probably would hurt like hell to get hit with. Plus, he wasn't the type of person to say polite things like, 'excuse me' or, 'if I may.' He didn't answer the stupid sap before he closed the door, just pulled one of the messy bandages around his head up a little and looked bored. After that whole upstart ended, he gave a small laugh, "And here I thought we might all be able to be level headed and get along... Stupid Quack," and with that, Ice left, not addressing the other two people in the hallway.

---

The ground had begun to shake and made Aleecia fall to a kneeling position, her balance already compromised with her lack of sight. It sounded strangely like horse hooves, and then even more so when Aleecia felt the vibrations of the ground, but what would horses be doing inside? The chips of paint on the ground bounced and the whole thing was giving Aleecia a strange headache. People gasped as they saw who or what was coming towards them, but all Aleecia wanted to know was if there were actual horses. No one said anything, seemingly too shocked and that continued to make the girl antsy.

There were a cascade of different introductions, from rather happy to one that didn't seem to value herself enough, which was really too bad. The last one introduced themselves as... A sisterhood? The daughters of Dr. Killgood, oh no... it was about that weird bear again. Alexandria, Geina, Nariko, and Willow, they seemed to be the only other people she hadn't been around yet. Suddenly, something picked her up faster than she could give a sign of defiance. She was whisked onto something hard and smooth, grabbing at what was the shape of an arm as she trembled. The voice sounded kind of like Nariko... but as she felt around, it seemed they were some kind of doll-like robots, with hard joints at the arms and different limbs. If Aleecia hadn't been so curious, she probably would have apologized for touching so much, she felt the hair and everything else... Oh! It seemed the horse was made of some kind of steel and was a robot as well. Once they arrived in a new room, Nariko set her down in a seat and Aleecia tried to grab hold of her hand, only to catch air. "U-Um... thank you!" She wasn't sure exactly if she was supposed to be thankful, they had been kidnapped after all, but she offered the words anyway.

---

Four robots and some kind of talking stuffed bear... Just the sound of it was the plot of some weird, out-of-culture TV show. But in no way was this some kind of comedy, what Dr. Killgood had said made sure of it. He didn't want to let them go, even the small and innocent and that was just not right! During the 'theater therapy' Aleecia had been trembling for a whole different reason- anger. She had been angry that the bear had put them all in this situation and all these innocent people were going to be hurt if he got his way. Just his long rant about hope gave the girl shivers.

Soon after that, Aleecia had been guided by the hand by one of the sisters, though it didn't seem to be Nariko by Aleecia's calculations. She did seem a bit nicer than the rest, but all of them were involved with that bear... Once she had gotten inside, she had closed the door and slid down it, letting the tremors and tears fall. Once that was over... she had taken to the bed, slipping out of her jeans and sweatshirt, not sure whether to look for new clothes. After a second thought, she reached to the side and found that the room was really a lot like her old one and got out a nightgown from the dresser. After another round of tears, she had fallen asleep.

She hadn't dreamed that night, which wasn't exactly unusual. Aleecia only had dreams every few days to once a week, but those were always her safe haven. When she dreamed, they were actually just a replay of past memories when she could see. The times she was able to sneak out with her older brother or gotten to watch a movie... But no, she hadn't gotten one of those last night. Feeling around the room once she woke up, there seemed to be a large closet of cards and board games, though not many had a blind version. A CD case sat next to it, full of what seemed to be audiobooks and... past horse races, which made the girl shiver. It was part of her Infinite after all...

Worried she wouldn't be able to hand the room any longer, she slipped the horse races into the trash and slipped a new pair of jeans and a shirt from her dresser, before putting her green sweatshirt back on. After she found a brush and did her best to brush it all out. She was getting a little miffed because she was just so sure that her parting was off, but there wasn't much she could do about it. There was a great yelling outside that made her flinch.

Aleecia reached for the E-Handbook she had gotten from the Sisters and held it annoyed. There was no real way she would be able to read it... Or the rules. Once everything had calmed down outside, she left the room and came up to the other people of the group. She had heard a cassette tape, so she could only guess there was the girl from when she first stepped out of the elevators... and someone she didn't know. Saddened she couldn't ask Rika, she turned towards the other person who she had deduced was male. "Um... Excuse me... Could you maybe help me with my handbook? I would like to know the 'rules' Dr. Killgood talked about before..." She rubbed her feet together in her shoes. She knew the lights were too bright in the room to even try opening her eyes, but still felt the urge to, from when she used to be able to see.

Under any other circumstances, Daimyon would have felt like he had won the lottery. The sheer impossibility and macabre hilarity of the situations he and his Infinite partners had been thrust into one after the another—from being herded by a group of robotic dolls riding robotic steeds into an unrealistically professional theatre, to being told by a robotic black-and-white bear that they were locked in here for good unless they went ahead and killed one of their own—provided the poet with enough inspiration to write a whole volume of poetry. He also had confidence that it would sell well, though people might think it unrealistic, even for fantasy standards.

Unfortunately, he could not even call it a fantasy; and it also dawned upon him that his greatest worry would not be the length and composition of a poem book, but his own survival. And this thought, which made its crushing weight felt with each passing moment as it sank in, almost got to him. In fact it was so close to polluting the nooks and crannies of his pleasant, carefree mind that he had to try his damnedest not to let it do that. He clung to the small reliefs and delights, such as the fact that their shiny new e-handbook had a note-taking function. He would certainly not trust an electronic appliance of dubious origins with his dearest poems and deepest secrets while he still had his treasured notebook with him, but it would still be useful for recording general information.
Monokuma—for that was the black-and-white robot bear's name, Dr. Monokuma Killgood, to be precise—had also said that the 17 Infinites would each have their own, custom-furbished and equipped rooms. Daimyon counted everyone in the theatre and was impressed by the concentration of the talent, even though the circumstances were unfortunate. Still, and this was yet another hope to stick with, he was sure that together they would eventually figure out something—a way to escape, preferably; perhaps with the added bonus of figuring out who put them here and getting some sweet revenge—without having to resort to the...designated way.

No one wanted to kill anyone, right?

The flurry of joys and worries, of hope and despair were making his head swirl and he was most delighted to finally enter his room through a door that had his nameplate and a...pixellated image of his face. The room itself was situated at the very end of the curved hallway, farthest away from the rest of the facilities on the floor, which meant that he only had two direct neighbours: the streamer star Mary to the right and the web designer talent Shaun in the opposite room. On the other hand, though, he would always have to walk the whole distance, which meant the highest possibility of meeting others along the way. He liked that. And he was bang next to the entrance of, as explained by a helpful sign, some kind of resort. He may or may not have liked that, depending on what qualified as a ‘resort’ in this...pretty unorthodox hospital. Oh and he was perhaps the farthest away from a potential murder.

...silver linings, right?

Stepping inside, Daimyon was pleasantly surprised. There were literary books of all genres scattered about and classical paintings decorating the plain white walls. The windows were covered by red curtains, the same shade used for theatre drapes—except on closer inspection he noticed that there were actually no windows behind the curtains. Curious design decision and not a healthy one at that, he thought. Still, there was plenty to be thankful for, for example the wardrobe which featured exactly the kind of clothes he preferred: not too revealing or flashy, but still embellished enough to be noticeable. Right next to it was a mannequin...wearing the costume of a medieval bard!

This was a particularly exciting item, even though it defied the poet's general rules of clothing: the bright multi-coloured attire was adorned with gold, had a white scarf and a purple hat with a feather included to complete the appearance. All that was missing was the lute and Daimyon had secret hopes that he would find one somewhere in the facility. For a moment he even forgot that it was not the lack of a costume, but a lack of instrument skill that kept him from the coveted minstrelship.

The other thing that caught his attention was the table that stood next to the hospital bed. Not only was the equipment of a writer from a couple centuries back—a quill, some ink and even a slightly-yellowed parchment—present, there was also an actual present, a neatly wrapped-up gift. The battle of cautiousness versus curiosity did not last long and Daimyon soon opened the curious box to find...a few things he had no idea about until he read the words written on one of the small cloths included: ‘Premium Care for Wooden Instruments’.

He quickly flipped through his notebook to find the only person who this could belong to: Krista Müller, Infinite Violinist. He was sure it would be a delightful surprise for her—provided she still had her instrument—and he was already thinking about the perfect time to give it to her.

