Chapter 4: Can a SMSL Surfer find a SMSL Traitor?
Toxic sighed as he sat down at one of the tables in the restaurant. "Yep. Same shit as always." He spoke loudly as he began to eat. "It's better breaking the silence right off the bat, isn't it?"
"God, could you be any more obnoxious?" Pure scolded. "Hello, we just had three die yesterday and you're just sitting here eating like it didn't concern you."
"Guys, I am really begging you. For once, can you two just not bicker in the morning?" Techno asked with annoyance. "Besides, we're the only ones here. Where the heck is everyone? Especially Bright, I'd expect her to be here straight away."
"She must be sick." Toxic slouched in his seat. "There's no other reason that Bright would ever be late for our daily meetings."
"That doesn't explain the others though. Do you think they might be holding some secret meeting without us? I mean, Memory and Rip are also here pretty early. I can believe that Quick and Laser wouldn't be here on time since they like to sleep late." Pure paced around the room. "Maybe I should go looking for them..."
"Yeah, you do that." Toxic said, giving little care about what Pure actually did. Pure scowled at Toxic before leaving with a bitter expression on her face. Now all that was left was Toxic and Techno. After the few torturous seconds of silence that the two had created, Toxic looked over at Techno. "Say, Techno?"
"Hm?" Techno looked at the chemist. It wasn't like he had ever had a proper conversation with him before. "What's wrong?"
"I was wondering something and I think you're the only person I can ask about it...y'know with Bud's execution last night? Well, for the first time, I think I actually felt distraught about it and I don't know why..."
"Well, Bud was kind of hiding the fact that she hated everyone, that should have stung you a little..." Toxic shook his head in response to that. "Then what is it?"
"I dunno...it was kind of like a sad, pitiful feeling I had for her...but I didn't even have that feeling when Enterna was executed, nor Boom. Do you think that's strange?"
"Not really...um, let me put it this way- since we've been with Bud longer than Boom or Enterna, we felt closer to her than them so when she was killed, and after confessing something like that. I guess it just made us feel worse?"
"..." Toxic glanced away for a moment. "You...you're to nice, you know that?"
"What do you-" Before Techno could finish speaking, Toxic had already stood up to leave. "Toxic, wait. There's something I need to ask you as well."
"What?" Toxic asked without looking at Techno.
"Before Enterna was executed...what did she mean by you lying to us?" Toxic clicked his tongue to respond. Without giving any sort of answer, Toxic turned and left swiftly with his head down and hands in his lab coat.
Toxic...what is it you want to hide from us? Is it really that bad...? Techno let out a heavy sigh, thinking he was alone. Thinking.
"Bwah!" Laser yelled out, appearing from underneath the adjacent table to Techno.
"Sweet Luna!" Techno gasped. "What the hell?! Were you there the entire time?!"
"Of course I was." Laser stuck her tongue out and smirked. "I was listening in on all the juicy gossip that was being said! Who would have guessed Toxic was hiding a dark secret? Well...I guess everyone after chapter two's ending."
"What do you mean chapter two-, oh, never mind. Do you who where everyone's disappeared to?"
"Oh! Yeah! I knew there was a reason I came here!" Laser giggled. "I'm supposed to tell you that the gate to Fourth Island was opened up by Monomi. Though...right now she's kind of out of commission since we found out by Monokuma asking us if we knew what happened to his Monobeasts..."
"Well why didn't Pure, Toxic and I know?"
"Cause Monokuma was going around each cabin to ask and when he got to me I told him that Monomi probably had something to with it!"
"Y-you ratted Monomi out?!" Techno yelled at her. "What the hell were you thinking?!"
"I dunno, I do what I feel like..." Laser shrugged. "Anyway, come on! I think you'll enjoy the new island, everyone will...but...I suppose I'd better catch up to Pure and Toxic to let them know, so you should probably go on ahead..." Laser patted Techno on the head twice before running off to find the two.
I swear, there is something wrong with that girl... Techno sighed.
After he had finished up at the restaurant, Techno had walked to the gate to Fourth Island by himself, looking to the left of him, the fifth Monobeast could be vaguely seen. That meant only two more islands were left for him to investigate, Fourth and - presumably - Fifth Island.
