Part 4: The Man-Machine

MUSIC: Beautiful Lie



Last time we turned left after coming off the stairs to the second floor. Let's take the right path now, starting with the bathrooms.



This is the girls bathroom, right?

Shuichi, do you mind waiting here?

Ah, um, sure...

D-Don't give me that weird look! I'm just gonna check if there's anything inside! I doubt there'd be an exit, but just in case...

S-Sorry...



The toilets seem normal... But it's weird that the plants are growing this thick...



Slim pickings here.



Maybe the other one will have something?



Oh right.

This is the boys bathroom, right?

I-I can't go in there! Not even in this situation!



Ah, if you want...l could go look?

What!? I-I'm not *that* curious about what's in there...

Well, this is an unusual building... Anything could be in there. Wait here a minute.

With that, Shuichi opened the door and walked inside—

It was just a normal bathroom, nothing out of the ordinary. No one was inside.

I-I see...

That scared me... Maybe detectives live for these kinda scary situations?







Past the bathrooms we have the entrance hall, with several portcullises barring the way to the front door.



And then there's one last classroom next to the basement. Who'll we find next?

MUSIC: Finding Peace Party







That boy in white is chasing that other boy in the funny clothes...

What's happening here?

MUSIC: Beautiful Lie



I can't comment on this scribbling in-game, unfortunately.





He doesn't look like he wants to be chased, though... Should we stop him?



MUSIC: Finding Peace Party



Lemme touch your body a little! I've always wanted to be friends with a robot!

What? A robot!?



I have a recording function. If you make any robophobic remarks, I will see you in court.

Wait...you're a robot!? Are you, for reals, a robot!?

A-Are you...one of the Monokubs—

Do not compare me to those toys! I am not just any old robot!

AUDIO: Ultimate Introduction: K1-B0





Keebo is voiced in English by Lucien Dodge, who also played Dust in Dust: An Elysian Tail, Zoisite in Sailor Moon, Blue in Pokemon Origins, and Hifumi Yamada in Danganronpa. In Japanese he's voiced by Tetsuya Kakihara, who also played Simon in Gurren Lagann, Natsu from Fairy Tail, and Prompto from Final Fantasy XV

Ultimate Robot...?

That's not faaair! You can't be the only one who gets to show off! I'll introduce myself, too!

Oh, um...go ahead.

AUDIO: Ultimate Introduction: Kokichi Oma





Kokichi is voiced in English by Derek Stephen Prince, who also played Shino Aburame in Naruto, Uryu Ishida in Bleach, Hugo in Shin Megami Tensei IV, the title character in Cyborg 009, and Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu in Danganronpa 2. In Japanese he's voiced by Hiro Shimono, a singer who's also voiced Keima Katsuragi in The World God Only Knows, Nanashi in Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, and Conny Springer in Attack on Titan.


A robot and...supreme leader? Neither of them make any sense.

By the way, I learned the hard way that a robot's breath smells like gasoline.

My breath does not smell like gasoline! I am powered by electricity!

Nee—heehee...I'm just kidding.

...You're not funny.

Of course you don't think I'm funny. Robots can't understand human humor to begin with!

D-Don't mock me! I have studied the complete history of stand-up comedy!

I think you should've just watched stand-up comedy instead of studying it...

Plus, I may have the appearance of a robot, but I am a high school student just like you.

You're a high school student?



He installed in me a "strong AI," capable of learning and maturing like a human brain. That's why, at the time of my creation, I didn't know anything. I was like a baby...

But the professor raised me like I was his own child. He taught me so many things... Until finally, he enrolled me in high school.





Please do not ask ridiculous questions!

Nee-heehee... I only asked because your backstory is pretty flaccid for a robot.

Well, I can see how being a robot might be enough to be called the Ultimate Robot...

Hey, Kokichi? I don't really understand your Ultimate Supreme Leader talent...

NO MUSIC



What?

MUSIC: Rise of the Ultimates

I gotta say, it's pretty impressive. My organization has over 10,000 members!

Seriously? The supreme leader of an evil secret organiza—

NO MUSIC

Who knows? I am a liar, after all.

Huh? So you were lying just now?

MUSIC: Finding Peace Party

Well, I am the supreme leader of an evil secret organization. That part was true!

So...were you lying or not?



Ah, by the way... what is the name of that organization?

It's a secret. Y'know, cuz it's a secret organization.

But I've never heard of such a large secret organization like that...

Of course you haven't. Because it's a secret organization.

Hey... Everything he's said so far has sounded like a lie, so that's gotta be a lie too, right?

Just leave him alone. Everything he has been saying has been a lie. ...He's a far more suspicious person than I am, that's for sure.

