---

Zachary was made to sit with a simple order and an even simpler push towards the seat that Isaiah had placed behind him. His complete inability right now to resist even if he had desperately wanted to, had reminded him of that anime Broken loves about the yasha of inu the serious injury he suffered. His knees felt so terribly weak, and his arms felt of spaghetti. Yeah, he really wasn't fit enough to be out and about like he was now, but Zach wasn't a smart man.

"Uh?" Ice apparently knew not of giving someone space, as he invaded Zach's rather quickly. "...You want me to see a duck?" Given the context of the statement, Zachary could only assume the lingo was something weird people used to refer to a medical professional, so his delivery of that line wasn't too serious. Still, he had not heard it before and was completely confident that's what it was, but Ackerson really wanted to believe that Ice had not gone off the deep end and recommended he visit a duck for help. Otherwise... well, it'd probably be best if Zach left right now. Instead, he chose to remain very still while Ice checked him, either due to a fear of upsetting the man or because it really was that hard to move in his weakened state.

He felt relatively uncomfortable with all of this. Zachary was a man who was never found of physical contact or being too close to strangers. He also didn't exactly have a good childhood so doting parents were never a thing. He was unable to discern if Ice was doing this because he was worried or simply because a dead Zach would be a nuisance. He'd have rubbed the back of his neck if he could before he spoke. "Do forgive me for being like this," he apologized. In a whisper almost too low for Ice himself to hear, he added, "... I really don't want to risk falling asleep right now."

As if he hadn't said it, Zachary strained a smile to Alice while he held the ice that Ice had given him on his head. "See, that's more normal. But peanut butter?" he looked to what Alice had set beside the pancakes. "I really was only curious about what other people think, but if there's some here maybe I'll..." he stopped right there. If he thought that way, then the enemy would win. He wouldn't want to fall for some trap THAT guy laid out for him. "On second thought, I'd be better off not trying it."

It was around this time that Alice had begun speaking to Ice, and that someone new entered the area. Did they introduce a new Infinite while he was unconscious? Who the fuck was this? "Oh, hello ne---" he'd been cut off by her immediate choking upon noticing him. Why did she think he was dead? Did she, wait, that voice sounded vaguely familiar.

Wait, that was a mask and not her face!?

"Mercy has a face? What the shit." he was visibly stunned at the very idea and accidentally said this aloud. It wasn't his fault though. The world was a scary place. Of course, he didn't get too much time to reel in horror at the revelation. Much like Ice, she took to examining and his injuries. For some reason, all these people inspecting him was starting to make him feel embarrassed. Quite obviously, he hadn't taken a shower and now people were all close and getting much too friendly for his taste. Would they give him cruel nicknames, now?

...I'd like to imagine my fellow Infinites are more mature than that.

A small flashback to the trial he'd participated in immediately dashed those hopes, however. He recalled when Jezebel got excited during the trial, particularly towards Krista. Things were said. Bad things. Things, Zach thought, that weren't necessary. And Zachary felt Jezebel was a more mature person than he. He thought the world of his first friend. So if SHE would call names... then that meant...

The mental image Zachary had of himself looked exactly like Edvard Munch's famous painting.

Zachary fabricated a smile and did not move a muscle while Mercy examined him, even more so than Ice. Things would come to pass and he would not be called anything weird. Ideally. When she finished, she suggested he go get some rest, much like Ice. "...Ahaha." Zach laughed nervously in response to Mercy's prodding. "A smart person would rest, wouldn't they?"

Zachary turned back to the pancakes once people had started giving him some space. He was blown away. Perhaps it was just because he was really friggin hungry, but these pancakes looked like little pieces of heaven. He wasted no time in digging in, forgetting the peanut butter was even there. Hell, he wasn't even sure if there was syrup or not. There was a fork there, of course, but it should be noted that he might not even have noticed if it weren't. "Zachary ate the pancakes" would be a boring, improper term to describe what transpired. It was more like "Zachary genocided the pancakes and their remains, leaving nothing left for future civilizations to even study and realize that they existed. They were truly gone from this world." would fit a lot better.

Food in the stomach was good.

"...I might be convinced there's more to cooking than instant noodles now." he smiled towards the chef. "Thank you for those. Really. They hit the spot."

But then it was that Noel Hawthorne, the Infinite Reporter appeared. Zachary felt uncomfortable. There was not the distraction of an impending fight this time. Doubtful that the reporter herself noticed just how different it was, but had anybody else who was speaking to him before been paying attention, Zachary took a softer, more submissive tone as he spoke. "Yeah, I'm not done just yet." he gave a soft laugh as he listened to her story. "I don't think you've told me very much at all, honestly. But that sounds... interesting."

Zach had a few seconds to think as Noel shifter her attention to Ice. Things had become a lot more stressful than they already were. Zachary pondered the thought of getting up and leaving but realized that he was much too weak to do so without having someone assist him. At least, it would require him to hug walls and take forever. And it wasn't like he had anything against Noel herself, it was just...

Noel returned to speaking to him, asking him a question he hadn't really thought of the answer for just yet. But that's because it was unnecessary. He knew what was going to happen. Up until now, he'd been attempting to avoid eye contact with her where possible. But after she asked that question, he focused his eye on her, lost any form of body language that would suggest nervousness, and spoke. "I'll need to get out of here and recover," he explained. He spoke in a strong, willful tone. "And then I'll train and it'll simply be as it was. A single eye is just a small hurdle." he stated this so matter-of-factly that one would be forgiven if they compared it to him reading a weather forecast. It didn't even seem like arrogance. But just as swiftly as that confidence came, it disappeared and was replaced with a streak of crimson across his face.

How embarrassing!

After many situations where he normally would've, Zachary finally rubbed the back of his neck. His tone softened, just like before. Speaking about his archery really was weird with him. "Err, at the very least, I don't intend on letting these damned robots rob me of something like that."

Lucy hadn't seen Thomas since last night. She was curious what he was talking to Alice Parker about. But the robot seemed pretty vague on the subject. “Just questions” was the robot's response. Lucy wasn't really in a position to pressure the robot, and doubted it would get her anywhere anyway. It was probably best to stay on her good side, as the arsenal of weapons she had command over was terrifying. Some of Adar's remains were still here, where any signs of a battle had been cleaned up elsewhere. To Lucy, this meant that even the other carnage sisters probably didn't feel safe coming in here and cleaning up. It was possible that Alice Parker didn't count as a nurse, and was actually above the rules of the killing game. This technically meant she could kill Lucy without any repercussions, but Lucy wasn't afraid of her. She felt safer here than anywhere else. And there was so much to read! She turned the page on a book detailing the inner workings of A.I.



As time passed, so did Thomas; through the hallways, that is. He had made a brief stop at the kitchen to replace the knife he was using to cut the papers, but after that, he was just wandering. The layout of the hospital had grown more familiar to him, which meant that he no longer had to rely on his handbook to navigate — which was inevitable, he had not reclaimed his handbook from when Lucy had thrown it last night. In fact, how did Thomas know last night that the other Infinites were dead without it? _{He was very sleep deprived and had forgotten that at the end of last night he had picked it up which meant that his search would never result in fruition as his handbook was in his room while he was searching for it in the greater Axis Mundi..}

The only way he would be able to reclaim his handbook would be to find it, but he was having trouble remembering where exactly it was that it had been thrown. The first place he would have to check would be the study, which is where he had spent the greater portion of the night before. He kept an eye out for the infinites he had wanted to meet with today, but had only seen the small group forming in the dining hall on his way out of the kitchen. When he approached the study, he entertained the thought of speaking the the robot who resided within once again, but decided against it as a waste of time.

As fate would have it, he saw Lucy reading a book when he entered the study. He furrowed his brow as he looked at her, and thoughts of certain manners taught came back to him. Although Thomas has typically all but ignored social customs, he felt uncomfortable interrupting someone who was reading a book. So instead, he waited by the entrance watching Lucy until she noticed him.

The wait was not very long. The study was quiet enough that you could hear a pin drop, or a small bio mechanic walk into the room. Lucy's expression became jovial once she saw Thomas. ”Ah, I see you've come looking for me! I knew you couldn't stay away, fwahwahwahwa!” She flipped the book shut and stood up. She winced only slightly. ”I um, still can't move very fast it seems.” She looked around the room once before placing her hands together. Her expression changed yet again, this time to one more sheepish. ”Um, it's just you right?”

”You’re feeling awfully blithe, especially after last night.” Thomas suggested, referring to her apparent amiability. “The room is ours, however, privacy is scarce when there’s always someone watching.” Thomas replied, diverting his view to the nearest security camera. He was not sure why Lucy would care — truthfully, Thomas’s greater appreciation of the human body had led to a lesser appreciation any personal privacy — but surely Lucy was not prude enough to care whether someone else sees her injuries.

”I um, I'm trying not to think about last night too much. That's kind of what the books are for.” Lucy walked towards Thomas, still cautiously looking around as she approached. “A-anyway, some of the bullets hit my torso. So just, um...” She swiftly unbuttoned her top and cast them off one layer at a time. Lucy stopped when she got off her black tank. She was wearing a black bikini top under everything. “I-it's not indecent, because it's swimwear instead of underwear okay? J-just focus on the wounds.” She was noticeably blushing.

”You mentioned last night that you’ve only suffered scrapes and bruises?” Thomas inquired, more a statement than a question though. Having seen certain features countless times, be it vitruvian models, cadavers, or clients, Thomas was not the least bit taken aback by Lucy’s new apparel. It probably would’ve been fine if she kept her shirt on, but it did remove a slight hindrance to his work. Either way, Thomas himself was reverent of any patients request and kept his eyes on Lucy’s arm.

Thomas didn’t really wait for Lucy to respond; he stepped closer to Lucy, shifting to her side so he was facing her arm. He took a time to assess her degree of injury, and was intrigued slightly by how relatively unscathed she was. It was almost as if Adar was using rubber bullets, where Thomas expected puncture he saw only scrapes and bruises. She would have to do as he had suggested for Felix; Lucy would need to get non-human ice, bandages to compress the arm, and painkillers only if the pain was unmanageable. To deal with the scrapes however, Thomas was available with a more specialized approach. Although Thomas would never touch hydrogen peroxide when dealing with human injury, that was when he was working with Initiative funding. Thomas gauged that the relative benefit of sealing the cuts from infection with a hydrogen peroxide and bacitracin zinc mixture would result in the least chance of infection at the site of the wound. After he was finished assessing Lucy, he’d have bring her to the pharmacy to apply such a concoction.

Then, Thomas had to look at Lucy’s torso. Lucy’s arm was in the way of her side, and instead of asking her to move it, Thomas reached out to grab Lucy’s forearm and push it up so he could see her lateral torso.

Lucy had put some butterflies on the one wound that managed to break her skin. But it was mostly bruises, and none of Lucy's bones were broken. Aside from the one wound she decided to try treating herself, her side didn't look any worse than her arm did. ”I-is it bad?”



The door to the study opened again. This time, Jezebel waked in. She was wearing a smile, but upon seeing Lucy with her shirt off, and Thomas closely inspecting her, she raised one of her eyebrows. “Ahhh... Liiiiike?”

”This is a medical examination!” Lucy blurted out.

”No, it’s not bad. You’re lucky that there’s no permanent damage, but you’ll ha-” Thomas began to drone about the procedure for Lucy’s treatment, but was interrupted by the exchange between Jezebel and Lucy. He recognized how this might look, but he wasn’t sure how to diffuse this situation.

”She’s correct; This is what I’m typically paid to do.” Thomas said, referencing Lucy’s previous statement. He quickly stepped between Lucy and Jezebel, and although his head was only about as high as Lucy’s shoulder line, he was blocking Jezebel from seeing most of her exposed torso. ”Infinite Trickster, please look away for a moment. License wise, I’m not a physician, and I am not held to their standards. However, I was requested to keep this room to the two of us while doing the examination.

Lucy chuckled nervously. ”She's alright Thomas. I forgot that I asked her to come here. She's going to teach me, the greatest disciple to ever live, how to do tricks.” She fret her brow before looking back at Jezebel. ”But you could have knocked!”

Jezebel's grin slowly returned. “You guys are total super cuties.” The clown looked away from them and proceeded to sit down at a table with her back turned. “So little baldwin, speaking of examinations... I'm sure you know all the grody details about last night already. What do you think about the other infinites?”

Thomas looked at Jezebel suspiciously, but stepped out of the way. ”Fascinating, that you would be interested in the opinion of someone like me.” Thomas remarked, but he was compliant. Everyone enjoyed sharing an opinion, and Thomas was no exception. ”Last night was a disaster. The initiative lost two infinite’s, one with a talent that was of utmost usefulness. Presumably, others were injured, but I have not yet gotten an opportunity to assess the numbers.” Thomas recited, stating some facts about last night as a foundation for what he would say next.

A thoughtful look overcame Thomas face. ”Most of them are far beyond ignorant. They’re ignorant to the point of delusion, living in a world where reality is just a stencil shaded in with fantasy. Last night, one of them might as well have taken a gun and shot Aleecia and Rika both dead for all the good they did. For this, they’re more than just ignorant. I attribute these infinites, in their delusion, to animals sitting in a slaughterhouse, waiting for the next time one of them are struck down so they can act like this was an unexpected outcome.” Thomas said, somewhat aggressively. ”Of course, now that I’ve told you what I think, It’d only be fair if you did the same. he added.

Jezebel nodded. “I totally agree with your assessment.” The clown looked over her shoulder at Thomas. “They're far too idealistic. Like oh my god, we're going to throw everything we've got at killer robots so that Cyrus can beat his meat to some blond bimbo? Gag me with a spoon! Grody to the max!”

”Krista's actually not that big up top.” Lucy blurted out.

“Cyrus is so not fit to be a leader. But all the other noids insist on looking up to him.” Jezebel turned around in her chair to face Thomas. “No one is capable of independent thought. Some of them even looked up to faith for tactic advice! You know? The girl who believes she's a goddess? Why would anyone follow her lead?” Every word out of Jezebel came from smiling lips. Like she was recalling a joke. “What do you think Lucy? You're part of this too.”

”Wha!” Lucy cleared her throat. ”Well, I mostly stayed out of it because it seemed like there were enough people dealing with the problem.” She grinned. ”And I figured as one of the more important infinites, I was simply too much to risk on a rescue mission.” Lucy flicked her eyes closed. ”But if everyone is so crazy that they're willing to dance like puppets in front of murderous robots, I think it was good that I didn't assist with their plan.” Her eyes opened up again. ”So why are we talking about this?”

“Doy! Because we are totally the only people that realize how, like, bad things are!” Jezebel stood up. “The rest of the infinites are going to form their own click and continue to act like dickweeds. My proposition is that we form our own click where we discuss things rationally. We aren't sheep that will blindly follow Cyrus, Faith, or carnage sisters where they want to go.”

Thomas leaned back into one of the seats near Jezebel while she spoke, pulling his left knee up to his chest while leaving the other one off the chair, both hands on his elevated leg. While Jezebel and Lucy spoke, he stared down at his leg and nodded whenever Jezebel brought up another point. Finally, when Jezebel laid out her plan he looked up and stared Jezebel in the eyes. A smile, made unnatural by the lack of smile marks, adorned his face.

”An agreement then, a coalition ensure our collective survival.” Thomas stated, extending his hand towards Jezebel. ”I suppose someone has to make sure that there’s still Infinites for the Initiative if we get out of here.”

Jezebel took Thomas's hand and gave it a firm shake. “Zlint!” She nodded before retracting her hand. “Braden was fairly opposed to Cyrus's plan as well. I might be able to get him to join us, but I think it's going to be just us until more infinites join the game.”

”It's probably best to keep things small to start anyway.” Lucy also shook Jezebel's hand. ”You two are the only ones I feel that could help my training along. If the others are as foolish as you say they are, then there is no point in learning from any of them.” She looked between them. ”If we need to discuss something, I think this study makes a good base of operations. I'll be spending most of my time here anyway, too much to look through.”

Jezebel chuckled. “Keep your wits about you. They're totally going to plot something in the future. We'll be labeled cowards for not wanting to participate, but we're so just being smart about things.”

”Then it’s settled. The next time we come to an impasse, we can meet here.” Thomas said, standing up from his seat. ”Prodigy, I’m going to find some things to give you so you can manage disinfectant and pain. I’ll be back momentarily.” Thomas told Lucy, leaving the study.

---

Bliss hadn't slept well. With all the death, between the last case and last night, it was hard for her to greet the day. She hadn't been crying, she hadn't been having nightmares, she hadn't been feeling mush of anything. Bliss had retreated from the killing game. But because her body couldn't physically leave, she retreated inside herself. From the outside, Bliss looked empty, numb. There simply wasn't anything she could feel.

But there was something she had to do. Bliss had one obligation today. Making breakfast was just something she had decided to do on her own. There was no reason for people to expect her to do that, unless they assumed she would always be there to make meals. But Bliss made arrangements, and that was the only reason why she got out of bed. Bliss got dressed, and headed out the door. She caught Cyrus talking to a carnage sister, but couldn't see which one it was.

”As you wish, politician.”

She entered Cyrus's room before Bliss could see who it was. Not that Bliss really cared. This promise was the only reason why Bliss had chosen to leave her room right now. The nanny fidgeted with her hands a bit before folding them together, and approached Cyrus. She stood in front of him and waited for him to stop before speaking. ”Did you want to come with me?”