Techno shoved the thoughts of the final island aside and ventured down the bridge. First Island seemed to be the main tourist-y place, Second Island seems more historic with it's ruins and library, Third was for some party night...I guess...but, what makes Fourth Island different, I wonder?
As the silhouette of the island began to take shape, Techno was rather shocked by what he was greeted with, stepping onto the island's land. It wasn't anything like the other islands, rollercoasters were seen spread across the island, food stalls and what seemed to be a haunted house attraction stood tall, it was bright and colourful and unlike the other islands it made Techno seem almost at ease. There's...a theme park here?
"Ah, Techno!" He heard the familiar voice of Quick to his left. "I was wondering where you were! I guess Laser finally caught up to, Toxic and Pure?"
"Uh, yeah, you could say that, I guess." Techno scratched the back of his head. "More like she just waited in the restaurant until I was alone, listening to my conversations."
"Yeah she does have a tendency of doing that, doesn't she?"
"Wait, you mean to say she does that on a regular basis." Quick nodded in response. "...actually that's not so surprising. So, have you had a chance to look around the island yet?"
"Oh, yeah. It's pretty interesting to say the least, it's defiantly not like other theme parks though...I guess it's to be expected since Monokuma's now running this island..."
"True...I suppose I should take a quick look around then." Techno turned to walk down the path. "I'll see you later, alright?"
"Sure, man! Oh! And if you see Bright, make sure you tell her that I need to talk to her about something!" Quick yelled to him as Techno continued down the street.
This island's atmosphere is pretty nostalgic. Can't remember the last time I actually went to a theme park...must have been at least five years since I last went to one... Techno smiled to himself, replaying the memories in his mind. I hope I can go back to those peaceful times when we get off this island...
The place that appeared first on the path was the haunted house...though, it seemed the sign had said something different before. However, someone had crossed whatever it was and wrote 'haunted house' on the sign. The house itself didn't seem to be all to scary though, it seemed like a cottage in the woods that you would hear about in any fairy-tales. There seemed to be some rubble and a stand where a statue would be displayed in the garden beside the house and shifting through it all was Paint.
"Oh, um...Paint? What are you doing?" Techno walked into the garden, confused with what exactly Paint was trying to do. "Did you drop something in the rubble?"
"No...I'm just hoping there might be some clues in here." She replied without looking up.
"Clues? Here of all places? Aren't you kind of putting to much faith in some pile of stones?" Techno folded his arms.
"I expect the worst and hope for the best. Every. Day. Of. My. Life." She emphasised each word causing Techno to give her a strange stare. "You're more than welcome to help me, but I prefer to work alone."
"I've noticed." Techno mumbled. "So, what's the deal with this house, who does it belong to?"
"I think it belong to Monomi...just a guess though..."
"Why do you say that?" Techno looked over at the house, confused at how Paint had arrived at her conclusion.
"Monomi's name when she first arrived here was 'Usami' - until Monokuma remodelled her -, then when I looked at the front of the house, the sign on it said 'Usami's House; Please do not disturb!'." Paint paused, throwing one of the pieces of rock to the side. "Like I said, just a guess."
Why are there so many weird people on this island...? Techno sighed. "Isn't Monomi broken or something...?"
"Yes indeed!" Monokuma yelled, jumping from behind the stand where the broken statue once stood. "Poor little Monomi is a pretty bad machine. She's been the one destroying all my Monobeasts, so, for the next few days, I've decided to cut her power source!"
"Power source? You mean Monomi isn't remotely controlled?" Paint asked, suddenly interested.
"Oh, she's controlled via radio waves. So, I had to put some waves of my own to interfere with them! I guess I'll probably let her switch back on after the next class trial."
"You're already planning for that?! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Techno snapped. "Do you honestly think that after this much time and all the things we've went through, someone will still commit murder?!"
"Geez, you talk to much, y'know that? You're just like that guy...what was his name...Haj- something...? Oh, who cares?! The point is, you've said that previous times before and you've been through three class trials since ya' got here. May as well accept that you can't do anything. It's kind of sad when you think about it..." Monokuma giggled.
