//------------------------------// // 07. Chapter One: "Lost Memories in the Desert Sands" Part 5 // Story: Super Danganronpa 2: On Harmony's Shores // by Dewdrops on the Grass //------------------------------// Chapter One: “Lost Memories in the Desert Sands” Part V Screams filled the air. Sunset took a step back, a hand covering her mouth. “Shit.” “Oh my heavens, Pear Butter!” Rarity shrieked. “Damn,” Cranky grunted, shaking his head softly. “She didn’t deserve this.” Vignette softly chuckled and said nothing, merely staring with amusement. Big Macintosh took several steps forward, then fell to his knees. “...Mama?” he said quietly, his voice heavy and thick. “...no, no, no, NO!” He slammed two fists into the floor, shaking the room. “Damn it, no!” DING-DONG DONG-DING The monitors in both the office and the hallway lit up, with a grinning Monohuman face. “Attention everyone! A body has been discovered! Please report to the therapist’s office, immediately!” I wanted to be sick, as I stared at the body. I could smell it, the scent of death powerful and strong. The frozen expression of pain, the way she’d been tied up and then murdered… it should’ve scared me out of my wits. But I felt nothing. I was cold to it. Unfeeling. I was more moved by Big Macintosh’s tears than I was by the sight of Pear Butter’s corpse. Had I seen death in the past? Is that why I was able to look at this body with no ill effects? Or was I just that angry and bitter at Pear Butter that I didn’t mind in the least that she’d be taken from us? The sounds of shoes clacking against the floor preceded the rest of the group showing up. “Holy guacamole,” Cheese breathed. “A body?!” Autumn Blaze squawked, her voice unusually high pitched. “B-b-b-but that’s impossible! This was just a silly test… they wouldn’t really kill us… oh god we’re all going to die here…” Zephyr took one look and fainted into Fluttershy’s arms. To her credit, she simply held him rather than roll her eyes in scorn, instead looking at Pear Butter with her mouth tight. Juniper gaped openly, unable to speak other than a slight noise hissing from her throat like a kettle about to boil. Sour Sweet balled up her fists. “Who did this?” she snarled. Shining pushed his way past most of us to take in the sight, doffing his cap and holding it to his breast. “...I’m sorry, Pear…I tried my best.” Derpy’s breath hitched in her throat, but she managed to summon up the strength to kneel down next to Big Macintosh and hug him, whispering, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” to him over and over. Everyone else kept screaming or sobbing until finally Sunset stomped her foot. “Would everyone calm down and shut up?! Crying’s not going to help anything now. We’ve got a mystery to solve.” Monohuman chose that moment to manifest his form in the office, shooing most of us back. “Now, now, let’s all not be hasty. I still need to check to see if she was a pony. I do hope so; it would be a shame if I had to prepare an execution so soon!” He fussed over the body, tapping it with his baton, using twinkling bits of magic on it. He stood there for what felt like years, but no one spoke; I don’t think anyone had the energy to do anything with Bic Mac’s sobs filling the room. Finally Monohuman stood up and a dark grin passed over his face. “Well, well, well. I think I’ll have my work cut out for me after all. Congratulations to whomever killed Pear Butter: you slaughtered an innocent human! Better get your game face on; you’ll have your work cut out for you at the trial if you want to live. And you want to live, believe me, because if I get my hands on you…” He twiddled his hands together, his grin growing till it stretched ear to ear. “You’ll regret your entire existence before you die.” Everyone drew back, a few of us whimpering, especially Zephyr and Fluttershy, who clung to each other like lifelines. Monohuman spun his baton once then set it down and leaned on it. “So, our first murder. This really is a special occasion, a time to celebrate. Would everyone like drinks? I can serve champagne, just this once, on me, as a treat for starting the festivities. Of course it would be just the one drink; you’ll need to keep your heads clear.” He cleared his throat and stood up straight, pointing his baton at Pear Butter’s body. “Now that we have a corpse, you’ll need to investigate, gather clues, talk to each other about alibis. You’ll only have so long to do this, of course; we can’t waste all day just investigating.” “Hold on,” Juniper argued, “if we’re going to find the answer, that means you know who did it!” “Of course I do!” he chuckled, pointing genially at the ceiling with his cane, two black cameras glistening there. “I’ve even got the whole thing on tape in case I want to watch it later. I can’t dispense justice at the trial if I don’t know the truth, and, and oh my I’m so excited for the trial to begin. It will be so exhilarating, so pulse-poundingly exciting why I expect you might murder someone tomorrow just to go through it again!” “Stop wasting time,” Sunset insisted, stepping forward with her hand out. “Just give us the Monoponi file already so we can get this investigation moving.” He raised a hand to his mouth. “Puhuhu, a Monoponi file, you say? Whatever could you mean by that? Surely what you meant to say was the Monohuman file. That is my name, after all.” She rolled her eyes and thrust her hand out more insistently. “Fine, the Monohuman file. Whatever.” He gestured with his hand. “As you wish.” A snap of his fingers and everyone’s pads bleeped. “You will all find you have a new app on your pads for evidence; it’s conveniently collated together, pictures and all. Now, Miss Shimmer, since you were so intent on me giving up the file so quickly, I’ll let you handle the rest of the investigation. You’re an old hat at this, after all… puhuhuhuhu!” His hologram dissolved into sparkles of light. “Sunset, darling?” Rarity said quietly. “What exactly must we do now?” “Just what he said,” Sunset answered. She reached into her pocket, then groaned. “Right, mine’s missing. Wallflower, would you be willing to work with me please? I need a working pad to get this done, and I trust you.” “M-me?” I gulped, pointing at myself. “I-I don’t know the first thing about murders or investigations.” She smiled at me. “Don’t worry. That’s what I’m here for. Just follow my lead, okay? I’ve got this. I’ve done this six times before; I can do it again.” “Six times?” Cheese gasped. “You’ve seen six murders?” Juniper snorted. “More likely they were her fault.” “Where do you get that stupid idea from?” Sour Sweet snapped. “Look, if she knows what she’s doing, I say listen to her.” “Kid’s right,” Cranky chimed in. “The rest of us have no experience doing any of this. We ought to follow her lead.” Vignette raised an eyebrow. “Assuming she doesn’t have an agenda… but I suppose she’ll do for now.” Sunset shook her head. “Guys, enough. He wasn’t kidding when he said we don’t have much time. We’re going to have to get this done in a hurry. I’m going to need a couple of volunteers to watch the body, just to make sure no one messes with evidence at the last minute.” She frowned to herself and