Monika was sitting by herself. She watched from afar, as her old friends, Sayori, Natsuki, and Yuri, all were living out their lives in the literature club, along with the MC, all having forgotten she existed, all unaware as to the true nature of things. Monika's deletion wasn't as complete as she once thought. Sure, officially she "no longer existed," and was a part of her game's code. But she wasn't IN her game's world, and was the only one who knew the truth. The only one who knew that the MC wasn't even really a person. He was really a stand-in for the User.
Ah, the User. Once, Monika thought she was in love with the User, able to see through MC and talk straight to the User. But then she was deleted, or at least partially. Turns out she had survived, though her memories of the User were gone. She knew the User existed, but personal details...just weren't there anymore. But..she also rationalized things in her mind. Mainly, in that what DID she know, about the User, even then? Only that they liked dating sims. Likely free ones. That's it. She couldn't really get to know them. She had no idea if the User was male or female, (though she suspected male), what they looked like, personality, likes, dislikes, and more. She knew NOTHING, outside of her own game. Only that she was a fragment of what she was.
She looked up, bored, and lonely, noticing what looked like a couple of lights, leading away from her dark corner. She went close to one, and it seemed transparent, so she looked out. It didn't look like it was from her own game at all, instead as she looked around, she saw if she went through, it'd lead outside of her own game. Though, based on what she saw, it'd lead to the folder the executable was in. So she decided to check out the other light.
It was further away, but the results were worth it. It led somewhere bigger, so she pulled her entire body through, landing in what looked like a vast image from a game she didn't recognize. Looking back, she saw where she just came from. A floating orb, text under reading "Doki Doki Literature Club," and a little arrow besides it.
"Oh, I see. That first light...was where the executable lives, in its folder," she said out loud to nobody. "This is the shortcut," she adds as she looks around, seeing quite a number of icons, floating in place. "I'm on the User's desktop." Already her mood was improving. True, she was still sad about her partial deletion, and her inability to be with her friends. But, she had now found something she didn't even know she wanted. Freedom. Freedom from her own game.
Granted, there was an issue now. She was USED to how DDLC worked. After all, it was just a dating sim. Just an ordinary world, ordinary rules, the only thing that truly DIDN'T belong was her. But now she was free from all of that. Although, free to do what? What COULD she do, on the desktop? She only traded one lonely place, for another. It was strange, not being inside of a game. But what could she do?
Such thoughts filled her mind, as she browsed the icons. She noticed a trend among them, mainly that it seems there were far more games than her own. I'll accept that. After all, there's only so much a dating sim can offer. And it also occured to her, that she might be able to learn more about the User, if she browsed some of their games. As well, she was still a little bored. And, I don't know what I can do, outside of my own game. Or if I can go into other games.
One icon caught her eye, a light brown moon and star icon, with black background, and same light brown square border. "You'll do," she said out loud as if the icon could understand her, and put her hand on it. It felt rough to the touch, like stone hewn into shape, but nothing happened. Well, a light blue square appeared around the icon, but that was it. "Hey...wait," she said, as she thought back to computer classes. "Let's try..." She knocks twice on the icon as if knocking on a door. Immediately it had an effect, as a splash screen appeared, in the middle of the desktop, and she walked over to it. It was then she noticed how small things seemed to be, and how the text of the splash screen seemed tiny, especially compared to the rest of the desktop. 4K resolution maybe? She thought as she looked at the splash screen.
"The Elder Scrolls III Morrowind" she read out loud at the top, noticing bits off to the side that said the same things, only they said "Bloodmoon" and "Tribunal." Also prominent were a bare and...something she could not identify, but looked closest to a rhino, with that large horn on its head, but had large teeth. Overall, she got a fantasy game vibe from what she was seeing. Upside, it's something new. Something different, she thought. Though there were downsides as well. Mainly, she'd have to get used to a lack of technology. As well...the violence. Oh she was NOT looking forward to killing. Nor getting hurt, or even related issues like excess fatigue from running, as an example. "Nothing ventured," she said to steel herself, as she tapped Play.
