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"Being mocked for my compassion is a small price to pay for retaining my humanity."
— K to Dio, after he makes comments about worrying about Quark

K is a mysterious man in a strange armored suit who is a player in the Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition in Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward. His face is hidden by a mask, and no one knows his identity, including him. His armor is initially irremovable, so his identity is shrouded in mystery. K claims to suffer from generalized amnesia, and on all routes aside the Cyan Door routes, he is not lying. The matter of who K is revolves around a variable based on which route the player goes down.

Appearance[]

K wears robotic armor and his true appearance is unknown. His only clothing is a large red monk robe. Unlike everyone else, since K wears armor, his armor is fitted with the AB bracelet on his left hand, but it functions the same. The armor also has a voice modifier. The eyes on K's mask also change to reflect his mood, such as ◠_◠ when he is happy.

In K END, his face looks exactly like Sigma Klim's.

In Phi END, Akane is inside K's armor.

Personality[]

This section refers to the personality of Kyle Klim in the Yellow/Magenta routes. While impersonating him in the Cyan routes, Akane Kurashiki replicates his personality in an almost perfect manner, as she has moments like this.

Kyle develops amnesia, leaving his personality somewhat detached, wanting to know who he is. Despite this, he is highly intelligent and methodical, and can usually perceive deceit. He has the tendency to think before he acts, but still ends up making some irrational decisions.

Throughout the Nonary Game, Kyle is extremely serious, pragmatic and straightforward -- he and Luna are the only participants who rarely lose their temper. Kyle, along with Luna and Akane, are the only major characters who never use profanity in Virtue's Last Reward. Kyle offers clever solutions and is very insightful and analytical on the state of affairs; his tone of voice rarely ever escalates outside of extreme situations, and he refrains from directly insulting others unprovoked.

Despite this, Kyle can be somewhat mischievous and selfish; he often picks betray when he is not facing a living opponent with only 1 BP (he always picks Betray in round 1), and he tries to trick Sigma into picking Ally when he planned to pick Betray in his own route. Additionally, during the Quark route, in order to prevent himself from being unable to choose Betray, Kyle knocks Alice out just so he can get 3 points to escape, although he claims he will find help. Speaking of which, Kyle is also physically strong in his armor; he attacks Sigma twice in the game (once during an ending where Sigma tried to escape with 9 BP alone, and another time when he needed to force Sigma and Phi through a chromatic door despite their protestations in the Luna route).

Kyle has moments of childish impulses, such as jumping on a Zero III styled ride in the Rec Room and asking Sigma to make it operate. This is probably because Kyle's childhood was devoid of any fun or playful experiences; as a result, he is somewhat socially awkward.

It is implied that the real Kyle Klim suffers from depression or an existential crisis, which is heightened when Akane Kurashiki dies, as well as finding out that he was brought into the world not to experience joy or pleasure, but for the purpose of being used for Zero Sr.'s experiment like a guinea pig. This can also be referred to as an identity crisis.

These feelings can turn him into a murderer, as he murdered Dio in K END since Dio murdered Akane. Also in K END, Kyle essentially risks Phi's life by destroying Dio's bracelet just to test whether or not Zero Sr. truly loved him. Kyle also accepts the possibility of death, showing he is suicidal. He also attempted suicide in the control room by blowing up Rhizome 9 until Akane stopped him just in time before the events of VLR.

Background[]

LabMain

Kyle was created in one of the water tanks on the left.

Kyle was born around 2052 and raised in Rhizome 9, where the only other person there was his father, Sigma Klim. Kyle was developed in the water tank on the wall of the laboratory of Rhizome 9. This tank acted as an artificial uterus.

Sigma's purpose for creating Kyle was in order to replicate an experience he saw decades in the future, among other necessary factors. Kyle would also be a "spare" for Sigma, as Sigma could SHIFT into Kyle if his own body was damaged. In addition, Kyle's consciousness would be integral to Akane and Sigma's mission.

K boy

Kyle as a toddler, holding a bunny plush, possibly the model for Zero III.

