"It's not the strong or the smart that survive,
but the ones who can bring about change"

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   "The.... b-bathhouse.."

When we all arrived at the dressing room, Chihiro looked as if she was going to topple over. He rushed ahead of the group, not even waiting for me to follow him. There we found Toko and Byakuya.

   Aoi shuttered, "I hate being in here...the last time I was here I kept hearing a strange voice."

   "A strange voice? What do you mean?" I asked. Why would anyone be scared of a bathroom?

   "It sounded a lot like Chihiro." She walked around the room before stopping at the lockers. "I-It was right here... I heard it here in the dressing room!"

   "Urg... I'm getting goosebumps..." Mukuro walked away from the lockers.

   "I was too scared to actually open it before, but now that everyones here..." She leaned down to one of the lockers, opening it and there was nothing in there. She checked almost every locker, however chihiro jumped in front of one of the lockers.

   "W-We should stop looking and get back to what Kyoko wanted to tell us!"

   "Are...you hiding something?" Aoi cringed.

   "If you've been recording us while we've been changing i swear to god--" Mondo cracked his knuckles.

   "Why would she record us in the first place? Have you met Chihiro, she's like, a sweetheart." Mukuro waved around her hands, her bracelets jingling in the process. Chihiro let out a breath that he was probably holding in. He stayed tight against the lockers however.

   "Master, are you back?" A broken voice wavered.

   Everyone screamed and either jumped backwards or fell over themselves. Mondo, who was in Sakura's arms, pointed at the locker. "What the fuck was that? Open thatlocker right now!"

   Chihiro looked defeated as he moved aside, pulling open the locker doors, there was a computer in the middle.

   "...a laptop? What's something like that doing here?" Makoto scratched his cheek.

   "I remember seeing this..."

   "Oh, that's right! I saw it in the library before." Makoto piggy backed off of Kyoko's original thought. "But how did the laptop get from the library...to here?"

   "What's this laptop doing in here? Is it yours?" Mukuro reached to click some keys, and Chihiro swiped her hands away.

   "Well, boot that shit up. Let's see who you were talking with.

   "E-Everyone... this is Alter Ego," Chihiro brought out the computer, he sat on one of the benches. He allowed us to see his face on the computer next to a bunch of icons.

   "Alter ego' literally means... 'another self,' I believe. In the field of artificial intelligence," Celestia giggled a little, "It is not uncommon to create different aspects of a personality. You can consider it something like...a pen name."

   "A-Alter ego isn't a pet!.....T-They're my friend.. I'll show you." Typing out some words, he allowed us to officially meet his counterpart.

   "Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Chihiro Fujisaki... Eh Eh... I always get so embarrassed introducing myself." The computer gave everyone a bright grin, I couldn't help myself and wave.

   "Th-That voice... The tone and everything... It's...Chihiro." Sakura was flabbergasted, I don't think anyone here has ever seen a computer talk back to them before.

   "Alter Ego... I've heard about this kind of AI program, but I've never seen one for myself." Celestia twirled a strand of her hair.

   "AI program...?"

   "It's how Chihiro earned his title of Ultimate Programmer." Celestia explained to Mondo, "The AI lives in a computer, and by repeating different tasks, it gains knowledge and grows bit by bit. Apparently, Chihiro used a support vector machine and reinforcement learning to develop it... Eventually, he came up with a breakthrough in artificial intelligence design."

   "Support vector machine...? Reinforcement learning...? This is too much."

   "To put it simply, it's a learning method for computers."

   I groaned, "If you wanna know more...just Google it, okay!?"

   This was talking way too long and I'm sure Monokuma is going to ask us where we've all been for the past thirty minutes. I'm sure people take hour long.

   "If this AI continues to grow, it will become more than just a piece of software to help people. Some say that an AI like this might someday 'replace' people." Kyoko hummed.

   "A-Alter Ego isn't like that!" Chihiro defended. He had balled his hands up into little fists and looked as pissed as ever... I've never seen him like that before.

   "I understand....Is that why it is called Alter Ego? A fine choice then, I must say... It can create memories, have thoughts, and 'grow up.' The process isn't much different from how humans work. If you were to raise your own AI that way, it would make perfect sense to refer to it as your alter ego. A second, perfect personality that can never forget or grow old. That's what Chihiro created. That's...Alter Ego.... Impressive." Kyoko praised the smaller boy, he grinned at her words. No longer feeling bashful.

   "Kyoko... How do you know so much about this?" Makoto asked, but he got no response.

   "Anyway, so he fixed the broken laptop and put his own program on there. That is what this means, yes?" Mondo reached to touch a key before getting his hand swiped, "...Damn man--So then he brought the machine to this dressing room, where the mastermind would not be able to see it. That's pretty damn smart"

   "Chihiro.. If I may." She pointed to the computer. He hesitated before allowing Kyoko to type away. 'How much do you know about what's going on?'