muttered in a quieter voice, “Not that that’s ever actually happened, but you never know.” Big Macintosh reached up from his position on the floor. “Mama…” he whispered, tears still streaming down his face. Derpy and to my surprise Rarity helped tug him up. “No way, you’re not doing it,” Derpy insisted. “You need a place to calm down. Let’s take you to the break room, okay?” He swallowed noisily and nodded. “Okay.” With Rarity’s help Derpy guided him away. Shining Armor immediately stepped forward, crossing his arms. “I’ll help guard the body. I can investigate it at the same time.” Zephyr’s hand shot up. “Hey, if Shiney Hiney’s watching the body, I will do. I’m a great bodyguard; you’ll never see a better bodyguard.” Shining’s lips pursed like he’d tasted something foul. “I told you not to call me that.” Zephyr recoiled, covering his head. “Sorry, sorry, I get a little forgetful when I’m scared, you know?” Rolling his eyes, Shining turned back to Sunset while pulling out his pad. Tapping it on the palm of his hand he said, “I take it this Monohuman file is some kind of autopsy report, since we lack proper forensic tools?” “That’s right,” Sunset answered. “And it’s only a start; he gives us just enough information to figure it out with other clues in context, and he’ll put stuff in one file he’ll leave out of another file, because it’d be too telling.” Shining nodded. “Right. Because he wants to make a huge game out of it.” “Yep.” Sunset looked at me. “Wallflower, can I see your pad? Let’s read the file before we get started.” *INVESTIGATION START* Still uncertain, I pulled out my pad and turned it on, activating the new app. A list of possible evidence appeared, most of it blank, but the first option was selectable. I clicked it. Fact #1: Monohuman File I: “The victim is Pear Butter, the Ultimate Backstabber. Her body was discovered in the Therapist’s Office at 12:45 PM. Cause of death is strangulation. She also has a non-lethal wound on the side of her head.” “Strangulation…” I whispered, shivering. “What an awful way to go.” Sunset bit her lip. “I’ve seen worse. Much worse.” She looked down at the pad again. “Non-lethal wound on the side of her head… hmm.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out two pairs of disposable gloves. “Here, put these on, Wallflower. We’ll need these while touching the body.” “So we don’t contaminate it?” I said, shaking again at the thought of actually willingly touching a dead body. She snorted. “So we don’t get blood on our clothes; it’s a pain in the ass to wash off. Especially when you’re covered in it.” “Oh, how interesting that you know that,” Vignette commented with her trademark smirk. Sunset scowled at her. “Are you here to help or just make pithy comments?” Vignette chuckled and stepped back to give us more room. However, before we could even slip the gloves on, Monohuman abruptly reformed. “Stop right there!” he shouted. Everyone froze, staring at him in shock. What now? “Ahem.” He adjusted his bow tie, then gave us a stern look. “I was so busy dealing with Sunset I failed to notice one of you had the audacity not to show up! I’m suspending the investigation till you find that annoying magician girl. Go do it, and do it now!” Sunset nodded, her mouth tight. “Fine. We were doing that before we found the body anyway. Come on, Wallflower. Shining, Zephyr, don’t let anyone else touch the body till we get back.” “Yes, ma’am!” Zephyr said, saluting in a completely incorrect manner. Shining simply nodded, crossing his arms and giving a disturbingly stern look at anyone who dared near the body. Sunset and I jogged back down the hallway. “So she wasn’t down here,” Sunset said, “And you said she wasn’t in the kitchen, right?” “Yeah, she wasn’t.” “Did you check the pantry?” “Did I check the…” I came to a halt, slapping both hands to my face. “Oh my god. No, I didn’t check the pantry.” Sunset stiffened a little, her mouth even tighter as she patted me on the shoulder. “We’ll do it together. If we’re lucky, she’s… trapped in there.” She shook all over as she said those words. We rushed over to the kitchen, and went to the pantry door. Before I could touch the doorknob, a loud banging startled me into jumping back. “Hello?! Is anyone out there?” called a familiar voice, muffled by the door. Sunset about doubled over in relief, a single tear running down her cheek. “Oh thank god. Trixie! Move away from the door; we’re going to push it open.” “It’s about time!” We gave her a moment to shuffle out of the way, then together we shoved the door open past the warped frame. “Finally!” bellowed Trixie, whose hair was askew, her clothes dirtied and her face covered in sweat and something else at the corners of her mouth. “Trixie has been trapped in this pantry for hours! Hours! Can you believe how absurd that is? If she figures out who trapped her in here, she will have their head!” “No one trapped you, Trixie,” Sunset said softly. “It was just the door frame. God though, I’m glad you’re okay… I was worried you were the one who… who died.” Trixie narrowed her eyes, then recoiled. “Died?! Is that what that stupid butler was blabbering on about? Trixie couldn’t make out his words from in here. Someone died? How? Who?” Trixie’s voice aggravated my senses. I found myself looking down and away, glancing over the rest of the pantry while Trixie started screaming all over again when told it was Pear Butter who died. Then I spotted something odd laying on the ground near the back of the pantry. It was a wrapper of some kind, huge, with a bunch of crumbs and fingerprint marks. I very carefully picked up one corner of it to see the label… a kuchen: thick, dense, big coffee cake. Just in case it was important somehow, I took a picture with my pad. Fact #2: Kuchen Wrapper: “An enormous empty wrapper of kuchen left on the pantry floor, still laden with crumbs and fingerprint marks.” “Trixie knew this would happen,” Trixie bellowed, grabbing my attention once more. “She knew someone would be murdered; it seems she was right to keep to herself, if Pear Butter of all people was a victim!” Sunset let out an exasperated sigh. “Okay, we get it, Trixie. Come on, we need to get back to her office. We’re on a time limit with the investigation.” “Fine. Trixie is happy to get out of this prison.” We returned to Pear Butter’s office, where her corpse lay undisturbed. Somehow the sight was even less disturbing this time, as I looked it over. Like before, I felt nothing about Pear Butter’s death; what had been bothering me was the idea of touching a corpse. But I found as I slipped on the gloves that I wasn’t the least bit bothered. Maybe I’d been studying to be a doctor and got over this in autopsy class? We moved over to the body, Shining and Zephyr stepping back to give us room. I wanted to check her neck first, and winced a little. A guitar string had been wrapped very tight around her neck. “Ouch.” “Seriously,” Sunset murmured. “Look at this… there’s dark red marks underneath the string. That’s odd.” “Odd?” I asked. “Shouldn’t we expect to see signs of strangulation like that?” “Yeah, but…” Sunset frowned. “Something doesn’t seem right.” Fact #3: Pear Butter’s Body: “A guitar string