DECEMBER EVENT/TDM

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bulletin board updates

✽ There are several new points of interest at the bulletin board this month, most prominently a wooden box with the slit on the top just large enough to drop a sheet of paper inside. Above is an explanation of Secret Santa and a form to fill out for those interested in participating to write down their name, homeroom, and locker number. Sign-ups close on 12/5, and following assignments, gifts may be given in person or through one of the student council members if anonymous gifting is preferred (contact the mod to hire a stuco elf).
✽ Right next to this box is a poster with a large orange giraffe painted on it. The contents of the poster has nothing to do with giraffes, but rather, is an advertisement for student store commissions featuring quality work with quick turnarounds and a special discount for the month of December if you buy five or more commissions, or bring the shopkeep a warm drink and maybe a snack while they're working.
✽ To the side of the class roster and current ranks is a digital countdown, and scrawled on the bulletin board itself is the message "You're almost there! You can do it! One more push!" but it's unclear whether this message refers to the countdown to the new year, or to the long glass tube situated along the edge of the bulletin board next to it. Maybe both. The tube looks similar to a graduated cylinder, holding a total volume of 5000 ml and currently containing 4850 ml of dark red (presumably) blood, hot to the touch. It can not be broken or removed. The mod will be in contact if any character action this month causes the volume to change.
✽ A neatly typed notice, half buried under all the other announcements, contains a reminder that tuition will be due soon for those students continuing to study at Yogen. If tuition is not paid in full by the end of February, "compensation" will be taken instead.
✽ And finally, there is a notice from the student council that proof of club activity is once again due for submission to the student council by 12/24, otherwise the club will be dissolved and resources taken back. Please submit activity proof to the toplevel below.

12/20 - 12/24 finals week

✽ The week before winter break is finals, with many students cramming as many math formulas and foreign country leaders into their heads as possible without it all spilling over, while other students have decided to chance the practicum instead. Those who have signed up for the practicum are asked to meet inside the auditorium after homeroom at the start of the day while test takers begin their written exams. Students are allowed to change their minds on which to take, up until the end of homeroom on Monday, after the bell rings and the doors close.
✽ For the test takers, finals last for five days, from 8AM until noon each day, after which students are allowed to go home, or have lunch and continue studying in their homerooms or in the library. At the end of finals on Friday, students are asked to remain in their homerooms over lunch break while their exams finish being graded, after which homeroom teachers will return and ask certain students to go with them to the faculty office. These are the failing students. Which the homeroom teachers themselves have the pleasure of executing for their failures. All other students are dismissed and wished a happy winter break.
✽ For those opting for the practicum, finals last for two days, from 8AM until noon on Monday and Tuesday. All students from all grades meet in the auditorium the first day and are told the very simple rules for this semester's practicum: in order to raise your failing grade, all you have to do is kill another student, upon which you take their points for yourself. At the start of both days, students first gather in the auditorium for a headcount and then are given a half hour no-killing grace period during which they are allowed to scatter and find the best sniping/ambushing/hiding spots. The hunt is limited to four hours each day and kills must be done on campus; any kills done outside of these parameters are just for fun and do not count towards their final grade. Points are given for kills involving students in the same grade level of different homerooms (e.g. third years only benefit from killing other third years) and points are revoked for kills involving other grade levels or test takers not participating in the practicum. They studied hard, leave them alone. Most students need only one or two kills to pass, but multiple kills stack and earn them extra credit that will carry over to the next semester. Students who end the second day with a still failing grade will be called to the faculty office. ... All remaining students are dismissed and wished a happy (early!) winter break.
✽ A winter storm starts to whip up around noon on the 24th, raging through the night before settling down come morning, blanketing the entire campus with several feet of snow.

OOC

✽ PC faculty still have finals: they will either take written exams excluding that of their own subject, or they can take the practicum. Players with faculty characters are asked to reply to the toplevel below to indicate the number of failed students per class, but characters do NOT have to ICly be responsible for killing failed students. Unless they're cool with that, and if so, please let me know.
✽ This is a reminder that for any character that murders (again, please let me know), they will experience the same pain the following night and lose powers/abilities for one week. Two weeks after the murder, +1 tally and +100 merit points will be awarded for each kill.
✽ The void in the auditorium continues to grow, and (pending character interaction) by the end of the month will encompass the entire right wing of all floors, including the locker area but not the rooftop. Please mind the void, murderers.

Comments

[rearranger]

[ The implication isn't entirely lost on him, and it isn't wrong. It was technology that he knew like the back of his hand, with programs and other features that nothing else in his world could compare to. Komaeda isn't the first person he's seen act as though such a thing is unnecessary, but it's still perplexing to a doll who found such things to be as important as breathing. ]

Hmm... Sounds like a hassle if you're just gonna throw it away when you're done.

[ Which, to him, giving it away is probably about the same. He decides against questioning it, supposing that there must be some reason or another for why he wouldn't want to hang onto it, though, and it doesn't change their goal. Besides, it might be easier to use something built to utilize the same code and hardware as him from the onset. Thinking that to himself, Rio shrugs. ]

You can use mine if you want. I don't mind.

[ He's already reviewed and scrubbed it of all the data he was concerned about others learning about (chiefly information about the participants involved,) and the rest was either in line with what Komaeda already knew about the company or wouldn't be of much interest in this place. Regardless, it's nothing that he feels the need to hide, and so it seems to him that there's no harm in it. ]

[commences]

A hassle? No, no... don't think of it that way. I'd be giving it to someone who can make use out of it, maybe... Tsukimi-kun?

( he's picking a name off the top of his head, one that's familiar to him rather than the "sou hiyori" one that he uses, his memories plague him, but it's a genuine choice when he picks him. he knows that the other has been interested in something like that, and he looks at rio with a small smile like it's came to his attention that this would be the best gift they could do. )

It can be a joint gift, it'd be pretty expensive, but... I could.

( this is about learning code, not shopping for shin, and yet he leans up properly so he's no longer clinging onto rio's side, when the other is finally free, he nods. he could buy two, or he could buy three, he's sure if he says something about being friendly that npckun would indulge in komaeda's plans. he doesn't make anymore comments on it, and instead, he crosses his arms on the table as he leans forward to stare at the wall across from them as he relishes in the heat around him. )

Where's yours, if you're sure?