Well, of course you're not a suspicious person, because robots aren't people, silly.

Grgh...!

Oh, you mad? Are you gonna hit me with a rocket punch?

I don't have that function!



What a weird boy... He's like a mischievous little kid... This is no time to be joking around. Unless... he really is an evil supreme leader?



MUSIC: Beautiful Lie

One last check for dialogue:

I may have the appearance of a robot, but I am a high school student just like you. From one high school student to another, I hope we can all get along!

Who creates a robot without a rocket punch? Why do you even exist?

An evil, secret organization with over 10,000 members...?

It's a lie. I don't think you should worry about it.

...





What should we do, Shuichi? You wanna head down?

I-I dunno... The basement might be dangerous. This place is full of mysteries.

Then let's proceed with caution! With you at the front!

Ah...so I'm in front. I see...

With hesitant Shuichi leading the way, we carefully made our way down the stairs.

MUSIC: Nightmare in the Locker





It doesn't *look* very dangerous to me.

Ah, well...some dangers are hidden where you can't see.

Shuichi...you have quite the imagination, don't you?

No, I just think you're not considering how dangerous this is...

Yeah, maybe. But we should look around the basement, too.

There might be an exit. Oh, but we should be careful.

Yeah...you're right.

The basement is small, with only two accessible rooms at the moment. Let's check the library first.



Is this a library?

There are books all over the place... It doesn't seem very organized.

Oh, does that bother you? Are you a neat-freak, Shuichi?

No, it's just...I was wondering if someone was using it before us.

Huh? Someone?

Ah, it's nothing. Let's just investigate for now.







Messy library? Nothing a good ol' Hundred-Hand Slap can't fix!



...Yeah, I'm not gonna bother with them.





Some of these letters make no sense... What languages are these supposed to be?





How is anyone supposed to take a book off the shelf when they're crammed in like this?



Then maybe someone was recently here?

I can't say for sure just yet. Let's investigate the room.





Um... Are you an Ultimate student, too?

Yeah, that's right.

...

Huh? Is that it? She sure doesn't talk much.

I'm Kaede Akamatsu. I'm the Ultimate Pianist.

I'm Shuichi Saihara. And I'm the Ultimate Detective, I suppose...

Geez... Not "suppose," you *are* the Ultimate Detective, okay?

Y-Yeah...you're right.

...

And what about you?

AUDIO: Ultimate Introduction: Maki Harukawa





Maki is voiced in English by Erika Mendez. You might remember her as Ryuko Matoi in Kill la Kill, Megumin in Konosuba, Retsuko in Aggretsuko, Gon from the remake of Hunter x Hunter, or Nagisa Shingetsu in Danganronpa: Ultra Despair Girls. She's voiced in Japanese by Maaya Sakamoto. You might remember her as Hitomi Kanzaki from Escaflowne, Ciel Phantomhive from Black Butler, Haruhi Fujioka from Ouran High School Host Club, Aigis from Persona 3, or Mira from Zero Time Dilemma.

Ultimate Child Caregiver, huh...

...Surprised? I don't look like someone who'd like kids, do I?

Huh?

Well, you'd be right. I don't like kids that much.

B-But...if you're the Ultimate Child Caregiver, then children must like you a lot, right...?

... Kids are...weird. They come to me on their own. I'm not that good at taking care of them... I'm not that friendly, either...

But they say kids are very intuitive. If they like you that much...

...then they can probably tell how loving you really are, Maki!

...

Yeah! That must be it! You've chosen a perfect career for yourself!



Huh? What do you mean by that?

...Nothing. It's just...I grew up in an orphanage and got saddled with helping out a lot.

Orphanage, huh? I see...

Ah, by the way... Do you know anything about the Monokubs?

Yeah! Someone's gotta be controlling them, right!? Any idea who it might be?

...How would I know?

Well, fair point... Hmmm... The Monokubs are definitely involved in our situation...





...What?

W-Well, he's a detective, not a god! He can't know everything!

I mean, who cares about some stuffed animals!? Escaping this place is way more important!

Seriously? You think we can escape? Abducting Ultimates from across the country would require massive resources and planning. What makes you think a group capable of that would let us just walk out of here?

If they won't end this, then we will! I know we can do it if we work together!

Work together? With strangers? You're a naive fool if you think you can end this so easily.





That was...kind of odd. She didn't seem like the Ultimate Child Caregiver.

Geez, don't say that.



Hey, another exit to this room.



And it faces another door, but...



Huh?

What's wrong?

This door barely opens a crack. Was it poorly built?

Well, nothing we can do about it. Let's search somewhere else.



