Dcom

The test site depicted in Virtue's Last Reward. Note its resemblance to Rhizome 9.

The test site depicted in Virtue's Last Reward.

Dwelling for the Cohabitation Of Mars (Dcom), also known as the Mars Mission Test Site, is a facility located somewhere in the Nevada Desert.

In Virtue's Last Reward, its exterior entrance seems to strongly resemble the entrance of Rhizome 9, except Rhizome 9 is located in a crater, while Dcom isn't. In Zero Time Dilemma, its appearance may have been slightly retconned.

Dcom is not a government run facility, but is privately owned by a company researching space development. The company is largely owned by Free the Soul, but that detail is kept hidden from all knowledge.

Dcom was thought to be where Radical-6 was presumably discovered and theorized to be the starting point of the pandemic. However, it is revealed in Zero Time Dilemma that Radical-6 was released at an Underground Shelter.

The cohabitation

Dcom seen in Zero Time Dilemma. It is unknown if this is all of it, or if there is also an underground area.

The American government was developing rockets with annihilation reactors that would send humans to Mars faster than the standard chemical rockets, as well as simulate how life would be on Mars. They wanted to simulate a manned mission to Mars, so they transformed an old Air Force base in the middle of the Nevada Desert into a fully functional facility. The goal of the cohabitation experiment was to collect the participant's psychological data.

A rescue dog called Gab wears a collar around his neck with a small capsule containing medicine (nitrate) to treat cardiovascular heart disease in case someone had a heart attack or condition.

Dcom is comprised of several independent units, including sleeping quarters for the participants, a home unit where the participants could gather, a gym, an infirmary and a garden. It also seems there is a "Farming Unit" in addition to the Gardening Unit. Showers are connected to the gym. The facility also contains confinement rooms if a participant needed to be isolated from the others. Zero Time Dilemma opens with an image of Dcom and the participants are seen in cells that Sigma identifies as "confinement rooms". It is unknown if the participants were still in Dcom at the time or had already been moved to similar rooms in the Underground Shelter.

On December 25, 2028, multiple people were sent to the test site for the simulation, each for their own reasons.

The Dcom participants, except for the helmeted boy on the second right, who joins them in the Decision Game, and Q (Delta) is missing.

• Junpei Tenmyouji: Junpei received a lead when he was working as an underground detective that Akane was there. He used "brute force" and "coercion" to force his way in.
• Carlos: Unable to pay for his sister's treatment, he heard he could earn 500k for participating.
• Akane Kurashiki: Joined because she heard Radical-6 was released there. Her organization Crash Keys altered server data to include her, Phi and Sigma.
• Sigma Klim: (see Akane's reason)
• Phi: (see Akane's reason)
• Diana: Encouraged to join by another nurse at her hospital named Rebecca.
• Mira: Joined because she thought it looked "interesting" and "fun". In reality, she was going to be an accomplice of Zero. The prologue also implies Mira was also interested in the money she would receive for participating.
• Eric: Joined because Mira went.
• Q: Joined because he wanted to secretly force the participants to play the Decision Game, and faked having disabilities.

On December 31st, Free the Soul (Delta/Q) kidnapped the participants and brought them to an underground bunker along with a robot named Sean, where they are forced to play the Decision Game by Zero. They were split up into three groups, and navigated through the underground shelter. In one possible timeline where the participants make the wrong decisions, Radical-6 is released into the world and kills six of the participants as well as leading to the deaths of six billion people, setting in motion the events of Virtue's Last Reward.

Through the power of SHIFT, the participants were able to go to a timeline where they won a coin toss and the Decision Game never happened. Here, they confronted Delta outside Dcom.

Virtue's Last Reward

Diana talking to the operator.

It is mentioned in a recorded conversation between Diana and an operator that was stored on a blue memory card during Tenmyouji END.

Recorded Message On The Blue Memory Card

• Operator: This is Control. How's it going over there?
• Operator: Bet you missed the sound of my voice, huh?
• Operator: Well, I gotta be honest, it's getting pretty lonely over here too.
• Operator: Feeling kinda like howling at the moon, lone wolf style.
• Operator: Speaking of which... I'm looking at it right now and the old girl is beautiful.
• Operator: Never seen the moon this full, and that color...
• Operator: Tonight's that eclipse, remember? Way to end 2028, huh?
• Operator: The moon's this amazing red... If it wasn't so beautiful, it'd be kind of ominous.
• Operator: Wish you guys to see it too, but-
• Operator: Ah, sorry, forgot. You're supposed to be on Mars, aren't you.
• Operator: So, uh, how are Phobos and Deimos looking right now?
• Operator: Sure hope I'll get to look up at them someday too... Anyway, over...
• ...
• Operator: Hey, something wrong? Talk to me, guys.
• ...
• Operator: What, you gonna play hard to get because we haven't talked in so long?
• Operator: Enough jokes, all right? Knock if off. Where are you guys?
• ...
• Operator: Is there something wrong with the radio...?
• Operator: ...You're saying everything's green?
• Operator: Well, then what the hell's going on here!?
• Operator: Why aren't they responding!?
• ...
• Operator: No, the video feed's online.
• Operator: Look, you can see all nine of them, three at each table.
• Operator: ...What? Someone hacked our feed!?
• Operator: What do you mean this isn't live?
• Operator: ...An old clip on repeat? Who would do that?
• Operator: What in the hell is happening here...
• ...
• Operator: This is Control, I repeat, this is Control. Please come in, I'm asking you to respond!
• ...
• Woman: This is-
• Operator: Oh, thank God! You really had me worried there. What happened?
• Woman: ...
• Operator: ...
• Woman: Six of us are... dead.
• Operator: ...
• Operator: ...What?
• Woman: Counting myself, there are only three left.
• Operator: How... Why are...?
• Woman: They were killed.
• Operator: Wh-what?!
• Woman: I... I guess you could say I killed them.
• Operator: ...
• Woman: No... no, that's not quite right. Not just them. Not just these six...
• Woman: All of them... All six billion... Soon, I will have killed six billion people-
• ...
• Operator: Are you there?! Respond!
• ...
• Operator: Damnit... This is Control, I repeat, this is Control. We have an emergency situation!
• Operator: We have an unconfirmed report of six deceased test subjects!
• Operator: Deploy rescue and escort teams to the test site immediately!
• Operator: Shit... What the hell happened in there?