[rearranger]

If you want, but you don't really have to. He'd probably like it.

[ Perhaps it's because the concept is something he's only now picking up, and even then it's generally a reciprocal affair, but Rio doesn't see any need to go so far. Even so, he won't object if that's how Komaeda chooses to proceed. Still, he wonders if Shin wouldn't be immediately suspicious of it if one of the former Floormasters had their name attached to any gift given to him. Their relationship was more amicable now, but it wasn't as though any of them could just forget what had happened.

Rio likewise sets those thoughts aside for now, instead sliding the piece of paper that he'd written over to Komaeda. ]

I don't mind. We're partners, so there's nothing I really need to hide from you.

[ Whether or not Komaeda thinks the same way seems irrelevant. He would share things as he pleased and felt necessary. Rio continues without waiting for a response, apparently having decided that Komaeda already knew this fact, ]

I wrote down a few examples, take a look at 'em and see if you can make sense of it. It's just in my room, so I'll only be a minute.

[ He pushes himself up off the ground as he says this. It's written in Hinoki, but there are certain functions and syntaxes that one should be able to parse out just based on preexisting knowledge of other languages. He'd deliberately chosen relatively straightforward ones to try and make it easier to pick up on a few of the the keywords and statements. ]

[commences]

You're someone he knows, right? Most people can accept things from people they know compared to who they don't, they know what to expect.

( with komaeda and rio's name attached, that means shin would have to double his efforts to use it, and to komaeda, it sounds actually hilarious. he's committed to the idea curious if he'd do anything with that brick of a laptop, but luckily rio has his nice, smooth, fast loading laptop that komaeda's going to agree to use instead since the paper has been slid to him. he looks at the information written, trying to familiarize himself with it. where's my cheat sheet so i know what he's looking at. )

There's something I want to know, it's plagued my mind for awhile. ( he watches rio get up from where he was sitting, and the warm that wafted from him leaves as well. it's a cold draft to him now, and he sighs slightly defeated before looking back down to the paper. ) What's your favorite animal?

( everyone has a favorite animal or two, now that's a question that rio can think on as he departs to his room, and so that komaeda make heads or tails of the sheet.

thinking how i typed in hinoki yttd and regretted that. )

[rearranger]

Well, I guess that's true.

[ Now that he's thinking about it, something from this era wouldn't be of much use anyway. Maybe he'll get lucky and another laptop from home will show up instead of coffins and portraits and other oddities. On the paper are some simple codes that are written in an unfamiliar programming language, along with a Validate Sequence written in the same style; however, he might be able to pick out some similarities to C++ if he's familiar. Otherwise, it should be possible to at least pick out some basic commands just by looking at it.

If he weren't an AI, it would be fairly impressive. There's a thoughtful sound in response to the question, and he disappears into the hallway. It'll only take him a few minutes to retrieve the laptop and come back carrying it. Unfortunately for him, he still hasn't really found an answer that he likes by time he settles in next to Komaeda. He hasn't really paid enough attention to develop a favorite, and by default he knows he likes cats, along with other standard pets aside from rodents (albeit the latter is useful for other purposes,) but that's about it. ]

I've never really thought about it. I like cats though.

[ He flips to the cat card to demonstrate. ]

[commences]

Do you like them, or is that all you know?

( given cat cards can condition a person to only thinking about them in general, it's no different from handing a child a barbie over and over, and they come to the idea they like these miniature little humans enough to say that the brand they like because it's a go to. it's not really a difficult question, but there's the asunaro made part of him, and then the side where he tries to figure out who he really is because he no longer has that attachment with asunaro, with safalin, and with whoever else he had. )

6, 8, 9, 10, -7, -9, 2, 0 as the shorthand of the array would be... 8, -7, -9, 0 for the sequence.

( he's making his own example out of what he sees, and he notices that the end number is the same every time, which he sets the paper down to look over the others. his prosthetic moves down to tap at the operators listed for him to look through, and as he takes his time grooming through the information, he finds that it really isn't that bad. dealing with communication between monokuma units wasn't his thing, but he watched the coding process to make them move around, find their targets, give them proper sentience and their only desire being to kill adults. )

Ah... that would make the constructs at the end... so as the name suggests, that's straightforward.

( he continues to mumble his thoughts, grabbing a sheet of paper to write down a few of it as that normally helps apply to memory, but also see if he can remember the basic gist. )

[rearranger]

Hmmm... I think it's the default setting. There's a lot of little things like that. Humans have preferences, so it'd be strange if you didn't put anything in.

[ Why cats? It's probably because it's common enough, and somebody likes them. But having met one and seen another one scurrying about, Rio finds that he likes them well enough and so he's comfortable with this answer. Whether or not it would hold up if he were to interact with other domestic animals, he can't say, having no means of testing it.

He thinks he might like birds well enough, too, but perhaps that's just because he associates them with the outside. ]

Birds are fine too. I've had my thoughts on other things change, so it just depends.

[ There were other things that had been overwritten over time, as was to be expected - he doesn't like neutrals as much as he does vibrant colors, and he prefers certain kinds of fabrics... And so on and so forth. He sets his cards down and pulls his hood up, the cat ears on it sticking up. Komaeda seems to be able to be grasping it well enough, and so he lets himself fall silent as he taps at keys and clicks in order to allow him to work that out.

The computer unlocks, and he considers what to do next. He sifts through files and codes and eventually pulls up one in particular. It's hard to imagine that much of it will be legible to a person learning the language, but it was a good example, and he thinks it's one that is worth learning to read. ]

Right. It's best to start with the basics, don'tchya think? Whenever you're ready, I'll show you something more complicated.

[commences]

Defaults to cats? Well isn't that mean, dogs are cute, too.

( rio has a catty personality, so it'd make sense, and the little cat cards are a tell, too. though when he first met him, that wasn't what komaeda used to decide introducing him to lily may. what he did was go off the information he learned about his person, and applied that to thinking he didn't know much about living life since he was such a masterwork. at the time, it was him wanting to share an experience, but that was at random, and he could have done anything. )

I tried to get the shopkeeper a Bleeding-Heart Luzon, they share similar traits.

