I begin to wake up again. It isn't cold anymore. I've been resting on something warm. Opening my eyes, I see Monika watching over me. I slowly put the pieces together to find that Monika must have carried me to her home, and that my head was resting on her lap.
"Good morning, Chris." She says looking slightly relieved that I have awoken.
Embarrassment takes over and I try to sit up, only to be stopped by the weight of her arm resting across my chest. She wasn't even applying any pressure! Am I really that weak right now? I muster up the strength to speak. I need answers.
"Monika? Where am I? What happened?" I ask nervously.
"We're at my house. I couldn't just leave you out in the snow after you asked for my help…" She says solemnly, "I would feel terrible if my doubts cost you your life…"
"How did you find me?"
"Ahaha, well… Don't be mad, okay?" She pauses for a second before continuing, "After you told me about your situation on Thursday I took your phone and installed a tracker on it. I just had to know if you were actually homeless. I'm sorry…"
"No, It's okay. Like I said, I wouldn't believe me either… and if it wasn't for that I wouldn't be here," I say trying to make her feel better about her actions.
…
"Why did you stay in the park when it started snowing?" she asks breaking the silence, "Why didn't you just go to like a shop or something?"
"Monika… this is kind of embarrassing, but I can't read any of the signs here. I only know English."
She was right though. Even if where I had entered wasn't really a public place, nobody would give me a hard time about it because they can't see me. I guess it had never crossed my mind that you don't really need permission to enter if you don't exist. Still, I don't want to be invading on people's privacy.
Monika looks at me with a confused look on her face. "How did you become a student here then?"
I should have known this question was coming. I quickly make up something believable, "I was supposed to be transfer student, but I guess the paperwork on this school's end never got done so I just kind of ended up like this."
"That's horrible!" she says looking shocked that someone would go through that. Of course, It wasn't too far from the truth; I don't even have any classes.
"Yeah…" There is a brief moment of silence before I speak up again, "So, where is your family? Are they okay with me staying here?"
"My parents are away on a business trip. It's just me here," she says looking a little sad.
"Do they take those often?"
"Mhmm, they travel many times a year. I'm usually the only one left behind."
…
"I'm going to get started on breakfast now," she says lifting my head off her thighs, "Don't move around too much, okay? You need your rest; you couldn't even lift my arm earlier," she says while winking at me. I guess she felt my futile attempt to sit up earlier. She slides a pillow under my head, sets me down, and begins walking in the direction of what I assume would be the kitchen.
Once I'm on my own I get a better look at my surroundings. Based off just this one room, Monika has a really nice house. I'm probably laying on the living room couch right now. This room has a ton of natural light even though it's pretty cloudy outside. In front of this big window is a TV that is just the right size for the room while still giving a nice view outside. The room has a clear theme of green, almost like the shade of her eyes.
Over the course of the weekend I relearn the finer details about Monika's personality that I had forgotten and some things that weren't even noted in the original game as we continue to talk to each other. I remember that Monika is vegetarian, but not for the reasons commonly associated with vegetarians.
She also has a strange commitment to perfection I've noticed. Is she trying to live up to the standards of her parents? Maybe her classmates? Even though I know constantly striving to be perfect is an unhealthy lifestyle, I decide not to comment on it for now.
I also learn that one of Monika's favorite pastimes is meditation. She says it really helps her clear her mind of all the day's stress and anxiety, so she does it every night before bed. As I'm falling asleep though, I hear a deafening scream come from her room.
I see a girl. This is the same girl I've seen the past couple of days in the previous times I've meditated. Once again we are floating through space. She wears an open white blazer with black leggings and a black T-shirt with a small logo on it that I cannot discern. Her long black hair covers a tear stained face as she sits alone, crying.
This time though, I have control over my body. Our connection must be growing closer. Hopefully I can reach out and help her now. I slowly try to swim closer through space.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I say, but she says nothing in return. "Please tell me; I can't help you if you don't… I don't want you to suffer any more."
"You could never understand," she eventually responds.
"…I can try…" I say hoping she would open up to me.
She stands up, looks me directly in the eyes while lightly grabbing my shoulders and says, "Monika, your world isn't real… and mine has been torn to shreds. There's nothing left… we are truly alone." Her eyes show an impossible amount of morbid sincerity for the ridiculous claim she just made. Could it be true? I've heard of simulation theory before but I never really looked into it. There's no point in trying to theorize what we can never get a definitive answer to.
"…Are you sure?" I ask, not really believing her.
She sighs before saying, "When you get back to your world, close your eyes and try to envision a script for all the events in life. Once you see how detailed it is, you'll believe me."
She then snaps her fingers and I open my eyes. I'm all sweaty and my heart is beating fast. Am I just dreaming all of this up? There's only one way to know for sure. I do as she instructed, closing my eyes and attempting to envision this script.
There it was, every event that ever took place in my life written on a single very long page to an extreme level of fine detail. I don't believe my eyes; there's stuff in here that even I don't remember. I can even read into the future! Okay, okay, calm down. If this world was truly scripted than my friends would also have scripts like these, right? I try to envision one for Natsuki, and sure enough, a similar script pops up. Natsuki suffers from abuse at home?! Just like before, the script goes into a horrifying level of detail about what goes on in her life. What about Sayori? Okay, she has one too. She suffers from deep depression?! Yuri also has one. She cuts herself?! This is all too much to take in. I scream at the top of my lungs. Why did that girl have to tell me about this? I didn't want to know all of my friends' darkest secrets!
"Hey, are you okay in there?" Chris asks through the door.
Chris. I try to envision a script for Chris… but nothing appears. Does he not have a script? I try a second, a third, and a fourth time only to be met with the same result. I look through my script again only to see that when I interacted with him it was very vague when describing who it was that I was talking to. It doesn't even mention him in the future.
"Monika?" he asks with worry growing in his voice.
As this happens, my script glitches as I'm reading and changes to accommodate the fact that he had just spoken. I look to the script of the other club members to discover that he is never directly mentioned there either.
"I'm okay…" I try to say in a believable voice.
There's got to be more to him than he is letting on. Can he see the scripts as well? Was he even from this world? The girl had briefly mentioned other worlds, after all.
"Are you sure?" he says in a concerned tone. He probably doesn't believe me.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks…"
…
"Okay… Good night, Monika," he eventually says.
That's a good idea, sleep. This is all too much to take in right now. I lay down on my bed. This was going to be a rough night.
