#the wdo library

[cocoacat22]

Just another a series of silly drawings based on the cases in The First Code! I tried putting it under a stronger contrast... Is the text more legible this way? (Too lazy to type everything out XDD)

Warning: Slight OOC, along with crude (body) language and a little dark humour (?)

[raincode-archives]

Epilogue Character Profile Descriptions

Yuma Kokohead Not actually Yuma Kokohead, his true identity is Number One of the World Detective Organization.

Realizing the Great Global Mystery involved his own homunculus, he made a contract with Shinigami to solve the mystery, losing his memory in the process. He then switched places with the real Yuma Kokohead and went to Kanai Ward as Trainee Detective Yuma.

He sent Makoto out of the Mystery Labyrinth before escaping through the emergency exit. This voided his contract with Shinigami, and he headed off alone, losing all memory of their time together.

Number One's Forte is Coalescence, the ability to make use of another's Forte by receiving their permission and holding their hand.

Shinigami (Spirit Form) A death god contracted to haunt Yuma. Only visible to Yuma, Shinigami is constantly floating and bobbing along at his side. Though cheerful and chatty, this death god's sense of morality is quite far removed from that of humans.

Shinigami can open a path to the Mystery labyrinth, which is the manifestation of mysteries from the real world. The truth behind the mystery is revealed by solving the Mystery labyrinth. Dispelling it requires reaping the true culprit's soul, which results in their death in the real world.

After Number One opened the Book of Death in the WDO library, Shinigami agreed to a pact to help him rid the world of unsolved mysteries and bring happiness to everyone. The two then came to Kanai Ward together.

Shinigami (Human Form) Shinigami's true form. Her personality is no different from when she's in her spirit form, so she continues to enjoy teasing Yuma.

She can open a path to the Mystery Labyrinth, which is the manifestation of mysteries from the real world. She has many special abilities inside the Mystery Labyrinth that can aid Yuma in solving it.

Believing that Yuma would fulfill his promise to show her a world where everyone was happy, she opened an emergency exit from the Mystery Labyrinth. She saw him off as he left, accepting that he would have no memory of their time together.

Yakou Furio A Kanai Ward native and head of the Nocturnal Detective Agency. He lives in an unhealthy, unkempt, and unsanitary lifestyle. He understands the thread the Amaterasu Corporation Peacekeepers pose, but only thinks of how to avoid them. Even so, he cares a great deal for his companions.

In order to avenge his wife who was murdered four years ago, Yakou sacrificed his life to murder Dr. Huesca at Amaterasu's lab.

After his body was transported to the Restricted Area, Yakou retained his faculties and refrained from attacking people. He later entrusted Yuma with a DVD containing footage of the Project: Homunculus experiment.

Number One Number One's body double. Surrounded by enemies on all sides, Number One issues orders to the detectives via this double in order to keep his true identity hidden.

(Fake) Zilch Alexander An assassin employed by Yomi. He is a close associate of Yomi's and kills anyone that stands in his way.

After murdering and taking the place of Master Detective Zilch, the hitman killed all of the Master Detectives aboard Amaterasu Express. He framed Yuma for the crime and was returning to Amaterasu when his soul was reaped by Shinigami after the Mystery Labyrinth was solved, resulting in his death.

Makoto Kagutsuchi Makoto is in truth the homunculus of Number One, created at a Unified Government research facility. His goal has always been to protect the homunculi of Kanai Ward, and he is prepared to do absolutely anything to attain it.

Following a fierce battle with Number One inside of the Mystery Labyrinth, Makoto has become steward of Kanai Ward, working endless to protect the homunculi living there.

Kurumi Wendy A student at Aetheria Academy. Hungry for knowledge, she seeks out anything she wants to know with unwavering tenacity. Thanks to her cheerful demeanor and excellent communication skills, she's quick to get along with people she meets. Having a lifelong fascination with detectives, she couldn't pass up an opportunity to talk with one and shadowed Yuma.