"No, what's sad is that someone is so low that they would force middle school students to kill each other. For no reason, I might add!" Techno argument forced Monokuma to go silent.
"He's right, you know? If you gave us a valid reason for why you've put us all up to this...then maybe we could finally say this is anyone's game. The real battle of hope and despair would begin."
"Well..." Monokuma looked down to the ground. "It's not like me making each other kill you was anything you had to do with. If you want to blame anybody...blame the Beacons of Hope..."
"E-excuse me?" Paint turned, actually having a reaction in her tone of voice. "What to the Beacons of Hope have to do with all of this?!"
"The Beacons of Hope refer to the survivors of Hope's Peak Academy's first mutual killings. They're also the cause of you guys being sent to this island!"
"That can't be true!" Techno exclaimed. "There's no way that the Beacons of Hope would-"
"Well...I guess you guys can believe what you want...but if you really want to find out the truth, I guess you'll just have to wait..." Monokuma's red eye flashed before he vanished into thin air once more. Paint and Techno exchanged looks. Techno was caught off guard when he saw that Paint seemed distraught...or with the fact that she was actually displaying emotion in the first place.
"There's...there's no way, right? That was probably just Monokuma lying to us..." Techno asked worryingly. "Cause...the Beacons of Hope..."
"Of course not..." Paint spoke, trying to regain her usual composure. "Though...look on the bright side, it would mean that Monokuma gave us some valuable information after all this time." The artist paused. "Maybe it would be best if we kept this between us...I don't want the others to freak out."
"Yeah, you're right. There's no telling how the others might react to hearing that." Techno folded his arms. "A-anyway...I still need to check out the rest of the island, so I'll see you later."
"Likewise..." Paint nodded.
Techno couldn't stop thinking about what had occurred at the haunted house as he arrived at his next destination, the ghost train. The decorations for the place was certainly fitting, there were torches with blue flames burning bright and there were pieces of wood that were hanging from the structure...surely that was intentional?
"Techno!" Bright's voice pierced the silent atmosphere. "It's good to see that you're here. Looks like Laser had completed her assigned duty."
"Were you the one that told her to come and inform Toxic, Pure and I?" Techno guessed. Bright nodded and smirked. "She does seem to have taken a liking to you."
"Laser's like a little lost puppy, I won't lie. She'll do what I want if she thinks that it'll help her in the end." Bright opened her book. "I'm guessing that you were about to ask about the ghost train, weren't you?"
"Uh, y-yeah...how did...oh, right. Super Middle School Level Theorist..." Techno scratched the back of his head. "Well? Is there anything worth mentioning about it?"
"Well there is the fact that it is completely out of commission. Not to mention that there doesn't to be any control panel to operate it anyway..." She fixed her glasses. "Unless there's a way to operate it elsewhere...? But I can't see that as being the answer...then again, with Monokuma, anything is possible so I probably shouldn't throw away that possibility just yet."
"So, why are you here? I thought that by now you would have investigated the entire island?"
"Actually, I have. Needless to say, it seems this island has nothing useful to offer in terms of us getting out of here. It seems that the chances of us escaping is becoming slimmer and slimmer..."
"Bright...what are the chances of us leaving this island, from your perspective...?" Bright looked at Techno briefly before letting a heavy sigh out.
"If you want my honest theory. I believe that our chances of leaving this island now, is around eleven percent..."
"E-eleven?!" Techno panicked. "You mean we've barely got any chance of getting out of here?!"
"Calm down, Techno...it's more probable that it's greater than that. I've been wrong before...I mean, you're still alive even after what I said on the day Smile was killed..."
"Those I am referring to are those that can't handle the pressure of this or are to trusting of others...if my prediction is right...you're first. If the murders occur..." She pointed at Techno.
"M-me?!" Techno yelled, standing up. "You can't be serious!"
"Yeah!" Rip joined. "You can't just say that Techno's gonna die! That's just low!"
"And my prediction" Smile pretended to have glasses on and a book by his side. "Is that your prediction is total BS." There were a few snickers from Smile's imitation.
