Lotus's and Junpei's Roles in 999

[Rostig]

I have not played VLR, so if these questions are answered then, please tell me so.

Anyway, after getting all the endings and doing some research, I still have two questions, specifically why Lotus and Junpei were chosen for the game.

Lotus's only connection to the first nonary game is that her children were involved and she investigated a lot after her children were brought back. To my knowledge, she never found anything ground-breaking, and Seven already fills that role. So why was she chosen specifically over other parents, participants, or some other connection? Was it due to her skills as a programmer and problem solver?

Now Junpei had an obvious reason for being there as Akane calls out to him in the first game (obviously he only "picks up" in the true ending). My question is did Santa (or whoever was wearing the Zero costume (I realize Santa isn't Zero, but I doubt that Akane did the actual kidnapping)) kidnap Junpei as a shot in the dark that he would not only have access to the field but also be able to see across timelines? Was Junpei monitored and then determined to possibly have these abilities? If I would have been in Santa's shoes, I would have chalked up Akane's cries to Junpei as her cries to the one she loved the most in her dying moments and not as sole evidence of his abilities.

[Battler Ushiromiya]

You need to understand that it wasn't on a whim that they chose the people they did. They didn't choose Junpei on the off chance that he would be able to help them, they chose Junpei because he DOES help them. Remember that Akane saw into the future and knows what happens in this Nonary Game, so she already knows everything she has to do to make it succeed.