He still thought about it when he was in bed and drifting into a sweet, long-deserved sleep...

---

Daimyon Londe dreamt. He dreamt of the swallow, of long treks on a winding road in its pursuit, of meeting wearied travellers on the way and sharing stories with them. The thematic has been recurring for him for a while, though he did not know for how long and with what purpose. All he knew was that he enjoyed living it out every night and was always hesitant to let it go. Still, he did what he must and woke up on time. ‘On time’ usually fell into the ‘too early’ spectrum for him, that was how he knew. Sitting up on his bed, he first reached for the notebook, read and wrote a couple words to start off the day. The state of the room and all its equipment struck him with similar surprise than the night before; he still needed a while to get used to it. He could get used to it though. It was pretty nice.

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, had a brief shower—more for refreshment than hygiene, and they were in a hospital after all—and walked out into the hallway with no other immediate reason than to socialise. The person at the forefront of his mind was Krista: after all, the gift Monokuma provided him with belonged to her. He had also made a note below his introductory poem from yesterday concerning her, though the reason for that did not spring into his mind right away. Either way there was plenty to talk about.

He headed in the one direction he could head, and ran into people as soon as he turned the corner. A tall, blonde-haired guy—free running champ Felix, Daimyon recalled—was caught up with two girls, one of them holding up her e-handbook to him with a plea. As soon as the poet realised who she was, her request also became clear. Poor thing simply wanted to know the rules of this ‘killing game’ they were dragged into, but could not find out for herself. Daimyon's smile faltered for a moment. He cursed his selective memory that was unkind to anything but rhyming plenty of times, but at least he had his notebook readily available at any time to remind him of anything he might have forgot. She however had lost one of her irreplaceable senses, perhaps the most important one, forever.

“Will you manage?” he asked Felix, then waved at the second girl. “Hi Rika. Everything all right?”
With her large cassette player and fully bandaged-up body, the firebug Rika Roux was as unforgettable as they came and Daimyon had no difficulty remembering her, though they have not really spoken before.

He spotted more people further forward, mostly heading towards a particular room and he was planning to join them. But first, he had a sudden idea to follow up on...

“Aleecia. Let me tell you something,” he accosted the blind girl.

Darkness may be all you see
But in your soul, there is light
When it shines for people, let it be
And you will see their delight.

“Don't let anything get you down, friend.”
He smiled again after the small poem he thought up to cheer up the distraught Aleecia at least a bit, and left for the open area.

Felix was a bit surprised to hear Davis' plea for the sword. He was completely convinced that the sword belonged to him. But was it ok to give it away? Davis wasn’t exactly stable right now, so maybe it would be better to hold onto the sword until his judgment clears up. but before Felix could respond, a recorded message played behind him. His eyes flinched for a second when he turned around to the sight of a…a mummy?

He had seen her on the monitor in the elevator but still. Of all the weird people he encountered thus far, this one would have to take the cake. Felix assumed that Rika, who had just introduced herself as such, was mute. That or the most awkward person he ever met. Because of the recorder and the bandages, Felix couldn’t exactly figure out how she felt, which made it hard for him to come up with a response. Not that he needed one, as Davis aggressively grabbed the sword out of Felix’s hands. It probably should have scared or surprised Felix, but instead, he didn’t move a muscle and just leaned against the wall watching him rant, this time without a smile.

Davis lost his cool too fast and that was uncalled for. It was not as if Felix didn’t understood why Davis did it, but if we all started acting that, than casualties would inevitably pile up. Of course the commotion was sure to attract more people, the first of which was another mummy. The guy seemed to get ready for a fight, so Felix looked at him while shaking his head and raise his right hand, an effort to reassure him that everything is under control.

For now though, he would let Davis vent, hoping that Rika wouldn’t judge Felix for not interfering. At least Davis made some good arguments as to why the sword belonged to him, enough to convince Felix. When Davis finished his little outburst after antagonizing the blood donor, Felix put another smile on his face while Davis said his last words.

“You’re welcome buddy.” He nodded as Davis disappeared into his room. When he turned around Ice was already in the distance and walking away. So with that mess done it was time to finally introduce himself to Rika.

“Hiya, I’m Felix, and apparently a cat lover as well as the infinite free runner…” He reached out his hand to greet Rika with a big smile and afterwards scratched the back of his head while continuing. “Oh and don’t get yourself worked up over that flamboyant banana, I’m sure he is just in love with the present I gave him. I mean, I sure wouldn’t want to see my love in someone else’s hands.” He looked at Rika with a soft and big smile before spotting a girl struggling to find her way towards the 2.

Watching her walking towards him with her eyes closed put a frown on Felix’s face. He only realized she was blind after she asked an otherwise stupid question. At the same time, a tall man approached them. Felix nodded in response to Daimyon’s question. Londe seemed like the guy who always shows interest towards others, without negating his own. A commendable trait. And then Daimyon’s poem, which would normally cringe the hell out of Felix, turned out to be very comforting, even though it wasn’t meant for him. Daimyon did not stay long, as he already started leaving them. He waved as the poet moved on, and returned his attention towards Aleecia. After he reached into his pockets, and emerged with his e-handbook, he was ready to instruct her.

“Okay first of all, you can use the e-handbook to record video, sound, and photos. There are also maps of the first floor of Axis Mundi available; I’m guessing that the map will be updated once we unlock more floors. As for the Rules…” Felix stopped in the middle of his sentence and the corners of his mouth lowered while he looked at Aleecia. He immediately forced a grin and continued with his lighthearted instruction trying to sound cheerful and relaxed.

“The first rule basically says that leaving the hospital is a big no no, though that probably won’t be an issue for now as I haven’t exactly found an exit…yet.

Rule two tells us that between 10 pm and 7 am certain areas are off limit, not that it says which ones, stupid bear.

The third one you’ll like, so as long as we follow the rules that Monokuma made, they can’t hurt us, not the bear nor the dolls.

But we can’t hurt them either, that is what rule four says at least.

Also, make sure you don’t give away your E-handbook, because rule five says so, although it doesn’t specify if it can be stolen or lost.

Rule 6 forbids us to kick down the doors with the ‘no entry’ signs, so I guess we can’t be a wanton.

And rule 7…rule 7 cures a person who kills someone and gets away with it, whatever ‘Cured’ means.

But hey, you can at least find solace in rule eight; it denies Monokuma and the dolls access to our personal rooms, so whenever you feel anxious, just calm down in your cabin. Maybe a friend will even join you since there is no rule against that.

Okay, so the last rule is a bit of a hit or miss. You either see an opportunity or a disadvantage, but either way, you’ll be safe in your room, remember that. So…From 12 to 1 am…rules 3 to 7 become nonexistent.

And that covers just about all of the rules that we have to abide to. By the way, I don’t think I got your name. I’m Felix, although I’m sure you have already seen my flashy introduction on the monitors yesterday.” He almost reached out his hand for a shake, completely forgetting her blind nature.

At this point, Mary came by and informed him of the speech that the Monk had planned. He was eager to hear what the monk had to say and the reactions as well. But at the same time, he didn’t want to alienate Rika and Aleecia, so chose to only go if they went.

Shona approached Cyrus's room, ignoring the chaos erupting in the hallway. It wasn't that she didn't care, but the knight knew that her intervention wouldn't stop anything. Shona lifted up her gauntlet and rapped on a door with her knuckles.

“Are you available, Cyrus?”

The E-handbook had everyone's room located on a map. She was quite sure this was the politician’s room.

"Coming." Cyrus said mere seconds before he entered the door. He hadn't really bothered going out yet. Instead, he had been pondering most of the emerging questions first. As he saw Shona, he offered her a hand. "Ah, you're Shona, aren't you? I do not believe we talked before. But I hope we can work together to get out of this... 'game'." He said those last words with a special kind of disgust, someone who clearly despised the very notion of it. "Do you need me for something?"

The knight nodded her head.“Mondatta is going to give a speech to everyone shortly. However, I wanted to talk to you about some things I've been thinking about.” She held out her E-handbook. “The rules in particular look very suspicious to me. I would like to talk to you in private about them before addressing the topic in front of the others. I think your background in politics would make you most capable of figuring this out.” Shona looked down the hall. It seemed as though the chaos had stopped. “Is your room alright, or would you prefer to talk in the...?” The knight trailed off, letting Cyrus finish her statement.

