Prologue - The Diagnosis: Despair II

A rattle woke me up from my nightmare. But I only woke up to darkness. Nothing but endless, dark void smelled desperation. No, it was hopelessness. Despair concealed my entire body. I knew what was going to happen to me, since I volunteered for this. But some of my memories were missing. And the fear of obscurity pushed me into despair.

My whereabouts, who I agreed with… Even my name. Well, since it will lose its meaning now, why don’t you give me a name? What should my name be?

…

……..

……………..

Hmm…

That sounds usable.

I also tried to remember my appearance too, but the memory never came back. While in the dark, it didn’t matter anyway. So, feel free to imagine me as you wish.

Think of me as an extension of yourself.

Think of me as… you.

But unfortunately, I do know that I’m a girl. So, keep that in mind.

“Is everyone here?” A voice came from the corner. It was deeper, and soft. “There are supposed to be sixteen of us. Is there anyone else with me right now?”

“Can’t tell the number, but there are more than just the two of us.” A girl spoke. She had such a nice voice. Pretty confident despite being tied in the dark.

Or is she not tied?

“How about we make a head count?” A boy answered right next to me. His voice is much stronger than both of them. A booming voice that shivered me to the bones.

“How are we gonna know our turn?” This voice is much more squeaky. One could assume that it belongs to a child. Technically, we are all children at high school ages. At least with our current memory, this is who we are.

“The engine slowed down. Guess we are about to see it ourselves soon.” This should be the first guy. Gosh, it’s hard to tell without seeing anyone. At this point, all I hope for is to not get my vision to be erased.

Soon after, the shaking stopped. We could hear the front door shutting close and the footsteps around the vehicle.

“A-Are we sure that those are the one?” Another girl spoke for the first time.

“Now you mention it… I’m not sure.” Guy next to me continues to scare me with his strong voice. It is going to be fun to guess his future. He has the potential to be an “opera artist”. They only have to give him some elegance.

The doors opened.

“There should be sixteen of you. Now stand up. And watch your heads.”

— Donk!

“What did I just say? Jeez. This patch cannot survive for too long.”

“Okay. Now on marching steps. Please come forward and do not fall from the steps. I repeat: Watch out for the steps.”

“Ouch!”

One by one, we marched behind the voices.

Not knowing our destination.

Our whereabouts…

Even ourselves.

We know nothing than the fact that we should follow these guys. ‘Cuz we agreed on this.

We stopped after our footsteps echoed in a room. The door was shut tight without a warning. After a beep sound, the handcuffs that were tied in our wrists fell down on our feet. This way we could free ourselves from the blindfolds.

“Phew! We are finally free.”

“Ah! You guys are here too? I didn’t see you there.”

“Obviously you couldn’t. We are blindfolded.”

“Yeah, but still.”

“Are these all the participants?”

“The numbers fit the descriptions. Yep, that’s it.”

“I have a bad feeling about this…”

Here we are. Sixteen high school students in a room. But wasn’t that supposed to be a gym? Was I mistaken? The room was rather empty with a single desk. The ones they place as reception. Doors behind the desk were locked with cage bars. Where are we exactly?

Ding dong, bing bong

“Welcome, everyone. It’s so great to see you all in person, finally. I can explode from happiness.”

“We can’t see you! Where are you?”

“You don’t have to see me. I will show myself when the preparations are done and fine. It must be un bear-a-ble for you to wait to see my handsome face. Who can blame you? Upupupu! Since I have a face of a godly statue. Even better than La Génie du Mal.”

“Are you even a human?”

“Surely it’s the devil speaking from that noisy speaker.”

“How rude! And we didn’t even start yet. This new generation has no manners. Back when the first game was out, they had dignity, respect, mutual understanding between me and the oblations. I should fix your tones and teach you some respect! Since I’m an excellent teacher, it will take a flash of moment to straighten you out. Now, now. Before the introductions, please look at the camera and say despair.”

— Click-flash!

With the bright light blinding me, I lost all of my senses. Vision, hearing, thinking… My whole body tingled with a painful, sharp sensation from my nerves. Next thing I remembered was…

…..

………..

………………..

Huh?

Where am I?

“…”

“…….”

That’s a strange place for sure. But kinda feels familiar. I stepped out of the locker into the white room. Walls, ceiling, floor… Everything was white. As white as my memory. Where am I? Who am I? The voice in my head told me to sit down on the bench in the middle of the room. Well, that was the only thing here besides the empty lockers.

To get my thoughts back on track, I started to count the lockers.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5…

There were fourteen unlocked lockers including the one I just left.

Who did they belong to, I wonder? They were labeled with a tag. Each of them had a name written on it.

“Let’s see… Chuuyou Wanda, Harada Junpei, Ito Kaori… What about mine?”