   "Master only gave me a general idea... But I do know things have become very grave. He found himself caught up in this without any warning..."

   "Why does alter ego call Chihiro, 'master'...?" Yasuhiro asked, everyone looked at him, "I'm not saying anything bad! I'm just confused!"

    "That's a good question...." Celestia hummed,

    I quickly answered, "Ask that question another time, we're limited on time right now."

   Kyoto asked Alter Ego question, 'Why are you here?'

   "Are you asking what Master had planned for me? Well... He wanted me to analyze the massive number of files stored on this laptop. I believe the files are related to the school, but the protection on them is surprisingly strong. So it's taking me a little longer than I thought. But here's what the Master must have been thinking... The fact that the files are protected so tightly means they must contain some important secret. For example, perhaps...the secret of this school."

   "Chihiro..." Mukuro pushed out, nobody could say a word.

   'How much longer until everything's unlocked?'

   "Umm...it's gonna be a while. But I'm definitely gonna do it, so you can just leave it to me!"

   "Why didn't you tell us about Alter Ego, Chihiro?" Mukuro asked.

   "I..." Chihiro shifted his feet, "I-I didn't know if I could trust a-any of you guys... I wanted to see what I could do... and if it would work before showing all of you..."

   "That's pretty smart, you don't know if you could trust everyone here... what if the mastermind is listening." I tried to touch the keyboard, but even Chihiro swiped my hand away.

   "S-Sorry! Force of habit!" He apologized immediately.

   "I should've asked--"

   "--No no! You can always use Alter Ego! With or without my permission!"

   "Let's get back on task.." Kyoko cracked her fingers and asked another question, "So because of how long it would take, Chihiro designed Alter Ego to handle the workload. Smart. It also means that the work remains uninterrupted, am i right?"

   'Keep it up. But be careful not to let the mastermind notice you.'

   "Don't worry. I've got a secret plan all ready, just in case... Actually, I can see what's going on using my built-in webcam, so if anyone suspicious shows up ...I'll just scream for help real loud!"

   "It's a pretty...basic plan..." Mukuro sighed.

   "I have to say...That is fine during the day, but nighttime is a concern..." Aoi agreed with the female.

   "Huh? Why?" Chihro looked defeated.

   "Have you forgotten? All our rooms are completely soundproof. Once we close our doors, he can scream as loud as he wants but we won't hear a thing."

   "Okay, then how about once it's nighttime, we each take turns guarding the dressing room?" Mondo rolled his eyes.

   "There's a good chance the mastermind would notice us all going in and out of the dressing room like that."

   Chihiro sighed, "Then...what can we do?"

   "Once nighttime comes, I'll leave the door to my room open. Then there's no way I can miss Alter Ego yelling."

   "B-But...if you leave your door open all night, then..." Yasuhiro gasped.

   "There's a chance I may become a victim myself, I know." She waved him off. "But I'm not as weak as you may think. I wouldn't go down without a fight, I assure you."

   I got an eerie feeling in my stomach...Even if she was confident, I don't like the odds of it.

   'I'll come back later.'

   She typed, everyone started to exit the room. I hesitated following the group, so I turned around to Chihiro. I looked at him and the computer. I only have one question to ask...

   "May i?" I pointed to the computer, he pushed it towards me.

   'Do you know who F/N L/N is?'

   "Why are you asking about yourself?" Chihiro asked. "I talk about you alot with Alter Ego."

   "You are the one not from this world, aren't you?" They asked. "Monokuma has an extra locked file on yours... You are very important to the story... at least to her."

   "W-What?! Why did Alter Ego respond like that?"

   'Who's her?"

    'Umm...You know who.'

    "How do I get home? Did Monokuma ever explain how?"

   'You need to finish your job here first..'

   "...i'll go now, thanks for the answers. We'll be back soon!"

   'Yes, please do! It's a promise, okay? Bye-bye!'

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED:
Cyberchase

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Dangan-Trust Stats

Makoto Naegi — (trust)

Kyoko Kirigiri — (???)

Byakuya Togami — (Tense)
↟
Byakuya Togami — (Slightly Less Tense)

'Junko Enoshima' — (Neutral)

Kiyotaka Ishimaru — (Decreased)

Leon Kuwata — (Deceased)

Mondo Owada — (friendly)

Chihiro Fujisaki — (trust)

Aoi Asahina — (Neutral)

Sakura Ogami - (Trust)

Hifumi Yamada - (Deceased)

Toko Fukawa - (???)
↟
Toko Fukawa - (????)

Yasuhiro Hagakure - (Neutral)

Sayaka Maizono - (Deceased)

Celestia Ludenberg - (Neutral)

Achievements:
Petting Zoo
Friendship is magic
Boom Baby
Cooking mama
Are Ya Making Friends Son?
THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING
Parent Trap
Ace Attorney
Minecraft sparkle
Bounded together?
Fortune Teller
Cyberchase