After Cyrus finished talking to the carnage sister, he was mildly surprised by the woman that suddenly stood in front of him. He smiled, however. He was actually rather happy to see her. He took the time to study her expression. He couldn’t imagine that she was doing well right now. It took Cyrus a moment to recall what Bliss was talking about. But then he remembered he had agreed to something before everything had gone down. “You mean to the Zen garden?” Cyrus said, assuming she was referring to that.

Bliss simply nodded and took Cyrus's hand. ”You're not hungry right? I didn't make anything today.” Cyrus followed Bliss, answering her first question with a confirmatory noise. She walked towards the garden, practically dragging Cyrus behind herself as she did so. ”I don't imagine the zen garden has any food in it. Do carrots or tomatoes grow there? I've never been there, I just heard it was a relaxing place to be.”

He picked up the pace, trying to match Bliss’s. She seemed to be a hurry. What had her so worked up? “No vegetables, as far as I know.” Cyrus answered, trying to keep the conversation going. “But it’s a calming place indeed.”

”That's good.” At the pace Bliss was moving at, it didn't take long to get to the zen garden. The nanny released Cyrus's hand and knelled before the pool of sand. She was winded, but she wasn't sweating from the brisk jog to their destination. “So what do you do in here?” She turned to the politician.

Cyrus shrugged in reply. “Just sit, relax, meditate?” He honestly wasn’t too sure how else to describe it. “I guess that’s what this place is for, just to relax.” He said as he sat down. “You can isolate yourself pretty well here from the outside world, if you feel the need to.” He explained to the Nanny.

”So you're getting in touch with yourself.” Bliss placed her hands on her knees.”What do you see when you meditate, Cyrus?”

“Well, I usually close to my eyes so… nothing I guess?” He answered honestly. “I put my focus elsewhere. My breathing, my surroundings, anywhere while trying to think of as little as possible.” He explained. It was a rather simple method of meditation. Maybe the monk could’ve taught him more. Alas, that could never be.

”Alright” Bliss closed her eyes and tried to meditate. The silence lasted about ten seconds before she spoke up again.”Do you feel responsible for what happened last night?”

The question startled Cyrus more than it should’ve. He was expecting it, right? “Of course I feel responsible.” He answered. “How could I not? Ultimately, the operation yesterday was the responsibility of everyone, but I was supposed to be the leader, you know?” He continued, his voice trembled slightly as he looked for the words. “I keep thinking I should’ve done more. Involved myself more with making sure every team had everything planned out well. There were too many problems, even if we account the surprise factors.” He said, referring to the unexpected coming of the additional sisters. “I feel like I’ve failed, you know?”

”I know, I know.” Bliss kept her eyes shut the entire time, until she decided to open them again just now.”It's not like you killed any of them on purpose. We all made our own choices. Better that you failed trying to save everyone then succeeded in killing someone, right?” She hugged herself. Bliss's eyes were noticeably wet. ”Have you ever had to do something like that?”

“Have I?” Cyrus wondered out loud. “I mean, I’ve ordered military operations before. Those weren’t always without casualties.” Cyrus said, digging into his memories. “That’s not so different. I ordered people to their deaths, even if it wasn’t my hand that killed them. Same thing here, even if I was more directly involved.” Cyrus looked at Bliss, then put a hand on her shoulder. “And left behind were the families, their hopes and dreams. And therefore, of course we grieve. This is no different.”

”I don't know Cyrus, I don't think that quite makes you a murderer.”

“It doesn’t, but you can’t help but feel responsible.”

Bliss sighed. ”I tell everyone I'm an orphan. It's partially true, I spent most of my childhood in an orphanage. But that's not the whole truth.” Bliss's fingers tightened around her shoulders. ”Do you know what stone man syndrome is?”

Cyrus listened attentively to bliss's story. “I’ve heard the name. It’s a very rare disease, isn’t it? Something about tissue being replaced with bone.” He tried to recall, but he didn’t recall more details than that. Cyrus wasn’t a doctor, after all.

”All of the soft tissue in your body, like your bones and cartilage begin to harden.” Bliss wiped one of her tears away. ”It gets more aggressive as you age, and people who have it are gradually paralyzed. They become living statues.” Bliss closed her eyes. ”They might live forty years if they catch it early enough. But what kind of life is that?” Bliss took a moment to regain as much of her composure as she could. She folded her hands and placed them in her lap. ”My parents loved Alfie, but he had Stone man Syndrome. It hadn't completely robbed him of movement. But he had difficulty eating. His thicker ribs prevented him from breathing properly. He couldn't turn his head, and it became harder and harder to get him out of bed. Eventually he couldn't walk or use the bathroom without assistance.” She placed a hand over her mouth. “He told me that he didn't want to live like this. He begged me to kill him. Our parents wouldn't let a doctor do it. He told me that if I really loved him that I'd save him. I-I didn't have access to sleeping pills, and I didn't know what type of poison I could use. So when my parents were gone, I grabbed a knife.” her hands slid over her face. ”His bones were so thick, it was so difficult to kill him.”

Cyrus had listened to Bliss silently. He softly patted her back as he noticed her increased distress. His gaze was soft, and carried no judgment. He simply listened. What else were you supposed to do when someone was pouring their heart out? “Is that why they put you in an orphanage?” He finally asked carefully as she stopped talking.

”No, I ran away from home.” Bliss folded her hands together again. ”I didn't want to face them after that. I survived on my own and eventually got picked up by an orphanage several cities away. I wanted to get as far away from there as possible.”

“I see...” Cyrus muttered. How was he supposed to respond to this? Should he try to cheer her up? Offer her some assurance? Maybe he should just be silent and let her calm down? Normally he was pretty good with people, but talks like these didn’t exactly come up a lot. “Did you… ever see them again?” He ultimately asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

”I killed their son. Why would they want to see me again?” She looked straight ahead.”W-what I was trying to say was, even though he wanted it, I'm still a murderer.” Bliss looked at Cyrus out of the corner of her eye. ”You said as much yourself, right? A single individual should never kill another. Even if he wanted it, my parents clearly didn't.” Bliss didn't wait for a response. She stood up immediately. ”I'm sorry, I don't know what's come over me. It's just with all the death, it keeps reminding me. And I don’t want to see him when I close my eyes.” She placed a hand on the side of her head. ”It's probably not going to be very easy for you to relax here anymore, I'm sorry about that.” Bliss wandered towards the door.

“Wait!” Cyrus said as she stood up. He grabbed her hand, holding her firmly to prevent her from walking away. “I also said there is room for consideration when one wishes so. You can’t quote me on one part and leave out the other.” He responded. “When we think of the victims here, or the people who died fighting yesterday. They died wanting to live.” He tugged her arm slightly. “I can’t say that what you did was either right or wrong. I don’t think I have the necessary information for that.” Cyrus told her. “I do think you need to calm down, though. And I think this is the best place for it.” He paused for a bit. “And I’m here for you.”

Bliss wiped her eyes with her arm. ”A-alright.” She sniffled. ”If it's not a problem for you, then I'll stay here.” The nanny blinked. Her face was all red. ”Thank you.”

Cyrus smiled reassuringly. He couldn’t really do anything else for her, but maybe that would be enough. Perhaps he had failed the dead, but he could still be here for the living. ”It’s not a problem at all.” he said. “Don’t mention it.”

---

It was a wonder Daimyon woke up to the morning announcement. Last night was long, arduous and tragic: one to forget. He wanted to forget. A part of him was angry at himself when he opened up his notebook and found his notes on the carnage on the most recent pages, forcibly replanting the painful memories. The sight of the dead girl—Aleecia, one of the first Infinites to arrive here. Last night, once everything had settled, he had read over his earliest notes since his imprisonment and found the names of the original batch of people in Axis Mundi. Though they were still a few, they were dropping in number. Slowly and steadily. Even those still alive had been battered after the night: Krista and Felix had been severely injured, for one. Daimyon had helped Cyrus bring the former to a place where she could recover, and though the politician had been holding himself well, he knew the events he had witnessed must have also taken their toll on him. Same for Calvin and Isaiah, who had been part of the attack group and watched one of their friends die and another get gravely wounded right in front of their eyes. The poet knew the least about Mary and Caora, but imagined that if not physically, they had been at least emotionally scarred by what had transpired.

Running these people through his mind, Daimyon felt like he was the least affected from the whole group. Though the thoughts weighed him down heavily as well, he had the...capability to distance himself from the memories. Mere minutes after he had woken up, he was ready to head out and start a new, better day. He was sure the others were not feeling this way. He felt guilty for it, too. Doing his best to shake such a sour feeling off, he checked the clock and made a small note of the time he had woken up today into a dedicated section in his notebook. This was the earliest time he had ever gotten out of bed since he had come here. It was a deliberate attempt from him to get up earlier and earlier; before, he would spend a precious few more minutes in the bed after the announcement, but today he gave himself no such luxury. He needed the extra time awake. He sat up on the side of his bed and began scouring through his notebook—his morning ritual.

Once he considered himself ready and was also done with the essential routine, he stepped out of his room. If anything, the way to the break room was muscle memory by now. He did not see anyone on his way, which was relieving. Though it might have seemed surprising of the gregarious poet, he also appreciated some solitude. The break room was quiet too when he went to grab some breakfast.

Meanwhile, Felix was still going through the rounds. After his talk with Geina, he felt an urge to brush his teeth. Of course he had already done so twice, and at that point, three times would probably not be the charm. Hearing his stomach groan for anything edible, the free-runner stuck Geina’s e-handbook in his pocket, deciding that getting some food would probably get rid of any remaining thoughts.

He was on his way to the diner when he spotted Daimyon entering the break room and he immediately thought of his discussion with Krista. Whatever plan Felix had, he wasn’t hiding it very well, as his expression was blissfully sinister.

As if announcing his own entrance, Felix threw the doors to the break room wide open, his eyes checking the room for any unwanted infinites. He energetically walked up to Daimyon, who had definitely noticed his entrance by this time, and after confirming their solitude, threw an arm over the poor poets shoulder. He was already looking back at his notebook, as he did not expect the man to make such a beeline towards him. His sudden closeness made him jolt a little.

“H-hello there, Felix.” Daimyon looked up and behind him. “Good morning.”

“Early riser huh? That’s good! Gives you more time to enjoy the day.” Felix removed his arm from Daimyon with a soft pat before walking up to the fridge, but while giving the refrigerator door a tug, his injured back stung him with a needle; If Daimyon was paying close attention, he could spot Felix’s face cringe for a millisecond. He was not, but he could have been.

“It’s good that you’re alone, I’ve got something I need your help with, something sewkwut(secret).” Before finishing his sentence, Felix had already stuffed his mouth with a sandwich.

There was something in Felix's straight-to-the-point approach to everything—be it moving or speaking—that intrigued the poet. His head perked up once again upon hearing his words, but this time he closed his notebook and paid closer attention.
“Something...secret?” he reiterated. “And what would it entail, might I ask?”

Felix strolled towards Daimyon with a sandwich in his hand.

“Before we discuss that,” he took another bite. “How’d it go last night? I know it was a total success, Davis made that pretty clear. But I’m still curious how you all did it?” Felix was obviously enthusiastic, which isn’t all that weird when you believe that you’ve won, but somewhere in his eyes, there was a slight anxiety that demanded to know if anybody got hurt.

It was a glimmer that caught Daimyon's attention too, and it brought with it a sudden, terrible realisation. The free runner had no idea of the casualties of the carnage, forcing the poet to make a hasty decision. He, like all others, deserved to know the truth, yet his was the most effervescent expression he had seen for a while now. He could not find it in himself to ruin it and cause grief to the young man.
“It was a splendid victory, indeed! The robots were vanquished, and we finally have some breathing room again,” he spoke cheerfully, putting a strained smile on his face and continuing quickly. “Now, Felix, don't leave me hanging! What is this secret you need me for?”

An almost euphoric smile crept on Felix’s face as Daimyon answered his question. There was no doubt in his mind now, everything was going to be okay, And there was nothing that could stop them from achieving their goals! After leaving Daimyon hanging for a few seconds while bathing in joy, he faced him again with that playful look.

“Well you see…….” Felix continued to explain the plan to Daimyon until the poet understood most of it. “…….And we’re counting on you for a biiig part of it! So…are you in?”

The poet listened intently. No one else was in range to hear anyway, but Felix still found it important to whisper, so he knew it was something important. His expression shifted from surprise to confusion, to finally an easy smile as he let out a chuckle.
“...why, I would be honoured! But...what part could I have in such a plan?”

“Well……..
…………...
……………
...And that’s it really! it doesn’t seem like much, but it’s going to make a woorld of difference, believe me.” Felix radiantly smiled.

“I see! Fantastic. We have to start preparing soon though, if we want to...execute it properly. Then we can go visit her.”

Daimyon stood up from the table after quickly finishing what remained of his breakfast with Felix. The objective for the day was set, and he wanted to waste no time.
“Let us go, then!”

The fire was low in the crematorium. Still burning -- Calvin made sure of that. But low.

Calvin hadn’t slept. It wasn’t shocking, and had become the norm over the past few days. As was always the case, after an hour spent staring at the ceiling, he had stood up and walked to his forge. Alexandria was steering clear tonight. He was thankful for that.

However, unlike previous instances where sleep had eluded him, Calvin found himself unable to work either. It wasn’t lack of care, or effort. It just seemed as though all his best efforts came out twisted. Blades with deviations in angle. Ill-weighted hammers. Good metal that could have been used to make something of value lay strewn about the room in odd shapes with dents from a few angry blows of a hammer. The last time Calvin had found himself wanting at the forge... had been in dire circumstances similar to these. He had barely come back then. Would he come back now?

Calvin sat next to the burning hole in the wall where bodies were supposed to be deposited and burned to ash. Was he defending it? What good would it do if he tried to stop someone? He shook his head, lightly. He had no idea what they did with the bodies. He wasn’t sure he wanted to either. His arms still ached from his confrontation. He couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t forge. Bliss’s pick was damaged beyond a normal smith’s repair. He recognized dully that he would need to fix it. But in his current state there was no chance for it. He stood up slowly, rockily. He needed to eat.

While he normally would have gone to the dining room, he had no interest in seeing people or reliving that night. He walked to the break room quietly, pausing at the end of the hall as he saw Felix and Daimyon leave it. They seemed to be in a good mood, and it made Calvin shiver a little bit. Where the fuck had Felix been that night? Or Daimyon? How had Willow been able to rejoin her sister? He wanted to confront them, but knew that nothing good would come of it. Besides, if they were leaving there was a chance that the break room was empty and he could grab some food and sneak back to the crematorium. He let them walk away, ducking into the break room once he was sure they were out of sight. Methodically, he loaded himself up with food. Fuel for a smoldering fire.

After his little talk with Daimyon, Felix was on his way to the next victim, Faith. At first glance it may seem like an odd choice, what with her being new and all; but her infinite title was more than enough to convince Felix that she was just the gal they were missing. And so the free-runner cheerily surveyed the corridors, searching for the newest addition to the crew.

Whether through tiredness, sadness, pain, or any combination of effects, Faith found herself back there. A room of components and a hospital bed. A room of light with no walls. The battle had been hard fought. They had put everything on the line to emerge as victors. In a sense the Nights of Carnage were much like trials themselves - but with less formality. Just doing whatever you can to make sure you and your friends don't make it out dead.



Whether through tiredness, sadness, pain, or any combination of effects, Faith found herself back there. A hallway of despair and death. A tiled room of searing light bearing no hope. She had fought hard to stay asleep, eventually allowing fatigue to take over as unconsciousness, but despite that she woke early - earlier than she would have liked, even before the morning announcement. Some days she was one to stay in bed a laze about. Today wasn't one of those days.



Was she right? She scanned the hallway of the Hospital Facility, past the northern wall of the POD room and towards the door of the Morgue. Just doing the same thing over and over. The same shit over and over. The same person over and over. Dying and dying and dying and dying and dying and... "I failed I'm sorry..."

“Hey Faith?” The voice of Felix appeared from behind Faith. As soon as he spotted her, his happy demeanor abruptly switched to nervousness. Why was she just standing there, looking like she’s seeing ghosts. He had to admit that hadn’t really properly talked to Faith before, but this was the first time seeing her like this.

“Are you…-” Felix wanted to reach a hand out to her, but the eeriness stopped him dead in his track. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to recruit Faith, with her looking like that...but then again; she looked like she could really use it. “I need your help with something; something secret.”

A sound behind her drew her attention, away from the hallways, and the light. She tilted her head, and her body along with it, to look at the person addressing her. In her hands, clutched tightly against her chest, was a book - the words "Solomon's Forbidden Tome of Lust" seemingly engraved into the front, in bright, cursive, golden letters. From the words sprouted a tree, spiralling up and out of the leather front, spattered with similarly designed birds and fruits.

The moment she locked eyes with the person, she quickly turned away, raising a hand to her face to wipe away the tears that had been forming but had yet to fall. Despite her seemingly shell shocked state, she quickly spun back around, smiling through a somewhat reddened face.
"O-oh, hi, I-I, uh... didn't hear you coming."

She looked around the hallway, towards the Resort and Patients Quarters of the floor. How long had she been stood there? What was everyone else doing? How many had walked past and seen her like this, but not spoken up out of who knew how many reasons. Despite the question rattling within the tumultuous sea that was her brain, she opened the book, and scanned the page she found herself on.
"Now let's see here, you are... you are... ah, Felix! Infinite Free-runner, huh~?" she flipped the book closed, and approached him, "What's this secret you need my help with, now~?

“Let’s get back to that in a second, alright?” The sudden change in Faith’s mood was jarring. Whatever reason she had to force that smile, it wasn’t healthy for her nor anyone around her. But now there was a burning question in Felix’s mind; what caused her to be like this? perhaps it was simply empathy, or maybe there was a lingering doubt pestering his mind about what truly happened yesterday.