Kyle was outfitted with a special suit for his entire life to accommodate for Rhizome 9's location on the Moon, so he would grow strong and normal, since the bones in his body would become too weak due to gravity. Having lived in the suit all his life, Kyle never knew his physical appearance. For much of his childhood, Kyle spent his time alone as he could not go near his father while he worked in a laboratory and only could see him when he slept. To keep him busy, Kyle was given educational computer software, as well as video games such as Angry Birds which was his favorite pastime.

Due to Kyle's limited socializing with humans, he was generally emotionless, since the normal ways of communicating such as body language and gestures was not needed with the software he was given. After learning to read and write, Kyle felt odd with the way he lived. In the books he read, he found that a family usually has a "mother", something Kyle did not have. This drove Kyle's desire to have a mother, and to live an average human life and family life, so Kyle asked his father for one. His father complied, which delighted Kyle. In actuality, Luna wasn't created because Kyle asked for her, but this is probably what young Kyle interpreted.

Lunasad2

GTF-DM-L-016.

A few months later, Kyle's father called him into the lab and introduced him to a young woman. Kyle was ecstatic, that is, until her name-or rather, her ID number, GTF-DM-L-016, was said. It was Luna, a GAULEM modeled after Diana, the woman Sigma once loved. While it resembled a human, Kyle wanted a real mother, a real human, something a robot could never be, since robots are programmed to show certain emotions. When Kyle complained, his father chastised him and shooed him away from the lab and called him a whiner. Kyle was shocked, then angry.

Still, Kyle spent some time with Luna. Despite that Luna was a robot, she acted, talked, and looked like a real human. However, Kyle refused to be with her and locked himself into his room since she was still a robot. Kyle would gain nothing from this robot that his educational software couldn't provide anyways. Due to his lack of relation to Luna, she felt sad, but Kyle coldly reminded himself that she was just a robot. Ultimately, Kyle stopped expecting things from Sigma and began to realize he never had a real relationship with his father, which was what he wanted.

AkaneFigure

Rather late in his life, Akane appeared as a mother figure, and Kyle consequently grew very attached to her.

However, everything changed when Kyle was eighteen in approximately 2070. Kyle left his room to find a woman, Akane Kurashiki, the first human being he'd ever seen, aside from his father. Kyle expected her to be just another robot, but she kindly laughed off Kyle's statement and stated that she came to help his father. Akane was much older than Kyle, but acted like a girl. She told Kyle about the world outside and Kyle loved her stories. Since she was not helping his father with his research, Akane would spend most of her days with Kyle. Akane told Kyle that his father had once been in love, which made Kyle think that Akane was secretly his mother.

With Akane living with Kyle and Sigma, their relationship changed. For the first time in eighteen years, Kyle ate dinner with people. Due to his lack of table manners and his father reading a research paper on the table, Akane scolded both, which made Kyle share laughter with his father for the first time. Kyle began to truly live an average family life, fulfilling his childhood dreams.

Akane suggested to help his father's research in genetic engineering, which he developed an interest in. Since they were working together, they now could talk a great deal together, like a father and son. He felt proud and happy whenever he impressed his father, which made his days more meaningful and, most importantly, happy.

Discussion

Akane and Sigma having a serious conversation.

Four years later, Kyle overheard his father and Akane talking in a serious tone. When Kyle listened closely, he overheard that she was going to give her life to achieve their goal. Kyle pleaded with his father to stop his research, but he refused and Akane agreed with his father. Akane told Kyle that this was how it was planned to be since the beginning.

CR1

A suicidal Kyle goes to the control room to detonate the reactor and destroy Rhizome 9 and his father's project.

Confused and distraught, Kyle began to investigate what exactly he was helping his father to research, in hopes of keeping Akane alive. In the end, Kyle discovered he was nothing more than a clone, intended to be a spare for his father if he dies. Kyle was intended to continue in his place if such an event would happen. Kyle furiously decided to destroy the facility in the Control Room along with his father, Akane, and the research, but was ultimately stopped by Akane, who foresaw this event. Kyle was locked up in his room until the research was completed.

Kyle desperately tried to find a way to stop her and Akane did her best to convince him that everything was going to be fine. Kyle wanted to believe her, but he remembered that it was she who pushed him to involve himself in his father's research. As much as Kyle was angry at Akane, he could not bring himself to hate her, as she had given him a reason to live and showed him how to see meaning in his life. Though she worked together with his father and was fully aware of the situation from the start, Kyle could not deny the kindness that was given to him from her was real. She gave Kyle the feeling of having a real family, something that he wouldn't have given up for the world.

