Antimatter Bombs

An antimatter bomb, specifically Bomb #0.

The explosive power of the antimatter bombs.

"The thoughts barely had time to flutter through my mind before everything went white. We didn’t even have time to say goodbye. A thousand emotions flooded my brain in those last moments. Why? How? How had we ended up this way? Then a blistering wave of heat, like the surface of the sun itself, wiped out any lingering thoughts. My consciousness slipped away into a bottomless pool of darkness. Neither heaven nor hell... only the void."

— Sigma's final thoughts before his death

Antimatter Bombs are explosives used by Dio in Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward as a security measure for his mission in the Cyan Door routes. These bombs were placed in case he failed to complete the Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition, as he already failed to kill Akane Kurashiki. The bombs are Dio's last resort for the AB Project to fail. The bombs use an annihilation reactor and elementary particles to detonate.

Locations

Bomb #0: Warehouse A, between two AB Rooms

Bomb #1: B. Garden

Bomb #2: Control Room (Phi END) or Laboratory (Alice END)

Bomb #3: Crew Quarters

Emergency Deactivation Passwords

Main article: Bomb Codes

Bomb #0: LXA QNS GDQ - Given by Dio in Dio END.

Bomb #1: BQZ RGJ DXR - Given by Zero Sr. in Tenmyouji END.

Bomb #2: EQD DYR NTK - Given by Dio in Sigma END.

Bomb #3: LXQ LHC NMR (North American/European version) or BKZ XCN KKR (Japanese version) - Given by Dio in Alice END.

Origin

The actual bomb was made by the arms division of Hephaestus Systems. These bombs were being passed around in the black market and ended up in the hands of the Myrmidons. The engineer that set the timer and cancelling functionality on the bomb’s detonator was an underground mechanic heavily tied to the Myrmidons. This engineer would do maintenance on illegal machinery and customize them as a profession.

By adding the cancellation functionality on the bomb, the engineer asked "What do you want the password to be?" and Dio responded using the alphabet related to the organization and moved it over by one letter and told the engineer. This is how the passwords were set for the 4 bombs and handed over to Dio.

Thus, Dio headed for Rhizome 9. When he went into the facility and tried to kill Akane in Warehouse A, he was attacked by Phi and lost consciousness. After that, when Sigma and Phi's consciousnesses went back to the future), Akane took bomb 01 and changed the password to BQZ RGJ DXR (Crash Keys). She also changed all of the bombs' timers to Radical-6 time.

Virtue's Last Reward

Cyan Door Route

Bomb #3 in the Crew Quarters.

After the first round of the AB Game is finished, after Sigma, Phi and Alice went through the Crew Quarters and played the first round of the Ambidex Game. While exploring the rooms, Clover and Luna was the first people to discover Bomb #3, who then alerted everyone to its presence. Alice and Clover immediately know it's a bomb and believe it is activated by a switch, though when questioned by Phi, they refuse to state why they know this (due to them being members of the Special Office of Internal Security).

Alice states that the bomb is an antimatter bomb, and Quark is unsure what that is so Phi explains it to him. After explaining how annihilation energy works, Alice estimates that the antimatter bomb is an anti-hydrogen bomb and will produce energy roughly equivalent to one ton of TNT.

Dio asks why he shouldn't be worried about this, since it has enough explosive power to destroy an ten story building. Alice states that they don't know how big the facility is, and that they might be able to get far enough underground. However K is worried that there might be more bombs, since this one is labelled Bomb #3 and that there might be other bombs. Dio tries to move but Alice stops him as she believes whoever planted it, rigged it to explode. Dio asks what they are supposed to do, to which Alice states they should ignore the bomb, as that is the only thing they can do. Tenmyouji asks if they can turn the bomb off in any way. Alice states that there should be an emergency deactivation password. Alice states they can use the port if they find the password input device to deactivate the bomb.