It’s weird. My name tag was empty. Shortly after, I found a board pen inside the locker.

“No one would blame me if I wrote my name.” So, what’s my name?

…

……

Ah! You say that I’m you. That’s strange. But I accept that. So, does that mean you are me?

Huh? That’s silly. There is no way that I talk to myself like crazy. So you must be the voice in my head. Ok then my inner voice. Let’s write our name.

Hm…

Come to think of it, I also don’t remember how I look like. I looked for a mirror to check on myself, but the only thing I saw was…

…..

……….

………………

…………………….

…………………………………………

Hey! What do you see? Are we seeing the same thing? Guess so. Well, that’s settled then. From now on, we are the same.

— Ruttle! Ruttle!

“What was that noise?” It came from one of the lockers.

— Ruttle! Ruttle!

I got closer to have a look. Something was trying to open the locker. I turned the handle and…

“Waaah!”

Suddenly, a boy with a gloomy aura fell.

“Why are you so depressed? Are you one of these emos?”

“Ouch… N-no, I’m… Huh?” The boy stood up and looked around. “Where are we?”

“Here should be a locker room.”

“Yeah, I see that. But which locker room? There’s nothing else here.”

“At first, I assumed it was a girl’s locker room. But now that you are here, I’m sure of it.”

“Of what?”

“You sneaked into a girl’s locker room to peek at the girls while changing!”

“Of course not! Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you. But how come you assume that I’m the one in the wrong locker room?”

“Eh?”

“Maybe it was you that sneaked into boy’s locker room.”

“What!? T-There's no way-“

“Haha! Just kidding. I know you didn’t.”

“Huh? How?”

“Because we were both locked into the lockers. Someone else had have done this.”

“You think so?”

“Do you have another idea?”

“No, I don’t.”

“By the way, I’m Maeda Tokiko*.”

“What?”

“The name, Tokiko**. Got it?”

(Seems like you are a little bit confused. In case that you missed the joke lost in translation, allow me to explain. In the first line, your friend introduces himself in Japanese as it goes: な、まえだときこ。Means Na, Maeda Tokiko. And he continues as follows: 名前だ。トキコ。Name da. Tokiko. Did you get it now? Such a funny friend. Maybe he is the Ultimate Punster, what do you say? Best way to find out is to ask him. Oh, how rude of me. I didn’t introduce myself. Well, it doesn’t really matter who I am, or what I am… But what I do is very important. If you are familiar with the game, then you should know me. I will be around to guide you on your journey in case that you need it. But my powers are restricted. Think of me as an AI assistant who is only good for explaining things in excruciating detail. Don’t worry, only when it’s necessary. Now then, let me leave you with your new friend so you two can know each other better. Before I go, one last thing. You have to find other Ultimates and make friends of them. Keep that in mind. I’ll explain it later when the time comes. All good for now.)

“What was that?”

“Is it too bad?”

“No… Never mind.”

“Yeah, I’m not very good with puns. They always miss…”

“So, what are you?”

“Isn’t that a bit rude?”

“No, I mean your talent.”

“Ah! I get it. Why didn’t you say so? It’s shameful to say but I’m the Ultimate Bad Luck.”

“Bad Luck? Is that even a talent?”

“Well, at first, they gave me the title of Ultimate Lucky Student, but I never considered my fortune a good one. So, I asked them to change it.”

“Why did you wanna do that? That’s stupid.”

“Yeah, I hear that a lot. But let me put it in a different way: When I am late for the class after oversleeping, teacher takes a pop-quiz. All of my friends say that I was lucky to miss it, but on my way, I probably had caused three different car accidents including a track hitting me at least once.”

“Wow! Isn’t that… Extreme?”

“That’s why I proposed to change my talent. It never felt like a fortune in the first place.”

“Well, at least you remember yours. That’s great.”

“Eh? You don’t remember yours?”

“To be honest, I almost forgot how I looked like. So I’m waiting for my memory to recover. While I was searching for clues, you came out.”

“Oh, sorry to interrupt. I had no idea.”

“It’s fine now. The time will show.”

“Yeah, you are right.”

“By the way, do you think there are others in the lockers?”

“What makes you think that way?”

“Look. There’s still one shut tight.”

“You are right. Maybe we should check, just in case.”

“Good idea.”

…

……

……..

“What’s wrong?” My hands shook before touching the handler.

“Why don’t you open it?”

“Me? Why?” He seemed shocked. But if I told him the actual reason, he’d might be even more shocked.

“What if here is actually a boy’s locker room? I don’t wanna find dirty underwear.”

“I’ve told you, it’s not! Besides, boys are not that dirty.”