"Feh, this is what I mean." Bright shrugged. "The ones that rely on others, just like...Techno, was it? I guess I should learn your name before your demise..." Bright then fixed her glasses once more.
That's right. Bright had originally thought that I was gonna be killed first...yet I'm standing here after three class trials...why is that? Shouldn't I be the easiest target for everyone...?
"I don't know what it is about you Techno...there's something about you that I feel rather intrigued about." Bright rubbed her chin. "Hmph...well, it may just be nothing..."
"Well, I should probably check out what's next on the island...oh! And before I forget! Quick was looking for you, it seemed kind of important."
"Alright. I'll go and look for him...don't stray to far, by the way. Monokuma told us to meet up here once we've checked out the island. Rip was also looking for you by the way. She said she had been meaning to talk to you about something extremely important."
"R-Rip does, eh...?" Techno blushed a little, not knowing what it could have been that Rip had thought was extremely important. "Do you know where she went off to?"
"I think she's over at the rollercoaster." Bright said unsure. "She may have wandered from there though."
"Thanks for the info, Bright. I'll see you later when we all meet up!" Techno waved goodbye as he ran off. The rollercoaster was the largest attraction by a long-shot. It stretched across the entire island so there was nowhere it wasn't visible. Techno climbed through the railings that would have been used to form the line to the rollercoaster and stepped up to where the ride started.
Techno looked over at where the control panel was to find Toxic and Rip talking with each other. Looks like Toxic had finally made it here. "Oh, Techno! You're here!" Rip smiled, jumping over the gap where the ride's carriage was. "That's good...I needed to talk to you about something...actually, Toxic, could you listen in as well? I need someone else to hear this."
"Huh?" Toxic raised an eyebrow. "Sure, whatever..." He shrugged, following Rip's movements and stood with the two. "What's going on?"
"Here's the thing...I was in my cabin last night when something came through my door. I don't know who gave it to me, but...I have my suspicions...a-anyway. It was one of the student profiles..."
"Student profiles?" Toxic stopped her. "I thought Techno had those?"
"Well, apparently not all of them..."
"No, I counted them all." Techno argued. "There were sixteen, I made sure of it..."
"How many pages?" Toxic asked.
"What do you mean?"
"How many pages did each student have in their profile?"
"Well...I differed from person to person, if I remember right. Like you had two pages but Laser had three. Everyone had multiple pages...expect Memory and myself though..."
"M-Memory..." Rip bit her lip. "He's...the reason I asked you to meet me here. I think there might finally be some evidence to prove what Clip was saying before..."
Clip...why is she bringing him up at this time?
"You think...Memory's been faking his kindness?" Rip quaked at the idea. "Why would he do that? There's nothing to gain from doing that!"
"I know it sounds insane but you guys need to believe me on this. Memory is dangerous and if we get too close he'll just stab us in the back. Literally."
"My, my...what a spacious imagination you've got, Clip Brunette..." Memory's voice sounded as he appeared at the entrance of the park. "I mean I guess you like to gossip but this is just cruel, don't you think?"
"Shut up and drop the act!" Clip yelled "I already know that you're acting up! You met here with me after the class trial!"
"Did I?" Memory faked a confused frown. "I don't remember doing anything after the class trial. Well, apart from going to my cabin to reflect on what happened...it is still sad what happened to Swift and Enterna, don't you think?"
"I said shut up!"
"I really pity you, Clip...I mean. This is obviously just an attempt to get Techno away from me so you can get closer to me."
"Do we have to talk about Clip...?" Techno mumbled. Rip rubbed her upper-arm and sighed.
"Sorry...I just...I just think that you need to see it to believe me. Once we've finished our investigation, come by to my cabin, alright?"
"Sure. No problem." Techno nodded.
Meanwhile back at the haunted house, Paint was still looking around making sure everything was searched. She must have been there since the island had been opened up.
"Heya, Paint..." The voice of Memory came from behind her. Paint stood up and turned to him. "What'cha looking for?"
"I'm looking for clues, naturally. You don't seem to be doing anything productive however..." Memory chuckled at her observation.
"Just came by to see how you were...are you gonna keep pretending like last night didn't happen though? It must be tough...having to be so low-key about all this..."
