(See the end of the chapter for notes .)

Chapter Text

Sixteen Ultimate prodigies sat around the center table of the dining hall. A tension hung over them like a thick, dark cloud. And although some among them were into things that were thick and dark, this was not a moment to be enjoying such things. Monokuma had just made two announcements. First, unimportantly, he’d announced that the revealed Ultimate Labs were opened and ready for use. Second, he’d announced a motive for someone to commit murder: the First Blood Perk that would let a killer “graduate” without a class trial.

With morale at an all-time low, the room was silent save for the sounds of silverware moving to transport food into hungry Ultimate mouths. As much as she might like to fixate on mouths, all Miu Iruma could think about while sitting at that table was the dire situation in which she found herself.

“God damn it!” Miu said, breaking the silence. “Why is that bear trying to make us play some fucked up killing game? This is bullshit!”

Kaede answered, “I don’t know why we’re here. Without our memories, I don’t think we’ll be able to figure out the ‘why’s’ for a while.” She gave Miu an encouraging smile. “But don’t worry. We’re not going to play any killing game. We’ll stop the mastermind and find a way out of here!”

Kaito chimed in, “That’s right. We’re all gonna get out of here together!”

This guy doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about, Miu thought.

“You say that,” Miu said, “but have any of you scrubs actually found a way to escape? We’re fucking trapped! This damn birdcage has us stuck. And I’m not into being stuck!”

Keebo added, “We have also decided that the tunnel is too dangerous, so we cannot get out that way. For now, it looks like we really do not have any options.”

“We’ll just have to keep searching, then,” Kaede said. “We can’t give up. That’s exactly what the mastermind wants!”

“You’re right, Kaede," Tenko replied. "We’ll keep trying to find a way out.”

Angie said, “Hmm. Atua is saying, why not try to make a way out instead of finding one?”

Kaede put a hand on her chin and looked down thoughtfully. “Make a way out, huh?”

Angie smiled in a way Miu found off-putting. “Yes, yes! We will just build an exit and walk out through it! That’s what Atua says we should do.”

To Miu's great annoyance, Kokichi opened his mouth and said, “Great idea, Angie! We’ll just get some carpentry tools and build a door into one of the thick, metal walls. Or, maybe we can get a bunch of shovels and just dig under them! That’ll probably work. Or maybe we can just build a bomb and blow a hole in the impenetrable—”

Inspiration!

“Wait a minute,” Miu mumbled. She felt her nervousness turning into a feeling she was far more comfortable with: nervous excitement.

“—walls. Heck, why don’t we just take one of the bears and—”

“Hey, Kokichi, shut the fuck up,” Miu said. To her relief, he actually did shut the fuck up. Miu cracked a wide, eager smile. She wore the face of a huntress who had trapped her prey. “I have an idea,” she said.

“That’s great!” Kaede looked at Miu encouragingly. “What’s your idea?”

“I’m gonna blow a giant fucking hole in the wall, and we can all just walk right out of here!”

Kaede immediately looked disappointed. “That’s… well…”

“Didn’t you hear me?” Kokichi says. “The walls are impenetrable. As in, you can’t make a hole in them. I was being sarcastic, you stupid pig!”

Miu blushed and lost her composure upon being insulted. “S-stupid pig?” She shook her head abruptly.

Focus, Miu. This is important.

“That’s what you think, dipshit!” Miu exclaimed. “The walls might be impenetrable for the average human, but I am Miu Iruma, the gorgeous girl genius!” She puffed her chest out and laughed. “The Ultimate Labs just opened up, right? I can get to work in mine and build a device to bust us right out of here. A high energy, high impact, high explosive Wall Buster!”

Shuichi spoke up. “That sounds dangerous, Miu. I don’t know if this is a good idea.”

“Oh, shut up, you fuckin’ virgin! It’s gonna be awesome!” Miu stomped toward one of the dining hall’s exits. “I’ll start working on it right now. The sooner it’s done, the sooner we can all get the fuck out of here!”

“Miu,” Kaede implored, “Wait!”

But the Ultimate Inventor had already begun her brilliant project.

