Danganronpa: Despair Malfunction RE/BOOT

Prologue: Part 1

"Sir, the preparations are almost complete."

I spun my chair around, turning my gaze to the woman in the doorway. "What's left, Duality?"

She adjusted her mask and walked into the office. "The students are in their dorms, in stasis. They are ready to be woken up as soon as you are in place. All that remains is arming the internal security system and the game can begin."

I stood up and made my way across the office. "Good work. Keep it up." I then sat down at the main computer and flipped a few switches. Immediately, the words "INTERNAL SECURITY ARMED" flashed onscreen. I leaned back, thinking for a moment.

"Is something wrong, sir?" She leaned over my shoulder, examining the screens.

I sighed. "No, there's not. I figured there would be more exciting though. The game's about to begin and nothing."

She tilted her head, turning her attention to me. "Excitement, sir? I'm confused. Are we not examining hope and despair?

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Duality, we are. Still, shouldn't somebody feel some sort of excitement about their, well, experiment?" That should get her off my ass for now. Sometimes I ask myself how she still buys that.

"Oh, I see. I understand what you mean. Perhaps it's because the game hasn't begun yet. Give it time, sir." I nodded and returned to the final preparations. "I'm sure everything will be just fine."

She's right. I'm sure it's just that. I should probably get in place soon. While I'm in hiding Duality is going to have a lot of control of the systems. Not all of it. What kind of boss would I be if I did something like that? I have access to some of the building's systems in my room. You can never be too cautious.

I stood up and headed for the door. "It's almost go time. Are you ready to begin? Need to go over your job one more time?"

She shook her head. "No, sir. I'm ready. I won't let you down."

I nodded. "Good, good. I'm going to my room. I'm going to send you a signal when I'm there. When you receive it, wait ten minutes and then wake everyone up." With that, I left my office and entered the cold, white hallway. This school is state of the art. Ultimates, everybody's so eager to throw everything at us. Money, resources, it's like they see us as more than human. It's frustrating. It's boring.

I stepped into the main hall of the building and took one last look at a school without students. Soon, these halls are going to be filled with the absolute best of the best. I can't wait to see them crumble. I stepped outside and crossed the artificial grass over to the dorm buildings. The sun reflected off the windows, making it hard to see the path in front of me. I finally arrived at my dorm around noon and opened the door.

Inside, I took my helmet off and placed it on the desk. I climbed onto my bed and fell backward. I stared at the ceiling for what felt like forever and turned on my earpiece. "Duality, can you hear me?"

Immediately, I got a reply. "Yes, sir. Starting the countdown now."

"Don't give anything away. If my identity is compromised, the whole game is ruined," I replied.

She paused. "Of course, sir. I'll see to it that no one is able to bring a halt to the experiment."

I ended the call and closed my eyes. The countdown had begun. Soon, it would be time for despair.