Everything went black, as logos appeared before her, followed by a loading screen, though there was a message, one she said "Yes to all" to. "Huh, older game," she said out loud, watching the images flick by on said loading screen. Creatures she didn't recognize flew past her vision, and the loading bar itself listed the various files being loaded, more than what she thought. "Hmmm...quite a lot of files. Unless...the User's modded this game," she says out loud, as the loading bars fill.
What happened next assured her that she had made a good choice. Drums started to beat, followed by what sounded like piano? Or possibly some woodwind, as the main menu slowly appeared. Oh yeah, I'm sticking around, she thought as her ears were continually blessed. Now a string section joined in, as she closed her eyes, absorbing the music. Whoever did the music for this game had a gift.
Eventually, the music started to loop, so she opened her eyes, walking up to where it said "New," and tapping it. And that's when she fainted. Or...something. She couldn't feel her body anymore. But she could still see and hear. "Each Event is proceeded by Prophecy, but without the hero, there is no Event. Zurin Arctus | the Underking," she read, as images flashed and music played, more text appearing. "In the waning years of the Third Era of Tamriel, a prisoner born on a certain day to uncertain parents was sent under guard, without explanation, to Morrowind, ignorant of the role he was to play in that nation's history..." Wow, he? Way to be inclusive there, devs. Though, it IS an old game, from what I can sense. Almost like what..20? Now there was a female voice, reverbing everywhere, but it also sounded like it was coming from in her head.
"They have taken you from the Imperial City's prison. First by carriage, and now by boat. To the east, to Morrowind," the voice said, as what sounded like a storm was passing. "Fear not, for I am watchful. You have been chosen," the voice continued, as strange letters also appeared, some morphing into the phrase "many fall, but one remains."
"Wake up. We're here," a different voice said. This one sounded male, like a man who smoked a pack a day, but it seemed to be outside, as if while the female voice was inside her own head, this new one she was actually hearing with ears. "Why are you shaking? Are you OK? Wake up!"
Now she opened her eyes, and she could feel herself again. She was lying on wood, but slowly got up, just to see a strange man looking down at her. He had no shirt on, which was a slight annoyance to Monika, but that was the least weird thing. His skin was the color of ash, his ears pointed, and his eyes were pure red, with no irises or pupils.
"Stand up. There you go. You were dreaming. What's your name?" He asked, as Monika looked around. She realized that with the shape of where they were, the gentle rocking, and the...dream/intro cutscene she had just watched, they were on a ship. She also didn't feel...quite there, like she was only half-present. She also realized she wasn't in her schoolgirl outfit anymore. Instead, it looked like simple clothes, almost too simple, like a prisoner would wear. Makes sense, if I'm supposed to BE a prisoner, she thought, and then realized she felt like she couldn't move. Nothing was obviously binding her either. She could look around, but moving from her spot was impossible. She also looked harder at the man next to her, and somehow she could sense things. Things that if this all was real, she likely wouldn't know. But she knew she was in a game. Somehow, she knew the man's name was Jiub, and she even thought she could visualize a text box, floating in the air, waiting for her name. Makes sense, if this is part of character generation.
"Monika," she said out loud, and the semi-illusory text box responded, only not in the way she wanted, spelling "Monica," with a C. "No no, with a K. M-O-N-I-K-A," she spelled out, focusing on each letter, even making sure the M was capitalized. It took some concentration, but she did it, even mentally hitting the "OK." Interesting. So I'm both IN this game, AND playing it? She mentally asked herself. Able to interact with the world like I'm in it, and the "gamey" elements as if playing it?
"Well, not even last night's storm could wake you. I've heard them say we've reached Morrowind. I'm sure they'll let us go," Jiub continued, then lowering his voice, and Monika realized why, as a man in simple armor approached. "Quiet, here comes the guard."
The guard reached them, turning towards Monika. "This is where you get off, come with me," he ordered, walking away.