Miu put herself to work in her lab for a couple of hours trying to figure out how exactly she would bust through the walls surrounding the academy. She quickly realized that she couldn’t use conventional explosives, as such things were not readily available to her or the other students. If she wanted to blast through the walls, she’d have to generate the energy some other way. Eventually, she decided what shape the Wall Buster would take: a laser cannon.

Miu laughed to herself. This is gonna be so fucking cool. I’m so awesome.

Knock, knock, knock. Miu turned around and saw someone walk through her lab door. He was the last person she wanted to see.

“Hey there, Miu!” Kokichi chirped. “How’s it going? Have you blown us all up yet?”

“You’re not dead are you, you fucking cockroach?” Miu asked rhetorically. “Then no, I haven’t. What the hell are you doing in my lab?”

Kokichi pouted like a petulant child. “Aw, why are you being so mean? I can come hang out in your lab if I want to, can’t I?”

“No, you can’t. I can’t work with some asshole watching me! I’ve got important inventor shit to do, so go choke on a dick or something.”

Kokichi clenches his fists in apparent anger. “Fine, fine! You big meanie! Just let me check on something first.”

“What are you checking on?”

“The cameras.”

“The cameras?”

“I hid a few cameras in here.”

“You fucking what?!”

Kokichi smiled innocently. “I hid some cameras in your lab. Does that bother you?”

Miu turned red with anger. “Of course it fucking bothers me! Where are they? Where did you put them?”

Kokichi put a finger to his lips. “If I told you that, they wouldn’t be hidden anymore, would they? And what’s the fun of a hidden camera that isn’t hidden? It’s pointless.”

“Why the fuck did you hide cameras in my lab?”

Kokichi’s eyes lit up like stars. “I’d just love to watch you work, Miu! And I’d like to watch you do other things, too.”

Miu was livid. “Get the fuck out of my lab before I skin you alive! Out!”

Kokichi ran from the lab giggling like an idiot. Miu was left alone, agitated and deeply bothered.

If somebody has to get fucking murdered, I hope it ends up being him.

Miu walked back to her workbench and began drawing schematics, but she stopped after a minute. Was she really being watched? Kokichi had probably been lying about the cameras. Probably.

Still…

Miu decided that the schematics for the Wall Buster could be delayed slightly. She wouldn’t be able to work until she was certain she was working in solitude. She quickly got to work making several small devices that would interfere with the visual receptors of various devices. After two hours of work with the resources she had on hand, she had finished her mini-project: several camera jammers, which would jam any nearby cameras after being set up. A few minutes later, she’d set them up strategically around the lab. Hidden cameras or no, Miu could be certain she wasn’t being spied on.

Alright. That’s much better.

Miu also took an hour to quickly whip up a device to deal with intruders. She put together an Electrotaser: A normal taser, but packed with more electricity and a cooler name. Miu figured a shot from that would make Kokichi think twice about trespassing in her lab again.

Now, time to work on Buster!

With delays and nuisances dealt with, Miu could begin her project in earnest. She, the incredible, gorgeous, astonishing Ultimate Inventor, would create the device that would save everybody. Afterwards, they would surely praise her and acknowledge her greatness. And really, that was what it was all about.

As afternoon turned to evening, Miu finished up the schematics for the Wall Buster. This cannon would be her lifeline. This cannon would free her from the nightmare of the killing game. She looked over the plans. Combining makeshift power cells with advanced energy transmission technology, the cannon would hopefully fire with enough force to blast through the multi-meter-thick walls surrounding the Ultimate Academy. She would have to execute her plan carefully.

Suddenly, Miu heard footsteps outside.

Who the fuck wants to bother me now?

As the footsteps drew closer, they suddenly became erratic and unbalanced.

“Wah!” a male voice rang out. Miu heard someone fall to the ground with a crash. Curious and annoyed, Miu emerged from her lab to see the source of the commotion. She found Keebo outside, struggling to get off the ground. He fumbled about like an especially uncoordinated toddler, struggling to get his footing.

“Keebo!” Miu shouted. “What the hell are you doing?”

Keebo turned his head in the direction of her voice. “Miu? Is that you? Please help! I seem to have suddenly lost my vision!”

“Lost your—?”

Oh shit. The camera jammers. Keebo’s eyes! I didn’t think of that.

“Keebo, listen,” Miu explained. “I have a bunch of equipment in my lab that’s screwing with your optics. If you come near my lab, your eyes are going to stop working. The problem should fix itself if you get a good distance away and wait a few minutes.”