Luna asks why someone would do this, Alice states she doesn't know, but does know that they did it after Sigma, Phi and Alice had searched the Crew Quarters, since they couldn't find anything there. Clover begins to suspect Sigma, as she didn't see him and he had a premonition about the bomb. While Sigma tries to think about who did this, Luna realizes that the Chromatic Doors are about to open, so they all head off towards the doors.

Dio END

After Sigma, Phi and Dio had won the Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition, they headed outside onto the Moon's surface, though Sigma and Phi mistakenly believed it was a desert. After a while, Phi jumped timelines and she lost balance and stumbled to the ground. She wondered where Dio is, and Sigma noted they hadn't seen him since they got out of the facility. He then asked why she needs to find him, and she responded that Dio needs to tell her something. Sigma asked what, and Phi is confused, wondering if Sigma lost some of his memories while jumping through timelines. They split up to find Dio.

Phi found Dio first and noticed he had set up a transmitter, and asked him if he is going to contact Free the Soul. Sigma was able to hear some of the conversation as the transmitter got through to him. He dashes towards the direction Phi had gone. Meanwhile, Dio acted confused at her question but she said she knows everything about him, that he is a member of the Myrmidons. She asked him for the password for Bomb #0, with "Bomb" being cut out for Sigma, but Dio then attacked and overpowered Phi.

Dio attempts to kill Phi.

Dio attempted to kill Phi with a rock, but Sigma had reached them fast enough and knocked him over, saving Phi. Sigma then asked about the transmitter and she showed it to him. She suspected that Dio must have planted it before sneaking into the facility. They then noticed a 25 digit code and neither are sure what it is or how to decode it. Dio laughed at their cluelessness and informed them that it is the key to the code.

Dio then told them the full story, about Free the Soul, the Myrmidons, Brother and that his mission is complete. He began to revere Brother, but Phi angrily demanded that he tell her the password for Bomb #0. Sigma was confused by the word bomb, but she told him to shut up.

Dio gives the password for Bomb #0.

Phi threatened to kill Dio with a rock, and almost followed through until he finally decided to give it to them, convinced it can't do them any good at that point anyways. He revealed the code and Phi asked Sigma to remember it as she was worried she wouldn't be able to recall it after jumping to a different timeline. Sigma memorized it and then wondered what to do next. Phi said she doesn't know, but Dio might. She pulled him off of the ground and he began to walk off. Sigma asked if there is a city nearby. Dio answered that there is a shelter with survivors, and Sigma was confused but Dio told him to shut up and follow him.

Tenmyouji END

Tenmyouji and Quark had gone back to the Director's Office to get a picture of Akane Kurashiki that Tenmyouji left on the scanner by mistake. After some time had passed, Sigma became concerned and decided to go look for them. Upon reaching the Director's Office, he found no one. Sigma had unknowingly missed Tenmyouji and Quark, as they had already left and taken a shorter route to the Warehouse. Sigma had taken the longer route. Right when he was about to leave, he noticed a light. A hologram of Zero Sr. had appeared on a machine. The hologram informed Sigma that what he was viewing was just a recording and that asking questions to the hologram would be useless. Zero Sr. then began to explain two things of which he claimed to be of great importance.

The first thing he talked about was termites. He explained that termite mounds are beautifully created structures, but their creators, termites, were unable to recognize the beauty. They were just doing what they were biologically programmed to do. Only humans, an intelligence of a higher order, could understand what the termites were making. He then compared termites to humans, saying that humans were also creating something magnificently wonderful but can't perceive it because they aren't of a higher intelligence. He wondered how humans would look to such an intelligence, teased the idea of it being possible to see, and then closed the topic.

Zero Sr. about to give the password of Bomb #1.

He went on to his second topic, which he said was much more relevant and important to Sigma's and several billion other people's lives. He gave a bewildered Sigma the password for the number one bomb, warned him that if he told anyone about the recording he would be immediately penalized, and then flickered away after saying that he wished to meet again someday. Sigma yelled at empty air and kicked a shelf in frustration, but headed back to the Warehouse after being told the AB Game polling would end in 10 minutes.