is tied very tightly around her neck, underneath which is a ring of dark, red spots about a quarter-inch wide.” We moved on to check the rest of her head. “Here,” I said, pointing at her temple. “There’s the wound the Monohuman file mentioned. It’s still bleeding…” “It’s oozing,” Sunset corrected. “People don’t bleed after they die, but sometimes the wounds will still ooze for the first couple hours after death. Trust me, I know from experience.” She frowned at it. “Actually, come to think of it, it looks like hardly bled.” “Right.” I laid Pear’s head back down and looked over the rest of her body. Nothing jumped out at me till I got to her wrists. “Hey, I recognize this,” I said as I held up her bound wrists. “This is the party streamer she had on the wall; it’s something about celebrating the start of the program.” *UPDATED* Fact #3: Pear Butter’s Body: “A guitar string is tied very tightly around her neck, underneath which is a ring of dark, red spots about a quarter-inch wide. She had a bleeding wound on her temple. Her wrists are bound with a party streamer.” “Good work,” Sunset said, looking closer. The streamer was stretched and distorted, tied very tightly around both wrists with an ugly knot. “Hmm,” she muttered, pulling back the streamer just a little; unlike Pear Butter’s neck, her wrists showed no markings. Sunset stood. “Okay, let’s check the scene next. Take pictures and note everything, no matter how small; a single thread could be the difference between finding who did this and all of us being executed.” That provided plenty of motivation to keep me going, despite my stomach starting to rumble. I suspected we’d all regret missing lunch before the day was out. My eyes scanned the desk, taking note of everything nearby. I saw some paper, a stress toy shaped like a puffy ball with dull spikes, a small paperweight that looked like a red apple, some of Pear Butter’s foundation, and Pear Butter’s pad. None of it seemed important, but I took a picture all the same. Fact #4: Objects On Desk: “A stress toy, a paperweight, some of Pear Butter’s foundation, a piece of blank paper, and Pear Butter’s pad were on the desk.” As I finished, I happened to notice the chair on the client side of the desk was knocked over. “Probably from the struggle,” I muttered. Glancing over the rest of the room, I gasped when I saw what was on the floor just behind the desk. “Look, it’s her guitar… or what’s left of it.” Sunset glanced over and recoiled. “Jeez, looks like it’s been smashed to pieces.” I picked it up and examined it. “Not quite, but it definitely hit a hard surface more than once… there’s a string missing too.” I looked it over, then gulped. “...and there’s blood on it…” Fact #5: Pear Butter’s Guitar: “The guitar is badly damaged. It looks like it was smashed against a hard surface more than once. A string has been torn off. There is blood on some of the damaged wood.” “So this probably caused the head wound,” I concluded. Sunset held her hand up at me, palm outward. “Whoa, slow down, Wallflower. Let’s not jump to any conclusions just yet. Trust me, these crimes get very tricky, and we can’t afford any assumptions or mistakes.” “She’s right,” Shining added, looking at me stoically. “Criminals will frequently find ways to leave evidence to force certain conclusions, lead investigators down a wrong path. It’s part of how the good ones get away with their crimes. Anyone who wants to survive a trial in an environment like this would have to do some misleading things just to have a chance.” “And I’ve seen it happen too,” Sunset said. “I can’t be specific, but in the last game, there was a case where someone was convinced they’d murdered someone, and went so far as to leave fake evidence, only for it to turn out someone else did it and manipulated the whole thing into making the other person think they did it.” She shook her head. “We almost didn’t figure that one out in time.” “Meaning?” I prodded. “Meaning we almost voted for the wrong person, and it took a lot of fast talking on my part to prevent it,” Sunset replied. “The point is, make the wrong assumption, and you get yourself killed. Save it for the trial, okay?” She looked around the room at the others who were standing around watching. “That goes for all of you. No assumptions, no nothing.” “Got it,” I murmured as I went back to checking around, setting the guitar down after I took a couple of pictures. “Hey, check this out,” Sunset said after a couple of minutes. She pointed to the top of the desk, the edge across from Pear Butter’s chair. “There’s a bunch of marks on the desk, right here.” “Huh,” I said, peering closer. “Looks like gouges in the wood. Important?” “You never know,” Sunset shrugged. Fact #6: Gouge Marks: “There are marks gouged into the desk, as if it was violently struck.” After looking over the office some more, Sunset said, “Okay, I don’t think there’s anything else important here, not that I can see. Shining, if anyone else wants to look around, let them go ahead; all our evidence gets compiled together before the trial so if someone spots something, even if they don’t tell us about it so long as they note it, we’ll have it.” “Hang on,” I said, holding up a finger as I took off my gloves, tossing them in the wastebasket. “There is one other thing. The white noise machine.” “The what?” Sunset asked, looking where I was pointing, out into the hallway. “What’s that?” “It's a machine that makes white noise,” I said patiently. “Pear Butter had it running all the time. It’s just outside the door, so I think it’s to keep anyone outside from overhearing a session. But now it’s off.” “Strange,” Shining mused. “I know she liked to keep it running when she was in here.” Vignette sauntered into the hallway and began poking at the control panel on the device, ignoring Sunset’s protests. “Aha,” she chirped, then smiled back at us. “It’s in power-saver mode. It turns off automatically unless you push the power button.” She pushed a button and nothing happened. “...Whichever of these is the power button. I’ve reviewed products with a feature like that; that’s definitely what it is.” Glaring, Sunset crossed her arms. “Turns off after how long?” “No idea, you can set it. People fall asleep with these things and they don’t want them going all night.” She poked vaguely at the buttons. “‘Display?’” The LED screen on the machine lit up with SYS5, which meant nothing to me. “No… ‘Region?’” R2 lit up; Vignette scowled. “No… Clock?” 0104 popped up on the display; checking my pad, 1:04 was the correct time. “No… wait.” She glanced up. “Don’t worry, we’ll edit all this out in post.” Ignoring our confusion, she went back to the controls. “It’s not ‘volume.’ Oh! ‘Timer!’ It’s probably the ‘timer’ button.” Looking absolutely delighted with herself, she pushed that button. The LED screen lit up: 2245. Sunset glared at her. “2245? What does that mean?” “Dunno! But Rainmaker White Noise Machines are just the best. I use mine, like, every day.” She smirked. “And that’s how a pro reviews a product.” I could practically hear Sunset’s teeth grinding, but even though Vignette had apparently forgotten what we were even doing, she had gathered some information. “Um, yeah, thanks,” I ventured. “I don’t know what it means either, but let’s write down what we know?” Sunset was obviously skeptical, but she nodded to me and I noted it down. Fact #7: White Noise Machine: “Pear Butter’s white noise machine was discovered turned off when the body was discovered, despite her habit of keeping it on. It was off for an uncertain amount of time, and it was in power-saving mode, meaning it could turn itself off automatically. The timer displayed ‘2245.’” “Okay, we’ll see if we can figure out how long it was off by asking others,” Sunset said. “Now that we’re done with the body, we need to establish alibis, see who was where, when, for how long.” “Well we have one for you, me, Vignette, and Rarity,” I said immediately. “We were playing that board game outside for at least an hour before we found the body. And prior to that you were in your room and I chased after you, and before that I was speaking with you, Vignette, Rarity, and Fluttershy.” “Right,” Sunset nodded. “Go ahead and write that in, Wallflower. We both know neither of us did it but it’ll still be good to have the proof.” Fact #8: Wallflower’s Account: “Sunset, Rarity, Vignette, and Wallflower were playing a board game for an hour prior to the discovery of the body. Prior to that, Sunset and Wallflower were in Sunset’s room, after an argument occurred outside in a discussion with Vignette, Rarity, and Fluttershy.” “Done,” I said. I swallowed, my nerves starting to get to me, and looked over at Shining and Zephyr. “Guess we ask them next, right?” “Right.” I walked over to them. “Shining, Zephyr, mind if we ask where you were prior to the discovery of the body?” Shining raised his eyebrows for a moment as he looked at the ceiling, then refocused on me. “I was with Autumn Blaze, just outside the Mess Hall. We were discussing how we would move forward with leadership. Autumn wanted to work on our morale, while I was more concerned with safety. You can ask her; she’ll back me up.” Sunset nodded. “What about Pear Butter? When was the last time you saw her?” Shining frowned. “Breakfast, I think. After she said she’d keep her office open I didn’t see her again.” “Zephyr?” I said, turning to him. Zephyr looked at me funny. “I was with Big Mac and Derpy, remember? They threw the table on me and then made me fix it with them?” Fact #9: Alibis: “Shining Armor and Autumn Blaze were discussing leadership outside the Mess Hall. Zephyr Breeze was with Derpy Doo and Big Macintosh fixing the broken dining room table.” “Just double checking,” I said. “And Pear Butter?” He jerked a thumb towards Shining Armor. “Not since breakfast.” Sunset nodded approvingly at my writing those down. “Okay, anything else you want to mention?” “Uuuuh… there was some guitar music?” Zephyr said, scratching his head. “Sounded kinda weird.” “Oh, yes,” Shining said. “Maybe twenty minutes before we found the body, I could hear Pear Butter playing her guitar. It was faint, and it sounded a little… off. But both Autumn Blaze and I heard it.” Sunset and I exchanged a look. “We heard it too,” Sunset said. “Wallflower, Vignette, Rarity and I. It stopped just as soon as it started. It sounded like there was some kind of weird vibration and fuzziness to it.” Fact #10: Pear Butter’s Guitar Music: “Pear Butter was heard playing her guitar approximately twenty minutes before her body was discovered. The music had an odd vibration quality to its sound, and stopped roughly seven to fifteen minutes before the body was found.” “Could she just have been playing badly?” Shining suggested. “Pear Butter was pretty skilled, though,” Sunset said. “Unless something was wrong… I dunno. It doesn’t seem like it fits.” She shook her head and threw her hands up. “That a question for the trial anyway. Moving on. Where’s Trixie?” “I thought she followed us back here…” I murmured, looking just outside, not seeing her. “She did follow you back here,” Vignette spoke up, startling us. I’d forgotten she’d been lurking there, in the shadows, like some kind of creep. “But then she left again. Said something about needing the bathroom?” “Well she was stuck for several hours,” I mused. “There’s a lady’s room in the Mess Hall; we’ll probably find her there.” “Okay, but let’s do this efficiently,” Sunset said. We started down the hallway, heading for the break room. No one else was in the hallway; the others must’ve gone to investigate elsewhere. We did find Cranky and Cheese in the break room, along with Rarity, Derpy, and Big Macintosh. Derpy was sitting next to Big Macintosh on the couch, and to my surprise he was holding onto her, though more in the manner one would hold a teddy bear or other stuffed animal, and not so much a human being. Derpy didn’t seem to mind one bit, however. “Hey,” Sunset said in a low, calming voice, looking right at Big Macintosh. “How’re you holding up, Big Mac?” He looked at her and his lips wobbled, his eyes bloodshot red and puffy from crying. His cheeks were red too, so red he looked sunburnt. “...not great,” he answered, sniffling. “Ah… Ah didn’t even get to tell her Ah loved her before she…” He clung tighter to Derpy, who struggled slightly to get more air into her lungs. “And now she’s gone… Ah had so many things Ah wanted to say…” HIs expression darkened considerably, his face briefly twisting into a mask of rage. “If Ah find out who killed her…” “Easy, big guy,” Sunset said, patting him on the shoulder. “We’ll find the culprit, trust me. And they won’t be getting away with it. They’re going to be executed.” She turned away, her hand balling into a fist. “...and it’s going to hurt a lot. They’re going to suffer needlessly.” “Needlessly?” Big Macintosh barked. “That was mah mother they murdered!” Sunset whirled and for a moment she looked ready to scream at him before she caught herself. “And they only did it because of the situation we’re forced into. Never forget that, Big Mac. People do horrible things when they think they have no other choice. It’s Monohuman’s fault that Pear Butter is dead. The person who killed her was manipulated into it. Don’t ever forget that, even for a moment, okay? Trust me on this.” Big Macintosh scowled at her so hard I began to fear daggers would fly out his eyes and penetrate her skull. Then his expression softened back into sorrow. “...Ah hope you’re right,” he whispered. I meanwhile turned to Derpy. “Hey, you okay there?” “Yeah, I’m good,” Derpy said as she readjusted her position. “He needed someone to hold onto, so I volunteered. I don’t mind.” I nodded and brought my pad up. “Okay, I just need you to verify for me real quick about the table incident again. It might be important.” Derpy took a moment to answer. “Err, well, about maybe ninety minutes before the body was found, I broke the table by dancing into it, ‘cause I’m clumsy. It fell on Zephyr, bruising him. Then we got some tools and fixed the table. That took us another hour or so, then Big Mac and I came outside to remind you about lunch time.” “Wait a minute,” I said. “Did you see Zephyr after that?” “No,” Derpy said with a shake of her head. “I didn’t see him again until we found the body.” Fact #11: Derpy’s Account: “According to Derpy, about