...

A note is laid carefully in the center of an unknown room, completely hidden away from the rest of the world:

"Good morning, diary! Today was very interesting for Project Frenzy! The research required to complete this seemed daunting at first, but with enough motivation, I'm sure I'll be able to pull through!"

In between each paragraph was ink scattered around the page, seemingly used as a lazy divider.

"I've managed to create something so wonderful, and I can't wait to show it to mother...especially seeing as how I managed to make it without Hydra's help! I can't wait till he arrives!"

The entry ends with a single scribble, the author most likely abruptly cut off in the middle of writing it.

-=-=-=-

GRACE'S POV

I think I've been talking for at least an hour now. The first initiative the group took was to gather as many people in the living room and discuss what the move should be.

"So...do we understand? Does everyone really get how serious this decision is?" Galant, the person who led the conversation, tapped his bladed hand against the coffee table in haste.

Galant seemed to take the initiative after Talus died...looks like something inside him switched after the thought of life or death sank in.

"We get it...but keep in mind that if we see an option to escape I will take it immediately." Luster warned, his eyes completely locked onto the Gallade's.

"Yeah, I'm with him on that..." Loki heaved a deep sigh. She looks stressed about something...maybe I should ask if she's okay later. It's obvious that anyone in this situation would feel bad, but it feels different sometimes.

"Hey." I felt my side be lightly poked by something warm. "You aight?"

Vince was eyeing me carefully, his webbed hand dismissing now that he caught my attention.

"Y-Yeah...just lost in thought." I chuckled and offered him a small smile.

"Huh, you were breathin' quite heavy." The Greninja uttered with concern.

"I was?" I muttered with confusion. I didn't even notice...what's wrong with me?

Disregarding that, I realized that once everyone agreed the group was quick to disperse. Rayne seemed to be the only one who stayed in the room, and she paid no mind to me prancing around her in curiosity.

"Hello..." I muttered out to her.

"Hi." She replied flatly.

"How are you feeling..?" I paused once I was in front of her.

"I'm fine." Once again, a rather empty reply.

"I haven't really heard much of you...throughout this whole thing."

"Hm..." Rayne hummed as a response, her gaze tearing from mine. "It's not like you should be concerned about it. We're all trying to survive here."

"But we've just confirmed we're stuck here until we find a potential escape. Don't you think making friends would be nice?" I reasoned to her, only earning a scoff from the Manectric.

"Friends? In a place like this?" She shook her head and turned to pace away from me. "Lancer just murdered his own brother. Imagine what a 'friend' would do."

This was going to be a lot harder than I thought. If I want everyone to get along then I might have to convince the group that staying here and looking for another escape would be worth it.

To start off I quickly made my way into the main hallway and waited for a few seconds.

I sat there until I felt the presence of another being watching me.

"Sam! Where are you!?" I called out as the echoes of my voice greeted me.

It only took mere seconds for her voice to sound behind me, a simple, "Mhm" is all she did.

"Do you have any paper? Oh!—and writing utensils!" My request seemed to please the Braixen.

"Ah...getting comfortable, are we?" She flashed me a teasing grin and audibly snapped her paw. "There, I have summoned them in one of the workshops outside."

"How are you able to do that?" My eyes seemed to gravitate toward her paws.

"Well, I have friends on the other side, of course..." Sam rolled her eyes playfully. "Ooh! Why do you need the utensils? You gonna stab someone in the eye with a pencil? Oh! Or get someone else to do it for you!?"

A small pause.

"I'm...going to draw..." I frowned at her expectations.

"Urgh, so boring." She shook her head before snapping her paws once again and disappearing into thin air.

Amazingly, she's capable of summoning Pokemon to do her bidding that quickly. What do those people have to gain? How much are they being paid? Or...are they being blackmailed?

Anyway, I got what I wanted, so the first goal was to retrieve everything.

Making my way through the outskirts was different from everyone else's experience. I'm not very big, so opening doors is quite rough for me. Usually, I'd get Loki to do it for me...but she's nowhere in sight and I don't feel like bothering her.

Luckily, finding the appropriate shed wasn't hard. I made my way into it and...

Wait...this can't be it. There's just a shovel and a sickle?

As if me being confused manifested something, a bright purple light surrounded the room and engulfed me for a brief period. Whenever my eyes readjusted to the normal lighting, a large plastic box was settled in between the gardening tools.

After fidgeting with its locks, I was greeted with a hefty stack of both looseleaf and white construction paper. Next to it was a neatly organized calligraphy set of expensive pens. Below them were regular pencils and erasers small enough for specifically me to use.

How did she form this out of nothing? More importantly, why this room? If I ordered something, and it was transported here, wouldn't that mean that someone requested a shovel and sickle? Or was it already here?

"Grace?" A rather masculine voice uttered from behind me.

Startled, I let out a loud yelp and jerked around to face the source. It was Zantai.

"My bad, I jus' saw you enter and wanted to make sure you weren't followed." The Blaziken flashed me a small smile and crossed his arms.

"O-Oh, thanks. Just make sure you uh...warn me next time before you enter." I chuckled, my eyes shifting back to the box. "Can you help me carry this into my room? I just requested it."

"Requested? Like, Sam let you have it?" He seemed to question the idea.