Kyle pleaded with her to leave, but she refused, stating that there was someone very special to her. He had saved her life once, and she felt that her death would help to repay that favor. She told Kyle that she would like nothing more than to marry him and live a happy life together, but she couldn't. For the sake of the future she had wanted, Kyle's father's research needed to succeed. Kyle realized that though she was important to him, someone else was more important to her.

She tried to explain that there is a future where no one will have to die, but Kyle refused to listen. Given the life he lived now, there was no need for that future as he himself had what he had always wanted and wasn't going to allow someone he's never met to take that away. Kyle shut himself off from the world after this.

Prior to the Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition, Kyle was asked to deliver a message to Sigma after his conscious swap if either him or Sigma were about to die: "If you see a lion with two heads devouring the sun, remember these letters: MILKEVOLI. This will open the second gate." K was sedated with a large amount of Soporil, causing generalized amnesia, by Akane and Sigma and placed in an AB Room. He was also infected with Radical-6.

Virtue's Last Reward[]

K holding an Unconsious Clover

K holding Clover in Warehouse A.

K awakens in the Floor A warehouse in an Ambidex Room with an unconscious Clover. Eventually, K solves the puzzle and exits the room with Clover. Unfortunately, K has lost all memory of his past, but does retain some educational knowledge and basic skills. Luna states that he has generalized amnesia, which Dio believes is a lie. Regardless of his current state, he decides to go by the name of K and plays through the Nonary Game in hopes of recovering more memories.

Branching timelines[]

On most routes, K actually does play the Nonary Game.

After Sigma and Phi jump back in time to save Akane from Dio, Akane takes K out of his suit and places him into a Treatment Pod in the B. Garden and puts him in cold sleep. Akane then dons his armor and proceeds to play the Nonary Game on the cyan Chromatic Door routes, pretending to be K.

In Phi END, it is revealed that K's generalized amnesia was due to Akane giving him a large dosage of Soporil. Akane also reveals that his real name is Kyle Klim.

K END[]

In K's ending, K's suit is worn by Kyle Klim and Akane is murdered by Dio and the leftmost AB Room is moved. K first goes to the infirmary with Alice and Clover. When Akane is found dead by Sigma and Phi, Dio accuses him of killing her because he woke up in the AB Room she was found in. In the first round of the AB Game, K betrays Alice and raises his BP to 6. For the second round, he is a magenta solo. After Zero III finishes explaining the rules, K heads to the infirmary and runs into Phi, Quark, and Sigma. K claims not to know who Akane is because of memory loss. He asks Sigma and Phi to look at his armor and they find a lock on the back of his mask. Sigma and Phi deduce that a key can open his armor. K then explains how the armor does not feel strange and that he might have always had it.

Soon, the Chromatic Doors open and arguments break out on who will go with who. This all ends when Quark suddenly collapses. He says that they should all give up and die. Tenmyouji, who is paired with Quark, asks someone to pick a door. Luna asks Sigma to choose in which he chooses to go with K. Alice, K, and Sigma head to the Rec Room and solve the puzzle there. They end up in the Floor B warehouse and find three white Chromatic Doors. Before heading back, K gets a mysterious deja vu about the room, Alice says it probably reminds him of the Floor A Warehouse.

Soon an announcement rings out that an AB Room had opened. They run back to find Phi, Dio, and Clover waiting there. Dio admits to opening the gate early, but Clover is more interested in what is in his pocket. She finds a bottle of neostigmine from the Treatment Center. Dio takes it from her but Tenmyouji and Luna arrive saying Quark is missing. They all split up to search for him, K meets up with Sigma in the Rec Room and they head back together, saying they couldn't find him. Tenmyouji starts to get worried but Dio soon arrives saying that Alice and Luna are dead and that he found them in the Crew Quarters. Phi says that Dio might have killed them and pretended to find them. Dio plays the blame game on Tenmyouji saying that Luna would be playing against him in the AB Game and that he killed her to get more points in the upcoming round. Tenmyouji then accuses K of killing Alice and attempting to kill Sigma, but killed Luna instead. Phi takes their bracelets and everyone heads back to Warehouse A to play the AB Game.