"Not really. Like I told you, Rip already knows what you are now..."
"What we all are, technically..." Memory grins. "But I probably shouldn't spoil that just yet..." Paint raised an eyebrow.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Tell me, Paint..." Memory ignored her question. "Why, out of everyone on the island, did you decide to send evidence to Rip. I mean, she isn't exactly the most persuasive of people...if you wanted everyone on your side, surely you'd pick someone that had a little more influence in the group such as Techno or Bright."
"No, Techno or Bright would never have made good choices for this. It had to be Rip..."
"Because she sided with Clip?" Memory guessed. "Yeah, because of Clip, I've been getting some dirty looks off of Bright and Quick...seems just about everyone is against me...oh woe is me..."
"Such a pity parade..." Paint replied sarcastically. "It won't be long though...I wouldn't be surprised if you were killed next."
"Tch!" Memory clicked his tongue. "As if...y'know, I've been thinking the whole time since last night...since you read the profile, you must know, right? You know about the secret about this island, and the secret about everyone on this island...?"
"Don't know what you're referring to..." Paint denied. "As far as I'm concerned...this island is about as real as you and me..." Paint did not get a response other than a small smile from Memory.
"Whatever you say, Ms Pallet..."
The remaining nine students eventually finished their investigations and had gathered at the Ghost train as Monokuma had instructed them to. Rip had asked Techno to keep some distance between them and Memory but unfortunately couldn't stop him from coming up to talk to Techno.
"So, Techno. How did your investigation go? Find out anything useful?" There was a split second were the thought of Techno telling him about what he and Paint had heard from Monokuma, however, if Rip was being truthful in what she had said earlier...he had better keep his distance as best as possible.
"Nothing really...this island seems to be like any old theme park." Techno shrugged. "Guess there isn't much to explore..."
"On the contrary..." Laser objected. "The food stand in here are awesome! Way better than anything I've ate over at First Island's restaurant, this stuff is the best! We should eat here everyday!"
"T-that would not be ideal!" Pure frowned. "You realise how bad that would be for your health, right?"
"The walk from First Island to here would serve as exercise at the very least." Laser folded her arms. "You tryin' to tell me the food isn't absolutely delicious?!"
"Laser, exactly how much did you eat from those food stands?" Quick asked worriedly.
"Um...like...maybe one meal from each I saw...?"
"T-there are like eight food stands on the island! Where do you keep all of that food?!" Rip yelled. Laser dug into her jacket pocket and pulled out a bar of chocolate.
"Obviously I didn't eat it all of it at once...just most of it." Laser paused. "What? Did any of you want a piece?"
"Actually-"
"Quick, no." Bright clicked her fingers.
"There was even a kitchen near one of the stands! There were so many cool tools I've never seen before! I may have took some stuff to try out later."
"I never noticed a kitchen..." Rip thought for a moment, trying to recall what she had saw.
"Really...? Was I the only that found it? Heh! Then I guess I hit the jackpot, eh?!" Laser grinned.
"Focus, will you?" Everyone looked at Bright. "I don't think I need to mention how suspicious all of this is, do I? It isn't common for Monokuma to just tell us to meet up anywhere other than Jabberwock Park. Yes, this is most defiantly suspicious..."
"Maybe you should just chill out, Brighty..." Laser giggled. "I'm sure everything's fine! He's probably just gonna give us another stupid motive! Don't think he realises that none of us would really turn on each other at this point."
"Can't believe I'm saying this but I gotta agree with Laser." Toxic smirked. "Not a chance. Not after all that...I think we finally got rid of any potential traitors."
"I wouldn't place my bets on a statement like that..." Paint mumbled quietly.
"But, where's Monokuma? He wants us to all meet up here and he himself hasn't shown himself? That's just plain rude..." Rip folded her arms.
"Ah, yes...the bear that forces us to kill each other. How on earth could he not have common manners...?" Toxic rolled his eyes. "Seriously, do you use that head of yours?"