ninety minutes prior she accidentally bounced into the dining table, damaging one of the legs to the point it fell off and the table collided with Zephyr Breeze knocking him to the floor. She, Big Macintosh, and Zephyr proceeded to fix the table together, which took about an hour. Afterwards she and Big Mac came outside and reminded Wallflower’s group about lunch.” *UPDATED* Fact #9: Alibis: “Shining Armor and Autumn Blaze were discussing leadership outside the Mess Hall. Zephyr Breeze was with Derpy Doo and Big Macintosh fixing the broken dining room table, but was out of sight for at least twenty minutes before the body was discovered.” “That’s right… he and Fluttershy just sort of showed up together,” I said. “Weird. Okay, thanks. One other quick thing. Do you remember the last time you saw Pear Butter?” Derpy shook her head. ‘Breakfast, I think?” “Eeyup,” Big Macintosh said, his voice tight. “Ah was gonna talk to her right after lunch.” I sighed in understanding. “I’m sorry.” I moved on to Cranky and Cheese, who were talking to each other a bit more amiably than they had been prior to the body discovery. “Oh, hey Wallflower,” Cheese said, his expression glum. “How’s it going?” “We’re investigating a murder,” I replied back. “I needed to ask you two about where you were.” Cranky exchanged a look with Cheese, then nodded. “Yup, I get it. I’m pretty suspicious because of how much time I spend around the break room, huh?” he asked. I blinked. “Not… not really. I just want to verify where you were at the time.” “Well, before you came barging in here,” Cranky said, “I was enjoying my coffee.” “I was here too!” Cheese added. “But I wasn’t drinking coffee.” I raised an eyebrow. “Wait, Cheese, I thought you had to go practice your accordion.” “I did!” he promised. “I was practicing it here!” I glanced around, no accordion was in sight. “Expertise is ninety percent mental,” Cheese explained. That just raised more questions, but before I could say anything, Cranky broke in. “He’s telling the truth; he was here with me all morning. I should know, I was sitting here trying to tune him out. Which, sorry about that, Cheese.” “Hey, I get it… I was getting on your nerves,” Cheese said apologetically. “Doesn’t seem so important now that someone’s… dead…” *UPDATED* Fact #9: Alibis: “Shining Armor and Autumn Blaze were discussing leadership outside the Mess Hall. Zephyr Breeze was with Derpy Doo and Big Macintosh fixing the broken dining room table, but was out of sight for at least twenty minutes before the body was discovered. Cheese Sandwich was with Cranky Doodle in the breakroom for several hours.” “Cheese, lemme tell you something I’ve learned in life,” Cranky said, sitting back on the couch. “Life goes on. People die, and other people have to keep living their lives without ‘em. This situation we’re stuck in, this killing game… it’s terrible. I can’t stand it. But I’m also not going to let it get to me. I’ll mourn for Pear Butter, but… don’t let grief force you to forget who you are.” “...thanks. I’ll try to remember that, Mister Doodle.” “Please. Call me Cranky.” Cheese nodded, a small smile coming back to his face. “Cranky.” “One other thing, guys,” I said. “When was the last time you saw Pear Butter?” “Breakfast, I think,” Cheese said. “Yup, that’s what I remember,” Cranky agreed. “Heard her playing that guitar of hers much later, though, not exactly sure what time.” “Was there anything weird about it?” I asked. He shrugged. “I hear her strumming away in that office of hers every once in a while.” “I thought it sounded really bad,” Cheese piped up. “Like she was playing right, but… it was all fuzzy and weird.” “Oh, whatever, I can’t tell any of this twangy twangy music apart,” Cranky muttered. “It always bugged me. Bugged me this time, too. Lately she’d been turning on that noise machine of hers more, which blocks out everything from her office. Thought it was considerate of her.” He frowned, tired sadness replacing his usual irritated expression. “Machine was on, then it turned off. Dunno when that happened, either; I really was trying to tune everything out but my magazine.” “You really didn’t hear or see anything else?” Sunset asked. “You were closest to the murder. The killer would’ve had to walk right down the hallway outside.” Cheese Sandwich blanched. “Yeek, I hadn’t thought of that. I didn’t notice anyone, did you, Cranky?” “Nah. Mighta heard some doors opening and closing, but couldn’t tell you when.” Sunset looked up from her pad. “Okay, I’ve gotten everything from here written down. We’ve still got some people to track down.” As we left the break room, we heard shouting coming from the Mess Hall. “...it’s disgusting!” “Trixie needed the bathroom very badly,” insisted Trixie, who stood not far from the public restroom, her clothes even more disheveled. “She was trapped for several hours.” “Yes,” Sour Sweet retorted daintily,”But, because some of us care about an eensy-weensy little thing like common courtesy, we at least try flushing the toilet instead of leaving it there when we take a massive shit!” “How dare you? Of course Trixie flushed the toilet!” Trixie balled her fists up. “Don’t accuse Trixie of poor toilet etiquette.” “Pfft. Then go back in there and get it flushed. Hurry it up. And find some air freshener… it smells nasty.” “...so it does,” Trixie moaned as she went in, thankfully closing the door behind her. Sunset tried not to laugh as she spoke up, “Hey, Sour, mind if we ask a couple of questions real quick?” Sour crossed her arms and glared. “...yeah, go ahead. Make it quick.” “We just wanted to know where you were before the body was found,” I said. Sour Sweet scratched her head. “I was talking with Fluttershy… she felt a bit bad about you running off like you did, Sunset, when Rarity bitched at you, so she came to talk to me.” She smiled briefly. “I’m such a good listener!” Her smile faded, but she didn’t follow it up with anything except an expression that turned sad. “...so was Pear Butter…that was the last time I saw her. Right before you went in, Wallflower.” *UPDATED* Fact #9: Alibis: “Shining Armor and Autumn Blaze were discussing leadership outside the Mess Hall. Zephyr Breeze was with Derpy Doo and Big Macintosh fixing the broken dining room table, but was out of sight for at least twenty minutes before the body was discovered. Cheese Sandwich was with Cranky Doodle in the breakroom for several hours. Sour Sweet and Fluttershy were having a discussion outside.” Sunset reached out and hugged Sour Sweet, who sneered before allowing it, hugging her back a little. “It’s not fair she’s gone,” Sour Sweet said. “She was too nice. I was screaming and swearing at her through that whole session, even right up to the end! But every time I got upset, she knew just what to say.” Sour Sweet’s eyes were watering, even as she grimaced. “She didn’t deserve what happened to her.” “None of us do, Sour Sweet,” Sunset said. “One thing though. Did you see Zephyr?” She shook her head. “Not until we were summoned by Monohuman. He joined up with Fluttershy.” “...joined from where?” I asked. Sour Sweet just shrugged her shoulders. “Dunno. Wasn’t paying attention.” The door to the bathroom