“Why are you smiling? you were in pain just now. Acting brave around me is kinda pointless-” Felix chuckled, before taking a step towards Faith. “I mean, I already saw you.”

Faith merely tilted her head to the side and giggled at the comment. Quickly, she skipped up to face him, placing both her hands and her back behind her back.
"Are you feeling okay? I don't know how long you've been here, but in those with residual Mana capacities the Anti-Magic Field Davis established can have some quite dizzying effects - like hallucinations and delusions, for example~!" she giggled once more, moving her hands in front of her to open and look at the book, "I haven't the capabilities to alleviate the symptoms, so perhaps you'd like to see one of the... Nurses..." her voice trailed off as she spoke, "O-or perhaps we can talk about this spectacular plan you had in mind~! Diverting your brain processes may be the best way to combat the negative side effects, no~?"

“Right, the plan.” Felix acknowledgingly smiled. “So……..” Felix started explaining his plan to Faith, somewhere along the way, forgetting Faith’s initial state. “....And since you’re the infinite Matchmaker...well you get the point.”

Faith listened intently, watching closely as he described the supposed event that would take place. It was true, she could think of many a scenario for the idea in which her talent would come in handy.
”Is that so~? Oooooooh, I can already picture it! This is gonna be so much fun~!” she giggled, then started her way down the corridor, half skipping as she did so, ”All the pretty things we can make, all the people we can ship… Come along, Felix, we have work to do~!” she called out behind her.

The boy stood there for a few seconds after Faith’s call, seemingly in thought, before finally getting in motion. “Hold on a sec! I wanted to drop it but...I can’t shake this feeling that...why were you standing there next to the morgue?”

Faith stopped dead. Instead of skipping away merrily, Felix in tow, to bring about a new age of happiness for the Infinite Killing Game, her legs stopped moving, frozen to the spot. Her head tilted slightly, enough to place Felix in her periphery.
"I... Sh-she..." her voice seemed shaky, but quickly she steeled herself, "I-it doesn't matter..! We vanquished the terrible foe that was Nariko, and gained safe passage to the Third Floor, is all! Oh, oh, I saw on the map that it has an Arts and Crafts store~! Wanna come with me later and pick out some stuff~?" she smiled back, ”In any case, let us go! Plenty of things to busy ourselves with until the time comes, no~?” and with that, she continued along her way.

Felix sighed; Faith wasn’t going to tell him what he wanted to know, but perhaps living in ignorance just a little longer wasn’t a bad thing.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming!”

A bit annoyed at what Mercy had asked her, Alice watched from the kitchen doorway as a few infinites entered the dining room. One of them, Noel, already bombarding Ice and Zach with questions. As much as the recon wanted to ask the reporter if she knew what personal space meant, she didn't want to seem more hostile than she may appear to be.

"I'll be right back, gonna go check out the new floor real quick." Alice told Ice, before walking out the dining room, and upstairs to the third floor.



Alice didn't get far before she saw monokuma running at her full tilt, holding something over his head. ”I'm late I'm late! For a very important date!” Killgood stopped just inches in front of Alice and looked up at her. ”Why, if it isn't my biggest fan!” Monokuma giggled. ”Say, did you want to see what was on those tapes? I got the recorder you guys killed and bled for.”

"Oh, I almost forgot about those! But yeah, I can admit that I'm curious about them, heheh." Alice replied, a bit supprised to see the monocrome bear again.

”You forgot!? You silly nilly.” Monokuma strut past Alice ”Well, I can't get in your room, so you're going to have to go in there and get the tapes.”

"Oh yeah! I'll be right back!" The recon quickly ran to her room and back with the box of tapes she got from Parker. "Here they are!" Alice said, catching her breath.

”I'm pretty sure your room isn't that far.” Monokuma placed a paw on his chin. ”On a 2D plain I mean. we're not accounting for up and down movement.” monokuma plugged the player into the wall. ”Alright, so this will basically play on every monitor all over the hospital. But that's cool, because it means everyone can see it.” Monokuma looked through the tapes. None of them were labled, but he managed to find one he wanted. ”I think I'll play this one that I entirely selected at random.” he inserted the tape into the player and hit play.

---

When the tape started playing, the monitor displayed a dimly lit room. The walls appeared to be made out of concrete, and the rust stains made it look very old. Directly in view was a metal pillar wired up to a bunch of human sized pods. Davis was looking it over very carefully. He was noticeably younger in this video.

“So this is it.” Davis's words were not in English. He was speaking in Japanese, but there was a caption at the bottom of the screen. “Virtual reality, completely indistinguishable from the real thing. The Neo World Program.” Davis looked over his shoulder. “Isuru, what would it take to get this thing running again?”

It was hard to make out at first, but the ultimate hope was sitting in a chair behind Davis. The chair looked to be made of solid steel, and Hajime was cuffed in place. But he did not struggle, or appear to be bothered by the situation. “Of the three of us who designed it, I'm the only one who's still alive.” He paused, as if to consider his words. “It would not be impossible for me to rebuild it. But with Hope's Peak on a downward slope, and the world in it's current state of disrepair, it would be a very long time before I could get the materials to even attempt to repair it.”

Davis groaned. “That is unfortunate.” After looking at the pods a bit longer, he started to grin. “But I do find it amusing that it lasted long enough for you to save your friends. I suppose it was your luck that made it hold out.” The conqueror turned around to face Izuru. “Do you know how I beat you?”

“I surrendered.”

Davis chuckled. “I love your sense of humor. You truly do possess the talent of every ultimate.” He walked around Hajime's Chair. “We're both masterminds. But you're stronger than me, faster than me. You might actually be smarter. You had an entire classroom of ultimate students backing you, or do they still prefer to be called refinements of despair?” He shrugged his shoulders. “You had every advantage over me, and I still beat you.”

“There was no point in going on.” Hajime eyed Davis, but he wasn't going to turn his head to keep him in his vision. “I only kept the remnants of despair going to give Hope's Peak a chance. To take the blame of all that has happened while letting Makoto's Hope's Peak continue with its intended mission. We existed as sin eaters and nothing more. Since makoto has terminated the school, there's no reason to keep running. Without hope, despair isn't needed.” Hajime blinked. “I believe Nagito would say your hope was simply stronger.”

Davis chuckled. “Hope huh? That's not the word I'd use” Davis folded his arms. “I just spent who knows how many months trying to track you down, and managed to avoid getting killed in the progress. You must want to know why I'm doing this.”

“I trust you're going to tell me regardless of what my answer is.”

the screen cut to a picture of Monokuma waving a Korean flag ”I hope you guys don't mind, but I remembered that I forgot to tell you all about the new floor. So I grabbed a random tape and started recording this extremely important information over it!” Monokuma continued to wave the flag. ”Anyway, the floor is Korean themed. You remember the north Korean mastermind right? Poppy Poppington? Wait, no! It was Pennington! I mean, that wasn't her real name. Well, her real fake name. Nobody really remembers who she was originally suppose to be. But this girl was a role model. Some would even say the ultimate roll model. How great a role model was she? Poppy was able to convince North Korea's lower eshlon to rebel against the government. Wasn't that awfully nice of her? The bear giggled. ”But this hope would give way to despair soon enough. You see poppy may have a very silly name, but she wanted to be a role model for despair! But she had difficulties being as despair educing as the greats. So she took some inspiration from Junko Enoshima's killing game! So once North Korea was reclaimed by it's people, she didn't put any sort of government in place. This created what you would call a power vacuum, and the country was ripped apart by civil war. With that going on, she used stolen technology from hope's peak to make her very own killing game. She uploaded her personality into a computer, and wiped her memories and the memories of all of her friends. If everything went according to plan, she would fall into an immense despair once she reclaimed all of her memories.” Monokuma dropped the flag. ”Oh, but it was not meant to be. She pulled a Hajima and beat the game. Too bad she didn't watch the sequel. People weren't too kind to her when it was all over either.” Monokuma sighed. ”Alright, so I'll let you watch the rest of this show. The part where Davis reveals his plan is pretty good. I really hope I didn't record over it.” But when monokuma disappeared, it seemed like that was exactly what had happened. But while it wasn't possible to see what Davis had said, it was possible to see Hajime's reaction to it. He fret his brow.

“You're insane!”

“Don't tell me you don't see the benefits. Just imagine all the hope we'd gain!”

“Hope is the pillar in which humanity-”

“Oh, I just remembered something.” Davis pointed at Hajime. “We have these long poetic monologs about hope, despair, about single words, and it's only a matter of time before we start talking about dualities.” Davis threw his hands into the air. He was half shouting his words. “And the furthest the greatest minds can get with these dualities is that they are two sides of a coin. You can't have one without the other. Both make up life and all that jazz.” Davis continued to walk around the chair. “Hope and despair, life and death, light and dark, man and woman, comedy and drama, black and white, sweet and savory, yin and yang, hard and soft, paper and plastic, republic or democrat...” Davis lowered his arms with a sigh. “The only duality I've ever cared about is gain and loss. More so even than winning and losing.” He turned to face Izuru. “The reason why I beat you was because I have so much more to gain out of victory, and so much more to lose in defeat. If you were willing to come at me with everything you had, you'd have bested me. But no, your friends are too precious. This route ensured they would all survive.”

“My friends are my greatest hope.”

“Right, right, and this plan is my greatest conquest. What of it?” Davis circled around behind the chair. “But you're really going to continue to pretend you can't benefit from this?”

Izuru grit his teeth. “I'm not going to help you. And I'll take my own life before you try to use them against me.”

“A shame you don't want to help me. But this was a foreseeable outcome.” Davis slowly sunk into a shadow in the background. “No need to be so dramatic Izuru. You're helping me just by getting captured. Without Hope's Peak, there's no Retirements of Despair. And with out Refinements of Despair, there's no Future Foundation. And without Future foundation, well, that just sort of leaves everything to the Infinity Initiative doesn't it?”

“You don't control the initiative. Who are you working for? How many of them are interested in this plan of yours?”

“I would love to tell you more, but you're not going to remember this conversation, so why bother?” That was when the chair started to recline. Then...static.

”Hello boys and girls!” Monokuma's face appeared on screen again. “I know you were all enjoying that movie, but you know, it's not a good idea to spend too much time in front of the TV. Or the computer, or your phone. But I know you guys won't do anything interesting unless I motivate you! So guess what?” Monokuma tossed his hands into the air. ”The motive this time is simple. You know that sinner hector somethingoranother had a virus that made you act like a zombie? I'm going to give that to whoever wants it!” Monokuma motioned his hands in a hushing motion. ”I know, you're beary excited to get your hands on it, but you're worried that it'll be hard to hive. So get this, everyone's room has a phone in it now. Simply dial 555-5555, and you'll get your very own virus administering mask! Just place it over someone's face, hit the magical button, and presto! Instant zombie!” The bear laughed. ”Well, not instant. It'll take a few days for the effects to fully kick in. Regardless...” Monokuma trailed off.

---

”Oh dear!.” monokuma placed his paws over his mouth. ”T-t-that was a motive, and everyone saw it!”

"Well shit..." Alice said, running a hand through her hair as she looked over to Killgood. "Just as everyone's recovering from the night of carnage too. Kinda adds to the torment, if you think about it..."

”Well, I didn't plan it that way!” Monokuma shouted. ”You tell all of your friends I'm innocent!” killgood ran away, leaving the rest of the beta tapes and player on the ground in alice's possession.

"...Okay then..." Alice said, picking up the tapes and recorder, before walking back to the dining room.

---

---

One of limited amount of pleasantries that came about being trapped here with the rest of the Infinites was that, despite what their status might be on the outside, nobody was truly a celebrity in this death game. This led to a sort of 'peace' between everybody that some might not be able to get outside. That's not to say everybody was cooperative and happy with each other, but there were no annoying fans to bug someone. Well, Zachary at least. But just like anything valuable, you don't really know its true worth until it was gone. This applied to particularly to Zachary, who had pretty much been greeted by anybody who saw him up and about the day after he suffered his injury. The most common response was surprise. Behind that came concern and, typically, some chiding because he wasn't in bed, resting his broken self. And finally, some claimed they had thought him to be dead. This was all much more attention than he was used to, and the fact that Noel had taken interest in him at all was a bit concerning. Yet even then, the most important thing of note during all of this was that out of all these Infinites, none of them were named "Jezebel".

He had intentionally not spoken to her the day he awoke.

But today was a new day! Today, he woke up determined to greet Jezebel with an abundance of life he could not show the day before, not stinky, bloody, or drowsy! And, of course, today would be the day he apologized for being an idiot and making her worry. To cause her distress was something he couldn't stand, and even though he knew how dangerous the Carnage Sisters could be, he still valued his pride over his sanity and chose to attempt to rescue Krista. Had it just been him getting injured, then that wouldn't be the biggest issue. He would learn to adapt to his injury eventually. But lives were lost and as one of the people who went along with a plan as reckless as theirs, Zachary was partially responsible for the casualties sustained and the worry and grief that affected others because of their loss. Had he not participated in the last trial, Zachary might've taken this news a lot worse than he did now. After all, he'd been a wreck during the trial at the mere thought he'd been indirectly responsible for supplying the killer with a weapon. Zachary understood he had been of very little help during an important moment due to how he acted. He realized that panicking or blaming himself for stuff he could not help would only make him a detriment, and he could not be such to others, especially Jezebel. Not when she'd been so kind to him. And so, Zach focused on apologizing to Jezebel, for she was the only one he owed an apology to that was still breathing.

It was probably just an hour after the announcements and Zachary had made sure to devour some eggs and, of course, he had his coffee. There was no stopping him now. They were going to meet. He was going to say things. They were going to converse! That is... if she was in her room. It was the place he started to look for her after he finished eating, and he hadn't seen her on the way there. The one-eyed Infinite knocked on the door to the Tricker's room, hoping for a response.

“Hello? Jezebel, are you alive?” he asked.

No answer, not right away at least. But Zachary could hear someone moving around inside of Jezebel's room. The creek of something getting off the hospital bed, weight being shifted from foot to foot across a tile floor. Whoever this was, they weren't moving especially fast. The noise briefly stopped right at the door. Zachary could hear a sigh, and then the door swung open. While Jezebel's makeup covered most of her face, it didn't hide her eyes. They were glassy, and a little red. But they were looking directly at him. Her lower lip quivered, but she made no sudden movements, or attempt to speak.

Zachary couldn't hide his confusion at her state and in response to her silence, was silent for a few moments as well. But then his brain chose to start functioning again and he panicked, despite moments earlier thinking he had to be above that. "J-Jez, what's wrong?! Are you alright?" he worriedly asked. His expression had changed from a determined one to a flustered one in a span of time people might not have thought possible.

Jezebel leaned up against the side of the door with her elbow. “Like, what do you think?” She flashed a bright smile. “Am totally the best!” She folded her arms behind her back. “I'm totally free of pain, totally have both my eyes, and totally feel...” She closed her mouth and tipped her head. “How would you feel if we had to trade places right now?”

"Trade places? I don't know how I'd feel. Being a girl and all would be---" The Infinite caught himself before he continued that sentence, realizing he was taking that just a tad bit too literally. Taking a step back, he coughed into his hand. "Erm, I mean I would be worried sick." he confessed, trying to hide the embarrassment from showing on his face.

"Anyways, I came here to show you that I'm... well, mostly alright -- I could be worse. And to apologize."

Jezebel pushed off the edge of the door and folded her arms. “You totally look plenty sorry already, trust me.” the clown gave Zachary a sideways glance. “So like, why did you wait a full day to come see me?”

Zach's hand fell on the familiar place as he struggled to keep direct eye contact. "That's... well," the truth was, quite frankly, a bit childish and embarrassing. As pleased with him as Jezebel looked, however, he figured he couldn't exactly keep quiet. "... I was in less of a good shape yesterday, is the thing."

“What do you mean?”

"I mean I couldn't really stand up straight and I wasn't too clean, either." he admitted. "And.." Zach thought for a minute. "Well, it's not important".

“Yea well.” Jezebel swiftly opened her arms and closed Zachary in a bear hug. “You're such a noid.” Her voice was cracking. “You look grody to the max!.”

"A noid?" Zachary was a bit surprised by the sudden, intense hug he received. He didn't care much for physical contact with others, but if it was Jezebel, then he supposed that it was okay. She really did like hugging him, for some reason.

"That's a bit of a rude thing to say though," he tried smiling, finally relaxing. "I did my best to tidy up. I’m sorry I had you worried."

“You're still Baldwin material, don't worry.” she chuckled. “So like, am I going to have to worry about you running off to save a betty come next night of carnage and junk?”

"No, you won't. I mean I knew it was pretty dangerous before, but after that time... I can't trust that it'll go any better. We can't use those kinds of means against the Carnage Sisters." he said somewhat sadly. Admitting defeat against them was painful. He didn't like it one bit. But he had to be realistic. They would be crazy to try something similar.

Jezebel closed her eyes. “I know that was hard to say, so thank you.” her eyes opened back up with a broad grin. “The others will want to do something like this in the future, but it's important that we stay out of it.” her grin broadened until she looked like a pumpkin lantern. “Now let's quit moping around and have some fun already!”

---

Jezebel, Zachary, Denis, and Braden were seated around the table blocking the zen garden. “Faith totally knows how to help stage a party, fer sure. The concert is pretty bitchin' too!” She stabbed some finger food with a toothpick and ate it. “But we totally shouldn't tell her so. She's got too much pride as is.” Jezebel giggled.