( showing their heart, having it constantly bleed around others, being unable to stop it from doing so — flying is also out of the question, they're animals that mostly stay on the ground. they would have clipped their wings ever so sooner. as he explains, he's looking up from the paper to look at the screen if rio has something to show to him, and as he reads, he can see that...

are they building a program? he won't find out until he tries, so he pulls the laptop over to him so that he can reference the information he wrote down to what he's typing into a coding box. )

Have you met the Monokuma Units that run around? The code they have is quite interesting, being able to tell the difference between child and adults, and then the about-to-bes. They're broken now, their code have glitched out because they don't discriminate when they kill.

( he types half the code of what gives them the idea to do so, and the coding would be complicated to anyone if they didn't know it, but the fact komaeda can type it off memory tells he must have used it a few times. it's once he types more than half out, he deletes it afterwards because this isn't what this is about. )

What should I code... making an animatronic? Making a cat would be cute, the base of one. A program that gives it the primary motions of running, meowing, and scratching at doors.

[rearranger]

They're cute.

[ He agrees with that, at least (and I think Komaeda should have been working at ASUNARO so that he could have prevented the injustice of him preferring one over the other.) Bleeding-Heart Luzons, too. He supposes it must have been for a sensitive person. Rio doesn't know the shopkeeper particularly well to say for himself. He doesn't think he especially dislike any animals, though some were less appealing than others.

Rio watches as he types the code out, reading it with some interest and trying to see if he can make sense out of any of it. It is interesting, he thinks. It shouldn't be terribly hard, and he supposes there might be valid reasons to distinguish between the two - practical reasons, as devoid of all emotion and sympathy as all his other reasoning. ]

Hm, really? That's a problem. Any idea what's causing it?

[ The glitching, he means, not the indiscriminate killing. ]

If you make a cat, the other two are gonna get jealous. You should do a dog. [ Then he can meet one, albeit an artificial one. ] As long as you don't wanna do something weird like making an AI that's in love with you. That's just creepy.

[ Komaeda wouldn't even think of something something like that (or at least, he'd hope not,) but he's never been one to miss the opportunity to comment on his co-workers' little quirks. Hiyori had a fairly good reason for what he did, and it was actually quite sensible in a way that Rio can respect, but anyway he doesn't need to include that part. ]

[commences]

Hm... Mmm, do you remember when we sent the one outside into the forest and it had difficulties working, it could be the same... ah, I wonder how something from home that's so despairing could cause such problems with itself?

( it comes out slow, thinking over what the problem could be considering they're still the same, but they target a certain group, and sadly it no longer applies here. something in the code? or is it just being here in this area that causes the data to go out of whack, perhaps even a virus, but they're already the world's virus. it's an infection that needs to be removed, it feels like poison that crawls under his skin as he thinks about how they normally listen to him. had they listened to his command without the hacking gun, he might have been sick, that's just a tell of his connection remains. he should be grateful for had it listened to him the day he asked for a request while in this school, that might have mentally did damage. )

While having control of the hacking gun, it's not so bothersome, but...

( it's odd, everything else he's gained here works properly, but them. it's fine, he shrugs, he shouldn't think despair has any power to do what it wants here as long as hope thrives. with the computer, he starts by typing in a few functions first, not really sure how he should start this off, but it's more about building from the inside out, and do it's a few slow and steady clicks as he thinks about what input commands should go first. there's a few errors that he notices himself, hence why he stops, looking it over, but he keeps them because nothing is perfect. )

Doesn't matter about that... You make it sound pretty taboo, but it makes for a lonely person, and a unique gift. Do you think Tsukimi-kun is interested in that sort of stuff, he does have the make-up for a neet-type character!

( he's thinking christmas present, but komaeda's not about to code some cute girlfriend for him, it'd be no different from rainbow girl, he thinks. it might be cruel to think this way, but if that's the type of interests that he has, then komaeda's actually fascinated he has a very split from reality sort of life. )

A VN might work best, though... What do you think?

[rearranger]

[ Rio leans over and watches without much comment. The simplest way to start to learn a programming language was simply to work at something, while constantly checking to see what functions and syntaxes did this and that. The program itself seems to have a reference sheet, and then of course Ranger himself is an invaluable tool. There was no need for him to point out every minor thing. At the same time, Rio wants to press more on the issue of the bots, but Komaeda moves on and he is forced to set aside his curiosity for the moment. ]

Hm? Well, if it's sentient enough to know that it's an AI, it's gonna know that it's been programmed to love you.

[ Then again, it's just a doll, so does it really matter? It doesn't, but he thinks it might be uncomfortable for the human that had pieced it together. ]

Anyway, I don't think he's into that kinda stuff. He's not really the type. Guy's too serious for that.

[ Level headed might be a better word for it, but both get the same message across. Shin might have some amount of wish fulfillment and fantasy in his day to day life, buit it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. ]

I'm not sure what would make a good gift for him. Hmm...

[ He was a tech guy, but Ranger had already passed along the big piece of programming he had, and it isn't as though there was anything of value to be found in this era. He likes black cats, but that isn't very helpful either. ]

[commences]

( when he says that, komaeda turns to look at rio for a moment, if they're sentient to know they're an ai, they know they've been programmed to love someone. who did rio love per waking up? or because his coding was messed with purposefully, did he miss that chance? does that take away from being an ai? )

Shin AI, Maple AI... who did they love?

( he blinks, yes, those are big questions, but he remembers them perfectly, but he didn't push the matter at the time because he knows rio didn't want him to. that he'll tell him things once the time comes, and komaeda shouldn't have listened to that nonsense, because he realized as the computer turned on, that half the interesting icons had disappeared. he knows that he did that on purpose, was avoiding anyone stumbling into important information they didn't need to fine. if it's not about asunaro anymore, it must be about certain people that he knows, and so komaeda asks curiously, but remains diligent to the matter at hand. )

Is he really? I hear him playing with Shujinkou-chan from time to time, so I think he can be childish if you give him the chance.

( leaning back from the coffin just a bit, he wants to be close to the fireplace as he thinks about what shin may be interested in. his memories doesn't give him much to work with, but if he's a guy that's so interesting in technology, and likes to play with sara when they're roomed together, he leans forward with an idea. )

What about a Midi Fighter 64, they're pretty interesting to play with.

