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[knifemonopoly]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, PLAYER1. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 10.11.0.0.01 *** PLAYER1 has joined 10.11.0.0.01 <PLAYER1> If you're looking for someone you knew as Yugi before June, you've found him! It's Atem, leave a message.

Main handle: < Player1 > Anon: < turtleluck >, < actuallydied >, < burner >

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[luckless]

[The longer Atem speaks, the more it feels like Komaeda is somewhere distant, far away. The explanation is drowned out by the sudden rush of blood in his ears, by the thunderous drum of his heart in his chest. Sunrise is soon upon them, but Komaeda, in this very moment, has completely forgotten about their purpose here.]

So... You tormented her?

[His voice shakes, hysteria quickly edging into it. He knows, deep down, that Atem wasn't in his right mind and neither was Nanami. He knows that neither of them were acting like their usual selves. But the anger at Atem he feels is mixing with something worse—with his own guilt over endangering his dearest friend during the mixing of their memories. Atem may not have killed Nanami, but she still died, that week.]

What made you feel so justified in torturing someone like that? In torturing Nanami-san?

[Depending on Atem's answer, Komaeda may or may not make good on the weight of his knife in his pocket.]

[knifemonopoly]

[He pulls his legs up to his chest, then wraps his arms around them. Atem's shoulders slump, miserably: he's not proud of this at all.]

Because I forgot that she meant more to me than any human. That her wellbeing is...will always be more important than my sense of right and wrong.

[That's what it is to understand the condition of being a monster. Protecting monsters' happiness is more important than human lives, because sooner or later an unhappy monster costs human lives. The scale is weighted. His old sense of right and wrong...he might be doomed to nonexistence for it if his old beliefs hold true, if he even still has a heart to weigh after all he's been through, but here, he knows what he has to do, what he has to be. One human, three humans, a family, a class -- it's not worth it, if the cost is to a monster's health.]

My missing memories...took that knowledge away from me.