"Does she?" Zachary inquired rather curiously. Faith was one of few infinites he hadn't yet spoken to. Though she did seem a bit weird, so that might've been a reason. "I can't argue about the performance though. You couldn't pay to get this kind of entertainment."

”Hey, pretty lady!” Denis waved to Braden's doll. The two of them weren't getting anywhere, but seemed to be enjoying the party.

Jezebel scooched closer to Zachary “Hey, are you alright?” She was still smiling. “I don't think I've seen you smile once all day.”

“Huh? Oh…” Zachary sighed and found himself staring at the table. “I’m just not exactly happy with the results earlier.”

“Well, you didn't expect everything to stay the same right? I knew you were going to need to adjust fer shur” Jezebel placed a hand on Zachary's shoulder.

"I knew that there'd be issues. I knew that, but it's still irritating." Zach confessed.

“If it makes you feel any better, I so came to this hospital to get my eyes checked out. You'd think they'd cure my eyesight before dropping me in a killing game. But nope. They were all 'psych! As if!” and put me in here just like this.” Jezebel looked across the dance floor. “I think my limit is like, twenty, maybe thirty feet? Beyond that, things start to look all grody.”

Moving his eye from the table the Jez, Zach couldn't hide his surprise. "Is that true? I hadn't even noticed, I'm sorry." Even if he had just lost an eye, that one eye could still see well. It made judging distance a daunting task, sure, but it would be much worse if he couldn't see too far like Jez. Now I feel like an ass. Looking rather serious to the woman beside him, Zach sighed.

"Well, damn. I can't say I feel any better after that, no. Try again?" and allowed himself a wry smile.

”Let's dance, pretty lady!” Denis took the arm on Braden's doll and got up to dance. Jezebel watched them walk away from the table. Before turning back towards Zachary.

“Maybe we'll have better luck dancing?” she shot the archer a grin.

“...no, definitely not.” he suddenly got serious. Did she think he’d ever done such a crazy thing like moving his body in a way that was considered beautiful? Ha, what a crazy lady! “The last time I danced was in a different life, I’m sure. I cannot absolutely definitely impossibly cannot.”

“In front of other Infinites, I would die of embarrassment.” he claimed. “I have two left feet, as well. Hell, I’m just awkward in general…”

Yes, he was adamant that he was not going to dance, even if it was with Jezebel. It was one of those things he thought was silly. Dancing? Pssh, there were cooler things out there. Maybe if he was going to die---

“...well,” he somehow realized there was a very real chance this would be his only chance to dance with someone. Hopefully he died of embarrassment after the fact. “...If you insist, I guess we could?” he let out a soft, nervous laugh and stood up.

“You’re some kinda of dancing genius though, right?”

”They totally called me queen Volcov of the dance!” Denis took the arm on Braden's doll and got up to dance. Jezebel watched them walk away from the table. Before turning back towards Zachary.“Like, the only time I remember I'm Russian-American is when I say my last name. It's so weird!” she stood up and took Zachary's hand. ”Anywho, regardless of how well I dance, I'm still a clown. So like, there's so nothing to worry about.”

As soon as Jezebel got on the dance floor, her footsteps slowed. The clown turned to face Zachary and took hold of his other hand. ”You so don't need to be a ninja to dance, you can just move your feet while holding your hands like this.”

“Pretty lady, blind guy!” Denis ran up to them. “If you're going to dance slow, make sure there's no place for her to go.” Denis placed his hands on their backs and pushed them closer together. “This is better, yes?” the spy didn't wait for a response. He quickly returned to his dancing partner. “This fun, no?” Denis said to Braden's hand.

Jezebel cleared her throat. They were touching more than just hands now. ”Comfy?”

"O///O"

Zachary did not have a verbal response ready for Jezebel, at least not right away. He was overwhelmed by the situation more so than he had been a few days prior, against the Carnage Sisters. In the same way that he could have died at any moment in battle against Nariko, Zachary was desperately trying not to perish due to intense strain on his nervous little heart. The skin on his face, his cheeks in particular, was a brilliant red that nothing short of an actual mask could hide.

He thought he might've made a mistake. Could he get out? Surely there were other things to do before he died. Ones that wouldn't speed up the process, too! He was unused to being so close to another person, and certainly the fact that he liked Jezebel made it a million times worse. With their hands clasped together, their bodies so close, he was wholly incapable of hiding his feelings from showing. That, in turn, made him even more nervous, and the fact he couldn't dance caused him embarrassment. He feared stepping on her toes, looking like a fool, or anything, really. There was too much going on in his head.

"No, I'm Zach." he tried joking to lighten his own mood, but his voice was noticeably higher than it typically was plus it wasn’t even the right color. That added to his embarrassment, of course. By this point, it was difficult for him to keep eye contact with Jez, even as close as they were. He pitifully tried looking everywhere that wasn't her, but eventually failed. "H-how about you?"

Jezebel was completely looking away from Zachary. Her eyes were half closed, and the dancing queen hadn't taken a single step. With a sigh, she closed her eyes. ”This... totally doesn't feel right to me either..” Jezebel took a step back, releasing Zachary's hands as she did so. ”Wanna go to the break room?” She wasn’t smiling.

With a bit of distance between them, Zach could grasp just a tiny bit of himself once more. Not that anybody could tell. "The break room?..." was going along with the idea to dance actually a bad choice? He worried he did something wrong. "I suppose we could." he agreed. He wasn't sure why, but he felt disappointed it had ended so soon.

---

It was a lot quieter in the break room. The music from the party was still audible, but it was a quieter atmosphere. The coffee brewer Jezebel operated was the loudest thing in the room. ”So, is this better?” The clown didn't look away from the coffee pot.

By the time they’d arrived in the break room, Zachary had cooled down. His face was no longer red as a beet, but he wore a troubled expression. He worried he had caused her to call the dance off with how nervous he’d gotten. “I’m sorry.” he apologized after a minute of silence between them. The awkwardness he felt was getting to be unbearable. “...I know I’m a bit of a spaz.”

”It's okay, I totally didn't feel comfortable up there either.” Jezebel turned around. ”That was kind of cool though. Didn't think Krista was bitchin' enough to admit she was carrying a secret like that.” She snorted. ”I mean, it so figures she was a total fake the entire time. But like...” Jezebel sighed. ”Kinda makes me jealous too.”

Zachary’s raised eyebrow was a visible indicator that he wasn’t quite sure what the woman was talking about, but he went ahead and asked anyways. “What do you mean? Why would you be jealous of Krista?”

”I'm just saying, she was totally talking about her darkest secret like it was nothing. ” Jezebel took the coffee pot and poured it into two different mugs. ”I mean, I'm not totally buying it, but she chose to say something that could make people think less of her.” She set down the coffee pot and picked up one of the mugs. The coffee was still too hot to drink, so Jezebel just held it in front of herself. ”That's nothing I could ever do. You know? I mean hiding the handbook from all of us was a seriously stupid thing to do, and I'd never have done it in her position. But sharing a personal failure like that? That's totally only something you do with like, lovers and stuff.”

“When you put it like that, that does seem a bit impressive.” Zach agreed, nodding. “I certainly don’t think I could ever go up on stage and blurt out my darkest secret so willingly, and to every infinite here, no less!” Zachary shuddered at the mere thought of it. If he could get out of here alive and nobody learn of his troubled history, then it would be best. At least, not the entirety of the surviving members of their group. “That’s a kind of mental strength I don’t have.” the archer stated. “It’s probably better that way, though.”

”Oh?” Jezebel picked up the second mug and offered it to Zachary. ”Better that way. Like, that’s an interesting choice of words. Mental strength is typically what you wish for, isn’t it?”

As he listened to her speak, Zachary took the mug and proceeded to take a sip. For the briefest of moments, he made an odd face but as soon as it had appeared, it left. He swallowed what little coffee had drank and nodded. “That’s correct. If I was a better person, I wouldn’t need to be stronger in a mental sense... “ he shook his head after trailing off. “...well, I’ve got all the physical strength I need, anyways. Not to brag, but archery requires a fair amount of strength. I’m sure I’m stronger than anybody whose specialization isn’t physical, though I might not look it.” he proudly said. “I have my profession and a bit of running to thank for that. But… well, I admit I’m not the brightest bulb in the bunch, which makes me mostly useless here.” he deflated.

Jezebel couldn't help but chuckle at Zachary's words. “You know I don't talk to infinites much right?” She looked away from Zachary. “I mean like... Before I came to this game and junk, I totally steered clear of everyone. Like, I'd hang around in groups and such, but I never really trusted anyone. I guess that's why I prank people so much. It's just my way of keeping my distance from everyone.” She took a sip of her coffee before turning to face Zachary. “But like, I dunno, I don't feel like I need to keep my distance from you and junk. You're not as smart as some of the other guys here, fer shur. But even some of the noids here make mistakes.” the clown set down her mug and placed her hands on her hips. “I'm so hanging out with you right now because of what's in your heart, not your head. That's why you're the number one Baldwin in my book.”

Taking a long sip, Zach stared at the Infinite Trickster for a moment before responding. “That… makes me very happy to hear, honestly.” Zach seemed to have a blush. “I hope you realize that I feel the same about you. There’s nobody here I trust more, and I really don’t hang out with anybody in general.” he smiled. “Would that make you my number one Betty?”

Jezebel laughed. “You’re going to make me blush!” She set down her coffee mug and stepped out into the center of the floor. “Anyway, like, maybe you’re not much for parties, but if you’re as athletic as you say you are, you can totally dance.” She clapped her hands together. “I do most of my dancing in the shower anyway. It’s just fun to move around. You don’t need anyone to watch you.” She started flicking her heels around “Come on, show me whatcha got!”

“Ah, I suppose…” Zachary, foolish as he was, glanced around the room before realizing they were the only two there. If it was just the two of them, then perhaps he could learn to enjoy dancing. At least with her.

Zachary set down his coffee, stood up, and the two of them began dancing together in the somewhat quiet break room, alone.

“Is this my seat?” asked Daimyon quietly, almost out of formality, pointing at the one empty seat at the second table. He waited for at least one nod before actually sitting down, then he turned to the five people already present. “Thank you all for attending,” he said, keeping his voice low as Krista started her speech. “I hope you enjoyed what you've seen so far. Believe me, it's only getting better!”

"I know you're the infinite Poet, but that was something else!" Felix walked up to the table and took a seat next to Daimyon.

"It was lovely." Although Max responded to Daimyon, his eyes were carefully observing the crowd, as if his head was mounted on his neck like a sentry. Krista's reveal did catch his interest, if only for a short while. It was a sad story, but ultimately hopeful; for if she endured all those struggles, the ones before them now could be endured as well.

Felix got hit in the feels a bit harder. a tear was rolling of his cheek as he suddenly jumped out of his seat with a shout.

"You're wrong Krista! You do deserve your title. If it wasn't for you, Arno's piece would never have reached the world! and when you finished that piece, you became part of it. I bet he's looking at you from heaven, smiling; he'd be proud and grateful, and so am I!" With that, Felix sat back down, chuckling a bit to alleviate the tension in the air. Daimyon watched the free runner's emotional exclamation with a silent smile, agreeing with what he had said. Though Krista's secret was as much of a surprise to him as anyone else, he knew that regardless of her past, her talent was real and thus she deserved the Infinite title.

"It's really kind of you to carry on your friend's legacy for him, Krista. Hope he's watching over you in the afterlife to this day, like a guardian angel!" Mercy spoke up to the violinist, giving her a reasuring smile.

"So...what did you guys think of my marvelous piano skills?" Felix said, playing an invisible piano.

“Marvellous is a fine word indeed, my friend. The piece wouldn't have had half its brilliance without you!” the poet answered. “Where did you learn to play this well? It's hardly related to your...talent, after all.”

A radiant smile formed as Daimyon praised Felix; if it kept up, his ego might just shoot through the roof. the runner placed a hand on the back of his head as if to feign embarrasment, but he was clearly already enjoying the party to the fullest. "Oooowh, it's just something my dad passed onto me. He'd play for me whenever he got home from work, or when I couldn't sleep. I wanted to play just as good as him, but don't worry; I'm not nearly there yet!" He took a sip from his drink before looking at Mercy. "How'bout you? did you like it?"

The plague doctor nodded. "Your performance was lovely." Mercy told Felix, her smile not leaving her face. "Still, I wished Alice had chosen to play too." She rested her head in one of her hands.

“Oh...what does she play? I'm afraid I still know precious little about some of us...” Daimyon interjected.

"She plays the piano too. If I remember correctly, her little brother taught her." The plague doctor explained. "But she gets stage fright, so it's hard for her to play in front of an audience."

“I see... She's not alone in that, I'm certain. It took me...a while to defeat stage fright, as well. But that was a while ago,” he continued. “Still, I'd love to see her play. Perhaps starting with a smaller audience would help...”

"The best way to get over your stage fright is to just ignore it. Go on stage as if it doesn't even exist, and it won't." Max said with a slightly educating tone.

"Easier said than done." Felix chuckled. "I was sooo nervous before the concert; my mind felt like it was spinning in four dimensions. But it was worth it; totally." After emptying another drink, Felix seemed a bit drunk, despite the lack of alcohol anywhere. "So...onto more serious topics. We're at a party! So you two can go wild...I wanna know who you'd go wiiild with."

Hearing that question, Daimyon leaned back in his chair and glanced at the two women who had not yet spoken in this conversion.
“...I think I'll let others go first with this one. Ladies?”

Noel perked up, having paid attention to the main stage silently up until now. Her notepad now contained every bit of Krista's story to the finest detail. Not everything was new, but when she compared it to what she already knew of the rise to fame of the star violinist on the wide, wide web, this had expanded her data significantly. Today she had struck gold!

But yes, oh yes. How elegant of the infinite poet to have the ladies go first on the more... intimate questions. She regarded him with slight scowl that duly noted his apparent unwillingness to go first. Noel had a pretty good idea who Daimyon was thinking about, anyway. "Well..." She started. "You boys have some bad luck, because I'm claiming Mary!" She teased, then winked at the infinite streamer.

“Hah! We're not judging.” Daimyon laughed, taking a sip of water for himself.

"Huh?" Mercy looked back over to Felix, crossing her arms in thought. "Honestly, I don't know. I haven't really met anyone who I feel that way about." She answered, shrugging.

Mary pouted, holding her video camera on her lap. "But Noel, I want to have fun with the guys as well! You're being too selfish!" She gave a flirty smile to the others.
"It's not every day we get to do something like this. Especially since we're trapped and all. So let's just enjoy ourselves, ok? And don't forget to smile!" She then quickly drew her camera, and filmed everyone on the table. "Say cheese!"

"cheeese!" Felix swung his arm around Daimyon, gave a bright smile and raised his other hand to form a peace sign; Max simply took a sip of his coffie.

"As for myself-" Felix glared around the room, as if searching, before finally settling his eyes right next to him, on mercy; the slightest blush forming on his cheeks. "I'm happy right where I am."

"The dancefloor hasn't been touched, all of you should go out there, shake it up." Max gave a short chuckle.

"Right!" Mercy nodded with a grin, grabbing Felix's arm and pulling him to the dance floor. "Come on!"

"As well? Well aren't you inclusive." Noel jested. Then lined up for the film with a smile. As Felix and Mercy headed to the dance floor, Noel grinned. Called it! Then again, who hadn't? Those two had been obvious about it for a while now, right? "Well then, who wants to join me?" She asked with a grin, wondering who would rise to the challenge.

“What an opportunity!” The cheerful atmosphere and the peppy violin music raised everyone's spirits, and the poet was no exception. Rising from his seat, he extended an inviting hand towards Noel. “Shall we?”

"I didn't know you loved to dance~" Said Felix as he twirled around Mercy. His robo boogie impression may have been a shitshow, but he was having the time of his life. "It's nice to just have fun again, I could do this forever."

Noel looked at the poet with a smile. She hadn't really that ,out of everyone, Daimyon would take the offer. Regardless, she had no reason to refuse. "Oh my! Lead the way." Noel answered as she took his hand. Something in her expected the Poet to be an alright dancing partner. She wasn't sure why; he simply seemed to have that kind of class. Regardless, she was certain the fantastically played violin music would make for a good dance.

Daimyon certainly hoped it would, too. The main reason he took up on the reporter's offer so readily was because he had prepared for such occasion—having refreshed his memory on the classic waltz earlier that day, when he was writing his concert song. It was the Viennese type, not the English—which meant getting rather close and personal. In his current mood though, the poet was confident he could pull it off. He stopped a little distance away from Felix and Mercy and held his hand that Noel was holding out to the side. He waited a moment, hoping she would realise what he was attempting, and when she seemed to approve, he put his other arm around her waist and began the quick three-steps to the rhythm.

Mercy giggled as she twirled Felix...only to bump him into one of the tables. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" She quickly apologized, checking the free runner for any bruising.

It looked as if Felix hurt himself quite a bit, but as soon as Mercy's hand got close enough, he suddenly took hold of it and started spinning her around laughing. "Don't you worry about a thing, I don't hurt that easy." When the two slowly started to slow down, Felix almost lost his balance from dizzyness, causing him to lean on Mercy a bit. "Pooh, I think i've had a shot too much. Hey Mercy, how much alcohol can you take before getting drunk?"

"Is that a challenge I hear?" The plague doctor asked Felix, a smug grin on her face.

"Hehehe, you're on~!" Said Felix as he ran to the food counter; he came back with two glasses of punch, still thinking it was alcohol. "Last one standing wins!" he said before downing the glass.