“…”

“…”

“………”

“*Sigh*, fine.” He held the handler and pushed it down. The mechanism unlocked. After the pulled the door to himself we saw another figure inside.

“You were right! There is a guy!”

“And dirty underwear hung! Close it back!”

“Hey! Stop it! We should get him out first.” Maeda helped me to carry the guy and we laid him on the bench. He seemed like a high school student just like us. He was wearing thick-rimmed glasses that nerds wear after staring at their hyper fixation for long hours. His clothes smelled like sweaty socks. That’s what happens if you stay in the closest for too long.

“Hey, can you hear me?” Tokiko the emo guy spoke to him. He seems to startle.

“Heeeey! Can you hear us?”

“Ouch! Don’t yell, you.”

“Ngh…..”

“Ah, he is waking up.”

“Ngh…..”

“…”

“…….”

“………………….W-Who are you guys?”

“Good morning princess.”

“You, stop that.” Tokiko doesn’t seem like a guy who understands from jokes.

“Ugh… I have a terrible headache.”

“Would you like to rest more?” Tokiko stepped back to give the guy some space. He sat down on the bench and looked around. The same curious expression he had when we were first awake.

“Where is this place?”

“Seems like a locker room of a facility.” Tokiko answered.

“If it’s gender based, then I’ll leave first.”

“I told you, that’s not important.” Jeez, he has such a temper… The other guys seemed a little confused but tried to keep a friendly smile.

“Do you guys know each other, per chance?”

“You see, we also just woke up.” Tokiko continued. “The rest of the lockers were emptied before we met.”

“I see… Then, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Shirakawa Masato. Ultimate First Aid Apprentice.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“It is true that guys can make friends in any circumstances.” I said.

“Haven’t we become friends as well?” Tokiko looked at me confused and disappointed.

“Well, you can say so.”

“Then, what’s that attitude?”

“Before that, may I ask you two something else?” Masato interfered.

“Sure.”

“Where are the rest?”

“Huh?”

“If all three of us came out of those lockers, that means there should be thirteen more people with us. Since the lockers are empty, I assumed that they left out but… Gues you haven’t tried that yet.”

“You can say so,” Tokiko answered. “It wasn’t long before you rumbled the locker. So we took you out before investigating the building.”

“Understood.”

“…”

“…”

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Oh yes, sorry. I’m much better now. If you want, I can join you guys.”

“Yup, that would do. The more, the merrier, am I right?” Why do I feel like spotlight was stolen away from me? These two became so close in a short time. Kinda annoying.

We left the room to investigate our whereabouts and ended up in a white corridor. It was all white. Pure white, chalk white, alabaster, linen white. All the fifty shade of white you could imagine.

“This place is giving me creeps,” Tokiko said.

“It should be a type of hospital. Look.” Masato pointed at the walls.

“Are those observation mirrors?” I asked.

“Seems so.”

“Hey, do you think there are people watching us?” Tokiko’s words sent shivers through my spine.

The air of the room pressed down on me. Both the acrid chemical smells and flickering artificial lights made my head spin. It was too much. Everything was flat, monotonous, and painfully plain. Besides, how could it be that in this massive hospital, there was no one here but us?

A terrible feeling washed over me. A feeling of helpless despair clawed at me from every angle. I could almost see the eyes behind the observation mirrors, watching me.

The space between my body and the wall felt as if it had shrunk, as though I were being pulled toward it. The windows around me… they trapped me, squeezing me between walls that were supposed to symbolize a pure, hopeful future. It was as if I were being bounced back and forth like a ping-pong ball between those two expressions…

“I doubt it. From the look of the windows, they are pretty old and dusty. Even if there were people on the other side, they wouldn’t be able to see properly without cleaning it first.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Yes.” That was kind of a relief. Not the type that washes away your problems but it helps you to ease your mind before facing the danger.

“Let’s keep moving. I think I heard someone.” Tokiko walked straight to the other end of the corridor. While we moved forward, we passed by another perpendicular corridor that was exactly the same as this one. Seems like they are all an extension of one another.

We passed through an automatic door and ended up in another small building. It was much bigger and colorful than the previous one. That put my mind in ease with such a calm view.

“What is it?” Masato checked around.

“Again, there are sixteen doors with tags.”

“What tags?” Masato asked me again.”

“Some type of name tags that appear on each door. They were on the lockers as well. But this one doesn’t have words. Instead, it has a picture.”

“Picture?” Tokiko was surprised.

“Look. This one looks like you. Small and edgy.”

“Hey!”

“And this might be my room.” Masato stood in front of the door with his image. His door was dark green and had a giant symbol.

“What is that?”

“It’s the symbol of health and first aid. It means that whenever you are in pain, here is your address.”