She was about to be arrested for the theater club murder, but was released after Yuma revealed the truth.

She holds deep trust in Yuma. When he began to doubt his actions, she bolstered his confidence by telling him he was doing the right thing.

While investigating the restricted area with Yuma, she reunited with her murdered friend, Aiko, and was finally able to say farewell.

Dr. Huesca Chief researcher and expert weapons developer at Amaterasu Lab. An arrogant man who believes his intellect is unrivaled. He hates having his precious research time interrupted and allows no one to enter his critical labs.

He colluded with Peacekeeper Director Yomi to secretly sell off Amaterasu technology, planning all the while to double-cross Yomi and flee Kanai Ward. Attempting to use the turmoil caused by the hitman to fake his own demise, he was instead stabbed and killed by Yakou, who sought revenge for his murdered wife.

Yomi prompted Yakou to commit the murder in order to get rid of the backstabbing Dr. Huesca while keeping his own hands clean.

Three years ago, Dr. Huesca conducted the Project: Homunculus experiment. Its failure produced the defective homunculi, which killed the real doctor.

[tobiasdrake]

This took a turn for the ominous. We may be about to lose Shinigami.

Part of the contract. You're not her partner. Number One is.

She can't. That's part of the contract too. She can't talk to you about Number One.

Makoto's identity means that she isn't your reliable ally anymore. He's here to repossess your shinigami.

Just like she said: This is about to get really bad.

No. That's not. He isn't. He couldn't be. There's no way. There is absolutely no way.

WHAT THE FUCK.

WHAT THE FUCK.

How. What. How. Why. When. How. What.

We're Number One? Then who the hell is the old man with the chin dick? Why is Yuma so young? Did the contract do that? He isn't a homunculus; We know he has red blood.

What the fuck.

What the fuck.

What the fuck.

That's how we were able to check out the Book of Death from the library. We just. Used our clearance. To do it. Holy shit, that's easy.

But how? Who the hell was the old man? A body double?

Okay but when and where, tho. Yuma gets the Solution Blade direct from Shinigami. When did you meet up with Shinigami in secret to get a Solution Blade from her, and why wouldn't she have noticed that happening?

Don't look so chipper with Yuma's face, it's creepy.

Well our double sucked and I hated him. He's lucky he's dead or I would have him fired for being an heartless asshole. I still can't believe that shit he said about Yakou.

Yes, I do adapt quickly. Fuck you, I'm the boss man.

Option 1: As Number One, it would be trivially easy to falsify that information.

Option 2: There really is a detective-in-training Yuma Kokohead. We konked him out and took his pants.

Come on crackpot theory. Let's roll for a 20!

YES! WE MUGGED YUMA AND STOLE HIS PANTS! I WIN FOREVER!!!

Are you talking about REAL YUMA!? Yeah, I know exactly the guy. Real Yuma is the real Yuma! I am so happy right now.

XD There was no trick to it. Real Yuma's entirely sincere about wanting to sell ramen instead of put up with our bullshit.

You know what? Fair. I did knock him out and steal his pants, after all. That was pretty rude of me. I'm Number One of the entire WDO. I can buy my own pants.

Because we knocked him out and left him lying in the inaccessible back area of the storage room after we took his pants.

OH MY GOD

Yuma Kokohead's background check said he was a good cook. That's what instigated the arsenic and battery acid stew we nearly killed Yakou with.

Oh my god. Of course he became a ramen salesman and makes pretty good ramen.

We need to hire him. Maybe he can help us with the "only human flesh can properly feed homunculi" problem with his brilliant culinary expertise. Yuma Kokohead may be the key to this city's salvation.

Finally, the crux of Makoto's identity mystery: Why did he go to so much trouble to enter here?

Oh! Out of spite! Great. Load off my mind. Yuma, cut his head off and put it in a box.