It probably surprised people little that Noel had no experience with the Viennese waltz. That said, her Brittish heritage provided her with a single experience with the English one. Better than nothing, right? Luckily, the poet would find that whatever skill she lacked was somewhat made up by dexterity, adaptability and a decent sense of rhythm. She stumbled a little during the first minute, but surely she mastered the basics of the dance quickly. However she probably would've fared worse had Daimyon not been leading this dance. What did not particularly help was the distance, or the lack thereof, as it introduced a subtle redness to the reporter's face. She wondered how much of this the Poet had planned in advance, the sly man.

...of course, Daimyon had no such ulterior motives, for he was a gentleman of the highest order. His smirk upon noticing the reporter's was as understated as her blush, only reinforcing that fact. He enjoyed dancing with her, though it was not without missteps on his part either—after all it had been an embarrassingly long time since he had last danced on a somewhat formal occasion like this. He could not even remember when it was, so he was relieved to know he still had the muscle memory. They continued on to the rhythm of the lively song, and when it was coming to an end, he twirled her around once to give a classic end to the waltz routine.

“Ah! What a fantastic dance. You were an excellent partner, miss,” he spoke once they had let go of each other. “Might I ask, where did you learn the art?”

"Miss? Oh, are we still on such formal terms, Daimyon?" Noel smiled impishly. Even the discerning reporter couldn't tell for sure whether he was being careful or actively maintaining such distance. If the latter, she could only wonder why he had even bothered to take her to dance.

“Pardon my manners,” the poet replied after a brief surprise, using the phrase in a rather different context. “I was simply...swept up in the environment, is all. It's quite the change of pace, and I'm relishing in it.” He adjusted his green waistcoat almost subconsciously, then smiled a bright smile at the reporter who continued.

"Usually I watch the formal occasions on the sidelines, as befitting my occupation. But accepting a friendly dance of an acquaintance has landed me an interview on several occasions" Her smile broadened a bit, not losing its mischievous edge. "I'm looking forwad to your... invitation." Was she talking about an interview... maybe.

“Ingenious! I like it. As for an invitation, well...excuse me for a second, Noel.”
Daimyon stepped away from his partner and towards the stage where Krista was about to get into a second song.
“Krista! Sorry for the interruption, I just...” Swiftly he pulled out his notebook and opened it up at a recent page. “There was this song you've rehearsed... I don't know its title, but it was a slower, more emotional melody that increased in tempo midway through. I loved it so much I made a note of it! If you remember which it was, could you please play it?”

After giving the talented violinist his sincere thanks, he headed back to Noel and, as the opening tones sounded, told her:
“I'm inviting you for a round two. Shall we?”

Noel, obviously, didn't even bother thinking about the answer to that. She took his hand with a charming smile as she lead him back onto the dancefloor. "Don't you dare forget about that other kind of invitation." She gravely, but playfully reminded him before the violinist's fantastic song started in earnest.

---

These past few days had been almost at a complete stand still compared to everything before this. The motive had already been given out, but no one seemed to be making a move anytime soon. It didn't seem like Bliss was going to be cooking anytime soon so Ice had moved in to replace her, though it seemed like nowadays his scowls had worsened. While he made plenty beautiful brown pancakes for everyone, he didn't seem to answer or accept anyone's gratitude or small talk. While Alice and Ice were seen spending time together, there was always something pressing down on them, or just Ice. Ice left Alice's worry hanging and had gone silent, refusing to bring up the topic again. While Alice did what she could to connect, Ice remained unresponsive and penitent. Honestly the Blood Donor had wanted to remedy the situation, but he had taken far too long and couldn't get over the awkward atmosphere and guilt from creating the situation. It made their exploring around the hospital dull and guilt-ridden.

After arriving to the party, Max had searched him and found his chain weapon all too easily. They had proceeded to argue until finally Ice had left and come back with the weapon unfurled from around his leg. Ice's sense of defenselessness left him jittery and nervous. Without the strength he had from not being fully recooperated, he really needed to rely on his weapon to have any chance in a fight. With a swore under his breath, he moved over to the table and threw himself angrily into a chair next to Alice.

After everything that Emily been through in the last hours, she didn't have much she could comment on or say, she only had a thousand yard stare, the memories of everyone who passed still plaguing her mind, she felt responsible for everything and her infinite title just seemed to remind her of her failure here. Emily knew she couldn't keep her title after all of this, she wasn't fit enough for it maybe someone else would be more qualified.

"Ms. Rishima, are you alright?"

Emily's hands shook before she looked over to Alice, her eyes seemed more sunken showing her age off more and were blood shot, the caretaker took a deep breath before she spoke." H-have you ever just felt you weren't good enough for your title? As if someone has just handed it to you? Just giving you the title of special so others would look up to you as some sort of symbol?" Emily looked at herself." I'm a self centered person, someone who never deserved to get their title, just gifted it because of my body and I just help others."

"Emily, don't say that about yourself. I'm sure you weren't given the title of caretaker just for your looks, but for your kindness and consideration for others, no matter who it is." Alice reassured Ellie, walking up beside her. "And... Yeah, I find myself wondering how I even got my title sometimes, and if I even deserve it."

Emily's fist came down on the table and she stared daggers at Alice." That's a crock and you know it. When I heard that Aleecia and Rika were dead my first thoughts were, "I'm glad I'm okay" and I'm weak, the moment when that night happened, the only thing I could do was curl up and hope that none of us would get hurt, I'm not worthy of my title, anyone else stronger than me could have made sure that Rika stayed put, they wouldn't have fainted the moment everything began happening, they would have helped made sure Aleecia was still here!" She stood to Alice, her depression gone now replaced with anger."I'm not made for this, I'm not someone who can fight robots or talk down people from doing something they aren't able to, I-I I'm just a woman who's unlucky enough to not be a house wife and had a lot of time on her hands."

The recon silently hung her head low as Emily spoke, saying that she wasn't strong enough to protect Allie and Rika. "What if someone 'stronger' wasn't enough?" Alice finally spoke up. "What if they were too much of a dumbass to make sure they were safe, that they didn't leave us?" She balled her hands up into fists, and started shaking. "What if they could prevent all of this from happening, if even as they get 'stronger' they're still weak either way?!" Venom started dripping from the recon's words, as tears started to fall from her eyes. Yet she bore a grin, as to try and fight back her sorrow.

"So tell me, Rishima," Alice finally looked back up at Emily. "Who's the real failure here? You, or me?" The recon forced a laugh.

Ice slammed his palm onto the table, making sure to have both of their eyes on him before even thinking of opening his mouth, "Now look you two, Allie and Rika were their own person, it's not like they didn't make their own choices." Ice leaned back with his arms crossed, his eyebrow twitching. "Ellie, none of us chose our Infinite titles, the only reason they are any good is because they come with benefits, but those benefits don't reach us here so by god they don't matter." He turned his gaze towards Alice, feeling a little bad, but knowing that he had to get his thoughts across, "It wasn't enough because we couldn't have stopped them, not because of the effort we put into the situation, that's like blaming ourselves for them being put in the killing game in the first place." Ice brought his right hand up to massage into one of his temples, "It's not a matter of who's fault it is, it's a matter of remembering who they were and what they stood for, now eat some stuky food and keep your traps shut about what could have been, because it ain't happening any other way. Capiche?"

"..." Alice's forced smile faded once Ice started talking, while she wanted to speak up, he made a good point. So instead, she silently sat down, and rested her head in her arms.

"Isaiah Matthews, watch that tone you are taking with me, I may not be your mother but you should respect your elders." Emily stared daggers at the blood donor." I'm useless, I couldn't help keep the two people I was suppose to keep safe, safe, I should've just stayed in my crappy apartment, shut myself in and just died. If I was never here they maybe would've had more of a chance."

"Rishima, shut the hell up and enjoy the damn party." The recon snapped at the caretaker.

Emily didn't know what over took her, but she brought her open hand across Alice's face and left a visble red mark on her cheek and instantly realized what she done, she put her hands on Alice's shoulders." Alice! I'm-I'm sorry." Tears began streaming down her cheeks." I don't know what came over me, I-I couldn't sleep for who knows how long." She wiped her tears away before trying to wipe away Alice's tears.

"I know you didn't mean to...Just- don't bother me till the party's over..." Alice sighed, before resting her head back in her arms.

Ice sat there conflicted, it was like everything that could go wrong, was going wrong. He had fidgeted slightly when his full name was called, but after hearing more of her response he was going to go off on her, only for Alice to do it for him. Maybe a bit more subtle than the Blood Donor would have done, but definitely got her point across. He was about to butt in again only for Ellie to slap Alice, leading Ice's blood to start boiling. If she hadn't immediately apologized and started crying, well then... This party would have been turned upside down. After the matter was resolved, Ice couldn't help but stare at Alice, somehow hoping to lift her spirits. But since he hadn't been able to properly talk to her, it felt awkward, and he....

The Blood Donor moved his hand above the Recon's head to give it a pat, then he hesitated before letting his hand fall back to his side with a sigh.

Calvin was humming lightly as he brought a plate of food to the table. The buffet table had been well-loaded, and while the rest of his table had been chatting he had gone to get food. As he returned to the group, he saw Alice with her head to the table. His hackles raised. Ice looked pained as he brought a hand over her head, only to gently let it fall. Calvin's pace slowed for only a few steps, before he picked up the pace. He laid the plate loudly on the table. "They really loaded this thing..." His voice was a bit tinny and faded away quickly. He gave Ice a glance, then looked to Ellie. Something in the air put him on edge. Where had Faith gone? She wasn't seated at the table, and Calvin felt she would have been far more prepared to deal with whatever sort of energy had taken over the group. "This is fucking..." He breathed in loudly. "...fun." The word fell sat there for a moment. Calvin grimaced, looking down at his plate, then to his fellow Infinites. He wanted nothing less than to sit down in this growing storm.

"I forgot... my... fork!" He stumbled over the words, standing stock still as he said them. "Umm... Alice? Wanna help me find it?" He made pointed eye contact with Ice, clearly uncomfortable.

Ice met his eye, but then looked down almost defeatedly. It wasn't like he knew what to jinking do! Honestly, he wanted to grab Alice and bust out of there, but after some prodding he found out they wouldn't be getting their weapons back until the end of the party, and he was far too on edge without it.

Alice nodded, standing up from her seat.

"Oh, Sweet." The Recon's face was.... melancholic. Calvin swallowed. It hadn't been so long ago that he had been slapped for poorly-chosen words. He prayed it wouldn't happen again as he walked towards the ever-familiar buffet table again. "This is some kind of shitshow, huh?" He did his best to commit to his search for a utensil.

The recon nodded again, looking under the table for the metalworker's fork.

Calvin cast a furtive glance around the room. Most seemed to be having a good time. Ice and Ellie were dutifully stationed at the cursed table. "Hey, Alice." His tone was conciliatory. "You probably have more experience dealing with this than me, so you don't have to listen." He stopped pretending to search. "I don't know what you were talking about over there, but I know Ice and I know Ellie and..." His shoulders arched up as he tried to find the right words. "I don't think we're going to get out of here anytime soon. I don't know if we ever will." He looked over at Ice. "It's good to care about people in here. I think. It's going to hurt sometimes... but-" His voice lowered. "That also means that people are going to care about you too. And those people need you just as much as you need them." He froze, not sure what to anticipate from the recon.

"..." Alice expression softened, before she sighed in defeat. "I should leave...before I make things worse..." she muttered, then started to walk away. "I never did well with parties either way."

"Give me a fucking break, Alice." His voice was still low, but pointed. "You've gone through so much, and now you're checking out?" He took one step to follow her, but stopped. "You can do what you want. But I'm speaking from experience when I say that this shit won't work. And I think you know that too." His hands balled up. "I'm not any better than you. But I'm fucking trying." He paused a moment, but then turned back towards the buffet table, grabbing the fork he had spotted the minute they had arrived.

In everything that happened in such little time, Emily watched as Calvin arrived at the table and tried to make things less awkward instead it ended up feeling a bit more awkward for her, asking someone to help you get a fork and then climbing under a table didn't make everything back to normal, if Ice didn't notice it Emily wouldn't care but she decided to apologize to him." My actions were out of hand, I formally apologize."

The former caretaker could see that Ice held feelings for Alice when she struck her earlier she could feel the tension that it caused and noticed Ice's reaction." I will leave so I won't be a bother to you or anyone else." she told Ice before turning her back to the table and leaving, she glanced over her shoulder once taking a look at the other tables before she looked back ahead of herself.

Watching Alice move away dejected, Ice got up. He started to follow after her, only to hesitate once again. Moving over to the buffet table, he grabbed a cookie, "For helping... thanks." After giving Calvin a nod, he scanned the room for Faith. His weapon was a rather pressing matter. Not knowing where she would be, looked for Krista, only to realize she was still playing. Changing tactics, he looked for Felix or Daimyon, then moved over to table two.

Bliss was not entirely comfortable with the seating arrangement for her table. She liked that she was seated between Cyrus and Caora, but Lucy and Thomas were less than welcome additions. She didn't personally hate them, but it seemed like they had been intentionally avoiding everyone for the past few days. It was understandable, but Bliss believed in unity. But the atmosphere at the table was a little more tense with those two around. There wasn't even that much talking, aside from Lucy recalling everything she had been reading in the study over the past few days.

”...So it actually pays to get vaccinated. Even without a booster shot, you'll recover faster with less severe symptoms. It's a medical fact that...”

Bliss wasn't really sure if this was a great topic to start with. The last thing she wanted to think about was a virus or anything like that. ” So what you're trying to say is that it's a bit like substituting some of the sugar with applesauce in a cooking recipe?”

”Huh?”

”If you substitute some of the sugar with applesauce, you reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe. It doesn't entirely remove it, but it still tastes sweet.” Bliss nodded. ”Did you try the muffins? I did that with them.”

Lucy eyed one of the muffins on her plate. ”Really? I couldn't even tell. That's a cool trick!”

Bliss smiled and nodded.

”The basis of which is pointless. Anyone with even an ounce of self control wouldn’t care how much sugar is in a recipe.” Thomas remarked in regards to their prattle, nonchalantly. He looked down to a plate that had yet to be filled with food, and then back to the infinites at the table. ”Cooking in general, even, is just a pointless cultural artifact. Instead of worrying about macronutrients in pastries, humankind would be better off just manufacturing intravenous or oral supplements and living off those — the technology has been here years already. Don’t we have anything better to talk about?” Thomas asked, his own prattle rife with disinterest.

”I like sugar!” Caora shouted out in the middle of the speech, and then giggled with a blush. ”But I can’t have too many yummies...I need to watch my figure, hehe~”

“As much as I agree with your sentiment of practicality, Thomas. You overlook the positive effects of rich flavours and the relaxation that the hobby that is cooking brings to the people.” The politician presented as a counterargument. “There is little question that the eating and drinking of tasty foods and drink significantly adds to the experience of leisure. Sometimes, indeed, it is the core of a leisure experience.” He continued to prattle, enjoying the chance to discuss a more intellectual topic. “Furthermore, I would reckon the disappearance of cuisine would lead to the collapse of the tourism industry in particular, and subsequently the downfall of several nations. Such is the economical necessity of the product besides basic sustenance.”

Cyrus then turned to Bliss. “So on the topic of cuisine, I would very much like to hear more. I relish the chance to improve my own cooking.” He said, smiling at the Nanny.

Bliss cleared her throat with a cough. ”W-well, It's like Caora said. Not everyone can have a lot of sugar. This is why it's important to find substitutes for things, so that everyone can enjoy what you make.” Bliss placed a finger on her chin. ”As an example, you can completely replace sugar with honey, which won't raise a diabetic's blood sugar levels as much. And because honey is sweeter, you can use less of it. You also use less liquids in your recipe as well ”

Lucy stroked her chin. ”Maybe I should be learning this 'cuisine ' thing.”

Thomas was beginning to like Cyrus, much to the contrary of what he had seemingly proclaimed days before. Although Cyrus didn’t appeal to Thomas’s own beliefs, he was eloquent and commanded respect from his peers. Truly, Cyrus was a deserving candidate to be the Infinite Politician.

However, as evidenced by his first remark, Thomas himself did not have much interest in cooking; and as evidenced by Cyrus’s, he lacked an relevant understanding of it too. Seeing as he didn’t have anything to contribute to the conversation, he directed his focus elsewhere. Specifically, Table Three, something interesting seemed to be happening there.

Unlike Thomas, Cyrus had made an effort to pointedly ignore the going-ons of table three. Once again he was reminded that some of their company, such as quarreling fools over there, had apparently never been to any kind of proper gathering of sorts. How else could Cyrus explain that some people did not even manage to appear civil amongst all of their fellows in this confinement? It was honestly a rather baffling display. Instead, he preferred the company of people who could at least entertain him with a simple conversation, such as table one. “I have tried to learn cuisine. And I must say my abilities are… sub-par, unfortunately.”

.As soon as bliss opened her mouth to speak, the entire table shifted. “Ah!” Bliss's eyes shot open as she grabbed a hold of the table. Felix hadn't hit the table especially hard, but the impact was enough to make bliss jump a little bit. The nanny looked up from the table, and flashed a nervous smile. ”W-e can't be good at everything. But practice makes perfect.” The nanny glowed with joy as the conversation carried on.

Lucy yawned and stretched. It wasn't long before she needed to use her hand to hold her head off the table. The fingers on her other hand rapped against the table as she waited for the seconds to tick by.”Hey Caora?” She eyed the trap. ”Are you any good at dancing?”

Caora looked back at Lucy with a puzzled expression. ”Hm? Me?” He asked, pointing at himself. ”Ummmmmmmmmm...I’ve only danced with daddy; I kept my feet on his, and he danced well, so….Maybe? Ehehe~” He giggled, blushing from the embarrassment.