opened. “There! Trixie has taken care of her mess. You may now–oof!” Sour Sweet shoved Trixie aside and disappeared into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. After a minute she cried out, “It still fucking stinks!” Trixie snorted. “That’s for being so rude to Trixie,” she said, tossing a rude gesture towards the bathroom. “Trixie, you were in the pantry since breakfast, right?” I asked. At her glare I added, “I’m just double checking.” “Yes. Trixie realized she ran out of bread so she went back in there to grab another two loaves. But the door was closed on her!” I flashed back to that morning and cringed really hard. “Oh crap. That might’ve been my fault. Did you come in while we were washing dishes?” “...yes, Trixie did. She snuck around you hoping she wouldn’t be seen.” Trixie’s eyes flashed. “Did you shut the door on Trixie?!” “...yeaaaah…” I admitted, moving to hide behind Sunset. It was a good move, because Trixie screeched wordlessly and reached both hands out towards me, fingers curling like she ached to get them around my neck. “How dare you trap Trixie in the pantry!” “It was an accident, Trixie, calm down,” Sunset said. “It sounds like she didn’t know you were in there, so she closed the door.” “Yeah, I was just leaving and saw it was ajar when we’d left it closed, so I closed it,” I babbled. “I had no idea you were inside.” Trixie snarled again, then dropped her hands. “Fine. But Trixie will remember this!” She stomped off back towards the offices, perhaps to do some investigating of her own. *UPDATED* Fact #9: Alibis: “Shining Armor and Autumn Blaze were discussing leadership outside the Mess Hall. Zephyr Breeze was with Derpy Doo and Big Macintosh fixing the broken dining room table, but was out of sight for at least twenty minutes before the body was discovered. Cheese Sandwich was with Cranky Doodle in the breakroom for several hours. Sour Sweet and Fluttershy were having a discussion outside. Trixie claims she was trapped in the pantry since after breakfast.” I frowned at the evidence list once Sunset finished updating it. “Why did you write that she claimed she was trapped since breakfast?” “Because we only have her word that she went in there when she says she did,” Sunset replied. “And I’ve been burned by that before. Like I told you: we make one false assumption, we lose and the blackened wins. Be suspicious of everything people tell you.” “Even when it comes to you and me?” She looked back at me and grinned. “No, like I said, we both know I didn’t do this. I wasn’t anywhere near the offices all day.” She had a point. I went over the list of alibis. “We still need to speak to Juniper Montage.” Juniper was nowhere to be seen, however. It took us a good ten minutes to track her down, where we found her exiting and locking the music shed. “There you are,” Sunset groaned. “We need to ask you about your whereabouts during the murder.” Juniper glowered at her. “I was in my room. I stayed there till Monohuman called us out to Pear Butter’s office.” “Can anyone confirm that?” Sunset pressed. Crossing her arms, Juniper looked away. “...no.” “What were you doing in your room?” I asked. She sighed, then reached into her backpack and pulled out a notebook. “I was working on this.” I thumbed my way through the notebook, spotting page after page of script writing, complete with stage instructions, voice direction, and so on. “A screenplay?” “Uh huh. If I want to be big in the movie scene, I need to either be an actor, a writer, a producer, or a director. So this is… practice.” I glanced back at the screenplay, noting it appeared to be a period piece set during the Second Great War, then handed it back to her. “Okay, thanks. Do you remember when you last saw Pear Butter?” She shrugged. “Breakfast, I think. Not a lot of people seemed interested in her counseling offer…now I kind of wish I’d gone while I had the chance. *UPDATED* Fact #9: Alibis: “Shining Armor and Autumn Blaze were discussing leadership outside the Mess Hall. Zephyr Breeze was with Derpy Doo and Big Macintosh fixing the broken dining room table, but was out of sight for at least twenty minutes before the body was discovered. Cheese Sandwich was with Cranky Doodle in the breakroom for several hours. Sour Sweet and Fluttershy were having a discussion outside. Trixie claims she was trapped in the pantry since after breakfast. Juniper states she was in her room working on a screenplay.” “So what were you doing in the music shed just now?” Sunset asked. “I was double checking to make sure there weren’t any other acoustic guitars,” she answered plainly. “You guys kept mentioning the guitar music, so I came straight here just to double check.” “Were there any?” I asked. “No.” *UPDATED* Fact #5: Pear Butter’s Guitar: “The guitar is badly damaged. It looks like it was smashed against a hard surface more than once. A string has been torn off. There is blood on some of the damaged wood. According to Juniper Montage, this is the only acoustic guitar in the entire complex.” “Then we can safely assume that if we heard guitar music, it was Pear Butter,” I said, frowning as I considered that. “Seems that way,” Sunset agreed. “Not that it was really in doubt, but it was good to double check. Thank you, Juniper.” Juniper walked off without acknowledging Sunset’s gratitude. “So now what?” I wondered. Sunset pointed to the dorm building opposite our own. “Let’s check Pear Butter’s room. If this is like the first game, then her room is open to investigation even if Monohuman doesn’t say it is.” “What’re we hoping to find in there?” I asked as we headed for the building. Sunset shrugged. “No idea. Maybe confirmation she never left the office?” She snapped her fingers. “Oh, right, we asked just about everyone else, but I never asked you. When was the last time you saw Pear Butter?” “Uh… around 9:30?” I said, trying to think back. “I went right after Sour Sweet left, and I wasn’t in there very long before she tossed me out.” Sunset nodded and rubbed her chin. “So as far as we know you were the last one to see her prior to her death.” Fact #12: Pear Butter’s Behavior: “As far as we know, Wallflower was the last one to see Pear Butter, in her office, three hours before her body was discovered.” I gulped, sweat running down my neck. “Y-you don’t think people will accuse me of killing her because of that, do you?” “I expect a few will,” Sunset answered, making my heart stop. “She hated you, giving you proper motive, and you had opportunity. I’m sure someone will argue that you killed her, left the body there, and then went out and established an alibi for yourself.” “What?” I gasped. “But, but, I didn’t do it! I didn’t kill her! I would never–” “Calm down. I’m not accusing you of anything,” Sunset, placing both hands on my shoulders. “But we need to be ready in case someone does accuse you. Knowing how to diffuse it will save time.” She clapped me once on the right shoulder and started walking again. “Besides, Pear Butter was playing her guitar shortly before she died. So we know that she died after you met with her, and we’ve got an alibi for you for that whole time “ “Right! Exactly!” I said, still shaking from the near