SENDER: @ nefelibata | RECIPIENT: @ All

[shiftybladesofcray]

To Whom it May Concern;

Let's assume anyone capable of receiving this message is, like myself, a captive on board this train. While nothing can be determined unequivocally, I've come to some conclusions that bear weight enough to consider.

Thus far, we are only permitted to advance upon the completion of objectives as set by an unknown puppeteer. This "clownductor" assumes an affable but absent persona, and so their true nature cannot be ascertained. The motives are paraphrased below:

1. Read the Instructions
2. Message another Passenger
3. Request Friendship with Another Passenger*
4. Assist a Dog
5. Retrieve Part of Your Person
6. Collect Seeds in Exchange for Personal Information

(*Meaningful connection is not required)

While each appears innocuous on first blush, they aspire to two functions: fostering connections and gaining intelligence. There could be strength in numbers if we come together as one, true, and sharing secrets can bolster such bonds, but let's not be fooled.

There's a strong possibility we are being set up for darker purpose. If on a future car, the motive becomes:

7. Murder a Fellow Passenger

Will it not be all the more devastating after we've bonded? Without hope, there cannot be despair. Despair can breed subjugation, a loss of self and morality, a weakness of character that's easily exploited by those in power. It can breed violence.

I've seen such games put into action myself. Anyone may turn on their fellow man if the correct pressure is applied. If there are sensible people among you, these notions may have struck you as they have me. I'm sending this now as a warning.

Do not play into their hands. They control our passage through the train. They may be watching us. We cannot assume they have our best interests at heart.

Conversely, even if you are able to stay your course? Never assume your neighbor can do the same. We are each uniquely strong and uniquely weak. A miscalculation may cost you your life.

I cannot say whether this is a dream, a simulation, or an alternate reality, though the latter requires tremendous suspension of disbelief. Regardless, we cannot assume that our actions on the train are without consequence. Act with caution, but most urgently, act with hope.

I appreciate your time in perusing this missive. I understand some find reading difficult. If you're so encumbered by your illiteracy, ask another passenger to read it for you. I will not be providing summation.

Thank you.

- Fukawa Toko


****ADDENDUM: Should anyone be approached by or glimpse a half white, half black bear, DO NOT ENGAGE. Contact me immediately and I shall deal with it.

Comments

[shaft]

What kind of situation would allow you to just witness something like that?

Danganronpa Spoilers look away all ye newbes

[shiftybladesofcray]

[Claude please just let her live she's already getting roasted left right and center]

One in which you're rendered powerless to stop it.

The location was well defended and civilization was in shambles. Any efforts to stop it were eliminated with ease.

[shaft]

[ he's 100% convinced toko is a murderer and made this post to sow discord ]

Wow, that sounds rough.

Guess we'll have to hope that the power of friendship wins instead!

[shiftybladesofcray]

[Wow Claude you are only half right and definitely not in the way you think you are.]

don't make it sound so trite!! Sometimes that's the only defense you have!

[shaft]

Is this also from experience?

[shiftybladesofcray]

oh what do you care

just go ahead and make a mockery of me

it won't matter what i say will it? it's always the wrong thing anyway, just because it's coming from my ugly mouth

[shaft]

Now now, I'm just trying to determine your level of experience here.

If it's something you encountered before, then knowing how you solved the problem is important.

[shiftybladesofcray]

yes your faith in me is as palpable as your faith in "the power of friendship"

[He does have a point though...except it's nothing that would be helpful here.]

Again, I didn't solve anything.

But those involved were given different parameters. They were locked inside a school and told the only way to escape was to murder another participant and get away with it in a trial held thereafter. If the killer eluded detection, they alone would be set free and the rest would be executed. If the killer was found out, they were executed and the game continued.

Eventually they were able to root out the hidden mastermind, and had them executed in one of their own trials. Only then were they able to go free.

It was a game where the rules were laid out from the start, and every few days motivation was given to spur violence. Threats against loved ones, money, exposed secrets, etc.

The second time a killing game occurred, it was in a city overthrown by a rebellious faction. The hostages were simply expected to outlast and defeat the perpetrators. They were outfitted with bombs that would go off if they breached city limits, and left to fight for their lives.

We're not in the same situation, but it easily could turn that way. We're at their mercy.

[shaft]

[ She has a point. Claude isn't enough of an optimist not to think of them as anything but captives here, and while he's not sure that their experience will take such a grizzly turn, it is a possibility.

And if it happened, what would they do? He's already met one passenger all too eager to slice through anyone he meets, and he doesn't know most of the people here to think they wouldn't do the same.

What a pain. ]

That's a terrible thing to witness.

What role did the bear play in all this?

[shiftybladesofcray]

It wasn't a night at the opera, that's for sure.

The bear is the mascot for the group behind both games. They've made several robot versions of it. Some attack people blindly, others are used as a mouthpiece for the masterminds.

[shaft]

I see. [ He still doesn't know what a robot is. ]

What was the purpose of these games? Money?

[shiftybladesofcray]

[She's putting way too much faith in him, clearly.]

To sow despair. They were put on to demoralize the world.

[shaft]

Isn't that grand.

I can see why you'd be wary. You don't trust the other people here, do you?

[shiftybladesofcray]

Why yes, I always put my life into the hands of forty strangers I meet in a mobile dog park.

It would be idiotic to trust everyone implicitly off the bat. But I believe we can all find at least one person we can rely on. It's not much, but it's a start.

Sadly, most people don't come together until the crisis is at hand.

[shaft]

Is that what you're trying to accomplish with this announcement? For people to come together?

[shiftybladesofcray]

More or less. Looks like I don't have the charisma for it, even in writing.

[Which is what she types after three versions of "guess I'm worthless" or "who would listen to a revolting creature like me". The fact is, she's not Naegi, and never has been. That runty kid had a way of speaking to people like they were the only one in the universe, even when he was talking to a crowd.

Mind you, she's not sure she trusts this...ohdeer, not just yet. There's still a little too much flippancy in his replies, and he already chided her once over her fits. She's probably shown too much of her hand already.]

[shaft]

I think it's more that uniting people is a skill that takes years of work to cultivate. [ he would know! he's been trying ]

I don't think it's impossible in this case, but it'll be hard to achieve without a clearer idea of what's going on. Not everyone is going to be moved by hypotheticals.

[shiftybladesofcray]

I'd hoped to nip the problem in the bud, but I have to admit you're right. Nobody takes matters seriously until something shocking happens.

I just hope I'm wrong.

[shaft]

I wouldn't take the responses of the people here too personally in any case.

But I guess we'll see.