While this was going on back on the first floor, Taka had gone where he was instructed to go, and arrived at the Data Processing Room. However, while he would never outright say this to anyone really, he figured that he was far from the most qualified to investigate this room. He'd grown up without using most technology, besides the odd computer for study purposes, and he'd never really watched any cartoons or played any video games before. Truly, Chihiro was better suited for this job than he was...
"Then again..." he said to himself "out of everyone here, I'm the only one other than Chihiro who would logically be the best choice...Kyoko's talents are needed elsewhere, Mukuro can't say too much, and Mondo...is Mondo..."
It wasn't as if Taka didn't have a plan either. He knew exactly what to do when he arrived at the location. No one had really drawn much attention to it the last time, but the Data Processing room had a small door with Monokuma's face imprinted on it. He was really curious about the door, and he was thinking that since Monokuma said all the doors were unlocked now, he should be able to go in there. In a typical situation, Taka would tie a wire or rope to the doorknob and pull it open at a distance, just in case there was a trap. He had fallen victim to a few of them in his life, mostly from stuck-up people who didn't take kindly to his rule abiding nature, but this time, he was dealing with Monokuma, who's definition of a prank was something slightly more...fatal. Regardless, he had no such thing on hand, so he decided to move it or lose it, and opened the door after taking a deep breath and holding it.
Thankfully, no cream pies with bombs stashed in them were thrown at his face, however, he WAS immediately greeted with something rather unexpected. As mentioned previously, Taka was not as able with technology as he would have liked to be, which caused his brain to almost fry when his eyes were greeted with a room that looked like it had been taken out of a sci-fi movie...Not that he would know that, but that was precisely the reason why this was such a culture shock.
"Why does everything about this school have to be so dang disturbing?" Taka's brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of it all "this goes above and beyond anything I would have expected...What even IS this!?"
In the room, there was a large array of monitors, and a small comfy looking seat that one could lay back in and relax. However, relaxation probably wasn't the chairs main use, as despite its comfortable look, it was hooked up to the monitors, implying that it had it's own function. It was all a bit over the top, like a control panel that you'd find in a military base. A control panel...or perhaps...
"A cockpit?"
These words escaped Taka's mouth as he thought hard about the room. A door with Monokuma's face imprinted on it...and a cockpit with a control panel. Taka was now beginning to get an idea as to what this machine did and by extension, what this room was for...But he had to check.
Once again, Taka's knowledge of tech and how to use it was severely limited. He knew how to work a flip phone and a laptop computer, but that was about it. However, given the limited time, and how this investigation was the be-all end-all of the killing game, he felt he had little choice but to go for broke. He sat down on the seat and examined the wide array of buttons. One panel had a selection of buttons each with the names of rooms and locations within the school, such as Laundry Room, Gymnasium and Cafeteria.
"I don't know what this does, but there's one way to find out..." Taka reached over and pressed the button for the Data Processing room. Logically, whatever the button caused to happen in that room, it would happen right next to Taka, and he could see for himself what it was about.
Without really leaving the room, Taka got to his feet and opened the door to look out into the other room, after randomly hearing a strange noise. Upon looking out, he suddenly noticed the familiar small frame of Monokuma, facing away from him.
"Gah! Monokuma! Or...wait...is that Alter Ego? If that's you Alter Ego, can you tell me if anything happened here?"
The Monokuma however, was unresponsive. Initially confused, Taka turned his attention back towards the cockpit.
"Could it be that...?" he wondered.
He sat back down in the seat, and turned his attention to a monitor that had suddenly switched on. He observed the buttons in front of him, with two joysticks and a microphone. Not only that, but under the desk was some pedals. Already taking a guess as to what it was for, he moved the joysticks forward and yelled in the microphone.
"HEY! NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS!" he boomed. While it was fairly faint, the monitor showed some movement, and it was here that Taka realized that his view through the monitor was in line with where the Monokuma in the other room was facing. You didn't have to be a genius to figure out what this panel was used for.
"So...this is how the Mastermind has been controlling Monokuma..." Taka said to himself "now that I think about it, this room is completely separate from the room with the surveillance monitors...Kyoko DID say something about the Mastermind not being able to control Monokuma and survey us at the same time...I guess this means she was right...But wow if it isn't tedious and stupid architecture."
Taka eyes continued to move back and forth between the control panel and the exit to the room, but eventually something clicked in his mind and he pulled out his E-Handbook.
"But if the Mastermind has been controlling Monokuma from this room...then that means he or she's been in the school the entire time..." he continued "but Mukuro said that only the 16 students have been in the school since the killing game started...Who could that 16th student be...And are they really controlling Monokuma?"
🔫Monokuma Control Panel added to the Truth Bullets🔫
Taka was beginning to experience a headache he hadn't felt since he woke up after Taeko had given him that nasty head injury that sent in into comatose. Realizing that there were still other places to check out, he decided to leave the control panel and exit the room.
Taka made his way back into the room with the monitors and left the Data Processing Room, but as soon as he did, he suddenly heard a loud *KA-CHUNK!* noise. Realizing that it had only sounded out when he closed the door, Taka quickly turned around and attempted to open it again.
But to his horror...the door was now locked.
"What the hell!?" he snapped, tugging on the door with all his might, but as he was, Monokuma suddenly showed up.
"Be careful Taka!" the ursine smirked "break down the door and I may have to punish you!"
"Why is it locked!?" Taka asked "I literally just came out of there!"
"Well, of course it's locked!" Monokuma smiled "the Data Processing room has officially been locked off."
"That's not cool! I just-! W-Wait a second...!" Taka came to a realization after he was able to fully process the shock "I just left the room where the Mastermind controls you! How can you be here right now!?"
"That's exactly why I locked it DUMBASS!" Monokuma jeered "what's the point of leaving the door wide open if it means that I can't move around? I mean, just imagine how icky this place would get if it's adorable mascot wasn't here?"
"Ironic, coming from the BIGGEST PIECE OF FILTH I'VE EVER MET!" Taka spat "and you know that's not what I meant! If you're here, that means there's someone in that room controlling you, but how did they get in there without passing by me! I would have seem them!"
"Oh, you poor sweet idiot," Monokuma cackled "no one walked past you because they were in the room with you the entire time!"
"Wh-What!?" Taka almost fell over.
"PUHUHUHU! You were so caught up on making heads or tails of the machine, that you failed to notice any hidden doors or secret compartments!" the bear rolled over laughing "you missed a huge obvious panel on the floor that opens up into a secret compartment where the Mastermind was hiding! Then again, it only opens from one side, so you couldn't have got it open regardless of whether you noticed it or not..."
"I...I'm such a fool...!" Taka clutched his head and sobbed.
"You'd better believe it!" Monokuma metaphorically kicked him while he was down "but now it's your job to take responsibility for your idiocy. I'll leave that to you."
The bear then vanished, leaving Taka feeling incredibly guilty. However, given that there wasn't much time left, he tried to focus on what he COULD do right about now.
"I guess I'll go do a once over in the dorms..." he said, heading off, downtrodden.