( plug them up to a computer, and make personal beats, or sound bites that could have certain phrases of voice that he's recorded. komaeda has a cd from a unit that attends yumenosaki, so he could rip those if he was interested, but he'll see if the gift passes with rio first. anyway, he knows ibuki would probably die for one, but it also splits between a little keyboard to being something a person can play on. perhaps even rei could find some fun with it, he thinks if shin shared it with others. )

[rearranger]

[ Hmm... That's a complicated question. There was more than one Shin AI, after all, but they were functionally the same. ]

Well, it's not like you gotta program them that way. It was just Maple. That was Hiyori's doing. The long and short of it is that she loved humans and was fine with killing a Floormaster, so he fixed her by making it so she loved him. But she had just enough self-awareness to know all the limitations on her code, as well as those modifications.

[ How did that work out in practice? Well, Rio doesn't know, but that girl had probably loved him too much to kill him. Rio folds his arms on the coffin. In many ways, she was the opposite of him. Maple had a simple range of emotions that could be triggered, but even those were just part of a grander puzzle - for the most part, she was a calm figure who loved humans and who was kind to everyone. She was an expert in hospitality. Maple was nothing more than a puzzle piece and Hiyori's plaything.

It might be tempting to say the same for Rio Ranger, and to a point it was true, but his circumstances were too different. Maple understood her role in the game, yet was forced by her code to follow through, and was slated to die at the moment of her creation. It's a fact that doesn't particularly bother them, not when so many dolls had been made and disposed of solely for the Majority Game. Rio, by contrast, was created independently and offered the same opportunity to prove himself as his human counterparts.

Rio had always known that he had no more value than the rest of them. He just had an opportunity, and that was enough. If his code had worked as original conceived, then maybe... ]

She was made for the Majority Game, and she was there for balance. As for Shin, eh - we had AIs for all the participants, it was just all their memories and their personality... Well, their personalities from 3 years ago, anyway.

[ Which should explain what he had been worried about before - well, there was more than that, but that data was all that he felt the need to expunge.

He considers the suggestion, and after a moment nods in response to the suggestion. ]

Oh, one of those? Yeah, I think that'd be good for him. That's the sorta thing that I dunno if he'd think to get for himself.

[ It's a fun idea, though, the kind of thing that anyone could enjoy regardless of skill level. ]

[commences]

Hiyori-san sounds lonely, you know rabbits die if they have no one. ( a common theme, he finds, komaeda could never compare to a rabbit since he'd go out, and force company with others. he wants it, but understands he can't have it, so even sitting with rio like this happens to be pushing it.

slowly, he types a few more pieces of code, clicking the input to be validated for his errors, and so he grooms back through it lazily.

hiyori is such a common name, and he guesses that asking would be more beneficial to him than playing the guessing game. it's fun, though, and so he instead focuses on maple since she is the ai of the hour. )

If he didn't want her to know her limitations, he wouldn't have granted her that, but he did.

( not that komaeda can say it's weird, it's pushing a bit, but if she was his creation, he could do as fit compared to rio who was crafted by many hands, and was sullied due to one's greed. then he thinks about it... fixed, rio used that term that hiyori fixed maple, and he hums thoughtfully over that in particular. )

Is that why you dislike Hiyori-san?

( komaeda can tell that from the first time he brought hiyori up, rio was not fond at all.

... )

So that means the information on those AIs won't have anything from here?

( if they could, he'd have been prepared for coming to purgatory in general. that would have been the first warning, and rio would have been the grim reaper instead with all the info compared to komaeda; their roles switched, and he could fill in all the blanks. if they had data here, would that mean he could talk to the shin of his memories? it's just a faint little itch some days, nothing he can dwell on, but it's interesting, or it's just the fact words are so limited that — he thinks it over, shakes his head. that's unlike komaeda, he uses the past to mold his future, the hope from there allows him the opportunity for stronger hopes, tighter bonds, even more he was bearable at that point in the past.

there's a reason he's not now, and he doesn't regret his actions. it was to happen, he would have always killed for hope, for his peers to have a chance at moving without a hurdle in their way. he did everything he could because he loves the hope of the people, but he's so misunderstood which causes a small sigh. his fingernails pick at the s key, idly to see if this is one of the boards that can flip up with a bit of tugging, or if he needs the proper tools to pick it up. )

You should look into it! ( with a soft smile, he closes his eyes to show he's committed to the idea himself. ) He's also interested in soups, they say the way to a man's heart is through their stomach.

[rearranger]

[ Lonely? Rio wonders if that's true. Hiyori is a person who watches others, who acts as he so pleases, and who only truly depends on himself. Even amongst the Floormasters, he was an outsider who was considered unreliable at best. Even with Maple, it wasn't as though he held any real affection for her - he wished for her love in the same way he might wish for it from a human. Love was what kept him from being seen as he was. Love was a dust that he could throw in a person's eyes, leaving them half-blind and only able to see bits and pieces of colors and shapes.

Did that leave him lonely? No, Rio doesn't think so. But it did leave him isolated amongst those peers who knew him so well. ]

No, it's nothing like that. That doll was made for balancing in the game, you know? He was pretty limited on what he could change... He turned an obstacle into an advantage. It's damn creepy, but I'm sure it was effective.

[ He sighs a little wistfully. It's hard not to miss the talent that those at ASUNARO could bring to the table. If given the chance, he'd choose Hiyori over all but a few here for his talent and genius alone. How to explain it best to an outsider... ]

He was empty and isolated, just like the rest of them, but it was because he had nothing and no one that he could be happy. He didn't need anyone, he didn't need anything, and other people were just toys for him to play with... You'd have a hard time finding anyone as satisfied with their life was as Hiyori.

[ But it wasn't jealousy, because Rio doesn't believe it was the kind of happiness that any of them were seeking. They could all band together because they had the same wants and needs, all of those things which he lacked. They could play nice and pretend to have some sort of purpose, while he would wander off and take care of things all on his own. It was the same as being repeatedly spat on and looked down upon. ]

Besides, he didn't like me either, 'cause I got a scary face like this.

