A Game of Despair: Danganronpa

B for Backstory

You head back to your room, escorted by Sato. Seems he wanted to make sure you got back safely. That's kind of him. You notice Dennis and Sam walking together with some fire starting supplies. Maybe they're planning on having a bonfire...?

Either way, you return to your room and take minute to breathe before you hear the night announcement play.

*BING BONG DING DONG*

Nekoshi's voice sounds throughout the island. "Greetings, everyone! This is your lovely headmaster, Nekoshi! It is now 10:00 PM and officially night time! The Dining Hall and the Pool are now off limits! Goodnight, and sleep with one eye open! You never know who might be plotting against you...NYAHAHAHAHA!" Nekoshi's laughter cuts out.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=07sdBb7dSrw&t=254s

...So, it's night already? Sounds like you need a tutorial on how Night works!

At night, you can head out and attempt to perform extra actions, exploring the school or deepening your friendships with your classmates. Sometimes you will even hear the doorbell ring, meaning a classmate wishes to speak with you or might find a mysterious note asking you to meet somewhere. These could be perfectly innocent, but...keep in mind it's dangerous at night.

You consider what you should do...

A. Go to bed
B. Explore a part of the school (Specify)
C. Check in on someone (Specify)
D. Plot a murder (Specify)

You decide it's probably best to just go to bed. No need to make any unnecessary trouble, right?

...

You wake up in the morning to Nekoshi's annoying voice.

*BING BONG DING DONG*

"Goooooooood morning, everyone! Listen to this! I've got a very special gift for you all, so you better meet up in the Dining Hall or else!" His voice cuts out and you get the feeling the or else is not a good thing. And by that I mean he'll probably kill you if you don't go.

You head over to the Dining Hall, deciding that death probably isn't worth it. Everyone shows up and you notice Erika is notably sitting at another table with an annoyed expression. She was probably dragged here by Nekoshi.

Speaking of which, that demon of a cat is currently standing on top of the table you're all crowded around. "Aww, thanks! It looks like you all came here. I'm flattered."

"It's not like you gave us much of a choice..." Axel mumbles to himself.

Nekoshi glares at him before continuing, pulling out what looks like...some kind of touch pad. "Well I was thinking you guys were feeling a little lonely, soooooooo maybe you'd like to know what's going on in the outside world."

Hearing this, Vicky looks up at Nekoshi. "Wait...the outside world?"

"Yep, yep, yep. I have a very special video of all the people you're closest to."

Amelia's attention is caught as well. "Ze people...closest to...?"

"Yep, yep, yep, yep. I have one for each of you, so I'll hand them out one at a ti-"

"I don't think so." Claus interrupts. "There's no doubt there's something sketchy going on with those videos."

"Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Wait, what. I mean no. Don't question my motives!"

"On the contrary, that's exactly what we should be doing." He turns to the rest of you to explain instead of argue with Nekoshi. "Think about it. Nothing has happened in the past two days we've been captured here. It makes sense Nekoshi would try to give us a motive. A reason to try and escape. A reason to kill."

"Yep, nope, yep, maybe, certainly, incorrect! What's wrong with egging you all on? I'm just trying to be supportive! Don't you want to see your friends and family?"

Claus shakes his head. "This is clearly a trick. We cannot trust you. So I suggest you all allow me to take your motives."

Ashley interrupts. "Hold it right there!" It's almost like a dramatic reveal of events in a trial! Which is a weird and irrelevant comparison to make at this time. "How can we be sure you won't watch your own video and kill one of us?"

"You have my word."

"And you think that's enough?"

It looks like...there's some disagreement as to what to do with the motive videos.

A. Agree with Claus
B. Agree with Ashley
C. Say that you'll take the videos instead
D. Stay Silent
E. Suggest something else (Specify)

Dennis shrugs, clearly unphased by this turn of events. "While I certainly don't think anyone important to me is weak enough to be threatened by a plush cat, I agree with Claus. Anything given to us by it should be treated with utmost suspicion." With that, he gingerly turns his pad over to Claus and takes a seat.

"Yes, but you're missing the point!" Ashley grips her fan hard enough to snap it again. "He might look at his own video and murder us because of it!"

You make a sarcastic remark about these videos leading people to murder.

"Why is everyone fighting over magic box? Can't we all see our friends with magic box and share?" Sato clearly doesn't understand how any of this works.

"I agree with Sato! Well, sort of." Vivian laughs a little nervously. "We shouldn't be fighting like this. We need to work together, remember?"

"I say we take them all and throw them off the island. I mean, this isn't the worst environment in the world. We have free food, water, shelter, friends, and entertainment. Nobody has to kill anyone." Tucker says this while confidently sitting up straight.

"Are you suggesting zat we stay 'ere forever!?" Amelia looks horrified.

"I-I don't want to stay here forever!" Axel looks like he's about to panic.

You try to get everyone to relax and explain Tucker's suggestion properly. "Please, stay calm. I don't want to stay here either, but what Tucker is saying may be worth considering. If we simply dispose of the videos, there won't be any videos to argue over and there won't be any motive for murder."

"But...Those videos might be our only way out. I think we should look at them first, but all together at the same time. Maybe then we won't all be so scared." Vicky seems like she really wants to use those pads. "Besides, these might be the only way we can contact the outside world."

Claus nods. "That is correct. These may contain useful information that we will need. It may even be possible to remodel them to communicate with. That is why we cannot just dispose of them."

Aki thinks carefully before responding. "Hm, perhaps it's best if we store them all somewhere and have two guards there at all times. We could switch out guards regularly."