”I see, sounds like you could use some practice.” Lucy stood up. ”Fortunately, you are in the presence of a dancing prodigy! I mean, sort of.” she pushed her fingers together. ”A-anyway, just make sure you don’t step on my feet and you’ll be fine. I’m sure I can dance well enough for the two of us. You should really be thankful you get to dance with someone like me. I know I would!” Lucy stepped away from her seat to approach her dancing partner.

It did Cyrus well to see the Nanny perk up in comfort as she was enjoying the conversation. But all good conversations had to change subject sometime as the dancefloor was starting to get occupied. Cyrus was somewhat surprised to see Lucy invite the trap to a dance. She didn’t seem like the type to deign herself to invite someone she’d definitely consider below her station. Alas, maybe the politician had misunderstood the prodigy?
Nevetheless, the dancefloor waited. And the poltician wasn’t above joining it. “Bliss, would you mind joining me?” he asked, extending his hand to her as he invited her.

She extended her hand. “N-not at all! I would love to!” her other hand reached for her umbrella. This one didn't have a giant pick on top of it.“I hope you don't mind if I dance with a prop.”

Cyrus didn’t really see a reason why she would dance with a prop, but he saw no reason to object. “Not at all.” He answered simply, then he lead her to the dancefloor. With one hand in hers, he set the other on her waist to lead in the dance to a slow, but happy tune. He was most curious, however, why she had taken this prop for the dance.

”Oh, uhm...” Caora hesitated, averting his eyes; his blush deepened. But then, he giggled again. ”Ok, let’s dance! I want to dance all night, and be a pretty dancing princess!” He took Lucy’s hand, and then joined her to the dance floor. He made simple steps, but showed to have surprisingly good athletic ability, never breaking a sweat. ”Ehehe...This is fun!”

”Oh, you're actually pretty good at this.” Lucy was able to keep up with Caora's rhythm, but her expression wasn't nearly as relaxed as Caora's was. ”But how long can you hold up? Fwahahaha!” Anyone watching the two dance might guess and say “longer than lucy.”

When bliss got up on the stage with Cyrus, she opened her umbrella and rested the pole on her shoulder. And then she started to shift side to side. “I'm not a very flashy dancer, but I remember watching some musicals when I was younger.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m just about average as well.” Cyrus said, but one look at his form showed he was being modest. Surely he was no professional, but he definitely danced good enough to impress high society. The slow tune allowed Cyrus to take his time and help Bliss getting into the dance by leading.

The nanny continued to dance at her modest pace while Caora and Lucy lit up the dance floor around them. “About earlier.” Bliss danced further away from everyone. “I didn't really want to burden you with that earlier, but I'm glad you were there to hear me. I've been feeling much better recently.”

Cyrus smiled softly at the Nanny. “It was my pleasure to hear it.” He responded to her, then he paused for a second. “I, too, have been feeling a lot better as of late. Less… angry.” With Cyrus’s reputation, it wasn’t hard to imagine what he was talking about exactly. “I think both you and Krista are very courageous in that regard...” He added, before switching topics. “Say, have you been to the third floor yet?”

“I was there a few days prior, after Felix invited me to help set up this” Bliss looked all around herself. “I didn't do any exploring, mostly just talked over a few design choices with Krista and everyone else. I most certainly didn't enter the hospital side. That entire pillar of this place just startles me.” Bliss winced, but then she smiled. “Of course, if we went together, I don't think it would be so bad.”

“I’ve had a look around. There was a carnival there.” Cyrus said, keeping up the dance’s moderate pace while talking. “I was wondering if you might want to go there with me.” He said, before pausing again. “I… might have some things of my own to say.” He continued with uncertainty in his voice.

“O-oh.” Bliss almost missed a step, but she she was able to catch herself. “Um, yes! I would love to! A carnival sounds good.” The corner of Bliss's smile twitched. “I hope the sisters didn't tamper with it too much, it could be a nice place to visit.”

The atmosphere around them seemed to be very different than table three and it was only then that Ice realized Felix and Daimyon were both out on the dance floor. While Ice may have been a stick in the mud, that didn't mean he was some abhorred character as to interrupt their dancing. It was strange to him how they could seem so joyous stuck in this hell and he actually took a second to stop and stare. Ice himself had never really danced, so it wasn't something the Blood Donor knew much about. After a few more moments, Ice scanned his eyes around the room for someone else to ask before landing on Max, still sitting at the almost empty table.

"Past the ballerina stage?" He asked the police officer. He still was a bit wary of his occupation's mortal enemy, especially after their spat at the door, but he'd definitely know the answer to Ice's question.

"I can't afford it; can't keep an eye on everyone when I'm distracted." Max was a bit surprised that Ice chose to interact with him of all people, but was still in a generally good mood just seeing everyone enjoying themselves. "But you don't have to worry about that, raising morale is why we hosted it, so enjoy yourself."

Something about Max's words made Ice want to throw on either an awkward smile or a devilish smile, but both of those were far out of character for him. It must be his thug blood crying out to be defiant or something along those lines. Again, he didn't exactly want to disrupt the harmony, but after the shintock that just happened earlier, it might have been beyond saving. Trying to prolong this moment, he watched the dancers more closely. "Is that noel out with Daimyon? I didn't peg her as a Daniella."

Max eyed Noel for a second before turning to Ice. "Looks can be deceiving."

And with that, Ice ran out of things to say. Honestly, the question had been more to the air than to the police officer and now the Blood Donor was feeling self-conscious. It wasn't like he had ever talked about girls to another guy, and would a proper righteous man of society even do something like that? On the inside, Ice was a wreck of nerves and he stayed silent for a few moments. "How's Daimyon's character? I haven't interacted with him much, but he seems like a wild card..."

His thoughts wandered, mixing in and out of his logic side and imagination, what would Alice dance like? Had she ever danced with the Quack? Why was he even thinking about this in the first place?!

Ice couldn't make it more obvious, social interaction was not his strong suit. Max was actually starting to feel a bit bad for the blood donor; enough to warrant small talk at least.

"He definitely acts kind and mature, but you're right, there's more to him than meets the eye. At least that's what my gut is telling me." Max motioned his hands for Ice to take a seat; although unconvinced that Ice will actually sit down. "clouded thoughts huh?"

Ice's eyes, which had been following the dancer's immediately moved to meet Max's. "You... hold up..." The Blood Donor was blushing like mad, trying his best to compose himself quickly, but it was blatantly obvious what he was thinking about. After a certain amount of agonizing moments, Ice went back to scowling, "...Blunt much?"

Not bothering to take a seat, he stared the Officer down, "The both of you really are buck wild, do you compare notes when you spar?" He motioned over to Noel, still dancing.

Max's gave a short chuckle, it seemed like Ice was starting to find his ground. "It's a great way to start the day, and a lovely lady like Noel only makes it better...Now I was going to respect your privacy, but seeing as we've thrown that in the trash, Who would you spend the morning with?"

If it had seemed like Ice was blushing before this moment, that was entirely wrong. If this had been a cartoon, puffs of smoke would have been blowing out of his ears and his mind immediately went to that traumatizing moment. Ice opened his mouth to say something, only to close it once again. Max had officially gotten the jaw drop reaction he must have been going for. "No comment," he hissed. His image of Max as some justice driven righteous person had been completely thwarted.

"I see." Max already had an idea where the smoke from Ice's ears was coming from. Contrary to popular beliefs, Max was quite aware of Ice and Alice's interactions these past days and it wasn't hard to connect the dots from there. "So when did you first start feeling that way?"

Now Ice was just getting more and more annoyed, "Stop stabbing the dead horse." He dropped his palm onto the table and bent closer to Max, "I have a request."

It seemed like Ice wasn't going to soften up any time soon so maybe it was time to start taking him serious. "Alright, go ahead."

The desire to teach Max the meaning of respect drove into Ice's head for a split second, but he knew that wouldn't stand. He took a step back, knowing he would definitely need the extra space. Trying to move on to the more serious topic Ice put his emotionless mask on and gave another glance at the dance floor before saying, "I need my chain back."

As soon as the words left Ice's mouth, Max tensed up. All kinds of thoughts went viral in his head as he considered the implications of Ice's question. from the outside it must have looked like a death glare appeared on Max's face, but soon after changed to a more neutral expression.

"If you want it, you'll have to leave the party. But consider staying a while longer, at least try to have fun."

As expected, the look on Max's face could a many of Ice's former colleagues start confessing, but this was Ice's element. "I'm not planning on staying, wouldn't want to ruin the party." He was leaning his hip against the table, his fingers stretching in and out as it felt the absence of his deadly companion.

"Look I know you don't feel safe without it, but we were very thorough, you have nothing to fear." Max was trying to sound comforting, but his undertone seemed almost like a warning.

If there was such a thing as police dialect, then Max's last line would definitely hit the mark. "There's no such thing as absolute trust in this hell." He stopped his hand from balling into a fist, not wanting to seem too violent or else his weapon really would never be returned.

Max knew of Ice's struggles, the last trial made it very clear. Isaiah Matthews had lost the ability to trust. It was dangerous, but trust goes both ways, so maybe, by giving him the chain, Max could get one step closer to his heart.

"Talk to Faith if you want your weapon back...I just hope it will be worth it."

Ice gave him a questioning look, he had thought that Max would be a lot harder on him and draw it out... It seemed like his Honeypot method had worked! Well, maybe honeypot wasn't the correct term, but in the end, his small talk had paid off! Not knowing what else to say, Ice gave the Officer a quick nod and started for the hallway.

But before he moved out of earshot, he said over his shoulder, "Keep them all safe."

With food, a dance floor, and music all prepared by infinites, there was little to hate about the party. Of course there were a few sour apples. Not everyone thrived in social environments, and some simply thrived where they were always unhappy, or could make others unhappy. Most of such individuals left, and the party was back in full swing.

Though there was an uninvited guest.

Everyone was so enthralled with their dance partner, their musical instrument, or their food, their something that they didn't notice the bear show up. His height lent itself to that, and his black and white body blended in with the table cloths and the shadows. Or maybe he was simply overlooked as a penguin. Not that the despair bear in good lighting could ever be mistaken for a hope penguin.

”Now isn't this sweet as honey.” Monokuma wasn't quite loud enough to be heard over the music. ”Only in a place like this, surrounded by despair, could such a shoddy thing be considered a party.” The bear started to walk out onto the dance floor. ”Despair can make water taste like wine, deep fried chicken becomes thanksgiving turkey. Without misery, none of life's little spenders would mean a thing. You can't appreciate clean air until you've taken your first whiff of car exhaust.” By this point, people were starting to notice Monokuma walking across the dance floor. Krista wasn't going to stop playing, but she almost missed a few notes. ”Hey! It's not polite to stare at someone without a dancing partner! Maybe Mrs. Killgood left me a few years back, but that doesn't mean you young kids get to look at me like that! We'll see how you fair when you're a single parent surrounded by troublesome daughters!” Monokuma continued to walk in a straight line. He had a destination, a purpose. And it was at table two. The bear bent his knees and hopped onto the table. He scanned everyone in front of him. ”Wait, really? I arrived early? A doctor should be punctual, but it's not really that cool you know?” Monokuma turned to look at Mercy ”Well? You're a doctor too right? What do you think about that?” Mercy dropped her glass of punch and took hold of her neck. Something was seeping out of the corners of her mouth. At first it looked like she was just coughing up some punch, but it became clear to everyone that she was coughing up blood. Lots of it. With her free hand, she took hold of the table and vomited. But the only thing that came up was more blood. She had another convulsion and released the table. Marcy fell onto her back, blood still oozing out of her mouth. She wasn't moving. ”So uh.” Monokuma lifted a paw to his face. ”Is it still a body discovery if it was never hiding?”

---

Felix was enjoying himself, for the first time after getting stuck in this hole. There was hope, trusting bonds were being formed. The free runner could vividly imagine the whole crew getting out of here together, and becoming a big happy infinite family.

Not even Monokuma’s sudden appearance and convoluted speech could get Felix down. The bear’s words held no sway over this place and time…or so he thought.

Right next to Felix, Mercy collapsed to the floor. For all the things he could have done, the boy simply stood there, watching her with an almost emotionless expression; or maybe it was more accurate to say that his emotions simply left his body.

“Shit!” with a loud bang, the chair that Max was seated in flipped over as the cop rushed over to Mercy. Without hesitation, he hastily started scanning Mercy to find out what was happening to her. He put his fingers to Mercy’s bloodied neck, but the adrenaline shooting through his veins made it unclear if he was feeling her pulse, or his own.

“Felix! Apply CPR to Mercy.” It could be completely useless to do so, but it was all they could do until they knew what happened.

“W-what?”

“Now!” Max commanded as he got up and started searching the area for clues.


With slow movements, Felix sat down next to Mercy. He had only taken a rudimentary First-aid course years ago, but if his memory served him well…He swiped away some blood from her mouth before bloodying his lips with hers, filling her lungs until the air escaped again by Felix’s push on her chest.

He kept doing this, again and again and again and again. But slowly, panic started to overtake him. Mercy wasn’t moving and nothing was changing. He didn’t realize it, but tears were streaming down his face. But he kept reanimating her until he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Help.” He whispered.

“Somebody help.” He said.

“Why won’t anyone do anything, she’s dying! Please, help her!” He cried.

At this point, Felix had stopped everything he was doing. Although only a minute or 2 had passed since Mercy collapsed to the ground, for him, it felt like an eternity.

Hematemesis... No. Hemoptysis. Thomas quickly identified Mercy's ironic affliction. It was unfortunate, but there was nothing to be done about her condition. Even a dedicated team of specialists would find themselves hard pressed to deal with spontaneous hemoptysis. Perhaps Mercy herself could have done something, but she eclipsed Thomas in medical experience by nearly a decade. There was no way around it, this was it for Mercy Evergreen.

Thomas paused, staring intently at Felix and Mercy. If not for the grave situation, he may have thought Felix’s pose somewhat comedic. Here was Mercy’s only samaritan cloaked in the blood of his rescuee, how ironic. Still, Thomas did not plan to cultivate Felix's belief that Mercy Evergreen could be saved. He imagined his words like a bucket of ice, a means for the Infinites to escape their stupor. Instead, he came off cold and uncaring.

”There's nothing we can do. Mercy Evergreen, the Infinite Plague Doctor, has been murdered.”

---

There was another brief pause, with silence that was so smothering that it may as well have been an ocean. If any of the Infinites objected to what Thomas just said, he paid them no heed. Instead, he took this opportunity to process what had just happened.

Thomas lamented the loss of Mercy not for her person but her talent. It was not a coincidence that her the motive was the horseman virus and Mercy was the plague doctor. Through this biased motive, the infinite plague doctor was plastered with a target by virtue of her talent.

Coincidences don’t exist, and that’s what Thomas truly believed. Luck, chance, anything that someone attributes to some mysterious omnipotent source has time and time again been proven to be the result of countless ever changing variables. These variables overwhelmingly pointed to one thing:

Mercy death was unnatural. This didn’t just happen on a whim. The Hemoptysis and Monokuma’s arrival ultimately confirmed this.

This implications of this should be fairly obvious, but he would have to take a look to see if any of the rules had changed since his arrival. There were more important matter at hand to deal with now.

Thomas grabbed a napkin from his plate, got up, and made his way to Felix and Max. Without a word, he tossed the napkin to Felix. Thomas entertained the thought of whatever afflicted Mercy being infectious but quickly stifled any action on that thought. If it was infectious, Felix was a dead man walking. Any pretense of help would just extend an otherwise excruciating death. Thomas had a hunch that this wasn't the case though...

He then turned to the body, and began to make sense of this situation. Aside from the areas where Felix and Max had prodded her, Thomas could see that Mercy was quickly becoming pale. It would be pointless to try and find a pulse. There was something that irked Thomas, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. Figuring out this case could be done during the court of carnage. Thomas had all the info he needed for now.

Still, unsatisfied, he turned away. He pulled out his handbook at looked at it expectantly. ”If we define death as the cessation of the heart; Mercy Evergreen has been dead for several minutes." Thomas rhetorically glanced at his watch, and then directed his attention to the Infinites favorite dichromatic ursine. "At this time it would be against the rules for this to be your" — Thomas practically spat the word — "fault, ergo, we know that this is the work of one of us. Ah, in other words, there will be a trial for the murder of Mercy Evergreen, correct?”

As Ice left the party, an uncomfortable feeling dropped to the pit of his stomach. He had seen how Allie’s death had affected the Matchmaker and Ice thought he had seen the lasting effects of it. The way Faith’s smile would waver slightly, the way she held herself. After Aleecia had... given up her life for the other girl, Ice had decided that Faith wouldn’t die, she just couldn’t. He wouldn’t let Aleecia’s life be wasted in vain. And so, the Blood Donor had decided to not only seek Faith out for his trusted metallic companion, but also to figure out what the hell their relationship was... and get her to stop calling him gay!

After a bit of reasoning, Ice headed for the second floor and arrived at Faith’s room. Who know what it would look like, considering what her Infinite was. Taking another breath, Ice fidgeted before giving the door a quick and decisive knock.

"Just give me the book, okay? I've got something I want to put in it, for you to remember! Stop struggling and let me do it!"

What music there had been filtering through the walls of the Patient's Quarters died down after a while, on schedule. Together they had developed a fitting series of events - the planning leading to the concert, then the party, ending soon before the Night of Carnage could even muster the chance to spring into action.