"No please, do enter." The politician said as he stepped aside, allowing her to pass into his room "You're not the only one worried, these rule are very... disturbing to say the least." He followed after her back into his room, gesturing her to sit down at a very simple table with two chairs. On top of the table were a few office supplies and the orichalcum ingot. "Excuse me for the mess, I haven't had the time to organise this place yet. Anyhow, where should we begin? I think we have a lot to discuss."

“Well, let's discuss the rules first then.” Shona brought them up on her E-handbook and set it on the table so that they could both look at the rules together...



“I find the ninth rule interesting.” Shona held her chin while she spoke. “Monokuma said he wanted us to kill each other, but that doesn't really make sense with this rule, does it?”

"The ninth rule is disturbing in many ways." Cyrus mentioned. "While this makes it technically possible for combat to ensue, I am not entirely sure why they would want that. They want us to kill each other, indeed. Also, why is something called the 'night of carnage' happening every day for one hour? I have a feeling they want us to be locked up in our rooms during that time, for some reason." He scribbled some notes on their conversation into a notebook. "Also, someone can not become blackened during this period. They essentially make us unable to kill each other in that period. Why would they limit our options?"

“Is it really limiting our options though?” Shona paused briefly to collect her thoughts. She hadn't expected Cyrus to be so ready with responses. Of course mental readiness would be a trait of the Infinite Politician. “There are just much easier ways to make sure we are in our rooms, don't you think? A simple rule that states that we have to be in our rooms during those hours would suffice. But they are allowing us to retaliate against them, loan our E-handbooks out, and forcing our way into locked rooms. And who knows what could be discovered behind locked doors?” The knight pointed at rule number seven. “This is the only one that doesn't make sense to me. Do they want us to work together during this time?

"It gives us a timeframe in which we can not kill each other, at least not for our own benefit of becoming the blackened. Which is a limitation. Potentially rule 5 can be used to tamper with murder scenes, given the gender specific doors...but who would loan their e-handbook to help another commit murder to begin with? He pondered for a few seconds, Also, do these rules define loaning as giving your book to someone else or as someone else being in possession of your e-handbok? If it is the latter, the loaning party would be immediately punished the second the hour of carnage ends." He then shook his head as Shona pointed out the last of the rules. Either they want us to work together, or they want to cover up something. If someone is killed during the night of carnage, we won't know if it was one of us or one of the nurses. Perhaps there is a reason for that?"

Shona was starting to smile. “I knew you were the right person to talk to about this, but you need to slow down a little.” the corners of her mouth returned to normal. “You said that no one would help a murderer, but what if they had an accomplice, or two people decided to work together to help become...”

Their conversation was interrupted by a knocking on the door.

“Can I come iiiiiiin?” That sickeningly cute voice could only belong to Monokuma.

Cyrus sighed as he heard the voice of the psychotic killer teddy. He wanted to let it in, but he changed his mind. "Before I do so, answer this question. If I give my permission now, does that allow you to enter freely the next time or will you need to request permission every time?" Cyrus was nothing if not wary of the creature.

“What? Do you think I'm a vampire?” The bear snorted. “I'm allowed to stay as long as I have permission. So as long as I have your permission, I can enter. However, if you ever took that permission away, I'd have to leave.”

"If you were, that might make you intimidating." Cyrus snarled. "You're allowed in. And I hereby also declare you will not have permission to be in here during the night of carnage. So get in here and tell us what you have to say, right now.

A small hole opened up in the floor, and out came the black and white bear. “Oh, I thought you guys were doing something else in here. You both still have your clothes on.”

Cyrus simply rolled his eyes at Monokuma's perverted remarks, as responding was far beneath his station.

Shona placed a hand on the hilt of her sword, just in case. “Surely that's not all you're here to say.”

“Well, that was the most important bit.” He waddled forward a few steps. “But as your doctor, I can't have you walking around all confused either. You don't seem to understand how the game works, so I am here to explain the rules to you nerds.” He giggled and snatched Shona's E-handbook out of her hand. “She didn't lend it to me, I borrowed it! Now, had she loaned it to me during the night of carnage, she would not be punished. Nor would she be punished when it ended. You lawyer types really suck by the way! I'm pretty sure everybeary else knew that would happen.”

"I can't help it that your ninth rule makes distinction between these definitions clear. If I didn't ask, you could've punished any of us who did it because we had no way of knowing!"

“Whatever!” He chucked the E-handbook back into Shona's hand. “And you have some other problems with the night of carnage I presume?”

Shona shook off her E-handbook and slid it back into her armor. “In particular, we don't see the advantage of removing the seventh rule. Don't you want us to kill each other?”

“What was that rule again? Can I see your E-handbook?” Monokuma shook his head and growled. “Never mind, I'll just get my own!” He pulled out his E-handbook and looked at the rules. “Oh right, I guess that would seem a little mysterious at this time. Phu phu phu phu!” Monokuma opened his mouth wide and swallowed his E-handbook with a single gulp. “I believe that discovery is the spice of life, and I feel you'll discover an advantage to that rule when the time comes. Did you have any other questions, or can I get back to drinking my monokumalade?”

The response to the seventh rule was something he completely expected."No, I have one more. The eight rule states that you can not enter someone's room unless this person commits a violation. Let's say Shona would violate a rule while being in my room. Would this allow you to enter my room? By the current definition of the rules, this should not be possible."

“Whoah!” Monokuma's eyes expanded. “That's actually a really good point! Why didn't I think of that? Probably because I like the challenge of punishing people without entering their room. It's actually very simple for me.” The bear tipped his head. “However, I may wish to hibernate, and that could pose a problem for my adopted daughters.” The bear lifted his paws up in the air. “I know! I'll just write another regulation!”



“Thanks a bunch Cyrus! Here, let me pay you for all that hard work.” The bear tossed a coin at the politician, who was able to catch it before it smacked into his head. “Now I'm going to go back to watching everyone on my security cameras.” His body started to sweat. “I won't be looking in here, trust me...Just do what comes natural.” Monokuma was lowered into the floor, which closed over his head once he disappeared from sight.

"You're welcome?" Cyrus said as the bear disappeared.

“Well...” Shona looked away from where Monokuma was and at Cyrus. “Thank you, I feel like this was productive. Was there anything you wanted to discuss?”

He turned back to Shona. "I guess to start with... tell me. Do you know anything of the past killing games?" He started pacing around the room for a bit. "Monokuma mentioned it a little during his therapy: killing games that happened a decade ago. If this is supposed to be the same as that, we might be a step ahead of the game by knowing what happened then."

Shona shook her head. “I only know that they happened. I was a teenager when the calamity happened, and Ireland didn't get as bad as most other countries did. I remember the anarchists from the united kingdom were trying to come over on boat. I know that they were wearing black and white bear masks that represent the bear in this game, but I haven't said anything to keep everyone calm. Why, do you know anything?”

"Let's just say that politicians have access to some secret documents." Cyrus told her. "To put it simply. Core orchestrators of the chaos that was paramount in the tragedy were a group called 'ultimate despair'. And as their despair spread, others started to copy their methods. Monokuma was a central symbol. There were a few central figures that orchestrated killing games. For example, in Australia a man by the name of 'Sinner Hector Ecclesia.' spread an extremely infectious virus that caused people to become uncontrollably angry and suicidal in later stages. In America, I believe there was someone named Neo Alexander. He persuaded the US army to turn on it's country, and eventually took the entire continent. But most important to us is the one who broadcast a killing game in Japan. This was a high schooler by the name Junko Enoshima. She was a young woman who.. well... she resembles the carnage sisters to a tee. What all of these masterminds have in common is that they hosted a killing game, all on varying scales. However, there are clear records of each one taking their own life. So it is impossible that any of them could have hosted this killing game."

Shona blinked several times. Unable to fully believe what she was hearing.“Are you saying that whoever imprisoned us here is... some kind of crazed fan of these killing games?”

Cyrus shrugged. "A fan, a long hidden ally, a remnant of whatever regime these figures had? Maybe they finally saw their chance when the infinity initiative popped up to do the deed themselves." Cyrus said before his expression turned grim. "Or if you want to be truly cynical... Perhaps the infinity initiative was something made with this killing game in mind? The Japanese killing game took place in a school for high schoolers with so called 'ultimate talents', something the infinity initiative was inspired by. Honestly, we have no way of knowing. I'd rather shun the thought that the infinity initiative is directly responsible for this. Though whoever set this up must have access to a great amount of resources if they could take us from Axis Mundi and put us in those elevators, if they weren't from the initiative themselves. Do you see what I'm getting at?" Cyrus said looking up at Shona.