James sighs. "Do we really need to guard them so carefully...? This seems like a lot of work to go through just for some videos."

Erika walks over and places her pad into Claus' hands. "Do whatever you want with it. I don't care." She then walks out of the dining hall, leaving you all to discuss what you should do with the pads.

Claus keeps a neat pile of pads in front of him. His, Dennis', and Erika's sit there. "Perhaps having guards is the best solution. Is anyone against this?"

A. Agree with Having Guards
B. Disagree with Having Guards
C. Stay Silent
D. Suggest something else (Specify)

"Hm...No, I believe this is the best way to go about this." You confidently hand your pad over to Claus.

"Hmm...Having people on watch seems like our best path forward, but where to keep the devices...? It would have to be somewhere secure, but open enough that the guards aren't too isolated. The pierhouse maybe? Or somewhere more central?" Dennis shakes his head. "Not that it matters much to me. Just trying to make sure every angle is considered."

James nods. "The pierhouse seems like a good idea. It would be near impossible to sneak over there without being seen and since there's only once entrance to the pierhouse, it would be almost impossible to get in without at least one guard noticing."

Vicky looks at her pad. "Are you sure we shouldn't just watch them now...?"

Sam nervously toys with his pad. "The little bastard's implications are already pretty clear, the damage has already been done. I'm with Vicky, we may as well just watch them and get this over with."

"No, that's exactly what he wants!" Axel loudly protests. A bit too loud.

But everyone becomes silent as they hear something playing.

You turn to see Tucker's pad emitting light from its screen.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6yxfg89y2Y

"Back by popular demand, it's the motive video! Nyaa~!" Nekoshi's voice emits from the speakers.

"Oh boy, I've been waiting for this episode!" The real Nekoshi plops next to Tucker, eating a bag of popcorn.

"Tucker Rally, the Ultimate Geopolitical Analyst! Who's the most important person in your life?"

...

Nekoshi stares at the screen in confusion. "Ohhhhhh? What's this? Nyahahaha! It looks like you don't have anyone! NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOU!"

...

The video continues on, showing an image of what looks like a young Tucker writing in a notebook. "Tucker grew up with neglectful parents that didn't give a shit about him! Nyahaha! That's why he got so interested in politics, statistics, and analytics! Because nobody likes him! Poor, poor, Tucker. All he ever really wanted was a friend. BUT NOBODY LOVES HIM! Maybe that's why he wanted to go to Hope's Peak. So he could finally make some friends and have someone who DID care about him! But surprise, surprise, none of you want anything to do with him either! Just the other day he was trying to talk to a group of you and you didn't even notice him standing there!"

The video changes screens to show what looks like a surveillance cam video of Tucker standing to the side while Vicky, Spy, and Amelia are having a conversation by the docks. "But that's not all! Since we couldn't find any people you cared about, we decided to let you see the next best thing!"

The video changes to show a large book filled with writings, graphs, charts, and math. "This is Tucker Rally's manifesto! Surprisingly enough, someone without any friends got really good at predicting others' movements! In fact, he's predicted the next five years all in this book. And it looks like it's been true! Wow, I guess we don't call it "Ultimate" for nothing. Oh, but what's this...?"

It changes shots to what looks like Tucker's home...on fire...! A man in a suit, whose face you cannot see because of the camera angle, picks up the manifesto and begins to flip through the pages. "But when corrupt politicians steal and destroy Tucker's life's work, what will he do? Oh my, oh my! Just think about it. Every single day you spend in here is another day you spend unable to protect your precious predictions! Stay tuned to see how Tucker reacts to this horrible revelation!"

The video clicks off.

...Tucker stares at the screen blankly. You can't tell what he's feeling.

Spy takes a deep breath. "Everyone. Whatever is on these videos...Do not let them drive you to kill. These videos are most likely fake-"

Nekoshi bumps in and interrupts. "Nope! Totally wrong! These videos are one hundred percent, undeniably, totally truly legitimate. They weren't edited in any way at all. This is real. Completely real. This is your life now after all."

...The air feels...dark.

"Well, toodles!" Nekoshi runs off, leaving you all there to try and comprehend what just happened.

"...Tucker, are you okay?" Vivian looks like she's shaking.

"...That's gotta be fake." Axel crosses his arms and looks off to the side.

"...Well." Claus looks almost unfazed. "I believe my point has been made. Why we shouldn't watch those videos." He takes Tucker's pad and places it in his pile. "The rest of you...if you will?" Claus holds out his hand for the rest of the pads.

You spend some time thinking things over and trying to devise a way out of here, but in the end, you don't come up with anything.

Eventually, it becomes your turn to guard the videos.

You meet up with Claus by the pier and start keeping watch.

Claus stands there...like a statue. He's really dedicated to his job, you guess. But for you...this is boring. Really boring.

Maybe you should try talking to Claus...

A. "You're very dedicated to your job, aren't you?"
B. "Why are you a butler?"
C. "Do you really think someone's going to try and steal the videos?"
D. Stay Silent

I feel I should mention that next night time, we should put dust or string or something outside of doors so we know who was up and about. Also, stalk the hallways ourselves to see if we can prevent a few murders.

This should involve getting some kind of weapon; even if we kill someone, I assume we can dispose of the body in a way that it won't call a body discovery announcement.

Guys, do we want to win this thing by killing, or by being among the final few?

I can't tell you who everyone else is. But I can tell you there are five other players aside from you guys.

B Awhh he's secretly super cute