If Yuma dies then he leaves evidence behind that could reveal Makoto's true nature. But if Yuma drops off the face of the universe then that's that. Only one version of Number One exists.

Of course, that's a double-edged sword. We can just as well leave Makoto in here, solving the problem of his perfect immortality.

Yeah. See. That's what I'm talking about when I say your problem is capitalist thinking. Rather than asking, "What can I do to help the people of my city?" you're instead thinking, "What business can I acquire to consolidate further wealth and power?"

You were never going to save this city with that attitude, my guy.

[sakura-code]

Misfit AU: Vivia Twilight

Updated

Vivia Twilight is the lazy yet intelligent senior member of the Nocturnal Detective Agency. He usually just lays about in his apartment or the Agency as he use his Spectral Projection to do the investigation himself. But he is protective of his home in the Agency and his fellow detectives, and he will not lose the peace and quiet he has within Kanai Ward. He is the most suspicious and hostile towards Yuma, being the first one to recognize Yuma as the Death Detective, but he withholds the information out of curiosity of how Yuma behaves and interacts with the Agency, and the strange occurrences of the culprits confessing to their crimes rather than dropping like flies.

He once lived in the Outskirts alongside his dysfunctional family, an area that is known for haunted areas and spooky urban legends. He is the oldest of his brothers, and would try to help protect the brothers by adjusting them in how their family life is like. He would usually go out to the forest or his local library to find solitude and peace, or remain in the mansion his family lived in.

When his family are evicted into moving into Kanai Ward, Vivia despised the loud and oppressing nature of the city. He also wasn’t supportive of joining the new family business of working in Amaterasu Labs and their science approaches. He finally gets an out of the city when he goes to train at the WDO, and becomes a Master Detective. However, he returns when he realize the world was far more chaotic than he expected, and decides to try to find peace in Kanai Ward. He is one of the two Master Detectives to reside in Kanai Ward and join the Nocturnal Detective Agency, alongside being one of the few who remained when the Agency started falling apart. He takes on cases such as paranormal activities like psychic scams or ghost hauntings, and would use the spectral projection to investigate for informations sometimes (though he would usually have Desuhiko take those cases more).

[cocoacat22]

And here is another drawing from almost a year ago (wowwwww)~ I originally thought to attach it to MDATRC Case 13 (the chapter before the epilogue), but then I didn't (because I forgot) (´･ω･`)

[cocoacat22]

Here are the drawings I attached on my fanfic, Master Detective Archives: The First Code! In hind sight, they are not exactly related to the plot of the fic, but oh well, you know LOL

[cocoacat22]

Danganronpa-style killing game in WDO!

Just a story concept as mentioned in the author's notes near the end of The First Code, if the WDO establishes a council after the election for the next Director took place. I think it would be something cool to read, but I really need to focus more on the wdo library series instead as;dhaef So I am jotting down the concept to let it go, instead of writing it all out in another 100k+ fic LOL

Other than the new Number One is acting as the President, I don't know exactly how the council functions (LOL), but I'd say Forte is not a requirement to become a council member. Maybe the top management for the WDO's general staff (ex the instructors' representative, head of finance department, etc) can join as well?

Either way, since I am also lacking the brain power to plan/write all cases out and make up so many original characters (again), here is my general brainstorm of how it goes:

Participants & Location

16 people wake up, finding themselves in an empty, locked down WDO HQ (sky-scraper though, so maybe lock up rooms and floors or have some Forte suitable for vast investigation [ex Pucci's audial aptitude])

The current Number One is missing

The protagonist (with the traditional ahoge) doesn't have a Forte. He is recently invited to join the WDO council (as the new representative of general WDO staff members, probably)

At least half of this group has their own Fortes (which can be lies)

One of them claims he is amnesiac and doesn't remember much. However, he holds a WDO badge and remembers speaking to Number One before the knock-out, who told him to visit the WDO council.