The knight sighed. “Yes... and I suspect you may even be right.” Shona held her chin in thought. “I'm glad you shared this with me, but I don't think this topic is ever going to be come more than speculation. Not without more clues. Having said that, I do have more grave news. You mustn't tell anyone however.” Shona folded her arms and looked away from Cyrus. “Davis confessed to me that he believes he's the reason we're all here. He didn't tell me how, as I was in a rush to get you as soon as possible. But he's emotionally unstable, and I feel like if left unchecked he might do something drastic, if not be killed himself.” Shona returned her gaze to Cyrus. “I'm just letting you know. I hope to get Mondatta to speak with him directly. I think he will have the best chance of reaching out to him. What do you think about this?”

Cyrus scratched his head. "Sounds like that is best kept under wraps until this is either confirmed or refuted, indeed. He then sighed himself. "I'd try to help, but I doubt I'd make a good therapist. I think Mondatta might be a good bet. I don't think the monk is the type to murder. It's the nice thing about talents like yours and his. Your beliefs are part of it. I believe strong beliefs are part of mine as well, though people would debate the fact, surely." He sighed again. He waved away his own negative thoughts. "I'm not putting much value into the bear's words by the way. I think we should trust each other, though doubt is still a healthy thing. I hope these presents haven't thrown you off your game." the politician lifted his ingot. "If we distrust, we lose.

Shona smiled, but had to look away in an attempt to hide it. “That's a fitting statement closer.” The knight squared her shoulders. “I hope to talk to you in the future about lighter topics, but for now, we should head to the break room. I don't want to miss Mondatta's speech.” Cyrus nodded in agreement and they left for the break room.

---

Shona was standing in the corner of the break room, resting one hand on top of the mini fridge. Mondatta's speech was short, to the point, and powerful. He really earned his title of Infinite monk. It was a shame that Davis wasn't here. He must have locked himself in his room. This was just a problem that was going to get worse as time went on. Shona was about to approach Mondatta about the topic when she was stopped by Mary.

"Hey, Sho-Sho! I got a bottle of ale from the teddy! Wanna get totally crunk? She asked while making a funny face with her tongue sticking out.

While Shona didn't know exactly what crunk was, she did know ale very well. “Mary... It's still morning. You really want to start drinking now?” The knight sighed and smiled. It was hard not to in the face of such silliness. “If it's cold, then I might have a glass with breakfast, but I'd prefer to have two. Of course I'd enjoy having it with company even more.” You didn't get very far in Ireland if you didn't drink. And if you did, you typically did it with company.

Caora Uan Artzain

The theatre show wasn't as interesting as Caora thought it would be. It started off well, with the teddy doing a flip and the robot girls and the bright lights and flashy colours... But it degenerated into a question and answers session. Booooring! C'mon, if he was in the theatre, he wanted to see something cool and epic and interesting! Not some teddy prattling exposition at them! For all the pomp and glamour and ceremony, it was quite boring and he found his mind wandering. By the time the handbooks were being given out, he was in a world of his own.

Maybe not all his dogs were barking, but he wasn't stupid. He had noticed that the robots had a very adverse reaction to the word Hope. Maybe they were allergic to it? Oh, don't be silly. Robots can't be allergic. Besides, how can you be allergic to hope?
Still, it was interesting. Who was this Hope person and why were they so dangerous? He would need to meet her and find out...

Ah, but that could wait for tomorrow! For tonight, we rest in the land of dreams!

The Trap's room was pleasant enough. On the walls hung several strange and colourful paintings. There was a bookshelf by the wall and several stuffed teddies were also kicking about, each one with the same colour scheme as that Dr Monokuma. At least he wouldn't be lonely at night, he smiled as he picked up one of the teddies. Not wanting them to be on their own, he gathered them all up and sat them next to each other. There, now they could all talk to each other.
"Just try not to be too loud, kay? Others are trying to sleep."

But the best part of the room? That was who was waiting for him on the end of his bed.
"FANG! he chirruped with joy, sweeping the toy into his arms. "How long have you been waiting!? Oh gosh, I didn't realise they got you too!"

Cuddling his teddy-sheep, Caora clambered into the bed. Fang was an old, dear friend of his. His best friend, even. Whenever he felt sad or had a secret, Fang always listened to him. He never judged him, he never gave his secrets away and he always made him feel better. Fang had been a major part of Caora's life and to have him with him, during a time such as this? It made him feel so much better.

"You are not going to BELIEVE what happened to me today..."

---

Evening passed and morning came - that was the first night. A rather energised Caora pounced out of bed, feeling refreshed and ready to face the world! No limits! No fear! No annoying nurses and doctors telling him to take his medicine! He was going to be his own man!

But first, the shower. Nothing worse than walking about all stinky and yucky.

After getting all hot and steamy, the boy let himself drip dry as he chose his clothes. This was a super important part of his day, after all and it couldn't be rushed. He needed something bright, something sexy, something that said "I'm ready to face whatever comes at me!" He didn't want to seem weak in front of his new friends!

How about... ah, perfect! That little blue skater dress!
It caught the eye, but it wasn't too garish. It was short enough to say "I'm confident with myself" but long enough to say "I have boundaries and I won't let you violate them!"...

... is what he would have thought, if he had any kind of fashion acumen. His actual thought process was more like "I look cute in this". And to be fair, he did.

Hmm... Now what? Maybe he had time to read a book before breakfast! That's how the nurse did it anyway. So he bounced over to the bookshelf, skimming it for nice, light reads. The shelves were packed with books like The Tiger who Came to Tea and Green Eggs and Ham. Children's classics, with colorful pictures and simple language. Whoever put them here must have thought he was daft!

There was one title that stuck out, though. It was called Untethered and it was by far the thickest book on the shelf. Curious, he thought. Why would someone put this here? It wasn't just a coincidence, was it? I mean, it couldn't been or it could be someone posting a clue.

GASP! A clue! Which meant... He had a mystery! A mystery to be solved by him, Detective Caora and his trusty sidekick, Doctor Fang! Together, they would solve the Mystery of the Mysteriously Mysterious Book! Surely somebody had a reason for it? And he was gonna find out!

With a cry of "SomeBODY ONCE TOLD ME", Caora punted his door and tried to skip down the hall. But the door didn't open that way, so when that failed he just opened it like a normal human being.

Now what would a detective do in his situation..? He would look for witnesses first. Since the scene was his room, then the witnesses would be the people next door.
The first door he knocked on was the one opposite him. He didn't know who it belonged to - he hadn't really been paying attention. Sadly, whoever owned the room wasn't in, so he couldn't question them just yet.
He then went to the doornnext to his at the end of the hallway. He knocked on it politely and waited for an answer. When none were forthcoming, he knocked harder and shouted "He-hello? Is someone in there!?". If no one responded, he could head to the break room and get some food. He just had to make sure...

@Vocab

While Mason was devouring the sandwich in an oddly sensual and vicious manner a voice spoke up, which brought the coffee addict back to reality with a startling halt. And it was a pun on top of it all. Mason turned his head towards the sound of the voice and he looked at her while he finished the sandwich in a more civilized manner and made a loud audible gulp as the last bite went down his throat. Mason stared at her for a moment with a blush creeping up on his cheeks and ears until he suddenly said, "That joke fell flat." Mason punned back to Krista subtly. God, he must be out of it to make that pun.

But Thankfully neither of them had time to process their punning as Mary and Mondatta came into the break room with a few others. After a rather short but much needed speech, Mary and Mondatta give out items to Shona and Kara respectively. But even with the speech and the hopes for cooperation, Mason still had doubts about the others, with a few exceptions, Mondatta, Shona, and Aleecia so far, Mondatta since he seems like the kind of person who never kill even in self defense, Shona because of her knightly personality and killing an innocent would go with everything she stands for, Aleecia due to her blindness, blind people make bad killers if Mason had to guess. But everybody else was a danger, the one that put him on edge most is Davis, he seems to have too much of an ego to go quietly accept his fate or work with others.