Alice END

Bomb #2 in the Laboratory.

After having copied a vial of Axelavir in the Laboratory to cure both Alice and Quark of Radical-6, Sigma accidentally dropped one of the vials on the floor. When trying to make sure that it hadn't broken from the fall, Phi noticed something attached to the underside of the table next to her. It was Bomb #2. K and Clover claimed it wasn't there when they had previously checked the room. Then, under the bomb, on the floor, they spotted a purple memory card. They assumed it was left, or accidentally dropped, by whoever planted the bomb. After some talking, everyone then headed off to play the AB Game.

All players had chosen to betray their opponent, including Alice, who everyone thought would be resting after having been given the anti-virus for Radical-6. Sigma got upset over her choice, seeing as how he had only 1 BP, meaning she could've killed him. But as everyone were arguing, Sigma had had enough and tried to tell the group that they all should trust each other more. However, it didn't work, and everyone left except for him and Luna. They discussed the situation a bit, but then remembered the purple memory card that had been found earlier, and headed off to see if the computer in the Infirmary could read it.

Upon arrival, Sigma and Luna met Tenmyouji, along with Alice and Clover. They inserted the memory card in the slot of the computer, and on the screen a bunch of letters showed up. Alice concluded it must be some sort of encoded message from the terrorist group known as Myrmidons. Sigma then began questioning how she and Clover can know these things, and tried to convince Alice to tell them who they are. But she ran off, and Sigma went after her. They arrived in the B. Garden, and there, she told him about her past, how she met Clover, and everything she knows about the Myrmidons. Then they began to think about the weird code they had seen earlier. They figured out that the encoded message spelled "completed", but Alice couldn't know what that was supposed to mean. After a while, Clover arrived and said that everyone but Luna and Quark are already in the floor B Warehouse. They went there and found the rest of the players arguing among each other over the last AB Game. Sigma interrupted, and claimed he knows who set the bombs.

He accused Dio, but naturally, the man denied it. Sigma knew that taunting wasn't going to be enough, so he instead tricked Dio into admitting that he's the leader of the Myrmidons by saying, among other things, that Brother sent Sigma to keep an eye on him. The rest of the group was confused, but Sigma assured them that it was Dio who had planted the bombs. Alice, now furious, charged at Dio, but he dodged and pulled out the detonator. Alice asked if it could set off the two bombs, but he corrected her by saying that there's two more, Bomb #1 and Bomb #0. Tenmyouji's and Phi's attempt at stopping him from triggering the detonator, by reminding him that he would die in the explosion too, was useless since Dio was ready for that.

Alice and Clover, in the haste of the moment, were able to surprise him and Clover snatched the detonator from his hand and threw it to Sigma, while Alice restrained Dio. However, the detonator began its countdown, to their surprise. Dio laughed at them and explained that the detonator had been made to activate if it reached over a meter's distance away from him. They only had 30 minutes before the bombs explode.

Dio gives the password to Bomb #3 before dying.

Alice said that they could deactivate the bombs using the input device. She nearly dislocated Dio's arm, trying to force him tell her where the device is, when he finally gave in. He said to check the right-hand pocket in his coat. Clover dug around in it and found a pill. She asked what it is, and Dio asked her to hold it out for him so he could see it. That way, he was able to snatch it away from her and eat it. Almost immediately he started showing signs of being in pain, so the group figured that the pill must've contained poison. Dio refused to reveal where the input device could be found, but he told them the deactivation code for Bomb #3 instead, since it couldn't help them anyways. And with after some last words, he died.

The players went on to try and find the input device and the rest of the bombs. They searched and searched, but found nothing. Soon it became too late, and the facility exploded.

Sigma END

Bomb #1 in the B. Garden.

While in the B. Garden, Luna and Sigma talked about the possibility of Sigma being a robot, due to him having bled the white substance that Luna is familiar with as Artificial Biological Tissue. Phi hid behind the tree, trying to listen in on their conversation. but in doing so she accidentally spotted Bomb #1. She asked them to come over and have a look at it. They decided to head to the Infirmary to tell the others about Bomb #1 and the possible existence of Bomb #2.

