Phoenix sits in again on Monokuma’s “Theater Performance” with Joke-Explainer™ 7000.
The word “Apocalypse” doesn’t sound real anymore…
I’m sorry, Mr. Wright. I’m afraid it is real.
Yeah, I know it’s a real word, I was just being facetious.
…
You should take a look at this.
Joke-Explainer™ 7000 hands Phoenix a torn up newspaper scrap. There is no visible date, it appears to have been torn off.
Its headline reads: METEOR STRIKES EARTH! WORLDWIDE DISASTERS CONTINUE!
What the– A meteor struck the Earth, destroying the lighthouse and causing global disasters!? This has to be another one of Monokuma’s tasteless jokes, right…?
This is not intended to be a Joke! The world was–
No! This isn’t true, I can’t accept it! This is just what Monokuma wants me to think! There’s no way in hell OR earth that the world ended while I was asleep! There's got to be an explanation here somewhere.
I've been trying to tell you, Mr. Wright! The world did in fact–
…Mr. Wright! Where are you going??? You forgot to–!
…
…
Joke-Explainer™ 7000 added Newspaper Scrap to the Court Record.
Phoenix is back in the messy office where he’s been living for the past two days. Despite the bags under his eyes, his hair is as slick and pointy as ever.
He leans onto a wall, studying a messy corkboard filled with an assortment of notes.
(…She’s right, I have to be thinking rationally about this. There’s no time for panicking. If the only way to prove this wrong is with hard evidence, all I have to do is find some.)
(Looks like my persistence is finally paying off.)
Good thing Monokuma keeps a corkboard and lots of string in this office, or I never would have navigated this mess.
And it only took one dozen dead-ends to get there.
Huh. “ALL-STAR NUCLEAR WINTER FESTIVAL: FULL MOVIE”? Never heard of whatever this thing is… Does it ring any bells for you, Joke-Explainer™?
I… think it would be inadvisable to watch a movie right now. In any case, haven’t you been awake for a long time now? It might be better if you get some rest and continue tomorrow, don’t you think?
Why would I do that? I haven’t been up for nearly as long as yesterday, and we might have just found a lead!
Mr. Wright, perhaps it would be best to refocus your investigation away from the newspaper… There is no relevant information to be found here. Please, think about this…
…you know what’s on this thing, don’t you?
…
Fine. If you won’t tell me, I’ll find out for myself.
Phoenix quickly plugs the USB into a TV media player.
(The file on this disk was created on December 25th? That’s weird… The last thing that I remember before I woke up here was getting an email, and that was in November!)
(It’s not Christmas yet, it shouldn’t even be almost Christmas!)
Phoenix plays the video.
Wait, this is just… one of Wood Man’s movies.
…yes, you figured it out.
If you are seeing this, I have successfully archived and transmitted my travels through the nuclear winter.
Hold on, you’re an actor?
I’ve… appeared alongside Wood Man on multiple occasions.
…Alright? (Okay, clearly I’m still missing something. I ought to watch through this whole thing just in case.)
He set off on the long walk to the crater’s center, where he came face-to-face with the object. He had no instruments with which to measure it. So he did the obvious thing, and touched it. He has no memory of what happened next.
(An object in a crater. Where have I heard that before?)
Mr. Wright. I can personally vouch that this film contains no leads that will solve our predicament.
(Yeah, I’ve heard it before, little miss decoy.)
This only makes it more important that we go there. We need to see this for ourselves. We can bring equipment to research it. Then, if we can’t learn what it is, I can archive it. Maybe someone, someday, will learn how to destroy it.
This may be a good stopping point. I do not enjoy hearing my own voice.
…also the camera adds ten pounds.
Oh come on, you’re killing it! (This movie is honestly pretty good…)
The meteor appears on screen.
Aha! The meteor! So the newspaper was just a cheap marketing stunt! I can’t believe I almost fell for it…
I am going to touch it. There is a 97.1% chance we'll be stuck here forever if I do not.
(Y’know, I was expecting a cheap horror or action flick, like what I’m used to. But I’m really loving this tension between JE’s impatience and Wood Man’s inaction.)
Wow, the writers are really putting your character through the wringer. Every choice she makes is coming to a head in a pitiful feeling, and boy do you sell it.
...
The credits roll.
ALL-STAR NUCLEAR WINTER FESTIVAL: FULL MOVIE added to Court Record.
…Now you know what happened.
Yeah. Why didn’t you want me seeing that, exactly?
…Mr. Wright, what did you think of my… “character”?
Maybe a bit naive and selfish, but understandable. And she paid the price for her mistakes. Tragic, seeing her alone in the end.
…Understandable, huh?
The credits finish rolling, revealing a photo.
(H-huh? I see a bunch of people I know here, including my co-stars from the tournament.)
(…wait a second!)
…what am I doing in this picture!? I don’t remember this at all! There’s no way this is real!
I tried to tell you before, Mr. Wright. I didn’t want you to have to see this. But…
But what? What is it!?
Perhaps that has more to do with selfishness on my part, rather than it being an attempt to spare you. I just didn’t want you to know that I was at fault.
At fault? For what?
(Wait… was this movie actually…?)
(Then JE’s character was…)
(Ohhhh, oh no, Phoenix, how could you be so stupid???)
Mr. Wright, you saw what actually happened.
Wood Man and I made our way to the meteor by my demand. It was the epicenter of the disaster, and I insisted on documenting its properties so I could understand and share the information.
Then I accepted the USB, and… everything after that is a blur.
It's a great example of situational irony. After all I did to archive everything, I know even less than before.
Isn't that funny?
…
It's… all my fault. It’s my fault that we went to the meteor. It's my fault that it all happened.
…It's my fault that he's gone.
No, that’s wrong!
Listen, Joke-Explainer™. Even if everything we just saw was real, none of it would be your fault! The apocalypse didn’t start because of you, the newspaper makes that obvious! All you did was try your best to find a solution!
My objective was to collect information, and I was willing to put a friend in danger to do it. No one saw Wood Man again because of me.
There was no solution to be found, only the realization that no matter how much I archive, no one would find a use for it.
Engaging in hope only results in greater despair. Any and all resistance to it is futile.
Enough! I understand the pain that you’re going through, the feeling that the odds are stacked so high against you that there’s nothing you can possibly do.
But no matter how tough the situation looks, you have to hold onto the facts, to even the smallest glimmer of truth.
You don’t have to know how the cards will play out, you just have to believe that they can!
But–
What the facts are telling me now, is that you did your best with the hand you were dealt.
And besides, you had your memories taken once, didn’t you? Given what I saw in the credits, who’s to say you really have a full understanding of things now?
(Neither of us can know for sure what’s outside right now. If I’m missing my memories, maybe she is too.)
(I’m not sure if I got the point across… I can only hope that she understands.)
…
I don’t know what Monokuma put you through, but I do know that the truth is out there, waiting to be uncovered.
Everyone has a purpose in this world, Joke-Explainer™. Now it’s up to you to find it, and make it your own.
Keep moving forward, and hold onto hope, because I have hope in you, and I have hope in our future!
…
…Thank you, Mr. Wright. I appreciate your words.
It’s no problem. We’re in this together, alright? Don’t forget!
That is accurate. We are indeed in this together.
I won't forget it.
That’s what I like to… hear…
Anyway… wow, I didn’t realize how tired I was! I…
…think I need to be… getting some… (These all-nighters are really doing a number on me…)
…See you when you wake up.
…Phoenix.