anguish ; yttd

reunion

(Name) walked through a door and found some sort of smoking hallway. There was even a vending machine with cigarettes stocked in them.

(Name) almost felt a little upset they didn't have any cash on them. With how much stress they'd been under, a cigarette would do some good to keep them from having a breakdown.

Moving past the smoking hallway, (Name) found another door, labeled "GAME." While they weren't much of a gaming person, they thought maybe something inside could be a little fun.

Inside, there a dart board with a large vent at the top of it and a large rectangular hole in the floor. It was a bit of a letdown..

Beside the dartboard, there were two doors, a red and blue one. As the red one was the closest, (Name) tried entering that one first. No matter how much they tried twisting the knob, the door wouldn't budge.

"Can't even explore everywhere, huh?" (Name) mumbled to themself. Maybe it was a good thing. For all they knew, a death trap could've been inside.

(Name) decided to take a look in the blue room, which opened easily. This room had a bunch of human shaped figures sitting in chairs. There was even a huge painting of an odd man at the corner of the room.

(Name) investigated the figures in the seats, poking and pinching the faces. In a way, they kind of felt like dolls... similar to the body they'd found in their parent's home. It was just another instance that seemed way too convenient to just be a coincidence. (Name) knew that Asunaro worked with dolls, humans, and artificial intelligence. With a doll in their own home and dolls being in this facility, they began to think Asunaro really was behind everything.

While searching one of the dolls, (Name) found a letter lodged in the seat. It read "To (Name). If you're not them, don't open this! There might be a punishment!"

As (Name) was about to open the mysterious note, a voice from behind nearly made them jump out of their skin.

"Whatcha up to (Name)?" They turned around to see Keiji walking towards them. (Name) quickly hid the note behind their back, stuffing it in their pocket. Behind Keiji, Joe came as well and gaped at the sight in front of him.

"Ah, it's nothing," (Name) said. "I was just investigating these.." they touched the doll that was in the chair next to them, "...things."

"You touched it?!" Joe looked at (Name) as if they were a mad man.

(Name) stifled a laugh. "It's just a doll. It's harmless."

"Hmm." Keiji's eyebrows furrowed, as if he was scanning (Name)'s behavior. They'd had plenty of run ins with the police. Keiji really did give off the impression of a cop trying to investigate. Instead of questioning them any further, he just flashed a grin. "Okie-dokie. You investigating on your own?"

"Yeah," (Name) sighed. "I was the odd one out."

"Be careful," Keiji warned. "Don't end up falling victim to a trap."

(Name) nodded. "Right."

It didn't seem like there was anything else worth investigating. (Name) decided to leave, eager to see the note that was apparently "for them."

As they exited the room, Q-Taro and Kai walked in, having a small conversation with each other. (Name) made sure no one else was around and slowly walked forward, taking the letter out of their back pocket.

If this is (Name), hello there! Long time no see! I wonder if you've missed me lately. By now, I'm sure you know I'm not truly dead. You were always super smart. Apologies for deceiving you for so long. Yet, I am extremely excited. If this is you reading this, then congrats, you made it past your First Trial! I'll be hoping you don't perish during the Main Games so I can finally meet you in person again soon!