They had made sure on several fronts that the Concert and Party would be safe, could be considered, at the time, and perhaps any time, the safest place within the entire Infinite Killing Game. Every inch scoured, every unwanted exit blocked and every table posited with an appropriate combat equipped member, covering every corner of the room. From an outside view, it perhaps could have appeared a paranoid mind had developed the system by which the Concert would be performed under. Full body checks, the quarantine of any and all unwanted and potentially dangerous implements, effectively round the clock surveillance of the food bar by the watchful eyes of Cyrus and Bliss.

Faith wouldn't agree. Faith wasn't one to cut corners when it came to the enjoyment nor the safety of her guests. Faith had spirited herself away to her room. The violin and the piano permeated through cold, matte, tiled walls and wooden cabinets stocked of varying and assorted "components", vibrating liquids in their glassy shells until it grew quiet. It was scheduled to start up again soon after, but still, it punctuated a point on Faith's internal timeline, her room lacking the basics of a clock.

She had remained behind for a short while after the commencing of the Concert simply to observe what Krista had properly planned. Not everything was laid bare to the committee behind it. The poem was seldom shared, and her revelation of secrecy certainly wasn't broadcast prior to their commencement. Faith had never intended to stay in the first place, didn't wish to stick around to watch people galavant and jaunt and dance upon the space. Secrecy strengthened that. Reminded her of her own secrecy.

"There, on the first page. Well... the back of the front cover. I-I dunno what it's called, but it's there! Hmm? What'dya mean why? You take that book with you all the time! I want you to have something to remember me whenever you go off on trips to meet clients, or head to Axis Mundi, kay~?"

The music began again. It began again, vibrating the glasses much the same as it had before. Her room was so close the the event, she almost regretted isolating herself there. The distance between them and her felt so miniscule, what purpose she had sought in solitude evaporated in violin renditions of cheerful melodies. It marked an hour. Or just less.

Through music she could here footsteps, the proximity between her bed and the door voiding the encompassing beauty of strings. One. Two. Three. Three steps of footsteps, exiting their carefully planned event. That certain paranoid mind made thoughts visible. It had checked for weapons and blocked exits. It hadn't thought of insider squabbles. Had people fought, forcing retreats from guests? Did they not find the event to their pleasing? She couldn't check, but she could imagine.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Faith looked towards the door. Trained it in her sight. Her knuckles tightened white clutching against the Tome, and with it pressed into her chest, she stood from the bed she found herself laying upon, slinking across tiled hospital floors to open the door upon her caller. Why had another person left the Party? What possible reason could they have had to venture from the festivities? So she opened the door.

"O-oh, Ice... hello." disheveled might not have appeared far from the truth, despite the lack of obvious mismanagement in her clothing nor countenance. It felt more, though, as something eminently… Faith, that once may have beaconed from her smile, a champion to eccentric ways, was distinctly lacking. ”Can I help you?”

Ice knew he was taking too much time and that he would take a lot longer. He needed to go after Alice for both his and her sake, but... This was the perfect opportunity for him to have a chance to talk to Faith in private, away from prying eyes. But when the door opened and Faith came out, Ice couldn’t help but again want to make an excuse and leave again. His own insecurities were pressing down on his chest, trying to avoid the situation and reality, but Ice had never been able to let things lie either.

A sigh slipped out of throat and he rubbed the back of his head as he contemplated how to go about this, really, Ice had no clue. He glanced at Faith’s disheveled look again and awkwardly mumbled, “May I come in? I wish to go over some... Sensitive topics.”

Hopefully this wouldn’t end as badly as table three had, Ice hadn’t jinxed it, had he?

She tilted her head, gazing at and past and through Ice as she did so. Her eyes trailed along the corridor, towards the entrance to the Resort. They lingered there for some time.
"Yeah... sure." her body turned in one motion, retreating back into the den she had so created away from prying eyes.

The door remained open as she did so, allowing Ice's entry. Faith didn't take any notice of him as she sat back down on the bed, Tome kept tight between two sets of knuckles and her knees, just below her skirt. The room wasn't as tidy as at first glance. Books were strewn haphazardly across the floor; few drawers lay open and tipped out, adding to the clutter; broken vials steeped in fluid bordered the curtain heralding the "bathroom".

"What did you wanna talk about?"

Considering Ice didn’t feel comfortable being here in the first place, he didn’t take a seat on the bed next to her. The Blood Donor took a few steps into the room before closing the door behind him, hoping that everything would go well long enough at the party for this to be over and done with. Ice spied another chair, but it shined with broken glass and that couldn’t have been sanitary. So the Blood Donor chose to just stand there, his right arm gripping onto the left. He scanned the room around him, his grip tightening ever so slightly as he took in the messy room. If he got a chance, the man would definitely give this room a good cleaning, if just for safety’s sake.

“You know how everyone here seems to have a secret, right? Krista just revealed hers... and I’m not exactly an example of an upstanding citizen.” He was already starting to regret not sitting down, but at least Faith was, this wasn’t exactly the conversation one should be having without taking a seat. Also, she looked a little like she would keel over without being grounded. “Actually scratch that, I don’t want to start with this. Well um... you see uh, Allie and I were...” He sighed again, rubbing his temples.

“I wanted to talk to you about... her.”

A sordid topic. Perhaps Faith might have been willing under different circumstances, but talking along such lines, as of the present, weren’t within her best interest. A grave look crossed her face, darkening her eyes as she looked down towards her Tome, regarding it as opposed to Ice’s conversation.

”I heard…” her voice finally cut through what silence could be found within the room: in breaks between songs; when they drowned the upbeat music out to focus on serious issues, ”I heard about you. You had a relation with the previous blackened, and you were the pivotal piece to solving the case."

Her gaze drifted from the Tome, finally releasing it from what seemed a cruelly cold and observant gaze, marked in indifference and apathy. That same gaze locked into Ice's eyes. Measuring him. Considering him.
"So why aren't you at the party, hmm~?" instead of a colder answer, her voice came out lighter and chipper, the staple of her speech - a sing-song attitude in structure, with a giggle soon after, "You're a fighter, y'know. I thought putting you and Alice as the guardians of the primary exit would make for some great security~" she flicked her gaze towards the door, beyond the door, past the hallway to the party through the walls. And returned with something of a pout, "But you had to leeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaveeee! No fair! Is Alice at least still there~?"

Well, she definitely didn’t like that. It wasn’t like this was the best time for the talk either... It hadn’t been long since Aleecia’s... passing. But this was the best opportunity they had to be alone and by god he had to get it out at some point. Again, Ice wanted to leave and let it lie, but he was pretty sure he’d getting an angry ghost on his arse if he did. This wasn’t for him... this was for her.

Ice’s expression went from sympathetic to emotionless, because by god, if that was how Faith was going to play it, he’d need to be the bad cop. If he had to beat from sense into her, he just might, that was what he would do to get Aleecia’s wish across. “Don’t give me that lovey dovey shtick right now Faith, this is serious. She had something she needed to pass on and I thought, and by god I don’t know why I thought that, you could help me with that. She wouldn’t have done that for you if she didn’t think you were worth saving and I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t see some of that too.”

What was he even saying? The Blood Donor had never been good at getting what he wanted to say across, he was an action person. What kind of action could even bring someone to understand this.

What had she expected? Smiles formed quickly and disappeared quicker, her's being no exception. What little radiance she mustered evaporated as she gaze switched from away from her guest. A small bag of power on the cabinet to his right. Maybe if she didn't listen she wouldn't have to deal with him and his attitude. Wouldn't have to deal with his sadness. His glaring and searing sadness.

"Hmmmmm~? What does it mean, what does it mean~?"

Expressions were developed for people to convey meanings obscured in riddles. A common place vernacular choice, indecipherable to the outside eye. Only a few people understood that certain expression. The one Faith bore in times of stress and duress and God knew what else; what tumultuous concepts tore at the sky like Leviathans behind the veil. That distinct vernacular. "Ferridium Iodide" written in felt tip across the material of a bag. A blank, apathetic expression, steeped in inhuman, indescribable nothing. Pure and simple absence.

"For Eternity Passes in the Blink of an Eye~"

"Ooooooh, that's so pretty~!

"But isn't it a little sad? What if someone with the Exodus were to blink? - saw all of existence cross their vision? Wouldn't that be sad?"

She guessed so. Maybe. Maybe the Exodus could blink through suffering like a tear. Let it drip down their cheek, to tarnish their shirt or dry on a cold, tiled floor. Like raindrops, and she couldn't help but cry. One tear, then another. Drip drip. The subtle incarnation of all nature's disdain.
"Aeternitas transit in ictu oculi." the tiny tremor of a lip punctuated sadness and beauty, "...she shouldn't have saved me..."

“Wait- Ah crap... Faith...” He stifled a sigh that wanted to slip out. He didn’t want it to sound like he was upset with her, because the sigh was just a reflex to the burning self-loathing the Blood Donor was feeling for himself. As he watched the progression from fake smiles to despair, the cold in his heart throttled his veins and arteries, it wouldn’t surprise him if he had internal bleeding. The grief in the room rebounded on him and left him out of breath as Faith’s first tear fell.

Coming closer, he gently sat down on the bed next to her and hesitantly brought a hand to smooth her hair down, before pulling her closer so that Faith’s head was on his shoulder. “Hey, just because you might not be able to see it, doesn’t mean you aren’t worth it. You’ve got oodles of awesome sauce glued to your back, but it’s in your blind spot, so it’s hard to tell.” He gave a small, embarrassed laugh, “And now I sound like a pansy, but I mean it.”

Things didn't feel right. She couldn't comprehend them properly, compute them in a way that made logical and reasonable sense. Progression from points A and B translated to lost causes, drifting aimlessly across voids and inconsequential spaces, unmarked territories of "unknown". Nocent whispers and rampaging struggles, explaining away the insane with remarkable ease - endless expanses, breached by a lack of understanding.

"For Eternity Passes in the Blink of an Eye..." boundless recollections cramped the voids, multiplying out, around, inside the breaches as cancers, "She really liked the phrase... She would say it was 'Sad and beautiful at the same time'." still sadness pervaded, "I don't get it... why... why save me..? I don't deserve it..."

He wasn’t getting through to her, that was obvious. And while he may have been known as a hardass, Ice wasn’t going to keep trying when she was like this. So instead, he just slipped his fingers through her hair, trying to reassure her with actions since his words hadn’t been able to get through to her. It wasn’t like this problem would go away with this little amount of comforting, but hopefully she could at least know he was there and with her.

“I made a promise, maybe not with words, but just as important. I’m going to protect you, because that’s what she wanted and it’s what I want to do. People may say it’s the right thing to do, but I don’t care about that, I’m just being selfish.” The Blood Donor had told himself he wouldn’t care about anyone else after what he had been through, but everyone at Axis Mundi were worming their way into his heart and melting him inside. “So I’ll be here when you need someone and here when you get sick of me.”

An unfocused beam of light. Faith wasn't one for staring off into space, one for zoning out, but at times it came as natural as breathing, to distance oneself from everything, in the safest refuge she could find.
"I promised them both that I would protect them and I failed. I promised them... I promised her... and I failed... I failed... I promised and I failed..." her voice grew a distant quiet, drifting softly into the tiniest, recursive whisper, over and over, a melancholic chant.

But she knew. Faith knew. Faith knew. She couldn't do this, couldn't waste time, hers or his. More important issues were at hand. She stop talking, formulated a sentence, tried to join words in her head that should have gone together but didn't seem to fit properly.
"You should get back to the party, y'know?" they were slow, a disjointed attempt, more like an experiment of pronunciation that any true statement, "People will wonder where you got to." the next experiment came a light giggle, "They might start rumours~"

Faith couldn't keep sitting down. She didn't want to. Clouds raged and storms thundered, but the rain was cool. And blood spilt, but at least the view was pretty. She stood from the bed, lightly shrugging Ice off to push away, twirling on the spot to face him.
"What was it you wanted to tell me, anyway, hmm~? You said Allie had something to pass on- is it really okay for me to know~?" the right intention, but the playful, childish giggle felt wrong.

He wanted to pull her closer when she started mumbling, but before he could she pushed him away. Now, Ice knew he had to be careful, more so than he had been before. Faith was the person that was supposed to lift people’s spirits and could change the atmosphere immediately, plus she was a mean fighter. While her normal banter was a bit annoying, at the very least it sounded more like the everyday Faith. Ice let his hand fall to his lap as he watched her get up.

“It comes with a bit of a backstory. It wasn’t something she wanted out of the open, but it really helped her to tell me anyway and I need help after we get out. She’s... She was a godmother, you know? It didn’t matter that she had a disability, her brother thought she would be the perfect parent if anything went wrong... But this also has to do with how she went blind in the first place.

“Her parents were the scum of the earth, I couldn’t tell you if they were better or worse than mine. After finding out her talent, they used her as their super luck charm, basically winning everything as long as it was a 1-in-6 chance. When she won anything big, they’d buy her presents like candy or toys, but if nothing came through they would either starve her or berate her. The only one that stayed with her was her big brother, but he was forced to move out of the house once he turned eighteen. When she got a bit older, she started saying she wouldn’t go to anything, but then the starving went on to beating.” His hand clenched as he spat out the last words, his face dark.

“One day her parents decided to go out to a horse race and brought her older brother with them. It was some big shindig or something and they were already talking about going on vacation after they got the big bucks. Seeing her brother gave her the strength she needed to make a difference. Instead of saying no, she chose the wrong horse on purpose. Allie’s parents put everything on that one win and lost it bad, not even having the right amount of money on hand. Her father got so angry that he threw her and bam her head cracked against the wall. When she woke up, she was in the hospital and her parents were gone. Her brother stayed with her and the Infinity Initiative saved her life, but just barely. Something went wrong or other and she ended up going blind because of it.

“Faith, her brother was the only one there for her, but he went and had a kid. He and his family are still out there thinking god knows what and... I’m not sure I can break it to them what happened.”

Faith took in the story quietly, standing afront the bed, watching as Ice recounted the story of Aleecia's life. Her face was hard to read, bearing no smile nor emotional mark to speak of. Instead she just listened. Maybe she thought her usual attitude was inappropriate for the situation, or she understood the gravity of what was being regaled to her. Whatever it was, it made telling the story easier.

As the tale wound down, she opened the Tome, skipping pages, until abruptly stopping, tracing the words or lines with a finger. She nodded.
"I can't believe people like that can exist in the world... I have to remember to give Allie a hug next time I see her!" she smiled, pulled a pen from her jacket, and noted something down, "As for you, your wish is my command~! We'll get out of here for sure, then we'll definitely find her family! I swear it upon my Astral Bond!"

A sigh of relief slipped out from Ice’s lips, he had been really worried he’d have to face this plight alone. Of course, we was still worried about how Faith was acting, but Ice felt like if he brushed that topic again, some scary caw-caw would go down. Instead, he gave a small nod and moved to another subject. “So, besides that, I heard you were the gal to talk to... I wanted to take my weapon back.”

Faith tilted her head to, eyeing Ice somewhat curiously with his brisk and abrupt change in conversation.
”Your weapon, hmm? You mean the little chain thing~? I might know where it is~!” she chirruped, smiling down at him, before flipping open a few pages of her book, ”Buuuuuut, I am of the strict order not to relinquish any weapons until party end! For the safety of the guests, after all; I’m sure you understand~”

“I know that it’s for the good of others, but I didn’t agree to this, I was pretty much forced to go to that blasted party and I’m not even going to be there anymore. Without my left hand working I need some kind of edge and I’m not leaving this room without it, capiche?” Time for plan intimidation and no budging. Ice stood up and gave her an intense stare down, not looking ready to be defeated on any front.

”Awwwwww~” Faith giggled, retrieving a blue felt tip pen from the lining of her outfit, before scribbling down a few what seemed to be words, but could easily have been nonsense squiggles, ”He thinks he’s intimidating~! It’s cute that the sub plays the tough guy, it really is, buuuuuut~” she turned, and from a cabinet behind her, slightly protruding from the shelves, pulled out his chain - spinning it in her hand with odd dexterity, as though she had used something similar to it in the past, ”I’ve got all the power in the world~! I mean, I am a prodigal Magus, after all~”

Before long it seemed she had gotten bored of playing with the chain, and let it coil up in her hand and drop to her side.
”So lets make a deal, kay? You promise to answer questions about Calvin and Alice after the party, and I’ll give you your little chain. Sound like a good trade? Yeah it does~!”

This assault on his masculinity at first made him almost a little scared, before diverging into anger. Sub? him? “First of all, we need to talk about this ‘gay’ thing, because it really is too much. And why would I be the bottom anyway?! And I am a tough guy!” He moved in front of the door and tried to keep his composure, his feet planted, but he couldn’t help fidgeting with nervous energy, he really wasn’t good with dealing with this side of Faith. “And fine... I’ll say what I can.” He held his hand out for his trusty sidekick.

”Trade deal accepted!” she chirped, sliding the chain from her hand before tossing it somewhat haphazardly across the room towards him. ”Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Matthews~!” then she walked up next to him, opened the door, and stepped out into the hallway, ”And anyway, we don’t need to talk about it, y’know? I get you’re uncomfortable - just come find me whenever, tough guy~” in a second she turned and took of somewhat running towards the party venue, waving behind herself as she went, ”Laters~!”

His hand instinctively shot out and caught the chain with a fair amount of dexterity as he watched her leave. He gave an exasperated sigh after sticking his head out the doorway and watching her run for the venue, violin playing loud and clear from the brightly lit area. Shaking his head, he closed her door before checking if it was locked. That Ruella was a piece of work.