(And of course, the amnesiac guy [Kai] in question is this dude:

Look at his youthful, innocent face- Do you believe him? He may not even be a real WDO Detective/ staff member!

I don't know if I would, but protag chooses to trust him.)

A mascot, who is definitely-not-Monokuma, comes out and explains the rules of the game. Simply put: If you want to live, kill without the others knowing and survive the trial! Or catch the culprit and move on!

2. The cases!

As per Danganronpa tradition, there are free time events in between cases to get to know everyone. Most of participants already know each other, but not in such a deep level as given by the current circumstances.

Being members of the WDO, they are already efficiently investigating the mastermind behind their predicament. Someone (Probably a vice president in the council? Not Kai, though) becomes the impromptu leader to gather and organize reported information.

Not knowing what to do, the protag goes around to different groups to see if there is anything to help with

And of course, definitely-not-Monokuma wouldn't let things sail smoothly.

Case 1:

Incentive: Ex Lives of other WDO members (friends, family, work/ organization itself)

Kill until only one of you lives. Or else. [But some rule is in place to prevent a killing spree]

VP: Only possible if Number One played a hand in it. [Empty out the skyscraper with so many people as hostages]

Detective #1: Then you are also sus, VP.

D #2: Maybe we should sacrifice ourselves for many other lives? -> Silence in the group [some seriously contemplating, but most don't want to die]

Kai: Calm down. Let's discuss other logical solutions together? [does not want to fall into the Mastermind's plans]

Murder happened the next day anyway.

A murder case committed by a regular WDO council member. Something for protag to grasp how the detective work goes.

Kai and several others help out in both investigation and trial

Danganronpa tradition: Betrayal of protag's trust from a close friend; Attempted murder gone wrong

People remaining: 14

Case 2:

Designed a plan to catch Mastermind as a group, but failed

Someone among them is a traitor...? Or they are the Mastermind themselves...? (Uncertain)

Probably the victim/ killer did something suspicious, and the other got into an argument with them.

A slightly more complicated murder case. Need more cooperation/ uses of Fortes, but everyone is suspicious of each other.

Protag follows Kai like a lost puppy during investigation, much to his amusement (but he understands his predicament, so he patiently helps him via talk-no-jutsu to others)

Protag: You sure you don't remember a thing...?

Kai: Nope. Just instinct. :)

Danganronpa tradition: Reveal serial killer (maybe with split personality); Reveal something new and unexpected about victim/ culprit

People remaining: 12

Case 3:

Protag learns more tidbits about his friends, especially how Kai should not be allowed in the kitchen

Someone suggests each person/ group to try catch the traitor/Mastermind in their own ways (almost like a competition, I suppose)

Culprit uses this opportunity for their own benefit.

A seemingly impossible case! But it is actually caused by someone's Forte! (Bonus if it was briefly shown during previous cases' investigations)

Culprit exclaims someone secretly forged decisive evidence by copying his Forte after the trial (Coalescence *cough cough*). But of course, no one believes them

Danganronpa tradition: The double kill case; Motivated by selfish greed (Ex. Wants to become the next Number One)

People remaining: 9

Case 4:

Group finds out current Number One was dead for quite sometime. The one they saw near the beginning of the story was an imposter?!

Mastermind is someone else then? Even more likely now that they are in the group after betraying Number One

Tense atmosphere (suspicions, uncertainty, worry, impatience, etc)

More arguments -> protag tries to break up fights

Protag: We should work together! Didn't the last appointed Number One encourage us to? *Some of others rolled eyes at him*

Someone suggests everyone stay together in one room, so everyone can keep an eye out for each other (no more killings and scheming behind their backs)

Someone got killed the next day anyway

(The night before, Kai secretly sneaks to book vault by himself to look at current Number One's file, compare to cause/manner of death, and narrow down the Mastermind's characteristics])

Nearly caught/ got called out by another detective, but protag helps Kai out

Protag: I am not sure where you have been/ what you have been up to. But from the time we spent together, I believe in you, Kai!