Before beginning, K asks Sigma to vote ally, saying he betrayed Alice in the first round to get rid of his risk. He then votes betray hoping he could escape but Sigma sees through his trick and votes betray. At the end of round 2, Quark's BP is 9 thanks to Tenmyouji choosing betray. K suggests finding him should be their top priority. K then discovers he is a magenta pair with Phi. They will have to go through a white door with Dio. After Tenmyouji, Clover, Sigma, and K refuse to go with Dio, Phi agrees to search with him. Sigma and K then search the infirmary for Quark and learn that Akane was supposed to be a player because she had a bracelet when she died. K remembers the Luminol would be able to tell which bracelet has blood on it. They decide to move on to Floor B. They search the Green door and find two unlocked doors. K takes the rightmost door with Sigma and end up in the GAULEM Bay. There, K finds the key to his armor, but doesn't tell Sigma.

They next head to the Treatment Center and find Quark sleeping in one of the pods there. They are shocked to see his bracelet gone, but he is not dead. K believes Zero removed the bracelet and that Quark is in the pod because he is sick. They then head back to Warehouse B and find Dio and Phi waiting there. They tell them about what they found in the Treatment Center. However, Clover and Tenmyouji do not show up.

RestrainRec

K restrains Dio.

Sigma then leads them to the Rec Room to check their bracelets for blood. Sigma quickly turns off the lights in the Rec Room and sprays Phi and Dio's arms with Luminol. However, Dio refuses to show them his bracelet and tries to run off. He is stopped by K and reveals that Dio's bracelet is glowing. Dio then admits to killing Akane Kurashiki and stealing her bracelet. He claims that he did not kill Alice and Luna. Sigma decides to lock Dio in one of the treatment pods until the Chromatic Doors open.

KLounge

K resting in the lounge.

Sigma, Phi, and K head back to Warehouse B. They don't find Clover and Tenmyouji there so they go to floor A to find them. Phi stays on Floor B to search for them. Upon arriving at the Lounge, K suddenly says he has regained some of his memories. He explains to Sigma his life on Rhizome 9 and about his father's project. Soon after, K decides to lie down on the sofa and Sigma continues searching for them.

Dio dead

Dio, suffocated to death by K.

K then takes off his armor and heads down to the Treatment Center to kill Dio. He turns the oxygen off in Dio's pod, asphyxiating him. He returns back to the Lounge. He is then woken up by Sigma and Phi saying that someone killed Dio. They realize the Chromatic Doors will open soon and K gives Sigma the bracelets of Alice and Luna. K then leaves the Lounge to retrieve Dio's bracelet in the Treatment Center which Sigma and Phi forgot.

In the Treatment Center, K destroys Dio's bracelet. K wanted to test his father, Doctor Klim's, love and created a situation where there are two choices. Of course, he did it with the possibility in mind that Sigma would find the antidote and return. K put Sigma to the test and wanted to see whether his father would save him or Phi, although K seems to forget the injection gun can't pierce his armor. In addition, Sigma's consciousness would technically be young Sigma, so there would be no way that he would know the relationship between Doctor Klim and Kyle. But even then, K still couldn’t help but to test his father’s love.

Unmasked

K unmasked to be Kyle.

K heads to Warehouse B to say that Dio's killer broke Dio's bracelet (which is true, since K killed Dio). Sigma runs back to the Treatment Center to get the neostigmine that Dio had. However, the doors close upon his return. Sigma, K, and Phi are injected with Soporil. Sigma is able to give the neostigmine to Phi, saving her life. He then figures out that K killed Dio because his suit is unlocked. K says he killed Dio to avenge Akane's death and reveals that he lived in the facility his whole life. Before dying, K gives him a password for the Director's Office computer (MILKEVOLI). Sigma then pulls K's mask off revealing his face. Soon after, Sigma and K are killed by the tubocurarine.

Phi END[]

KyleGarden

Kyle in a treatment pod in the B. Garden.

AkaneGarden

K revealed to be Akane Kurashiki.