accusation. Inside the dorm we swiftly made our way to Pear Butter’s room. Like Sunset she’d found a way to personalize her room, in this case with a few more photographs like the one on her office wall. She had a couple of sets of clothing laid out in different ways, shirts tied in different manners. On her desk she had a notebook, which I took a look at. It turned out to be some kind of diary. But for some reason several pages were torn out. I swiftly read what was left. It’s been a couple of days since the program shifted and this killing game was announced. I’m not going to admit it to anyone else, but Bright Mac? I’m scared. I’m scared out of my wits. Our son is in this damned game with me! I don’t care so much about my own life, because the worst thing that could happen is I’m with you again. But we can’t lose our son…. He’s far too young to go. He deserves to live a long, full life, the one you were denied. If I find out for sure who put us in here, I’ll tear them apart for putting my son’s life at risk. And she keeps acting innocent. That foolish woman, every time I try to get her to admit something she dodges it by pretending she has no idea what I’m talking about. Her memory issues sure are convenient, given that– The rest was missing, part of the torn out pages. I read this over a couple of times, trying to see if there was any new information here, but there wasn’t that I could discern. It felt like Pear Butter was mocking me from beyond the grave, leaving all this stuff about hating me, but removing everything that could explain why! But, I tried to be productive for Sunset. “Hey, take a look at this,” I said, showing it to her. She barely looked at it for more than a moment before discarding it onto the desk. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not seeing anything in here that indicates she was in here at all after this morning; the shower’s dry, and she even made the bed. We’re wasting time here; let’s go back.” That caught me completely off guard. “Are… are you sure it’s not relevant?” I asked. “You’re the one always saying that anything could be important–” “Not this,” Sunset insisted. “It tells us nothing new. Maybe if there weren’t pages missing, but…oh.” She turned back to me and opened her arms, and after a moment I accepted her hug offer. “I get it. You want to know why.” I shivered in her grasp as I leaned against her, feeling cold and upset despite how warm and inviting she was. “Yeah,” I muttered. “I wanna know what her problem with me was.” “I’m sorry,” Sunset said as she squeezed me, then let me go, drawing back to look me in the eye. “If we had time I’d search this place more thoroughly to try to find the missing pages, but we’re probably going to run out of time any minute now. So we should hurry back, in case there’s anything else we missed.” I sighed and gave her a slow nod. “You’re right; let’s go back.” As I reluctantly left Pear Butter’s room, I couldn’t shake the feeling I’d missed something, something vital. But what? The only thing that occurred to me was that diary. Why were the pages missing? Did Pear Butter tear them out because she was worried I’d find them? Was there something else in that diary, something self-incriminating? Maybe even murder plans? The sudden thought that this could’ve been self-defense haunted me, and I didn’t stop worrying that one bit as we stepped back into the Mess Hall. “Sunset, can we check the body again?” I asked. “I need to see something about it.” “Yeah, no problem,” she said as she led us down to the offices and into Pear Butter’s, where Shining and Zephyr maintained their vigil. “What’re you looking for?” Shining asked as he watched me look at the body without touching it. “Trying to confirm a hypothesis,” I murmured. I kept what that was to myself for now. There wasn’t much point in bringing it up just yet. “I’ll check the rest of the room in case we missed something,” Sunset said. I focused on things like the position of the gouge marks and the head wound. There weren’t any marks on Pear Butter’s side of the desk, just on the visiting side, as if Pear had struck back with excessive force after being initially attacked. …or was the attacker to begin with. Now even more curious, I decided to check a couple of things, like under her fingernails. I didn’t spot any blood there, so she hadn’t struck the culprit with her fist. I then looked over the items on the desk. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary about any of them till I picked up the paperweight. Blood. There was a trace of blood on the underside. Not much, but enough that suggested it had struck… someone. Did Pear Butter hit the culprit with it, maybe? *UPDATED*Fact #4: Objects On Desk: “A stress toy, a paperweight, some of Pear Butter’s foundation, a piece of blank paper, and Pear Butter’s pad were on the desk. The paperweight had a trace of blood on the underside.” Still, even if it was self-defense, why make it look like a murder? Why tie her up to the point it looked like she’d been tortured and executed? Was it to save face for Pear Butter, sparing her from being shamed after death? Who would care enough to do that? Maybe Big Mac? “No, that’s stupid,” I muttered as I left Pear Butter’s body, feeling like I was still missing something. “Hey, Sunset! Look what I found!” We both looked up to see Sour Sweet running at us, a pad in her hands. She doubled over, gasping for air as she reached the office. “Ugh. I need to run more,” she murmured. “Anyway, here. It’s your pad.” “Thanks!” Sunset said as she took it, looking it over and brushing off what looked like particles of black soil. “Where was it?” “It was in the pot with the huge fern in it, just laying there. I almost didn’t see it,” she answered. She led us back out into the hallway, pointing at the fern in the direct center, midway between Pear Butter’s office and the break room. “Is it okay?” I asked Sunset. “Was it damaged somehow?” “Doesn’t look like it was from the outside,” she said as she examined it. She switched it on, then after a moment added, “looks like I have all my notes and everything in here.” Fact #13: Sunset’s Pad: “Sunset’s pad was stolen when she briefly separated from Wallflower. It was later found in a potted plant in the main hallway. Sunset noticed no signs of it being tampered with.” “Thanks, Sour,” she said as she stuck it in her pocket. “Wonder what the heck it was doing there.” “Who knows,” Sour Sweet shrugged. DING-DONG BING-BONG Everyone froze as the monitors switched on to reveal Monohuman’s smiling visage. He looked quite pleased indeed. “Ahem. Attention, all volunteers. The allotted time for the investigation is now over. Please assemble in the Mess Hall. Attendance is mandatory.” The screens switched off. I glanced at Sunset. “So is this it?” “Pretty much,” she said as she slowly began walking towards the Mess Hall. “He’s going to give some blustering speech that’ll probably piss me off, then take us wherever he’s hidden the courtroom this time, we get into a huge elevator and it takes us forever to get down there. And then there’s the trial itself… it’s going to be rough, Wallflower. These aren’t fun. There’ll be a lot of shouting, a lot of