Mason finally decided to talk when there was a pause in the conversation, "I wish it was that simple Mondatta sir, but there's too much at risk to blindly trust each other... It'll only take one person to take advantage of that trust and we have a dead body and a Blackened." Mason spoke honestly but he made sure not to sound harsh as he did so. "I suggest we make safety rules of our own, like going anywhere in this place in groups of three or more, the same deal with how many people can be in a single room at a time, let's be honest if we leave two people alone there's always a danger of one of them killing the other while everybody else isn't looking at them, and we should have a meeting time each day so we can discuss any clues we found and just generally not wandering around in secret killing each other." Mason rambled his ideas. Normally Mason's isn't one for plans but this whole thing wasn't normal so during extraordinary events one would have to do extraordinary things to survive.

After what passed for a good night's sleep, Quill awoke to find herself still in her designated room. Part of her wished that she would wake up back in the examination room before all of this happened, but it seemed she was now stuck in this place. Her thoughts raced around in her head. What were the others doing? Were there plots in the works? What about the outside world? Surely no one in this place was willing to kill each other. She had to think that killing another person wouldn't be a simple task and if you had multiple others with you, getting away with it would be hard too.

That's what the Dr. wanted, though, wasn't it? He wanted them to kill each other and attempt to hide it. If they managed to do so, the lot of them would be killed off. If they didn't, it's just one more body in the mix and they could keep living this nightmare. She had to give whoever was in charge of this credit, it was sick and twisted in every sense.

She decided that if she was going to live here, she may as well make the best of it. She went to her wardrobe and picked out one of the better looking outfits. After she got ready, did her hair and make-up, she proceeded outside. As she exited, she noticed Caora. The little guy kind of grew on her, especially during their first interaction when he proclaimed she was not, in fact, made out of plastic. She smiled at the boy as he knocked on a door, "What are you doing, honey? I think the others are heading to the Break room. We should go with them," she said as she took notice of the group heading in that direction. She opened her E-handbook and took note of the Break room. She could do well with some food in her, so she followed the others.

She entered and bid hello to everyone before she got herself some food and took a seat. The Monk spoke up about handing their respective gifts over. As he said that, he gave his gift to the little Chef. And Mary gave hers to Shona. She still had the jar of Dragon Fire with her, but she didn't know who would like it. So she spoke up, "What if we don't know who would like our specific gift? No offense, but I don't know many of you and even those I recognize I haven't had the...pleasure of interacting with you. Should we perhaps get to know one another first? If anything, it would solidify our relationship, as you brought up, and maybe we can work together better." She posed the question to everyone in the room. She didn't mention her reservations about the gifts, considering the bear mentioned how it would go. She stood up and proceeded to talk, "We should gather everyone here and do that then, before that bear interrupts us with more news or something worse."

She took note of Mason's idea as well. He had a good idea, but she was still unsure. I mean..could they REALLY kill each other?

Rika just watched as Davis snatched the sword from Felix's hands, the older guy must've lost his marbles for a minute because he started to swing the gold painted sword around as if it was an actual weapon. It wasn't hard for someone like Rika to figure out that the sword was just a fake sword painted gold, Davis, on the other hand, must've thought otherwise. The second he called Rika a "Cunt!" the mummy wanted to deliver a swift kick to his groin, but she held back feeling that the guy was probably more immature than she was, which felt strange to her.

As the Davis began appraising the sword and speaking about how great it was, Rika only half listened to him, the moments when he started thinking of things to say, Rika quietly played a tape with a calm voice announcing." It's fake." She played it back saying."It's fake." more than once to see if he could hear the cassette player over himself as he continued. Unfortunately, he didn't hear her at all almost as if she was speaking to a brick wall, it was when he thought of Shona did he notice the sword was fake.

While he was walking back to his room announcing that he wasn't hungry and going to shut himself into his room, Rika stopped herself from playing an insult towards him he didn't stop with Rika either, Davis went to his room telling Ice to use manners, of all people. As Rika rolled her eyes, Felix began introducing himself and held out his hand for a handshake Rika shook his hand with her free hand, as Felix spoke to her she simply nodded agreeing with the cartoon named free runner.

Once Aleecia showed up, Rika slowly approached Aleecia with the selfie stick, she extended the stick as far as it could go before gently grabbing one of Aleecia's wrist, she pried open the semi-blind woman's hand before placing the selfie stick into it then held up her cassette player and for once turned down the volume." Guide cane." it told her. As Felix finished reading Aleecia the rules, the mummy looked at their own card almost forgetting about it completely, Once Mary arrived once again passing by them, Rika played the same tape as when they first met." Put your shoe on your head!" The device yelled at Mary. As the streamer walked off, Rika wondered what the robot monk would be speaking to them about, as Felix stood there awkwardly, probably waiting for them to say they wanted to go, Rika put in a fresh tape." Come on fellas' Adventure awaits us!" A man's voice came from the tape."

There was a large amount of Infinites headed for the break room and that was already making Ice feel a little anxious. The Infinite Blood Donor had never really liked how crowded a hospital's halls would get from patients and nurses and the like. Knowing that the only way to escape this hell hole would be to murder someone made the poor guy suspicious of just about everyone. Davis's almost psychotic breakdown had driven him into a cold sweat, but the mummy-like boy did his best to not show how flustered he was. The only real group of people in the hall was the one he had just left, so Ice didn't have to slip by anyone until he arrived in the break room, which was exceedingly crowded. The room was a pretty good mirror image to the one he had dozed off in before ending up in the 4th elevator, bringing on bad memories all around. All of this was putting Ice in an increasingly bad mood, which was probably going to be taken out on everyone else.

He dropped the cards off at one of the random tables around, before finding a wall to lean against. He wasn't really in the mood to stand up straight, a small wave of dizziness had made him off balance. What he could really use would be a Red Faerie hard candy, but that was going to have to wait for him to get out of this place, it wasn't like there had been any in his room. Iron tablets would be the next on the list, but Ice was too lazy to go looking for those.

That's when Mondatta stood up to stand next to that little girl from before. He was the Infinite Monk so he would probably be good for bringing people together, but public speaking wasn't exactly a required course for them, right? The guy handed a book over to the younger girl, which by that psychotic bear's explanation, was supposed to be used to kill the person you gift that present to. So... He was being defiant in his own way. They were all supposed to work together and trust each other and get out of here without any casualties, but that idea seemed to have a pretty low success rate.

Mason, the Infinite Coffee Maker, added his own ideas too. While the rules he came up with would probably help in this situation, he was coming up with plans that had a lot of loopholes. Isaiah used his foot to propel himself away from the wall and spoke from the midst of the crowd, "Tin man, we can't exactly 'frolic in the fields of friendship' as we are now, even if you're ready to be a martyr for some great cause as escaping. The idea that no one is going to take advantage of the rules and the 'gifts' that furry basket case is null with us being cooped up here. Hell! I just saw that Davis guy swinging around some glittery gold fake sword jobbie like he was ready to take that mummy girl down to death valley."

Arg! The pain in his head was getting worse and worse, if he hadn't already been caged into a fake hospital, he'd be demanding for some kind of medical checkup. "And you, Mr. Pretty Boy, just because we may go in groups of three, doesn't mean a blackened wouldn't go off killing two victims. Since we don't know the amount of people that could be killed at one time, I'd say it wouldn't even be a hundred percent safe if we did every little thing together, and I'd hate to have company in the bathroom, thanks."

Ice grabbed onto the table next to him, probably frazzling whoever was in the seat closest to him, his breathing had grown irregular and there might be the chance of his passing out, but that wasn't stopping him. "We can set up the break room as headquarters and have a role call for at least the mornings. I don't want to see some corpse because of that 9th rule 'night of carnage' so staying in our rooms at night would be a good plan too. Because this stupid scrub went and grabbed most of us from a hospital -for f'ing sakes- there should be someone that's good at taking care of others to be appointed as a nurse of some kind, no one wants to be taken care of by one of those carnage sisters. Besides that, let Mr. Miyagi here, that White Knight, or whoever else run these 'meetings' you were talking about. And with that, I'll check out now..." Ice's eyes swiveled closed and he started falling face first to the ground.

---

Someone had come from around the corner, the one she had turned towards and stopped walking. He gave a quick word to the other male and Rika, but Aleecia couldn't recognize the voice. Then again, since she hadn't met personally all the different Infinites, it wasn't that surprising. That was when he spoke to her, telling of some kind of kind poem that was for trying to cheer her up.