[ He lifts a hand briefly to point at his cheek with his index finger. Komaeda might be able to discern the real reason behind that. That blank, unreadable face, that lack of love, the familiar emptiness - he wasn't a toy that Hiyori could enjoy playing with. He sets his hand back down and leans against Komaeda a little. It's still strange to him how quickly some here have started to pick up on his own little quirks. ]

No, nothing like that. It's not like it was magic or anything. The data was collected by observing their lives from start to finish, and recording those lives so that they could be inserted as memories. The personalities were written based on all of that collected data... So it'd be useless in a place like this. It was already three years out of date, and the kiddos are already way different than they oughta be. Though I guess I could manually write one anyway. But I could do that for anyone I know here if I wanted to, you just gotta sacrifice accuracy to do it.

[ He shrugs, and he's certainly more nonchalant about the prospect of creating an AI based on a person than one should be. The only purpose to it would be to maliciously dig into who a person used to be. ]

... Anyway, I'll look into that. [ He nods, seeming pleased with this idea. ] Come to think of it, you're right on that one.

[ That he likes soup, Rio has no idea about the lateral statement. ]

[commences]

He could like control. When you're in that spot of being able to manipulate someone, especially an AI to only fixate on you, it leaves that person in control.

( not that komaeda knows anything about fixated love given to him, but he doesn't even know his own love that's fixated on one person might compare to it. he's the doll that doesn't mind the pins and needles stuck into his skin, he'd allow for his body to be used in anyway his love sees fit, and he'll play any song or dance that he needs to have their attention. when he thinks of how far he'd go for kamukura izuru, or hinata hajime of his time, it's unhealthy, but the former is crueler than the latter. he could stab komaeda, leave him to lie on the ground to bleed out, and komaeda would take that as love given, and he would ask what could he do to have that attention again. more, and more, but maple doesn't sound as twisted as him, she sounds perfectly normal aside from her feelings fixed on one sole person. )

Maple-san must smile, and make expressions that warm the heart... ah, but you can be cute when you want to, Riokun! You don't have to smile.

( hinata never smiled, but he's cute too, he's basic, generic, normal, and boring when he's like this, but komaeda saw something in him. it's funny, for komaeda who has picky tastes, he finds that the people with nothing special about them are interesting enough despite hating the excruciatingly bland, and he tends to become blasé once it reaches past a certain threshold. as for rio, he doesn't find that when it comes to him, komaeda has a generally good idea for what's beautiful, and what's ugly. it's because he dislikes ugly things, so if rio didn't qualify, komaeda would have told him by now, but he turns his body to face rio.

lifting his own hands, he brings them both to the ai's cheeks, and he blinks slowly as he pinches his skin so he can pull the other's mouth into a smile. it can't be helped that he looks serious all the time, so he finds it a shame hiyori found a dead expression so frightening, maybe because komaeda himself is already one step into his grave. he thinks about the differences between maple and rio, and he hums slightly figuring they're on the opposite end of the scale. )

Did she know how to dislike? If she loves humans, and loves him...

( after he's done, he pulls his hand away to set into his lap. komaeda should think about these things as he asks them, but he'll never know if he isn't straight to the point. as he waits for rio to fill him in on that part of the conversation, komaeda tries to think about what else could be a proper gift. )

What do you think of Vector Robots? If you get one for Shujinkou-chan and Tsukimi-kun, they could play with each other.

( also, komaeda was unable to get her a car, so they're the next best things. though, he's curious about something as he leans his elbows onto the surface of the coffin. rio said he could make one depending on the data he's collected of the people around here, and that's interesting. he would know considering his profession, and it leaves past his lips curiously; eyes empty as he says so because he sees no problem. )

Who here could you write one manually out of aside from your old participants?

[rearranger]

[ The fact that he doesn't refute the comment should be enough to confirm his thought. Komaeda is smart, and he can pick up a lot from a limited amount of information. It's part of why Rio is hesitant to discuss the matter of Hiyori to him. He is, of course, completely correct. There were practical reasons for it, but it was a matter of control. It was the other half of why he separated himself from the rest - it allowed him to pick and choose how her proceeded without regard for others. He wouldn't go out of his way for any one of them, but nor would they do that for him.

It's a little surprising to be told that he can be cute, though he can't quite articulate why, but it's not until Komaeda's hands are on his face that his cheeks tint pink and a sputtering, confused little noise escapes him. There's something a little amusing about seeing a person with dead eyes having their muscles forcefully pushed up into a smile, but Rio thinks that even this must look better than his own efforts to force one - subtle, tiny, disgustingly fake. He squirms, looking away once released.

He doesn't have to smile, huh... That's a first. He leans forward and hides the lower half of his face in the crook of his elbow now, letting his eyes flick back to Komaeda. He's so embarrassing, and just that one gesture was enough to successfully throw his train of thought off. ]

No. Her emotional range is pretty limited, since she was designed for a specific purpose and doesn't need anything else. She has to work within her limitations... Well, technically she can get sad and angry, but it's more like a game mechanic than actual emotions. They're exaggerated versions of what a human presents, complete with a cute little guide to handle her.

[ It's like him, and yet it's not, because Rio ultimately had a capacity to go from a negative opinion to a positive one and vice versa. He wasn't made for any one singular purpose. He wasn't a puzzle to be solved, or an obstruction to get past, in the same way. Rio is a doll that's only half a human, but that's still more than any other was allowed to be... Well, not that it'd ever made him feel any better about himself. It just meant he had a chance at survival, and that was all he needed. ]

Vector bots? Despite how she acts, she's pretty childish. I dunno if she'd be interested right off the bat, but I bet if Sou started playing with 'em she'd get roped into it. Dunno how, but it'd get turned into some stupid competition or another.

[ It's a little harsh, but there's a hint of amusement to those words. He tilts his head as he considers the last question. ]

Hm, Rei would be simple enough since she's already an AI. I don't really need her code to recreate an approximate version of what she presents. Joe's a little unfair, since I saw so much of him... You really only need a surface version of a person to create a functional AI, so maybe Nene or Helena would be fine, I could just fill in the gaps if I wanted to...

[ Really, there's a lot of people that might apply to. One doesn't need to know the full scope of a person to recreate them, not when the entire point was to recreate the person that matches your memories - one's ideal version, with all of the good and none of the bad.

He sits back up properly, bringing his hand to his chin and mumbling as he continues. ]

Inaba would be worth trying to recreate, since I wouldn't really have to worry about completing it... Really, as long as you can pick up on the basics it's not too bad, even an incomplete AI will pass as the original just fine. Humans don't tend to think about each other that deeply, you know?