Keebo calmed down. “Ah, I see. That is good to hear. I was worried that I might have been damaged.”

“Don’t worry,” Miu remarked. “Lots of guys have to deal with dysfunction. It’s disappointing, but not uncommon, and there are plenty of treatments. Anyway, what are you doing here?”

“I was told to come and see how you were doing. By the way, how are you doing?”

“I’m peachy. Who told you to check on me?”

“Everyone thought that someone should. Kokichi insisted that I be the one to go, and I agreed.”

That little shit.

“Listen, Keebo. Don’t listen to anything that fucker tells you, alright? He wants to screw with you, but don’t let him. Actually, stick around for a while and I can give you some weapons to teach him a lesson.”

Keebo waved his hands frantically in front of him. “That will not be necessary!”

Miu smirked. Keebo was a fun robot to talk to. “Alright, alright,” she said. “Then get back to your dorm and recharge, I guess.”

Keebo looked concerned. Miu found it funny to see Keebo trying to give her a look of disapproval but blindly looking at empty air instead.

“What about you?” he asked. “Are you going to return to the dorms as well? I think staying in your lab all night would be inadvisable.”

“Don’t worry about me. This isn’t the first time the Ultimate Inventor’s pulled an all-nighter!” Miu boasted. “And I mean it. I can go all night, baby, all night long. Oh shit, that reminds me!”

Miu ran back into the lab and reemerged after a few seconds holding a small device with a speaker. “Here, catch,” she said, tossing it at Keebo. A split second after releasing it, she realized her mistake.

“Wh-what?” Keebo stammered as the device floated through the air. It hit him directly in the face with a dink and dropped to the ground.

“Ah! My bad!” Miu said, rushing over. “I forgot you were blind. Here, take it in your hand… there. Now, listen closely. This is a pager. Once in a while, this is going to buzz, and I’m going to make a demand. Whichever pleb is holding this buzzer needs to get me whatever I say, or I’m going to drop dead.”

“I hope you are exaggerating,” Keebo said. “What kind of requisitions are you going to make?”

“Food, water, equipment, erotica, cold medicine. Basic survival stuff like that.”

Keebo blushed (and Miu idly wondered why his creator had implemented a blushing mechanism). “I do not think all of those are basic survival materials,” he said. “But regardless: Miu, how long are you planning to remain in your lab?”

“As long as it takes, Keebs. As long as it takes.”

Overnight, Miu began the construction of the cannon in earnest. The first matter to be handled was the construction of power cells that could store enough energy to power a reaction to trigger a blast strong enough to burst through the walls. Once the cells were completed, a frame and the necessary wiring could be built to focus and channel the energy into a devastating blast. It was difficult work, but with her Ultimate Inventing talent, Miu made steady progress.

At the break of dawn, she felt a rumble in her stomach. That was the trigger that made her realize several pains at once that were nagging at her. She realized she was hungry, thirsty, and tired.

Damn biological needs. Always getting in the way. And these aren’t even the fun ones!

Miu pressed on with her work for a while, trying to ignore the gnawing demands of the human body. Eventually, she could no longer force herself to concentrate. She looked at the clock. 7:30 A.M.

They’ve had enough time to sleep.

She pulled out her handheld sound recorder (modified to be a transmitter), pressed a button, and spoke into it. She tried to sound more powerful than she felt as she made an announcement.

“This is Miu Iruma, goddess among mortals. Whoever’s holding this pager, bring the following items to my lab: Some food that’s dense in calories, some water, and anything and everything you can find that contains caffeine. Make it snappy, I’m dying out here. This message will repeat periodically until I get the shit I need.”

The message would not repeat, but Miu hoped that the threat of a looping recording would motivate whoever had taken the burden of the pager to move a bit quicker than they otherwise would. Miu waited and worked ineffectively for a while, anticipating the arrival of sustenance.

She considered simply going to the dining hall herself to get what she needed, but quickly decided against it. She wasn’t comfortable leaving her work alone. Though she had installed a lock on the door to prevent any intrusions by assholes (in other words, by Kokichi), she still worried that something might happen in her absence and her progress would go to waste. Miu intended to stay by her work until it was completed.