Oh, this must have been the Infinite Poet. Aleecia tried to remember his name and thought of the words that horrible bear had spoken over the video or whatever he had played when they had arrived:

“Daimyon Londe, is not a blond, but he's an Infinite poet.

Some would say, that when he'd play, you were sure to know it.

His words are smooth, and tend to soothe, with every spoken letter.

Of course I see, and say with glee, that I am surely better.”

It seemed what the bear had said rang true, his words did seem to be made to soothe her. It was nice of him to speak that her soul could see and help people, even though her eyes could do nothing of the sort. Aleecia gave a happy smile while listening and wondered just what color was his hair? "Thank you Mr. Londe!" She smiled, hearing his steps walk away from her.

Rika was the next to come up to the girl, and gently helped her grasp something knew in her hand. It was made of some kind of plastic and as she felt the way down, she stopped herself, feeling that some of it was broken and it would probably be sharp. She turned her head up to Rika with a confused expression. The girl was giving her some kind of stick to use as a walking stick, that was really nice of her! The girl gave a smile to the other and offered another thanks. Aleecia would have to do something to make sure the cane wasn't so jagged at the end, maybe she could find some hard surface to grind it down.

The other man had grabbed something out of his pocket and was now speaking to her. She dutifully slipped the cane down so that it was leaning against her leg and listened. While the different uses for the E-Handbook seemed useful, it didn't seem like many would apply to the girl, so she focused on the rules instead. The man's voice trailed off, before picking up on pep, it seemed he was forcing himself to create this fake feeling and drove Aleecia's eyebrows to knit together in empathy.

As the rules were read to her, she started to understand the basics. Rules one through four made sense, though Aleecia didn't see the need for five quite yet. Seven made Aleecia's head hurt, so she glossed over it. Rule eight made the girl sigh with relief, her heart still hammering. Rule Nine made her heart rate go even higher and now she was the one leaning against the new guide stick of hers.

She would get to the introductions in a second, but... "W-Why would they have a rule like that last one? Can't they let us sleep in peace?" She was shaking a little bit, before Aleecia decided not to dwell on it.

"Oh um... The Infinite Runner... Right? Hello, I'm Aleecia Marvic, Infinite Dice Master. My Infinite doesn't really do much in daily life and I lack quite a bit in the sight department, let's be friends, 'kay?" The message about everyone meeting in the break room was loud and clear, though the sudden yelling from the cassette tape made Aleecia jump. With a determined nod, she placed her cane out in front of her, "Okay, let's go!"

@katakon@Ariamis@Spriggs27@Mateotis

Calvin stood in the breakroom, observing people as they entered. Mondatta had some sort of meeting planned, and although he wasn’t sure what the subject of it would be, he was glad for the opportunity to convene with everyone after hearing all of the rules. It was amazing how much more he cared about people when he was nervous that they might kill him.

As people entered the break room, to eat or solely to hear what Mondatta had to say, Calvin munched on his toast, trying to keep track. There were too many god-damned people with too many god-damned personality ticks and quirks for Calvin to keep up. He was glad when Mondatta finally began, but it was shorter than he had thought. He gave his gift, and for a moment, the room was silent. Then, Mary, the Infinite Streamer handed Shona a bottle of alcohol. It was a surprisingly valuable gift, given the lack of alcohol in the break room, something Calvin had noticed quite quickly. Shona was quick to extend an invitation to partake, and Calvin nodded, making sure he made direct eye contact with Shona. It’d be a great excuse to catch up with the one infinite he had thought well of before he had ended up here.

Mason spoke up. "I suggest we make safety rules of our own, like going anywhere in this place in groups of three or more, the same deal with how many people can be in a single room at a time, let's be honest if we leave two people alone there's always a danger of one of them killing the other while everybody else isn't looking at them, and we should have a meeting time each day so we can discuss any clues we found and just generally not wandering around in secret killing each other." It was a somewhat sensible idea, but Calvin knew already that he would be breaking the rules. He put his hand into his pocket, reassuring himself of the existence of Alexandria’s handbook. Calvin spoke up.

“I’m down for meetings. It’s a solid idea. But I’m not being chaperoned by a bunch of crazy fuckers with a penchant for murder.” Although he was being quite vocal, if the group decided to put it in place, he would try his best to follow the rule, with a few exceptions.

The one person who seemed to be in line with Calvin was Ice, who opposed almost everything said. He was standing next to Calvin, prattling off. Krista, the infinite who-the-fuck-knew began to speak. "We're sharp enough not to kill just because some stuffed animal says so, right? We could just ignore the bear and dolls until we figure out a way to get outta here!" Calvin rolled his eyes.

“Do you honestly believe that? You and I, we know nothing about these people, besides what some of us saw on the news, but that hardly counts for anything. Now, we’re all trapped here, with families and friends on the outside.” He wasn’t angry, and was legitimately concerned that the group was feeling too comfortable. “People have killed for less!” He looked around the room, pleading for someone to acknowledge the danger they were in. He looked at Quill, who had mentioned that she wasn't familiar with everyone in the room. "Exactly! I can think that you are all decent people, but I have nothing to base that on!"

“I doubt there’s a way out. It would be an awful lot of work put into this place for us to have a backdoor exit. Unless…” His mind went to the keycard. Was it a chance to escape? If so, were there rules surrounding that, too? He bit his lip.

It was shortly after that Ice collapsed. He had been gripping the table quite hard for a few moments, but Calvin hadn’t expected him to fall like he did. Immediately, Krista was there, and she made- a pun. A god damned pun. She was trying to help him up, and Calvin popped a knee beside the two.

“Jesus dude, is this normal?” He would have been lying if he said he didn’t find a small spark of joy in seeing Ice fall, but to see him stuck there was pitiable. “So uh, this isn’t ideal but I think I have your gift? And I figure, since we already fucking hate each other all the crap Killgood said about befriending our victims is null and void.” He pulled out a red faerie candy. “You know these things, right? My sister took like, eight last time we were there. I’ve got a jar of them in my room, you can come take ‘em whenever.”

He was suddenly aware of everyone else in the room. He stood up, and turned away, but looked over his shoulder. “Straight up, they might be poison, but I mean, I’ve done my part. Your call.” He looked to everyone else, eager to continue.

@AimeChambers @Aewin @Katakon @FantasyChic

To Felix’s delight, it seemed that both Rika and Aleecia wanted to go to the break room. While walking there, he kept an eye on Aleecia to see if she could traverse the halls unharmed, and would occasionally help out if allowed.

Upon arriving, Felix poked his head inside the break room to see that Mondatta had just started his speech, a very uplifting and positive one at that. He agreed that giving the gifts with hope would be a good way to spite Monokuma, as well as bonding. It also kept the possibly dangerous gifts in the open.

A few loud claps echoed through the room when Mondatta finished talking, Felix was applauding Mondatta’s speech with a big smile. Felix was disappointed when Mason spoke up. It was a pity that Mason could not trust everyone, but maybe, if we agreed to his terms, then after a while he could gain confidence in the rest of us. Deep inside however, Felix did not trust the infinites either, not yet anyway.

Felix chuckled as Quill spoke of the gifts and their unknown recipients, lucky for him; he already gave his gift away, hopefully to the right person. Quill had a good idea though, and Felix was getting quite excited to meet all of the infinites, maybe even form a rag-tag team of sorts.

“Great idea! Let’s have a meet-up right here. We all need breakfast anyway.” Felix’s praise might have gone unnoticed because Ice joined the gloomy squad, basically spouting out the same negativity that Mason just made us endure. Ice did add to Mason's idea, which somewhat made his pessimism bearable. The ranting must have gotten to Ice’s head though, since he collapsed on the ground, making Felix flinch in surprise.

You’d think that the infinite free-runner could be on top of Ice faster than anyone, but apparently not. The violin girl already sat at ice’s side together with that smith, making inappropriate jokes. For some reason those puns cracked Felix up, and his cheeks inflated as he tried to hold in the laugh until he eventually succumbed to fun.

“Hahaha, please don’t make me laugh. This is hardly the time to make jokes hehe, what if Ice is gravely injured?” he jokingly said as he wiped a tear in the corner of his eye. He liked her already. After Felix regained his cool, he sat down above Ice’s head and softly slapped his cheek while looking him in the eyes (closed or not).