Kai: *difficult to decipher kind of smile* You really remind me of someone I once knew.

Danganronpa tradition: Hard/ difficult to identify murder weapon; Sacrifice of the big guy :(

People remaining: 7

Case 5:

(Kai is going to reveal the Mastermind, and becomes a victim in the process)

Protag is disheartened when they find his body.

Kai's true identity as former Number One is revealed during the trial

The killer was forced by the Mastermind to do so in their stead (ex manipulated, through the real Forte that someone was hiding [ex Persuasion], etc.)

D:<

Danganronpa tradition: A trap as an attempt to break the game; Unknown cause of death (where Kai aims to trick the mastermind to expose themselves, probably)

People remaining: 5

Case 6:

Gather all pieces of information about the truth, free to explore throughout the entire skyscraper

Protag finds the current Number One's file as retrieved by Kai

Identifies the real Mastermind during the trial!

Danganronpa tradition: A mind-blowing truth that causes the protag to enact change

Ex: Everyone here are homunculi! Current Number One decided to mass produce homunculi of the WDO members (especially Master Detectives, old and new), so the skill wouldn't be lost even if the original dies. Aka, this is a test trial of how successful the new experiment was. Maybe the Mastermind is the only human in the group, who despises homunculi. They learn of current Number One's plans, killed them, and then hijacked the test to kill off the rest of the homunculi.

3. Ending:

Mastermind tries to run away, but stops by someone.

Kai is alive!! Actually, he is Makoto all along!

This story takes places a hundred year+ after RainCode. Makoto is here because he heard rumors of homunculus project elsewhere. Again. (And also partly because of a semi-promise to Yuma to occasionally check on the WDO council. But he is not going to admit that out loud!! :3)

Mastermind (and accomplices, if any) are apprehended

the survivors come to live and find their place in Kanai Ward (maybe protag becomes a trainee under the unzombified Chief Yakou!)

And that's about it! Thanks for reading till the end and indulging me in this long post~

[tobiasdrake]

I think this is where we learn the awful truth of the facility. So this should be fun.

Is it the sound of kidnapped humans being butchered? I bet it's the sound of kidnapped humans being butchered.

Hey! It's the sound of humans being butchered! What do ya know?

Gotta keep the city fed somehow, and homunculi go feral if they don't consume human meat.

Have you seen the people wandering the factory halls? You want that fate for Kurumi? Makoto's doing his best to give his homunculus brethren the best possible lives they can have!

...

Probably shouldn't have shut down homunculus research. The World's Smartest Homunculus might have been able to come up with a better solution if he put in the work at the lab. Maybe find a way to genetically engineer the defects out of the other homunculi or something.

So we come to the answer to Number One's Great Global Mystery. Why are people being kidnapped from around the globe and trafficked into Kanai Ward? For this. It's for exactly this.

OH OKAY IT'S NUMBER ONE DOING IT.

Right. Okay. That makes sense. Not like Makoto and Yomi have the bandwidth for globetrotting exploits.

The WDO solves crimes, apprehends criminals, and then brings them here to feed Kanai Ward. Because Makoto and the WDO have that pre-existing relationship, it makes sense that they'd be in direct cahoots like this.

Oh, and "World's Greatest Mind"? Guess we know who Makoto's a homunculus of, don't we? That certainly explains the weird moment earlier when Makoto was verbatim quoting the creed at Yuma's face to taunt him.

Why would Number One even send us here to investigate in the first place, if he and his homunculus were responsible for the Great Global Mystery to begin with? What was the fucking point!?

This all feels like an elaborate attempt to smuggle the Book of Death into Kanai Ward. Number One took the book out of the library. Number One presumably gave it to Yuma with the instructions needed to bond with Shinigami. Number One sent countless Master Detectives to their deaths to get Yuma past Yomi's murder-wall. Then Number Makoto took Yuma under his wing, used him to destroy Yomi, and then killed all the Master Detectives and brought him here.