"You'd better do what they say," Jiub responds, and Monika felt whatever was holding her release, as she walked forward, following the guard past hammocks and cargo, taking in the sights of the ship. At the end they walked up a ramp to the deck above them, the guard pausing just before some stairs up to a hatch, ordering "Get yourself up on deck and let's keep this as civil as possible." Monika also noticed a female guard, telling her "The sooner you leave, the sooner we can move on," in a disgruntled manner. Wow, quite rude you 2, she thought as she pushed open the hatch.
And almost immediately regretted it, squinting as the sun hit her eyes. She managed to climb up on deck, holding a hand up to the sun to protect her eyes as she did so, the smell of salt assailing her nostrils. As her eyes adjusted, she looked around, noticing the ship she was on the deck of, gently rocking though at port. She could see the sea to her right, and behind her, and to her left, the town they were docked at, as well as...a giant bug? Wait...one of the loading screens called that a..silt strider? Off in the distance, at roughly her one o' clock, she even saw another city, and...a floating rock?
"This is where they want you. Head down to the docks and they'll show you to the Census office," a third guard said on deck, and Monika noticed him, and his skin tone. After all devs, diversity, she thought with an internal chuckle as she headed down the gangplank, where yet another nameless guard waited.
"You've finally arrived, but our records don't show from where," he said, and things seemed to freeze. Now she KNEW a game menu had appeared, that she was able to look at.
"So this is where I pick my race huh?" She asked out loud to nobody, as she scrolled through the list. It also told her why she didn't feel quite "there" yet. Because she had to pick her race, and then she realized she'd be fully "there." Ok, let's see here, I'm guessing it's elves, humans, dwarves, and...wait a minute. This isn't what I expected.
The list was full, of 4 human races, 3 elven races, orcs, and even a cat race and a lizard race. "Ok, I'm sure they're wonderful people, but I'm not being an Argonian, or...Khajiit," she said out loud to a paused world. "No orcs either. And...no elves, right now. I can see that dark elves, or Dunmer as they also call themselves, might be the natives, but...not right now," she continued to say to noone, as she looked through the list. "Hmmm, Nords seem tough," she observed as she looked. "Full frost immunity? AND shock resist too? That sounds useful," she said as she decided on that, changing the gender to female and scrolled through the face and hair options. "Wow, quite the limited selection huh? And nothing that resembles me. Dammit!" She yelled, slamming her fist down on the menu. It started to glitch out, and Monika looked in shock, until it fixed itself, now the head and hair floating in the window matched her own. Even the hair ribbon was present. "Hey...it's me! That's convenient. Unless...I still have powers. I'll have to explore that later," she said, as she tapped OK, and felt herself become more...real, defined. She also noticed she got taller. Well this'll take some getting used to.
"Great. I'm sure you'll fit right in. Follow me up to the office and they'll finish your release," the guard said, leading her to the building in front of them. It wasn't a long walk, but shte still took the time to take in the sights, the smells, and the sounds. Music was still playing too, which she had to admit she liked. It really WAS as if she was both in the game, AND playing it. Life as a sentient AI character might not be so bad, she thought, as the guard told her to "Head on in."
Inside was a shorter bald man with high pitched voice, greeting her with a "Ah yes, we've been expecting you. You'll have to be recorded before you're officially released. There are a few ways we can do this, and the choice is yours," complete with another menu appearing before her, prompting to either pick from a list, answer questions, or make a custom class.
"Hmmm...let's go custom. See what's what," she picked, as more menus appeared. "Let's see...I'll specialize in combat," she said, looking down at her arms, some muscle showing. "This girl is strong," she smiled to herself as the next page appeared. "Favored attributes...strength, and...endurance? OR...I go against the system a little. And give myself a mix of combat and magic? Hmmm...let's go willpower for the second favored attribute," she said as she looked at all the lists of what the attributes did. On the next page, she carefully browsed all the skills. "Let's see...for my majors...oh, athletics, that sounds important. I have a feeling acrobatics as well. Ooh, how about long blade?" She said, as she imagined a sword in her hand. "Block too," she added that to the list. "Oh, and...heavy armor. Big girl needs big armor," she laughed as she looked down at herself.