"I, I..." Rip stuttered. "Hmm...well it does seem like we might still have some potential traitors. Maybe we should be ready for the next class trial..." Everyone looked at Rip with shock, bar Bright and Paint who seemed more intrigued. "A-ah! S-sorry...I sounded weird again, didn't I? Uuu..."
Rip...what was that just now? Techno frowned.
"Toxic, shouldn't you be, oh, I don't know, apologising?! To Rip, I mean." Pure scolded him. "That was really rude of you just now!"
"G-geez, what are you, my mother?" Toxic groaned. "Whatever, I'm sorry." He folded his arms and looked away. "You've probably got at least a few brain cells in there...you do know Neighponese, after all..." Everyone looked at Toxic, slightly confused.
"Did you just listen to what Pure said?" Laser tilted her head. "That's so weird, like, for real! I thought you two hated each other!"
"We do!" Toxic retorted quickly. "It's just...I dunno...something in the back on my mind's been bothering me, I suppose. Guess it's making me a it soft or whatever."
"Probably for the better." Quick grinned. "It'll be better for all of us if we all just got along."
"No shit, genius." Toxic murmured, to which Pure elbowed him in the chest. "Ow!"
"We should start talking about the stuff on the island though. Even if there wasn't much, there might be something only one of us noticed." Memory folded his arms, glancing at Paint who did the same. "How about that Haunted House? Did anyone find something out about that?"
"There's nothing too interesting about that place." Paint responded quickly. "I even search through that entire pile of rubble and I didn't even find anything useful or suspicious. Though, I do know now that, that 'haunted house' is just Monomi's house that Monokuma redecorated."
"That bear has way much to free-time on his hands if he's just been going around, redoing the decor of the islands." Pure frowned and sighed. "Then again, it's better than him thinking up ways to turn us against each other."
"True enough. The rollercoaster that's near here doesn't really have anything to it either. It's just as it looks, a normal rollercoaster." Rip added. "Plus it's super fun! Toxic operated the machine so i could get a turn on it!"
"Maybe we should all go on it later!" Laser suggested. "It'll be totally fun if it lives up to Rip's words!"
"P-Pass..." Quick chuckled nervously. "I'm not so good with rollercoasters...especially ones with loops..."
"Dude, you're going green just talking about it." Toxic pointed out, slightly worried. "Anyway...where's Monokuma? Even if he is an annoying little shit, he still called us over here and it's not like him to be late."
"Yeah...where is he...?" Memory looked around. His eyes finally rested on the cart for the ghost train. "Maybe we're supposed to take the ghost train to meet him?"
"Possibly. Monokuma probably would do something like that, just to confuse us." Bright adjusted the position of her glasses. "Well, there are nine carts, everyone, hop in!"
One-by-one, the nine students climbed into the carts, bar Bright who was by the control panel. "Alright, secure yourselves in everyone. We don't know if this thing is gonna be bumpy or not...my theory says it will be though, so keep safe!" She flipped one of the switches and hit a green button.
The carts suddered suddenly and then moved slowly into the tunnel. Bright jumped intot he back cart and pulled the safety rail down just before they were all enveloped in the darkness. "G-geez, I hate the dark..." Quick complained, somewhere from the middle.
"Do you like anything...?" Toxic said mockingly. "Seriously, quit being such a baby."
"Oh, shut up, Toxic!" Pure yelled from the front. "You'll probably get scared on this as well."
"As if, I don't get scared so easily-" The carts came to an abrupt halt. "Huh...? What happened?"
"Ah!" Rip yelped. "My cart's turning!"
"Rip? What are you talking about?" Techno asked, looking aimlessly through the darkness. "Where are you?" There was the sound of a cart starting to move again, followed by a scream that eventually faded off. "Rip? Rip!" Techno kept yelling, though he got not response.
"Shit! The bars aren't moving!" Toxic yelled angrily. "This is a trap!" There was another few screams, one male and another was female.
"That was Memory and Laser!" Bright pushed harder against the bar but to no avail. "Urgh! Dammit!" She gave up as her cart moved away from the rest of the group. "Be careful everyone!"
"Shit!" Toxic's voice faded off, followed by a scream from Quick and Pure.