One way or another, this is about the Book of Death. Number One never wanted this mystery solved. The Master Detectives died to bring Shinigami here. Makoto's feeding us clues so that we can create a Mystery Labyrinth from them. But what is the goal here?

Hey look, it's the Trolley Problem! Everyone's favorite moral philosophy question, ever since we all watched that one episode of The Good Place. Is it okay to sustain Aetheria Academy for a week by letting the kids eat Yomi Hellsmile?

I dunno. The homunculi of Kanai Ward certainly did nothing wrong. Their only crime is existing.

We should probably put some scientists on the task of finding a way to make their existence more sustainable. That would be the progressive agenda. But we're filthy capitalists so we're carving people into meat buns and patting ourselves on the back for finding a way to sell sanity to the undead at a profit.

Makoto's getting antsy. He wants us to Mystery Labyrinth so bad he can taste it.

Maybe....

It was established in Vivia's Mystery Labyrinth jaunt that Yuma brings only the last person to Coalesce with him into the Labyrinth. He coalesced with Fubuki's time-rewind to solve the panel room and Vivia's projection to investigate. But since Vivia was the most recent to Coalesce, he was the one invited into the Labyrinth.

If Makoto is Number One's homunculus then he must have a Forte, right? We don't know what Number One's Forte is. Which means we don't know what Makoto's Forte is.

Is it possible that Makoto managed to Coalesce with Yuma at some point? Maybe that's why he killed the Master Detectives. He wants Yuma to bring him into the Labyrinth, and doesn't want to risk someone else getting pulled instead.

His endgame requires him to enter the Mystery Labyrinth. That's what I think.

Do they make a Hallmark card for "Sorry you're a genetically-engineered immortal clone doomed to roam the earth forever as a regenerating zombie?"

How do you even begin to have that conversation?

[tobiasdrake]

The ultimate showdown. Time to reveal yourself.

Since Makoto was Number One's homunculus, it would have been trivially easy for him to get intel from the WDO. He might even have been the one that pulled the Book of Death out of the library and passed it off to Yuma.

Though if he did, that makes it even more bizarre that he'd go to such lengths to smuggle Yuma and Shinigami into the city.

Makoto's right where he wants to be. I don't know why he's having this duel with Yuma. But it's clear at this point that all of this was for the purpose of tricking Yuma into bringing him into the Mystery Labyrinth.

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. Bringing in the detectives as a whole provided a cover to smuggle Yuma in. Is that what they're going for?

*deep breath* Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. The purpose of bringing everyone to Kanai Ward "to investigate the Great Global Mystery and the Ultimate Secret" was to play the WDO against the Peacekeepers and ultimately remove Yomi from the organization.

But that can't be the whole truth. We wouldn't be standing here on this eldritch rooftop if it was.

So.

To clarify.

Makoto: I can excuse fascism but I draw the line at corporate espionage. Yuma: You can excuse fascism!?

That. Doesn't. Sound right.

First, because he could have shot us instead of shrieking at us about how badly he wants us to break out Shinigami's powers.

And second, because of the pink-blooded "Master Detective" corpses. That still doesn't seem right.

There it is. Makoto's pink homunculus blood revealed. Mystery Phantoms don't bleed, and an outsider's blood is supposed to be red.

But it wouldn't be, if he was the UG homunculus.

The burning question. Those bodies couldn't have been theirs, Makoto. So where are they really?

I believe you, with regards to the WDO bombing. Once Yomi was out of the picture, you couldn't risk them following up on the mission you gave them in the first place.

But that doesn't explain why you fed pink-blooded homunculi to the ferals dressed in our pals' clothes and then pretended to have killed them.

Yuma. Bro. Do you still think that's what is happening here?

If I hadn't caught that pink/red blood problem with the corpses, I'd be right here with Yuma's vindictive fury. Ironic that we've flipped positions like this.