“Heeey! You in there? I can’t have you passing out on me when I’m supposed to meet ya.”

@ThatCharacter @Aewin @AimeChambers @Spriggs27 @FantasyChic @Katakon

After shoving her E-handbook in between her bandages, Rika hooked her arm around one of Aleecia's and began walking with the nearly blind woman. She held up her cassette player and played her greeting tape to the almost blind woman," Hello, my name is Rika, how are you?" A soft woman's voice spoke." I am fine, thank you for sharing." It responded before getting a real answer from Aleecia.

As the trio of moved to the break room to listen to the robot man's speech, an awful smell hit Rika's nose, something that the word dislike would be too weak for her to use, it was the smell of something she really hated, coffee. Rika let out a cough into the crook of her elbow, one of the only sounds she could really make at this point and continued with Aleecia and Felix. When the trio arrived Mondatta was speaking about trust, he was showing an act of it by giving a book to the desert chief the mummy stared at the machine man and felt she should also show an act of trust, she held up her cassette player." I have no mouth, and this is how I scream." A young woman's voice spoke from the cassette player.

The mummy put in another tape, one that felt heavier than the others."The larynx is a hollow muscular organ forming an air passage to the lungs and holding the vocal cords it is also known as the voice box." An authoritative voice spoke aloud after a quick fast forward it continued." The patient here is suffering from laryngeal nerve damage, while it is not closing their airways, the injury has left the patient completely mute. I recommend teaching them to use sign language in the future."

After letting them listen to the tape, she plucked it from the cassette player and played another one." I have no mouth, and this is how I speak." She repeated, then played." Trust is a two-way street, you must give some, in order to get it back." A man's voice spoke to everyone calmly from the tape. It wasn't till the player stopped when she noticed Ice collapsed onto the floor, face down she crouched down next to the bandaged guy, she first rolled him over onto his back as Krista and the coffee lover made puns about Ice hitting the floor and laughing at him."Useless." she played on her cassette player aimed at them.

Unlike everybody else, Rika quickly went into a serious mode she examined the sides of Ice's head for an injury and put the side of her head to his chest in an attempt to hear his heart beat. After quickly checking on Ice, she figured out that he was just knocked out. Soon Krisa began picking him up saying another pun Rika shook her head as she got a chair for Ice." Causes of fainting may be, seizures, heart attack, low blood sugar, drug allergy, food allergy, pregnancy, Anorexia, abnormal heart rhythms, Lyme disease, carbon monoxide poisoning, post-traumatic stress disorder, extreme fatigue, and much more." The tape ended with a list of possible reasons why Ice fainted.

After Ice was taken care of Rika's stomach rumbled loudly, she put a bandaged hand over her gut as she played a different tape." My stomach is making the rumblies, the ones that only food can satisfy." A man's voice came from the cassette player, it had a mix of sinister to the tone of it while also being playful.

_BGM
It would seem a majority of her fellow captives had the same idea has Kara. Breakfast time! Although there were few people eating some simple items, just your basic needs to get by, Mondatta had an agenda to deliver. Essentially, he made a short speech of how they should use the gifts they all got from Dr.Mono to get to know and get closer with one another, rather than drive a wedge. This was obviously an attempt to raise group morale and stop anybody from thinking about harming another.
It was so heart warming to see someone thinking positively about the situation at hand, Mondatta started his plan off by giving out his gift, to which Kara was on the receiving end.

> Mondatta handed kara a book
> Affection +1

Kara smiled sweetly at the gesture, although, looking at the book it wasn't really to her taste and was most likely intended for somebody more childish and interested in tactile textures. About to voice her opinion she was quickly cut off by the other members of the group.
Whilst at first she was really thankful it wasn't something she would normally be interested in. Attempting to reply with a thank you and small comment she was cut off by the inflood of ideas and suggestions interjected by the remaining cast.

There's no point in trusting each other

We shouldn't just get comfortable

We need our own rules!

There's probably no escape

Everyone was right in their own way if only they could reach a middle ground. Ice passed out, the poor fellow. And the bandaged person basically gave themselves a small introduction. Using a tape recorder to speak was odd but also pretty unique. Karas' understanding is that she basically can't speak for herself because of her condition which is probably also why she's more wrapped up than a Christmas present. T

Trust is a two-way street, you must give some, in order to get it back.

Kara nodded to herself, this statement was very true. It rang a bell in her heart, perhaps it was a small glimmer of hope, or perhaps it was her own naivety glimmering through. Thinking this as her chance, Kara put on a brave front and began to address everyone, she started by stepping into the middle. Uh... Um, hello everyone! My-My name is Kara! I've been quietly listening to everyone for a little while now. I think there's truth and merit into what everyone has said thus far. A little help goes a long way ya know. I'm awfully scared about this whole thing, but I've seen the kindness in a few people here. I know that we can all get along. I'm not saying we should just get comfortable and stay in this place forever, but I think we can make do for the time being. Let's all clear our heads, explore a little for today and meet back so we can exchange our findings. During her speech Kara would turn and gesture towards everyone. We haven't seen everywhere yet right? So who's to say there really isn't a super secret exit somewhere?

Kara twiddled her thumbs and looked down.
I have a pretty serious heart condition, but even I'm willing to work together with everyone. Before we do anything though, we should all have some breakfast right? Afterall, it's the most important meal of the day hehehe~!

Walking closer to Mondatta she commented her feelings on the gift to him. Thankyou for the book Mondatta, I don't really think it's the genre I'm into, but I do appreciate the sentiment.

Blocking out sounds as best as possible, Shaun contiued to read his book. He'd found a pencil inside the desk, and had proceeded to write down notes on the pages as he turned each, occassionally scraping it against the side of the desk - using it as makeshift sharpener.

Somehow, though, something managed to get through his barrier of silence. The boy was partway through a long string of code when a soft knocking sounded from outside his door. He sat for a second, placing the book to the side quietly. A second set of knocks; this time louder, with more force. Then...

"He-hello? Is someone in there!?"

Who... Was that? Shaun wasn't sure where he had heard that voice before, but it sounded familiar. They sounded feminine, and cute at that. Not that cute and feminine were his entire checklist to let someone into his room! He just.. Liked to know what he was letting in before doing so.

After a bit of thought, he stood, and made his way over to the door. He gripped the handle, and softly pulled it open - laying eyes on... Oh dear God, it was him! Flashing back to the first time he saw the trap, he began blushing ever so slightly, and attempted to bring about his composure once more.

"U-um, h-hi... Can I h-help you?" he always stuttered, but that was a tad... Much. Why was he like that? Internally, he sighed, glancing over the traps shoulder in an attempt to avoid their eyes.
"Your, um... C-Caora, right? The... Infinite Tr-Trap..?" He couldn't help but become embarrassed at saying the words. Maybe Dr Killgood could look into it...

"Ahahaaa, later, later of course! Let us engage in jolly feasting! Praise the Sun!" Mary said as she lifted her arms in a V-formation, and then bounced with the joy Shona's smile brought to her. Bringing people smiles is what Mary felt was her life's calling, ever since she was little and performed songs to her family. She realized quickly that people liked you if you kept on smiling, and to this day it was so natural that it took a big shock for her to lose her attitude, only to regain it once she felt comfortable enough. Mary was happy to find acceptance from the Infinite Knight, who seemed like an ice queen at first glance based on her hardcore roleplaying. But Mary had a talent for bringing smiles to people, and she was more than glad to have succeeded.

Mary's enthusiasm calmed down as the discussion in the break room turned into a mess of voices, especially when she saw Rika, who she grew to dislike, especially her constant tapes which made no sense; why would she put a shoe on her head when she wasn't recording? Mary decided to simply take pictures of people while they were all gathered in one place, trying to go for double selfies. Then she ended it when the bandage guy took a dive. Mary got a frown in her face; he seemed creepy at first with looking like a mummy, but his helplessness made him seem kind of cute. Mary then shook her head.
No, stop that! Don't forget about Cookie! He needs a morning hug!
Mary giggled, and then smiled towards Shona. "Aright, it's a date then! Sorry, but gotta go fast!"
With that, Mary ran off, her arms spread wide. She scoured the hallways, and once she saw Caora knocking on a door, she screamed out loud: "AAAA, COOKIEEEE!~ IIIIT'S HUGGING TIIIIME!~" Then, with hearts in her eyes, she began chasing after the poor girlyboy.