“Does that mean, we can bother you anytime we have an ouchie?” He simply laughed off.

“Um, excuse me.”

“Hm?” A girl around our age approached us. She seemed like a character popped out of 80’s soap operas. Permed, bleached hair tied with an old-fashioned bow. She must have stolen her grandmother's plaid vest and try to style it.

“Are you also Ultimate students?” she spoke softly.

“Yes, we are. And you?” This Tokiko guy is really friendly.

“Um… I’m Chuuyou Wanda… If you ever heard of it, but I must be the Ultimate Writer.”

“Must be?”

“Yes… I-I can’t recall the original title since everyone in the family said something different. But this sounds like the closest to the original.”

“Have you checked the letter?” Masato asked.

“A-Actually, my parents framed and nailed it on the wall before I could see it.”

“Eh?”

“S-Sorry, it’s just… T-They were too excited that they forgot me. It happens sometimes.”

“This is not a sometimes occurrence.”

“W-What you mean?” She sounded surprised with my spurt.

“Nothing. It’s none of my business.”

“Um…”

“Anyway, we are also Ultimates like you.”

“It’s nice to meet you all.”

“I’m Shirakawa Masato.”

“You must be the medical student on the news.”

“What news?” I asked back to Wanda.

“*Choking baby was saved by the heroic student on vacation*. The young student who heard a commotion next to the pool showers and saw the eight-month-old unable to breathe. He ran over to help and managed to dislodge a skimmer cap from the toddler’s throat.”

“Eeeh? You did that?”

“It was nothing, really. To be honest, that was like a daily activity for me at that point.” Masato seemed bothered for some reason.

“Hm? Why is that?” Wanda asked.

“When I say daily activity, that means many careless families leave their young children unattended. Even at a vacation spot, leaving children that age unsupervised around materials that pose a chocking risk is completely reckless. Do you have any idea how many children I end up saving every day because of this? Honestly, it’s starting to really frustrate me.”

“Umm… You have a point. But… I still think that you are a hero.”

“Ahaha, thank you.” Seems like these two are getting along. Maybe we should leave them alone. I glanced at Tokiko for his reaction. Seems like we think the same.

After walking around I found a room without any signs.

…

“…”

…

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“By the way, where is yours?”

“… Must be this one.”

“Really? But there is no sign on it.”

“It’s fine. I know this is mine.”

“I don’t get quite well, sorry.”

“…” The door was pitch black with a graduation cap and books drawings. From this image, I can assume that I’m an Ultimate student, but what type of student?

“Hmm… Seems like you are the Ultimate Student.”

“Yeah, I know. We are all one.”

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. Look at this symbol on your door. If this is actually your room, that means you are the Ultimate Student. If memory serves right, I’ve heard each student’s talents before.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. Then you must be the Ultimate Student.”

“Is that so…”

“…”

“…”

“???”

“So, what does an Ultimate Student do?”

“Well for that, you have to ask yourself.”

“That was helpful, really.” In another corner, there was a guy sitting on the floor while his hunched back has turned us. He seemed to have trouble with something.

“Tch!”

“Hey.”

“Ngh…

“Hey!”

“Yo, whas’s it? Can’t you see I’m grinding over here??”

“Sorry.”

“…”

“…”

“What? You just gonna stand there AFK until I’m done?”

“Yes.”

“Huh?”

“We are here for self-introduction.”

“Is that it?” I nodded. “*Sigh*… fine. This thing was bugging me anyway. Name’s Mitsugi Keijiro. Ultimate Hacker, Takedown. Y’know the guy that fried the city’s announcement network.”

“You?”

“Yeah, you can probs tell.” With his tangled long hair and dirty home clothes, he does look like a hacker from a Hollywood movie. And on top of that, he had a goatee.

“Hm…”

“What were you doing just now?” Tokiko asked.

“Was trying to ghost into this building’s Wi-Fi rig to scope out the mainframe.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Tracing our location.”

“What?!”

“I tried tagging the supercomputer’s IP —figured I could pinpoint our spot and see what kinda dump we’re in. Was talking to that shy chick over there earlier, since none of the guys actually bothered to get our sitch yet.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hm? It’s actually pretty simple. We’re in some freaky-ass building loaded with tech—electric crap, lights, the whole deal. But nobody’s running the place; the only occupants are us. Doesn’t that scream sketch to you? I don’t get how y’all just chilling, but before some random masked psycho yanks hidden machine guns outta the walls and sprays us, I’m gonna find some backup.

“You actually have a point. As expected from the Ultimate Hacker.” Tokiko answered.

“Seems like I’m the only sane one.”

“Well then, we’ll let you do your work.” I pulled Tokiko’s arm and dragged him away.

Seems like this is all for here. Maybe we should leave.