Sigma restrains Dio.

Upon arrival, they tried to figure out who planted the bombs. Phi said that she would search everyone for the input device, but Sigma claimed there is only one person she would need to search; Dio. Sigma exposed Dio by telling him that he knows about the Myrmidons, Free the Soul and Brother. This caused Dio to slip up with to his wording. He admitted to having planted the bombs and quickly pulled out the detonator, and told everyone to back off. Tenmyouji was able to knock it of his hand, but that actually activated the detonator. Sigma explained that it goes off if it's separated from Dio, and that they have only 30 minutes before the bombs explode. Dio told them the password for Bomb #2, but they neither had the input device, nor had they found Bomb #2. Dio then tried to ingest poison, but Sigma restrained him. Phi told Luna to inject him with Soporil so they could go search for the bomb, and she did.

Sigma headed off with Phi into the Crew Quarters to see if they could find anything. However, they discovered nothing new, so Sigma went back to the Infirmary. There he found Luna, who had been waiting for him to arrive. She convinced him to let her scan him to see if he really is a robot. The screen began showing results, and it turned out that Sigma possesses cybernetic arms, much to his shock. Only 1 minute remained and Luna told him an important message that she had been instructed to tell him. Before the bombs exploded, she said that she hopes to see him again.

Phi END

Phi with an unconscious Alice.

After Alice begins to succumb to Radical-6, she runs off and falls unconscious in the B. Garden. She is found by Phi, and soon after, Sigma. But before they can carry her to the Infirmary, Phi notices Bomb #1 on the tree next to them. She is sure it isn't the one they found in the Crew Quarters because of its number. Phi notes that Clover, Tenmyouji and Dio had investigated the garden, so it could be one of them who planted it, although she quickly realizes it could've been anyone, as someone could've gone there and planted it after the group had checked the place. After that, she and Sigma finally take Alice to the Infirmary.

Bomb #2 in the Control Room.

Later in the Archives, Sigma and Phi look for more bombs. They begin to discuss their ability to jump to different parallel worlds with their consciousness. Phi explains the many-worlds interpretation and also talks about Schrödinger's cat. She concludes that the choice someone makes in the future actually determines the past. Before Sigma has time to ask her any questions, Clover comes in, informing them that Bomb #2 was found in the Control Room. They head there to see it.

Upon arriving and confirming the bomb, Phi points out the possibility of a fourth one being hidden somewhere, but they have no real way to know. When wondering what to do about the bombs, Clover tells them that everything within a couple hundred kilometers would be caught up, if they were to explode. Sigma says that the bombs should only have the explosive power of a ton of TNT, which isn't nowhere near enough to create such a big explosion. However, Clover says that the bombs might work as a detonator for an even bigger explosion, and he quickly realizes that there might be more anti-hydrogen somewhere, and figure it could possibly be inside the reactor. And when Clover says that there's about three and a half kilograms of anti-hydrogen in it, Phi estimates that it would create an explosion roughly 10,000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

All three of them are silent for a moment, until Phi asks Clover how she can know those things about antimatter reactors. She tries to lie, but Phi and Sigma don't believe her. Clover then reveals that her working in a cafe is just a cover, and she can't tell them anything else because the information is classified. She slips out of the situation by having them check their bracelets and realize that they should've met up with the others 5 minutes ago. Clover heads to the Infirmary, and Sigma does too, while Phi stays behind to check on something.

The Password Input Device need to deactivate the bombs.

At the Infirmary they discuss the threat of the bombs, Tenmyouji states that they have to do something about the bombs and Phi states that they need to use the password input device to input the passwords to deactivate the bombs.

