Learn about Despedida's role in the murders (Time -1)

The mission you'd been given early on had seemed nearly impossible: investigate the Goodbye Girls and piece together their roles in the murders of your predecessor, those who'd been named Ciao before you. Each of those had died under mysterious circumstances and, due to their involvement with the Goodbye Girls, the suspicion had naturally landed on the mysterious team. You, by some miracle, had stayed alive all this time, using a mix of wit, charm, and boldness; carefulness only came into it now and again, which could be what separated you from the previous handlers, for all you knew.

If, early on, you'd asked the girls directly about their knowledge of those dead handlers, you would have earned, at best, more of their deception or derisive behavior, and, at worst, an early admission into that same file of the deceased. By this point, you'd gotten close to the Girls... not only that, you'd certainly tipped your hand, to some extent, to the fact that you were investigating them. None of them were so stupid that they could have failed to realize that. As such, you felt that the time had come: you'd learn directly what they knew about the handlers that had died and what motivations they might have had for killing them. Even if your search with one of the Girls turned up fruitless, they were certain to know something that would point the finger at one of their comrades.

You thought about the other Goodbye Girls: an ex-Adder combat specialist who got a kick out of killing. A CQC-trained deception artist with mysterious motivations. A cybernetically-enhanced ninja who claimed to exercise her code of justice over anyone worthy of death, regardless of affiliation. These were dyed in the wool murderers who could more or less be counted on to kill.

Despedida did not fit with these types. Sure, she wasn't against frying some bad guys herself, but after all the time you'd hung out with her, you'd come to see her as a fun-loving gamer, albeit one with an eerie tendency to warn you to keep your guard up. She did most of her killing online, while in the field, she tended to play a supportive role. Even with the aid of technology, was it feasible to think that she'd killed anyone, when there were so many other more likely killers in her midst? Your brain felt as though it was fighting with itself: on one hand, she was so unlikely, suspicion of her ought to be taken off the table. On the other hand... that fact made her the likeliest culprit of all.

You couldn't imagine what the reaction on her face would be when you asked her, but you decided to approach her about it casually one day, over video games. As you mindlessly blasted your way through the latest co-op looter shooter together, with her doing most of the work and you struggling to stay useful, you posed the question: what did she know about the handlers before you?

"Ha! Is that why you're sucking so much ass? You're distracted, huh?" Despedida questioned, patting you on the back to show she was only joking around with her insult. "Eh, I'm laughing, but I get that it's pretty serious for you. It's actually a little weird you don't let it get your goat more often. For all you know, you're playing video games with the one who's out to kill you."

You asked, raising one eyebrow: were you?

She smiled, then paused her controller and set it down. "Haven't I told you before? I'm the one you can trust. In the words of Mr. Nukem: you're pissin' me off! Come on... Do you know any of the girls as well as you know me? Do any of them seem less bloodthirsty than I do? Any of them offered you as much useful advice as I have? Any of them as hot as me?" she questioned, tossing her hair and grinning at her own joke.

You didn't need to answer all that. You just told her that this wasn't a trust issue; you needed to know about those people who'd died.

"I really don't know a lot about 'em. Maybe ask Vaarvel?"

You shook your head and frowned. That didn't make sense... Despedida had been around as long as anyone in the Goodbye Girls and you couldn't imagine that she was adverse to surveilling her teammates. She should have known them inside and out.

"I monitor interesting people, okay? These guys were sadsacks. Ciao numero uno was a guy that Vaarvel picked. She seemed a little pissed when he was taken out, but I guess she got over it, because when the others died, she barely batted an eye. Ciao numero dos: a creepy guy from Russia. Nobody cared when he died. Ciao numero tres? A scared shitless conspiracy freak who came in here determined to drill down on us. He was just about the quickest of all, despite all his preparation. Common link between all of 'em? I had no reason to kill a single one of them. Sure, the first guy was Vaarvel's, the second guy was a spook, and the third guy was a spook in a different sense of the word, but all of them were well within tolerable limits of being weirdos compared to the rest of this team."

She'd actually managed to give you a lot of info you hadn't had previously, with or without intending to. She gestured towards the controllers again with one open palm and smiled, as if beckoning you to return to the video game and turn your brain off.

You didn't turn it off. Instead, you asked: did she have any ideas about who might have killed the handlers?