[ Which is probably a nice way of saying he has what he needs now, and Rio doesn't care about the rest of her. ]

I think... If I wanted to, I could do a decent job of making one for you. There'd still be gaps, but your logic system is pretty easy to follow, and you've given me plenty of examples to work with... It wouldn't be perfect, since there's always more to learn about a person, but I think it'd be adequate.

[ He links his fingers together and leans forward again, stretching out. Rio doesn't understand the concept of hope very well, because it doesn't apply to him, but that doesn't matter. It's much the same as how he could recreate a person's happiness flawlessly, despite never having experienced it himself. He says this without any particular emotion, as though it were the most normal thing in the world.

What kind of tweaks would he make... What gaps would need to be filled... He stares ahead now, thinking about such things... ]

[commences]

Hm... How interesting, normally people like that are flawless, and mindful of not making mistakes. In a world where you're loved, no one thinks of anything that a person does as incorrect, but if she had a wide ranger of emotions, then maybe...

( it could go farther than that, love worked both ways, a person could see everything about that person, flaws and all. love could make a person ignore the areas that are questionable, and carry on like it's normal. it's hard to say, but komaeda feels as if this person had a plan, and he was mindful of every step he took, he probably walked ten steps, and acted as if he's done only three. if her emotions were set in a way that played in his favor, then there was never a reason to entirely feel bad when she felt bad, because in the end she would still love him despite it all. he has no reason to think that she'd hate him for his actions, and that's the safest out he's made for himself.

komaeda should open his eyes more when rio informs him of how maple works compared to others, it's no different from a toy. emotions that play the part so he has something close to the real thing in his possession, maybe that too is what made hiyori feel the need to speak his thoughts on rio who had not enough emotional range to play with. it would have been simple, pushing up rio's cheeks into a smile, there's more work to play with his visual emotions, but komaeda has learned to make do with what he has. he could smile, but he can tell the spots that if he could where they'd go, with every little hearty laugh, and he hasn't made him feel the need yet... there could be a sparkle in his eye one day.

he loves the stars, but at most komaeda watches the waves crash against the rocks under the moon, it's serene, so simple. the fact he could listen to it forever is a testament to what he's seen before, it's familiar, and puts him at ease. between that and the bright sun that twinkles on the vast sea, causing those pearly sparkles and dots to be caught in his own eyes, rio is capable of doing that to. it sticks into komaeda's view once he closes his eyes, still memorable for the moment until he opens them again, and his eyes sting just to adjust them to what he's seen before. )

That's what's fun about them, isn't it? Your personal little bots that can be friends, argue, or challenge each other. Hm, imagine them praising their bot for getting into the charging station before the other, that is a feat in its own right.

( because vector bots are smart ais, but they can't see behind them to guess where their station is. to what to charge, they'll have to figure it out, and it might be an unfair battle if shin can edit his bot while sara has to personally train hers like she would a dog. he thinks the idea is interesting, but it's true, they probably deserve gifts that they'd immediately like. )

As long as they have what a person knows... then it's better if no one understands them completely, that way they can't see the hiccups. Hm, Inaba-san is smart and stand-offish, as long as she makes sense, no one would know she was an AI. Same goes for Yashiro-san, and Adams-san, they have personalities that could be easy to recreate, hm... Yashiro-san is building herself up now, so I wonder how different she'd be? ( he's interesting when it comes to watching people grow from their past, those stepping stones which moves them along further so they aren't stuck in place. like a jenga puzzle that parts are taken out, they wobble a bit to hold their ground as they find a momentum that'll keep them in place without falling, and them they take from the bottom, go back on top with a few more added pieces as they grow higher and higher and high — there's a small jolt from komaeda, too much energy as he jumps a little, but hits his knee against the coffin. )

O— Ow!

( not that it hurt, but he felt as if that was tge necessary response. he didn't have to do that as he settles back into place. )

You'd waste time and effort if you chose me, Riokun! Hmm... to create me, you'd have to recreate my talent, but even that's going too far...

( komaeda's nothing without it, he'd be flawed otherwise, the ai would have nothing to fear, or try and break away from others if it didn't have that tumultuous, horrific events that'll happen in its present. the ability to cause harm to himself to ensure something else, it's his only power that's available to him, yet he hates it for being so useless. to give hope to others is his only reason for existing, to watch it flourish, to see everyone at their best to obtain a future they've always wanted, or to see one in general. )

What about... ( who would be interesting? his mind flips through a number of people he's met, and then he stops on... ) Sakasaki-kun... Have you met him?

[rearranger]

[ There's a faint look of concern as Komaeda bangs his knee against the coffin, but he seems to be fine and so there's no need to question it. It was too much excitement for one conversation, he supposes, but he doesn't mind that. There is a twitchy little frown at the mention of making an AI of a completely unrelated person, though, and he's quick to dismiss the idea. This was a question of who he could and not who he would, after all. ]

Not really.

[ Moving on. What is of interest to him is the fact that Komaeda is right that his talent can't easily be recreated - there's something to be said about such a unique ability, regardless of how one might categorize it. It bordered on the supernatural, and so it became one of the few things that science couldn't understand in order to control and advance it past what humans were capable of. He folds his arms, looking down at his lap as he considers that, before he takes the cards back up and the lower half of his face disappears behind the one with the open-mouthed grin. ]

Well, I can't bend reality, so I dunno that it'd be possible to recreate it. I guess it'd be possible to mimic it in some way within the confines of the AI program itself... [ Rio reaches over to tap the screen. ] ... Which might be an interesting project, but for the most part, I don't think it'd matter. The problem is that without it, you'd be a different person, right? But that's the point.

[ He flips to the cat card. ]

There's no need for an AI to change. It's just a snapshot of who the person was, so no matter how many years pass, they'll be the same person as they were when you made 'em.

[ The ice cream cone. He's never given any thought to making one for himself. ]

If I were to make one, it would be to preserve a person I wanna keep exactly as they were in my memory. When it's for your own satisfaction, there's no wasting it as long as you're satisfied with the outcome, right? Anyway, I think it'd be good enough.

[ As long as he could trick himself into believing it was that person, or close enough, that should be enough for it to be considered a success. After all, the goal wasn't a complete recreation; much like Maple, AIs based on living people are just tools. They're meant to bring comfort to the living, and that meant they were imperfect creations by default. They weren't human, they were strings of code and functions and syntaxes, even less than Rio himself was.