After what felt like an eternity, there was a knock on the lab door. Miu eagerly walked over to answer it. She was surprised to find not one, but three girls outside when she opened it. Kaede stood there holding a cloth bag, and she was flanked on either side by Angie and Tsumugi.

Miu wasted no time. Pointing at the bag, she said, “Does that have everything I need?”

Kaede looked slightly put off by Miu’s abruptness. Her face said something like, Hello to you, too. Miu didn’t care if Kaede was annoyed. She had shit to do.

“Yeah,” Kaede said. “It should all be there. Food, water, caffeine.”

Miu grabbed the bag and looked inside. She nodded, satisfied with its contents. “Alright, this works.” She looked at Angie and Tsumugi. “Now, what the hell do you two want?”

Angie smiled and spread her arms. “We wanted to come and see that you are okay! Atua wants to know that his followers are well.”

I’m not following your dumb-ass god.

Kaede shifted nervously, apparently uncomfortable talking to Miu. Miu figured Kaede was probably put off by her awe-inspiring presence and prestige.

“So,” Kaede said, “are you doing okay?”

“Yeah,” Miu huffed impatiently. “I’m fine. So you can all fuck off back to your little pussyfest, because I’ve got work to do.”

“You’ve gotten some sleep, right?” Kaede persisted. “I don’t want you to overwork yourself.”

“What are you, my fucking mom?” Miu asked. “Yeah, like I said, I’m fine. Mind your own business, Miss Ironing Board.”

Kaede angrily muttered something about cantaloupes, but Miu didn’t catch the details.

Tsmugi hesitantly spoke up. “Um, Miu, if you don’t mind, can we come in and see what you’re working on?”

“No.”

“Please? We all really would like to see what the great Miu Iruma is inventing to help us escape!” Miu was affected by Tsumugi’s unexpected compliment.

Great Miu Iruma, huh? Well, she’s not wrong. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to show them.

“I don’t know,” Miu said. “It’s, uh, kind of a secret.”

“Oh, won’t you show us? I’ve always wanted to see a laser cannon in real life. Seeing them depicted in anime and manga was always so cool to me, so—”

Miu turned hostile in an instant.

“Ex-fucking-scuse me?” she shouted. “I’m not making fucking toys. This is a real invention that will do real things. It’s not your otaku shit! Get your disrespectful asses away from my lab and don’t come back unless I call you.”

With that, Miu slammed the door. As she marched back to her chair with supplies in hand, she heard the girls talking outside.

“Do you think she’s okay? I’m plainly worried about her.”

“She’s just under a lot of stress right now. We need to help her however we can until she’s done with whatever she’s doing.”

“Wow, Kaede! You’re so caring. Atua respects your leadership and good nature.”

“I just think she seemed a little… paranoid. Don’t you?”

After that, the conversation faded into silence as the trio walked too far away to overhear. Miu scowled as she considered what the others had said about her.

I’m not paranoid. I’m the only rational one around here! I don’t see those fuckers trying to bust out. What, are they all planning to commit murder? Wait, are they?

Miu shook her head.

Whatever. I’m not fucking paranoid!

Miu ate, drank, and soon resumed her work merrily.

Morning turned to afternoon. While the other Ultimates were likely milling around the school doing nothing productive, Miu plugged away at her project. She found herself running into many technical issues; as it turned out, creating a massive machine of devastating demolition from scratch was no easy feat. Nonetheless, she made slow and steady progress. She figured she could have the Wall Buster done within a week if she worked at a consistent pace. That timetable would allow her to get some sleep every night.

As long as none of you fuckers commit homicide for the next week, everyone will get out. So keep your pants on and be patient.

Feeling her stomach rumble, Miu reached for her transmitter and sent another message to the pager. This time, she kept it brief.

“Miu Iruma here. Need food, water, and sexy magazines, in that order. Don’t keep me waiting. Over.”

About ten minutes later, there was a light knock on the lab door. Miu answered it to find Tenko standing at the door, bag in one hand and pager in the other.

“Hello, Miu!” she said cheerfully. “I brought this for you.”

“Hey, Tencrotch. I can see that. Did Kaeidiot push that pager onto you?”

Tenko frowned. “Please, call me Tenko. To answer your question, Kaede said we should take it in shifts. Her exact words were, ‘It wouldn’t be fair if only one of us had to deal with this.’”