I mean. I still agree that, y'know, fuck 'im. I just don't have the outrage now that I know our pals are probably alive.

What are you trying to accomplish, Makoto? I don't understand the goal here.

That's terrifying but also it makes sense. Mystery Phantoms manifest as people who seek to conceal the truth. For Kanai Ward, every resident has an investment in preserving the secrecy of the Blank Week.

Oh, fuck off. It'd be better for them to try and live well than to survive complacently while waiting for a fate worse than death to slowly come for them.

You're projecting. You hate yourself for what you are, and you think that because you're the Superior Pyramid Peak that your opinion is universal. That you have the authority to speak for everyone because you're their hierarchical better.

I bet you wear that mask because you can't stand to look in the mirror and see another man's face looking back at you. That's it, isn't it? Your reflection reminds you of what you are?

But that's just, like, your opinion, man. You're a sample size of one. You know who else is a sample size of one? Kurumi, who adjusted to the discovery of the ferals so quickly that she was able to take advantage of the opportunity and snag some closure from her deceased bestie. She has incredible emotional and mental fortitude, and adapts quickly to horrific revelations. I bet she could handle it.

You don't know how people will react. Who are you to take this choice away from them?

Yeah, man. I get it. You took a lot of weight, both moral and emotional, upon your shoulders. You unilaterally carried this city on your back. I'm sure it was very hard.

But you didn't have to do it alone. You chose to do it alone. Because you're poisoned by the philosophy represented in the WDO's very creed.

Oh good, and now this is happening. Sure, he can join the party too. Why not.

Actually, none, funny as that is. Wouldn't describe them as fine and dandy but everyone we "killed" is wandering around the Restricted Area right now looking for a snacky-bun robot. If we could all agree that researching ways to repair their broken gene sequences should be the priority going forward then everything would be fine.

To be honest, Yuma, neither do I. At the big picture level, it's hard to know what would truly be best for Kanai Ward. All I can say with certainty is that we'll never get there if we remain mired in a status quo that's doomed to end in tragedy.

But we can start by wringing the truth out of Makoto about what happened to our friends. That's critical. If they're alive, then maybe Makoto can be made to see reason. To understand the importance of working together towards a brighter future for everyone in Kanai Ward.

And if they're dead, then we stab him in the fucking throat and dump his body off the ledge. If he isn't with us when the Mystery Labyrinth comes down, then he'll be trapped here, unable to escape, doomed to wander as a tormented specter for all of time. That's what Shinigami told Vivia, anyway.

[tobiasdrake]

Alright, time to clean. And clean. And clean.

I'm with the Spooker of Despair. We need to find a way to get out of this sub and go sniff around for mysteries. Judging by Yakou's build, a brisk sprint should do the trick.

In the book? You come from a book? What book? Tell me more about this book, Shinigami.

Oh, that book. Yeah, they have one of those in every school library. There's no LGBT material in it, acknowledgement of other races existing, or criticism of gun violence, so it's approved reading for kids.

Hold up, detectives plural? So Shinigami's been around the block a few times in the WDO. Detectives keep passing her around, like the Ring ghost. But the contract forbids sharing any knowledge of her existence so nobody's ever the wiser. That's fucking spooky.

I wonder if multiple people can have Shinigami, uh, checked out from the Book of Death at the same time? If someone, right this moment, tried to sell their memories to the Book of Death and forge a contract, would they receive the ghostly apparition of an Occupied sign? Zero bars, no service?

Or would they get a separate instance of Shinigami? Functionally identical yet bearing strict uniqueness?

Hmm....

YES. A mission! I look forward to ignoring it while I chase a new mystery around instead. See you in nine hours, boss man.

I know! High five! Maybe we'll get lucky and there's a double, no, triple homicide waiting for us outside the meat bun vendor!

Come on, Shinigami, let's go paint the town pink!