He looks over at the laptop screen, wondering who might qualify as that person he wanted to talk to endlessly. Who would be worth recreating halfway? Would it be Komaeda? Safalin? He doesn't think so - there's no one in particular that he can think of, no one at all that would be worth it, because no matter how Rio looks at it... There's no way that half a person could satisfy him when the memory of who they were, and the knowledge of how much more they were, would endlessly eat away at him. ]

Anyway, that's not the sorta project I'd take on for myself.

[commences]

Just a snapshot.

( a singular picture cause in that same basic state with nothing deterring them towards happiness or sadness, they're just that piece of the world unchanging. with how put together those artificial intelligences happen to be, they would be aware of their state, he's sure. probably even know who they're modeled after, having to carry that weight of living as a duplicate for someone's satisfactions. thinking about it, would komaeda want to be watered down to the concept of just a snapshot, for him, he wants to see hope prosper, but that feeling will always be eternal.

hope, talent, bonds, friendship... all that works together, a remedy that's placed into a blender, cut and mixed all together, and once swallowed down becomes the best energy drink. the motivation brought from one person to another, watching them overcome their hurdles with that extra kick, being able to hype people up to join them in that ordeal, ah, he loves hope so much that just a snapshot of him might contain that love, too. as long as he's that way, then maybe he can encourage others to walk together side by side, even if he's just an ai with that same thought. he doesn't think about himself, and he knows that rio will construct that version of him to be the same, and it'd be terrifying if komaeda gained even the slightest confidence. it's better this way, how he is, but even still — )

Between us, if it ever comes down to it, don't let there be one of me.

( if only it was like a photograph, it'd be nice, but he's a constant moving picture, one with the ability to influence, but it's nothing deep. or, he won't make it out that way, but luckily this isn't about that. he'll use it as a little insert though, not that he doesn't want to spread hope, but at that point, he believes in those that have their goals, that have their motivation that they can make it without him — for a world to be like that where they can count and rely on one another, it's a beautiful thought, and he likes it. it's because he knows that rio can do these things with others, he has his motivations, and his reasons, and komaeda's aware that nothing can stop him from that. it's why he's not too worried about it, because if he's able to teach rio the true meaning of hope, then it's like passing his thoughts to a successor that will spread it correctly.

besides, rio said he'd hold all these memories for them, and so komaeda is counting on that. even now, he wonders when the day will come that he'll forget them sitting here doing this. )

I've seen it, people keeping others for comfort. When someone died, our Ultimate Mechanic created a toy of another Ultimate, it was meant to keep her sane... she was having a breakdown, but I believe it's a good thing she hadn't got an AI of him, who knows how she would have reacted.

( at that time, komaeda didn't care how they reacted, or how she reacted, it was more he was lost in his own thoughts of what to do about them, but now that's over... he's able to appreciate the work of it. )

I won't make you a jack of all trades, yet! As for their gifts, do you want to spoil them?

( back to the important topic, and he's watching rio tap on the computer to in order to see what he can pick up. )

[rearranger]

[ It's easy to become dependent on a concept like that. They're aware of who and what they are, but they can only work within their parameters. It's true enough that he wouldn't disrespect Komaeda's memory by picking out and arbitrarily replacing things, or at least he wants to think so - wouldn't it be tempting? Wouldn't it be nice to see a version of him that could smile? To simulate all of those lost moments, all those would haves and could haves? It's impossible to say until the moment that one has it sitting in front of them.

He's not surprised that Komaeda rejects the idea out of hand. For a person who was focused on seeing moved forward, who focused on hopes and bonds and concepts that he couldn't fully comprehend, Rio supposes that being made into a crutch for someone to lean on to avoid working through their loss would be the worst fate of all. He thinks of how Nao had clung to screen, fixed on that singular point, refusing to budge from it for so long. They had all been so happy to see the dead professor again, but none more than her.

He thinks about how that AI had asked to be killed so that she could move on. It had been baffling, and it still puzzles him.

Would anyone want to be treasured like that? It's not something he's ever had to think about. It seems like that natural order of things that the living would determine how to best proceed, rather than fussing over the wants of the dead. In the same way, it seems foolish to make that promise to a living person. Even his own lack of want is because he can so readily tell the difference, and would see all the little flaws and missing elements that he didn't know enough to replicate. His eyes flick to the side, fingering the hope fragment pendant hanging around his neck, and he's just a little too slow to respond.

He's never considered any of it because none of it really matters, it's just for the sake of soothing oneself. But against all reason, his hand comes up to pat Komaeda's head, resting there for just a moment before he takes it back. ]

... There won't be. I promise.

[ It's something that his partner's asking of him, and for now Rio settles on that being enough. He keeps his promises, and so he's able to leave the subject at that. ]

Yeah. It'd be nice if I could. We had a pretty rocky relationship before, so... Ahaha, I'm surprised either of them have tolerated me this much.

[commences]

( there's nothing about komaeda now that should be kept, he wants rio to have that version of him he's never met — when he was seventeen, when he was numb, but happier, that komaeda who was only a person who stood on the side and loved hope. not this version of him that's been under despair, that's having trouble making bonds and relationships for himself. if he could give rio any part of himself, he finds that the younger him would have sufficed, only because there was no despair. )

It might be because you hang around me.

( you know how people look better when they stand next to someone else. he allowed rio to pet him, but he doesn't turn away from the gesture as he watches the other thoughtfully. he knows they've had one considering the role rio played, someone who allowed them to target their hate towards, and now he's suffering the consequences, but... ) Hm, but maybe it's because of what happened that they can tolerate you. It sounds pretty unfortunate, the hell that they went through, but look at everything now?

( with a smile, he lifts his prosthetic hand to grab rio's wrist, removing it from his head and back down onto the keyboard. sometimes he has to remind people of thee little things, their worries and concerns mean nothing when at the end of the day, he says they're tolerating, but if komaeda had to find a term for it; he doesn't think that's correct. )

I think there's more to it... someone tolerating you wouldn't help fix your code. Tsukimi-kun tolerates me, but he does everything in his power in hopes not to make conversation.