"Paint! Paint?! Are you still here?!" Techno asked. There was no response. Gah! Did she seriously go without alerting anyone?! Techno yelped when his cart jolted forward at a quicker speed than he was expecting. He felt himself hang over the edge of a drop for a moment before plummeting into the eternal darkness.
Techno groaned, he sat up and rubbed his eyes behind his glasses. He fell unconcious after the ride. Wherever he managed to enter from seemed to have dissapeared. He was in what looked to be an office room one would go to if they had to see a psychiatrist or therapist. The walls were lined with dozens of books and there was a brown leather couch sitting in the middle of the room with a wooden chair next to it. He was the only one in the room, which begged the question: what happened to the rest of the group?
*Ding dong, bing bong!* The familiar jingle sounded and a monitor that was placed above a steel door to Techno's right lit up. "Upupupu! Looks like everyone's awake now! That's good, that's spectacular!" Techno groaned inwardly. He really hated this guy's voice. "Anyway, I suppose you're all wondering why you've been brought here. Well, this is your new motive! The Fourth Island Maze!"
Maze...? Is that what this place is? Techno looked around a little more, there was another monitor next to the steel door, only it was smaller and had fifteen buttons on it. Each with a student's face on it.
"I guess some of you noticed that little monitor with all the buttons. That'll let you call any other room in the maze. It's really useful so you can all stay in touch whilst you're stuck in here. Which reminds me! You're probably wondering how this is a motive, am I right or am I right? Well. You see, the fun part about this maze is, it only has enough oxygen to supply all of you for five days! That's right! You guys have to escape this maze within five days! Whoever is left, will die! No trial, no nothing. Just dead."
And now, here comes the catch...
"And..." Monokuma continued, as Techno predicted. "If you haven't guessed already. The easiest way out of the maze is to open all of the doors! How, you may ask? Obviously, you kill one of the other students! That's right! Not even twenty four hours and you already have a new motive! Of course, there is another way of escaping. Each of you nine will have one key on your person. They unlock the doors to one of the rooms in the maze. The other seven keys are hidden in specific rooms. You can work together to get out, or you can try and escape by yourself and sacrifice everyone else. If you're the only one who can escape, that does mean you get to leave as you're the last one standing. I suppose though...that's everything. Have fun guys! Try not to run of air too quickly now!"
The monitor switched off. Techno was expecting to feel some form of anger to come forth from him, but nothing happened. There was no anger or hatred that came out of him. No cursing Monokuma's name or wishing he wasn't here. It was almost like...he was use to all this. He was use to getting these motives, used to everything...he was used to the despair.
*Ring! Ring!* Techno jumped, the light of one of the buttons flashed next to the small monitor. Hastily, Techno made his way over and pressed the button that had Paint's face printed on it. The small monitor flashed on, displaying Bright who seemed to be in a room filled with sculptors and painting supplies.
"Ah, Techno. It's as I suspected." She nodded. "It seems that everyone's starting in a room that corresponds with another living student. You're in Memory's whilst I'm in Paint's."
"Correspond...? What do you mean?" Techno asked.
"It seems that the rooms all correspond with the student's talent. As I'm in Paint's, I'm in a room filled with art-related items. You seem to be in some sort of office, like a room someone would see their therapist in." She explained. "I'm going to try and find everyone else, in the meantime, what key do you have?"
Monokuma did mention something about Techno having a key on him. Techno searched his pockets thoroughly and found a small black key with a picture of Enterna on it. "Looks like I have access to the room based on Enterna...but i don't know where that is."
"It's adjacent to my room. This door the monitor is next to has picture of Enterna above it. Though, I'm not sure how far away we are from each other..."
"My room...is next to..." Techno looked at the three doors in the room. "Rip...Swift...and Toxic." Techno looked back at her. Bright jotted down some notes.
"My room is next to Enterna, Laser, Boom and Toxic. So we have one room between us." Bright mumbled. "Very well. If I come across the key to Toxic and Memory's room, I shall come find you. Until then, try not to get worked up, alright?"
"Got it. I'll see you later, I suppose..." The two nodded to each other and the communications ended. Techno straightened up and turned back to the room. Now what am I supposed to do...? He asked himself.