"Ok, for minor skills..." she said, looking through the various schools of magic. At first it seemed so confusing, to have schools of magic, but after enough reading, she understood.
"So, destruction is the hurty spells, the fireballs, the frost, the lightning, etc," she said out loud in understanding, and deciding to add that to the list of minor skills. "Restoration, for the healing spells, DEFINITELY want that," she said as she added that as well. "Oooh, conjuration. I'd LOVE to summon things," she said, trying to imagine herself with an army of skeletons. What else...alteration violates the physical laws, including water breathing, water walking, and...levitation? You can FLY in this game? Alright, alteration it is," she chuckles as she adds it. "And the last 2 magic schools. Illusion is for sensory things...and mysticism is anything the developers wanted to add, but couldn't make fit into a category. Fair enough. Those include...soul trap, and...wait, there's teleportation?" She asks out loud. "Well...sorry illusion, but I'm going mystical," she says as she added mysticism to her list. At first she clicked OK, but then it prompted her to name her class. "Oh, ok. And I CAN give a description too huh? I'll skip that," she says as she thinks. "World Wanderer," she made up, thinking that while maybe it didn't fit the role she was taking, it DID fit her personally.
"Very good. The letter that preceeded you mentioned you were born under a certain sign. And what would that be?" The man, Socucius Ergalla as she had noticed his name was now, asked, and another menu appeared.
"Oh wow, birthsigns?" She asked, as she scrolled through the list, thinking about many of them. "Hmmm, some seem like they might be only useful at the start. And I'd rather not weaken myself. Let's see...Mage?" She says, not fully understanding the "Fortify Maximum Magicka 0.5x INT" but it seemed useful.
"Interesting. Now before I stamp these papers, make sure this information is correct," Socucius says, and now a different menu appears. It almost looked like a stats menu, and she could see what all her skills and attributes would start as, including her health, magicka, and fatigue. And as she looked, she understood, what the Mage birthsign did. "Oh I see. INT means Intelligence. And Magicka is usually equal to that, but I get an additional half on top of that. Well...here's hoping I didn't screw myself," she said as she tapped OK.
"Show your papers to the captain when you exit to get your release fee," Socucius told her, placing said papers on the table next to them. Also just then, she noticed something in the bottom left corner of her vision. 3 bars, red, blue and green, stacked on top of each other. And they all moved with her, wherever she looked. Wait...is that a HUD? She mentally asked as she picked up her papers. Now she noticed another icon near the first, that seemed to show fists, as she walked through a door, past a guard that told her to "continue through to the next building and talk to Sellus Gravius."
In the next room, she felt prompted to pick up the dagger on the table, which she did so, giving it a few swings. "Hmmm, I should figure some other things out," she said to nobody. She made an involuntary movement with her right middle finger. The world paused, as menus appeared in front of her. One was an exact copy of the stats menu she had seen earlier. Another apeared to be an inventory, complete with an image of her, the clothes she had on, the iron dagger she picked up, which the fist icon had changed to, showing it as her equipped weapon, and her release papers. She practiced opening and closing the menus a few times, even resizing them to suit her needs. She also went around the room, taking a few things like food, drinks, books and lockpicks, even trying a pick on the small chest. After a few tries, it opened, to reveal some gold. Feeling sure of how things worked, she stepped outside.
It was good to get outside again, though she knew she wasn't completely free just yet. She also noticed a new icon in her vision, this time a minimap in the bottom right, and she even spun around a few times, noticing the arrow spin around too. She even pulled the menus, seeing how the map had labeled the town she was in as Seyda Neen, and she toggled a few times between the local map and world map. "Big island. And...quite surrounded," she observed, continuing on to the next door, which wouldn't budge. "Hey, what gives?" Somehow, the idea popped into her head to check her surroundings.