( isn't that toleration, holding people at arm's length? komaeda knows it very well, but that's what he does when it comes to bonds and friendships, but since this isn't his relationship, he's able to speak his thoughts. he wants to see them flourish, their own unique happiness, and how people come together towards their future, or their hope. hope is a concept that everyone should understand, and it's only made as long as a person has another. )

It's a little more, Shujinkou-chan seems to be willing to patch up bleeding relationships, I'm surprised she did so with me considering I was just another tally in her eyes. Hm... ( letting go of his wrist now, komaeda reaches out to cup the male's face gently so that he can brush his thumb against his cheek. ) Give them and yourself a bit of credit, Riokun, your lives are different now... so make something with the people here that isn't just guarding your back. How else will you spread hope among your cast?

[rearranger]

[ Rio looks down to his wrist, now resting on the keyboard, then back up to Komaeda. He's not certain what to do with the reassurance. Those kind words are like a foreign language, one in which he's learned each individual word but not the grammar nor the nuance to. He leans into that touch, eyes flicking to the side. It seems disingenuous when Shin had made his position quite clear. That was fine, since he wouldn't ask for forgiveness. He was just too frustratingly kind, despite his best efforts to mimic Hiyori, and he was too dedicated to his profession.

It seems unfair to suggest that he form bonds with others that isn't just guarding his back when he had no other way of living. He could trust no one with his exposed back, but he couldn't see in two directions at once, and so he was always trying to glance over his shoulder and straining his senses for any subtle shift that might signify a knife was about to appear. His partner here was no more disinclined to kill him than the previous one, and he can feel comfortable knowing that he only need not allow it to happen.

Rio does lift his hand to wave it though. ]

Those kids don't need me for that. They'll do just fine on their own.

[ It's not a dismissal, but nor is it to say that there's nothing he can do, but a simple fact. The participants were far too strong, and they were far too kind, and Rio's not so blind as to miss the changes in both of them. He lets out a little sigh before conceding on the rest, ]

But I don't get a say in how either of 'em feel about me. You're right that Sara's been willing enough to let things go, so you're not gonna hear me complaining.

[ But he does pause there, finally looking back to Komaeda. ]

... That kid's been teetering on the edge, you know. Humans can only take so much trauma. She's been starting to regain her balance, but I'm sorta worried that somebody's just gonna come along and shove her off before she can. Humans can only take so much before they just completely break... Ahaha, it'd be a shame if that happened, don't you think?

[ Rio doesn't talk about others often. He might give Komaeda impressions, and he might offer random tidbits he found of interest, but for the most part he doesn't seem to find anything about others interesting enough to comment on. He notes it now for his partner's consideration because he is the type to push and pull. There's no sense in telling him not to, but he wasn't completely unreasonable, and it was so easy to miss that frailty. ]

Well, I'm sure she'll be fine.

[commences]

Are you telling me to be gentle with them... Mostly Shujinkou-chan?

( it's not direct, but he can tell from how it's said to them, all the characters here from that odd world of theirs always tend to say the same thing to him, don't push too hard. sara had been protective of shin too, but that's probably because he's been bullied far too many times, and it always made him think could he not fight back? it's a scary position to be in when someone's stronger than you, but that's when you meet their desperation, when their will grows stronger because they don't want to have everything they've done collapse on them. komaeda thinks he could break shin if he wanted to, it only takes three simple steps to see him down on his knees, but he isn't that type of person.

he's someone who wants to see hope, so noticing the cracks in the porcelain means for him to be mindful, poking, but nowhere near those wounds. he doesn't want to see them officially shatter, because at that moment, all the pieces, the little dusts that settle in between are lost, and that former beauty is gone. )

Do you believe me when I say I want to see hope? Inducing them into despair is fine, because that way, their hope will shine extravagantly, such negative energy is miniscule to the essence that she can manifest, and fight against it. Slaying that evil, and being able to motivate others, using her shield, and teaching them too to pick up a sword! Hm... you told me about your Majority Game, it's a despairing concept, so she already met herself with it, now it's time for her to take everything she's learned and use it here, build her hope! ...Hm, if she broke, I'd be disappointed.

( shujinkou-chan isn't just a name, it's the hope of a young girl, a sibling to the ultimate hope that komaeda has fixated on for so long. it means something, and he's never been wrong in his hope accusations when it comes to others, he can tell there's nothing special about her, she's as boring as the rest, a complete nobody, but that's what makes her interesting because her presence grows steadily, and she in a way could unite everyone if she worked harder. she could gather hope, spread it by her actions, that's why he wants to see how far they can go. )

Tell me, Riokun.

( komaeda leans forward now, propping his elbows up on the coffin as he slips he laces his fingers between the cracks, settling his chin down as he sighs softly. )

How many more taps does she have until she shatters, you would know, given those words, I'd assume?

[rearranger]

[ There's some small part of Rio that might like to tell his partner to back off of putting pressure on both of them, but that's not realistic nor is it sensible. They both needed to fight their own battles, and Komaeda shouldn't be anything more than a minor inconvenience - the guy could be killed by a snowball, so he was hardly the threat that people might make him out to be. He shakes his head.

But he believes that Komaeda has a consistent value system, and that he believes in hope. That's why Rio's willing to speak with him, despite being certain that he must have been told to back off before. He taps at a few keys idly before backspacing, taking his hand away from the keyboard. ]

Neither of them need to be coddled. Shin's a big boy now, he doesn't need me to babysit him anymore, but Sara was already--[ Broken. ]--different than we had anticipated her to be in the game. She was already weighed down by trauma and unrealistic expectations by time she got my floor, and it would have gotten worse from there. She seems like she's started to work through all of that.

[ He leans his chin on his hand, gaze dropping down to the coffin. He traces little circles on it with his index finger. His brow furrows slightly as he thinks on it again. That shouldn't have happened. They were all too strong to forget. They were all too carefully selected. It makes no sense, and yet it makes perfect sense when he starts to work through it logically.

He turns his head to look back to Komaeda now. ]

No matter how many times you tap her, she won't shatter. She's the kind of person who will keep hold herself together no matter what. It's just that she'll get chipped away at until there's nothing left but survival.

[ A beat. That's a sour, uncomfortable note to end his answer on, and so he adds - ]

You can't expect a person to pick themselves up off the floor if people keep kicking them in the gut every time they try.