☆ somedays you wanna die like a star and somedays-- ☆

[starrypoint]

Who: Everyone
What: Murder discuss
When: April 12th, lunch time
Where: School Library
Warnings: usual murder stuff



[Anyway. so. subaru knows dito did it, he said so on the network, but they have some important things on their hands-- mainly like... the fact that komaeda is Not waking up? and the last time someone was coma'd that music girl did a meeting and steph woke up so like? yeah maybe this'll work.

anyway it's on lunch because that's the easiest time that subaru can set something up, but it's in the morning after he's a li'l more recovered from investigation and highness there's a network mention--]

yo my detective peeps come to the library ur needed to solve a crime!!! (jk lmao but for real come okay)

[and then subaru conks out really for a lot of class until the time itself, wishing he had a little of that wake up pink void shit that was in komaeda's mouth..........

nonetheless. library is... suspiciously cleared out save the librarian, but subaru's got signs pointing to the back and he's sitting on a table himself, one leg pulled up to rest his cheek on it as he waves to seats. there's a lot of chairs here. he took them from tables.]

Everyone here that's gonna be here? Cool. Anyway, Addy's dead but for like real instead of bein' timeline dead I guess and Maddy's, uh... Sleeping Beauty right now, if you catch my drift. Nothin' seems to wake him, and don't try the whole kissing thing 'cause you'll die too. Don't ask me how I know.

[it's between them, two other people, the blind girl, and god now.]

I know that asshole Didi spilled the beans about his being armed and dangerous on the forums and all, but how about we nut up for once and do something? We know who did it, so let's just work ourselves out and then kick his ass.

[...

because no matter who he is right now, komaeda's been a valuable friend to him, and he's beyond seething.]

Comments

[waitingforplayer2]

Hold it.

[ Nanami came running as soon as she saw the meeting announcement. She was one of the first people in the library, and she's been leaning against a bookshelf, fidgeting with her console but not playing, while everybody filtered in.

Now that the conversation's begun, she puts the console away and speaks firmly.

She's going to do better this time. ]

We don't know everything yet, and we don't know what happened or why. We need to figure all that out first.

[starrypoint]

Who cares? One of my best friends got hurt, pretty much dead to the world now, and that bastard confessed to shooting him. What more do I need?

[honestly.

... which one-- oh]

Sorry, Nanachi, but I'm already set. Good luck with the others though, I'm tired of messing around figuring out the whys.

[heroicpolonaise]

[this is why she wants to ban idol boys............ they are so

anyway. this is a surprise to her, but at least the network messages she saw earlier -- noah and nene's -- make sense, even if she didn't delve deep into them at the time.]

That's right. And... to be honest, it wouldn't make us any better than Dito-kun... or whoever did this, if it wasn't him as Akehoshi-kun says, [always opening the possibility maybe someone is uninvolved,] if we "nut up" and returned the favor. That sort of violent justice doesn't help anyone.

[it only brings fear into the equation, which might be good for some people and worse for others.]

[crystallomancy]

( ...

natsume sits next to subaru on the table but only so he can grab him by the collar if necessary :/ )

[starrypoint]

[...

is he allowed to lean on natsume? the old subaru would anyway, he feels, but does he have the right?

...

subaru'll lean a little. it's his way to say natsume's allowed to hold him back.]

[subtract]

[Dynamo... is here! whoever wants to take credit for bringing them, go ahead, they will be insistent on showing up to assist regardless of any repairs they still need.

for now, they're laying on a table trying to record the meeting like good drones, and will respond to any inquiries to the best of their ability. be proud of them...]

[socialize]

( always proud of them... nothing of substance to offer but maple wants to fuss at them for a few minutes and ask if they are okay when she sees them, settling down at their table to pat them and let them record. she's also playing observer for now. )

[decrypter]

[no real checks or inquiries to offer, but a soothing touch to them both and telling them she's glad they're alright. the lovebomb starts now.]

[notsosou]

[Shin's seen Dynamo around, because being in the Robotics and Programming Club you can't not, but never really interacted with them before... they don't look in all that good a state...]

You were there, huh...

[Now that he thinks about it, the dents in the generator would be about the right size... ouch.]

You... wouldn't happen to have recorded anything, would you?

[He doesn't know Ranger's already asked this... but it's worth checking.]

[silentabyss]

[Walks up to Dynamo and just... folds his arms on the table and leans down like yeah he's gonna talk to Add's robot.]

I'm sorry about what happened. [...] I'll definitely try to save Add next time, if it comes to that.