In this timeline, since Sigma and Phi jumped through time to save Akane before the Nonary Game began, rather than her dying as with the previous timelines, she survived. Since she survived, she placed K in the Treatment Pod in the B. Garden and wore K's armor and played the Nonary Game in his place mimicking his personality.

After the Nonary Game ended, Sigma and the others opened a pod which contained a clone of Sigma, which led Sigma to deduce that the person inside of K's armor is Akane. She later reveals that the clone's name is Kyle and that he is Sigma's son.

Another Time[]

Kyle's body (not consciousness) awakens in the Infirmary after Sigma and Phi are 'sent back'. His amnesia is mysteriously gone. He speaks with Tenmyouji and Quark, who refuse to accept that their history together will be erased if Sigma and Phi succeed on their mission to prevent the release of Radical-6. Then he speaks to Clover and Alice, who refuse to accept that they'll never again see anyone they know from 45 years ago. They plan to travel back to their own time using a method Akane suggested to them that is somehow related to the theory of Schrödinger's Cat.

He then talks to Phi, whose consciousness has 'returned' from her mission in the past after it had failed. She refuses to talk about it with Kyle, explaining that if she did, it could change history and any chance of the mission succeeding would disappear. This is later substantiated by Akane, who claims that "Kyle's" consciousness is not that of Kyle Klim, but of a mysterious uncontrolled force. She also asserts that he is the key to the success of Phi's and Sigma's mission to save humanity and that he is inhabiting ?'s body.

Zero Time Dilemma[]

Accoding to the non-canon Another Time END of Virtue's Last Reward, Kyle's consciousness is sent back to 2028 to help with Sigma's mission and is inhabiting ?'s body, strongly implying Kyle is also an esper.

However, Kyle's consciousness does not seem to appear in Zero Time Dilemma. This, along with the lack of acknowledgement of ? (although it has been said that there is no doubt ? intervened during ZTD), who was said to be the key to the success of Phi's and Sigma's mission and the "only one who can save the world", and the lack of a conclusion for the Clover/Alice storyline, has led many fans to speculate that this is a dropped plot point.

There has been no official explanation as to why Kyle does not seem to appear in Zero Time Dilemma, although it is implied it was because not everyone unlocked Another Time END. It is also hinted that Kyle will arrive here in this reality/timeline that you, the reader of this wiki article, are currently in now, in 2028 or 2029.[1] When Kotaro Uchikoshi was asked where Kyle is, he gave the vague reply, "Everyone is Kyle."[2] This could imply that Kyle is ?, or the consciousness of the player.

Kyle is only mentioned once in the entire game, in the timeline following not pressing the button in the Healing Room. After being stabbed, Sigma laments with his dying words that Kyle, Lagomorph and Luna will not to be born in that world.

Due to the game's treatment of multiple history theory, is it possible Kyle still exists in the Virtue's Last Reward timeline instead of having his existence erased entirely.

Quotes[]

  • "I'm... Hm. Who am I? I don't remember. I don't remember... anything. I have no idea where I am, who I am, or even what day it is." (after being questioned by Sigma about his identity)
  • "Not knowing one's identity is... vexing."
  • "Ha ha ha. Indeed. Clearly I don't deserve to be trusted."
  • "Yes. Your reasoning is correct. I... I killed him." (to Sigma, about killing Dio)
  • "I apologize, this is rather unfortunate." (after choosing betray against Alice)
DeerHead

K horrified by a deer attached to a wall.

  • "My God! This deer must have phased halfway through the wall and then gotten stuck! How horrific!" (about a mounted deer head in the Rec Room)
  • "Eeeeee he he he he he he he he! Look at me go! Ahahahahahahahahahaha!" (when he rides a Zero III ride)
  • "Now now, that's hardly necessary." (Sigma tells K that he feels wrong holding a photo of him)
  • "She was like... a mother to me... She showed me how to see... How to see meaning in my life..." (about Akane)
  • "I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Dio." (when Dio tries to escape the Rec Room after being sprayed with Luminol)

Trivia[]

CloverFlashGame

Clover wearing K's mask in the game.