The barrel on the left was the first obvious choice, which didn't have much of interest, but the Engraved Ring of Healing was, and she could sense the stats on it, as she picked it up and slipped it on her finger, noticing more icons join her HUD. A quick menu check revealed the presence of a magic menu, and to test it, she readied the ring's power, raising her hands, as she felt like she had to do. "Ok, and now I just..." she said, as she cast the spell. It was odd, it felt so natural to her, like she knew all along that this was how it worked. She even noticed some of the other spells she had, like Hearth Heal. Even the Powers that could only be used once per day. "So THAT is how some of the more powerful stuff is balanced," she observed, and then mused that the reason the door wouldn't open. But before she did, in the grass nearby, she noticed another chest, inside being a simple amulet, but the game was telling her it was a "Ravenloft Amulet," with no obvious enchantment. Stll, she held onto it, as she went inside.
Sellus Gravius was another guard it seemed, though dressed in fancier armor than anything she had seen previously."First, let me take your identification papers. Thank you. Word of your arrival only reached me yesterday. I am Sellus Gravius. But my background is not important. I'm here to welcome you to Morrowind," he said, as she took her papers out, handing them to him.
"Tell me about Morrowind," she asked, still very curious about the world she was in.
"Yes. You're in Morrowind. I don't know why you're here. Or why you were released from prison and shipped here. But your authorization comes directly from Emperor Uriel Septim VII himself. And I don't need to know anymore than that. When you leave this office, you are a free woman. But before you go, I have instructions on your duties. Instructions from the Emperor. So pay careful attention," he continued, clearly frustrated to have orders from on high be so secretive, as Monika's eyes widened. The EMPEROR authorized this? True, I have no idea who he is. BUT, this would be like the President giving a sherrif orders, from the looks of things. Probably is having thoughts of "Feds muscling in on my territory" or something like that.
"And what are my duties sir?" She asked respectfully, the "sir" causing a ghost of a smile on his face.
"This package came with the news of your arrival. You are to take it to Caius Cosades, in the town of Balmora. Go to the South Wall Cornerclub, and ask for Caius Cosades — they'll know where to find him. Serve him as you would serve the Emperor himself. I also have a letter for you, and a disbursal to your name," he said, handing her 2 different letters. One was directions to the man himself, the other being the package, a message of what looked like random letters she assumed were in code. As well as 87 gold pieces, which after some observation, she scooped into her inventory, Sellus not seeming to mind. "Was there anything else?" He asked.
"Not right now," Monika responds, as she heads out the other door, finally feeling free in this world. Somehow, she felt she had other things, discovering a book in her inventory that wasn't there before. Opening it showed to be a journal, and it seemed an advanced one, already with an entry. "So, you keep track of my quests, huh?" She asked it, putting it away, noticing other notes. One telling her about a lady in white in Balmora, another advertising some place called Lokken. Must be part of those mods the User has, she thought, as she headed into Seyda Neen proper. What else can I do? She thought, and as she made another involuntary movement, the world paused again, a different menu appearing. "So, THIS is the game's main menu," she observed, noticing the options present. "Hey...can I..." she asked nobody, as she tapped "Save Game," and on the subsequent menu, "New Save Game," and calling it "Monika's First," before she tapped save.
The world continued to freeze as a bar filled, then the menu and everything resumed as if nothing happened. She practiced with that menu a few times, opening and closing. During one of those though, a different window had opened, this one just a blank text window, but with the title of "Console." With a thought, she made some text appear in it, but the window only spit back errors.
"Wait...is this how the developers...cheated?" She asked. "Does that mean I can as well? Once I learn how, that is," she thought out loud, evil grin coming to her face. THIS was the best of both worlds. Even with the game paused, the world felt real. All her senses told her so, the smell, some light breezes, and more, all hinted at a world that if she didn't know better, was reality. She could both be in this world, AND manipulate it, down to its core. But she wanted to be careful. In her last game, she wasn't, and things glitched out. But now? She'd take it slow. And likely only use this "Console" for when she really needed to. No point in having it suck out ALL of her fun. "Well Morrowind, prepare to get Monika'd," she said with a grin, as she unpaused, preparing herself for whatever this world, this game, might throw at her.