Oh, I see how it is. Can’t handle me, Kaede? Am I too awesome for you? Fine. Your loss.

“Alright, that makes sense. Give me that.” Miu took the bag and looked inside. Plenty of food and water. She scowled. “Hey, what gives?”

“Something wrong?”

“Where’s my fucking porn?!”

Tenko blushed. “I… wasn’t comfortable with that. I wouldn’t even know where to find any. Maybe when a degenerate male has the pager, he can help you.”

Miu scoffed. “Whatever. Thanks for doing most of your job, I guess. Tell everybody that if they can go a week without killing each other, I can bust us all out of here. Maybe that motivation will get me some better help.”

Tenko’s eyes widened. “A week?”

“Yeah. You got brain damage? A week. Seven days. One hundred and sixty-eight hours. That’s how long it takes to make big stuff like this. I’m the Ultimate Inventor, not a damn genie.”

“Miu—nobody’s told you yet, have they?”

Miu felt anxiety creeping in. What had happened? What hadn’t she been told? “Told me what?”

Is somebody dead? Are we going to have to do a fucking trial?

Tenko said, “Monokuma added another motive. If a murder doesn’t happen before nighttime two days from now… he said he’s going to kill all of us.”

Miu turned pale.

Two days? Two fucking days? That’s it?

“Are you okay, Miu?” Tenko asked.

“I-I’m fine,” Miu said. “It’s not—It’s not a problem.”

Tenko looked concerned. “Miu, if you’re feeling scared, I’m here for—”

“Go the hell away!” Miu suddenly yelled. She slammed the door in Tenko’s face and retreated into her lab. She held her head in her hands and tried to process what she’d just heard. Nighttime in two days. At that time, everyone would be killed if no murder was committed. The time was 3:00 P.M. That meant Miu had 55 hours at most to complete the Wall Buster. If she couldn’t do that, either everyone would be killed, or one person would be murdered.

And who’s the murder victim going to be? Probably the girl who spends all of her time isolated in an out-of-the-way location.

“Damn it. Damn it! Fuck! Shit! God fucking damn it!” Miu screamed as she paced around her lab, fueled by fear and restlessness. “Why did this have to happen? Why am I here?” She swore and wallowed in fear for several minutes before reaching a point of relative emotional calm.

“Calm down. I gotta calm down.” She looked over at her work so far: various power components and pieces of circuitry intermingled atop the workbench. It would take a monumental effort to have the cannon fully operational within two days; there were technical problems yet to be solved and there would be no opportunity for beta testing. Miu had to decide whether to continue with the project or bail.

If I don’t get it done in time, then it’s a waste of my time and I probably wind up dead. If I don’t try, I don’t waste my time and I probably wind up dead. If I do get it done…

Miu sighed. It was a straightforward cost-benefit analysis.

“Guess I’m not sleeping after all.”

Miu pushed aside thoughts of her impending doom, helped herself to lunch, and pushed herself to keep working.

Day passed into night, and Miu did not allow herself to sleep. Before nighttime she paged for more caffeine. As time passed, more and more cans of “Monoster” energy drink littered the lab floor and Miu plugged away at a problem that seemed more and more daunting with every calculation she made. Miu found herself getting easily distracted during her work process. Throughout the night, stray thoughts would come in and she would fixate on them, making no progress on her work for long stretches of time. It could be argued that these stretches of unproductivity kept Miu sane all the way to sunrise.

It was the day before the deadline. Miu began putting more effort into her work than she ever had before. Whenever she needed motivation, she simply remembered what was at stake: her own life. Also, the lives of the other Ultimates, but those were secondary.

Work continued. She alternated between working on components of the frame, input centers, feedback displays, cooling systems, and power supplies. It was a lot to put together, beyond the capabilities of most, but for the Ultimate Inventor it was just barely doable. Making periodic requests for materials via the pager, Miu figured she could actually get the Wall Buster done to the minimum level of completeness in time. She just needed to work through the day uninterrupted.

Around noon she was interrupted by a knock on the door. She opened it up to see Kaede and Shuichi standing outside; Kaede looked energetic and friendly, while Shuichi was his usual shy and sheltered self. Miu was in no mood for either of them.

