Dangan Heights - A Danganronpa Slice of Life Story

11 - Morality 101

~~ Years Earlier ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Makoto Naegi

My name is Makoto Naegi, and for the past year or so, I've been working for the Future Foundation. Well, "working" is a loose term. My friends and I are kinda rogue agents right now, and we might be harboring some of the world's most sought-after criminals in an attempt to return them to normalcy, but that's beside the point.

Right now, I've just finished working on a huge breakthrough. And I need to show Kyoko.

"It's right this way." I lead Kyoko over to my desk. "I'm telling you, this could be what saves this whole operation."

"Something for the Remnants, I presume?" Kyoko was always down to business.

"More than that. Look."

I pointed towards the monitor on my desk. The desk itself was a little cluttered, with various papers scattered about. Alter Ego sat on a laptop next to the main monitor as well. But it was what was on the main monitor that I was so proud of. Shining there was an image of what looked to be a normal girl, sitting in what looked to be a normal bedroom.

"You put a camera in someone's room...?" Kyoko gave me a judging stare.

"No no, that's not it at all!" I quickly tried to clear my name. "This- the girl, the room, all of it- it's all virtual."

"It's a program?"

"An artificial intelligence program." Alter Ego chimed in. "The most complex one I've made to this day."

"Yeah, that's right." I added. "While you were doing research on the Remnants, Alter Ego and I made this."

"How exactly is this supposed to help?" Kyoko's eyes narrowed.

"Here, why don't I show you?"

Pushing aside the papers on my desk, I pulled a microphone close to me. Then, after typing in a few commands on my keyboard, the girl in the monitor's phone began to ring. She pulled it from her pocket and brought it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Chiaki, it's Makoto!"

"Oh! Hi Makoto!" Her face lit up hearing my name.

"Yeah, I've got a friend here who wants to know a few things about you, would you be okay with introducing yourself?"

"Okay!" The girl turned her head. "Hi, my name is Chiaki Nanami. I'm a student at Hope's Peak Academy and the Ultimate Gamer. And I work for the Future Foundation with you guys!"

"Nice to meet you... Chiaki." Kyoko leaned into the mic.

"Chiaki, could you tell me again, what would you say is the number one thing that makes you happy?"

"Oh, I- um..." Chiaki fidgeted with the strings on her backpack. "I just like to see my friends safe and happy."

"Your friends?" Kyoko's eyebrows shot up. "Who are they?"

"Just some people I know from school." Chiaki moved the phone to her other hand. "There's Hajime Hinata- he likes oranges and wax candles, and he dislikes when people make faces instead of saying words, Mahiru Koi-"