  • There was a promotional game released prior to Virtue's Last Reward in Japan, involving slapping or groping Clover's breasts as quickly as possible to "open the door". The third and last stage is intended to be almost impossible without an autoclicker, but if it is completed, Clover's bra will fall off and her face will be K's. It is available to play at this link.[3]
Suicide

K missing with the dead players.

  • It is unknown what occurred to K in Clover END (mass suicide ending). K is absent in the suicide scene, and his armor would prevent him from killing himself with a scalpel. This ending occurs in a route in which both Sigma and Akane are dead, but Luna is pretending to be dead, so it is possible that Luna would re-activate and assist K. It is possible that K was looking for another way to kill himself. Additionally, K's absence would likely fool the player into believing he was the murderer. It is however also possible K electrocuted himself in this ending. The AED seems to possibly be missing from its box. By unleashing the electric shock into water (found in the nearby sink), K could have easily electrocuted himself. His metal armor would have further conducted the shock. While a more elaborate suicide than everyone else, it is known from Tenmyouji that many people did pull off elaborate suicides during the Radical-6 outbreak. However, the missing AED could just be an oversight, or simply more difficult to see due to the graphics.
TuFuiEgoEris

Tu Fui, Ego Eris.

  • On Kyle's grave in the B. Garden, "Tu Fui, Ego Eris" is written in Latin. This relates strongly to the themes of Virtue's Last Reward.
  • According to the developer Q and A, Kyle loved playing Angry Birds.
  • Zero III calls K "Potassium", as a reference to the Periodic Table of Elements, where K stands for this element.
  • In all endings, K will have 6 BP by the end of the first round. This may or may not be a reference, as K is six letters away from Q, which is the final escape room in the game.
  • K, Luna, and Akane are the only characters who do not use any profanity in Virtue's Last Reward. This speaks to how Kyle was very well raised as a child, brought up to be pragmatic and polite.
  • "K" can mean Kyle, Klim, Kanny or Kurashiki.
  • K shares being an amnesiac at the start of the game with both Seven and Sean. He shares being under an irremovable mask with Sean, and being the largest/tallest member of the group with Seven.
  • It is plausible that K's armor in the Nonary Game is a modified version of the armor Kyle wore growing up. Normally, Kyle's armor is supposed to subject the wearer to six times their weight; Zero Sr did this to compensate for the Moon's gravity so that Kyle would not grow up weak-bodied. However, Radical-6 creates the bodily sensation that one is under six times more gravity. Therefore, Kyle must have been placed in a much lighter armor before the game; the Radical-6 would compensate for this by making him feel as if he was six times heavier, so the armor still being heavy would make him feel six times heavier than normal.
  • K says he feels a connection to Phi.[5] This foreshadows the next game where it is revealed they are siblings in a way.
  • When Phi, Sigma, and K are standing over Luna's body in the Crew Quarters, and Phi asks Sigma whether he would hypothetically choose a blade or an injection as a method of murder, K responds "I would use an injection gun". In English, his voice can be heard without the echo caused by the armor usually heard when he speaks.

Gallery[]

v · e · d Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (series spoilers within)
Main focus: Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition
Main characters (players) Sigma Klim (playable) · Phi · Alice · Tenmyouji · Luna · K · Clover · Quark · Dio
Other characters Zero III (game host) · Zero Sr. (mastermind) · ? · Old Woman · G-OLM · Lord Hoppington · Voices on Dcom recording (Operator and woman)
Mentioned characters Alice's father · Brother · Left
Facility locations Warehouse A · Warehouse B · Elevator · Round 1 rooms (Crew Quarters, Infirmary, Lounge) · Round 2 rooms (GAULEM Bay, Rec Room, Pantry, Treatment Center, Laboratory, PEC, B. Garden, Archives, Control Room) · Round 3 rooms (Security, Director's Office, Q)
Other locations Earth · Moon · Headquarters
Game mechanics AB Room · Bracelet · Bracelet Points · Chromatic Doors · Key Cards· Number Nine Door
Terms ADAM · Antimatter Bombs · Axelavir · Bomb Codes · FLOW Chart · Free the Soul (Myrmidons) · Latin Journal · Neostigmine · Radical-6 · Soporil · Treatment Pod
Archives Answers · Files · Endings · Mistakes · Trophies · Timeline
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