“What the hell do you two want? I didn’t radio for anything.”

“We know, Miu,” Kaede said. “We were actually wanting to make a request. We need your help with something.”

I don’t have time for this.

“Help with what? It’d better not be anything stupid.”

Shuichi explained, “We need you to set up some cameras so that they can take pictures automatically when a motion sensor detects movement. We don’t have the technical ability to do this ourselves, but with you being the Ultimate Inventor, we figured you could make the modifications.”

“Well yeah, of course I can,” Miu said. “But why should I?”

“Because we really need you to? Please?” Kaede said.

“No,” Miu said firmly. “I’m very busy, and I don’t have time for your dumb fifth grade science project. This conversation has already taken up way too much of my precious time.”

“What are you busy with?” Shuichi asked.

"What am I busy with? What am I—Do you keep your head up your ass 24/7? The fucking Wall Buster, dumbass! I’m mostly done with it, and tomorrow it’s going to blast us out of here. It’s only the most important invention of your fucking lives! Maybe show it some respect.”

“Oh, right,” Shuichi said skeptically. “Your, uh, laser cannon.”

This motherfucker!

“You got something you want to say, punk?” Miu growled.

Kaede stepped between them before things could escalate. “All we want to say, Miu, is that we need your help. We have nowhere else to turn. Our plan only works if you help us.”

“I don’t even know what your plan is!” Miu objected. “And I honestly don’t care. I have my own plan. Once Buster is finished, we can talk about your panty shot scheme, or whatever this camera nonsense is.”

“Panty—No, you’ve got it all wrong,” Kaede protested. “This is important!”

“No way it’s as important as what I should be doing right now,” Miu retorted. “If that’s all, I’m going to get back to—”

Kaede got down on her knees and put her head to the ground in a deep bow.

“Please, Miu! Please do this for us!”

Miu's face went red with embarrassment. Seeing Kaede bowing at her feet stirred up feelings that she didn’t know how to handle. She responded to the situation with panic.

“G-get the fuck outta here!” She shouted, slamming the door. She locked it, and checked that the lock was working. It was. She ignored Kaede’s muffled insistence from outside the lab and resumed work. Eventually, the pair left her alone.

Waste of my time and energy. Put me in a bad mood. Selfish assholes.

Miu pressed on into the afternoon. As time passed, she found it getting more difficult to hold her eyes open. Even with the power of caffeine, she could feel herself slipping.

No time—for sleep—have to keep—going—

Almost without realizing it was happening, Miu fell to the ground, unconscious.

When she awoke again, eyes creaking half open, it was nighttime. A quick glance at the digital clock told her that she’d lost five hours to sleep. That realization jolted her into sitting upright. A flurry of panicked thoughts flooded through her mind all at once.

Five hours? I slept for five hours? Fuck, fuck, fuck! I’m five hours behind. I wasted all that time just lying on the floor of my lab—

A sudden realization made her blood run cold. She had been lying defenseless on the floor of her lab for five hours straight. Completely incapable of defending herself. In the middle of a killing game. Feeling disoriented and drained, Miu trembled. She had a feeling like one gets after being narrowly missed by a speeding car. She had sudden sense of perspective about her own mortality that amplified every fearful thought she’d been keeping suppressed under the surface. Miu could no longer force herself to ignore the mortal terror that came with being trapped in a killing game.

Rather than instantly jump back to work on the Wall Buster, Miu remained still. She couldn’t bring herself to get up off the floor; exhaustion and fear left her paralyzed. She was losing all hope.

I can’t do it. I can’t get out of here. It’s too late, I can’t do anything, I’m gonna die I’m gonna die I’m gonna die—

Knock, knock, knock. “Miu?” A voice called. “Are you there? Hello, Miu?”

Miu’s face turned a pale white. The last thing she wanted was to interact with another person. Not in this place, not at this time. Not while she was afraid for her life.

“G-go away!” she screamed. “Leave me alone! Leave me alone, you assholes! I won’t let you kill me! I-I’ll kill all of you first!”

“Miu, please, remain calm! I mean you no harm,” the voice said. “Please, may I come in and talk to you?”