Even here there's a monitor. On to the game room.



It looks like a Game Room... But this is a school, right? Is it normal for a school to have its own Game Room?

It certainly is strange...



I wonder what's inside this room... I hope we can investigate it later.









When I heard we were trapped here, I didn't expect we'd have a Game Room.

Are we really trapped in here? There must be an exit, right?

Isn't that what you guys are walking around looking for? Then...figure it out yourself.

Oh, o-okay...

We may be trapped, but it's pretty cool here. Compared to prison anyway...

Prison...? What? But you're an Ultimate student, aren't you?

AUDIO: Ultimate Introduction: Ryoma Hoshi









Ryoma is voiced in English by Chris Tergliafera, a voice actor without that many roles to his name. The only ones that stand out to me are Muhammad Avdol in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders and Gundham Tanaka in Danganronpa 2. His Japanese voice actor is a different story; Akio Outsuka has played Batou in Ghost in the Shell (the movie and Stand-Alone Complex), Blackbeard in One Piece, Ansem in Kingdom Hearts, Gaius van Baelsar in Final Fantasy XIV, and Snake (all of them except Liquid) from the Metal Gear Solid series.

Ryoma Hoshi? R-Really? I've seen you in the newspaper... The tennis prodigy who single-handedly took down a mafia...

You took down a mafia by yourself!?

The papers said he shot them through the head with his tennis skills and an iron ball.

What the hell!? Really!?

Hmph, so you know that much already... Well? What do you think of the loser before you who used his talent to kill?

B-But...why would you throw away your future like that?



Huh?

No...it's nothing. It's not like me to talk so much.

Anyway...I'm warning you. It's dangerous to just walk up to a killer like me.

As he said that, he turned his back to us.





You should listen when people give you warnings... I won't say it again.

I just realized how funny it is that the gloomiest characters we've met so far are both in the basement. Next time, we—

MUSIC: Beautiful Lie



Did someone open it for us? Let's check it out.



Oh! Is this the entrance hall!? Right, Shuichi!? This must be the entrance hall, don't you think?

Y-Yeah, I suppose so...

Which means...



W—Wait, I don't think we should open doors carelessly. It could be a trap...



Oh... Uhhh...

You wonder, "Who is this?" Yes...I shall make that clear first.

AUDIO: Ultimate Introduction: Korekiyo Shinguji





This very normal young man is voiced in English by Todd Haberkorn, who you might recognize as Firo Prochainezo from Baccano, Death the Kid from Soul Eater, Watanuki from xxxHolic, Octa from Drakengard 3, and Teruteru Hanamura from Danganronpa 2. In Japanese, he's voiced by Ken'ichi Suzumura, who played Kamui from X, Okita from Gintama, and Zack from spinoffs of Final Fantasy VII. Haberkorn and Suzumura both share the roles of Sho Minazuki from Persona 4: Arena and Hikaru from Ouran High School Host Club.

Korekiyo? Anthropologist?

Please, call me Kiyo. As for anthropology, would you like a simple explanation?

Okay, sure...

Anthropology...studies customs, legends, folk tales, songs, and much more. There may even be customs in your daily life, the origins of which you do not know.

For example...certain aspects of birthday or new year celebrations. Anthropology sheds light on traditions and customs such as these through rigorous analysis. It is a study that examines the thought behind culture, faith, and customs.

Okay...I sorta get it, but not really... It sounds like a lot of fun, though!

Well of course it's fun... It is a study focused on humanity.



The sound bite here is of Kiyo saying "beautiful" with a tone like someone just stroked one of his erogenous zones.

Oh, ummm...

I find all aspects of humanity—even the ugly parts—to be beautiful. Our present situation is rather...intriguing. What beauty will I be able to witness here?



This guy looks like a creep...and it turns out, he is one, too.

Anyway, we can go outside if we just go through these doors, right?

You should find the answers to such questions on your own... The moment your hopes are shattered... That, too...may be beautiful...

Sh-Shattered...? What does he mean by that?





Our hopes will be shattered? What...does that mean?



Kehe...Kehehehe...

Alright, whatever, man.



O-Okay...

Determined as I was...| just couldn't muster the courage to take that first step forward.

To be honest, I was scared. Because...what if beyond this is just—

Ah, geez! This isn't like me!

Just because I'm scared doesn't mean I'm gonna run away! I gotta move forward!

K-Kaede!

Don't worry about it! Let's go, Shuichi!

I psyched myself up, and with newfound strength walked boldly toward the doors.

I mean, he just admitted that he has no standards, so what does he know?



Blue skies.

Bright sunlight.

Gentle wind.

And—



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