Tiana Tran

Tiana in her neutral pose

Tiana Tran is Rae Nandon's ex-girlfriend and former Contact before being thrown into Exit/Corners with him. As it is later revealed, however, she is one of the three ringleaders behind Exit/Corners.

## Background

Tiana is a student at Bellbridge U and a programmer along with her ex-boyfriend Rae. After the two met, they immediately hit it off and became a couple, despite Tiana being more popular and hardworking in class than Rae, who most of the school considered to be a useless loser.

At some point, Tiana was recruited by Nolan Thatcher to steal Rae's RN algorithm, a search algorithm that Nolan could use search through the human brain by making it readable, so that it could be used to create the CORNERS program. She was also likely asked to befriend Rae instead of simply doing so herself, which is possibly why she decided to become his girlfriend.

However, the two broke up when Rae went on an arson spree after finding out the school's staff and collaborators were immoral people, leading to the death of someone's pet (which he didn't consider unlike the lives of people), taking Rae's RN algorithm with her under Nolan's orders. The school board believed her when she told them the algorithm was hers as Rae was unpopular and lazy, in contrast her being much more popular and studious. Rae would later get expelled after only a few weeks at Bellbridge U due to the arson spree.

Tiana would go on to help Sean Ward develop Exit/Corners as a test for the CORNERS program under Nolan's orders. Sean selected Rae as a Contestant as he was generally disliked (including by Tiana) and was a loner who had no friends (a trait that Sean was looking for in Contestants so that nobody would notice that someone randomly died). This would lead Sean to befriend Ink Greer, who had a similar personality, to be groomed to become Contestant material.

## Story

Tiana appears suddenly at the end of Chapter 18, having been thrown into Exit/Corners suddenly along with Sean.

In Chapter 19, Tiana and Sean wake up, and Sean immediately begins flirting with Tiana and the other female Contestants, much to their annoyance. Later, as the Contestants are leaving for the next room, Tiana pulls Ink aside and asks if Rae told him anything about her. She tells Ink that it is very obvious he does not like her as he constantly ignores her input and not to be so trusting about what Rae has said about her, adding that in the end, even if they do not get along, the two of them still need to work together to survive.

When Beth is found dead in Chapter 23, the Contestants refuse to enter the room with her body as it may be trapped. Tiana volunteers to help Ink search the room, much to his shock. The other Contestants do not complain or protest, however, as she is more willing to sacrifice her safety than the rest of them.

In Chapter 26, when Ink attempts to deduce who killed Beth (other than Liza, who has a confirmed allibi), the Contestants begin to accuse each other in a triangle. Tiana accuses Rae simply due to the fact that she has known him to be a bad person, much to his anger and confusion, while Aether accuses her. Ink comes up with a solution by creating a pop quiz, asking them to answer the question "How many contestants are currently playing Exit/Corners?", with their full names, dates, answers and the question in full (with Liza helping Rae to hold the paper due to the fact that he has only one arm). Ink discovers Tiana knows more than she is letting on when she spells the game's name as "Exit/Corners" instead of "Exit Corners" like the other Contestants, as they had only heard and not seen its name and had never heard it as "Exit or Corners" or "Exit Slash Corners". Tiana retorts asking him how *he* knows that it is "Exit/Corners", only for Ink to tell her that "a little birdie told me" while waving his Gemini, revealing to her that Sent has spelled it that way in messages to him. Tiana then threatens the other Contestants by holding Aether at knifepoint while allowing the rest to leave, cryptically telling them that she is going to look at her head and that they can leave because the game is over. Ink, and possibly Rae and Liza, refuse to leave and go after her instead.

In Chapter 27, after going through all the puzzles, Ink and any Contestants who joined him find the door to Tiana's hideout, which has a password system for a puzzle. The "correct" option is to give up, as Tiana will open the door. The password is "Game Over", referencing her telling the group that the game is over. However, there is no way to know this and the Contestants will believe that they have guessed the password correctly, leaving Tiana irritated that they have simply guessed their way into her hideout. The alternate password (which is the final one required for the Paranoia path) is 379, a number that pops up in several places in the hotel. If used, Tiana remarks that it isn't the password (being accepted due to the way the CORNERS program works and how it is more malleable than the ringleaders have anticipated). Tiana then reveals that she is waiting for "Aether's father" to show up (which is why she opened the door if the group gave up), and Sean arrives, revealing that he is Aether's "father".

In Chapter 28, Sean and Tiana explain to the Contestants the premise of Exit/Corners and the CORNERS program, while also revealing that Aether is an AI and deactivating her. Ink spontaneously comes up with a way to escape by stating that he is trying to unlock the laboratory's locked door, asking them if they consider that "cheating". Sent, who at this point has been revealed to truly be in love with and trying to help Ink as they claimed, sets off one of the two remaining explosives (the punishment for cheating) and the door opens, allowing Ink and any remaining Contestants to escape. Sean and Tiana then use the kill code to deactivate Sent, and Sean chases after Ink, the deactivated Aether (who is being dragged around by Ink) and the Contestants while Tiana stays behind.