Some time had passed, since Ice and Faith’s meeting, as within that time, though Faith wished she didn’t have to think about it, she held some minor regrets in returning to the festivities, as opposed to remaining in her room. She sat in the desolate remains of Table 3, watching as others danced their evenings away, and Krista played her violin like the last night of her life, and everyone enjoyed themselves, and the world turned slowly, and nothing could hurt anyone, in their sanctuary, their safe haven, wrought in hope.

Her goal from the start had been to create an utterly safe space, a place in which nothing bad could happen. She hadn’t quite met that goal, the empty table at which she sat was testament enough to that, but her primary goal had, at least for the moment, been met: no one was dead. Every measure had been taken to ensure a murder couldn’t happen. That wasn’t to say it was completely secure. She didn’t want to admit it, but there did remain the possibility. There were things she couldn’t account for, there were places she couldn’t blockade, or guard, few and far between, yes, but still, they existed.

And to think, the unthinkable could happen, before her eyes. Her curiosity peaked at Monokuma’s unwelcome arrival. His fascination and obsession with despair had left Faith the impression he would be more than deterred from coming to a party who’s soul directive was hope. And then she blinked, and the world started turning again. Mercy was dying, choking up blood and gripping at her throat. Perhaps she was too calm for the situation. Faith hadn’t thought it would be necessary, but she had scoured the entire area, and come across it. In the first second after reacting, she stood from the table, running her way off to the side, just behind Table 4 where, outside of sight, somewhat hidden, she tore a medkit from within the wall.

Yet too late. She got there too late. Again. The medkit fell from her hands, and she dropped to her knees behind Felix and Max, taking in Mercy’s body. Number ten…
”Yes, Thomas…” his cruel, cold, and off handed approach to addressing the situation left a bad taste in her mouth, but it wasn’t the time for infighting, ”There’s going to be another trial… of course there is… another…” she let out an unsteady breath, looking up from Mercy towards Monokuma, ”Well, Monokuma? Our doctor has pronounced the patient dead. Give us the Monokuma File…”

While Alice didn't mean to fight with Emily, she felt horrible for causing such dismay. Calvin's words only made the feeling of guilt worsen as she left the party, making her way to the first floor resort. Instead of retreating to the theatre, the recon sat down by the fountain and started to hum to herself, as to try and calm herself down.

After finishing up with Faith, Ice headed down to Alice's room, hoping to find her there while his thoughts were preoccupied with his earlier conversation. But when she was no where to be found, he started getting antsy, his hand moving over the chain at his waist to calm himself. The Blood Donor knew she probably wouldn't be anywhere near the party, so he started going through the first floor until he finally arrived at the fountain. She didn't exactly look like she wanted to be disturbed, so he sat a little ways away from her and popped a candy out of his pocket.

"I know you're worried about me." Alice spoke up, looking over to Ice. "Honestly, I'm alright. I just feel bad for yelling at Ms. Rishima." She sighed, "I didn't mean to, but her self-loathing just irritated me, and I couldn't help but argue back."

A small rye smile slipped over his face, "Honestly, what she was saying perturbed me too, I don't know what I'd have done if you didn't say anything." He slipped into silence again, rolling the wrapper in between his fingers, "And I know why you left. We all needed to cool off before things got worse and I'd hate to ruin what Krista started." He shifted so that his body was facing her, still focusing on the wrapping, "The main reason I followed was because of what you said to argue back." At his last word, his eyes moved up to meet the Recon's.

"Look, I couldn't control what I said to her, okay? Just drop it." Alice snapped at the blood donor, a hint of hostility in her voice. Once she had realize what she had said, the recon hid her head in her arms, mumbling a "sorry."

Before Ice could realize what he was doing, he had moved closer, grabbing onto Alice's hands and holding them in his own. "I-..." His momentum slammed to a halt and he looked down at there hands for a few moments, looking lost, then hurriedly let go. He let his hands rest stagnant on his legs as he starred down. "You have nothing to be sorry for, because I've been such an egotistial wanker these last few days, or even just in general, you can take me down a few notches. It's not my place to poke holes at anything when I've been giving you the cold shoulder." He brought a leg up and held onto it, resting his chin against his knee. "So I guess that's the best apology I can squeeze out."

Soon as the blood donor had finished apologizing, Alice had pulled him into a hug. "You didn't need to. I know how it is to isolate yourself from others, used to try my best not to get so attached to others after all, in fear that one day...I may lose them."

Ice slipped his arms back around the recon, with one hand around her waist and the other on the back of her neck and held her tight, "I can't lose you, dammit! I won't let them take you too, so don't you dare become a martyr like she did..." Tears slipped from his eyes silently as he hid his face in Alice's hair. "You, Calvin, and Faith... I won't let any of you die, even over my dead body."

"I..." Alice didn't like seeing her friend in pain. She hugged the blood donor closer and rocked in place. "It's okay, I-I won't leave you..." The recon told Ice, unaware that she had started crying. "I'll protect you, a-and we'll get out of here together, I promise."

They stayed like that for a long time before Ice gently pulled away and rubbed her hair. "Ya gotta stay alive long enough to see your brother, alright? And I've got a mission outside of here too." His hand slipped off and he rubbed his eyes sheepishly. "And look um... I know we just got all emotional and all, but um... The reason I pulled away wasn't because of something serious like that it was more of 'cause... well... I'm ahorridly awkward." He slipped a finger under the Recon's eye to swipe away a tear.

Slipping a hand over her mouth to hide the fact that she was blushing, Alice tried to hold back her giggling, and failed.

A fake hurt look came over Ice's face before he grinned and lightly flicked her forehead, "That's not very nice."

"Sorry, haha, I can't help it!" Alice giggled. "And I thought you couldn't be any cuter-" the recon quickly cover her mouth before she could finish her sentence, her eyes widened.

He had been holding back his own laughter when he heard her response and almost choked on air, "You- Wait what?!" A good amount of his face went red, reaching into his hair to the tips of his ears and he took that chance to look away. "That's lunacy, I-I'm not cute!"

After another moment he blurted, "I'm not about to be the only one embarrassed anyway! Because you see this-" He pointed to the pool of water from the fountain and then towards Alice's reflection once she looked in, "That's cute too."

Once the recon had realized what the blood donor meant, she lightly punched his arm in a blushing mess.

This time Ice couldn't help but laugh,his stomach almost hurting from how hard he did, having watched her between the moments of confusion and realization. He was still blushing like mad, but at least she had now joined him. He slipped a hand down into the water and watched the ripples, looking mesmerized.

"I'm not cute..." Alice mumbled under her breath, crossing her arms and looking back down at her reflection, as a small smile creeped onto her face.

It was a shame to cut that smile short, but Ice had already made a plan of action and was seeing it through. Once Alice had peered into the water, he flicked his wrist and water sprayed in her direction, mostly getting on her hair.

With a shriek, she quickly took a step back from the fountain, raising her one of her arms up to where the water had hit her. "Oh a wise guy, eh?" She looked over to Ice with a grin, before splashing him back.

A chuckle slipped out as he splashed her harder, making full use of his larger arms to make sure she was soaking wet. Sure, it'd be a pain to deal with later, but for right now, Ice was ready to get a little silly, take the edge off.

In a fit of laughter, Alice used both her arms to splash the blood donor back. "Is that all you've got? Haha!"

Egged on by her words, Ice wrapped his right arm around her waist before depositing her onto her butt into the fountain, before patting her head, "I win?"

The recon nodded, chuckling before pulling him into the fountain too.

After a bit of sputtering, he pushed his bangs to the side and sighed, "You're a poor loser, that you are." His white shirt grew slightly transparent revealing the chain wrapped around his waist and a large scar right below his heart.

Upon seeing the scar, Alice's curiosity was peaked as the recon reached over to touch it.

It wasn't round enough to be a bullet wound and seemed more like something made with a knife, but it also didn't look like it went straight in, had a rib gotten in the way? Before Alice could touch it, Ice caught her hand and stared at her, almost confused at what she was looking at before finally it dawned on him, "Bad fight, hurt like a hellion on crack, no biggie." Ice sombered up right away and pulled Alice out of the water before starting to drain the water out of his shirt. The end of the chain blade clanked against his hip as he did so, looking sharper than before, he must have done some work on it.

"Oh." Alice replied, the blood donor's answer only making her even more curious. Knowing that he wouldn't be comfortable talking about it, she shrugged the feeling off. "So, how'd you get your weapon back?"

"Faith, uh-" He coughed a little before muttering, "Graciously gave me my chain after I asked." His face got a little red when he said that, scratching at the back of his neck.

"'Graciously' huh?" The recon crossed her arms, an eyebrow raised.

His blush ran deeper as he continued, "...She said something about me being a sub and how my tough guy act was 'cute'." He added hand quotations at the last line.

"Wait what?" Alice asked, raising her voice a bit. "What gave her an idea like that?"

He let out another exasperated sigh, "Because of the gay thing. You know, never mind..." He took a seat back on the side of the fountain, pulling his shirt off his chest to air it out.

The recon rolled her eyes from hearing about Faith's speculation again. Trying to find a way to be friends with the matchmaker was a little more difficult than she wanted. Looking back over to Ice, Alice quickly looked away again, blood rushing back to her face as she brought a hand up to her eyes.

Ice gave the shirt a look of disdain before looking up at Alice, "Hey, are you ok-" That's when he heard an anguished male voice yelling from the above. Flinching, Ice hurriedly stood up and grabbed onto Alice's hand. While he didn't exactly want to bring her closer to the danger, he didn't want to leave her unprotected and weaponless either, "Let's go!"

Once she heard it, the recon quickly looked over to where the scream had come from. Starting to regret not having her sword with her, when Ice had grabbed her hand, Alice nodded in reply and sprinted back to the party.

---

When they both made it back, she could've sworn her heart had stopped at what she saw.

"M-Mercy...?"

Next to Felix was Mercy's lifeless corpse, lying on the ground.

Alice collapsed onto her knees, her expression frozen in fear as tears freely fell from her eyes.

As soon as Ice surveyed the scene, he knew she was already gone, especially with Felix's appearance from trying to resuscitate her. He glanced over at Monokuma with his jaw clenched, his hand moving towards his chain, just itching to attack him. He had been the cause of so many dead and Ice hadn't been able to do anything, again. His glare suddenly shifted when he heard the Alice's small voice. Now wasn't the time to think about himself. He quickly dropped to the ground in front of her and pulled her head to his still damp chest, not wanting her to see anything else.

Not hesitating to wrap her arms around him, she couldn't hold her sorrow back any longer, and started to sob.

His grip around her tightened, his left hand aching, but he didn't care. He wanted to say something to reassure her, but there was nothing to say, he wasn't one for nonsense talk either.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." Alice managed to choke out. "Don't leave me too...Please..."

Thomas's words barely registered in his head as he tried his best to block out the rest of the world from Alice's view. His head tilted slightly as he heard Faith's unsteady voice and his jaw clenched again. This was supposed to be the safe zone Faith helped create afterall, he vainly hoped this wouldn't mess too much with her psyche. He slid his palm down and flattened Alice's hair before placing his head on top of hers. Even though it looked like Ice was the one comforting the recon, it was working both ways.

Round two was magical. Daimyon felt much more on the same wavelength with Noel, and it reflected in their dance. They drifted around on the dancefloor with surprising grace to the slower, melodic number. The poet knew not how long it lasted, he only knew he wanted it to last longer. It was an all too brief escape from reality; this whole party was. Damn silver linings—he was looking at a sunny sky at last, basking in its warmth. Even Monokuma's unprompted and certainly uninvited appearance, which he barely noticed, could not bring him down.

Noel also had far too much fun to notice everyone’s least favorite ursine sneak into the party. Was there ever another time she was going to get to dance like this again? It wasn’t until the bear really began its venture onto the dancefloor that Noel was forced to notice it by virtue of almost knocking into him. Why did monokuma have to disrupt their first chance at true leisure in such a long time? Well Noel was about to find out. The delightful chords faded away, drawing attention to a terrifying coughing fit. Daimyon looked over to his table and saw the moment warmth gave way to cold, and life to death. The sunny sky darkened and a shattering storm struck. The magic was over.

Mercy was dead.

Others reacted before Daimyon did, rushing to the woman's aid. Felix tried to resuscitate her, but someone else—Thomas, the poet recalled, a newcomer he had not spoken to much so far—quickly declared her dead. There was no reason not to believe him: Mercy lay in a pool of blood, pale and motionless. Dead without ever seeing her killer.
It was definitely scoop-worthy. The infinite plague doctor tragically dying in the middle of the party. The destroyed Felix trying to save his amour, but it was obviously not going to work. How was blowing air into her mouth going to help when she was choking due to her blood-filled lungs? No, they didn’t have the tools indeed to save Mercy. All Felix was doing was putting himself in danger of ingesting whatever it is that had caused this to Mercy. ”I’m sorry Felix.” She muttered softly. ”It’s too late…”

Noel’s words also forced Daimyon to believe it. After he had accepted the fact, other details caught his eye. It was a nonviolent murder, and that somehow made it even ghastlier. Pieces of broken glass were scattered around her, and it did not take long for the poet to reach the likely conclusion. The questions did not cease with that, however, but only multiplied. Why her?

---

It was the day after Felix had recruited the Infinite Poet for a higher cause—organising the event that would bring the despaired group hope once again. Daimyon was sitting in his room, wildly flipping through the pages of his notebook, looking for inspiration. After hearing the runner's and Krista's instrument practice earlier that day, he wanted to write an accompanying piece, but his train of thought ground to a halt a couple lines in. Lacking other sources, he tried revisiting his earlier work to ignite the fires again. Finally he seemed to have found a poem to go on; it was in the very first section of his notebook, where he had copied over works from previous iterations of the document. Being a prolific author and a frequent note-taker, the current booklet was not Daimyon's first. A couple selected poems from early on in his career had survived every switch and loss and were present in this one.

In the middle of reading said work, however, the screen in his room suddenly turned on. It snapped the poet right out of his creative reverie, and he looked at the appearing monochromatic bear with much annoyance. He was presenting a new motive, something about a virus and a mask. In his mind Daimyon knew it was important, and he did listen to the end of the broadcast, but that was all. When the screen faded to black once more, he turned back to his notebook and his eyes caught an entirely different, though similarly old, poem.



It was the first part in a series, though the other pieces were elsewhere. Daimyon shook his head and returned to reading over his original choice.

---

He could not figure out why anyone would target Mercy specifically—was she even targeted? Did it matter at all for the killer who drank the punch? It seemed unlikely. Plagued with heavy questions and lacking answers, the poet found himself agreeing with Faith.

“Yes. Give us...anything we can start on. Please.”

Cyrus grunted at the tragic end of the infinite plague doctor. Was nothing sacred anymore? Had someone truly found a way to even turn the infinite’s sole moment of respite into this kind of mess? The thought alone made him angry, furious. His knuckles whitened as he clenched his hands. He felt the need to scream, yell, bark commands in order to get this situation in order. But was that really going to help? No, no it wasn’t. Slowly he called down again, despite a maelstrom of anger still actively coursing through his mind. Was it the visage of Bliss from the corner of his eye? Or was it his helplessness, having no skills that’d save Mercy’s life? Who could say. Cyrus just felt pretty damn terrible regardless.

Cyrus had the urge to spit at the bear and his quips, but he restrained himself. Instead, he tried to do what he could do, try to keep the rest safe. “Yes, please do sound the damn discovery announcement. After all, we just deduced that he have found a dead body, with more than three people.” He said at the bear, as obvious as it sounded. “I believe the true definition of death to be the cessation of all bodily functions. And I sure as hell believe moving to be one of those.” He responded to Thomas, but that wasn’t the point of his remark. “You know the rules, bear. Without that body discovery announcement, the night of carnage and further killings are allowed to occur. So unless you mean to say this is not a goddamn murder right in front of our eyes, sound that damn announcement, now.”

Following that bout, Cyrus found himself agreeing with the rest. ”I guess we have an investigation to do then…” He sighed, then looked at the bear expectantly of the monokuma file.

Calvin had remained at the table, angrily chewing on the cookie that had been left behind. Had he spoken out of turn? Likely. But that was how Calvin always had been. He turned around at the sound of a glass falling, only to see the Infinite Plague Doctor collapse while vomiting blood. "Fuck!” He ran towards the doctor, but others were surrounding her. For half a moment, he thought of running for help, but he realized dully that only she would have been capable of doing anything.

He turned away for a moment. The lump in his throat felt particularly pronounced as he tried to swallow, to no avail. His back turned to the group, his body shuddered. "Not again.” He whispered. Stiffly, he drew his hands over his face, finding only the slightest bit of comfort in their familiar feeling. "Keep it together, Ibbs.” When the gauntlets left his face, his mouth was a taut line and his eyes seemed cold. He looked back to the group that was crowded around his corpse. He walked over, taking careful breaths.

"Who was sitting with her? Who talked to her?” He looked down at the body for a moment, but realized it was a mistake as he felt his stomach quiver. "How the fuck did we let this happen?” It wasn’t quite clear what he was talking about, but he didn’t bother clarifying. "And where are-”

“"They.” His tone went flat for moment. Ice and Alice entered the banquet hall, and Calvin felt dread come over him as he realized what Alice was about to face. He almost stepped in front of her, but with a wince remembered how poorly received his last words had been. He shook his head lightly.

Several of the infinites had already asked the bear for the Monokuma File, and Calvin nodded along. As horrifying as Mercy’s death was, Calvin wanted revenge. If he couldn’t take it on the Carnage Sisters, he might be able to get some sense of it by discovering who would continue to kill after such damage had been wrought on their group.