[He doesn't expect a response, but he's being a sentimental piece of shit right now. He's sorry your friend died and he didn't try to save him. :(]

[rearranger]

[ Ranger is mostly here to look after Dynamo ngl. ]

What's the extent of the damage to your memory files? You seem like you got beat up pretty bad. Is any of the data salvageable?

[ Honestly, he hadn't been certain he would be able to repair it to begin with, so whether or not any corrupt files could be repaired seems dubious at best. ]

[antitoxin]

[ he wants to play with dynamo ngl to you. ]

INVESTIGATION: START

[waitingforplayer2]

Okay.

[ She's finally laid out all her notes, plus a very crude map of the forest destruction, and some pages that have a bunch of question marks on them. Pencil at the ready. ]

I know that people found things in a lot of places, so let's sort our clues by zone. Once we've done that, maybe we can get a more complete picture.

COOKING ROOM

[waitingforplayer2]

CLOCK TOWER

[waitingforplayer2]

WORKSHOP

[waitingforplayer2]

STAR 4

[waitingforplayer2]

BASEMENT

[waitingforplayer2]

FOREST

[waitingforplayer2]

[samuraiwomen]

Nut...up....?

[ Um...what does that phrase even mean? Sara looks confused for a second before shaking her head a little.

Another murder...another mystery. The last one went so poorly...the idea of doing this again, doing it recklessly, the same way they always did. It scares her. ]

...Why don't we talk about what we want to get out of this meeting first. Instead of finding and punishing whoever is responsible...shouldn't we be trying to fix our friends? Komeada-san is a...

...He's a good friend. I don't care who hurt him, I just want him back. Him and Add-chan.

[decrypter]

Mr. Ebalon is owed many thanks, for his quick thinking.

[Noah is forever in her good books for this. he could do anything, and it doesn't matter.]

At least now Komaeda has a chance to return, instead of hovering between life and death.

[antitoxin]

[ midori is here because i agreed with lavvy that i can't have her doing the clues alone, so i'll... put him here just for a little assistance. c: he's sipping on some tea...

also, he's here doting on ranger because he heard some unfortunate things, so he has to make sure his ai is doing okay. ]

[rearranger]

[ leave him alone freak ]

BONUS CUTSCENE: UNLOCKED (1/2)

[subtract]

[Right at the peak of Maple's anger, something is triggered. It takes a moment for Dynamo to load the file, struggling with its slight-damaged audio functions, but it manages to keep the static to a minimum. There's a short buzz at the start, then a familiar voice rings through...]

This is Add. If this message has been triggered correctly, this should be the first transfer meeting after the confirmation of my death.

If it's not, end this recording immediately. Don't think I won't know you've listened to it.

This is your final warning. If I'm still alive, end this message now before I come over there and kill you myself. I'm being completely serious right now. Do not listen to this recording, or else.

[...

...

...]

(2/2)

[subtract]

... Alright. First of all... I'm sure Komaeda has already tried to make this about "hope". Tell him to shut up. There's nothing "hopeful" about dying, it's just an another annoying distraction... whatever the motive is, I refuse to have my death contribute to his stupid hope agenda, so I'm vetoing it. If anyone has a problem with that, you can take it up with my corpse.

I shouldn't have to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway: death doesn't matter, so get over it. Everyone here has died at least once. If someone killed me, you can deal with them however you want... but don't forget what's really important here. Petty infighting won't get us out of this place. We all share the same ultimate goal, but if everyone keeps going at each other's throats like this we're going to waste more and more of our time on these idiotic squabbles. Stop messing around and focus. How do we break the cycle? How do we end this stupid game of life and death? If there's something precious you don't want to lose, then don't just stand around looking for someone else to blame. Protect what's important to you, and work on getting them out of here in one piece.

It doesn't matter how many times we die, who comes back, who doesn't... what matters is who's alive right now, and what you can do with your time here. The present is something precious in itself... so don't let it go to waste.

I'll be expecting some amount of progress upon my return, so don't you dare disappoint me.

... Now, since I have all of your undivided attention, [that means no more fighting] if you're hearing this then I assume Dynamo is still functioning normally... use them as you see fit, but don't overload them, and take good care of them. Think of them as an extension of myself. If they're treated poorly, I won't forgive any of you for it.

And... [he's been keeping his voice firm up until now, but... it falters, here, just slightly] if I forget again... don't come on too strongly. That kind of thing annoys me... Dynamo will fill me in, so... don't worry about it.

