Sakayanagi's change of heart

Monologue of Sakayanagi Arisu

If anyone ever asked me to recite one conversation of my life word for word, I would know instantly which one to choose.

Not because there aren't plenty of other things I remembered, but simply due to the way that one conversation I had had with my father during my visit to the White Room had affected my life.

Of course, Ayanokoji's abilities had become a fascination and the chance to fight him one day the biggest motivation imaginable.
However, there had been another reason why I had wanted to defeat him.

And the more I thought about that day, the more I remembered clearly my father's pain-filled expression as he talked about the goals of the White Room.

"The final goal for this facility is for every educated child to become geniuses. But it's still in the test phase. It will continue to struggle for another 50 or 100 years. It's not to make the children gathered here to exhibit talent when they become adults, but to provide the foundation for future generations. Both those surviving and those falling behind were nothing more than a batch of samples."
That was what he had said. And I had promised to smash the facility and prove that talent couldn't be deceived by education.

I had failed at definitely proving the latter with my confrontation with Ayanokoji, which wasn't truly disappointing. The prospect of a worthy playmate had cheered me up for a while, but the Acting Director's attempts at getting Ayanokoji expelled had soon started to become very irksome.

With the White Room's attempts to reclaim Ayanokoji, I had started to reevaluate my original goals.

"Rest assured. I will personally smash it for you."

That was what I had promised my father. I had gotten derailed by focusing on Ayanokoji too much.
He wasn't my enemy, the facility was. It was because of that place that I had falsely won my game against Ayanokoji and my father had temporarily lost his position as chairman among others.

Don't get me wrong, I fully trusted my father's abilities to regain his position, but it had left a bad taste in my mouth.

Who were they to interfere with my life? Who were they to interfere with anyone's life, really? Especially for the sake of following such illogical goals.

You were either born a genius or you weren't. The only reason Ayanokoji had turned out the way he had was because of superior genetics.
I still shared that view. Even untalented parents could produce a genetically superior child.
The White Room would never work on everyone, just a select few who had something in them that made success possible. It was an experiment bound to fail.

Today, the more time I spent watching Ayanokoji, the more the faults of even the masterpiece of the White Room became apparent.
I stand by what I had thought back then: Regardless of his extraordinary talents, there was still a lot to gain and learn through physical contact with other people.
From what I could see, he hadn't yet experienced a sufficient amount of any type of contact with anyone in his one year of freedom.

As a consequence of everything I had said here, there were several different reasons for me to take action:

1. I didn't want to let go of my chances at having fun with Ayanokoji in the future.

2. I had sworn to smash the White Room.

3. I wanted Ayanokoji - my talented childhood friend - to have the chance to develop further.

4. I was bored.

That was how I came up with a truly entertainingly dramatic idea that would no doubt infuriate Ayanokoji. Perhaps I could even get him to show some emotions on his face.

And most importantly, I would finally fulfil my promise to my father.