"Yeah. I asked for it and she just gave it to me immediately." I turned to face him once again. "I didn't question how for too long, but it feels like she's ready for everything."

"Huh. Aight then." Zantai shrugged and paced around me to lift the box into his arms. "I'll just drop it off on your bed, then."

"That would be nice, thank you..."

ZANTAI'S POV

Now that the 'outside world' was revealed to us everything seemed different. The hope we used to have seemed harder to grab onto, and people were beginning to act like staying here wouldn't be so bad.

If we'd be killed for escaping, then maybe staying here isn't such a bad idea. Sam said herself that she wouldn't kill anyone, she's too maniacally attached to her rules to do it anyway.

Though, I wonder how Grace was able to get her paws on this case. She said Sam gave it to her after asking...so maybe Sam tries her best to accommodate everyone?

After looking through each door, I finally made it to Grace's room—which was on the left side of the living room.

I gently pushed it open, carrying the plastic case in my other arm. The room was dimly lit, nothing but a small lamp was left on. It was only now that I had noticed Loki was on the bed.

"What are you doing here?" She eyed me suspiciously, her expression worried about the case in my arm.

"Oh, my bad. I forgot the rooms were shared...Grace asked me to bring this back to her room." I chuckled and stepped into the room to place the box on a nearby desk.

"I see." The Zoroark hummed and turned to gaze down at a book she was reading. "Guess she likes art."

"Right...hah..." I huffed and paused to gaze at her claws. "There's books around here?"

"I asked for one." Loki maintained her focus on the words in front of her. "Sam gave it to me pretty quickly."

"Wow, it seems like everyone is asking Sam for things..."

"We're gonna stay here for a while, aren't we?" She shrugged and slipped a bookmark in between the pages.

"Hm..."

Not wanting to bother her anymore, I was quick to dismiss myself and step out of the room. Maybe I should ask Sam for something? If I was going to stay in this shithole forever I should at least make myself comfortable.

My eyes scrolled around the room, looking for something to do...until...

"Are you serious?"

Laker and Leon were in the middle of the room having a genuine conversation, yet something seemed off about the two. Ever since Sherwood had his memories returned to him he wasn't the same. It makes me wonder about the conversation we had yesterday...he truly was curious about the amnesia we were suffering.

Approaching the two seemed to shift the words they were using, I could tell...but Leon didn't seem to filter anything.

"There is no use in hiding anything." Leon crossed his arms with what seemed to be his own motive card in his paw. "If we are going to live in this mansion forever then I should not let some foolish card dictate what I do."

"B-But you do realize this could cause another murder, right? For all you know, your card could offend me or someone else!" Laker frowned as he stared up at the Lucario. Leon didn't seem to care.

"I'm aware. However, if I manage to get everyone in the group to follow my mentality, we will prosper." The jackal extended his paw to offer the Weavile his card.

Hesitantly, Laker gripped the envelope and slowly opened it. He stood there reading it for a few seconds, seemingly trying to process the meaning of the letters.

"Okay..." He sighed and slipped them into a bag he was carrying—once again, probably requested from Sam. "That doesn't change anything...just shit about your past life."

"What is it?" I added.

Laker turned his head to me and thankfully didn't call me out on the audacity to enter their personal conversation.

"He murdered his brother because he didn't have enough food for both of them." The Weavile stated and shifted his attention back to the Lucario. "And while that's horrible, it doesn't affect anyone else's personal life here."

"It feels like getting a memory affects people more..." I muttered under my breath. "If we want to survive then we shouldn't accept any memory offered to us."

"Yet keep in mind that Lancer committed his act due to the cards..." Leon locked eye contact with me. "We can never predict what anyone is thinking...nothing is ever concrete."

"So you got a bit of a collection going on there, huh?" I motioned to the bag the Weavile was carrying.

"Yeah...if I want to figure out people's true colors for safety then something like this is necessary. The moment I figure out everyone's motive cards is the moment I reveal mine to everyone." Laker stated, his eyes carefully analyzing the contents of his bag.

"That's quite the smart plan you have there." Sam's voice rang from down the hallway.

Our heads snapped towards the source as we all simultaneously shot the Braixen a glare.

"Aw...don't be so startled. I'm not here to do anything. Since things are finally beginning to settle down, I'm giving you all a chance to be friends!" She chuckled and stepped closer to us.

"Don't you want us to kill each other?" I scoffed at her words.

"Yes!" Sam answered flatly, her crazed eyes more tired than usual. "But all this hard work I have to do...it'd be better to let you all marinate for now!"

"Marinate?" Laker tilted his head in awe. "You mean you want us all to be friends because you're busy?"

"Yup!" She flashed us a wide grin. "Otherwise I'd just have to introduce a new motive! And I'm sure none of you would like that...right?"

"Right..." Leon heaved a deep sigh and waved his paw at her. "You're allowed to leave."

"Hehe, you're a funny guy!" Sam rolled her eyes and snapped her paws, quickly disappearing into thin air.

We stood there for a few seconds, still processing what she said.

"A new motive?" I echoed.

"Yeah, if we're not friends and still hate each other...then she'll find a new way to make us kill each other." Laker stated in realization.

How are we gonna get even a fraction of the people here to cooperate?

More importantly, is it safe to trust anyone yet?