[ahem] Anyway. That's all I had to say. You can figure the rest out on your own... take care of my projects until I get back. I'm trusting you all to remember what's important.

This isn't "goodbye"... so, let's go with "I'll see you later."

Dynamo, end recording.

[...]

Add's body

[socialize]

( when maple has calmed down a bit, stepping out of the meeting momentarily and coming back with hands no longer filled with void-dust, she returns to the meeting. some details of nagito's body were brought up, but with subaru flaunting his corpse-robbing, maple doesn't find herself too fond of the idea that someone might keep some fragment of add because he's "pretty to look at". instead, she'll step to the front of any gathered tables for the discussion, holding her hands neatly in front of her. her eyes remain on the floor for a long moment, but they lift when she's ready to speak, trying to meet with anyone else who will match her gaze. )

Is there anyone else who has the same pink dust that Subaru did...? I won't be angry... but Add was our friend. I think that we should bury him properly.

( it's the least they can do for him now... )

[rearranger]

[ Bury them...? Ranger blinks, but thinking on it, there's something he had wanted to bring up before. It hadn't been the right time before, not when she was already so emotional, but rather than immediately answering her question he says, ]

When people are cremated, you're supposed to keep their ashes in an urn, and you keep it somewhere safe. It's like keeping them close to your heart.

[ It's a little more complicated than that, but he doesn't feel the need to go into the semantics. It's the idea behind it that matters, especially for Maple who is simple and straightforward with her feelings - too earnest, and too raw in everything that she does. ]

It was scattered throughout the basement hallway, and there was a good amount of it in the last room - the one with the giant summoning circle in it. Same places as you found all the bloodstains. Then if you go down the forest trail, there was another large pile of it about the size.

[ He studies her expression carefully, waiting for a response. ]

tea time take...3?

[decrypter]

[when there's next a second of quiet in the meeting, Helena doesn't know what else to do but raise her hand, clearing her throat.]

I've been considering something, and checking my notes from previous meetings. With regard to people in...altered states, there's something that I know Komaeda has said in the past. He is a fan of poisons, enough to have something of a collection.

[since he admitted to it back when Keigo and Rantarou died, though she didn't know what his collection was supposed to do to a body.]

And Alice drinking this tea, it's clear he's affected by something. In that case, isn't it possible that whatever is in the tea came from Komaeda's collection? Not to say that I believe Add wished to kill Komaeda, but it's a possibility...

Unless something's gone amiss in the nurse's office, or if the student store had any recent purchases of deadly substances...but Komaeda himself would be handling those, given the hours. I'm in there frequently enough to know what's sold, after all.

[and Nagito was kind enough to explain the new items to her, the payment, since he knows she wants to stay informed about things. just because Keigo isn't there anymore...she lowers her hand, and has a passing wistful look on her face.]

[antitoxin]

Once Alice calms down, you can question him to your heart's content.

[ that means do not bother him, because too much attention as he gets himself together will be horrible for his train of thought.

he'll make small talk with helena though between fetching cups of water. ]

Hallucinations, racing heartrate, and blurry vision are the more noticeable symptoms. Alice handled it amazingly, but anyone else would have passed out by now.

[ a shame that he didn't fall to the ground, cracking his skull open... sighs insidely! ]

I shouldn't say anyone else, anyone with a lighter build... would have certainly passed out for a long time.

meeting: remix

[necrophily]

[ he's not timely, both because he's dealing with getting over a really bad trip, and also because his pda was confiscated. so it takes him a good while to even find out about the meeting. he's not exactly a fan of these per se (and he's probably banned? is he banned? he's banned in unspoken terms, probably), but they're funny for the most part, and he likes hearing about the grotesque details of what goes on.

especially when he's involved. always when he's involved, he's eager to show up. he probably would have been looking for the notification for it too, had he not been revoked his access to the network in the wee hours of the early morning.

it's whatever. he's sober now. maybe. it's tempting to lick add's fucking arm when he's got it on him, honestly—

but he won't. he will just enter the library uninvited, another human(?)'s arm in his grip before he takes a few steps forward and tosses it on the nearest table.

add's weirdly colored blood smears a bit across the surface where its tossed, but not much — it's been extracted, after all. and dito's been licking on it all night. ]

There you go. Fucking figure it out.

[ it's up in the air whether he sounds like he isn't even entirely aware of the situation himself or if he's just being condescending. ]

[subtract]

[dynamo zzzzz but will be disappointed later that the dito code went off before dito arrived oh no, they were supposed to hit dito, oh no...

spared, but at what cost]