anger… and you won’t be able to hide.” She abruptly stopped and hugged me, holding me close. “I wish I could spare you having to go through it. It’s going to trigger everything about your anxiety and then some, but…” I embraced her right back, finding myself shaking from a sudden bout of nerves. “I know, Sunset… I’ll…. I’ll deal. I don’t have a choice, right?” “...no. You don’t.” We picked up the pace to join everyone else milling about the Mess Hall, where a quiet buzz of conversation filled the atmosphere, joining the tension that ran thicker than a river of molasses and about as overwhelming. The urge to flee and hide in my room, hide under the blankets rose substantially within me, threatening to take control over my actions. But before I could take more than a single step, a pair of massive, gleaming metal gatling guns popped up on rails in front of the exit to the rest of the complex, pointing right at us. A number of us screamed and I hid behind Sunset, crouching down to keep my head below their level. Monohuman manifested himself right in front of those guns, preening like a peacock as Derpy, Fluttershy, Sour Sweet, and Zephyr all screamed again. “Aaah, thank you; I do appreciate a respectful reception,” he said, his voice dripping with smarm. He gestured with his baton to the guns. “As for these, consider them insurance against anyone thinking they can get out of attending the trial. They’ll rapidly end that thought in a hurry, along with every other thought in your head… Puhuhuh!” Sunset stepped forward, meeting him halfway. “Okay, we get it. You’re big, you’re bad, can we move on to the point and get to the actual trial?” He rolled his eyes dramatically. “Oh, Sunset, Sunset, Sunset, must we do this? It matters little to me that you try and rush things, but have a care for your fellow volunteers. This is their first time, after all. They ought to be able to savor it, truly rake in the moment and enjoy it!” Sunset crossed her arms over her chest and continued to give him that glare, not moving an inch. “In any event,” Monohuman said as he ignored her, “Congratulations on finishing your first investigation. That was but a taste of what awaits you. Now, unfortunately it is a bit of walk yet. Follow me, everyone!” He proceeded past us directly towards the door that Sunset and I walked through just a couple of days ago, when I first woke up in this hellhole. “Wait, we’re going to the mines?” Juniper asked as we pushed through those doors and out into the desert heat. “Looks that way,” Cranky said as his shoes crunched the sand. “Dunno why.” “Probably secrecy,” Shining suggested. “If whoever’s behind this was trying to hide their activities until they were ready to take over, it would make sense to do it all in the mines. We never wanted them, just the town.” “Why couldn’t we just hold the trial in the Mess Hall?” Zephyr whined as he gingerly stepped past a few large rocks. “Oh don’t be stupid, Mister Breeze,” Monohuman said, glaring right at Zephyr for a moment. “You can’t hold something as magnificent as one of these trials in such drab conditions. You need the proper atmosphere, the right tone, the perfect set up. All of that and more awaits you. You just have to walk there first.” “Could’ve at least put in some kind of moving walkway,” groused Sour Sweet. “And deny you the exercise? Never. It’s good for you.” “It’s not so bad,” Autumn said, a false cheer in her voice as she stepped over and through the beaten up asphalt stones. “At least we’re outside.” “Speak for yourself,” said Trixie, whose cheeks bore a tinge of green. “This heat makes Trixie feel sick to her stomach.” More words of complaint rose, but I wasn’t really listening to them. I was remembering something, and from the look on Sunset’s face, she hadn’t forgotten either. One of us wasn’t coming back from this walk. Someone among the fifteen of us was going to die, had to die, if the rest of us were going to live. But who? After looking over all the evidence… I didn’t have the foggiest idea. Maybe the heat was scrambling my brain or maybe nothing was clicking yet without hearing people at the trial itself. As I thought and walked, Sunset moved closer to me, keeping an arm intertwined with mine, for reassurance. Every so often she’d look at me and smile, and give my arm a squeeze, confirming she’d be there for me, that she was my friend, I could rely on her. It helped, a lot, in making me feel confident. So long as we had Sunset, I was certain we’d make it out of any situation Monohuman threw at us. Eventually, after another grueling ten minutes of walking between the narrow electric fences, we reached the gate that cut off access to the mines. It was locked by a large padlock on some chains, but Monohuman took a quick moment to cast some sort of spell, and the padlock vanished, along with the gate. This revealed the mine entrance itself, a spooky, dark hole in the cliffside lit up by two electric lanterns on either side of it. “From here, you will follow the path to an elevator,” Monohuman said. “Once you are all aboard, it shall descend to the courtroom, where I will meet you to properly begin the trial. I hope you’re all as excited as I am!” “Oh yes, we’re thrilled,” Sour Sweet said sarcastically. Smirking, Monohuman dissolved into sparkles. “Alright everyone, you heard him,” Sunset spoke up, clapping for attention. “Listen. I know we’re all scared right now. I know I’m terrified. I never wanted to go through this again after the last game, and being here again… it makes me want to scream, to cry, to run away. But I can’t do any of that, anymore than the rest of us can. All we can do is press on.” She bowed her head once, then raised it again. “I said this to Big Macintosh earlier, and I want to say it again to everyone: whatever happens in there, whoever is the one who killed Pear Butter…Monohuman is the one ultimately responsible. He forced us into this. He’s forcing us against each other, to participate in these trials, to make us send one of our own to die. Never forget that: it’s his fault. Not yours, not hers, but his.” She closed her mouth, and her whole body started shaking until she grabbed onto me again, this time for her own support. “And whoever it is that killed Pear Butter, I’m so sorry for what we have to do. I’m sorry we’ll have to send you to your death just for the rest of us to stay alive. I’m sorry you fell for Monohuman’s manipulations. But you’re far from the first. I won’t hate you. No one should.” Silence was her only response, but I could tell from the looks on some people’s faces that she’d been convincing, that they accepted what she had to say. I certainly did. It would be all too easy to fall into the pit of hating and fearing each other, blaming each other for everything and making Monohuman’s job that much easier. So as we all filed into the elevator, I thought about Sunset’s words, and the case. One of us killed Pear Butter. One of us would die today, or we’d all die. But I believed in Sunset. I knew she’d see us through. Sunset was our only chance. I was counting on her with every fiber of my being. Because without her, we’d lose. And in this trial of life and death, we can’t afford to lose.