Dio states that they need the password input device, and Phi says that they have resolved the issue, with Sigma showing them the password input device, which they received from the safe after finishing the Control Room puzzle, which they were previously unsure of what that was, and that Phi tested it after Clover left. Tenmyouji asks why it was in the safe, and Clover wonders if Zero Sr. put it there, and K says that would mean Zero Sr. set up the bombs. Though Luna finds it odd since Zero Sr. wants us to play the Nonary Game, Dio says that it might be rigged to blow if someone violates the rules, but Luna replies saying that the bracelets should be suffice. Everyone is confused but Phi is sure that someone in the Infirmary set up the bombs. Phi states they should interrogate whoever set up the bomb to get the passwords. Phi asks whoever set up the bombs to admit it, and since no-one does, she decides the search everyone, but Sigma says he knows who did, much to Phi's surprise and identifies Dio.

Sigma accuses Dio of planting the bombs.

Sigma exposes Dio by telling him everything he knows about the Myrmidons, Free the Soul and Brother, which causes Dio to slip up due to his wording. Sigma tries to stop him but Dio pulls out the detonator and gets everyone to back off except Tenmyouji, who knocks it out of his hand, but since it goes 1 meter away from Dio, the bombs are set on a 30 minute countdown. Dio tries to ingest poison into himself, but Sigma restrains him and is sedated by Luna.

K states they have 25 minutes to stop the bombs and exactly the same amount of time until the White Chromatic Doors open. Luna asks what do they do, Sigma recommends intuition, but Phi says there is another way but she says everyone must do what she says without question. She says that Sigma is coming with her and that the rest should take Alice, Quark and Dio to the Floor B Warehouse, Clover and Tenmyouji begins to question her but Phi responds saying no questions, and they both drop the issue. Phi states that is the plan and K asks if that is it but she reminds them that they promised to do exactly as they say.

They head for the Crew Quarters with Bomb #3. Sigma plugs in the imput device and says they have 21 minutes. Sigma states that Bomb #2 is in the Control Room and Bomb #1 is in the B. Garden. Sigma asks what to do and Phi says he needs to make a jump to another timeline. Phi states that she knows Sigma didn't guess about Dio planting the bombs but that he knew it, since it occurred in another history. Phi states that they might have jumped through history's already but their memories might be damaged or something, but Phi says that remembering a little bit might be the key to survival.

All four bombs that Sigma and Phi need to deactivate.

Sigma successfully jumps through to another history and deactivates Bomb #3, the same occurs with Bomb #2 and Bomb #1. Afterwards Sigma celebrates, jokingly saying he hopes there is another bomb and that Phi should thank him. However Phi and Sigma then remember a glimpse of another history, where Dio confirmed he planted four bombs and that there is Bomb #0.

Bomb #0 hiding between AB Rooms.

They both prepare to leave, but neither of them know where Bomb #0 is, since they haven't found it in any history. However Phi states that there has to be a clue. She asks Sigma to pretend he is Dio and asks where he would hide something important. He realizes where it is and finds it in the AB Room, in the Floor A Warehouse. He remembers the password and defuses it just before times run out. Phi asks why he knew it was there, and Sigma states he put something important there in another timeline, which is the bloody knife he uses to kill Akane in the other timelines. The White Chromatic Doors open, and with a five minute deadline, they head towards the White Chromatic Doors.

Trivia

• In real life, antimatter is extremely expensive to produce and store, and it is currently infeasible (from a financial perspective) to construct an antimatter bomb.
• While VLR takes place in 2074, Alice's last memories before the events of VLR are in December 2028, when she was kidnapped and before she was put in cold sleep. When the bombs are first discovered in the Cyan route, she is able to recite quite a bit of info about them (even knowing they have 25 micrograms of antihydrogen) -- she cites that she knew this because the bombs were an "occupational hazard". This means that the Myrmidons had procured the bombs by 2028 (and not 2074 as one might suspect due to their rather advanced technology), and it may mean that the Antimatter Plant Explosions were orchestrated by the Myrmidons as well.
• In Alice END, Dio plants bomb #2 in the laboratory instead of in the control room because in Alice's route, the control room is inaccessible.