---

Mondatta stood calmly as the crowd around him responded, voices both for and against his message of peace, as he expected. One even clapped for him, a sign that he humbly nodded to; he was not a public speaker, but he knew he had to reach out to those who would be lost. He was fully aware that peace would not come so easily, for he sees many are obsessed, and obsession is restlessness. Without understanding the true nature of dukkha that is clinging to impermanent reality, these people would need to be guided, and shown the true road to moksha, liberation. That is what he truly understood was his mission as he saw the pure, hopeful smile of the young one that he would protect from despair. It would be a road paved with jagged rocks, but one he must step on to shepherd them away from corruption, as a true Bodhisattva.

He listened as Mason responded with suggesting more tighter rules, but declined to the suggestion with a slow turn of his head. "An extreme order leads to restlessness and unsatisfactory existence, and something I cannot agree to."
He responded to Quill:
"That is why it is important we overcome our differences. It does not matter what form the gift takes, for the act of giving is the true nature of the gift.". His eyelids shifted to what looked like a smile as he heard Quill continue with her words, seemingly happy with what he heard. But then they turned surprised when Ice suddenly shambled right into their midst.

The monk wondered if the man's condition worsened as he spoke, agitated. Despite his disposition though, he spoke of uniting this community with reasonable suggestions. Unfortunately, he didn't last as he fell down to the floor, followed by the people crowding around him. "He should be brought back to his room; Miss Müller, Mister Garfield, I trust him with you," he said as he placed the palms of his hands flat against each other and bowed as a sign of gratitude. Then he looked down to listen to Kara.
"You're welcome, young one," the monk responded, and crouched down to meet with her at eye level. "Young one, never lose hope, no matter what." He extended a hand to her. "Let your ray of hope shine ever bright."

Whether Kara responded to the gesture or not, Mondatta afterwards stood back up.
"I agree with Miss O'hara; we should properly search this facility. I also agree with what Mister Matthews suggested about the breakfast meetings before his untimely unconsciousness. However, while I can guide in spiritual matters, these meetings should be held by Mister Brandon, as he is far more experienced in leadership and management," he said, gesturing towards the Infinite Politician. "That reminds me, where is Mister Gallo? I don't think I have seen him this morning." Mondatta was then approached by Shona, who told him of Davis's situation. "Very well then, I'll see what I can do."

A loud knock happened upon Davis' door as Mondatta then spoke in a calm, yet firm voice: "Mister Gallo, I sense that there is something that is bothering you, and you now seek isolation. However, dhyāna, or meditation, should only be practiced by those who can make peace with their inner self, and cast away any conflict of the self. Your desire has taken the form of vibhava-tanha, or the desire to not experience the world. It is not a contest one can win on their own, even for one with the title of Infinite Conquest." He waited there, listening for a response from the haughty man.

@AimeChambers@addamas@BrokenPromise@Brithwyr@Katakon@FantasyChic@Aewin @addamas@Pudding

Surprisingly, the infinite politician had decided to stay out of matters. After he had entered the break room with the knight, he grabbed breakfast and quietly ate. Interjecting in this debate seemed nonsensical. Cyrus would rather just wait it out and size everyone up. The best way to win over your audience was by knowing your audience, and that was exactly what he was doing right now. He took a mental note of everyone’s behaviour.

He was certain that he was going to get along with the peacemaker that what Mondatta. Cyrus didn’t agree with everything, but he thought he had a good general gist of things. Mason and Ice stood out, and both had good ideas in their own right. The metalworker was a bit of a cynic, and would likely end up antagonizing him a good bit he’d reckon. On the other hand, he had a hard time taking Krista and Felix seriously as the violinist cracked her pun. Lastly, he could appreciate Kara’s brave front with words that carried merit of their own.

Perhaps Cyrus was more at ease because he knew a little about the killing games. There was one important thing these games all had in common. When the gig was up, they all committed suicide. This means there was a way for these games to fail, and there was no reason why this one couldn’t be different. It wouldn’t be easy, and he doubted they would all survive… But there had to be a way out of here that did not involve killing each other. Maybe he should discuss with Shona if this was perhaps information in the need of sharing.

Cyrus put down his utensils as the infinite monk addressed him. He nodded and stood up from his place and walked towards the middle of the room, joining Kara and Mondatta. He offered the young girl a friendly smile. ”Well spoken.” He then directed his attention at the rest of the crowd. Though some had already left, he figured throwing his own words into the mix might add some value now.

”Meetings will commence after the morning announcement. And I would like to implore the culinary talented to aid making the start of our days an enjoyable one.” He looked at Kara and Mason as he said this. ”Our situation is precarious, and therefore I must agree with the idea that trust and cooperation will bring us further. However, I believe doubt will be healthy to our survival as well, just do not distrust. A doubtful man watches his back, a distrustful one does things he regrets…” He paused for a little, hoping this message would sink in. ”Trust, doubt, do not distrust. Let us now work together to find a solution to our predicament that is most beneficial to all of us. That is all. While his words had not brought any new ideas. He figured the ones they had right now would suffice. He would rather use his time to inspire hope, and create a mindset that may aid in the survival of at least one person.

After his short speech, he approached Calvin and held out the orichalcum ingot towards him. ”I think this one was meant for you. I give it to you with the same message, though whether or not you decide to take it to heart is up to you.”

The woman suddenly had an arm linked with the other girl Rika's and she was pulled along. After taking a second to process this, she smiled and secured one arm to go along with Rika's while the other held the makeshift cane. Aleecia had heard her name somewhere before since they had come into the same room during a few encounters, but this was the first time she had actually been formally introduced to the girl that spoke with cassette tapes. "U-Um-" She was about to say a reply back, when the cassette seemed to reply for here. She sighed a little, finding it a little funny, and decided to just let the other girl pull her along.

It seemed that they were in the break room where everyone had gathered. Aleecia listened as they came in, a few seconds after the Infinite Monk had begun talking. Mondatta spoke that giving the gifts to the expected receiver did not mean any ill intention and Aleecia smiled at that. Apparently, he had given the gift to someone else.

The scent of food and coffee was in the air, and Aleecia scrunched her eyebrows as she became worried about the girl next to her. So far, she had noticed that Rika only used cassette tapes to speak for her and hadn't spoken with her voice. Since Aleecia couldn't see, she didn't know that the girl's mouth was covered in the first place, so she automatically thought something must be wrong with her vocal cords to cause her to be a mute. While the voices put the girl a little on edge, she wasn't about to put that as a barrier between her friendship with the other girl.

Another guy started talking about how they couldn't 'blindly trust each other' and Aleecia shivered a little. The thoughts that had been in her mind last night enveloped her as she thought about the situation she was in. Soon, Aleecia was holding on to Rika's elbow tighter, her cane knocking against the ground. While the man that smelled of coffee was talking about setting rules and things to help them all out, his original topic was making the mood of the room tense.

Many people started talking after that. Some boy, the one Ice had been fighting with earlier gave some of his ideas with a lot of swears, another girl started raising her opinion and trying to create more peace, before Ice himself started going on a long rant. His voice was coarse and sounded like it was in pain, while by the end of his words, he talked about having people in charge of nursing and the like, which Aleecia thought was actually a good idea.

And then there was a loud thud. Rika slipped away from her and went to go investigate, speaking off the causes of fainting, while a bunch of other people talked over one another, some even making puns. Aleecia stayed where she was, not wanting to get in anyone's way. It was somewhat alarming that he wasn't waking up though.

A younger girl's voice came through the crowd and Aleecia turned towards it. She sounded a little scared, but was still doing her very best to get through her speech. She spoke of kindness and working together, even though she was suffering from a serious heart condition. Aleecia started walking over before she realized, knocking the cane back and forth so she wouldn't run into anyone. When Aleecia could tell she was at least facing the right direction in front of the smaller girl, she got down on her knees next to Mondatta. "Let's all get through this together, 'kay?"

While the woman was blind, she really did love the sort of things like holding hands and hugging. But her lack of sight led her to be scared to initiate that kind of contact. Aleecia couldn't pick up the cues or if they didn't like to be hugged or anything. The worst of it was that she could outright try to hug a person from the wrong direction. She settled for patting the girl on the head, reaching up really high above the girl before softly bringing her hand down and ruffling the girl's hair.

@Spriggs27@Pudding@Ariamis