Miu now recognized the voice. It was Keebo. Rational, nonviolent, blind-at-the-moment Keebo. She relaxed a bit. If she could trust that anyone wouldn’t murder her, it was Keebo. Even so, she couldn’t let her guard down entirely. She shakily stood up, walked over to her lab door and slowly drew it open to face the robot standing patiently at her doorstep.

“What is it?” she asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“Would you like me to spend some time with you? I thought you might be in need of some company after spending so much time in isolation.”

“What’s your fee?” Miu asked without thinking.

“Fee? What are you talking about?”

“Er, right, not that kind of robot. My mistake.” Miu sighed. “Look, you don’t need to worry about me. I’m doing okay. I just need to figure a few things out, is all. I don’t… I don’t need people worrying about me.”

“I see. Then, let us say that I am not worried, and that I merely want to spend time with you as a friend. Is that alright?”

“Friend?” Miu muttered. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Fine, you know what? Sure. Come in. Just don’t try anything, or else.”

“Of course, Miu. I would never.”

Keebo can’t see, and he’s about as strong as an average grandma. I don’t need to worry about him.

Even knowing that, Miu couldn’t quite make herself feel safe. Feeling as nervous as ever, she led Keebo to a spot where he could sit down. Getting no visual feedback, Keebo sat facing straight ahead, not bothering to turn his head to look around when he couldn’t see anything.

“If I may ask,” Keebo began, “What are you working on? I know that it is meant to help us escape, but I have not yet heard the details.”

Miu looked over at her work so far. It consisted of various power cells and electrical components, as well as several massive frame pieces that would need to be assembled outside the lab. “Well, basically,” she said, “It’s a really big cannon that I’m going to shoot at the outer walls to break through them. If it works, we should all be able to escape. That’s the plan, anyway.”

“I see.” Changing the subject, Keebo asked, “Are you feeling alright?”

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

“You do not sound like yourself.”

“I sound fine,” Miu said hoarsely. “I’m as good as I’ve ever been, so stop being all concerned for me.”

“I see. Very well. Would you mind if I stay and sit here while you work? As I said, I would like to keep you company.”

Miu blushed. Keebo probably didn’t understand what he sounded like, but she couldn’t help feeling like she was being hit on. She kind of liked the feeling.

“Sure, fine,” she said. “Make sure you don’t disrupt me.”

Miu walked over to her workbench. She looked at the components laid out on the table and prepared to continue putting together the pieces necessary for the Wall Buster. She held her hands over the parts. And she stood. And she stood. And she stood.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what are you assembling right now?” Keebo asked.

Miu stammered. “I-I’m… I’m working on…” she sighed. “I don’t know what I’m working on. I feel like I suddenly have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Perhaps you should take a break and collect yourself? That is what the professor always did when he was having a hard time.”

“Take a break. Yeah, maybe I should.” Miu walked back over and sat down across from Keebo.

“That would be advisable. Please, remember to take care of yourself, Miu.”

“You sound like Kaede. Is everyone here trying to be my mom? Look, I’m just going to take a short break. I can’t waste too much time, or else—or else something bad will happen. So I have to get this done. I have to keep working, and keep pushing myself, and make sure that I can get out of here. Because—” Miu’s voice broke. Suddenly, she found herself choking back tears.

God damn it...



“Because—“

“What is the matter, Miu? Because what?”

“I-I can’t,” she whimpered. “I can’t die. The world needs me. It needs my genius. I can’t die here.”

“I know, Miu. I’m sure that the world would feel your loss. If everything you’ve told us is true, you are a very talented individual.”

Miu trembled. “But also, I’m… I’m…”

Without thinking, she lunged forward and buried her face into Keebo’s metal body.

“I’m real fuckin’ scared, Keebs.”

Keebo froze, unsure how to react. “Miu?”

Miu continued. “I really, really, don’t want to die. I’ve been scared shitless since the day we got here, scared that someone’s going to come up behind me with a knife or a gun or a rope and just…” she sobbed. “I don’t want to die, Keebo. That’s why I locked myself in here. That’s why I’m trying so hard. That’s why I’ve been forcing myself to stay awake. That’s why I’m feeling so goddamn desperate. I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to—”

Keebo gently placed an arm on Miu’s back, causing her to stop.

“Forgive me,” he said, “I am not experienced with this kind of situation. I can see that you are upset.”

Miu nodded.