"Uh, I can't pick specifics, but if this was Dangan Ronpa, these'd be the ones that have targets painted on them from the very beginning, that you know the writers won't go the whole game with. One of them was Vaarvel's man, which means he was as shady as they come. One of them was from corrupt-ass CEDIT Russia. The last one was like, full-on Alex Jones whack-job. Any one of them could have had a lot of reasons to die, and not just from us."

Did she think it was likely one killer between all three?

"Probably. Not a lot of people die inside a CEDIT base... high security, high surveillance, y'know? Especially here in the Goodbye Girls block. Think about it... I've got the whole place under surveillance. That means...?"

Without blinking, you stared at her stone-faced and said it: that means she killed them. If she didn't catch the killers by surveillance, it was the only answer that made sense.

Despedida pushed her hat down for a moment with an eerie, widening smile, shadowing the upper half of her face... Then flipped it up, laughing like a child and waving her hands. "Your imagination's going crazy, dude! Did I get you with that creepy villain look just now? No, dumbass: I'm saying Vaarvel did. Think about it... if it's not me, gotta be her, right? She's been around from the very beginning. She's got the skills to kill these dudes without being found out, then move the bodies and fake the times of death with her weirdo mystery shit. Maybe I'm putting us both in danger by telling you this, but it's got to be Vaarvel. Unless she's getting help from Tschau or Au Revoir too. That's what you gotta remember: Vaarvel is the unofficial leader of the Goodbye Girls and she's the one calling the shots. Always has been."

Forcefully, you stood up, then pounded both hands to the sides of her gaming chair and leaned over her body. She continued to smile up at you challengingly, though you thought you saw her shrink back a bit from your show of anger. You hammered her harder: isn't that too suspicious? You're questioning her now and suddenly it's all Vaarvel? Why hadn't she told you this theory before?

"Because I didn't want you to die like every other Ciao, you son of a bitch," she hissed around her teeth. "There is no fuckin' faster way to die than to nose around. Ciao #3 proved that."

You cooled down and backed off, allowing her to sit back up, to just her usual level of slouching. Once the two of you were both calm again, you questioned her further: had she ever attempted to investigate these killings? Had she ever even worried about her own safety?

"Goodbye Girls don't worry about our own safety, dude. We've got infinite invincibility frames, buddy; we can't be killed," Despedida chuckled. "As for investigation, sure, I tried... but whoever did it covered their tracks thoroughly-"

Too thoroughly for Despedida to find out?

"Yes... Dude! I'm not like some fucking TV hacker, okay? I'm the best hacker in the world, but we're talking about fucking ninjas and things here! I can't do everything!"

Frustrated, you insisted; but she could! Why is it just on this one aspect? She can do anything... defeat Promethia! Survive as the one Goodbye Girl without hand-to-hand combat skills or gun training! Anything, except this one thing! Why this one thing?!

"Can you beat Vaarvel, Ciao?" Despedida's voice was still cheerful, but her words were terse and unadorned by jokes.

You clammed up. You didn't know what to make of that question, but you could feel it hanging on, like a burden upon your shoulders. You couldn't answer it.

"I'm close, Ciao. I'm real close... in this game of hers, I'm so damn close to winning that she's on the fucking precipice. If you want to be close too, then congratulations: you're close too now. If you can't do it, then get the fuck out of the way and let me do it."

Again, you didn't know what to say. You cleared your throat and told you that if Vaarvel was really behind this, you weren't going to let her get away with it. You weren't going to roll over and die just because it was Vaarvel, either.

"Well, that's great. I'm not gonna let you die either. So just trust me and remember: Vaarvel is the enemy. Not me," she finished, keeping the cap down over her eyes as she knelt to grab both controllers up. "I didn't kill anyone, though if you keep pissing me off, I'm gonna feel like I need to. So can the suspicions for a bit-- suspicions against the one fucking decent person in this whole base that's trying to help you-- and go cool your head a while."

You didn't want to do that... You wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery.

And yet, you did anyway. If you stayed here, Despedida would only continue to try and turn you against Vaarvel. Talking to her about it seemed useless. One thing was for sure, though: either Vaarvel had a hand in those killings or Despedida did... Or else... Despedida was just playing a game against Vaarvel and using you as a piece in it. The swirl of suspicions that surrounded you seemed darker than ever... Even as Despedida vowed to protect you, you found yourself doubting her.

You wouldn't rest easy for a while, remembering that ominous smile on Despedida's face one moment and the angry look of determination the next.