“Something…” Keebo began. “Something inside me is telling me that I need to do something. I need to tell you… not to lose hope.

“Not to lose hope?” Miu mumbled weakly.

“Yes. If you want to succeed, you must hold on to hope. That’s something I’ve always felt deep within myself, and I think it’s something you need to remember now.”

“But it’s too much,” Miu moaned sadly. “It’s too much, and there’s no time. I’m not a miracle worker, Keebo. I can’t make a cannon magically be finished.”

“I do not think it is too much for you to handle,” Keebo reasoned. “Would you have started this project if you did not think you could finish it?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then you can do it. So, do it. Do it because deep down you know you can. I know you can do it, too. I believe in you, Miu.”

You believe in me?

Miu looked up at Keebo for the first time since she’d fallen into him. His face wasn’t especially emotive; he had a simple smile as he looked down in no particular direction. He could have attempted to look at Miu, but as he was temporarily blind he’d decided not to bother and simply looked down and to the right. Miu let herself smile up at him.

“I’ve got to tell you, Keebs, you’re probably the nicest talking robot I’ve ever met.”

“That’s—thank you, Miu.”

“Would you believe—” Miu hesitated. Then she finished her thought. “Would you believe I don’t hear that very often?”

“Hear what?”

“Hear people saying that they believe in me. Not a lot of people tell me that. In fact, they don’t give me much encouragement at all. So, hearing you say that… well, it means a lot to me,” she confessed.

Keebo blushed. “Well, that is just what my inner voice was telling me. It told me that you are someone special and that I can believe in you.”

“Inner voice, outer voice, whatever. You’re you, Keebo. I don’t care if you’re hearing voices.”

Miu pushed herself back into a standing position. “Alright,” she said, filled with fresh determination. “I’m just going to do it. I’m going to throw myself into it with everything I’ve got and get this done.”

“I am pleased to hear that,” Keebo said. “If you need anything, let me know. Otherwise, I will leave you to your work.”

“Alright,” Miu said. “Go get some rest. Just a few hours… if I do everything right, I can finish in just a few hours! I just have to hit all the right spots. But I have plenty of experience, so I know where all the right spots are.”

Miu started moving objects around, connecting bits to other bits. After a minute, Keebo spoke up.

“Uh, Miu? May I ask a favor?”

“What is it?”

“Can you escort me to the lab door?” asked the blind robot.

Ah, shit, I keep forgetting about that.

Miu grabbed Keebo’s hand. “Alright, this way.”

She led him to the door and helped him outside. Before Keebo departed, they talked a bit longer.

“You’ve got to let me take a look at you some time,” Miu said. “I’d love to see what makes you tick. Plus, I can repay you for giving me that little confidence boost.”

“Repay me how?”

Miu grinned hungrily. “By rocking your mechanical world.”

Keebo fidgeted. “I assume by that you mean performing regular maintenance and optimization of my routine functions?”

“Oh yeah, baby. I’mma optimize all your functions.”

Keebo shook himself in an apparent effort to maintain his composure. “Well,” he said, “I am glad to have been of assistance. Good night, Miu, and good luck.”

As he turned and walked away, Miu felt an urge to say something else. She shouted after him.

“Hey, Keebo! You’d better keep on believing in me! You know why?”

Keebo turned toward her voice. “Why?”

“Because I am Miu Iruma, and I am a fucking genius!”

With a triumphant laugh, she closed her lab door once again. Amazingly, all feelings of terror had disappeared. After her interaction with Keebo, Miu was left with a feeling of being on top of the world. She looked around her lab. The time was 11:00 P.M. She had six unopened cans of Monoster energy drink lying around.

If I ration effectively and work through the night, I can be done tomorrow morning. Then I just assemble it, and fire.

Miu slipped her goggles down over her eyes and proceeded to have the greatest, most productive night of work in her life. She worked through the last pieces of her design, put together everything that remained, and went over every task and object that needed to be finished. She pushed herself to her limit and pushed a little further. She kept herself awake, kept herself alert, and pushed even harder. She worked through the early hours of morning. 4:00 A.M. 5:00 A.M.

At dawn, she was ready. The Wall Buster was ready to be assembled. Drained, but still determined, Miu wasted no time.

Time to blow a hole. In the wall.